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“Cool Be safe out there,” he said, and then we hung up

For the rest of the drive to theon my mind was the conversation that I’d just had with Chris I knew that he and Billion needed to meet each other, but the way Billion was so damn snappy these days, noasn’t the time

“Ma, can I ask you so mad?” my son asked me from the backseat

I turned the radio all the way down because I had a feeling that this would be one deep conversation

We often had deep conversations I reh to actually understand what prison was and soet themselves put in prison Once he understood that, then, of course, what folloas hi to knohy his father had been sent to prison I remember at seven years old,somebody

Billion had always told me that when the time came, and our son wanted to knohy he was sent away, he wanted to be the one to tell him the story Until Billion told him, it was just my job to talk around the subject I didn’t want to step on my baby daddy’s toes, especially since he wanted to be the author of his own story Lil Bill knew the details, but he didn’t know big details about his father once being in the streets heavy, and I knew for a fact that Billion definitely had a few bodies under him

For the s fro super deep and haveto him that I felt he wasn’t ready to know yet

“What do you want to know?” I asked, looking at hih the rearview mirror We were almost at the mall when he started this conversation

“Is Kharithe damn wind out of me with his question

We were at a red light, and I squeezed the steering wheel, wishing I had soic and that he had never asked me this question But Ito Billion around my son Even when I told the news to my mom a

nd to Roheem, I made sure I told them when my son wasn’t even ho about it I had no idea how the hell he even knew about this

“What made you ask me that?” I wanted to know

“I been wanting to ask I was just too scared to The night of randrandma outside the car The back asn’t rolled all the way up, so I heard the whole thing Daddy was crying, and he was mad, so I never wanted to ask Then, another ti about it Is that true? I hope it’s not because Khari is the only little sister I got I know Normani has a baby on the way, but still, I want Khari to still be my sister too,” my son said, and I could hear the sadness in his voice

The crazy thing is, my son was a lot like his dad, and he hated to show his eo when he fell and broke his ar on as I watched hi on I knew my son was in pain, but he wouldn’t show it When his father was still in prison, each time that Billion would do his daily phone call, after the call ended, Lil Bill would lock himself up in the bathroom for about ten minutes When he ca because he wanted his dad to come home

The fact that I could hear the sadness in his voice as he spoke, it brought sadness tothis in forabout it Billion told me at our son’s birthday party that he didn’t want h I had respected his wishes when he said it, I didn’t want to look my son in his eyes and lie to him either