CONNECTED

17.

Tae.

I stood off to the side, watching in amusement as Julio and Marcus tried to build him and Mila's baby crib.

"Nigga I told you to hold it up like this!" Julio yanked a piece of wood out of Marcus's hands. He positioned it the way he wanted it to be. "You gotta hold it up against this piece right here so I can drill the damn screw in!" He told him, irritated.

"How you know where shit suppose to go if you didn't read the directions?"

Julio smacked his lips. "I'm a real ass nigga, fuck I need to read them shits for? I got two kids, I've built two cribs." He drilled the screw in, bonding the two pieces of gray wood together. Little did he know he was gone have to take it right back out.... shit was all wrong.

I had tried to lend a helping hand, but they told me I thought I knew everything so I said fuck it.

Since this was Marcus first go round with this Fatherhood shit, Julio and I had been helping him build the baby furniture all day and put up everything that Mila couldn't. I didn't mind, I was just glad they were finally coming around.

"Man Ju, this shit don't look right at all." Marcus palmed his forehead, looking at all the wood pieces on the ground. "If them two pieces go together then where this long shit go?" He held up one of the pieces that supported the mattress. "And don't we gotta build the bottom first?"

"I don't even know man." Julio sighed still messing with shit.

"Well then why the fuck you acting like you do?" Marcus and I laughed at him. "That's exactly why I asked Tae to do this crib shit by himself." He motioned towards me.

"Nah y'all told me I was a know it all." I reminded them. I was sitting across the room in the navy blue recliner we built this morning; rocking away.

"I apologize man." Marcus put his hand on his chest. "But can you please build this shit?"

"You a poor excuse of a man." Julio under-eyed him making me laugh hard as hell. "Don't you wanna do this yourself so at the end of the day you can say you did all this hard ass work for your kid? This really when it hit you that you bout to become a Daddy, nigga."

I agreed "Hell yeah, I had my becoming a daddy moments building both of my kids cribs." It really was a real thing.

"Deadass?" He asked us.

"Mannnn I cried when I built Cari shit." Julio smiled to himself, remembering the moment. "I remember that day so vividly; what I had on and everything. Korea wanted her to have a pink crib and I thought that shit was so ugly." He laughed. "I remember when I was finished with it though." He looked back and forth between the both of us. "That crib was just so beautiful to me, like I had never seen anything that damn perfect, and to know that a life that I created would be sleeping in something I had to build by hand had my ass emotional as fuck."

I nodded "I didn't cry, but I feel you bro."

"So y'all saying I really gotta do this shit myself?"

Julio gripped his shoulder "Now that I remember how special it is, yeah G. I want you to get to feel that moment."

"Me too" I added.

He got up off the carpet, dusting himself off. "Well ima build it by my lonesome tonight and if I feel whatever y'all saying ima feel, ima call both y'all niggas."

"Good thing" I told him. "Now pay me the weed you owe me so I can go home to my lady." I yawned. I hadn't seen Nicole or the kids all day and I was missing my family.

They both scoffed "Nigga we said after we finish everything we was gone chill and smoke together." Julio spoke up for the both of them.

"I been with y'all all day. I'm ready to go home, the fuck." I chuckled. "We can do that any other day."