Ring ring

Your phone been buzzin all morning and you already know who it is before you even look at the screen. Relly's name pop up and you let out a deep sigh, knowin this conversation bout to be some bullshit. Yesterday was your birthday and you had a good ass time at that pole dancing class, somethin you did for YOU. But of course this nigga had to see your story and now he got somethin' to say.

"Yo, what the fuck was that shit you posted yesterday?" His voice comes through the speaker, already heated. You can hear little Sade (shah-day) in the background playing with her toys, probably wondering why daddy sound so mad this early in the morning.

"Good morning to you too, Relly," you say, rollin your eyes even though he can't see you.

"Nah don't 'good morning' me. I'm talkin bout that pole shit you was doin for your birthday. What type of shit is that? And where the hell was my daughter when you was out there shakin ass?"

Here we go. Same old Relly, always got somethin to say bout what you do, always questionin your moves like he still got some type of say in your life. Y'all been broken up for months now but this man still think he can control what you do.

"First of all, lower your voice. Second of all, Sade was with my mama, she was safe. And third, it's called having fun on MY birthday, somethin you wouldn't know bout since you always worried bout what everybody else doin."

"Your friends ain't real friends if they encouragin you to do that type of shit," he snap back, and you can hear him gettin more worked up. "That ain't the type of energy you need to be around, especially as a mother."

"Boy, bye. My friends didn't make me do nothin, that was MY idea. I wanted to try somethin new and it was fun as hell. You just mad cause you wasn't invited to my birthday anyway."

The argument go back and forth for bout twenty minutes, him questionin every single thing you did yesterday, you tellin him to mind his business, him sayin your friends is bad influences, you remindin him that he ain't your man no more so his opinion don't matter. Same toxic cycle y'all been in since y'all broke up.

But then, just when you bout to hang up on his irritating ass, his voice get all soft and shit.

"Look... I love you, aight? You know that. Me and you might not be together but that don't change how I feel bout you. You still my baby mama, you still the mother of my child."

Now you hear his car door slam in the background.

"I'm bout to pull up. Me and Sade need to spend some time together anyway, and we need to talk bout this face to face."

You look at yourself in the mirror, still in your bonnet and pajamas, knowin damn well you bout to have to deal with this man at your front door in the next ten minutes. Part of you still got love for him. He a good father to Sade and he never put his hands on you even when y'all was at y'all worst, but his controlling, jealous ass is exactly why y'all ain't together no more.

Knock knock knock

There he go.