Chapter 13
After her mom’s death, it took four whole months for the light to return to my baby’s eyes. I didn’t think it would ever return. Then one day, I showed up for my shift, and she was out of bed cooking. For the first couple of days after Divine lost her mother, I had to literally spoon feed her. I used my bare hands to help dig her out of the darkness. I refused to let anything send her back. I hated that she was back out on the town, but at the same time, I was grateful that she felt good enough to go out.
The clanking of the weights as I released the lateral pull-down bar sounded as I stood and wiped my forehead with the back of my hand. It was close to midnight, which was prime time for me to get a little work in. I chose to work overnight due to my insomnia, but I had the night off. Most nights until midnight, I was on call or on duty. My call status changed to off an hour ago, but that didn’t mean my job was done. Protecting Divine had become my life’s mission.
Satisfied with my last set, I moved from the pull-down machine to the free weights to do some curls. Since I was working on upper body strength, I didn’t have to worry about being sore as hell for the next three days like I usually was after leg days. As I wrapped up my first set, my phone vibrated against my thigh. I kept my phone on vibrate because I couldn’t stand all that hollering and screaming. The only reason that the phone wasn’t on silent was due to my on-call status.
Even on the days when I wasn’t on call, I liked to be accessible. Seeing the capital letter D and a cookie emoji displayed on my phone screen was confirmation that I needed to keep my phone turned on outside of work hours. I placed the dumbbell on the floor next to the bench before hitting the button to answer the call.
“Hey. What’s up, Divine?” I asked.
“Lee, please tell me you’re available,” she whined.
For her, I was always available. The need in her voice only drove that point home.
“What’s up?” I quizzed, trying not to sound panicked as I picked up the weight and put it back into the designated slot on the rack.
“You remember me telling you that Sherrod was coming to town?” she asked.
How could I forget?
“Yeah. What’s up?” I asked again, trying to lead her to the point of her late-night distress call.
“We had a date tonight or whatever,” she revealed as if her late-night excursion wasn’t the sole reason I was up pumping iron in the middle of the damn night.
Divine’s antics were half the reason I couldn’t sleep. I did a good job of helping her keep her dates and secrets away from her brothers, but I was twice as pissed as any of them would be when it came to her dating choices.
Baby had horrible taste in men. It seemed like she picked the worst guys just to spite her brothers. She claimed she was just having fun for the time being, so I tried to keep my mouth shut. Since more than anything I wanted to be a good friend, I would have to bite the bullet and deal with it for now.
The nigga she had been running around with lately was a subpar rapper that liked to flaunt his wealth by taking her to expensive restaurants and buying her jewelry. I really thought I was rid of this bitch until he rematerialized seemingly out of thin air.
He was worse than the basketball player she was so into before he started moving funny. She really thought this one might be the one because he told her that he wanted to spoil her worse than her brothers, so they didn’t have to worry about taking care of her anymore. I did everything Divine’s brothers didn’t do for her. There was no room in her life for Sherrod’s none rapping ass or his empty promises.
I bit my tongue when I had the urge to remind her that it was the same thing she had said about at least two other dudes that she’d wasted her time entertaining. Divine was a lover girl. I couldn’t blame her for falling for the dreams these niggas sold because some of them were actually good manipulators. I was a cynic, so I easily saw through them, but I wouldn’t expect a woman seeking genuine love and companionship to.
I didn’t subscribe to nor sell that bullshit, but to each his own. That love shit was for the birds. It had gotten too many niggas killed and still had more lives to claim. I liked to keep things simple. After exhausting my muscles in the gym, I initially planned to make sure that Divine made it home safely before sliding into something warm and wet. Once we were satisfied, I would send the owner of that wet and warm something home and then call it a night alone in bed.
“And?” I quizzed, pressing her to continue.
It really didn’t matter what she said, I was already moving toward the door. The distress in her voice wasn’t sitting right with me.
“I was out with him tonight, and things just started to go left. Can you come pick me up? It’s been a bitch trying to get an Uber this late at night.”
“Where are you, Divine, and why the fuck isn’t he taking you home?”
“I’m leaving his drunk ass here. I would have taken his keys and drove myself home, but I can’t drive a stick shift. I would tear it up trying to get out of the parking lot,” she explained.
“Why the hell did he get too drunk to drive you home?”
“He was determined for us to get a room here at the hotel. He’s been pissing me off all night, so he should have known I wasn’t going for it. I didn’t even let him pick me up at home.”
“Why the hell you even at a hotel with him, Divine?” I asked, growing more and more irritated.
I could feel the heat radiating from my collar as I crossed the relatively deserted room. When I reached the door, I grabbed my helmet from the rack and slipped it over my head as I headed out of the gym. Divine’s voice came in loud and clear through my built in Bluetooth. I waited for her response as I hopped on my bike.
“Damn, daddy. I came for the lobster and scallops. I wasn’t here to bust it open on the third date.”
My throat constricted hearing her call me daddy, but I didn’t let on. I needed to focus on getting to her.
“My love, you should have known that if the man was taking you to a hotel for dinner, he planned on taking you upstairs and having you for dessert. Don’t play na?ve, baby girl. I know them boys trained you well. You know the third date is the bust it open for a real nigga date. Besides, y’all have been communicating for months.”
“Just because you fuck your hos after the third date doesn’t mean that every woman is going to open her legs for you after three steak dinners.”
“I don’t date, but if I did, you already know I’m smashing something after the first night. I don’t care if we ate at McDonald’s.”
She waited until my bike fired up before continuing the conversation.
“Stop playing around, Lee. I’m down here sitting at the bar drinking watered down sangria. His ass is still upstairs with bubble guts from eating so many crab puffs. I want to be long gone when he gets done shitting.”
“So you telling me you gon’ leave that man while he’s got nausea, heartburn, indigestion, an upset stomach, and diarrhea?” I joked.
“No you did not just use the whole song while I’m in a crisis?”
“You said you were tired of hearing my theme songs.” I laughed.
“Aw, man, here his ass comes.” She sighed.
“I’m on my way, D. Stay right there.”
“How the fuck you gone just leave a nigga and come back to the bar?” I heard a male’s raised voice.
Who the fuck is this nigga yelling at?
“Sir, please get out of my face. I have no idea who you are,” Divine stated.
“Oh, you don’t know me, but when you were ordering seventy something dollars’ worth of food, you knew exactly who I was.”
“Here. If you’re that fucked up about seventy dollars, here’s a hundred. Keep the change and have a good night.”
“Don’t engage with him anymore, Divine. I’m on my way,” I advised.
“I’ll send you my location. Call me when you’re outside.”
I wanted to tell her that I already had her location but decided against it. It had been months since I’d convinced Psalm to give me access to her location for emergency purposes. After he sent me the location for her cars, he turned around and gave me access to the tracker on her phone too. As long as it was powered on, I knew where she was. I had been on edge ever since she called herself dating. I didn’t mind keeping it a secret from her folks, but I needed to know her whereabouts at all times.
“You can let your nigga know that you’re at the Four Seasons about to get fucked!”
I increased my speed before I jacked my front tire up, popping a wheelie and cat walking my bike down the freeway in the direction of the hotel where Divine and her date were.
“Don’t hang this phone up, Cookie,” I warned.
“I’m not hanging up. Please don’t call Syre.”
“I’m not calling anyone. I’m on my way to you.”
I worked for Syre, but I was off the clock. Divine and I were friends beyond the scope of my job to protect her. She confided in me and trusted me with things she didn’t feel her brothers and cousins would understand.
I didn’t want to break that trust, so most of the things she shared with me stayed between us—like the dates she snuck out on when she was supposed to be doing inventory or out with Candice. As long as she was safe, I had her back. Tonight didn’t sound like one of those times.
My heart sank when the call either dropped or Divine hung up the phone. I couldn’t be sure which was true. Instead of wasting time calling her back, I raced to her even faster.
“Thank you for being a friend,” I sang under my breath as I tore down the street to her.
My girl was about five minutes away, but I don’t think it took that long for me to get to her. I yanked my helmet off as I marched through the hotel lobby headed in the direction of the bar. I heard his loud fucking mouth before my eyes landed on him.
You couldn’t tell Divine she couldn’t beat this grown man’s ass. I knew it was the reason she stood toe to toe with him instead of having hotel security to get him out of her face. I shook my head as Divine tossed some bills in the air and let them fall over his head. The only reason I wasn’t yelling for her to stop was the distance. I could see her up ahead, but she couldn’t see me yet.
Even when she was acting a fool, my girl looked fucking amazing. Delilah must have had psychic powers because Divine was the perfect word to describe her only daughter. Everywhere she went, she radiated bad bitch energy.
Not only was she stunning, but she was intelligent, funny, and held her own in running her business. Being raised with a bunch of men made her tough and street savvy. Still, they sheltered her enough to keep her soft and feminine. As the pampered princess of the Reign family, Divine was no slouch. She was a diva in her own right. She was so bad that she was good. The girl was gorgeous on a bad day.
The closer I got to her the better she looked. Honey-colored skin contrasted with the short red dress and matching shoes she wore as she plopped back down on the stool and threw her drink back as if she wasn’t being accosted by a soon-to-be dead man. I was heated at the way the dress hugged her curves and increased the steam wafting from my ears.
This is the shit she wore for some clown?
Her hair was in a bob that stopped short of her shoulders. The blonde color highlighted the flecks of gold in her eyes. Divine was as fine as she was fierce, and she was off limits. That didn’t mean I wasn’t crazy about her. I just wasn’t crazy enough to mess up a good thing.
I knew about four crazy muthafuckas that would kill me for even looking her way, but I couldn’t tear my eyes off her even if I tried. I wasn’t afraid by any means, but I knew how to choose my battles. The nigga disrespecting Divine was my battle. Being hunted down for fucking her behind my boss’s back was one I wasn’t ready to fight…not yet anyway.
“Divine, chill, baby. I’m here,” I told her, finally stepping across the threshold of the hotel bar.
When she realized that her black knight was here to save her once again, she shoved past that belligerent asshole and began scanning the room for me. My nostrils flared when he grabbed her arm and yanked her body to his chest. I was on him in a flash. As soon as I was in arms reach, I swung my helmet, hitting him in the face and sending him crashing to the floor on his back. I would have stomped his ass if we hadn’t been in a partially crowded bar.
“Let’s go!” I barked, pissed that Divine had wasted a moment of her precious time on yet another fucking loser. Just in case she wanted to defy me, I clasped my hand around her wrist and pulled her behind me.
“Slow up, Lee. I’m already tipsy.”
Unable to heed her words, I pressed forward until I was pushing through the doors and sucking in the night air. If I lingered, I was going to do something I would regret. Being sloppy and doing something to take me away from Divine wasn’t worth it.
“Put this on,” I said, not waiting for her to agree before shoving my helmet over her head.
“What about you?” she quizzed.
What about me? Nothing was more important than her. I could see a frown on her little face, but it didn’t move me.
“Get on the bike, Divine,” I ordered as I threw my leg across.
“I thought you were in your car. You know I don’t like this death trap,” she complained as she followed my directions and climbed behind me on the bike.
“Sorry, ma’am. I didn’t anticipate having to come to your rescue tonight.”
“Well, excuse me. I didn’t anticipate having to be rescued. Next time, I’ll bite the bullet and call Syre.”
I sighed and shook my head. “You know you don’t have to do that.”
I knew she was just trying to get under my skin. It pissed me off that it was working.
“Because my bestie always comes through.”
The smile on her face was apparent in her voice. I loved her smile. No matter how many times I had to come to her rescue, I would do it just to see her smile.
“Hold on, D.” I cautioned as I fired up my bike.
My heart rate steadied as she snaked her arms around me. Tighter, baby.
“Let’s get out of here before he comes out here.”
“I’m not worried about him.”
That was an understatement. I actually hoped that he would come outside and give me a reason to finish him off. He had already sealed his fate when he put his hands on her. Divine had only bought him some time by needing a ride home. He was too visible for me not to see him again. In spite of my declaration, I would be taking care of him. I just wasn’t worried about him.
“Careful, Liam,” my baby’s sweet voice advised.
Her suggestion was unnecessary, not only because I wasn’t wearing a helmet, but because I had precious cargo on board. She had to know I would never let anything happen to her. Protecting Divine wasn’t just my job. It was my obsession. Divine’s grip tightened around me, bringing me comfort as I pulled out of the parking lot. Once I made it to her house, I pulled up to the door.
“Stay, Lee Lee. I don’t want you out driving this late.”
“It’s not that late, Divine.”
“Well, I feel bad for having you way out here. I’m sure you were probably about to get some or something.”
“Really?” I chuckled.
“Oh my God! I’m so silly. I’m probably holding you up from getting laid.”
“You’re not holding me up from anything, Divine,” I assured her.
“Well, why won’t you stay? Let’s watch The Golden Girls until we fall asleep.”
“Don’t you mean until you fall asleep?”
“Whichever comes first.” She shrugged, knowing that as soon as she got comfortable and quiet, she would be out like a light.
I knew I was unable to refuse her, but it was worth a try. Finally relenting, I parked my bike and got off. Satisfied that she had gotten me to fold once again, Divine turned on her heels and pranced inside. I chuckled under my breath, knowing that no matter what I was doing, I would drop everything and follow her to the ends of the earth.
* * *
The smell of bacon caused my eyes to pop open. It only took a couple of minutes for me to remember that I was asleep on the couch in Divine’s living room. The crook in my neck was just confirmation. As predicted, after one and a half episodes, my girl was knocked out. With her head resting on my thigh, I found myself dozing off right behind her.
Since I was at Divine’s, I knew what I had mistaken for bacon was that turkey crap she liked to pass off as the real thing. I sighed as I moved to the kitchen in search of her.
“Fish don’t fry in the kitchen. Beans don’t burn on the grill,” she sang as she stirred something in a pot.
When I first got assigned to Divine’s detail, I found her constantly sunny disposition annoying as fuck. Somehow, it had grown on me. I looked forward to her always happy ass to cheer me up when I wasn’t with it. She had gone through so much in her life, but yet, she found a reason to smile every day. Some days, I barely found a reason to talk.
“I’m rubbing off on you,” I said, laughing as I slid onto a stool at her kitchen island.
“Good morning, sleepy head.”
The smile that lit up her face when she spotted me nearly stopped my heart. You would think that I would have gotten used to her by now, but it seemed like I was getting worse instead of better.
“Good morning. What you in here making?”
“Turkey bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches. You already know I got you.”
“I don’t know why you keep trying to pass that shit off as bacon, Cookie.” I chuckled.
“Because it gives the illusion of bacon while being better for your heart.”
“Turkey bacon is full of nitrates and chemicals. It’s hardly good for anybody’s heart.”
“I said it’s better for your heart. Do you want to eat, or do you want to keep talking shit?”
“Why can’t I do both?” I asked.
“Because you can’t talk with your mouth full. Plus, I want you to try a new juice I’ve been working on.”
“I’m going to start charging you for being a taste tester,” I told her.
“And I’m going to start charging you for eating up all of my groceries.”
“Groceries that you make me eat.”
“Taste the drink and stop whining,” she said, placing a mason jar half filled with a purple concoction in front of me.
“What’s in it?” I asked her.
“If I tell you, then I’ll have to kill you.”
“I have allergies. I need to know what I’m consuming.”
“Yeah right. How long have I known you? Why is this the first I’m hearing of these allergies?”
“I hope you have an EpiPen , ” I teased as I lifted the glass to my lips and took a sip.
I allowed the sweet concoction to coat my tongue before drinking more. I could taste hints of berries and a little kick of something spicy. From the shots that Divine made sure to give me every day, I knew that it had ginger in it.
“So?” she asked, wearing a hopeful smile.
She had to know that as long as she looked at me that way, I would say whatever she wanted me to say. Since her business depended on it, when she asked me to sample or taste things for her, I wanted to be objective. Thankfully, the juice was pretty good.
“I like the taste. Also, the color is nice, and the texture is smooth for a natural juice,” I said, nodding in approval.
“Thanks.” Her smile grew as she turned back to the stove.
“I would order it.”
“I’ve been tweaking it to add to the summer menu. It’s a simple juice I made with blueberries, green apples, and ginger. I added a splash of apple juice and spring water to thin it. I’m working on the strawberry cheesecake smoothie you mentioned too. The blueberry muffin was a hit.”
“It’s a keeper.”
“Ready for your pineapple and ginger shot?” she quizzed.
“Ready or not, I’m sure you’re going to give it to me.”
She giggled, finding that funny. I hated the sting of ginger but had done enough research to know the benefits outweighed the off-putting taste.
“I love how you just listen to me.”
“Whatever, woman. Run the shot.”
A devilish grin curved her lips as she placed the small shot glass in front of me. Before I could talk myself out of it, I took the drink to the head, wincing as it burned my throat.
“See? You’re just a big baby.”
“It’s a natural response. I can’t help that I don’t like drinking fire.”
“A big baby,” she repeated, turning back to the stove.
As she built our sandwiches, my phone vibrated against my thigh. I pushed back from the counter to remove it from my pocket and see who was calling at eight in the morning. Seeing Mom on my phone screen gave me indigestion. It could have been the ginger, but for the sake of the situation, I would say the cause of my sudden heartburn was about half and half.
My mom never called, so I knew that her early morning summoning was important. Not that I would care, but I was sure her reason for calling was important to her. She and my dad could save whatever it was that they had cooked up. I was done with being their weapon of choice a long time ago.
“Somebody must really be trying to get in touch with you calling over and over like that,” Divine noted.
I scoffed. Was she jealous or just nosy? It was hard to tell with Divine. I knew for a fact that she was nosy as hell, so I went with the latter.
“It’s my mom.” A third call made my shoulders drop.
“Your mom?” she mumbled as if my answer was absurd.
“Yeah.” I shrugged, standing from my seat on the stool.
“Answer the phone, Lee. It must be important. Up until now, I don’t think you’ve ever even mentioned your mom.”
“What was there to say?”
“For starters, I have a mom.” She shrugged.
“Did you think I came from under a rock?” I asked with raised brows.
“Sometimes I’m not sure where the hell you came from.”
In spite of the phone wearing on my nerves, Divine’s comment made me smile. She placed a plate and a full glass of that purple drink in front of me before picking up her sandwich and taking a bite.
“Answer the phone, Liam. I’m about to get dressed to go to the store so you can talk in private.”
“I’m actually gon’ head out after I eat.”
“Are you not going to make sure I make it to work safely?” she asked, narrowing her eyes.
Don’t I always? It felt like a rhetorical question. I tailed Divine to work every day, but at 8:00 a.m., I was technically off duty.
“Isn’t your morning shift here?” I asked just because she had come to expect me to be there.
“When has that ever mattered, Lee? You know you don’t trust them to have my back like you. Neither do I. Just give me a minute.”
I would give her forever. I didn’t have to give her a response since she didn’t bother waiting to hear one. Knowing that Divine felt safer with me made my chest swell. I wasn’t planning on leaving anyway. I wanted to step outside to answer the phone.
Divine could claim that she was going to get dressed to give me space to talk, but like I said before, her little ass was nosy. She wouldn’t be able to resist eavesdropping. Since there was no telling what my mom wanted this time, I needed to speak to her privately, if at all. I made quick work of eating both sandwiches and gulping down the juice before hopping up to go outside and call my mom.
“The whole universe was in a hot, dense state. Then nearly fourteen billion years ago, expansion started…” I sang as I listened to the phone ring.
“I was just about to give up.”
“Fuck you want, old man?” I roared, irritated once it registered that my father was the one behind the constant phone calls.
“Your mother needs you.”
“Let her tell me that,” I said, ending the call before he could retort.
I looked up just in time to see Divine prancing out of the house wearing a pair of huge sunglasses. Dark denim jeans squeezed the bottom half of her thick frame while an oversized cream sweatshirt with her business logo etched on it swallowed the top half. She looked adorable in anything. When she stepped outside, she placed her hands on her hips and shook her head.
“I freaking forgot you brought me here on that thing.” She huffed.
“Maybe stop entertaining niggas who can’t even know where you lay your head,” I suggested.
“Whatever. Now, I gotta catch one of the guys to the store.”
Irritated at the very thought of her riding with one of those fools, I took a deep breath in an attempt to temper my mood.
“Get on the bike, Divine.” I smirked at her cute little pout.
“Even if I didn't value my own life, I'm not letting you ride without a helmet again.”
By no means was I intimidated by her scowl, but she had a point.
“That's the only acceptable excuse,” I said, sliding my helmet over my head.
“Did you talk to your mom?” she quizzed.
“No.”
“Why not, Lee? If I could talk to my mom one more time, there would be nothing in the world that could stop me.”
“That’s where we’re different.”
“Don’t wait until it’s too late, Liam.”
I could see that this conversation was going in the wrong direction, but I knew just how to redirect it. As much as I hated to leave her presence, I knew when I was about to lose my temper. The last thing I wanted to do was lash out and take something out on Divine that had nothing to do with her.
“On second thought, I do need to be somewhere,” I said, hopping on my bike.
“Wow. Do you run away from all of your problems?”
“When it’s necessary.” I shrugged.
She rolled her eyes and sighed before speaking. “Fine, but make sure you’re at the store by twelve thirty.”
“I’ll be there,” I confirmed.
“See you at lunch, Liam.”