Chapter 13 #2
He was so damn cute, so cool, and calm, and collected.
He wanted her to go hard or go home and he wasn’t afraid at all to move all his pieces around on the Chess board to make it happen.
Ellie was terrified to give in to Loyal.
She had grown complacent in the dysfunction of her marriage.
It was a terrible relationship, but it was the devil she knew.
She was used to Cairo’s abandonment, and she knew exactly how bad his worst got.
She could anticipate the threshold for pain with Cairo, and although it hurt, it had already scabbed over.
Cairo didn’t have the power to make her bleed out.
Loyal brought the spark back to a dormant heart, and the picture of love he painted was so enticing that it gave her hope.
She didn’t want to be let down again. The vulnerability he exposed in her was dangerous.
“Thank you for coming to check on us and for making it better. I know you’re busy, and there were probably much better things you could have been doing today,” Ellie leaned her head on his shoulder.
She knew he had paused his entire day to fix a heart he didn’t break, and it counted even more because the heart he had repaired was Tessa’s.
His compassion and empathy revealed an emotional maturity that most men didn’t possess.
“I’m where I want to be right now; don’t sweat it,” Loyal replied.
“We should head back,” she proposed.
The drive back was quiet. Tessa was worn out and slept the entire way, and Ellie was in her head. Still, there was a peace in the car that she appreciated. Loyal allowed her to be with her thoughts as he listened to the Pistons game play-by-play on XM.
“You’re probably the only Pistons fan left,” Ellie mumbled. “You and Papa.”
“Don’t do my niggas dirty like that. Look at the Lions. Thirty years of losses, and almost to the Super Bowl last year. It ain’t never too late to make a comeback, and I’m riding when they down. I ain’t like the bandwagon jumpers,” Loyal defended.
“I am impressed by your loyalty,” she stated sarcastically. “No pun intended.”
He chuckled. “The Pistons was my dad’s team. Can’t give up on ‘em. I remember the Ben Wallace era,” he gloated.
“Oh my god, that was like 20 years ago!” she shouted, laughing. “Robert gon’ have to choose a new team.”
“Not Robert, my biological dad,” Loyal corrected.
Ellie paused, noticing the inflection in his voice. “Oh,” she whispered. “Is he still alive?”
“I don’t know,” Loyal stated. “He suffers from schizophrenia, which led to addiction. He’s been on the streets my whole life.
Robert adopted me when I was seven, but he’s been around since before I could remember.
He was my mother’s social worker. Saw how we were living, saw the struggles she was going through with my dad, and saved us.
He even tried to get my dad help, but that didn’t last long.
He thinks the medication is someone trying to poison him.
He’s homeless. I used to ride my bike down to this hole-in-the-wall bar where he used to sweep up in the wintertime.
They used to let him sleep in the basement if he worked for free.
It kept him warm, and it gave me a place to go watch the Pistons games with him.
Giving up on the Pistons feels like giving up on him, so I’m riding for the long haul. ”
“How long has it been since you’ve seen him?” Ellie asked.
“Three years is the last time he was seen at the bar,” Loyal stated.
“He’s a’ight, though. I know it. It’s just taking him a minute to get his mind to come back to him.
When he remembers, he’ll turn up in the right place.
” She could tell it bothered him, but he was too strong to put his weakness on display.
They pulled up to her father’s house, and Loyal idled the car.
“How about we take this tree inside, let Tess spend some time with her papa, and we go catch the end of the game at that bar?” Ellie said.
He looked over at her in shock. “Nah, that ain’t necessary, E. This an old game, anyway. Pistons don’t play ‘til later tonight, but it’s not even that serious. I’m cool.”
“It’s Christmastime,” Ellie reasoned. “And he’s your dad. The least we can do is try, and if he’s not there, you try to get me drunk so you can take advantage of me at the end of the night.” She shrugged.
“That second part sound like a move,” Loyal said as he leaned back against the headrest and looked over at her.
“You helped me with something that hurts me. I’d like to try and return the favor,” she said gently.
“Yeah, a’ight,” Loyal agreed reluctantly. “Let me get this tree set up first, though.”
Ellie grabbed Tessa from the backseat and then went to get her father so that he could help Loyal get the tree inside the house.
She kissed Tessa’s cheeks as she lay lazily on her shoulder. “Wake up, baby girl. Time to decorate your tree,” Ellie whispered.
She stood back on the porch as she watched her 65-year-old father try to lift his end of the tree.
“Well damn, Ellie, what y’all do, pick the biggest tree on the whole farm?” Bishop complained.
“You should see the one your granddaughter wanted to get at first,” Ellie laughed. “Come on, old man. You’re the strongest guy in the world,” she cheered, smiling. “Do it for your girls.”
“This mu’fucka is heavy than a bitch,” Loyal said, gritting his teeth as he backed into the house.
Both men were winded when they finally got it put on the stand.
“Go thank your papa.” Ellie placed Tessa down, and she ran, hugging Papa first.
“Thank you, Papa!” she yelled. Then she rushed Loyal. “Thank you, OG!”
“Papa, do you mind if we skip out on the decorating part?” Ellie asked.
“Me and my baby girl can handle it,” Papa stated. “There’s some chili and cornbread in there. Take some of that with you.”
“Not you think I ain’t coming back tonight!” Ellie exclaimed. “You ain’t raise no easy daughter, Papa!”
Loyal smirked and scratched the tip of his nose with his thumb as his brow raised in amusement. “She ain’t lying, School. Your daughter difficult as hell.”
Ellie went to the kitchen and set out four bowls. “Now I got to eat it here just to prove a point!”
She fixed everyone a warm bowl and placed all the fixings in the middle of the table.
The only person missing was her oldest baby, and although she knew Cairo wouldn’t hurt his child, she was desperately ready for Brooklyn to come home.
They sat and ate together like a real family, no television going, no cell phones in their hands, no one rushing to finish, just good, old-fashioned quality time.
Seeing Loyal there, with her father and her child, so comfortable, made her wonder if he really could be the man for her.
He seemed not to be able to get enough of her.
She couldn’t believe that a man like him would be this intrigued with a woman like her.
It wasn’t that she felt unattractive. She had always been pretty, and when she put in the effort with makeup and hair and the whole nine, she was a downright bombshell.
Life had made her feel like she wasn’t a contender for a man like Loyal.
He was bossed up. A seven-figure earner, probably eight, if she had to guess.
He was the perfect amount of rough. He was attractive, without being a pretty boy, independent, honest, and carried an authority that came with getting it out the mud.
Men like him didn’t normally go for difficult women.
They didn’t go for women with children or even women her age.
They wanted young, impressionable, easy girls with perfect bodies and no attachments.
From the moment Loyal laid eyes on her, he made her feel like a prize.
He wanted to win her, and she wanted to let him.