Stubborn

Chapter Twenty

If you thought that Melanie was crazy enough to give up her goods to that man that quick, you thought wrong. She left and went straight to her house. She contemplated confronting Jermaine on his lying. Her gut wouldn't allow her to trust this man outside of their son, and part of her didn't even want her to do that. She just felt as though something wasn't right. Was it her business to snoop around and find information? She didn't care. He was back and he was up to something. Melanie pulled up in her driveway and got out. She walked to her front door and opened it. The house was extremely quiet, so she noted it as everyone being sleep. Mel walked into her bedroom and jumped at the sight of Jermaine.

"Fuck, you scared me," she mumbled. He was lying on top of her covers watching a muted television.

"Why is the TV on mute?" Mel questioned as she began taking her shoes off of her feet. She sat them I the corner.

"I heard the door. Everything cool at work?" Jermaine asked her. She knew he was talking about the slight lie that she had told before she was leaving.

Melanie nodded her head, "Yeah," she answered dryly. She wasn't in the mood for any small talk with a liar.

"Oh!" Melanie said as she turned to look at him. "Lena's in the hospital, and those flowers you bought were beautiful. Where'd you get them from?"

Jermaine looked at her, "Damn, what happened with Lena? And I'll send you the info. My homeboy used it for his wedding."

Melanie nodded her head slowly before responding, "Uh, she's in a coma right now."

"And you're not there?"

Melanie shot him a look. She knew what he was hinting at, and she didn't like it. The last time Milena ended up in the hospital, Melanie was there every single day, all night. She only left that hospital for about two hours to clean up herself and do small business. But other than that, Melanie was right there with her sister. When Milena left the hospital, she went right back to where they had found her. Mel had no control over how her sister lived her life. Jermaine was there with her, but there were times when he'd suggest that she come home to get herself a good night's rest. Each time, Melanie refused. She lost a lot of sleep in that time.

"I have a son, now," Melanie simply commented. "But uh, can you leave?" She knew that it was probably rude, but she didn't care at this point. She had pinpointed Jermaine's lie, and she needed to do some investigating on the entire thing.

"Damn, it's like that, Mel?" Jermaine asked. He sat the remote control down on the night stand close to the bed and began sitting up.

Melanie laughed softly. "I need my rest, sweetie. I'll contact you about talking to Chanel," she told him. Melanie began thinking and had a better idea. "Actually, could you bring her in tomorrow? I'll waive your fees and everything. I think this case is serious, and I want to work with her."

She could see that Jermaine was happy about this. His eyes lit up and he nodded. "I can do that." Jermaine thanked Melanie, kissed her cheek, and went in Julian's room to get his daughter before leaving her house.

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"You gonna be good?" Melanie asked Julian as she began removing his jacket from his body. She had just gotten him inside of the daycare, and they were about to have their normal morning talk. He nodded his head and rubbed his eyes. "You still sleepy?" Mel asked in a concerned voice. Usually, Julian was more energetic in the mornings, due to him going to sleep at proper times of the night.

He nodded his head before letting a yawn. "Is that girl stay tonight?" Julian asked her. Melanie could sense that Ju didn't really like Chanel. She didn't know why, but her son never continuously called someone 'that girl'. She laughed softly, "I don't know. But I'll let your teacher know that you'll need a nap, okay?" Julian nodded and walked inside of his classroom. She turned to face his teacher.