Chapter 13
Navy ‘Nay’ Prescott
A Few Weeks Later
“So this what we doing now?” Rome’s voice exploded through my phone the second I answered it. “You just gone keep ignoring me?”
I rolled my eyes so hard they almost got stuck before tossing the curling wand onto my bathroom counter.
Steam still clung to the mirror from the shower I’d taken twenty minutes ago, making my reflection look a little blurry as I leaned closer to line my lips with my liner.
Behind me, my bedroom looked like a tornado had blown right through it with two dresses spread across the bed, another one tossed over the accent chair, and three different pairs of heels scattered across the hardwood floor because I couldn’t decide what I wanted to wear.
“I’ve answered every call you made today,” I said, rubbing my lips together before reaching for my gloss. “What exactly am I ignoring?”
“The question,” he snapped, sounding like I was the one getting on his nerves.
I laughed without an ounce of humor while sliding the gloss back inside the vanity drawer, then walked into my bedroom with the phone tucked between my ear and shoulder as I fastened the clasp on one of my gold bracelets.
The smell of the vanilla candle burning on the kitchen island drifted through the apartment, mixing with the fresh scent of the furniture polish I’d used earlier while cleaning.
“Rome, you ask me the same damn question every day.”
“And I’m gone keep asking it,” he replied without missing a beat. “Where you at?”
I picked up the second gold hoop from my dresser and slid it into my ear while staring at my reflection.
The black dress I’d finally decided on hugged every curve without looking like I was trying too hard, and the nude heels sitting beside the bed made my legs look too good.
Ironically my tones and shapely legs were also one of my best qualities.
It had been years since I’d gotten dressed for an actual date, and although I kept telling myself tonight was nothing serious, my stomach had been doing flips since Marv called earlier to confirm the time.
Yeah, I had no business even dealing with him, but he kept requesting me just like he said he would and we kept bonding.
Now that he was finally home, he still called every day.
I did like his personality, but I was still trying to figure out if I was giving him the time of day out of guilt although that nagging voice always told me to stay away from him.
“I’m at home,” I answered, reaching for my perfume.
“I know you at home.”
My hand stopped around the bottle before I slowly looked toward the bedroom doorway. “No, you don’t.”
Rome let out that dry ass laugh he always gave when he thought he knew something I didn’t. “I found your apartment, Navy.”
For a second, I just stood there holding the perfume bottle while my reflection stared back at me from across the room.
The excitement I had been feeling about the night disappeared so fast it was like somebody had opened a window and let all the air out.
I set the bottle down carefully before walking into the living room.
“What did you just say?”
“You heard me,” he replied calmly, and that calmness made it worse. “I know exactly where you stay.”
I stopped a few feet from the window with my hand resting against my hip. “You lying.”
“You wanna bet?” he asked, and a knot formed in my stomach because Rome lied whenever it benefited him, but he also loved giving little pieces of the truth just to watch me panic.
I reached for the edge of the blinds and pulled them apart enough to look down into the parking lot, scanning every car I could see while trying not to let my breathing change.
Nothing looked out of place at first. It was just one of my neighbors’ unloading groceries, two kids were riding scooters along the sidewalk, and a man in scrubs was walking toward the building with his phone to his ear.
Then I spotted Rome’s Escalade parked across the street beneath one of the palm trees with the windows tinted dark enough that I couldn’t tell whether he was inside.
“What the fuck are you doing over here?” I asked, dropping the blinds and stepping away from the window.
“I came to see my wife.”
“You don’t have a wife over here,” I snapped, walking back toward my bedroom as anger slowly replaced the fear that had hit me first. “You need to leave before I call the police.”
Rome laughed again, only this time there was something uglier behind it. “Call them and tell them your husband pulled up to check on you.”
“I’ll tell them the same husband beat my ass, stole my money, and followed me to an apartment I never gave him the address to, and has another woman pregnant.”
“Ashley ain’t got shit to do with me and you.”
“She got everything to do with me and you when she carrying your baby motherfucker,” I said, snatching my clutch off the bed and checking the time.
Marv would be there soon, and the last thing I needed was him pulling up while Rome was sitting outside acting crazy.
“Matter fact, none of this is about us anymore because I’m filing for divorce. ”
He got completely quiet, and I could almost picture Rome sitting inside that truck with his face changing as the words settled in. “You filing for what?”
“You heard me.”
“Navy, stop playing with me.”
“I’m not playing. I’ve already spoken to somebody, and I’m filing.”
Rome must’ve called me everything but the child of God before he placed his ear back to the phone.
“You really think you gone leave me and live happily ever after in that little ass apartment? You gone end up single and bitter just like Tasha, doing whatever the fuck you gotta do for money because ain’t nobody taking care of you the way I did. ”
I slowly turned toward the mirror holding my clutch while staring at myself.
“You took care of me?” I repeated, almost laughing because I couldn’t believe he had the nerve.
“Rome, you took care of whatever made you look good. You bought me shit, then threw it in my face every time I didn’t do what you wanted.
You paid bills, then acted like that gave you the right to control my whole life.
You didn’t take care of me. You kept me comfortable enough to stay quiet while you did whatever the fuck you wanted. ”
“I was the breadwinner,” he shot back. “You ain’t never have to worry about nothing with me.”
“I worried every damn day,” I said, with my voice getting louder as everything I’d swallowed for years started coming up again.
“I worried about what mood you were coming home in, who was calling your phone, whether you were going to embarrass me again, or whether the next argument was going to leave another mark on my face. So keep the money, Rome. Keep the house, the cars, the lies, and Ashley too. I’d rather struggle in peace than live good while being miserable with you. ”
Rome stayed quiet for so long I almost thought he’d hung up on me.
I welcomed the silence too because for the first time in years, I had finally said exactly what the hell I wanted to say instead of watering it down to keep him from exploding.
I walked over to the kitchen island, picked up my clutch, and dropped my lipstick inside before checking the time again.
Marv would be there in less than twenty minutes, and if Rome was really sitting outside, I needed him gone before then.
Thank God I had a back door that led me sown those set of steps.
Since it was on the backside most people who didn’t live here wouldn’t have known that.
When he finally spoke again, his voice had changed. The anger was still there, but he sounded softer. He’d swing from one extreme to the next so fast it’d make your damn head spin. “Nay…” he sighed. I knew that sound because I’d heard it a hundred times before. “Baby, come on now.”
I closed my eyes. “Don’t do that.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
“You really gone throw all these years away?”
I laughed to myself while walking back toward the living room windows. “You mean the same years you threw away?”
“Aye, I fucked up.”
“You think?” I replied sarcastically.
“I said I fucked up.”
I pulled the blinds back just enough to peek outside again.
The Escalade was still parked across the street exactly where it’d been a minute ago.
I couldn’t see inside because of the tint, but I knew him well enough to know he was sitting there with one hand on the steering wheel and the other rubbing across his beard while trying to figure out another angle.
“Navy…” His voice softened even more. “Baby, I’m sorry.”
The words didn’t move me because I’d heard them too many damn times already. “I’m sorry too,” I answered honestly.
He paused. “For what?”
“For believing you every time.”
He got quiet again. “I love you,” he finally said.
I looked around my apartment while he waited on me to say it back.
My eyes landed on the framed pictures hanging over the fireplace, then the brand-new dining table Tasha had practically forced me to buy, and finally the hallway leading toward my bedroom where every piece of furniture had been chosen by me and didn’t shit remind me of Rome.
“I know,” I replied.
“Nah…” he said quickly. “That ain’t enough for me. Say it back.”
I smiled sadly because that right there summed us up better than anything else ever could. Even now, with another woman pregnant and divorce papers on the horizon, he still wanted reassurance from me.
“I’m not doing that.”
His breathing changed. “So that’s it?”
I nodded as if he could see me. “Yep, that’s it.”
“You fucking with somebody?”
I knew that question was coming. “No.”
“You lying?”
“I said no.”
“Navy, Ashley don’t mean shit and I’ll take anger management if you want me to. ”
“She means enough to be carrying your child and it’s too late for all the rest.”
“You always throw that shit in my face!” he groaned. “I’m tired of that shit. I’m not perfect.”
“Because it happened!”
“It was a mistake.”