Chapter 8 #2
“If it were me and my pops, I would have knocked you down and kept walkin’, not even giving a fuck if I spilled ya coffee, you feel me?
Because at that moment, I would’ve been more concerned about him and not the person’s coffee I just spilled.
You though, you still stood there and apologized, even asked to pay for someone else's food all because coffee spilled on the lid of it. That type of woman is truly something special and showed me that you have a good heart. It’s so many females who wanna be City Girls so bad but you got everything and to me, winning on every level. ”
For a moment, his eyes hung on mine, and I was stuck.
When his hand caressed my face, it pulled me out of the daze I was in.
“What you gon’ do when I tell people we go together now?”
He cocked his head to the side, looking at me, “We go together now?”
“Real bad!” I had to laugh, trying to make myself sound like Caresha since he’d just mentioned City Girls.
“‘Cause what you not about to do is have me all in my feelings then go be with someone else. So, either save the mushy stuff until later, or we finna go together and you ‘bout to be like Sin, on the sidelines. We gon’ have a special handshake and everything. So, if you’on want that, stay in a friend's place. Pick them feelings up and just be my bodyguard.”
“You’re forgetting that Whitney still ended up falling for her bodyguard.” The wink he gave me after that statement sent me to cloud nine and a bitch was floating. This man was finna finesse me out my panties faster than I could say, “Just pull them to the side.”
brOOKLYN
When I looked at Bronx, I saw so much of me.
The love she had for her family, and even though she was going through some shit with her ex, she still wore her heart on her sleeve.
I was so guarded when it came to females, and I’ain mind tellin’ a muthafucka that it was just sex and we weren’t going past that if that’s what it was.
I’d never been heartbroken and didn’t wanna be either so a nigga like me, would be careful with who I gave my heart to.
To witness people in my family be together for decades made it hard for me to settle for anything, and I wasn’t going to waste time with the wrong person.
Niggas can give their hearts to the wrong person, too.
Brianna was my type and one thing about me, I’d say however I felt, whenever I felt that shit. It ain’t like I told shawty I loved her, I just clearly stated she’d been on my mind heavier than a big bitch on a pony.
“Just know, whatever I say I’ll always back it up with actions and more words to really let you know what’s up.
I’m all for us being friends and going from there.
Whatever happens just happens. We will be seeing each other a lot, so we might as well be cordial and get to know each other more in the process of that. ”
“I’m cool with that.”
“Leave your truck here and come take a ride with me. I felt your stomach rumble when I was holding you, so I already know I gotta feed you, but I have something else planned, too.” She looked skeptical when I said I had something else planned, but she didn’t protest.
“As long as you’re feeding me, then I’m down to go wherever. It’s nice to see a man knows how to plan things. I thought guys like that didn’t exist anymore.”
I looked back at her, then opened the door so she could get inside. “It’s not that, you’ve just been fucking with the wrong nigga. One that’s right for you, will also do right by you and to you. Making plans is simple, it’s when you ask a female what they got a taste for when the problems rise.”
“No, you did not just do us like that.” Bri laughed. Not even on no soft shit, but lil’ baby’s laugh was even sexy.
Closing the door, I walked around the other side of my truck and got in.
“Where are we going anyway? I’m letting you know now; I don’t eat seafood.”
“To my mama house.”
Her eyes almost popped out of her head. “What? No! Why? Look at me! I’m sweaty, I have on basketball shorts and a sports bra. I do have a shirt I can throw on but still, I need to shower. This ponytail is raggedy.”
“Bronx, calm down. I do need to check on her though but I’m waiting until later. Pops said she’s getting chemo right now so don’t stress. I was kidding.”
A relieved look washed over her face. “Meeting her wasn’t the problem because I'm just a friend riding with a friend to check on his mom, which is simple, I just didn’t want to go looking a mess.”
“I can respect that but nah, I wouldn’t do you like that. Calm your heart down, we just grabbing food for now. Do you want to go back to your crib to shower first?”
“Yes please, just in case you do spring some shit on me, I’ll look good doing it. I’ll drive my truck then and just get back in with you.”
She got back out the truck and walked over to hers. My phone started going off, letting me know I had a Facetime coming through. I pulled off behind Bri and answered the call from my cousin at the same time.
“What’s good, Zoo?”
“Why yo’ ass ain’t at work?”
“I took the day off, is that ok with chu?” Zoo jolted upright in his seat to pick his phone up and put it close to his face.
“Hell yea ‘cause now I wanna know what’s wrong because Brooklyn ain’t taking off for shit. Is Auntie straight?”
“She’s good. I'm going to see her later. I’m with Bri right now.” I chuckled at the face he made. “Nigga don’t start looking like that.”
“I’m just sayin’ y’all looking real good together, plus, if she got you taking a break from what you do all day every day, then she’s good in my book.
Nigga ready to body muthafuckas and shit, hell yea she’s good with me.
I like when that Brooklyn come out to play. You know I be all for the fuck shit.”
“I already know. We are just going to get something to eat. After the other night, I wanted to stop by to make sure she was straight.”
“Yea, I hear you. One minute you checking to make sure she’s straight and the next you checking to see if her period came on next,” Zoo let out all in one breath.
“Bye, Zoo. I’m pulling up at her crib now.”
“The facts remain that she got you to take off work and that’s amazing to me. Ain’t nobody ever had that much power to even get you to think about take a day off—not even Auntie. You didn’t even know she was sick because you spend so much time at the studio.”
I guess he noticed how my face went from amusement to anger real quick. “Yo’ why the fuck would you say-”
“I love you too, cuz, I’ll talk to you later.” Before I could finish my sentence, he was ending the Facetime. The mood he put me in, had me feeling fucked up and not wanting to be bothered.
Brianna got out of her truck then walked over to mine. “You can get out if you want to while I change.” Her smile faded once she looked at me. “You ok?” Her forehead creased with concern.
“I’m straight,” I lied, trying not to talk about the shit Zoo just said.
Reaching in, she smoothed out my brows, ran her fingers across my chin, then through my beard. As if she was trying to remove the worry lines that were evident on my face.
“Then, why you got this mean scowl on your face, Brooklyn?”
“No reason, go ahead and change so we can eat.”
Cocking her head to the side, she pursed her lips up like she just knew I was holding something back.
“Come ooon,” she dragged while opening the door to my truck. “You were actively present for me when I needed you the other night, so allow me to be there for you too. Get out so we can talk.”
“I’ll get out, but we not gon’ talk about it.”
“Really, Brooklyn? Don’t be so stubborn.”
Walking inside, I took a seat on the couch and Bri didn’t hesitate sitting Indian style on the floor in front of me. “Tell Mama what’s wrong.”
“I did, I told you I was good and to get dressed so we could eat.”
Crossing her arms, she started pouting as if that was supposed to move me. It did but still, I’ain like that shit.
“Zoo called when we were headed here. He made a comment about me always working and he can’t believe that I took the day off to check on you. How no one ever had that much power over me, not even my mother because I worked so much that I didn’t even know that she was sick.”
“What’s wrong with her?” Brianna asked, anchoring her attention on me.
“Honestly, Bronx, I'm too afraid to ask her more questions. I know she’s sick, and I know that it’s cancer, but I haven’t sat down with her yet to see what’s all really going on—what stage is she in or if the doctors think she’ll pull through.
I stayed away and threw myself into work because I thought they were getting a divorce and I’ain know how to handle that shit.
Feeling the shift in my parents and not knowing what to do, had me fucked up.
I avoided them so I wouldn’t be hit with news like that. ”
“My parents' marriage is what I strive to have when I settle down. Being together for over thirty years with your person is a blessing, so hell yea I stayed away from that shit ‘cause it could be anybody’s parents but mine. For my cousin to look at it as me just putting work before everything, including my sick mama, is fucked up. Zoo, of all people, know that I would never do no shit like that. Especially not if I had known she was sick. Again, I honestly thought they were getting a divorce.”
“But what if he didn’t mean it like that and because you are already in defense mode with just finding out that your mom is sick, you heard it one way and one way only?” she tried to reason with me.
“He may not have meant it like that, but that’s how I took it so you could be right, but that shit wasn’t cool.
My mother is my world, and I would never purposely neglect her or anyone else in my family.
I don’t have a girl or kids, so my business is my baby and I pour what I want to get out of it.
That’s just how it is for me and why I’m so good at what I do. ”
The genuineness that Bri kept showing made me open up more.
Like I said, I’d always express myself but she was really pulling everything out.
The need to know more, that showed in her eyes, made me want to lay on the couch and let her pretend to be my therapist while I told who how I’d skinned my knee up when I was six. That’s just how much she had me open.
“Once you calm down, call your cousin and get things straight with him. As far as your mom, I’m sorry she’s sick but this is something you can’t keep running away from.
You came to me, protected me, and showed me that you had my back when you didn’t have to.
Give your mom that same energy. Regardless of her being sick, show her that you are here now and no matter what she’s going through, you have her back forever. ”
“The last thing you want to do, is avoid her and be ok with the unknown and God forbid something happens to her. You won’t be able to live with yourself. Pull it together, and if you need me to go with you to sit down with her, I will.”
“Really?”
“I mean yea, as long as you don’t spring it on me like you tried to do today. Let me at least get pretty.”
“You were that, today.”
“Yea, pretty sweaty.” Bri chuckled hard followed by a snort. “I’m sorry, I hate laughing because I can’t control that snort that comes. I sound like a damn pig.”
“It was cute, though. Just don’t do it while we are out eating. Now go wash yo’ ass so we can go.” Reaching out, I effortlessly pulled her up from the floor.
“Give me thirty minutes.”
She left out of the room to handle her business while I scrolled threw restaurants to find somewhere secluded to take her.
It’s crazy how I wanted her to count on me, but when it came to me having to do the same thing for her, I tried to hold that off as long as I could.
It was good to see her not give up and make me tell her what was wrong.
I feel like Zoo now; I needed to go commit a crime because she had me getting soft.