chapter 5

After that night, it was a while before I saw my baby girl again. We would FaceTime more than we would visit, and it was usually when she was in transit, or was waiting for a bus. Dani and Shawn were inseparable.

Every now and then, Sasha would send me a message asking if I knew where she was. I always replied with one of those cute little cartoon character's saying "In Love". We both knew she was at Shawn's, I think Sasha just wanted an opportunity to have me offer to send food over.

Our relationship became mostly digital, with her texting me on the phone or calling me for a chat. I'd beg for a scrap of a sight of my daughter - a selfie on Instagram or a tagged picture on Facebook. But her stories were all photos of Shawn at a restaurant, Shawn on a patio, Shawn cheersing her with a glass of champagne. She was never in the photos.

I remember how much food were in those pics though. Lord, I swear that table was going to buckle sometimes. Filled to the brim with fried goods or dainty high-class meals. And always, alcohol. I never knew someone to drink as much as she did.

Shawn got a big bonus right before Christmas, and Dani called me to ask my advice on where they should go on a holiday. It hurt my heart. My baby girl was gonna spend two weeks somewhere hot rather than with her family? I didn't think so. I told her to wait and go in the New Year. She did not like being told no.

I remember telling her she was turning into a right spoiled princess.

"What, just cuz you ain't ever got spoiled by a man means that I'm not allowed to either?"

I didn't recognize this voice. I didn't recognize my daughter's tone. That's not the girl I raised. I snapped back.

"Everything you have is because of me."

"Yeah, mama," she said tiredly, "But everything I'm going to have is going to be from Shawn."

I hung up the phone. I didn't have anything to say. Let her go off with her man, see how that pans out.

I didn't hear from her for a few weeks. Then, the photos started to pop up on my feeds.

Dani put up an entire album on Facebook called, "First Getaway with Bae." They went to Mexico, an all inclusive. She got her hair done in braids and had fancy new sunglasses.

But that wasn't the first thing I noticed.

All these photos were of her in bikinis, a shall wrapped around her waist. I tell you, she must have put on 20lbs since I last saw her. She crossed her legs in the photo to give herself a curvature, but I knew that trick. Of the 80 photos in the album, almost 60 were of her meals and colourful drinks. There was one video at the very end that gave insight into her lifestyle:

It was from Shawn's perspective, and Dani was coming home from a night out. She's in this red, skin tight crop top and a pair of tight frayed jean shorts. I can see her thong print pushing out of her ass. As she struts towards the bed, Shawn whispers a "Damn."

She opens the mini fridge and empties the contents into her arms and turns to the camera, sticking her tongue out drunkenly. The button on those shorts are damn near ready to pop. Her gut is testing that poor button like Jesus in the Desert.

When she sits, I watch her reach down to unbutton her captor and she rips a burp. The video ends while her and Shawn laugh.

The gluttony? On video? I was ashamed. When I went to her instagram, I saw she had posted a photo of her on the beach. She's sitting on a rock, looking out over the ocean. Her ass is spread wide on the surface, her lovehandles indented with two thick lines. Her big sausage arms rub against her bikini line.

All the comments are of girls praising her:

"dammmmmmm, she a KWEEN!"

"holy shit u r the hottest babe"

"gimme that ass girlie? what you doin hogging all that goodie?"

"she poppin OFF!! curvy legend"

"life treatin you good, I can see"

To the last one, she replied, "It's only up from here!"

Only up? What happened to the girl who disappeared into self-consciousness and routine two years ago? Now she was big and flaunting it?

It made me miss her. I was proud of her growth. But it would be a little while before I saw her again.