"Huh? You and your child?" Sandy swallowed the knot in her throat. "Yes. Why the fuck you think that motherfucker is over here eating my pussy right now? So that I might change my fucking mind about the child support."

"Ice is here?" Sandy asked, dumbfounded. "Yup, as he always is," Brenda informed Sandy. "And unless you got some motherfucking money for me, you need to get the fuck off of my goddamn property, bitch."

"Listen, there is no need for you to get mad at me. This is the first time I heard anything of any of this."

"Didn't I say leave, bitch? And once I am done with yo husssband," she said, moving her head from side to side, "then I will send him on home to you." "Shut the window, Brenda!" Sandy heard Ice's voice in the background. She stood there stunned. She couldn't believe her ears. Hearing her husband's voice come from what was probably another woman's bedroom sent Sandy into a trance.

So she isn't lying at all. This motherfucker is over here with her and allowing her to disrespect me. And to top it off, he isn't coming out here to face me. I've given this nigga almost twenty years of my life, and this is what I get? "Fuck this bitch," Brenda responded to Ice while glaring at Sandy. "It took her long enough to find out about us and our thirteen-year-old daughter. If she wanna‚" That was when Ice snatched Brenda out of the way and reached over and shut the shed right in Sandy's face.

Thirteen years old. That's the same age as Isis, Sandy realized. This motherfucker has been living a double life for thirteen fucking years. Oh, hell no! I'm not leaving until I get to the bottom of this. Sandy began banging on the door, not caring if the neighbors heard. She even forgot about her own daughter, who was waiting back in the rig. "Ice! Ice! Come to this door right now!" Sandy yelled in between hits. "You cheating-ass nigga, you need to be man enough to face me!"

She kicked the door. "Motherfucker, open up the door and come out here!" Sandy paused to see if she was going to get any reply. She could hear Brenda inside the house still running off at the mouth. "Don't you know he don't want you, you proper and prim, fake wannabe-model bitch? Bitch, you ain't no model" were Brenda's muffled words. "Ice, get out here now. You owe me that much. I'm not leaving until you come out here, so you're going to have to face me eventually, coward." Sandy kicked the door as hard as she could, hoping that somehow the lock would pop and she could get in the door.

"Obviously he don't want you, or he'd be on the other side of the door out there with you instead of in here with me. Now get away from my door, bitch. What the fuck you going to do? Come in here and get him?" Just then, Sandy noticed the huge boulders that decorated the little flower bed next to the porch. As she struggled to pick up one of the rocks, she was distracted when she heard Isis call out to her, "Ma, what are you doing?"

"My daughter," Sandy said, realizing the last thing she wanted was for her baby girl to witness her acting like a daggone fool. She walked quickly back to the truck. As she hopped in, she said, "Baby, I apologize. I never want you to see me act like that, and I never want you to ever act like I just did. People may envy you, but you can't let them see you act a damn fool. Even if you feel like one."

"Was Dad there?"
"Yes, baby."
"How come you ain't let me go up there to get him?"
"It's ‚'didn't let,' not ‚'ain't let,' " she said, correcting her daughter's English. "Because it's grown folks' business." After apologizing to her daughter, Sandy drove to the strip mall up the street from Brenda's house. She gave Isis a twenty-dollar bill and told her to get something to eat. While Isis was ordering her food, Sandy walked to the pay phone and called her brother. "Look, I need you to come and pick up Isis right now from McDonald's on Nine Mile Road. I have some urgent business that I have to take care of."