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^^ Armoni (Stephanie's Dad)
Stephanie Riles, NY 📍
The look on Ashanti's face made my heartache. I came to New Jersey not only because Que asked me to. But because I knew Ashanti was here. While I was in that house back in New York they never spoke of her. Never mentioned her name and treated her like an outcast. I've been trying to build a connection with her for such a long time. It's like every chance I get my dad stops me.
I knew that here in Jersey would be my only chance to build some type of connection with Ashanti.
"I've always wanted to be in your life. They were the ones keeping us apart." I told her breaking the silence.
"How? How exactly were they stopping you?"
"They never spoke about you, never mentioned your name, I never seen you leave your room and everytime I would go to your room you were sleeping or your door was locked. And you always told me to go away. I was just trying to be there for you."
She didn't want to look in my eyes.
"Steve." I said to her. She looked up at me quickly.
Steve was the name of the crab that Ashanti's Dad got her when she was younger. Before my dad met her mom. Before her dad went to jail.
How do I know this? Many ways. When Ashanti and I would go to school and my dad and Indonesia went to work I would sneak back home. School wasn't that far from our house anyways. I would go in Indonesia's room and go through the photo books. There were so many letters and writings from her father in jail that was never given to Ashanti. In the letters it talked about their old days. I cried reading those letters. She only acted the way she did because he missed her father, and her mother was slowly neglecting her for me. I felt like shit.
I brought some of the letters with me. Before I snuck off to Jersey I went back in her room one last time and grabbed the them.
"How do you know about Steve?" She asked me.
"Hold on." I reached into my bag and took out four envelops with a string around them. "I think you should see these."
