Chapter 14 #2
“Yeah... one more thing,” Skylar said, easing more into the room. “I know you’re fucking him. I knew it the second he pulled up over here, and you started sneaking around. But, just so you know, he’s only messing around with you because he doesn’t have access to me anymore.”
The teasing smirk on her lips would’ve annoyed Cyren further, but nothing else she heard today about Heavy could’ve surprised her.
She had her moment in the car where she’d been ready to lash out and prove to him how wrong he was, but she was calm now.
Skylar’s words and his actions weren’t anything she couldn’t handle.
Life had forced her to understand and know what real problems are. Only the ones that actually affected her life in a major way mattered. Not the little problems and temporary noise that would fade once the smoke cleared.
“That’s nice to know. Unfortunately, I don’t have a cookie to give you so you can choke on it, but thanks.”
Skylar scowled, not catching on. “Why the hell would I want a cookie?”
“Get the hell out of my room and leave me alone,” Cyren mumbled, walking her way.
Without uttering another word, she pushed the door closed, with Skylar barely making it across the threshold.
Rubbing her temples, Cyren exhaled and grabbed her phone to play some music.
Her heart stuttered in her chest when she saw the missed calls from Heavy and a few text messages.
She contemplated texting and calling him back for all of two seconds before she did what was best for them both.
She blocked him.
Having access to her while doing her wrong, in another country at that, was something Cyren wasn’t going for. He’d better get somebody else to do it.
“It was fun while it lasted,” she mumbled, and played some music.
Her room was a mess, just like her life, but there wasn’t anything a bit of focusing and cleaning up couldn’t fix.
“She still got you blocked?” Nash asked as they walked through the airport.
Heavy’s head bobbed. He’d been quiet the entire flight home and didn’t have shit to say to anyone unless it was Cyren.
Every time he unlocked his phone, her name sat there at the top of his messages and call log, and he’d hit her line again.
He’d called once from Nash’s phone, but she didn’t pick up then either.
His calls had gone unanswered, and his texts undelivered.
Heavy was pissed that she didn’t have social media.
Otherwise, he would’ve been hitting her up on there, too.
“Damn,” Nash muttered. “You think she found out about Tish being there?”
Heavy’s upper lip curled. Hearing her name disgusted him. That notion crossed his mind, but he didn’t see how Cyren would’ve found out.
Irritated to the max, he rubbed a hand over his beard. “Nah. That can’t be it. Gotta be something else.”
Heavy hoped that was the case because the punishment she was giving him didn’t seem to fit the crime he thought he had committed.
He went out of town for a week, handled business, relaxed on the beach, and came back to feeling like the rug had been snatched from under him.
Cyren went from talking to him every day, sleeping in his bed, wearing his briefs and hoodies around his house, to acting like he didn’t exist.
That shit didn’t sit right with him.
Heavy barely said bye before splitting from Nash outside the airport. His truck had been sitting in the valet all week, and the moment he climbed inside, he called her again. It went straight to voicemail.
“Man, what the fuck,” he muttered, gripping the steering wheel tighter before pulling off.
The entire forty-five-minute drive to Nia’s house was made in complete silence as his mind ran in circles.
One minute, he was irritated; the next, he was missing her.
He could still hear her laugh in his ear, still picture her sitting across from him with that look on her face whenever she was trying not to smile too hard.
The same girl who had been wrapped around him before he left was now moving like he was some random nigga who overplayed his role.
Heavy wasn’t used to that.
By the time he pulled up outside the house, his frustration hadn’t eased at all. It grew worse. He killed the engine, got out, and went to the door, knocking like he had a warrant. Technically, he did. He was ready to arrest Cyren’s ass for the amount of torment she was putting him through.
Skylar answered after the second knock.
Her face instantly lit up at the sight of him. “Well, hello,” she said, leaning against the doorframe. “Look what the wind blew in.”
Heavy gave a quick nod. “What’s up?”
Skylar stepped aside, letting him in. “I haven’t seen you in a while.”
“Yeah.” His eyes automatically moved around, searching. “Cyren here?”
Skylar shut the door slowly behind him. “No hello? No hug? Nothing?”
Heavy glanced at her, already impatient. “Sky…”
“What?” She laughed, lightly, folding her arms across her chest. “I’m just saying. You too good to hug me now?”
Heavy looked at her like she’d lost her mind. “I’m not on that with you.”
“Why not?” she asked, smiling like she was halfway joking and halfway not.
“‘Cause I’m dating your cousin,” he answered, plainly.
Skylar blinked. “What cousin?”
Heavy stared at her for a second before chuckling under his breath. “Man, quit playing. Where she at? I know she done told you we mess around.”
Skylar shrugged. “Not really. The only thing Cyren told me is that she moved.”
Heavy’s expression dropped. “Moved?”
“To Texas,” she casually added, watching his reaction a little too closely. “I thought you knew. She’s been packing for weeks.”
Heavy frowned hard. “What?”
Skylar tilted her head. “Oh. She didn’t tell you?”
The confusion that crossed his face was real enough to make her almost feel bad. Almost.
“You for real right now?” he asked.
“Mhm.” She nodded. “You want me to call her?”
Somebody needs to call her ass before I pass out in this bitch.
Heavy didn’t answer right away, trying to process what the hell she’d just said.
Cyren had only mentioned something to him about moving once.
She’d said it jokingly, so Heavy thought.
Not once had he taken her seriously, but he should’ve.
If she answered Skylar’s call and not his, he knew something.
“Yeah,” he finally said. “Call her.”
Skylar pulled her phone out and dialed. The shit rang twice before Cyren answered, and Heavy’s jaw instantly tightened.
“There has to be a good reason why you’re calling me,” Cyren said, her voice full of annoyance.
Skylar faintly smirked before glancing at Heavy. “Somebody here wants to talk to you.”
Heavy snatched the phone from her hand. “Damn. I been blowing you up. Glad to know your phone still works.”
Cyren briefly closed her eyes at the sound of his voice.
Hearing him through Skylar’s phone pissed her off even more and somehow made blocking him feel justified all over again.
Out of all the time she’d been staying there, he’d only popped up a handful of times, but now he was over there?
Heavy seemed to love playing stupid games and winning stupid prizes. That’s why he was blocked now.
“What’s up, Heavy?” Cyren asked, coolly.
He jerked his head back, offended by how detached she sounded. “Heavy? Aye, you got me messed up.” A disbelieving chuckle left him. “When you coming home?”
Cyren laughed softly, but there was no warmth in it. “I’m not.”
Heavy’s smile faded. “What you mean?”
“I mean, I’m not coming back. I’m sure she already told you I moved.”
“Moved where man?” he repeated. “The fuck is you talking about, Pooh?”
The nickname almost weakened her.
“I moved to Texas,” she replied, evenly. “Wasn’t much there for me anyway.”
Heavy went quiet for a second, trying to catch up to what was happening. “Damn,” he muttered. “Okay... so I guess a nigga meant nothing to you then, huh?”
The hurt in his voice slid right through her chest, but Cyren forced herself to ignore it.
“I wouldn’t say that,” she answered, softly. “We were having a good time, right? Filling a void both of us needed to fill.”
Heavy looked away, dropping his head back between his shoulders. That sounded like some shit she’d rehearsed and couldn’t wait to say.
“You really on this?” he asked in a huff. “Is this about me going out of the country?”
“It’s not,” Cyren quickly said. “I’m just doing what’s best for me, the same way you’re doing what’s best for you. It’s only right don’t you think?”
“Cyren, be for real right now,” Heavy said, frustration in his tone. “I go out of town for a week, miss your call one time, and you pull this type of shit? Am I missing something?”
“Yeah, the point,” she replied, smoothly. “And your key. It should be sitting right there on the entryway table.”
Heavy’s eyes cut toward the table to his left.
The key he willingly gave her was sitting right there.
With the way he was feeling, Heavy wanted to launch that bitch into the mirror across the room.
He stared at the key longer than he should have, hoping that if he looked at it hard enough, it would change its location and be back with its rightful owner. Staring didn’t help.
He exhaled loudly, dragging his hand down his face before bringing the phone back up to his ear. “So that’s it?” he asked in a low tone. “You wasn’t even gonna give me a heads-up? I fucked up that bad, you block me and just disappear?”
Cyren closed her eyes as his words landed exactly where she didn’t want them to.
Right in her chest again. She sat there in silence for a beat, fighting the urge to explain herself.
She wanted to. God, she did. But explaining wouldn't change anything.
Their feelings got involved, hers got hurt, and now his were too.
“It’s not about you fucking up,” she finally said, her voice softer but still steady. “It’s about me not wanting to keep putting myself in situations I don’t understand.”
Heavy shook his head, pacing a few steps before stopping again. “That don’t even make sense. What don’t you understand? We were good. You were just with me. Riding my dick and telling me how you couldn’t wait for me to come home.”
“And now you’re there. I hope you had a safe flight.”
Heavy ignored her. “Cyren... you really pissing me off right now. Say what you gotta say.”
“I’ve said enough. Done enough. Talking isn’t going to change what it is.”
“You don’t know that!” he shot back.
“I do,” she said, more firmly now. “Because if it was something else, whatever we thought it was supposed to be, I wouldn’t have had to question it.”
Heavy clenched his jaw. He wanted her to come right out and say what the issue might have been, but clearly, it wasn’t that deep.
Otherwise, she would have brought it up instead of skating around it.
What she was pissed about didn’t compare to the fact that she just up and moved.
Heavy was blindsided like a mothafucka. He glanced back at the key again, then away, as if it irritated him just sitting there.
“A’ight.” Heavy sighed. “What now? You moved, coo’. I’ma come visit you.”
Cyren actually laughed. “No, you’re not. Just let me do me, and you do you.”
“That’s what you want?”
The seriousness in his voice made her spine tingle and stomach drop.
“Huh?” Heavy pressed when she didn’t answer. “Tell me that’s what you want. Tell me to leave you the fuck alone, and you got my word, sweetheart, I won’t ever bother you again.”
Cyren cleared her throat as her chest heaved. It was what she wanted, but goodness, did he have to say it like that? Checking her feelings like she’d been doing throughout their entire phone call, she nodded more to herself since he couldn’t see her.
“Yeah. Y-You can leave me alone. It’s for the b—”
“It’s for the best,” he mocked, cutting her off. “You ain’t gotta remind me. Have a good life.”
Heavy handed Skylar her phone back without another word and walked out, leaving whatever he felt sitting on that line with Cyren.
The same woman who told him she could wake up one day and decide she needed something different had done exactly that.
He hadn’t taken her seriously then. Not like this.
Not like she would really get up, pack her shit, and bounce.
He should’ve known better.
Life didn’t wait for anyone to get their act together, and neither did Cyren.
She wasn’t sticking around to find answers or fix something that should’ve never been broken, no matter how Heavy affected her life.
Even through his grief, the pressure, and the burden of figuring out his next move, Heavy still showed up for her.
Giving her everything he promised. And somehow, it still wasn’t enough. Not for her, and not for him either.
That was the part that fucked with Heavy the most because no matter how he tried to make sense of it, there was nothing he could’ve done differently that would’ve made her stay.
He was trying to figure out what made her just up and leave as he walked back to his truck.
Spotting Nia’s car pull up, Heavy waited.
If anyone had answers, he was sure she did.
His presence didn’t surprise her. Heavy had always kept in contact just as he promised Dre. The grimace on his face concerned Nia as she climbed out, greeting him with a smile.
“Hey, Heavy. What’s going on?” Nia asked.
“You knew she was leaving?” Heavy got straight to it. He wasn’t trying to be disrespectful, and wouldn’t be, but he didn’t have time for the pleasantries. After hearing Cyren’s voice and her lame excuse, he needed answers.
Sighing, Nia shook her head. She’d warned her to be careful, and now look. “I did.”
“But for what, though?” Heavy fumed. “She just sat on that phone, not making a lick of sense.”
Love, or whatever he was feeling, never truly did. Not when it was offered to him in an unfamiliar manner and then taken away.
“She has her reasons. That’s not something for me to share, though,” Nia explained.
Frustrated, Heavy paced the driveway. Never in his life had something like this happened to him.
Heavy had always been a man of his word, and he knew he’d just told Cyren he’d leave her alone, but he lied.
He couldn’t. Not like this. He wanted her to be woman enough and look him in the eyes and tell him to leave her alone.
Facing Nia, Heavy blew out a deep breath. “Look, I know she’s your niece, and you love her... but I love her, too. I’ma need that address in Texas up off of you.”
to be continued…