21. Baby
BABY
“How did the search go? Any luck?” As soon as I walked in, Auntie asked me where she sat on the couch.
Jayda just dropped me home after talking my damn head off about the restaurant situation. Her ass ain’t have nothing to say when it was going down, suddenly, her ass wanted to be Chatty Kathy.
“It was okay. Found a job at a gas station.” I sat down next to her after taking off my shoes. It was almost three in the afternoon, and I’d been out looking since eleven this morning. God bless Jayda because she didn’t have to ride me around, but she did.
“Well, it’s something. You gotta start somewhere baby,” she stated, reaching down on the floor next to her feet.
“This for you.” She extended her hand, handing me a box. I opened it up to see a cell phone inside.
“Auntie, you ain’t have to do this,” I implied, examining it in my hands.
“I wanted to.” Getting up, she stretched out her muscles, peering down at me.
“Now, I paid it for two months. I figured you’ll at least have a job by then to pay the rest yourself.” I held my hand up to stop her from moving.
“Before you go, it’s something I gotta tell you.” I wasn’t sure if she knew what Leah was up to when she wasn’t here at home, but she had a right to know. I didn’t want her to walk around here blindsided. I knew too well how that felt when she did it to me.
“What’s wrong?” she replied, sitting back down.
“How much you know about Leah and Derek?” I examined her face carefully.
“Not much. She told me they met a few months ago, since this mess with T.K. happened, I figured what she told me was a lie. Your party was the first time I ever seen that boy,” she clarified, rubbing her hand down her arm. “Why you asked?”
“I ran into him at the restaurant, he told me he met her the day before the party.” Her eyes widened, her hand reaching for the cigarette in the ashtray.
“Hold on, child. I need this here because I just know you finna tell me something crazy.” She pulled a lighter from her pocket, lit it up, and took a long pull. “Go ahead.”
I shook my head, chuckling lightly. “Anyways, he told me he met her the day before and, after the party, her and her boyfriend ambushed him, took all his money.”
“Oh, Lord Jesus,” she sighed, pressing her fingers against her forehead. “It must’ve been that goddamn T.K. I knew his rock head ass was trouble when you brought him here the first time,” she confessed. I wish she would’ve shared that information with me, got me out here dealing with a fuck nigga.
“But that ain’t all of it.” I tapped her leg dramatically. “He said he knew somebody else they did that too.”
Auntie reared her head back, a shocked expression etched on her face.
“Can you try and talk her out of this Auntie? I don’t wanna see her go to jail for this.”
“Talk? Baby, you know that girl is way past the point of talking to. You saw the way she defended that damn boy the other day, he got her head so fucked up. And now that she’s pregnant, I’m sure it’s much worst.” She buried her face inside her hands.
“I don’t know how I ain’t see this sooner.
When you got sent away, she wasn’t as sad as I thought she’d be either. I should’ve seen the signs then.”
Well, damn! Just hurt my feelings, Auntie.
“It ain’t on you, she made a fool of me too,” I reassured her, rubbing my hands on her back. Just as she opened her mouth to speak, there was a knock on the door.
“You expecting somebody, Baby?” she asked, raising to her feet. I said no, glancing down at the phone. I was too busy looking down at my new phone, I didn’t hear when he came in.
“Baby.” I froze, my heart thumped wildly in my chest. His voice was like a siren drawing me in.
I snapped my head up. “Love?”
He watched me with a smile, his deep dimples on display, and it made my stomach flip.
He reached for my hand, and I didn’t hesitate to put my phone down.
Pulling me up from the couch, he wrapped his arms around my waist. Throwing mine around his shoulders, I breathed in his cologne.
It’s the same one he had on Valentine’s Day.
I wanted to know the name of it so I could buy it for myself.
He smelled so damn good. We stayed in this embrace for a few minutes, with him nuzzling my neck.
“When did you get out?” I pulled back to lock eyes with him.
“This morning,” he answered, caressing my cheek with his thumb. “Hey, beautiful.”
I ducked my head shyly. Seeing him in front of me had every emotion I felt that night rushing back. A throat cleared, and we both turned to the door to see Auntie standing there with a goofy smile on her face.
Oh, hell. I forgot all about her.
“Oh, um- auntie, this is Love.” I introduced her sheepishly. “Love, this is my auntie, Misha.”
He extended his hand for a shake.
“It’s nice to meet you, ma’am,” he said respectfully, and I couldn’t keep my eyes off him.
Auntie noticed, chuckling to herself, before she returned his gesture. “It’s nice to meet you too, honey. Call me Misha.”
He nodded with a smile, then turned back to me. I heard her telling me she was going in her room if we needed anything, but I barely spared her a glance.
“I’m so sorry I couldn’t help you,” I apologized to him the minute she disappeared, my bottom lip trembling.
“I didn’t want you to help.” He led me towards the couch to sit down. With his elbows resting on his knees, he turned his head to look at me. “I don’t need you sacrificing yourself for me, Baby. If anybody sacrificing something, it’ll be me. You understand?”
I nodded, watching him intertwine his hand with mine.
“I got put on leave at the job. My boss said he needed to investigate, but I already know what it is.” I watched him lick his lips, giving me a crooked smile.
“For a person who lost their job, you seem happy about it,” I observed his face.
He lifted me up from where I was sitting, and placed me down on his lap.
The way his muscles flexed in his black t-shirt had me all hot and bothered.
His hand cupped me around my waist, as mine sat trembling in my lap.
I’d never been this close to him before, and it was unraveling a part of me only he could touch.
Trailing his hand from my neck to my ear, he whispered, “It’s a million jobs out here baby, but it’s only one you.”
I blushed hard, his confession sending a chill down my spine. When he placed a soft kiss behind my ear, I melted in a puddle. Here I thought T.K. was the smooth talker, but he didn’t have anything on Love.
I had my head down until he used his finger to move it upward. My face was only inches from his, as our eyes collided, my mouth suddenly became dry.
“So, what you tryna say?” I pressed him, my voice thick with emotion.
“I’m saying we can make something happen between us.” I stared at him, the room closing in around us. I was finding it hard to think straight with his hands on me. “I want you so bad, Baby, and I'm tired of waiting.”
He looked high. His eyes were hooded, and I wanted to ask him about it, but he interrupted me when he spoke again.
“Unless this ain’t what you want?” he asked with concern, his hands caressing my thighs. It's been so long since I’d been touched like this. He was exactly what I wanted, and I knew it the minute I saw him.
Another knock sounded at the door, so Love moved me off him to open it. There was an envelope on the steps, but we didn’t see anybody. Love even went further outside to glance down the street, but whoever dropped it off was long gone. We went back inside and sat on the couch.
“What’s this?” I questioned, staring down at the package.
“I don’t know,” he responded, breaking the seal apart.
My heart galloped in my chest when my eyes landed on photos of us at the restaurant, and you know what they say about pictures being worth a thousand words.
The way we looked at each other, it ain’t no way we could downplay our feelings.
Our faces weren’t even an inch apart, so you could clearly see we were about to kiss.
“Who sent this to me?” I whispered, flipping through each of them.
Love spoke through clenched teeth. “Lauren.”