1. Alisha #4
I don’t know when I finally fell asleep, but it couldn’t have been for long.
Soon as that sun started peeking through the curtains, my eyes popped open.
I reached over out of habit; his side of the bed was empty.
I threw my robe on and shuffled toward the kitchen.
Before I even made it all the way down the hall, I smelled breakfast; eggs, turkey bacon and toast.
That made me stop for a second because this man ain’t never got up early enough to cook breakfast. Matter of fact I didn’t even know he could cook breakfast. Now Deuce cooked, but only when he wanted to throw something on the grill or show out on a holiday.
This random Tuesday morning shit was new.
When I walked into the kitchen, he was standing at the stove like last night never happened.
Like he ain’t come strolling through that front door damn near midnight and we ain’t just had a whole conversation that left me with more questions than answers.
He glanced over his shoulder. “Morning.”
I leaned against the doorway. “You cooking?”
He smirked without turning all the way around. “Damn… I can’t cook breakfast for my family?”
“You usually don’t.”
He chuckled. “So now a nigga can’t switch it up?”
See this was the Deuce everybody loved, cool calm and collected. He always knew the right thing to say. If you wasn’t paying attention, he’d talk you clean out your own feelings.
Too bad for him I was paying attention now. I walked over to the island. “You trying to make up for something?”
He flipped the eggs onto a plate before answering. “Nah, I just felt like cooking.”
“Mhm.” I nodded.
“You still don’t believe me.” It wasn’t a question because he already knew. I looked at him. “I believe what you show me and lately you been showing me something different.”
That smile finally disappeared, he set the spatula down and turned toward me. “Ain’t nobody else, Li.”
I blinked; funny I never said another woman. He volunteered that shit all by himself. I looked at him. “I ain’t accuse you of cheating.” He rubbed the back of his neck.
“I know.”
“Then why you bring it up?” Deuce didn’t answer right away, he looked down at the stove then back at me. “I just don’t want you thinking crazy.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “You should’ve thought about that yesterday.”
Right then little feet came running down the hallway.
“Daddy!”
Brittany launched herself into his arms like she always did.
His whole face lit up, like somebody flipped a switch.
He picked her up, kissed her cheek, and started talking to her like nothing in this house was out of place.
I stood there watching them. Part of me wanted to believe every word that came out of his mouth.
The other part kept remembering everything that didn’t.
“I made you a picture!” She let him know.
“You did?” He added.
She nodded hard. “It’s at daycare.”
“Oh, so I gotta wait?” She giggled.
“Yep.”
“Aight then soon as I get off, we gone go get it.”
I watched the whole exchange without saying a word. One thing I could never take from Deuce that man loved Brittany. That little girl could ask him for the moon, and he’d start trying to figure out how to get it. He looked over at me. “You gone eat?”
“I’ll fix my own.” I snapped.
“Aight.” That was it. Usually he’d be behind me, trying to steal a kiss or smack me on my ass while I was making my plate. I grabbed a plate out of the cabinet. Brittany was still talking a mile a minute.
“Daddy, Mommy took me to Chick-fil-A.”
“Oh yeah?” He asked.
She nodded. “I wanted you to come.”
Damn kids would say some shit that’ll hit everybody in the room. Deuce looked at Brittany, then at me. “I’m sorry, baby, I had some stuff to handle.” She shrugged and started talking about something else like nothing happened.
Kids bounce back quick grown muthafuckas don’t. I fixed my plate while Deuce stood there watching me. “You still got an attitude?” I looked over my shoulder.
“I got an attitude, or you finally noticing I ain’t stupid?”
He smacked his lips. “Here you go.”
“Nah, there you go. You got an answer for every damn thing except what I actually asked you.”
He rubbed his beard and let out a little laugh. “You be wanting me to explain every move I make. I’m a grown ass man, Alisha, I shouldn’t have to explain shit!”
“No, I want you to stop moving funny.”
“I ain’t moving funny.” He snapped.
“Mhm, I know you, Deuce and I know how you act. And this…” I pointed at him. “This ain’t you.”
He looked at me for a second before picking his coffee up. “You done?”
“That’s exactly what the hell I’m talking about. You keep trying to end the conversation instead of having one.”
He shook his head. “I ain’t about to keep going back and forth.”
“I ain’t asking you to, I’m asking you to be real.”
He looked me dead in my face. “I am.”
I held his stare, I ain’t believe a damn word he said. I cleaned my plate off and put it in the sink. All the bullshit coming out of Deuce’s mouth made me lose my damn appetite. I needed to get dressed and get my ass to the shop anyway.
Before I left the kitchen, I looked back at Deuce one more time.
“Just know this… you can fool a whole lotta people, but don’t get too comfortable thinking you gone fool me.” His eyes stayed locked on mine. He ain’t say nothing. Good, ’Cause at that point neither one of us had nothing else to talk about.