Chapter 18 #2
“Lil’ nigga, didn’t I just tell you to shut yo’ ass up and let me talk?
!” she barked, making me snap my mouth shut.
“Thank you, damn! Now like I was saying, I’m so sorry you had to see that, but ever since then, you’ve had it in your head that you were the saving grace of this family, and anyone else in your orbit.
I watched this shit go on for too long, but I can’t do it anymore, Chase.
You cannot continue to protect that girl at your own expense.
And on top of that, it’s not your job to protect me either, baby.
I’m a grown woman, and I’m responsible for what I put up with back then.
But I’m okay now. You have to let that go. ”
I sat there and digested her words as I wiped her tears away.
I knew the truth all along but hearing it from the people closest to me really made it hit home.
Chanel didn’t give a fuck about me, never did.
After I finally convinced her that I would be okay, she left.
I returned to my place on the couch, getting comfortable and planning to spend the rest of my night in peace and quiet.
My brain had other plans, as my body shot straight up, reaching for my phone and hurriedly calling Justin.
“Nigga, I just got the baby down!” he fussed instead of greeting me. “You better have a good ass reason for calling me right now.” I could hear his daughter Olivia cooing up a storm in the background. Hell, at least she wasn’t crying.
“My fault man, but I think I know what to do to put all this shit behind us!” I said excitedly.
“I’m all ears.”
He sat there silently as I told him my idea and Olivia told him whatever the hell she was talking about in baby speak. When he finally replied, and I heard the smile in his voice, I knew I had something.
“I’m on it.”
“Hello?” The fact that I even got an answer made me let out the biggest sigh of relief because I had no idea what the fuck I was even doing.
I had been in New Dawn for two hours and even the P.I.
that I hired couldn’t track down Amaya’s address for me.
I was trying to stay away from her job, all things considered, but had no way to get in contact with her that didn’t end up with me in a jail cell.
“Hi, um—is this Mona?”
“Who’s calling?” she asked suspiciously.
“My name is Chase… Chase Andrews. I’m Amaya’s…” My words fell short, because I know who I wanted to be, but who was I to her? Her former client? Her man? Her former man? Did her people even know about me outside of her being my attorney?
“I know who you are, Chase. How can I help you?” she said. I could instantly detect an attitude and could tell that I was about to have to work just as hard to win her over as I had been trying to with her stubborn ass friend.
“I-I’m trying to get in contact with Amaya. I’m in town right now to see her, but I can’t get ahold of her.”
“What the hell you want me to do? Scheme with you to pop up on her so she can cuss both of us the fuck out?” she asked.
“Nah, just… Can you try to get her to talk to me? I just need to get her to answer a call for me, and I can take it from there. I fucked up, I know that, but I need her to at least talk to me so I can try to fix it,” I pleaded.
She sighed and thought about it for a minute before she spoke again.
This time her attitude literally melted away with each word.
“Listen, I understand, and I can try to get her to talk to you, but if she says no, all I can do is respect her boundaries. I’m about to see her in a few, so I’ll do my best,” she said with a hint of sadness in her voice.
“Thank you so much, that’s all I’m asking,” I said. “This is my number, feel free to call me, text me, anything.”
“This the flip phone?” she shrilled, making me chuckle. The smile remained on my face because at least she had been talking about me to her people.
“Yeah,” I answered.
“Okay, I got you locked in, and listen Chase, I’ll do what I can, but I’m sure you know how stubborn her ass is,” she warned.
“I know, I know. I appreciate whatever you can do.”
Once I was off the phone with her, I went back to my hotel room to wait, because what the fuck else could I do? A little over an hour later, a text came in on my phone that damn near had me jumping for joy.
Mona
We’ll be pulling up to this address in about 30 minutes. That’s all I can help you with. I really hope you don’t make me regret this.
I tripped over myself getting my shit and running out of the hotel.
According to the navigation system, I was thirty-two minutes away, but I needed to be there when she pulled up because I knew she would have me outside looking goofy as hell.
I squeezed into my rental car and made it to her place with ten minutes to spare.
My heart breathed a sigh of relief when I saw her climb out of the truck, finally beating normally for the first time since she walked out of my house that day.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” she asked as she walked up and pushed me, getting ten times madder when I didn’t budge at all.
“I came to talk to you,” I said softly.
“About?” she asked with her hands on her hips. I looked down at her, standing there in a dark purple jumpsuit that was loose enough for her to be comfy, but fitted enough for me to track every movement her ass and thighs made when she walked. I missed this woman something crazy.
“Amaya,” I sighed. “Can we go inside? You know I’ll leave if you say the word.
You know me well enough to know that… but can we please have a conversation?
” She looked at me, then huffed out a breath before she led me to her front door.
My eyes stayed glued to her ass as she put her code in the keypad because I knew depending on how this went, I may never see it up close like this again.
She walked in, put her stuff down, and took her heels off at the door.
I followed her lead and removed my shoes too.
She turned to walk off, but I pulled her back to face me.
I knew I had to approach the situation delicately, too much force, and she would push back, not enough, then she would run all over me and toss my ass back outside.
“Nigga, why the fuck are you looking at me like that?” She scowled at me with so much venom that I had to smile.
“Beautiful as usual…” I said, letting my eyes roam over her body. I didn’t miss the way she shivered under my stare.
“I’m not doing this with you. I know I’m beautiful.”
“Where you been?”
“I had a date,” she said, turning back to me with a smirk. My jaw instantly tightened at the thought of another nigga getting time I had been begging for.
“With who?”
“Two niggas,” she taunted, her smirk doubling in size.
“The fuck?” I started to trip, but I figured that she couldn’t have had that good of a time since she was getting dropped off by her homegirl at 6pm.
I sighed and reeled in my emotions, realizing that I shouldn’t have fucked up and given her the opportunity to end up on a date anyways.
“You know what? That ain’t even why I’m here, never mind. ”
“Then why are you here? What else could you possibly have to say to me?” she asked with narrowed eyes.
I bit my lip, then reached out and gently grabbed her hand.
She instantly pulled back and stomped off, so I followed.
Her house looked like her, messy in a lived in way, with all the tellings of a working woman who liked nice things and couldn’t cook for shit.
We ended up in the living room with those pretty brown eyes angrily burning a hole through me as I stood there with my hands in my pockets.