24. Azalea
24
Azalea
The good news is…she’s ok!
Isaac
Glad to hear that. What’s the bad news?
She’s ready but I won’t be able to get her until after work. I know she’s scared waking up in a cage at the vet :(
I’ll get her
Are you sure? Aren’t you at work?
I’ll get her and take her to my place. What does she eat?
Dog food normally, but you can give her rice or chicken (no bones)
No problem
Thank you so much
Anything for you. And Pinky
He never answered my question about work, but I guess when you work for your family, you can come and go as you please.
I was worried sick until he texted me a picture of Pinky laid out on his futon, lounging like she owned the place. I blew out a sigh, and for the first time all day, I was able to focus on work.
When I wasn’t thinking about last night, that is.
Three different times today, I had to sneak into the ladies room and clean myself up. The fourth time, I just said screw it and put on a pad.
What Isaac did to me…no man had ever made me feel that good. And it was big. And he picked up my dog the next day. If he was trying to get me to fall in love with him, there was a good chance he would be successful.
Right before I left work, I checked the system to see if any progress had been made between Isaac and Thompson, his new PO. It felt like cheating, but I meant well.
And I was annoyed to find that Thompson hadn’t reached out yet.
This wasn’t gonna work. Isaac needed attention. The kind of attention he used to get from me before I transferred him.
I didn’t want to think about that, so I closed out and left.
I drove straight to apartment 608. As soon as Isaac opened the door, I said, “How is she?” like I hadn’t already seen pictures of her. She was my baby. I wouldn’t know peace until she was in my arms.
“Come see for yourself.”
I was so focused, I forgot to give Isaac a hug. But all was well when I saw her in that same spot, watching tv. She was so comfortable, she didn’t even lift her head to look at me.
“Okay, princess,” I joked as I picked her up. “Normally she runs and jumps all over me.”
“The vet said she’s probably gonna be a little sluggish for the rest of the night, but she’ll be running around again by tomorrow.”
“And she can resume her normal routine?”
“Yep. It’s all good.”
“Thank you. So much. How was she?”
“She was cool. Chillin’. She’s low key, just like me.”
I laughed at that. “She’s really not.”
He sat next to me and rubbed his hand down her back. “I’m not an animal person at all, but she’s cute, I guess.”
“I can’t tell you how much I appreciate that you took care of her for me.”
“Taking care of the ones you love is taking care of you. That’s my goal.”
I leaned over and kissed him softly, which was a big mistake, because it took me right back to last night.
I pulled away, set Pinky on the couch as carefully as I could, then stood and held out my hand. Isaac looked at her, then at me.
“She’ll be alright.”
His eyebrows lifted. “You sure?”
I grabbed his hand and pulled him off the couch before leading him down the hallway to his bedroom.
“Hey, I can’t stay long. Pinky’s in the car.”
My sister eyed me with suspicion. I’d stopped by on my way home to pick up some books I lent her. We had an unofficial book club going, and by that, I mean I read stuff, recommended them to her, then she borrowed them from me and forgot to give them back.
“Why didn’t you bring her in?” she said, still staring.
“She was at the vet all night. She’s kinda tired.”
“Aww, poor baby. Well come in real quick. I have your books.”
She picked up the large stack off the hall table and handed it over.
“Did you like Indigo ?” I asked.
“Girl! That one was my favorite.”
“I told you.”
I poked my head around the corner to see into the living room, catching my brother on the couch staring at the tv. “Hey, Pat!”
Without looking up, he tossed back a, “Hey, sis.”
“He’s all in the game, girl. Don’t even pay him no mind.”
She looked me up and down. “You coming from work?”
“Mm hm.”
She frowned as she puzzled through it. “Pinky was at the vet last night and all day today?”
“Uh…no. She left earlier.”
“You didn't drop her at home?”
Amina didn’t miss a thing. I rolled my eyes and shifted my weight from one hip to the other.
“A friend picked her up.”
Her hands went to her hips. “Bitch, don’t do me.”
“What?”
“Since when do you keep secrets from me?”
“Since it’s something you’re gonna overreact to.”
“Uh uh. Spill it.”
I set the heavy stack of books back in its former place on the table and steeled myself. Amina was already riled up, but oh, well. This was my life, and Isaac was part of it now. He’d knocked out all the uncertainty I had about this situation. My sister would have to swallow this bitter pill like a big girl.
“You remember Isaac?”
Her eyes narrowed. “Refresh my memory.”
“From the art show.”
Recognition hardened her face into a scowl. “Your client?”
“Yes. Well, not anymore. I transferred him.”
“Hold on, wait. Lemme get this straight.” She pinched the bridge of her nose in dramatic fashion. “You transferred him to another officer so you could fuck him?”
“Of course not. Relax.”
“You’re close enough to him to trust Pinky with him,” she said, gesturing toward outside with her hand. “You know good and damn well that’s serious.”
“We’re friends,” I minimized. I don’t know why I couldn’t just admit the truth to my younger sister .
“It’s more than that, and I resent you lying right to my fucking face.”
“I like him,” I said. “You already knew that from before, remember?”
“Okay, but now you’re actually messing with him. Are you insane?”
I shook my head. “And you wonder why I keep secrets from you.”
“What about your job?”
“He’s not my client anymore.”
“Okay, but it’s the same office. Have you thought this through?”
“Yeah. I have.”
“And then there’s the fact that he’s a jailbird. With a record . What the fuck are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking I’m a grown woman who—“
“Who makes shitty choices because she still thinks the world is made of marshmallows and gumdrops.”
I snatched my books off the table. “Whatever, Mina. Kiss my ass.”
“Nah, you got felonbae to do that for you now. And since when do you like street meat?”
“I’m leaving. Tell my brother I said bye.”
“This is a mistake, Azalea. A huge mistake.”
“So was this conversation.”
As I walked back to my car, her voice followed me, loud and full of disdain.
“Don’t call me when he fucks up your life!”
The short ride home was awful. I second-guessed myself the entire way.
She could never just be happy for me.
I mean, okay, it wasn’t the best situation. Isaac was still a client in our office, and it would definitely be a problem if somebody found out. But everything felt so good with him. He was a good person. Better than Roman. Better than any of my exes.
So, fuck Mina.
It took two trips to get my books and my baby inside, but once I got her settled and loved on Brownie, I called my man.
Yeah. I said it.
“Hey, you.”
“Hey. I just left my sister’s house.”
“Okay. Is that good or bad?”
“She knows about us.”
“And?”
“And…my sister is…” I trailed off, trying to muster up the words. “Okay, you know Solange?”
He laughed. “She can’t be that bad.”
“She’s worse, actually.”
“Well, good thing I’m dating you and not her.”
I didn’t respond to that. I liked that he said it, but for me, there didn’t exist a world where my sister’s opinion didn’t affect me.
“It bothered you.”
“A little. But, it’s fine. She’ll come around eventually.”
He chuckled. “Here you go.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You think it’s false hope?”
“I think you need to learn how to be okay with shit that isn’t okay. You gonna cut me off if she never comes around?”
“No.”
“Good. That’s the first step. Next step is not giving a fuck.”
“I…don’t know how to do that.”
“I’ll teach you, baby. It’s easy.”
Despite my mood, I laughed at that. But later, when I was in my bed unable to sleep, I wrestled with my inability to handle the discomfort of life when things don’t go my way. Happiness had always been my shield, even when I was little, and I didn’t see what was wrong with that. Roman called me naive. Amina called me gullible. Even Isaac said my optimism was cope.
Once again, I felt like a woman on an island.