Chapter 2 #3
Frequency did the same, and when he settled in his seat, I didn’t bother glancing his way.
He took another pull from the blunt, pushed his car to start and maneuvered from the curb well above the limit down the street.
The Audi was known for its speed, and he seemed to be pushing the limit tonight.
Opening the sunroof, he let the wind carry the smoke away and it ripped through my hair.
I tossed my head back into the seat and let the sounds of DMX’s I Can Feel It flow through my ears.
I’ve been waiting for this moment for all my life
Hold on, hold on
The best of y’all niggas remind me of myself when I was younger
When it was hunger that stopped a nigga from going under
Lock
“So, how was your day?” Alba asked, wolfing down mashed potatoes as we sat outside on the dock of the seafood restaurant we decided to have dinner at.
Most of my time was spent thinking about Harbor and seeing her. Shit felt like it was just my imagination, and then the scent of her as she passed me invaded me again. It brought back a sea of memories, bringing back the time we spent getting to know each other, and me falling in love with her.
My mind wasn’t focused, so Alba was basically having a conversation with herself.
She had a nice spread of food in front of her too: steak, shrimp, salad and biscuits.
Harbor had shaken a nigga down for the day so my appetite was nonexistent.
I reached for my drink and sipped while staring across the table at her.
“Are you even listening to me?” She snapped.
“Yeah, sorry about that. I found a house,” I conveyed, and she stared back at me with interest, both brows lifting.
“You did?”
“Yeah. I thought we could go and look at it, maybe early next week?” I suggested. “It’s just what we have been looking for.”
“Hmm, how did you find it?” She was busy chewing and taking in all the food surrounding her.
“Um, I checked into a new realtor. Met with her today.” I revealed. “It’s Harbor. The realtor.” Just the mention of her name and Alba’s eyes drifted up to mine.
She paused right after stuffing her mouth with food and chewed slowly while taking me in. “You went to see her?” She demanded.
“Yeah. I had to. Maybe you can’t understand that, but… it was needed for me to move forward, Alba. After we said what we said, she suggested I use someone else, but I declined.”
“And why the fuck would you do that, huh!” She hissed across the table, brows furrowing angrily.
“Why even go see her? You don’t owe her that.
She left! She pulled this selfish ass stunt and got everyone to feel sorry for her, and she was somewhere tucked away without a care in the world. Fuck her!”
A few people around us glanced our way. Alba was turning up in this five-star restaurant and I knew I should have kept my fucking mouth shut until we got back to my crib. Grabbing my napkin from my lap, I dropped it on the table.
“Are you done?”
“Yeah, definitely just lost my fucking appetite.” She scooted her chair from the table so fucking fast that it jerked, making the glass dishes clatter together loudly.
Exasperated, I blew out a long breath and watched her stomp toward the entrance with her purse swinging at her side.
She was pregnant as hell, but her rage wasn’t slowing her down.
After paying our tab, I exited behind her.
Alba paced near my car in the lot like she was mad at the ground.
When she saw me, it only agitated her more.
I hit the fob in my hand to unlock it, and she jumped in the seat and slammed her door shut.
The drive home was excruciating. Alba was practically on fire and I could feel it from where she sat. Pulling into the lot of my condo, as soon as I shut the car off, she hopped out and trotted toward the house.
“Alba! You really need to calm the fuck down. Shit ain’t even what you making it out to be.” I walked up on her near the porch and she used her key to unlock the front door.
“Fuck you, Lock!” She rushed inside and I was on her ass.
“You’re being childish as fuck over nothing.”
“Nothing!” She hollered back. “If it was nothing then you shouldn’t have lied about it.
” She spun on me, eyes crazy wide. “If it was nothing you would have said something. Now you want to go have one on one conversations with her and buy houses from this bitch. How the fuck is that okay without running it by me, the woman that’s about to birth your first fucking child! ”
“We talked and that’s it. The house that she showed me is for us, and the shit is perfect.
It shouldn’t matter where it came from. She’s moved the fuck on and so have we.
There ain’t shit else to talk about. We need a house and she happens to run a real estate company.
This baby is coming any day now and we need to be ready.
That’s what I was thinking about. She said we can set up another appointment for you to see the house too. I made an offer, so—
“So you just made an offer like that… again, without talking to me.” She pointed out.
“I’m telling you, if I didn’t, someone else would grab it after one look.
It’s everything that you said you wanted and it’s in our price range.
Can you at least look at the spot before you decide that this is some fucking conspiracy?
” I questioned, growing exhausted with the conversation.
“And stop fucking questioning my loyalty to you. That shit should be unspoken by now. If it’s not, then what the fuck are we even doing? ”
I humbled her with my outburst and shrank back fearfully.
Her hormonal ass was all over the place these days.
The baby coming was enough pressure on top of trying to get a house and maintain our relationship.
We were both preoccupied and it was already putting a strain on us.
Alba dropped down into the sofa. Slowly making my way over to her, I sat beside her and examined her. Her energy was changing.
“Alba, she’s the past. It’s about you, me, and this baby.” My hand fell on her stomach.
Tears welled in her eyes and she dropped her chin to her chest while she gave in to her emotions. She sniveled and used her hand to swipe away some of the tears that had fallen.
“Can you just trust me on that? What we are building here means more to me than anything. And it’s you, ma. How can a nigga not want to protect that.? You both deserve the best of me, and I don’t do no sub-par shit.”
A weak smile came to her lips and she reached out with her hand, cupping my chin. I didn’t stop her from leaning in and kissing my lips. She brought her forehead to mine afterward and took her bottom lip between her teeth.
“I’ll go check it out. Set it up.” She pecked my lips again. “I love you, Lock. Back then, right now, and always.” She vowed.
I knew that she meant it from the unwavering stare she gave me.
Regardless of me, Harbor or the past, I had to let go of that shit.
I didn’t want to have any regrets or resentments with my child entering this world.
My pops wasn’t around for me, and neither was Alba’s.
Being active in this little person’s life was the most important thing to me.
The leftover pull that I had to Harbor had to be buried.
I didn’t want my relationship with Alba to be no baby mama, baby daddy type shit.
After our child, keeping her happy was the next item on the list.