Chapter 7
An entire month had passed, and Teonny didn’t even remember what it was like to be in her own home. Normally, when she was away from her house, she missed it terribly. Not once had she longed to go back.
Wherever Prosper was, that was exactly where she needed to be. Since she dropped her guard with him, she felt so free. Love had her feeling like a new person.
Love.
She had yet to speak the word to Prosper, but she knew that was exactly how she felt because it scared the shit out of her. Still, she couldn’t pull away, even if she wanted to.
She giggled as he kissed her neck. “Stop, Patrick,” she whined.
“I don’t care nothin’ ’bout that whining shit.” He continued kissing her neck, which caused her to giggle and squirm.
“Baby, stop,” she said, though she really didn’t want him to. They were in the living room, though, and her mother could walk in at any moment.
As if on cue, Tameka’s voice cut through their moment.
“Y’all in here gettin’ freaky while I’m in crisis mode.” Tameka plopped dramatically onto the couch next to Prosper and Teonny’s feet.
With a sigh, Prosper sat up, which made Teonny do the same. She tried to pull away from him, but he trapped her in his arms and kissed her temple.
“Mommy, what’s the problem?” Teonny asked.
Tameka had been moping around the house for the past week, and Teonny worried that she was close to leaving. There had been no news on Ghost, at least not that Prosper shared with her, and Teonny’s anxiety grew each day, even though she loved this little bubble of peace she found herself in.
“I think Jerome is mad at me. I been on this . . . vacation for a month now, and I ain’t been able to see my man. Now he ain’t even answering his phone.” She looked around the living room. “This place is starting to feel more like a prison than anything.”
Teonny glanced nervously at Prosper, whose jaw clenched and unclenched. “Baby . . .”
It was a slight argument they’d been having for the past couple of weeks. Teonny wanted to tell her mother what happened, but Prosper wasn’t for it.
He ran a hand down his face and sighed. “Look, Tameka, we here because I’m tryna keep y’all safe, aight? You gotta stay put while I figure some things out.”
Teonny’s eyes widened. She hadn’t expected him to say that, but it was clear that even he could sense Tameka’s antsy anxiety.
Tameka’s eyes turned to slits. “What you mean keep us safe? I thought we was on vacation.”
Teonny moved to grab Tameka’s hand. “Mommy, I might have lied about this being a vacation, but it was for our own good.”
“Our own good?” Tameka stood up. “Teo, what the hell is going on?”
Teonny glanced at Prosper, who slightly shook his head. She blew out a breath and focused back on her mom. “I can’t tell you. Can you please just hang tight for a little longer?”
“Ain’t this some mothafuckin’ shit. If I lose my man over this bullshit, I’m on y’all asses.” She glared at the couple. “I need some money so I can go to the grocery store.”
“I’ll take y’all to the store in a bit. In and out, though, aight?” Prosper said.
“Yeah, yeah,” Tameka said before stomping out of the room.
Teonny shook her head. Her mom never acted her age, and she was used to her temper tantrums. She turned in Prosper’s arms and hugged his neck. “I’m sorry, baby. Thank you for telling her.”
“I ain’t really have a choice, did I?”
Teonny pulled back so she could look at him. “I’m sorry.”
He sighed. “Don’t be, Peanut. I ain’t gon’ lie though. I don’t really like how ya moms handles you.”
Teonny’s brows pulled in, and she pulled all the way back and leaned up against the back of the couch. “What you mean?”
He shrugged as he draped a long arm over the side of the couch. “She acts like your sister.”
“She had me young,” Teonny said defensively.
“She always has her hand out for money.”
“She doesn’t work. I take care of her. Kevin did before he died, and I continued after.”
“And she’s always around. Feel like I can’t fuck on you like I want.” He grinned as he grabbed her hand and pulled her back into him.
She giggled. “She’s just bored, baby. Can you blame her? Maybe if we had let Jerome come too—”
“Nah. I ain’t lettin’ no nigga stay wit’ me that I don’t know, and I definitely ain’t lettin’ no other nigga get pussy in my house.”
“I thought this wasn’t your main house,” she argued.
He cut his eyes at her. “It’s still mine.”
She giggled at his serious expression. “Whatever. I know my mama can be a lot, baby. Thank you for putting up with us. I promise she isn’t all that bad. She’s literally just bored.”
Prosper shook his head like he didn’t want to argue before he cracked another grin. “You know you real for that, right?”
Teonny rolled her eyes to the ceiling. It hadn’t been the first time he called her that. Real. She didn’t even know what he meant by it. Teonny was always just her.
“Here you go,” she mumbled.
He chuckled. “I’m just sayin’. You don’t let anyone talk bad about the people you love. I admire that about you.”
Her brows dipped. “I don’t think anyone should allow someone to talk bad about someone they love.”
“You not wrong, but you’d be surprised by how many people do. People like to fit in, and they think words and shit are harmless, so they let shit slide when it comes to people they love, just to fit in.”
Teonny shook her head. “Couldn’t be me.”
He kissed her lips. “That’s why you’re real.”
“I guess.” She giggled, and as she leaned into him, she asked, “Still no word on Ghost?”
“None.”
She hated that. She knew this entire situation weighed down on Prosper too.
The entire house was tense, and she hoped everything would come to a head and end soon.
Though time had passed, both she and Prosper were nervous about being out in public.
They’d only been to the grocery store one other time, but Tameka was right; they needed to stock up on food.
Maybe she would see if the grocery store had some playing cards or board games or something to help take the edge off.
Prosper’s phone rang, bringing them out of their thoughts. He adjusted them so he could reach his phone in his pocket, and then he answered.
“Yo.”
He didn’t say anything else for a solid thirty seconds before he said, “Bet. Give me an hour or so. I need to make a run, and then I’ll be there.”
Teonny looked up at him in confusion. He had yet to leave the house since the first day they got there, outside of them going to the grocery store.
“Everything okay?”
He tapped her thigh. “Go get ya mama. We ’bout to go to the store quick, and then I gotta go handle something real quick.”
She eyed him wearily. Her heart felt like it fell to her ass, but she simply nodded and made a move to get up.
He tugged her back and kissed her lips. When they pulled apart, they looked into each other’s eyes.
It felt like they communicated without speaking, and the words spilled straight from her heart and out of her mouth.
“I love you.”
“I love you.”
They looked at each other in shock. They said the same damn thing at the same time, and it couldn’t have been a more perfect moment.
He chuckled while Teonny giggled.
“Glad we on the same page.” He smoothed her curls away from her face. “I been knowing I loved yo’ stubborn ass. I’m happy as fuck you love me too.”
“I do.” And that scares me, she wanted to add, but she didn’t. She didn’t want to be afraid of love. For Prosper, she wanted to embrace it.
He stared at her for another moment before he said, “I’m gon’ marry yo’ ass.”
She grinned. “How you know I want to get married again?”
“I know.” She shrugged and wouldn’t argue, because he wasn’t wrong. She would definitely marry Prosper, but she still didn’t want any more kids. She chewed on her bottom lip as her thoughts drifted. “Aye, what’s good?”
His voice grounded her, and she looked back at him. She felt comfortable being honest with him, so she decided to just say it.
“I don’t want to have any more kids. I just can’t . . . I can’t do it, Patrick. Being a mom was terrifying, and the worst thing that could have happened, happened. I can’t put myself in that position again. Loving another man is one thing, but being someone’s mom again . . .” She shook her head.
Prosper smiled and kissed her forehead. “I ain’t ever wanted kids anyway, Peanut. We a perfect match.”
Her eyes widened, and she pulled away. “Wait, what? Really?”
He nodded. “Yeah. I done seen too much in my life. I never wanted to bring kids into this world. If you wanted to, you know I would have, and I would have done my best to be a good dad, but it ain’t nothin’ I ever wanted for myself.”
Teonny allowed his words to sink in. A great deal of relief flooded her, and she dove back into his arms and hugged him tightly. “You would make a great father, for the record,” she whispered.
He kissed her temple. “And I know you were the best mother.”
His words caused tears to flood her eyes. She pulled away from him and got up off the couch. “I’ll go get my mom.”
She rushed out of the room and allowed her tears to fall. They were happy tears though. Somehow, she knew Angel looked down on her at that moment, cheering her on, and that gave her a great deal of comfort.