32. Talitha #2
“Ummhmm. Willearl said he gon’ stop me by the fish house. I want some of that pan trout.”
“Fried hard.” I finished her statement for her.
“You know how I likes it.” She laughed.
“Of course I do.” Reaching in my pocket, I pulled out the wad of money Law had given me for her and tucked it in her jacket pocket. “That’s for you?”
“I’on need it.”
Pursing my lips, I cocked my head to the side. “You try telling him that.”
“He ain’t gon’ listen to me.”
“And you think he listens to me,” I pouted.
“Nope.” Stuffing her hand in her pocket, she pulled the money out and tucked it in her bra. “Safer up here.” She patted her chest.
“Louise, I wrote down the schedule for her medicine. I know you prolly don’t need it, but I did it anyway. I checked her sugar this morning… Do it again before she goes to bed. If it’s low, give her some candy. The past couple of nights it dropped so we been monitoring it real close.”
“Okay. I’ll keep a watch for it.”
“Give me a kiss girlfriend, so y’all can get on the highway.”
Puckering her lips, Gema leaned in and met me halfway. “I love you, Bertha Mae.”
“Ummhmm. I loves you more. Tell that man I said I love him too and take care of you like I told ‘em.”
“I will. Keep that phone in case I decide to call.”
“Jessie turned the ringer up.”
“Alright. Y’all be careful and let me know when y’all make it.”
“Alright Tali,” Willearl said.
Closing the back door, I tapped the top of the car and walked away. Pushing the front door open, I kicked it closed with my foot and slid out of my shoes. “Harvey, where you at?”
“Kitchen,” he yelled out.
“Gema said take care of me like she told you to.”
Law spun around and pecked my lips. “Don’t I always.”
“That’s debatable.”
“Bullshit!” he called out. “Yo’ ass been riding me all night. What’s up with that?”
Hopping up on the island, I crossed my ankles and stared at him. “Guess who I met yesterday?”
“The pope?” He shrugged dismissively before adding. “How do I know who you met if you haven’t told me.”
“I met your ex.”
“Dah?”
“Yep,” I popped.
“How did that happen?”
“She stopped by the center to see Rossi and Marsha.”
“Cool.” He nodded.
Slanting my eyes, I stared at him. “You don’t care?”
“Am I supposed to?” he tossed back.
“You were with her for six years. You mean to tell me you don’t care that she stopped by.”
Sitting the bottle of water down on the counter he turned and leaned against the fridge.
“I stop concerning myself with Dah the day she left. Am I happy to hear that she’s alive and possibly doing well?
Of course. I don’t have any ill intent toward her.
The fact that you think I’m supposed to jump for joy is what’s bothering me. ”
“I didn’t say that, Harvey.”
“Then why have you been on my ass since yesterday?”
“I haven’t.”
“Bullshit. You showered without me last night. Not to mention yo’ ass fell asleep on me and I didn’t get my fix. Woke up with a hard dick and instead of you being in bed tucked underneath me, I found you on the couch.”
“Fine!” I groused. “Rossi said somethings yesterday and I guess I let them get to me.”
“Things like what?”
“To sum it up, he’s worried that I’ll end up on the same receiving end as Dahlia. He’s scared that when this is over between us, I’m going to leave them like she did.”
“When this is over?” Law repeated. “You’re ending things with me already?”
“I’m not ending things,” I clarified. “I’ve prepared myself for when you end it,” I huffed. “But I’m not ending it.”
“Why would I end things between us Talitha?”
Craning my neck, I glared at him. “Are you serious?”
“Very fucking serious.”
“Harvey.”
“Howard. You’re evading the question. Why would I end things?”
“You don’t want anything serious,” I bellowed out instead of saying what was really on my mind. I knew he was going to be the one to call it quits. The shit was inevitable at this point.
“We discussed that. However, am I not allowed to change my mind?” he pondered.
“I never said you weren’t allowed to change your mind. Do I think your mind has changed in a matter of months? No, I don’t.”
“That’s still not addressing the situation at hand, Talitha,” he groaned like I was annoying him.
“What situation Harvey?” I all but yelled.
“Why would I end things?”
“I don’t know… shit!” I huffed and tossed my hands in the air. “Maybe because you don’t want anything long-term and if we get too deep into this, you’ll want to end it.”
“Is that what you think?”
“It’s what I know,” I retorted.
“Then I guess I’m wasting my time being here.” Paying me one last look, Law stalked out of the kitchen.
That shit did not go the way I expected it to. I was trying to make conversation and it ended with us arguing about some shit that we’d declared from the beginning. I didn’t know what to do so I sat on the island twiddling my thumbs until the sound of keys rattling snapped me out of my trance.
“I’m going to get going.”
“I thought we were spending the day together?”
“Yeah. So did I.” Law shook his head before walking out of the kitchen.
If he expected me to chase after him, he had another thing coming. I didn’t do anything that warranted him leaving. The sound of his truck door slamming had me releasing the breath that I was holding.
Clearly, I wasn’t understanding why the conversation pissed him off especially since nothing I said was a lie. We’d had this talk several times and were both in agreeance that neither of us wanted anything serious.
We both had unresolved issues steaming from our past. I cared a great deal about Law. I felt something for him that I’d never felt for anyone outside of Papa Joe and Gema. Hell, the shit might have been stronger, but I wasn’t blind and knew that nothing would ever come of it.
He was with a woman for six years and wasn’t willing to give her anything. Why would I just up and assume that I was the prototype? Life wasn’t a movie or an urban novel, shit just didn’t work that way. I would be stupid to believe that it did.
Ten minutes after he left, I found myself missing him so much so that I hopped down from the counter and grabbed my phone. Dialing his number, I put it on speakerphone and placed it down on the counter.
“Howard,” he rasped when he picked up.
“Harvey. Are we fighting? We haven’t done that since New York.”
“Fighting, nawl. I left before it turned into one though.”
“Can you come back?”
“For what Talitha.”
Nibbling on my bottom lip, I huffed before admitting, “Because I miss you when you’re not near me.”
“Then don’t say or do stupid shit to make me leave, Talitha. I know what we’ve discussed… I partook in the conversation. Don’t put words in my mouth when you haven’t asked me if my feelings have changed.”
“Have they?”
“I guess you’ll never know.”
“Are you going to come back?”
“Maybe later. I need to clear my head.”
“That’s fair. I guess I’ll talk to you later.” I frowned.
“Yeah,” he replied before hanging up the phone.