CHAPTER FOUR IESHA #2
“An angel, just like her mama,” Rylan added and kissed the top of Angel’s head.
She blushed as I turned to the table and introduced them to my family. “Y’all, this is Rylan and Angel. They are a part of the Henderson family that I work with out in Nome.”
They all traded pleasantries. Before they walked away, Angel said, “Seven barely said a word at the diner today. I think he misses you, because normally, he never shuts up and always has something ignorant to say.”
I gave her a tight smile, and said in a low voice, “I miss him too, but we just weren’t compatible. We argued all the time.”
“I think I understand. So you miss arguing with him?”
I couldn’t help but chuckle at her analysis. “I guess you’re right, Angel, as crazy as that sounds.”
Rylan smiled, and said, “We won’t keep you. We just wanted to speak.”
I believed he could see how uncomfortable I was. “Okay. See y’all later.”
Angel smiled and waved, then averted her attention back to her man.
When they walked off, I sat, but my eyes remained on them.
I watched him pull out her chair, then kiss her after she sat.
That was what I wanted. While people often said not to judge a couple’s dynamic from the outside looking in, I knew that Rylan and Angel truly loved each other.
I’d been around them on a few occasions, and they looked smitten with each other, even after two kids.
There was no pretending with Angel anyway.
She was always happy. Had Rylan not been treating her right, she wouldn’t be able to hide that she wasn’t happy.
Even after running that daycare with all those bad ass Hendersons, she still had a smile on her face.
I felt like that had everything to do with the man she went home to.
“Something is going on with you, and it has to do with those Hendersons. What is it, Iesha?”
I turned to my mama but didn’t miss the tight smile on Quincy’s face.
“It’s definitely a man,” Tas’zhane added.
My other sister, Ayzjohnna, rolled her eyes. That was a common occurrence when she was around Taj. Everyone was staring at me, waiting for me to answer the question.
“I was talking to their cousin. We’ve been on and off for the past year and a half .
. . almost two. I’ve been trying to wait for him to get it together, so I could introduce y’all.
Kareem met him at the apartment, and that didn’t go well.
Despite him irritating my entire being, I still fell in love with him. ”
“What does he do to irritate you?” my dad asked with a frown on his face.
This was what I didn’t want. I didn’t want to talk about the negative attributes of Seven with them.
It would be like their first impression of him.
“It just seems we aren’t compatible. He isn’t abusive or anything.
He just does whatever he wants and thinks about the consequences later, and he’s hardheaded. He doesn’t listen to anybody.”
“Sounds like he’s the total opposite of you,” Granny said.
I nodded and was about to verbally agree until my mama added to Granny’s statement by saying, “He’s living his life for him and doesn’t need input from anybody.
If he falls on his face, then so be it. He’s fearless and lowkey reckless.
You are so careful about everything. You overthink, and it does more harm than good.
Honestly, he sounds like he may have been good for you. ”
I frowned. “What? No. His mouth is way too reckless. Seven will mess around and get cussed out. See . . . I can’t talk about this.”
I took a gulp of my drink, then excused myself to the ladies’ room.
She was baiting me for more information.
They knew I was a private person, especially when it came to my love life.
Going into a stall, I just stood there and took deep breaths.
The only thing that was going to get me on the right track was having an honest and open conversation with Seven.
He needed to know just how serious this was for me too.
He’d lain all his cards on the table. I told him what I didn’t like about him, but I never clarified the things I did like. I took my phone from my pocket and opened our text thread. Seeing his last message had me dropping tears all over again. Ugh!
Can you come over so we can talk? There are some things I want to say to you that I would much rather say in person.
I hit the send button and immediately regretted it. It was too late to unsend it though, because I could see he was already responding.
Talk about what? I thought you already said everything you needed to say. I’m not going over there to be attacked. I attack back.
I rolled my eyes and slid my phone back in my pocket.
Before I could exit the stall, I realized I had a slight smirk on my lips.
Slowly shaking my head, I also realized I had probably gotten used to his mouth.
It was when he was rude that really grinded my gears.
I washed my hands and wet a paper towel with cold water to pat my face with.
As I was exiting, Ayzjohnna was coming inside. She gave me a tight smile. “I was just coming to check on you. You okay?”
She was always the thoughtful one. She tended to stay out of my business, too, which ironically made me more comfortable talking to her about my personal life. “I’m okay. Thanks.”
She put her arms around me and hugged me, giving me the support I desperately needed. I knew that rowdy ass nigga was going to show up anyway. He just had to mouth off.
When she released me, she said, “Quincy is gonna chill with me and the kids for a couple of days. Handle your business.”
I closed my eyes for a moment and nodded. This was confirmation that Seven and I needed to talk and quit all this back-and-forth foolishness.