SAVAGE 2

23

"You don't understand me," Jersey argued. "No, you're not trying to understand what I'm saying. I—"

"I did it for you!"

"No, you did it to be messy." Jersey countered with her nose flared in anger. "You did it because you knew I wasn't ready to speak to that man. I wanted to do it on my own time, not yours!"

There was silence for a minute, but the familiar voice eventually filled the room.

"WHO IN THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE TALKING TO? Jersey Moriah Coleman!"

The old government name scream.

"I'm talking to you and don't yell my name out!" Jersey countered in anger. "What you did was wrong, Lisa. You gave him my number without my permission. I just need to understand what the fuck you are trying to accomplish?"

"He keeps asking me about you, so I figured speeding up the process would help," Lisa argued back. "I don't know what the fuck is wrong with you, little girl."

"You brought this shit to me!" Jersey cursed. "I tried to dodge it, but you keep trying to force him on me." She snapped. "If he cared so much about me, he would have been in my life from the fucking beginning!"

"I'm not going to do this with you. Do you hear me, Jersey? Not today."

Jersey rolled her eyes toward the roof of her car and said, "You never want to take accountability for your fuck ups. Just like you had Shaye and her grown-ass friends to jump Ashanti—"

As expected, Lisa ended the call. Jersey pulled her phone away from her ear and looked at her home screen. She just sat there with her bottom lip poked out.

Jersey continued to sit inside her car. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes for a moment. Lisa was draining her energy, which was not supposed to happen.

Days ago, she received a phone call from Abshir. The whole conversation was awkward as soon as Jersey confirmed her identity.

He wanted to see her, and of course, she told him she wasn't ready to take that step. Abshir respected her honesty and asked if they could keep in touch. Hesitantly, she said yes, and he proceeded to make conversation. Jersey didn't speak much, not wanting to go into detail about her life to a complete stranger.

"There's so much I don't know about you," Abshir told Jersey.

He spoke correctly, speaking clearly with each word, and he seemed happy about finally talking to her.

"I don't know anything about you." She lied as she sat on her bed. She'd already received information from Malcolm and Ryder, who did a background check.

Abshir kept it short by telling her the minor aspects of his life. From his mouth, Jersey learned that he wasn't from New York. Abshir was from Connecticut but lived in New York around the time Terrie became pregnant with her.

He didn't speak much about their situation, and she was thankful for that. Jersey wasn't quite ready to know more about his relationship with her mom.

Abshir mentioned something about his parents being immigrants from Somalia. He said that most of his family, who lived in America, were located in Connecticut. Abshir also claimed that his other children were ready to meet her.

"Wait a minute...you have nine children?"

"Ten, including you."

"Damn." She cursed before she could stop herself. Quickly, Jersey slapped her hand over her mouth. She didn't mean to say it out loud, but the news was shocking to her. The background check only mentioned two children of his.