26 | Simone
I woke up to the quiet hum of the city outside the hotel window, my phone lighting up with a message from Samaj letting me know he’d already left with his friend Jaiden to check in for the half marathon.
This was his moment, and I was genuinely excited to be there for him, especially since he had always shown up for me.
Kadeem pulled up shortly after to pick up Emaree and I.
“You need to change your shirt. Here.” I said, tossing Kadeem a shirt. I went all out to support my man and had custom T-shirts made with Samaj’s picture across the front. Emaree squealed when she saw them.
Kadeem held up the shirt shaking his head.
“Why I gotta wear a shirt? You the one in love with the man, not me.”
“Kadeem don’t piss me off.” I said, one hand on my hip.
“Yes ma’am.” He mumbled.
“I keep telling people she’s not as innocent as she looks.” Emaree teased. We all burst out laughing.
Before the race, I made Kadeem stop at a store so I could grab a poster board and markers.
Before pulling off, I used the trunk of the car as my work area and poured all my excitement and nerves into a handmade sign, decorating it with his name, a few inside jokes, and words I hoped would carry him across that finish line.
By the time we arrived at the starting area, the energy was high.
There was music blaring, runners stretching, spectators lining up with coffee and cowbells.
I spotted Samaj near the check-in area, and my chest tightened in the best way.
I walked up to him and wrapped my arms around him carefully, not wanting to mess up his focus.
“I’m so proud of you,” I told him softly.
“Thank you, baby.” He replied, leaning down for a quick kiss. “Turn around, let me see these T-shirts.” I did a little spin for him. “This is fire.” He exclaimed.
“I’m glad you like it.”
“How are you feeling?” Emaree asked.
“I’m feeling good. I’m happy ya’ll here. Ya’ll support means a lot for real.”
Emaree snapped a quick selfie of us before I covered him in prayer. He kissed me one more time before heading to the starting line.
As we stepped back, I felt that unmistakable sensation of being watched. When I turned my head, I caught a woman staring straight at me before rolling her eyes.
At first, I didn’t recognize her. I leaned toward Emmaree who was scrolling on her phone and nodded in her direction.
“E why did that girl just roll her eyes at me? Do we know her?” Emaree looked over her shoulders in the direction where the girl was, and her expression shifted immediately.
“That’s Vanessa. The girl we saw on IG that Samaj was talking to months ago.” I took another look at her and sure enough it was her. She was just as pretty in person as she was online. She was wearing a cute purple two-piece yoga set and her hair was in a curly bob.
I could feel the insecurity trying to creep in. Being long distance could do that to you sometimes. Make you question if your significant other is spending time with someone else but as quickly as the thought came, I rebuked it.
I trusted Samaj. Truly. And I didn’t believe he was still entertaining her or any other woman for that matter. She could have beef with me all she wanted but it would be one-sided because I was secure in my position as the one and only woman in Samaj’s life.
Instantly, Emaree went into protective mode. “I don’t know who she thinks she is rolling her eyes at. She better keep it cute. She don’t want these problems.”
“Let it go. Today is not about her.” I said quickly, grabbing her arm and pulling her in the opposite direction. “Let’s go find Kadeem.”
The race started shortly after, and once Samaj disappeared into the sea of runners, we linked back up with Kadeem and headed toward the vendors to grab something quick to eat before making our way to the finish line.
It took a couple of hours for him to finish the race, but when I saw him, I couldn’t help but be proud.
The second Samaj crossed the finish line, his eyes searched until they landed on me. He didn’t even hesitate. He ran straight toward me, scooped me up like I weighed nothing, and spun me around.
“You did it!” I shouted, holding onto him as tight as I could.
“We did it. I took you in my heart with me the whole time. Every time I needed a little boost, I just thought of your beautiful face waiting for me.”
“You guys are too cute, it’s actually disgusting.” Emaree said playfully.
“I’m surprised Simone ain’t lose her voice,” Kadeem joked. “All that screaming she was doing like it was the NBA finals.” We all laughed, and Samaj introduced us to Jaiden and another guy named Patrick. Both of them had also run the marathon and seemed to be pretty cool guys.
Everything was all good…until Vanessa reappeared. This time, she walked straight up to us, smiling like she belonged there. Clearly, she knew Jaiden and Patrick.
“Congratulations!” she said brightly, giving them each a hug.
I glanced at Samaj. He looked annoyed, unbothered, and completely uninterested. He didn’t speak to her or acknowledge her beyond that. She took it upon herself to make her own introduction.
“I’m Vanessa.” And that’s when Emaree stepped in.
“We don’t care who you are,” she said coolly, “but you need to watch who you rolling your eyes at. If you got a problem with my cousin, she might let it slide—but I won’t.”
“Wait what happened?” Samaj questioned with concern.
“It’s nothing.” I said hoping to keep the peace. “Girl no one rolled their eyes at you.” She said to me and I was baffled. Emaree wasted no time jumping in her face. Voices rose. Tension thickened. People looked at us wondering what was happening.
Kadeem quickly pulled Emaree back. “Chill out Laila Ali.” At the same time Jaiden pulled back Vanessa scolding her like a child.
Samaj stepped in front of me. His voice was firm and final.
“Stay away from me and don’t ever address my girl.
I tried to be respectful with you, but I don’t play about this one.
” That was it. She moved around Jaiden and walked away without saying another word, probably too embarrassed with the way things went down.
In the car afterward, Emaree apologized, but Samaj shook his head.
“You good E. I’m not mad.” My mind was all over the place.
Thoughts of how deep things got between Vanessa and Samaj.
Did he sleep with her? Did he lead her on to believe they were building something?
We had never talked about it, and I thought I had moved past it but maybe this was a sign to show me that I didn’t.
We weren’t together at the time so should it even really matter.
“You good?” He asked me once we parked at a nearby Mexican restaurant to grab food. “Mhm.” I replied.
“You want to try that again?” He said not letting up.
“We’ll go get a table.” Emaree said, pulling Kadeem out of the car behind her.
I leaned against the car not able to make eye contact. “I know it’s probably silly, but I’m just in my head a little bit.”
“Ok, let’s talk about what’s on your mind. Remember we said we’d communicate through everything. Is it the whole thing that just happened with Vanessa?”
“Yeah. I just – I don’t know. What really happened between you two.”
“It’s not much to tell honestly. I met her one night after going out with Jaiden.
She’s a mutual friend of his and she offered to show me around.
I wasn’t going to at first, but I guess a part of me wanted to try to get you out of my system and I thought she could be a distraction, so we hung out twice.
I didn’t know she took the picture let alone posted it on IG.
When I found out I told her to take it down and I ended things with her, but she didn’t really take it too well. ”
I could tell he was being honest; He looked me right in the eye the entire time and didn’t stutter once.
“So, ya’ll never…”
“No, I’m no saint so the thought crossed my mind, but I never went there with her. We never hooked up or kissed or anything like that.” I unknowingly breathed a sigh of relief.
“Okay. Thanks for telling me.”
He pulled me into his chest and wrapped me in his arms.
“No lies, no secrets and no half-truths.”
“Yeah.”
The wait for our food was long, but it turned out to be worth it. They had the best carne asda tacos I’ve ever had. We spent a good hour eating, laughing, and unwinding. After getting back in the car, Kadeem handed me a bunch of napkins. “Put those in the glovebox for me.”
Emaree giggled. “Tell me you’re black without telling me you’re black.”
Samaj shook his head. “I can’t take this man anywhere.”
“Excuse me for trying to help you out.”
“Why do I need all those napkins Kadeem?”
“To dry up those tears when we leave, crybaby. You know you gon miss us.”
“That was thoughtful.” I uttered knowing it would get under Samaj’s skin.
“Whose side are you on?” He asked.
“Just tell him thank you.” I replied, fighting back the urge to laugh.
“Not happening.” He pulled out of the parking lot ready to ignore us.
“I got a surprise for you though. If you tell him thank you, I’ll give it to you.”
“You’re not serious right now.” I looked at him with a straight face, barely able to keep myself together.
“Simone, stop letting Kadeem pull you into his nonsenses. Now what’s my surprise before I kick all of ya’ll out of my car.”
“Okay rudeness, I didn’t even do anything. Why I gotta get kicked out?” Emaree chimed in from the backseat.
“He ain’t kickin nobody out. If he do, I’ll just report the car stolen and get him pulled over.” Emaree and I fell over laughing.
“Kadeem and Emaree are going to drop us off at your place and I’ll give it to you there.” I said not giving him any more information.
Once we pulled up to his building 20 mins later I had him give me the keys and went upstairs to meet the traveling massage therapist who I had hired.