Epilogue #3
I snatched my gaze away from her face and at her head. Her hair was in rollers—the kind my mama would wear for bed before putting on her bonnet.
“You ain’t goin’ with them shits in yo head, is you?”
“No,” she grimaced. “Damn fool!” She laughed.
“Watch ya mouth.”
“How’d it go with Monterrius? Did he seem nervous? I told him not to give away that this is his first job.”
“You didn’t have to, because I asked him. It wasn’t hard to tell. He needs to know how it feels to have his own money instead of asking you for shit all the time. I had three jobs when I was his age.”
“Well, how much is he getting paid by the hour? I may need to be put in an application and come work for you,” she grinned.
“Naw. Hell nah,” I laughed. “I’on need you klepto ass workin’ for me. Then I’d really have to put a bullet in yo fuckin’ head.”
“You know what…” she carried on as we both laughed. “I’m hanging up on that note. I’ll be ready by five, bae.”
“I love you, Juicy,” I spoke seriously, in my normal tone—raspy and deep.
“I love you too, Romelo.”
I felt lame as hell for blushing the way I was. Juicy could brag on the effects of having me this way. Shit felt so different this time around, and I wasn’t doing shit to fuck it up.
Arriving to pick her up, I was best dressed—feeling like the freshest nigga on earth in a Cartier suit jacket, a bowtie, Derby Dior shoes, an Audemars Piguet, and some VVS diamond studs.
I looked classic as fuck—dressing to impress my lady.
My heart pounded hard through my chest as I waited for her to exit the house, standing in front of my matte black Rolls Royce, feeling like a boss.
When the French-styled doors opened, she looked like she’d been ripped straight out of a magazine.
Seeing her, my dick jumped while a grin plastered across my face.
I licked my lips, groped my chin, and nodded in approval.
The dress hugged every curve, and the gold YSL heels added to her height.
It took her a second to walk on the gravel, but when she neared me, I reached my hand out, wrapped it around the dip in her back, and bent down to kiss her.
“I’ma fuck around and put a baby in yo ass tonight.”
“I can’t argue with that,” she blushed. “It means you approve, right? I look pretty?”
“Pretty like Mona Lisa love.”
Her hair was pretty as fuck too—so different from the curly hair she always flaunted. It framed her face perfectly.
Then I caught a whiff of her neck. “You know what the fuck that peach scent does to me.”
“That’s why I wore it, Romelo,” she whimpered at the feel of me grazing my tongue over her neck and ear, licking the gold dangling hoop earrings.
“We ain’t gon’ make these reservations, love,” I growled in her ear.
“Romelooo,” she whined. “I didn’t get this cute just for you to mess it up.”
I couldn’t let go—shit felt magnetic with her. I was always drawn to her energy, wanting to be stuck there.
“I’m fucking you my way tonight, Juicy. Ain’t no runnin’ from this dick. I want you face down, ass up, taking this dick like a good girl. You hear me?” I gripped the cusp of her chin, gazing into her eyes.
“Yes sir,” she mumbled.
With a grin, I kissed her lips, then adjusted my posture to pass her the roses.
Her mouth hung open as she gawked at them.
My mama used to tell me all the time: buying a woman flowers means a lot because it shows you took time out of your day to think about her.
Seeing Synthia’s reaction now, made the price worth it.
Girls love red roses. Girls appreciate red roses too.
I pulled my phone out and snapped a few pictures of her to post later, then held the door open so we could head to our destination.
“You’re getting pretty good at this stuff?” she spoke up.
I turned the volume down on I Hope It’s You by Donnell Jones, just enough to hear her, but still enjoy the song.
I reached over as I pulled the car out the driveway and grabbed her exposed thigh. Her body shimmered like she’d dipped herself in gold or something, and the stars on the roof highlighted her glow, making her sexiness impossible to ignore.
Glancing over, my brow furrowed in confusion. “What you mean?”
“The princess treatment,” she answered.
“Oh yeah,” I nodded. “I’m trying—taking it one step at a time.”
“Don’t ever lose it,” she said.
“You’ll make it impossible not to court you. You deserve it, Juicy. In this life and the next.”
“Do you ever think about how life would be without me?”
“What?”
She cleared her throat. “If you didn’t come by that Sunday.”
I looked ahead, paying attention to the road. “I’d be stuck in a relationship that didn’t deserve my best.”
“You know I, um—” she paused, shifting in her seat. “I visited her.”
“Trecee,” I clarified.
Synthia nodded, toyed with one of the rose petals.
“How’d it go?”
“We didn’t say much. It was sort of awkward.”
“How you feel?”
“I feel okay—to finally close that chapter. I needed closure.”
“Closure, huh?” I snorkeled.
“What’s funny?”
I shrugged, keeping my gaze deadpan on the road. “I just don’t feel the same way you feel. I don’t owe her shit.”
“I didn’t say you did.”
“You don’t see shit the way I see it. That’s where we’ll always be indifferent.”
She sighed. “You feel okay about ribbing somebody of their unhappiness?”
“To get mine?” I faced her for a second, then back at the road.
“Hell yeah. It’s called life. Shit ain’t meant to be fair.
You can do everything right under the moon and stars and still get fucked over.
I’ll confess my sins on judgment day, but until then, I tread around untouchable, because I don’t fear shit.
I can deal with the cards I’m dealt and still come out on top.
You should know that shit by now, Juicy. ”
“I didn’t mean to make you upset.”
Pulling into the parking lot, I kept the car running after parking.
“I ain’t upset, baby. But you need to stay the fuck outta feelings when it comes to shit like that—especially her.
It’s cute you want to be the bigger person, but it ain’t gon’ change nothin’.
You didn’t need closure. If it weighs heavy on yo heart, don’t surprise me with your bags packed.
Let me know what’s up now. My heart can’t take that type of failure when it comes to you, and I’ll never give you the short end of the stick. ”
I read her expression and pouty lips as she looked forward. Slowly, she turned to face me.
“Tell me what you choose.”
“I choose you. I choose us. I choose this,” she muttered, barely above a whisper.
Leaning over, I rested my elbow on the armrest and kissed her forehead before pulling back.
“This kiss solidifies a forever with you—an eternity with you. Don’t love me enough for the both of us, love me because you feel that shit in yo heart.”
I could’ve broke down when she began to cry, but I wiped her tears away with my thumb.
“I want this,” she sniffled. “I want you.”
I kissed her nose, then her lips, trailing my love.
Short-handing this wasn’t an option. I’ve always been the type to have shit my way.
A warmth spread through my chest as I envisioned our perfect future—the sunset painting a radiant backdrop to our happiness.
My voice cracked, a desperate plea to keep this, even if it meant tearing down everything else.
I’d rather be in deep—in too deep—where only the two of us existed and the past was unmentionable.
THIS IS THE END.