A Secret To Treasure

Mon'Keese Brooks

Time seemed frozen as I processed this moment. Being a man with a lot to lose has honed my way of thinking and reacting. See... if I was still Keese from the Tre, right here in the Houston Zoo, I would snatch this fucking lace front off the top of Treasure's head, then proceed to whip her motherfucking ass with it for playing with me. Treasure had robbed me of the one thing that I would trade everything for! I could've gotten married and had children years ago, but I always held hope that she and I would end up back together. In a way, my life has been on hold since she left me laying on the floor in that dorm room years ago. I've only let women get close enough to lay beneath me while I ordered them an Uber. In 10 years, I hadn't even held a steady relationship for longer than a year. Why would I waste my time when I met the person I wanted to be with for the rest of my life when I was in the 6th grade?
As hot as I was right now, there was nothing that could cool me down.
"Daddy?"
Hearing Keyani's little voice pulled me from the rage I was falling into.
"Keez, you my Daddy?" She asked for reassurance. I was speechless as I stared at this little doll. My Babydoll... mines. Nodding my head, I looked over at Treasure, who was still kneeled down, with tears running down her face. I decided not to let her steal this moment from me, she'd taken enough. I wouldn't degrade her or belittle her, my daughter would never see that.
"Yes, Babydoll, I'm your daddy." I reassured her, holding her closer to me. "You ready to go and see some more of the zoo?"
"Yes, Daddy!" She beamed. Her big smile lighting up her whole face and cooling down my brewing spirit.
I couldn't even be mad anymore. Rest assured, I'm going to dig into everyone's ass that played a part in keeping me from my daughter, but that would have to wait until after we fed the giraffes.

As we headed out, I couldn't even look at Treasure.
I threw over my shoulder, "My mama gon' kill you."
Stopping her dead in her tracks.

See, Mon'Keese Brooks of the Houston Texans might be above dragging a bitch by the lace front, but Tonya Brooks? Tiny from the Tre? She was gone tear Treasure's ass up. My mama been begging for a grandchild for years. Giving birth to me at only 15, she learned at an early age she ain't wanna go through birthing a baby ever again. Especially since I was a bad ass child. She wasn't exactly ready to be a mother, so we grew up together. Football helped me grow a lot faster. So, while a lot of things were beneath me and could cost me a lot, Tiny was living the life she missed at 21 at my expense. I'd purchased her a nice three-story townhouse near TSU, deposited 20,000 dollars in her account every 6 weeks, and upgraded her whip every year. If I felt like Treasure needed her ass whipped, my mama would happily whip her ass.
"Stop playing, Keese." She said.
"I'm not playing. When Tiny find out you've been hiding the grandbaby she's been begging for, you better hope she don't have her blade. And you know she don't leave home without her bestie. I got some bandaids at the house though." I reassured her as I continued on with Babydoll. "KeyKey, let's go look at the monkeys!"

As our zoo trip came to the end, I didn't want my time with Keyani to be over. Thinking about it, Treasure wasn't in a position to tell me no, and I wasn't going to allow her to. As we walked to our cars with Keyani sleeping in my arms, I started laying out some grounds.
"Aye, you over there playing house with my child? That shit dead." I said, turning to face Treasure. "This my child and she don't need no other daddy. Especially not a nigga that's playing hood Uber in yo shit. Matter of fact, put her car seat in my car. I'll follow you home to get her some shit until I can get to the store in the morning."
"Nobody is playing daddy to your child. DayQuan has his own kids to care of. He has only been at my house for a week." She replied. "You not taking my baby from me!"

"Like you took her from me? You stole 3 birthdays and two Christmases from me! You stole teaching her how to walk and her first words from me! If I hadn't ran into you at the Galleria last week... hell if I wouldn't have moved back to Houston, would I have even known about my daughter?" I stared her down.
"Keese... I..." she stuttered.
"Exactly, grab that car seat for me, and then lead the way." Causing her to stomp off like somebody did her spoiled ass something. Coming back with the car seat, I asked her to show me how to set it up, because I never had to before. I reached inside and buckled my Babydoll in.
Treasure was still standing beside me as I closed the door.
I walked around her and started my car. She got the message as she started her car and drove toward her house.
Ten minutes later, we pulled up to a nice two-story house. There was a Challenger already parked in the driveway, so I pulled in behind it. Parking her Range Rover, Treasure hopped out and went inside while I waited for her to return with my baby's things. I had a workout scheduled for 9 AM. My mama would most likely pop up in the morning for breakfast as she'd been doing since I moved home. I shot her a text to make sure she would be there in the morning. If push comes to shove, Keyani was going to be pushing some weights with me. As fast as fatherhood hit me, I'm glad I had the skills to catch it. I had a bedroom in the penthouse that I hadn't decided what to do with up until now. I was going to convert that into Keyani's room. I reached out to my assistant, Alaya, to coordinate everything. I knew she had questions, but I'd answer her tomorrow.
Treasure was taking longer than I had patience for now. Calling her phone and she didn't answer. I couldn't leave KeyKey in the car alone, so I grabbed her out the car seat and headed to the door. I could hear arguing, the closer I got to the door, the louder it got.
Man... this about to be some bullshit.