Taeja

14. Chapter 14

14

If it was one thing Taeja loved, it was a self-care day with Aaliyah. They’d start by getting manis and pedis, then do their hair and get massages.

Currently, they were finishing up their pedis.

Aaliyah looked away from Taeja and wiggled her brows. “How are things with your man dem? Since the fight with your father and all?”

Taeja sighed at the mention of Jerry. She’d been trying to get in contact with him since the fight, just to see if he was okay, but he ignored all her calls. “Okay, I guess,” she stated solemnly.

Liyah reached over and gave Taeja’s hand a comforting squeeze. “Mi sorry yafi go through this, Tae.”

“It’s fi—”

“No, stop seh it fine. Cause a me yu always cry to about it. Mi nuh understand some parents. How can you have a child and not love them? Especially when the child has done nothing but their best.”

Taeja sighed, freeing her hand from Liyah’s. “I don’t know. I’ve been trying to figure that out for as long as I can remember.”

“I’m going to look for Dadz this weekend. Do you want to come with me? You know he loves you like you’re his own.”

“Of course, Dadz loves me. You had no friends in high school except me.”

Liyah gasped and playfully rolled her eyes. “I tried having friends. I just never really fit in with any of them. ”

Taeja nodded. “I understand. Same here. The private school Jerry sent me to had too many presumptuous kids. I’m happy the day I met you at the mall.”

“The way how mi see yu did a walk, mi seh a must waa Jamaican that. Mi nuh know where the confidence come from, but mi happy mi did approach yu.”

Taeja smiled, recanting the memory. “Now me a remember seh a long time mi nuh talk to Miss Charm. She must a cuss me off.”

“Mek sure yu call the lady cause yu always a seh she was your favorite nanny.”

“I will—” Taeja began, stopping as the nail technician released her foot and smiled at her.

“All done,” said Binh in her thick Vietnamese accent. “Paying for both?”

Taeja nodded, and the woman smiled before heading to the desk at the front of the nail salon.

“Them people ya must tired a we,” Liyah joked as she and Taeja followed Binh.

“Dem cya tired a we when we come here every three week,” Taeja said while stopping at the counter. She took her card out of her purse, handed it to Binh, and waited for the sum to be redacted.

Binh swiped the card once, twice, then gave an apologetic smile. “Card decline.”

Taeja’s brows crinkled. “Try it again,” she urged, knowing that couldn’t be right. She still had money from the last time Jerry topped her up.

Binh tried again, getting the same result. “Decline.”

Taeja’s heart dropped.

“I’ll pay for it,” Liyah offered.

Taeja was still in a state of shock, she couldn’t even protest. She’d never heard the word ‘decline’ and ‘her card’ in the same sentence before. And to make matters worse, Liyah was paying now.

Numb, Taeja accepted her card from Binh. Her thoughts were incoherent as she blindly tucked her card into her purse, then tossed it into her handbag without zipping it up. She watched as Liyah went into her wallet and smoothed out a couple of twenty and ten-dollar bills before handing them to Binh.

“Thank you. See you in three weeks.” Binh waved as they left.

Now outside, Liyah glanced at Taeja. “You okay? ”

“Yeah,” Taeja rushed out, causing Liyah to raise a brow. “Sorry you had to pay.”

Liyah waved her off. “Girl, it’s fine. You always pay for us. Nothing’s wrong if I pay this once.”

Taeja smiled. “You’re the best, Liyah. I will repay you, though.”

“You can repay me by driving us home.”

Taeja sighed as they approached Zain’s two-door coupe. Taeja had driven like a grandma because she was scared of leaving a scratch on it. “You know I hate driving,” Taeja grumbled as she settled behind the wheel.

“I know, but when you came for me earlier, you held me at knifepoint and made me drive us here.”

Taeja loudly laughed as she started the vehicle. “Yu know seh yu lie?”

Liyah connected her phone to the car, playing her Kirone Tyke playlist on shuffle. “Me? Psh .”

“One thing with you? Yago connect your phone to people car,” Taeja joked as she drove off, heading toward Liyah’s apartment.

“As I should—” Liyah paused when a call popped up on the screen. She rolled her eyes and answered it. “You’re on speaker.”

“Why do I have to be on speaker?” Mason asked, his attitude mirroring Liyah’s.

“Because I don’t want you to say anything inappropriate to me.”

“Who are you with?”

“Taeja.”

Mason scoffed. “Tae knows we have sex.”

Taeja shivered, scowling as memories hit her. “I know too much.”

Mason chuckled. “Hey, Tae. Are you taking care of my girl?”

“I am.”

Liyah rolled her eyes. “I’m nobody’s girl.”

“You’re mine,” Mason insisted.

“Mhm. Whatever yu seh.”

Mason sighed. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with you, Liyah.”

“Treat me with respect.”

“I told you I’m sorry one hundred times.”

“Make it two hundred. ”

Mason cleared his throat. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m s—”

Taeja rolled her eyes. “Mason, stop mek Liyah hot up yu head.”

“She’s my baby. Who else is supposed to drive me crazy?” Mason asked, his confusion evident.

Liyah smiled at the screen, looking like a lovesick puppy. Taeja snorted. She had no idea why Liyah still had Mason on a leash.

“Why’d you call?” Liyah asked, still smiling.

Mason cleared his throat. “I… uh…”

Liyah glared. “You?”

“Please doh start argue. I can barely focus as is,” Taeja said, slowing at a stoplight. She smiled as she realized she stopped a few inches before the crosswalk, compared to how she’d stop directly on it and would have to reverse.

“You’re driving, Tae?” Mason asked, and she sighed.

“Unfortunately.”

“Don’t crash the car with my girl.”

Taeja gasped, glaring at the screen before driving away. “What about me? You don’t care if I get hurt?”

“The driver always survives.”

“Unu love gwan like me a the world’s worst driver.”

“You crashed the electric car you got for your birthday last year.”

“It wasn’t my fault! The curb was in my way, and the car should’ve been smart enough to not let it hit us!” she hissed.

“What about the replacement car yu crash after that? It wasn’t electric, so what’s your excuse?” Liyah asked.

“Don’t forget the time she had an SUV,” Mason added. “How did you manage to run into a parked vehicle?”

“I-I-” Taeja stuttered, and Mason and Liyah laughed. She rolled her eyes. “Go back to unu conversation. Stop teaming up on me.”

He chuckled. “Babe, like I was saying. I know you don’t like my family—”

Liyah frowned. “That’s not true. I love them.”

Mason paused before saying, “We’re having dinner, and I want you to come.”

Sighing, Liyah slumped into the seat. Her frown deepened as she looked through the window to her right. “I don’t know, Mason.”

“Please?” he begged. “They love you, and the last time we spoke about this, you said you’d try.”

She looked at the screen. A moment passed before her face relaxed, and she released a big puff through her nostrils. “What time is it?”

“Six.”

“I’ll let you know.” Liyah ended the call, and Kirone Tyke blasted through the speakers again.

Taeja glanced at Liyah with a raised brow. “Everything okay?” she asked, moving a hand from the steering to lower the volume.

“Yeah.”

“You sure?” she asked, and Liyah nodded before looking through the window. Taeja pursed her lips.

They continued their journey with no words exchanged between them, only the music filling the silence. A couple of minutes later, they arrived at Aaliyah’s apartment. Liyah disappeared into her bedroom. Whispering drifted through the walls as she spoke on the phone to Mason. Wanting to give them some privacy, Taeja went on the balcony.

It was early June, so the air was hot. The heavy winds made it more humid. It didn’t even help that the sun was out today, high in the sky and burning everything it smiled at.

Taeja returned inside for a cold bottle of water, then went to the balcony. She sat on a chair, chugging the water while pulling her phone out. After a few clicks, her eyes bulged. “This cya right!” Taeja exclaimed, rubbing her eyes as she stared at the screen. She exited the banking app, powered her phone off, then turned it on again. She reopened the app, and her mouth and heart dropped. “Where’s all my money, and how’s my account closed?”

Convinced it was an error, she dialed her bank. After ten minutes of talking to an automated system, then listening to classical music she was sure Damon would like, Taeja got through with a representative.

“Good day. My name is Kyra, and I will be assisting you today. May I get your name for easier communication?” said the representative .

“Good day. My name’s Taeja,” she answered.

“How may I help you, Taeja?” asked Kyra.

“I’m calling because there seems to be an error in my account. My card keeps declining and now it’s saying that my account is closed. I can’t check my balance, and I didn’t close my accounts. There must be an error on the bank’s end?”

“Can I get your account number?” Kyra asked, and Taeja gave the necessary information. “Okay, Taeja, it’s saying here that you are the secondary owner of the account, correct?”

“Correct.”

“Okay, then there’s no error. The primary owner withdrew all the money, then closed the checking and savings accounts.”

“W-what?”

“Jerry Marley, the primary account holder, withdrew the money and closed the account,” Kyra repeated slowly.

Taeja closed her eyes, shook her head, and released a heavy breath through her nostrils. Reopening her eyes, they settled on the array of leafy green trees in the nearby park. Dogs barked as they played with their owners, and Taeja wished she could be as happy and carefree as them.

“Okay,” she finally said on exhale. “Thank you, Kyra,” Taeja said before ending the call. She stared down at the phone in her hand, her reflection looking up at her. Tears lined her eyelids, but she couldn’t feel them. She was numb, even as she wiped them away. “Wow.” Taeja laughed to herself. “Just wow.”

“Taeja?!” a yell came from in the house.

“Balcony!” she yelled back, wiping her face and straightening her shoulders. She didn’t want Liyah to see her when she was down. Taeja looked toward the balcony door as it opened.

Liyah had swapped her skinny jeans and blouse for their college’s dark blue and yellow basketball jersey. The number ten decorated the front.

“Yu nuh tired fi thief Mason clothes?” Taeja joked, resting her water bottle and phone on the ground beside the chair.

Snickering, Liyah sat on the chair beside Taeja. She swung her feet onto Taeja’s lap. “Nope! He’s my man. ”

“All who nav man a bat.”

“All who nav men a bat,” Liyah countered. “Wonder if Mason waa share me?”

“Mason would never.”

Liyah chuckled. “True. He loves having me to himself too much to be open to that. And me nago ask fi next man and mek him ask fi next gyal. I don’t want to share him either.”

“He loves you too much to give another girl the same time of day.”

Liyah’s smile washed away, a small frown taking its place. “How can someone say they love you and still cheat?”

To Taeja, it sounded like Liyah was asking herself the question. So, Taeja didn’t reply. She kept quiet and listened.

“I love Mason with all my heart. No riches or my biggest celebrity crush can stop me from loving him,” Liyah said. “So, if I love him that much, and he says he loves me the same, why did he cheat? Every day since it happened, I’ve been trying to understand, but I never do.”

Looking at Liyah’s feet in her lap, Taeja sighed. She ran a finger over Liyah’s big toe, painted nicely in white while hers was lavender. “People make mistakes, Liyah,” Taeja said. “What matters is how we learn from them.”

“You’re right, but—” Liyah sighed. “I still feel embarrassed. Out of everyone Mason could’ve cheated with, why Ebony? She and I have almost all our classes together because we have the same concentration. She knows that Mason’s my boyfriend. I think the entire college knows because he’s the star basketballer, who’s said he loves me on national television several times. How am I going to go to class and look at Ebony’s face every day? How am I supposed to not feel embarrassed when there’s a video of them doing it? A me people ago laugh afta if me continue stay with him.”

“Yu care what people think?” Taeja scoffed. “You told me that my relationship isn’t for anyone except me to understand. I think you should follow your own advice, Liyah.”

Liyah sighed. “You’re right, but damn, it’s hard. Mi deevn ago try pretty it up. I just hope when classes start in two months, everyone can forget what happened last semester. ”

“They will, trust me. It’s gonna be our last year of college. Only idlers ago focus on anything except their coursework.”

“You’re right, I guess… Should I forgive him?”

Taeja stopped playing with Liyah’s toe to look at her face. “I can’t answer that for you.”

“I’m going to take that as a yes. I do miss him. Even more now because yaa start fi slowly dash mi weh fi yu man dem. How are things, by the way?”

Taeja smiled. “Great! I’m still getting the hang of things, but it’s going better than I expected, you know?”

Liyah nodded. “I understand. Two man one time, wow…” Liyah trailed off. “How different are they? Because mi fraid of the madman, so mi hope Damon nuh stay like dat.”

Tossing her head backward, Taeja laughed. “Zain isn’t mad! He’s just… reserved. And blunt. But Damon isn’t like him. Damon is sweet, and he gives me all I’ve been looking for in a relationship. They both do in their own ways.”

“Aww, look at her blushing,” Liyah teased, making Taeja’s cheek sting as her smile stretched. “Do you love them?”

Taeja choked on air, her eyes widening. “ Love ?”

Liyah nodded. “Yes. Love.”

“N-no,” Taeja rushed out. “It’s too soon.”

“Soon?” Liyah mocked. “You made them come in you within a day of meeting them. You met their parents, and you live with them. It’s not even been three weeks. Yu goodly a breed already and deevn know.”

Taeja gasped. “I rebuke you!”

Liyah chuckled. “I’m just teasing you, Tae. But no, I don’t think it’s too soon. And who am I to judge? The first time I had sex with Mason was at that senior kickback, where all those high schools came together. I didn’t even know his name. I just wanted to lose my virginity before college, so I thought it was no harm because I wouldn’t see him again.”

Taeja smiled. “I still remember how shocked you were when we got accepted into college and you saw him at the freshman orientation.”

“Then at the basketball game.” Liyah smiled, her eyes glazing as she relived the memory. “I still can’t believe he tracked me down and didn’t stop pursuing me until I agreed to be his girlfriend.”

“And yu really a try fool yuself seh yago leave Mason?” Taeja scoffed. “Him love yu till him fool, and you love him till yu fool, too. Unu a two big fool toget— Oh, mi just a realize seh mi neva ask yu how him find yu?”

“His dad is a good friend of our college’s President.”

“Wow, I didn’t know that.”

“Speaking of his dad, I told Mason I’d come to the dinner. Can you come with me, please?” Liyah begged, and Taeja’s brows furrowed.

“Are you sure?” she asked, and Liyah nodded.

“I don’t always feel like I fit in with them, so I’d love your company. I asked Mason if I could carry you, and he said yes.”

“Okay… Sure, I’ll come.”

Liyah released a big breath. “Thanks, Tae.” She took her feet off Taeja’s lap before standing. “Can you wax my pussy? I want dick tonight.”

“I don’t know why I ever told you I was thinking of becoming a cosmetologist.”

Liyah grinned. “I think you should still look into it. No one waxes me better than you do.”

Taeja rolled her eyes as she grabbed her phone and the bottle off the ground. She stood and gave Liyah’s shoulder a gentle push. “Gwan ina the house mek mi dweet. Mi soon start charge yu.”

Liyah stuck her tongue out. “Why would you charge me when I’m giving you free experience?”

“You have a point.”

“Exactly!” Liyah beamed. “I’m gonna take a quick shower. Thanks, I love you.”

Taeja smiled. “I love you more.”

Liyah grinned and tugged Taeja into a tight hug before pulling away and running toward the bathroom.

Taeja looked down at the phone in her hand. “I need to visit my dad…”