9. Malik #2
“It’s not that. It’s work. It’s optics. I’m not worth you losing your job or getting into trouble.”
“Sametra Jonelle, don’t ever let me hear you say some shit like that again.” My voice got serious because I was genuinely offended. “I can get another job. Not sure I can find another you.”
That shut her up as she curled deeper into my body. St. Ambrose wasn’t the only hospital, and she needed to understand that. Things got quiet between us. The music was low, just R&B that fit the mood perfectly. I could see why she came out here to unwind. It felt like a sanctuary.
“So, what’s your plan for getting around while you’re in school?” I asked, my fingers tracing lazy patterns on her arm. “Your dad’s car situation working out?”
She sighed against my chest. “For now. But I can’t keep borrowing it forever. Especially once classes start and I need to be more mobile.” She paused. “I’ve been looking at used cars online, but with the insurance taking forever, and starting school... It’s just a lot right now.”
“Mmm,” I hummed, filing that information away. “You’ll figure it out. Smart women always do.”
“I hope so. I just hate feeling like I’m constantly borrowing or depending on other people, you know? And sometimes I don’t want to figure it out.”
“Independence is cool, but stubbornness ain’t. You gotta let someone in, let someone run to save you.”
“That sounds dangerous. Independence is my middle name. Always has been. Had to be.”
I pressed a kiss to the top of her head, already making mental notes. Our conversation shifted to lighter things, like her favorite spots in the city, places she wanted to take me, dreams she had for after graduation.
“This is nice,” I said, running my hand through her hair, already moving past her earlier comment. “I could get used to this.”
“What, sitting on my patio?”
“Sitting anywhere with you. Coming home to you. Being the man you call when you need something.” I tilted her chin up, so she had to look at me. “I want all of it, Sametra. The good days, the hard days, the quiet nights like this. Fixing drawers, all that shit.”
“Malik...”
“I know it’s fast. I know you got walls up for good reasons. But I also know what I feel when I look at you.” I cupped her cheek gently. “And I know you feel it too.”
She leaned into my touch, her eyes fluttering closed. “I do feel it. But what if this is the wrong time? What if we mess this up and Samaj suffers?”
Right then, “Let It Flow” by Toni Braxton came through the speakers, and I couldn’t help but smile.
“Well, shit, you hear that? Let it flow like Toni Braxton saying. Even she’s telling you to stop fighting this. And I’m not letting any of that be our story.”
Before she could argue, I pulled her lips into a slow and deep kiss, tasting the wine on her lips.
She dissolved into me, her soft hand holding the side of my face.
For a moment, the whole world narrowed down to just this.
Just us. When we finally broke apart, our eyes were low and lips between our teeth. We were wearing the same expression.
“My God,” she whispered against my lips.
“Yeah.” I rested my forehead against hers. “My God is right. You’re gonna be the death of me, woman.”
I was about to respond when we heard a car door slam in the driveway. My brows furrowed, and I watched both of us instinctively reach for weapons, her from under the cushion, me checking my waistband. I shook my head and smiled. She got sexier by the gah’damn minute.
“You expecting somebody?” I asked, already feeling my body ready to respond if I needed to. I prayed it wasn’t a ex or anybody I’d have to put on they ass.
“No,” she said, with a frown lines so deep it scared me. “It’s almost fucking ten o’clock. Whoever it is has lost their damn mind.”
The doorbell rang, followed immediately by heavy knocking.
“Sametra! Open up, I know you home.”
I remembered that voice from the hospital. Only because it sounded like he smoked cigarettes for his entire life. I felt Sametra go completely rigid.
“It’s fucking Ashe,” she whispered, fire in her eyes.
“I know,” I said, helping her stand. “But you’re okay. I got you.”
I stepped close, hand finding her waist, other cupping her cheek, grounding her without a word.
“Just open the door,” I murmured. “I’m right behind you.”
She nodded, smoothing down her sundress as we walked through the house. I stayed close but slightly back, not wanting to escalate things immediately but ready to step in if needed. I counted to five because seeing the fear in her eyes had me ready to crash out.
Sametra unlocked the door and opened it. Her face was in scowl, and I thought it was cute. She looked at him in disgust, and rightfully so.
“Ashe, what the fuck are you doing here?”
“I came to check on my son. He ain’t answering my calls or messages.”
“First things first, you can’t just show up here whenever you feel like it. This is my home. Make this the first and last time you do it. Secondly, you have some nerve coming to check on him. He’s been home for over a week.”
“Bruh, where’s my son? I ain’t tryna hear what you got to say.”
“He’s sleeping, like a normal damn teenager,” she said, firmly opening the door completely. “Ashe, it’s after ten o’clock. Grow up.”
“Okay, wake him up and let me see him. It’s my right. I need to talk to him.”
“Okay, wake him up?” she mocked, leaning back on her heels. “Are you high? You absolutely have no rights to anything in this entire fucking house. Get the hell away from here.”
Ashe attempted to force his way in, causing her to shriek and move. But before he could get too far, he bumped right into my chest. Little ass nigga. I shook my head as I looked down at him.
“My lady asked you to leave. You should probably do that before you really piss me off even more than I already am. You just ruined a good fucking night nigga.”
He didn't need to know what we were doing, but I wanted to be petty. He needed to know he’d fumbled a good thing.
“I was in the middle of feeding her banana pudding.” I added, just to twist the knife.
Ashe's face went from hostility to complete shock, then quickly back to anger. “What the fuck? The doctor? You got the doctor up in here? Bit-”
“Watch your mouth,” I said thumping his ass on the lip.
I watched him touch his stinging lip. I tried not to laugh but I couldn’t help it.
He was pathetic. He’d never be on my level.
He had me fucked up for real. I couldn’t respect a man like him at all.
Not only had he abandoned his family but he was making my woman uncomfortable and probably enjoying disrupting her life.
“Oh, I see what this is.” His laugh was bitter and ugly. “So that’s how you’re handling your business now, MiMi? Fucking your son’s doctor? Ain’t there some rules against that shit?”
I said nothing because it was just like this nigga to try and play police ass games.
“The pussy ain’t worth it, dawg.”
I grabbed him by the neck and slammed him into the wall behind him. I was seeing red, ready to blow this man’s face off because he was too disrespectful. It made me understand why my baby was so guarded. A nigga like him never deserved her, and he definitely didn’t deserve to plant his seed.
“Bitch ass nigga, you got about ten seconds to get off this porch before I forget I got a career and some shit to lose. When Samaj is ready to fucking talk to you, he will call you. MiMi, you good?” I asked my eyes never leaving him.
“Yes, I’m fine.”
I was walking a fine line here and didn’t give one fuck.
Watching this man try to manipulate his way back into lives he’d abandoned, watching him disrespect the woman who’d sacrificed everything for their child—it was triggering every protective instinct I had.
He had one more word, and I’d be paying for his plot.
“This ain’t your house, and this ain’t your family,” Ashe said, his voice getting an edge.
“You’re right about the house,” I said calmly and leaned closer to whisper in his ear. “But this fasho my family. Ashe I’ll send you to your mother in ashes for fucking with them. Get the fuck outta here and tighten up.”
Sametra touched my arm, soft warm fingers wrapped around my bicep instantly causing me to tuck the monster back in, “Malik, he’s not worth it.”
“Ashe,” Sametra said turning her attention to him, her voice sharp. “You need to leave. Now.”
For a moment, something that might have been hurt flashed across his face. But then it hardened again.
“Try that shit again,” he said, low. But he looked at Sametra when he said it, and that was his mistake.
“Nah,” I said. “You don't get to come in here throwing your weight around. Next time you come to see your son, do it like you give a damn, at a decent time, with some damn respect.”
I slammed the door before he could open his mouth again. I turned to Sametra and allowed my eyes to roam over her. With the door closed and back locked, everyone exhaled. But the peace we’d built was completely shattered.
“I’m sorry,” I said immediately. “I shouldn’t have escalated that.”
“No,” she said firmly, coming into my arms. “You shouldn’t have had to. He had no right to show up here like that.”
I held her close, feeling the tremor in her body. “You okay?”
“I hate that he did that. I hate that he ruined our time. I swear I don’t normally have drama like this.” She gestured back to the patio, at the remnants of our perfect evening.
I grabbed her hand and led her back to the patio.
Ashe hadn’t ruined a damn thing for me. I pulled her back into my lap, and we sat there in the quiet, holding each other while the night settled around us.
This wasn’t how I’d pictured the evening going, but in a way, it had shown me something important.
When it mattered, when her family was threatened, Sametra trusted me to handle it.
But it also told me I needed to do some research and recon on Ashe.
“Malik?”
“Yeah, baby.”
“Thank you. For protecting us.”