Chapter Twenty-Two
Taleah
REX SHOWING BACK up at my house was perfect.
I didn’t really want to be alone after knowing TJ found me so easily and was able to almost break my door down.
Every time I turned around, I was hearing noises that made me believe someone was there ready to pick up where he left off.
No, he didn’t get his hands on me this time, but it doesn’t mean someone else won’t.
He knows a lot of shady people who won’t have a problem putting their hands on a woman in one way or another.
Plus, I never got a good feeling when I was around his father either.
Thankfully, I wasn’t taken to his house very often and could avoid his father more often than not.
I didn’t lie when I told Rex I wasn’t about to let TJ run me out of this house.
I plan on making this into my home and won’t allow him to ruin the happiness I feel when I look in each room and imagine turning it into something all my own.
Or sitting by the pool as the sun beats down on me.
I also finally have a place to bring Bhodi’s bike so I don’t have to keep it in the storage where I’ve kept it away from TJ.
The two of us worked on unpacking the living room and kitchen as music played in the background.
Rex even remembered that I won’t use the dishes until they’ve been washed.
It’s just something I’ve done for as long as I can remember.
I believe I learned it from my grandma when Bhodi and I used to spend time with her if our parents had to go out of town for work.
After I get the jerseys, football, and pictures of Bhodi up above the fireplace, I move back and make sure everything is perfect.
This is the one thing I’ve always wanted in my home but never really could because of TJ.
He would have destroyed everything in a heartbeat just to hurt me.
Now, I can put everything where I want it and display how proud I am of my brother.
He might not be here with me, but I can show him off from when he was in the prime of his life.
When he was truly happy, in love, and coming up with one dream after another for how he wanted to live his life.
Next, I unpack the boxes filled with all of my candles, pictures, and a few books I always keep on the end table by the couch.
It doesn’t take me long to get everything in the living set up exactly how I want it.
The only thing left to grab are the throw blankets currently being washed.
I have one for the couch and one for the recliner I just bought.
No matter where I choose to sit, I tend to always cover up with a blanket even on the hottest days.
I’m not sure why because I’m not always cold.
It must be a comfort thing I do. The blankets have to be soft and big enough to cover my entire body.
I also have a few small throw pillows waiting to be washed.
I'll add them to the couch once they’re dried.
When I’m done, I make my way into the kitchen with Rex.
I can’t do much else in my bedroom because I have to wash my clothes and the rest of my new bedding.
I could work in my bathroom, but it won’t take me very long at all to put away everything I have for that room.
I’ll have to go shopping for more things at some point, but I don’t want to until everything in the house is set up so I know what I need for each room and can make one trip.
“I see you went out and bought groceries already,” Rex says when I step up next to a box he has yet to unpack.
“Yeah. I got them on the way home from the hospital earlier today. I wanted to be able to make myself dinner the first night here. I know we had pizza and stuff earlier, but I’m kind of hungry. Are you?” I ask him, as we work together to load the dishwasher.
“I could eat,” he responds as I abandon the box and head for the refrigerator.
“Anything in particular you’d like to eat?” I ask, taking a look at the fruits and vegetables, steak, hamburger, and chicken I have out for me to cook.
“Why don’t we have hamburgers tonight. We can make homemade fries like we used to. I’d say steak, but you don’t have a grill yet. Did you ever learn to grill?” he questions me as I pull out the hamburger and set it on the counter by the sink.
Digging into a box, I find my large frying pan, a cutting board, plates, silverware, and bowls.
There’s bottles of water, soda, and beer for us to drink.
I don’t always drink beer, but didn’t want to stop to grab wine and hard liquor.
Right now, I don’t really want a lot of alcohol in my house.
Not after TJ and all the parties he threw in my previous house.
No one will have a chance to get wasted on my dime if I have any say in the matter.
Once I have everything I need to cook our dinner with, Rex and I wash the dishes.
Well, I wash them and he dries the dishes before placing them by the stove so I can reach everything easily.
Rex continues to load the dishwasher while I prepare the burgers.
Once they’re in the frying pan, I pull out some fresh asparagus I bought and place it in a pan to boil.
Rex is done loading the dishwasher and he washes his hands before turning to look at me.
“Where did you put the potatoes?” he asks me, looking around the kitchen.
“They’re in the cupboard by the refrigerator on top of the bottled water,” I answer him without turning from the stove.
Rex moves around my kitchen as if he’s been in it a thousand times before.
The two of us work seamlessly like we haven’t missed the last eight years of doing this.
When we were younger, the four of us would take turns cooking.
If it was my turn, Rex would be in the kitchen with me.
I taught him how to do more than microwave something.
Bhodi always helped Elara cook when it was her turn even though he already knew how to cook.
Our parents and grandma taught us from a young age.
We loved being in the kitchen with them.
Especially when it came time to bake something.
That was always my favorite thing to do with my mom and grandma.
I learned so much from them and we created a ton of memories.
I watch from the corner of my eye as Rex peels the potatoes before slicing them into long strips.
When I went shopping for the furniture, I bought other things including an air fryer.
I don’t know that Rex has ever used one before so I move closer to him and plug it in before setting it to the proper temperature to heat up.
He continues working as I move back to the stove to pay attention to the food.
Once Rex has cut up enough potatoes for us, he grabs the onions and tomatoes.
I won’t eat onions, but he loves them on his burgers.
Always has. Then, he’ll chew a piece of gum he typically has in one of his pockets.
“Do you want cheese?” I ask him when the burgers are almost fully cooked.
“Yeah. You got any white cheese?” he questions me as if I don’t remember his preferences.
“Of course I do. It’s all I use for burgers and grilled cheese sandwiches.
I don’t really buy the yellow cheese these days because your sister and Bhodi were the only two who ate it on everything,” I tell him with a smile because we always used to fight over the cheese when we would cook.
It was a silly argument and one we had countless times.
Elara and I were just talking about it a few weeks ago when I had lunch at her house.
Rex gets our plates ready to dish the food up on before grabbing our condiments from the refrigerator.
I bought them all today and my mouth starts to water as the aroma of our dinner fills the house.
When the timer goes off for the French fries, I watch as Rex shuts off the air fryer and uses one of the plates we washed to dump them onto after placing paper towels down.
He’s left the tomatoes and onions on the cutting board on each half so they don’t touch.
That’s how much I hate onions. Next, I watch him walk over to the pantry and open the door before he turns back with a jar of gravy.
“I’m gonna wash another pan so we can heat the gravy up for your fries,” he says, grabbing what he needs and washing the pan.
Instead of handing it over to me, Rex places it on the stove and pours the gravy in while turning on the heat.
Our arms brush against one another and an onslaught of memories flood my mind from our shared history.
“I’ve really missed this,” I murmur more to myself than to him.
“You’re not the only one,” he responds without looking at me.
It doesn’t take us long to finish cooking our meal and plating up our food.
I even warmed up our hamburger buns in the oven.
This is what I miss the most. Having more than just myself to cook for.
I love cooking for other people and Elara can’t always come over for dinner like we used to.
Our lives have changed and we’re both busy now.
There’s not always time to spend together like we once did.
Debbie thinks it’s another reason I latched onto TJ and kept him around.
She might be right. But I won’t make the same mistake with Rex.
I know there’s nothing between the two of us.
We take seats at the island where the new stools I bought sit waiting for us.
I’ve never eaten at an island before so this is something new.
Something I’ll more than likely do on a regular basis because I don’t want to eat in the living room and if I’m the only one here, there’s no point in sitting at the table all alone.
It would make me feel too lonely. Rex takes a huge bite of his burger after adding everything to his burger.
He’s got a pile of French fries smothered in ketchup as normal and I have gravy on my plate for my fries.
While he loads his burger with a ton of toppings, I use more condiments than he does.
“This is really good, Doll. I’ve missed your cookin’,” Rex compliments me as he takes the last bite of his burger.
“Thank you.”
I eat slower than Rex and savor my food while he always eats as if he’s starving. That hasn’t changed. Bhodi and him always used to say they were growing boys and always hungry. Elara and I always made them wait for us.
“You still eat so slow,” Rex teases me as he pushes his plate away and turns to look at me.
“I don’t take giant bites like you, Rex.
You always eat double the amount of food and it’s gone before half of mine is.
Bhodi and you always ate so fast and then complained because Elara and I didn’t eat as fast. I think that’s why you two stopped taking us out to eat and would only drop us off,” I admit as I finish my burger before starting on my fries and gravy.
“That was part of it. The other part was we’d go home and grab our bikes while you were eatin’.
We could get in a half hour at least before we had to pick you two back up.
He made me promise we would never tell you that’s what we were doin’.
Said we’d tell you if you ever asked, but you didn’t until now.
Not that you asked, but you brought it up,” he tells me with a sad look in his eyes as I think back to all the times they’d leave us at a diner or other place to eat.
When I’m done eating, Rex and I wash the dishes we used for dinner after putting all the leftovers away.
There’s not much, but I can use it for tomorrow’s lunch.
I have two burgers left, some sliced tomatoes, and the gravy.
Fries can always be made in the air fryer because it doesn’t take long.
Once we’re done in the kitchen, I turn to Rex and wonder how long he plans on staying here tonight.
“Not goin’ anywhere, Doll. Gonna be here all night long. Go pick a movie and I’ll grab some chips and other snacks. You want soda?” he asks me, already moving around the kitchen.
“Yes, please,” I say, already moving toward the living room so I can choose a movie for us to watch. “We made a lot of progress and can’t really do more in the kitchen until the dishwasher is done. I’m going to switch the laundry over really quick because one of my blankets should be done.”
“Okay. I’ll have everythin’ ready in a few minutes,” he responds as I disappear down the hall toward the laundry room.
When I get done switching the laundry over, I bring my blanket out to the living room and toss it in the corner of the couch before grabbing the remote and sitting down.
Rex walks in as I turn the TV on and choose one of the streaming services I use.
While I go through the movies to find something we haven’t seen a million times in the past, Rex settles in next to me.
He’s once again close enough our arms brush against one another as he moves around.
Goosebumps cover my skin where he touches.
I finally manage to pick an action movie I haven’t seen before.
Setting the remote between the two of us, I settle back on the couch and cover myself with the warm blanket.
Rex hands me one of the sodas I place on the end table next to me and then he places the bowl of popcorn closer before sliding the table up as close to the couch as it can get.
Reaching forward I grab some of the peanut butter cups.
I always eat something sweet before having popcorn.
Rex grabs a handful of popcorn as usual and sits back against the couch without reaching for the remote.
The silence stretches between the two of us as I think of something to say instead of starting the movie.
Maybe it’s time we have that long overdue conversation.