Chapter 26 Yale
Chapter twenty-six
Yale
“What exactly happened to the furniture?” Xoey asked as she looked around the empty living room.
It’d been a few days since my date with Am, but nothing had been put back yet.
I was starting to think it would never happen, but then again, I didn’t care because we spent all our free time in the bedroom.
“You’re going to have to ask Am,” I laughed, and she rolled her eyes. “Why are you here?”
“Well, damn.” She put her hand on her chest and took a step back. “A friend can’t come and check on a friend?”
“You can, but if you’re showing up, then that means that it’s a reason you’re here,” I laughed as I left the empty room and went into the kitchen. I was starving and wanted some fruit. “So fess up.”
“Mr. Empty Living room sent me over to ride with you to pick up your mama’s pictures,” she said as she followed me.
“He said that he knows you, and the fact that you mentioned them last night meant that you were tired of waiting on him. Since he had to go out of town with his brothers this morning, he sent me as your protection.”
“My protection?” I opened the fridge, got a bowl of pineapples out, then closed it. “Why are you my protection?”
“Because your husband’s people aren’t shit and they have been too quiet since the brothers set their church on fire,” she answered with a shrug.
“He said, and I quote, ‘Xoey, your unhinged ass is the only person I trust to have my woman’s back. Nobody ever expects your psycho ass to be anything but pretty.’”
“He didn’t say that,” I laughed.
“I swear he did,” she replied.
Instead of going back and forth with her, I took my phone from my pocket and dialed Amethyst's number. It rang three times, then he answered.
“Am?” I said as I watched Xoey, who was smiling.
“Yes, Sunshine?”
“Did you tell Xoey to go with me to the old house to get my mama’s pictures because you don’t trust anybody else, and nobody expects her to be anything but pretty when she’s unhinged as fuck?”
“Something like that,” he chuckled. “You’re going, right?”
“Yeah,” I answered with a nod. “As soon as I finish this fruit, we will go over there and grab the pictures.”
“Alright, be safe though,” he said. “I already told Xoey them niggas have been too quiet, but I got eyes on the house. Ain’t nobody been there in the past few days, which is why I’m saying go now.”
“Yes, sir,” I laughed.
“Remember to say that shit later tonight,” he chuckled sexily. “I love you, Yale.”
“I love you too,” I said, then hung up.
“Y’all be doing nasty shit, huh?” Xoey said, shaking her head. She leaned against the island and smirked. “That’s why the furniture is gone. Y’all were probably doing some nasty ass shit and broke everything in there.”
“Xoey, please stop,” I laughed, then put the fruit away. “Now come on, so we can go get these pictures and I can get to the office.”
“Okay,” she cheerfully replied as she stood. She looped her arm with mine as I passed her, and we walked through the back door out of the house to her car.
On the ride to the house, I worked on a design using the app Cross and Nine had designed for me to create on the go. I’d received a new order from Mr. Joseph for initial pieces, and while they weren’t overly complicated, I wanted to try a new idea I had in mind using the pieces he’d requested.
“What are your plans for tonight since Am is gone?” Xoey asked as she parked in my driveway.
I looked around, trying to feel some connection to the house. I’d only been gone a few weeks, but there was nothing left. It was just a house I’d once loved; now I considered Am’s house my home. There was no doubt that I would sell this house soon.
“I don’t know yet, why?” I replied as we got out of the car. I took the key out of my purse and walked up the steps. “You want to do something?”
“I signed up for a ride along with the fire department,” she answered, and I stared at her, confused as hell.
“Xoey, why the hell are you doing a ride-along with the fire department?” I asked with a laugh.
“I have yet to see a fine ass fire fighter, and it’s starting to piss me off. It was either request a ride-along or start setting shit on fire until I finally see one,” she explained as if it was a rational answer. I paused, then started laughing. “The hell are you laughing at?”
“What you said sounded responsible as hell,” I answered, then put the key into the lock.
“I do responsible shit all the time,” she replied, and I laughed harder.
After I got myself together, I turned the key, unlocked the door, and then pushed it open. The first thing I noticed was how stale the air in the house was. Usually, I would take off my shoes, but today I didn’t care. I made my way upstairs to my old bedroom with Xoey right on my heels.
“I have a few pictures in the closet, and then I want the ones on the living room wall above the fireplace,” I said to Xoey, then pushed open the bedroom door.
I grabbed the pictures from the closet, then we made our way to the living room, taking the back stairs.
“I know, Am said nobody has been here in a few days, and it shows. That damn trash stinks.”
“That ain’t trash, friend,” Xoey said, stepping around me.
We rounded the corner to go to the living room, and I stopped in my tracks.
My living room was trashed, but I didn’t care.
It was Grant’s body on the floor that turned my body cold.
Everything in me yelled for me to cry or react, but I didn’t.
Instead, I stared. I turned to Xoey, who was looking around with a serious expression. “Xoey, did you do this?”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. She stepped over Grant’s body and made her way around the room. “This wasn’t me.” She kicked the shell casing that was next to him, then took her phone from her pocket and dialed a number.
“Who are you calling?” I asked as I looked around.
“The police,” she answered, and I was shocked. I don’t know how many times it’d been drilled into us that we didn’t call the police. We handled everything internally, and to hear Xoey, of all people, say she was going to call the police had me confused as hell.
“The police?” I questioned her, and she nodded. “Why? Just call a clean-up team and have them handle this.”
“I can’t,” she said, shaking her head.
“Why not? We don’t call the police, remember?”
“Because I can’t,”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” I said, shaking my head. “Since when don’t you all handle stuff like this?”
“I’m just doing my part,” she laughed humorlessly. “Damn, just listen to me for a second-”
“I’m calling Am,” I said, taking my phone from my purse. “Just give me a minute.” Xoey nodded, then started walking around again. I dialed Am’s number, but it went to voicemail after two rings.
“You’ve reached Dr. Amethyst Stone. I am unable to come to the phone. Please leave a message, and I will return your call as soon as possible. If this is an emergency, call the hospital, and a nurse will contact me. If this is personal-”
I hung up before the message finished. “He didn’t answer,” I sighed and tried again. Just like last time, it rang twice then went to voicemail. I didn’t let the message go all the way before I hung up. I redialed him, this time getting frustrated.
“We are wasting time, Yale,” Xoey said, then crossed her arms. “We have to call the police.”
“Why?” I questioned her as I listened to Am’s voicemail.
This time, I let it play through so I could leave a message.
“If this is personal, please, Sunshine, go through with it. It’s for the best. Remember what I said.
I’m doing this because I love you.” I took my phone from my ear and stared down at it.
That part was new. I looked up to see Xoey watching me.
Her eyes filled with tears, but she turned her head before they could fall.
The phone beeped, then an automated message said his voicemail was full, and the call ended. “What the fuck is going on, Xoey?”
“He asked me to be here,” she said softly. “To help you do this because he can’t do it.”
“Do what?” I asked as I redialed Am’s number. I listened to his voicemail while watching Xoey. “Do what, Xoey!”
“Break your heart,” Cross said, coming from the back of the house. “He can’t be here to do this, so he sent us.”
“No,” I said, shaking my head. I took a step back, and she sighed. I redialed his number and listened to the voicemail, hoping that something else had been added.
“Yes, Yale,” Cross nodded. “He told me to tell you that-”
“He promised me,” I said, looking between them. I held up my hand to show them the ring. “He said he had a few things to take care of before we could be together. He promised!”
“We know, friend,” Consonance said, coming from the same hallway that Cross had. She barely spared a glance at Grant’s body as she approached me. “And he’s sorry, I know he is, because he told me. But he needs you to do this.”
“By myself?” My tears fell freely from my eyes, but they weren’t for Grant. They were for the life I wasn’t getting. I didn’t care about Grant, but I never thought I would be alone. I always assumed Am would be by my side and we would navigate this together.
“You’re not by yourself,” Cross said, shaking her head.
“We’re here.” Her small baby bump pushed against her shirt, and I was instantly jealous.
She got her happily ever after with the man she loved, yet I wasn’t going to?
That shit was comical at best and depressing at worst. She looked sad, like she knew what I was going through, which she did.
Nine had broken her heart the same way years ago.
“I promised him we would be here for you.”
I didn’t care about what they were talking about. I dialed Am’s number and was once again greeted by the voicemail. I hung up, pulled up our text, and sent him a voice note. “Am, call me back. Please.”