28. Stoney
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
STONEY
A s soon as I exited the door, the tears began to fall. Not wanting anyone to see me cry, I rushed into the utility closet and shut the door behind me. Sliding to the floor with my back resting against the door, I let my tears flow like the Alabama River.
I had been dreading the day that Schizo returned to the hotel ’cause he made me feel like a complete fool. I felt used and abused once he decided that he was still gon’ marry Kaylan. Then for him to come to me with that bullshit ’bout having feelings for me. It pierced my heart. My shit ached. It was as if he dangled the life I wanted in front of me to tease me. Why would he do some shit like that? How come he couldn’t just gon’ ’bout his business? That night he fucked me, he didn’t have to do that shit. He could have walked the fuck away. The only reason I went through with it was ’cause I thought it was some we both craved.
My heart. My mufuckin’ heart. It was my fault for being so fucking gullible. Here I was tryna save Doll from heartache and couldn’t even rescue my-damn-self. Ever since I saw on social media and received the confirmation back at the hotel that the wedding had indeed happened and he’d taken her on their honeymoon, I had been depressed. I threw myself into work and prayed I’d forget all ’bout him, but I was a fool. Walking my ass into this hotel six days a week, it only made me miss him even more. I got a whiff of his cologne the other day in the elevator and my heart melted. I thought he was back but a customer must have worn the same scent as him.
I should have just told him ’bout her cheating, but then I’d feel like I didn’t win him fair and square. I’d be walking ’round here thinking that I was his second choice. I wanted him to pick me over her without me having to interfere.
I jumped at the sound of someone knocking on the door. I ran my palm up my nose and sniffled. I wiped my eyes with my index finger knuckles and pulled myself up from the floor. Placing my hand on the doorknob, I closed my eyes, inhaled a deep breath, and opened the door.
Standing in front of me was Lane, one of the housekeepers. “I’m sorry, I just needed to grab a few supplies.”
“It’s fine. Go ahead.” I stepped out the closet and continued down the hallway to my office.
Soon as work was over, I rushed out the door so fucking fast. Terrified that I’d run into Schizo again. I didn’t want to see him. I didn’t want to be ’round him. It was probably gon’ take a while for me to forgive him for what he did. I wasn’t even certain if I’d be able to.
I climbed into my car and headed home. Doll had been off for the day and said something ’bout searching for a place to stay online. I thought she was in over her head at the moment since she hadn’t been working long, but who was I to stand in her way if she wanted to get her own place to stay. That was just like Doll. She had been independent as fuck ever since I knew her.
When I walked through the door, I found Doll in the kitchen. “What are you doing?” I asked her. Doll being in the kitchen was foreign to me. She wasn’t a cook. I was the one who did all the cooking ’cause she never really cared to learn in the first place. I been told her that she needed to take some classes or something, ’cause when she did find her a good man, that said man was gon’ want something other than Ramen noodles and hotdogs.
“I saw this recipe online and wanted to try it.”
“What recipe?”
“I saw this one-pan meal on TikTok. I said, Doll, that’s easy. You can make that shit. So I ran to the store and grabbed some steak, potatoes, corn, and broccoli. You know I ain’t the best at cooking, so I followed closely with the seasoning. You need some more onion powder by the way.”
“So you telling me that you actually made dinner?”
Doll’s lips curved upward and she responded, “Yup.”
“Is it eatable?”
“Don’t do me. It’s not done yet, but we’ll see in a few.”
I trotted down the hallway to my bedroom and placed my purse on the dresser and grabbed the Ziploc bag out of my nightstand along with the vape pen. Since I didn’t know the first thing ’bout rolling a blunt, I took the easy way out. Ever since the way Scar’s weed relaxed me in Ocean Reef, I purchased some when I made it back home and used it whenever I felt overwhelmed.
Treading back down the hallway, I plopped on the couch, placed some weed into the pen, and fired it up. Doll got a whiff of the weed and flopped next to me. I toked from the pen and handed it over to her.
“I saw Schizo today,” I blurted, gazing blankly into space.
“And how did it make you feel?”
“Even dumber than I did after I woke up on that beach naked and he was at his wedding as if nothing happened between us.”
“I still say that you should let me beat his ass.” Doll took a pull from the pen and handed it back to me.
“You do that and you can lose your job.”
“Does it look like I give a fuck ’bout that job? I can find another one. Don’t play with me.”
“Doll…” I faced her and said, “You’re fresh out of prison. Not too many people gon’ hire yo’ ass.”
She erupted in laughter. “You’re probably right ’bout that.”
“I know I am. I’m just gon’ let God handle him.”
“God? Bitch…” I choked and Doll patted me on the back. “I know God be swinging sometimes, but bitch you need fucking Lucifer for his ass.”
Doll and I sat there on the couch, passing the pen back and forth and chatting ’bout everything we could think of ’til the smoke detector began to beep and black smoke came from the oven.
“Oh, shit!” we both shouted in unison and ran into the kitchen.