Chapter 19
NINETEEN
Kyori
“Man, I can’t fit shit up in here.” Esha frowned, holding up a lace romper before her eyes landed on me.
Learah had taken her to see one of the locations she was looking at for her new art studio, and since I was at work, they stopped by to harass me but I welcomed the interruption because it was a slow day and I was bored as shit.
“Yes you can. I’m sure I have your size in that.
We don’t do skinny bitch around here.” I narrowed my eyes playfully at Learah before I finished.
“We cater to real women.” Esha was definitely a curvy girl but she carried it well and had confidence that had you handing over her props.
She didn’t give a damn what anyone thought and I loved that about her.
“Hold up, what’s with the skinny bitch thing?” Learah narrowed her eyes at me and I shrugged.
“You’re on both sides of the fence so you get a pass. You’re slim but you still got a little ass on you.” I winked at her and she sucked her teeth quickly.
“Hoe, you’re smaller than me.” Learah placed her hands on her hips, glaring with thin eyes.
“Not really. I’m thicker than you, boo.”
“In your damn dreams.”
“All y’all size ten twelve hoes are skinny bitches. Now what about my sixteen? If you got me, then let me get one of these in my size. The second I put this on, me and Kane are making another baby.” Esha held the lace romper up against her body while me and Learah looked at each other and laughed.
“The hell you laughing for?”
“I don’t know about Lear, but I’m laughing because Kane is gonna beat your ass if you’re talking about another baby. Did he not just tell you to get your tubes tied?”
She smirked and nodded. “You’re right but the dick so good I really don’t be thinking about the consequences. On second thought, let me pass on this.”
“You need real life help.” Lear chuckled and walked over to the counter where I was lifting and inspecting jewelry pieces.
“How much is this?”
“Too much. You can take it though. I have an order in for some more.”
“How you just giving this lady’s shit away?
” Esha leaned against the counter next to Learah and I shrugged.
“I just am. It’s not a big deal though. She pretty much lets me have what I want and these other hoes that work here be stealing all her shit.
They think I don’t know but they’re so damn stupid.
They take it then wear that shit to work. Simple hoes.”
“And she doesn’t know?”
“I don’t think she cares. At least not right now. She’s so busy being pregnant and planning that wedding that she’s not really focused on the shops right now. Hell, she pretty much begged me to stay until after she has the babies.”
“You’re gonna shatter her whole life when you quit.”
I grinned, nodding. “Yeah but I’ll be fair. She really hooked me up and I’m in no rush.”
“You better be hitting them pockets while she’s trying to hold you in place.”
“I don’t have to. She already handled that. I’m making a nice little piece of change but these hoes around here all salty because they’re in their feelings about the fact that she damn near put me in charge.”
“Oh, what’s up. Who we need to see?” Learah was the first to speak up but Esha sucked her teeth.
“Oh, so you gang-gang now, ol’ lightweight ass.”
Learah shrugged and nodded. “For y’all, hell yeah. I mean I might tap that ass then jump behind y’all, depending on the situation, but I’m with the shits.”
I burst out laughing, throwing my hands up. “Wait, hold up. How you slapping hoes that pull up on you and Amir but talking about you’re gonna tap that ass then jump behind one of us?”
“Who she slap?”
“Girl, some skinny hoe Amir slept with. A twin. She followed them to a restaurant and Lear got in her shit.”
“She tried it so I had to make a point.”
“And that right there is facts, boo. I have laid holy hands on a lot of hoes who tried it with Kane and I will continue to do so.”
“Girl.” I laughed, shaking my head. “But real shit, I feel you. I just know Asim better not have me in the position of having to lay holy hands or I’m tagging his ass.”
“You’re tagging my ass?” His deep voice had startled me and made Esha and Learah smirk at the same time.
“I’m pretty sure if you could repeat what I said word for word then you heard me correctly.”
He chuckled, bypassing both of them, stepping behind the counter and pinning me between him and it the second his palms pressed into the glass top. With his lips against my ear, my body shivered before he even kissed me there.
“You talk a lot of shit, Ky. How about we see what your hands can do later?” He spoke low but not low enough because Esha was running her mouth right after.
“You know what? I think it’s time for us to go. Didn’t you say you were cleared by the doctor this morning?” She stuck her tongue out at me and Asim chuckled, kissing my temple.
“How about you mind your business?” I shot back at her before Learah grinned.
“Later, Ky. I’ll check on you tomorrow. Sounds like you’re about to have a rough night.”
“I’m not staying. No need for you to leave.” Asim circled my waist, standing upright but holding me firmly against his chest.
“Nah, it’s cool. We were heading out anyway. I’m meeting Amir in a little while to go look at studio spaces.”
“That’s right. Congratulations.”
“Thank you but let’s see how this goes first.”
“It’s gonna go great,” I chimed in, smiling big.
Learah decided on opening an art studio for kids, which meant she could make money and use it as a gallery as well.
She hired two people to handle the classes and was starting small so she wouldn’t have to be tied to the place.
She was more into painting than teaching, so she wanted no parts of that but having the classes would generate money.
“She’s right. If it doesn’t, trust me, Mir is gonna find a way to make that shit work.”
“He can’t make it work.”
“He’s a Nour, baby. We make shit work.” When I angled my head back, I caught the smug grin on his face but the confidence in his words was not missed.
“And that right there is exactly what I’m worried ’bout. Later, Ky.”
I laughed, shaking my head. “Later, boo.”
After Esha and Learah were gone, I turned against Asim’s body, catching his loaded gaze on me.
“What?”
“Why do I have to find out from your friends that you had a doctor’s appointment this morning?”
“Because you were busy and I didn’t want you hovering.”
“Hovering?”
“Yes, hovering. It was just a follow-up and she said everything is good. Besides, you had a meeting with that developer and you’ve already pushed it back twice.”
“And that was my decision to make, not yours.” His heavy stare remained on me but I wasn’t worried about Asim. He would be alright.
“What did she say about kids?”
“She didn’t say anything different than before. We can when we get ready. I’m not ready and neither are you.”
I pushed away from him and tried to walk around the counter but he stopped my escape with an arm around my waist.
“So you’re speaking for me now?” His eyes leveled with mine, staring until I recollected mine.
“No, I’m speaking for myself. I don’t know why you have the idea in your head that one baby needs to replace another. We’re good. I’m good. There’s no rush.”
He continued surveying my face, trying to read me, but I wasn’t lying. It happened, and had it not ended the way it did, I would have been okay with having Asim’s baby. But since it hadn’t, we needed to be more careful until we both really wanted kids.
“I’m not rushing. I just want to make sure you’re okay.
You try to act all tough but that shit really got to you.
I’m in this for life, Ky. Kids now or later don’t make a difference to me.
Whatever you want, I will support.” He lifted my hand and kissed my ring finger just below my engagement ring, which had my smile growing.
“I know and I’m telling you I’m good, but I really think this is more about you having to wear condoms than anything else.”
A smug grin eased into place quickly.
“That’s what I thought. Strap up, homie.”
His face got tight within seconds. “Damn, for how long?”
“A while. She changed my birth control, so for a few months at least.”
The scowl on his face grew deeper. “Months?”
“Months, and you’ll be fine.”
“This some bullshit,” he groaned then pulled me back into his chest. “You sure you not ready for kids?”
“You know what?” I pressed my palm into his forehead and he laughed but I knew he was deadass. We hadn’t used condoms since the trip to LA, and truthfully, I wasn’t sure he would start now without me forcing the issue.
“Aight, aight, chill. I’m cool with that. You here by yourself?”
“No, Riley’s in the back and Tori should have been back but…”
Speak of the devil. She came pushing through the door on her phone like she wasn’t supposed to have been back an hour ago. She stopped dead in her tracks when I snatched the phone from her hand.
“What the hell?”
“You’re really trying my patience.”
“Excuse me?”
I chuckled lightly, stepping into her face. “You don’t like me, cool. I’m not looking for friends but you will respect me. Brielle put me in charge for a reason and you seem to think that doesn’t mean shit but I’mma need you to re-evaluate.”
She smirked and looked at Asim then me before a sly grin eased onto her face. “You’re right, you’re in charge for a reason. Trust me, it’s not the one you think.” She snatched her phone from my hand and I was two steps behind her when Asim blocked my path.
“Hey, get your shit and let’s go. You’re not about to let her fuck up your day.”
I glared at him before looking over his shoulder toward the counter where Tori mumbled under her breath.
“Ky?”
When my eyes lifted to Asim, I smiled. “I’m good. Let me get my purse then we can go.”
He nodded and I walked past him, laughing under my breath. When I reached the back, I stuck my head into the stock room where Riley was steaming the new shipment we had just gotten in. “I’m heading out. Tori’s back.”
She frowned and nodded. “Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
As soon as I was close enough, Asim had his hand on the small of my back, leading me out, pulling me with him when I headed toward my car.
“Leave it. Come take a ride with me.”
“Where we going?”
“Just come on.” He kissed my cheek and I decided not to play twenty questions. If my man wanted me to take a ride with him, I was riding.
To say I was completely surprised when we ended up in a graveyard would be an understatement, but it made sense, considering he had been speaking of his mother a lot since my birthday.
We both sat quietly for a while after he parked but Asim’s eyes remained in one specific place. I gave him time and didn’t push, knowing he would speak when he was ready.
“I haven’t been here since the day of the funeral.”
“Why today?”
Asim laughed lightly under his breath before peeling his eyes away from whatever he was looking at to focus on me. “I have no fucking idea. I just felt like I needed to come.”
I placed my hand on the side of his face and nodded with a soft smile. “You want me to go or stay here?”
“That’s up to you. I know it’s not the same as meeting her but it’s as close as I can give you. Truthfully, that’s part of the reason I haven’t been here. In a weird way, I felt like coming here gave her access to me and I wasn’t ready for that.”
“Why not?”
Asim brushed his hand down his face and laughed again but there was not an ounce of humor in his tone. “I was angry. I’ve been angry for a long time until you made me look at things differently.”
When his eyes leveled with mine, I felt my heart break. This strong, confident man was broken in so many ways I didn’t understand. Instead of speaking on it, we both got out but he paused to remove a beautiful bouquet of tropical flowers from the backseat that I hadn’t noticed.
He hesitated a few feet before we reached it but I looped my arm through his, pulling him closer to me. After a brief pause, I felt his body inhale and release it slowly before we were moving again.
I stopped before he did, and when his eyes lowered to mine, I smiled and nodded for him to go without me. Asim kneeled, placing the flowers against the stone and my heart broke when he pressed his palm against it and lowered his head. I deeply felt his pain from the loss of his mother.
As much as I wanted to be there for him, I didn’t want to interrupt his moment; so I stayed in place and waited until he was in front of me, pressing his forehead to mine.
“This shit is hard. It’s been years but it’s still hard to be here.”
Asim kissed me then looked back over his shoulder at his mother’s grave.
When his eyes moved to the one next to it, they narrowed and his face hardened.
No matter what peace he made with his mother, he still wasn’t trying to feel anything but anger for his father and I wouldn’t push.
Some things just had to be what they were.
“Come on, we can go.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, I just had to come. I hadn’t planned on staying, maybe another time, but being here even like this makes a difference. I’m good now.”
When we reached his car again, I waited for him to get in before I climbed across the seat into his lap, circling his neck with my arms, pressing my forehead to his.
“I love you.”
“You couldn’t say that from over there.” His smile made mine follow.
“Yeah I could have but I felt like it would mean more with me being right here.”
He laughed under his breath before lifting my chin and brushing his lips across mine. “I’m not fucking you in a graveyard.”
“Good because I wouldn’t let you. That’s not what this is about, asshole. I just wanted to be close to you because you needed it.”
“I did?” He brushed his finger down my nose and I rolled my eyes.
“Yeah, you did, and the same way you have me, I want you to know I got you too.”
“That’s your word?”
“My whole word.”
“Sounds like I’m a lucky man then.”
“Indeed you are, Mr. Nour.”
I kissed him again before hugging his neck tightly.
Asim’s hands moved up my back slowly before he hugged me back.
If I couldn’t be strong when he was weak, then there was no point in any of this.
I loved him enough to accept all parts of this man with no judgment and that was exactly what I planned to do for as long as he would let me.