25. Halo
Halo
A couple days later
I was so glad that Joker was able to get my necklace back for me. It broke my heart that it was stolen. I didn’t know how Brave was going to take it if I had to tell him that someone took it.
I’d spent most of the day searching for jobs. I’d even applied to a few online. All I kept getting were denial emails, and it was really discouraging. I was a hard worker. People who were lazy and didn’t want the jobs for real seemed to be the only ones walking away with them.
The bus stopped down the street from my apartment, and I got off. My feet were aching. All I wanted to do was go in the house, jump in the shower, and lay down ’til it was time for me to walk and get Brave.
As I approached the building, I couldn’t help but notice that I hadn’t seen the homeless man ever since he stole my necklace. I didn’t even bother to ask Joker how he got it back. Maybe Joker beat his ass and took it and he was too afraid to show his face around here again. That’s what he got.
Jah hadn’t shown his face around here either after the incident with Joker. He was probably too embarrassed. I kinda felt sorry for him because he was so sweet, but the life he was living, it wasn’t anything I wanted for me or my son. I don’t care how much money he has.
As I neared the door, I saw Mrs. Maple carrying some boxes to it. I jogged up behind her and grabbed the door. “You need some help?”
“Thank you, baby. Some of the men don’t have any home training.” She glared at the guys that were leaning down in the parking lot shooting dice. They weren’t about to do anything if it didn’t benefit them.
“You’re welcome.” I snickered and grabbed the couple boxes off the top. I followed her upstairs to her apartment door.
“I’m making a pound cake later if you want to come over and get a slice.” That was just like her. Mrs. Maple always had the hallway smelling like a bakery. I hadn’t come across anyone who was able to bake the way she did, hands down.
“That sounds great. I’ll be sure to bring Brave over after school.” She unlocked the door and I placed the boxes on the floor of the entrance. “I’m going to head into the house so I can take a hot shower. I’ve been sweating all morning.”
“Okay.”
I pulled the door up behind me and crossed the hallway to mine. Sticking the key in the hole, I unlocked the door and pushed it in. My phone chimed as soon as I stepped foot in the door. It was an alert, letting me know that the bill was due in a couple of days, and I didn’t have the money. Sighing, I shut the door behind me, and the phone went off again. This time, it was a message from Joker.
Joker : Can you see if someone will watch Brave for you after school? There’s somewhere I want to take you. Attire: Something along the lines of the dress you wore the other night.
I didn’t want to get my hopes up that I was about to spend time with Joker, but I also didn’t want to not do what he said, and he actually did end up coming this time. I went to Krissy’s name to see what she was up to tonight. I pressed the phone icon and placed it on speaker as I trotted down the hallway to my bedroom.
“Hey, do you have any plans for the night?” I questioned her when the phone connected.
“I got a date a bit later. It’s nothing early though. Why you asked?”
“Never mind then. I was gon’ ask if you can keep Brave for me. I think I’m gon’ go across the hallway and ask Mrs. Maple. I’m not sure how long I’ll be gone and don’t want you to end up missing your date.”
“Okay. If she wants something for keeping him, I’ll Apple Pay you.”
“Alright.” I ended the call and treaded back out my bedroom. I opened the front door and crossed the hallway. It took her a few minutes to come to the door.
“Hey. Did you forget something?” she asked and looked down at the floor where I placed the boxes.
“No. I was wondering if you were busy tonight. I need a babysitter for Brave. I can pay you if you want me to.”
“Now you know you don’t have to pay me to watch my little boyfriend. I do have a few things around the house that he can do for me though.”
“Put him to work. He’ll be just fine,” I told her. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Going back to Joker’s name, I texted him back. Done.
I went back into the apartment to find me something to wear. I didn’t have a lot of nice clothes. Most of my clothes were old or I had bought them from Walmart. There was this cute white floral dress I got from there in my drawer. Maybe that’ll work.
Going over to the dresser, I searched the drawer for the dress and pulled it out, placing it against my body. It was nothing like the dress I wore the other night, but I could dress it up a bit with accessories. Maybe he wouldn’t know the difference. I found some underwear then went into the bathroom and turned on the shower.
Grabbing some towels out of the linen closet, I then stripped out of my clothes and stepped over into the tub. I didn’t have a lot of time to spare before it was time to go get Brave. Once I was done with my shower, I got out, lotioned my body, and put my clothes on. My silk press was still lasting, so I didn’t have to do anything to my hair but comb it out. Once I was done, I grabbed my keys and left out the door.
When I got outside, I noticed Jah sitting in the parking lot in his truck, so I approached. “Hey,” I softly spoke.
“I thought you would’ve been gone by now,” was his response.
“I know you don’t want anything to do with me right now. I wanted to apologize for his behavior that night.”
“When you told me that you was gon’ think ’bout it, I really thought you was gon’ think on it.”
“It’s nothing personal, Jah. I just can’t put myself in that position.” He chuckled and shook his head. “What’s that supposed to mean?” I saw the time on his truck and realized that I needed to gone and leave if I wanted to get to the school on time. “Don’t even worry about it. I have to go,” I told him and walked away from his truck.
I stopped at Brave’s school and stood on the sidewalk, waiting for him to come to me. He ran full speed in my direction and wrapped his arms around my waist.
“Hey, Poppa,” I spoke to him, and we started down the sidewalk. “How was school?”
“It was fine.”
“You’re going to spend some time with Mrs. Maple this evening. She said there’s a few things she wants you to do for her. I’m going out with Coach Knox.”
“Okay.”
We arrived at the apartment and Jah was gone. When we got inside, Brave went straight to his room to do his homework and I went into the kitchen to prepare something quick for dinner before Joker decided to arrive. Without a doubt, I knew that Mrs. Maple would feed him, but I didn’t want to send him over there on an empty stomach. Spaghetti was for dinner. By the time I was done cooking, there was a knock at the door.
Turning off the eye, I went into the living room and peeked out the peephole. Joker stood out there in all black. He looked handsome dressed up. I pulled the door open and my eyes roamed his frame. His tattoos peeked from underneath his button-up shirt.
“Hey, beautiful,” rolled off his tongue.
“Hey. I’ll grab Brave and I’ll be ready to go,” I told him and stepped away from the door. “Brave, come on! It’s time to go!” I yelled from the kitchen as I filled a container with spaghetti and closed it.
“Hey, Coach Knox,” Brave said and embraced him.
“You ready for the game this weekend?”
“Yes!” My boy knows he be excited about football.
“Let’s get you across the hallway to Mrs. Maple,” I told him, and we all exited the apartment. I locked the door behind us and knocked on Mrs. Maple’s door. It took her a moment, but she finally came to the door. When she pulled that door open, she eye fucked the shit out of Joker.
“Now, where did you find this man?” Mrs. Maple questioned me, folding her arms over her chest.
“I found her,” Joker confidently replied.
“That’s neither here nor there. Hopefully, I won’t be out too late,” I told her.
“She won’t be,” Joker added.
“Be good for Mrs. Maple,” I instructed Brave.
He entered the apartment, and she shut the door behind them. I followed Joker to the staircase. He gripped me by the hand and helped me down to the first floor.
“I wish you would’ve told me where we were going. I hope my outfit is fine. I didn’t really have anything else to put on.”
“You could’ve told me that. I would’ve sent you something or gave you money to find something. You’re beautiful either way though,” he replied and opened the door for us. He hit the key fob, unlocked the truck, and opened the passenger door. I climbed inside and he waited ’til I reached for my seat belt to shut the door behind me.
Joker hopped into the driver’s seat, started the truck, and then pulled out the parking lot. My heart thumped a melody in my chest, not knowing where he was taking me. We stopped downtown and he parked in the first available space he could find. Getting out, he opened the door for me. My hand fell in his, and he helped me from the truck.
The sun had now set, and it was dark outside. In my mind, I’m thinking that he’s taking me to a nice restaurant. Wrong. He headed for the entrance of the River Front.
“You taking me on a boat ride or something? I’ve never been on a boat before. I might get seasick,” I warned as we strolled through the tunnel, hand in hand. It was when we reached the other side that I realized there wasn’t anyone else over there.
“I’ll save the boat ride for another day,” he said and kept strolling. “There’s something that I’ve been meaning to ask you.” We neared this clear tent in the distance. It was set up so beautifully. Probably the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.
String lights hung from the inside. Pink balloons floated from the table that sat in the center of it. There were several fluffy white pillows in there and pink rose petals on the floor. Lighting up alongside it in huge letters was “Be my girlfriend.” The table was set for a princess with the pink décor and rose bouquet resting in the center of it.
“This is…” I choked on my words. Tears filled the brim of my eyes.
Joker stood there with his hands shoved into his pockets. “What’s the answer?” he asked smoothly.
“Yes.” I jumped up into his arms and craned mine around his neck. Our lips intertwined, mine parting, welcoming his tongue. This was one of the sweetest things anyone had ever done for me. I’d always seen people posting girlfriend proposals on social media. It made me realize that every relationship I’d ever been in, no one ever asked me to be theirs. I just assumed that’s what we were after being together for so long. If things were ever to end between us, he was just making it hard for the next.
He planted me back on my feet. We entered the tent and took a seat. He had a cute lil picnic set up for us.
“I had to make up for our first date,” he spoke as he grabbed the bottle of champagne and poured two glasses.
“You definitely did that. I’ve never been on a date of this caliber. I love it.”
He handed me one of the glasses and lifted the other in the air, so I did the same. “To our future together,” he said and clinked glasses with me.
We sat there and ate. Once we were done, Joker took me back home. He pulled into the parking lot of my building and shut the truck off.
“I don’t even want the evening to end,” I made known as we sat inside the truck.
“It doesn’t have to. I’ll stay with you tonight if you want me to.”
“You just think that you’re going to get some pussy,” I snickered.
“Would that be a bad thing though? This the longest I done held out.”
“I’ll think about it,” I told him and reached for the door.
“Don’t you dare open that got damn door. You don’t touch a knob when you’re with me.”
“Excuse me then.” He climbed out the truck, came around, and opened the door for me. I got out and we strolled up to the entrance. “I really had the best time tonight,” I told him as we entered the building. He gripped me by the hand and led me upstairs to my floor.
We stopped in front of Mrs. Maple’s door to grab Brave when Joker said, “Uh, Halo…” The tone of his voice alone told me that something was wrong. When I turned around to see what had his attention, my mouth hit the floor. My front door was wide open.
He removed his gun from his waistline and said, “Wait right here,” as he eased toward my door.
Being hard headed, I tiptoed behind him to see what was going on. He went into the door first, with me closely behind. Tears streaked my cheeks when I saw the inside of my apartment. Everything was flipped upside down.
“I don’t understand,” was the only thing that could escape my lips.