Chapter 7 #2
“Oh my god! I don’t know! I was there with my girls! It was for the community, so all types of people were there! Damn! You can’t be that insecure!” she shouted. She made the mistake of lowering the bat and never saw the slap coming.
“Got a nigga showing up to my door like I ain’t taking care of what’s mine.” He was seething. “You keep playing with me, and I’ma put your ass out on the streets. Simple ass.”
Her feelings were on the floor as she felt the sting of his hand.
Her lip quivered uncontrollably as she sobbed.
He had never flown off the handle like this before.
He would yoke her up and bark down on her when his jealousy was in overdrive, but he had never struck her.
She was in a state of disbelief. She had met this man when she was in high school.
He was ten years older than her. He was all she knew.
She was terrified to leave but also sick of staying.
He was becoming intolerable, and Courtney didn’t know how much more she could take.
Ellie fell asleep in the middle of her group chat and to the sound of Loyal and her dad playing dominos downstairs. The only thing that woke her up was the tapping sound on her windowpane.
“What the hell?” she groaned. She kicked off the comforter and scrambled to her window to find Loyal standing outside in the middle of the front yard.
He tossed the pebbles he had in his hand and held his arms out wide.
This fine-ass man was in her parents’ front yard in the middle of the night like a love-struck teenager, and she was smitten.
The smile that spread across her face was infectious.
She felt the warmth from his attraction spread through her entire body.
Loyal Brier was awakening parts of her that age had dulled.
The belief in happiness. The belief in love at first sight.
The belief in a man when he said he was feeling a woman.
Disappointment and heartbreak had clouded her judgment, making her doubt men before they even opened their mouths.
This man was doing something different with her psyche.
He was unapologetically pursuing her. She knew he had his pick of women, and the fact that he saw this middle-aged woman, with her two children, and complicated situation and didn’t run the other way, made her feel like she was still worth something.
If she was honest, she had accepted crumbs from Cairo because she thought her best days were behind her.
Loyal made her feel like her best days just may be to come.
She checked the time and lifted her window.
“It’s 3 am!” she hissed. “Where is my papa?”
“He’s on the couch asleep. The nigga hustled me out of every dollar in my pocket, and I keep at least ten bands on me,” Loyal said, smiling boyishly as he rubbed his wavy head.
“School took everything, even the lint in my pockets. That’s a slick-ass old man, E.
” Loyal’s lighthearted tone told her that he had enjoyed the evening with her dad, and that warmed her.
Ellie climbed out onto the snowy roof, stifling laughter because she knew he wasn’t lying.
She had seen her father run a con before.
He would lose a few hands purposefully, before pretending to be desperate and increasing his bet, only to later win every round.
Sneaking out onto this roof was pure nostalgia.
She hadn’t done this since she was a teenager.
“It’s freezing out here, Loyal,” she shivered. “Go home!”
“Come with me,” he invited.
“What?” she gasped, shocked.
“Climb down the ladder and come home with me, E.” Loyal said it plainly, like it made perfect sense. “I got a big, warm bed waiting for you.”
“Have you lost your mind? How many games did you lose?” She knew the rules when playing dominos with her daddy. Loser took shots, and Papa drank the strong shit.
“I won a few,” he snickered, trying to save his pride. He had a beautiful smile with dimples that sank into his dark skin. She noticed that he didn’t smile often, but when he did, it was a masterpiece. Nothing was more attractive than seeing a Black man smile.
“You lost a few more,” she laughed. “Just wait right there. I’m coming out.”
“Just climb down,” Loyal suggested.
“Boy, me and that ladder ain’t been friends since I was a teenager,” she said, laughing.
“I’d bust my ass trying to climb down that thing.
I’m coming. One sec.” She climbed back inside her window.
“Shit!” she whispered as she nursed frozen toes.
She knew he shouldn’t drive. She wasn’t crazy enough to invite him to sleep under her daddy’s roof.
She slipped into sweatpants and a sweatshirt, threw on her daughter’s Ugg boots, and grabbed her purse, then her phone, before she tiptoed down the stairs.
Ellie paused as the old house creaked beneath her feet, and her daddy grumbled, readjusting on the couch.
She waited a full minute before continuing.
She felt like she was sixteen again as she snuck out the front door. She ran down the porch stairs right into Loyal’s arms.
“There she go,” he said proudly as he drowned his face in the crook of her neck.
“You’re cold,” she whispered. She smelled the Paul Masson on his breath. Yeah, Papa beat this nigga real bad, she thought, fully amused. “And you’re drunk. Give me your keys,” she said.
“I’m not fucked up, E, I can drive,” he replied.
She held out her hand and didn’t say another word. He dug in his pocket, handing over the keys. They got into his car, warming up.
“I’m going to call you an Uber,” she stated.
“Or you could just come home with me. I’ll bring you back in the morning before your girls wake up,” he offered.
“I can’t stay the night with you, Loyal,” she protested.
“It’s gon’ be your fucking house sooner or later anyway, E,” he said, frowning. “Might as well come home with a nigga.”
“You see our whole lives already, huh?” she asked, yawning.
“You do too, you just too scared to admit it; same way you were biting your fucking tongue in the house,” he accused.
“I’m being cautious,” she corrected. “And smart. We aren’t kids, and relationships like my parents’ don’t happen these days. I have two kids, Loyal, and you have…” she paused. “I don’t even know how many kids you have. I don’t even know you.”
“You’re being pussy,” he shot back.
“Are you trying to bait me into saying I love you,” she chuckled. “You’re really fucking drunk.”
He placed one hand behind her seat and stared across the car at her. “Hey.”
The seriousness of his tone caught her attention, and he commanded her gaze. “These are sober thoughts. You make me feel some shit I never felt before, E. Before you said one word, my entire body reacted to you when Cass introduced us.”
She looked down at her hand at the ring that adorned her left finger. She didn’t even know why she still wore her wedding ring.
“You make me feel seen,” she whispered. “Yesterday, you were a total stranger. Today, you’re…”
“A man who trying to change your life.”
She turned in her seat to face him. “I didn’t even know my heart was half beating before yesterday.”
“Can’t have that.” He opened his palm, inviting her to place her hand in his, and then he closed his grip before lifting their conjoined fists to his lips. “I don’t know what this is, E, but I’m fucking with it.”
“Time will tell us what this is,” she whispered skeptically.
“Only niggas scared of time is niggas who plan on wasting it,” he replied. “Go get some rest. I’m good to drive,” he assured.
“Are you sure?” she asked. He heard the worry in her.
“I’ll tell you a story; I’ll never tell you a lie. Trust me.” She pulled out his keys and placed them in the cup holder. “When you make it inside, I’ll pull off.”
She didn’t know why watching this man leave was so hard. She had felt the same devastating sinkhole form in her chest earlier when she had gone upstairs. Now, she couldn’t even bring herself to pull her door handle. When would she see him again? She needed firm plans in place to ease her mind.
“Tomorrow, I’m going Christmas tree shopping for Friendsmas…”
“What the fuck is Friendsmas?” he asked.
“It’s like Christmas, but with friends. We have all these events planned. It’s a whole annual thing that me and my girls do,” she explained. “Would you want to come?”
“I’ll try to fall through. Send me the details,” he replied.
“Can you do more than try?” she asked.
“I’ll be there,” he promised. “Have a good night.”
“You too,” she answered.