3. Sage
Sage
“A’ight now, bitch…you doing too much,” Lanique said, slow walking into the kitchen. “My man’s starting to get used to this.”
“Fuck what she’s talking about,” Cauvey countered. He beat Lanique to the stove, placing his hands behind his back as he observed. “Mmhmm,” he hummed. “How much longer?”
I chuckled, then replied, “Two…maybe three minutes.”
“Okay. Okay.” Nodding, his hands rubbed together. “Perfect. I’ll be back then.”
Lanique watched with an upturned nose as he exited the room, waiting until he was gone to go off on me.
Playfully, of course.
“Bitch…get out!”
“Why? What I do?”
Not that I was going anywhere, but more so to feed my curiosity. I paid my share of the rent for the month, so her demand went in one ear and out the other.
“You’re over here setting standards! Expectations! My nigga don’t get a home cooked meal every day. But since you got here, he gets breakfast and dinner.”
“So do you.”
“That ain’t the point.”
I laughed. “You want me to stop?”
She glanced over my shoulder, observing me stuffing the fillings of a breakfast burrito into a fajita tortilla. I browned both sides, waiting for an answer, which I didn’t get until I asked again.
“Maybe slow down a bit.”
I scoffed. How else was I going to eat? It was a requirement to sustain life. Lanique and Cauvey were surviving off fast food, and although tempting at times, I preferred the cheaper, homemade, fill me up option.
“Nobody’s forcing you to eat what I cook.” Turning off the stove, I faced her. “But if it’s that much of a problem, I’ll only cook for myself.”
“Bullshit!” Cauvey relayed, reentering the room. “Who said it’s a problem? Not me.” He looked at Lanique failing miserably at stifling her smile. “And I know it ain’t you. After you told me to ask Sage how much longer it would be.”
Her mouth fell open. “How you gonna call me out like that?”
“Easy! You trying to mess up a good thing.”
Cauvey was growing on me. Slowly . He was always around, balancing Lanique’s dominant personality. I listened to them bicker back and forth before they attempted to drag me in to pick a side. I declined, instead opening the fridge to grab the fruit I cut up earlier.
I managed to make three plates before catching sight of a moving creature in my periphery. I turned to see Sandy, one of Lanique’s ferrets, clumsily hit the wall as she miscalculated the sharp turn.
“Out of here!” I told her, after yelling her name. “Animals don’t belong in the kitchen.” The harshness of my voice almost scared her out of the room.
“Exactly!” Cauvey agreed, grabbing his plate. “I been telling her that.”
Lanique picked Sandy up before she could fully retreat. “Stop being mean to my baby.” She kissed the funny-looking animal. “She’s probably hungry too.”
“She knows where her food is.” Cauvey took his seat, ignoring the scowl on Lanique’s face. “It ain’t moved in two years.”
The revelation caught me by surprise. Obviously they’d been together longer than I thought, even though I had only been introduced to Cauvey last week.
The situation showed that me and Lanique weren’t as close as I thought.
It showed me that I viewed our relationship differently.
She was an important person in my life, the one who was my first call for everything.
For her to keep such a big secret from me spoke volumes.
At one point, me and my cousin were as thick as thieves until life intervened, creating distance.
I went to school, while Lanique ventured to Diamond Falls, but we found a way to stay in touch.
Almost daily. As my ride or die, my cousin knew almost everything about me.
I thought I knew everything about her too.
Until I realized I didn’t.
I loved my cousin, but our living arrangement wasn’t panning out how I planned.
We saw each other in passing and didn’t spend a lot of time together.
It had a lot to do with Lanique’s neediness and her fight to stay glued to Cauvey’s hip.
Anytime he was around me, she was right there.
Anytime he left the apartment, she wanted to go too.
I joined Lanique and Cauvey at the table. They were damn near done when I got started, since I stopped to make sure all the pets were good before sitting down. We pretty much ate in silence, scrolling on our phones, until I started laughing, causing two heads to lift.
“What’s so funny?” Lanique quizzed.
I passed her my phone, showing her the message that had me cackling. She did the same, dropping her fork onto her plate to slide her finger up and down the screen. Her animated face twisted in different ways as she scanned the group chat I had with my siblings.
They were wild.
“Ay, Sage.” Cauvey chewed with his mouth open. “Do y’all give discounts at the clinic?” I shook my head, planning to follow up with an explanation, but Cauvey spoke first. “Damn. I told my sister y’all did.”
I didn’t know he had a sister.
“We got programs that help with financial assistance. She would have to qualify though?—”
“That’s gonna take too long.”
“What’s wrong?”
Anything dealing with animals instantly piqued my curiosity.
“She thinks her dog’s in labor.”
“ Okay? ” I waited for something more urgent. Cauvey made it seem like time was of the essence. “Is it not progressing? Is it?—”
“I don’t know.” He threw the last bite of burrito into his mouth, chewing ferociously before adding, “You gotta ask her.” I sat there dumbfounded as he looked over his shoulder at the stove. “Is there any more?”
“Yeah, but you gotta put it together yourself.”
Slowly, he turned to Lanique. Without a word, she lifted from her seat, obliging his silent request.
After noticing the time, I took my plate with me to my room.
I still had a job to go to and would be late if I didn’t start getting ready.
I wasn’t finished eating though, so I took bites between showering and dressing.
By the time I got to my hair, I put in minimal time, brushing everything to the back, including the edges, for a low ponytail.
The kitchen was empty when I placed my plate in the sink, and when I started to leave, the note left behind on the table caught my eye. My name was scrawled across the top in dark lettering, bigger than the message itself.
SAGE
Jami lives in #305.
Just knock. She’s home.
The note had to be from Cauvey. Lanique would have called or sent a text since she had my number.
Cauvey didn’t have the same access to me and he wasn’t home when I searched the apartment.
The coded language took a minute for me to decipher.
I didn’t know who Jami was or what number three oh five meant.
Then, after replaying our earlier conversation, it dawned on me. Cauvey’s sister with the pregnant dog.
After making sure all the animals that lived with us were good, I left a little early, stopping one floor down to knock on a stranger’s door. I heard scrambling on the other side before a feminine voice yelled from the other side, “Who is it?”
“Sage.”
“Who?”
“Sage,” I said again. “Dr. Sage Smith. I was told you were in need of vet—” The door opened. “Care.”
“Not so loud.” The woman stuck her head out of the door, looking up and down the hall before focusing on me. “I ain’t supposed to have a dog.”
My brows furrowed. Lanique had plenty of pets.
“Okay.” As much as my curiosity wanted me to explore her words further, I was on a tight schedule. “What’s going on?”
She stepped back, inviting me in with a hand gesture.
“That’s what I’m hoping you can tell me. Big Girl ain’t acting right.”
Big Girl turned out to be a brindle French Bulldog in the early stages of labor. Jami mentioned she’d been restless, panting, and had a loss of appetite. Based on the timeframe given, it was on the longer end of the spectrum, but wasn’t unusual.
After taking Big Girl’s rectal temperature, I was confident labor was close and would probably start within the next few hours.
“Although it’s her first litter, nothing looks out of the ordinary.
Based on how she’s acting, I wouldn’t be surprised if it happens soon.
Real soon…like within the next hour or so soon.
” Her eyes got big. “But it’s a natural process.
Even first-timers know what to do.” Her face softened.
“How many pups is she expecting?” Jami shrugged.
“You don’t know?” She shook her head. “Has she been to the vet?” Again, Jami shook her head.
“Ever?” I lifted a brow at another nonchalant shake of her head.
“No. She’s never really been sick before.”
“What about wellness exams? Shots? Anything?”
“There’s never been a need. Big Girl’s healthy. She’s always been straight, except for this unplanned pregnancy?—”
“Unplanned?” Big Girl appeared to be purebred. Based on the popularity of the breed, Jami could pull in a lot of money for each puppy. “You didn’t schedule this breeding?”
“No.” Jami laughed. “Who does that?”
A responsible breeder.
I kept my thoughts to myself.
“Well, I gotta go to work.” I glanced around the room, noticing family portraits plastered on the wall, mainly of her and a little girl. A too cute little girl with features making it obvious that they were related. “I’ll give you my number. If you need me, call. I’ll try to make myself available.”
She called the number I recited aloud, giving me her number too.
By the time I made it to work, Big Girl still occupied my thoughts. But I couldn’t focus on things that were out of my control, due to the lobby full of animals waiting to be seen.