So on Monday, I called up RDB, who amazingly has been working non-stop since his, ummm, release from rehab. So I'z been gettin my child support. And I told him that if I was getting my money, then this year I would give him some school pictures. As opposed to just sending a 5x7 to the one family member that I still do like in his family, his grandmother.

So I call about 11:30am and ask if he's working today. He says no, its his day off. I told him to take the train and come downtown. Without hesitation or a second thought, he's like, "When? Now? I'm putting on my clothes now!!!"

I told him after 12, to which the fool calls me at 1:30 and says that he's downtown, now what?! I told him I'd meet him on the corner of 12th and F Streets and when he wasn't there, I called him up and started buckin. Then I realized that he was directly in front of me. ROTFL!!!

Exactly how long does it take for you to not recognize a person you had slept with for almost 3 years? Ah, for the sake of this blog...I have no real answers. Its been so long since we seen each other, the first thing that he said to me was, "I see your letting your hair grow out." Uh, yeah...that's right, I just CUT 10 inches off about a month or so ago...

It HAS been a long time. I mean, the last time he saw the child was in March. I know for a fact he hasn't seen me for at least a year and my intuition tells me its been more like, 2 years.

So anyway, we head down to ESPN Zone for a late lunch. If lunch was 90 minutes, we argued about 75 of them. About what went wrong 7 years ago. Isn't that funny? I'm married. He's got another kid. We're talking about the reason we broke up. He even goes so far as to call a friend we both know to have HIM co-sign via Nextel two-way:

RDB: *BEEP BEEP* Hey! Guess what I'm doing? *BEEP BEEP*
FRIEND: *BEEP BEEP* Sitting in your basement, lookin at your daughter's picture and missin yo baby momma? *BEEP BEEP*
RDB: *BEEP BEEP* Nope. Better. Sitting downtown having LUNCH with my baby momma! *BEEP BEEP*
FRIEND: *BEEP BEEP* Fer real?! Ya'll getting back together? Ya'll should get back together and go ahead and get married!!! *BEEP BEEP
ME: *BEEP BEEP* Uh, a day late and a dollar short friend, I'm already married...*BEEP BEEP*
FRIEND: *BEEP BEEP* Oh, that...that's okay. We all make mistakes..." *BEEP BEEP*
ME: *BEEP BEEP* Uh, well, if my marriage is a mistake, I can get a divorce...your man here has other children, whatchu gonna say about that? *BEEP BEEP*

silence.
FRIEND: *BEEP BEEP* Man, just let me know when you going to get back together man. You remember...you remember the way you used to look at my man. Shooooo...I remember. *BEEP BEEP*

At that point, I was laughing so hard, I passed the phone back to RDB and said I was done.

While the conversation was highly animated and a little hostile, it was by no means conventional arguing. I mean, like WE argue. Funny how the things he chose to bring up were all bad. He was like, you remember you did this? You did that?! And for every instance, I had a reply for dat ass.

Oh, yeah - and he thinks I'm pregnant! That was the funniest shit of all!!!! He wanted to touch me and I was like, "IF YOU TOUCH ME, I'M GOING TO BEAT THE HELL OUT OF YOU ON F STREET." So that was pretty hilarious.

But when we parted, I came away feeling a couple of ways. One, he seems to be doing alright. Substance abuse wise. He wasn't high. He wasn't drunk. He looked like he mighta put on a few pounds (which is good) and you know, he looked...sober.

On the flip side, the reunion completely reinforces many things: One, my marriage is the best thing that ever happened to me and my child. Two, even if I was single, I'd be crazier than hell to go back to that. And three, RDB, deep deep down is still an alright person. I found myself looking at him in a way that only an ex-girlfriend that bore his firstborn child could look at him. Obnoxious? Completely! Annoying as hell? Without a doubt! But I saw shades of the person I remember and it made me feel alright about letting my child be around him. So maybe the child WILL get to know her biological father. And it won't be through bullet-proof glass or in a room with padded walls!

Folks, we mighta had a breakthrough...