6. Mahari Creed
Mahari’s phone vibrating against his nightstand woke him from his peaceful slumber.
Prying his eyes open, he glanced over at a sleeping Dynasty before reaching over and grabbing his phone.
Aspen’s name appeared on his screen, and his heart started racing.
It was almost four in the morning, so her calling meant something had to be wrong.
Tossing the covers over his legs, Mahari headed to his bathroom and answered.
“Bunny, what’s wrong? You good?” The sound of Aspen sniffling had Mahari going back to his room and throwing on some clothes. “Don’t worry. I’m on my way.”
All Aspen said was, “Okay.”
The call ended, and Mahari was dressed in record speed.
Without waking Dynasty up and letting her know he was leaving, Mahari grabbed his keys and wallet and left.
Aspen and Lance’s house wasn’t too far from his, but he made it there in record time.
The front door was locked, so he went to the garage and put the code in.
He raced through the house and up the stairs to find Aspen in the bed, crying.
Going over and kneeling in front of her, Mahari turned the lamp on. “What’s wrong, Bunny?”
“I—I’m in pain. I can’t get up by myself, and I’m so fuckin’ tired of Lance leaving me here alone when I need him.
Once again, his location is off, and he won’t answer the phone.
To top it all off, I had a dream about my daddy, and it’s just .
. .” Aspen couldn’t even finish her sentence before sobbing.
Carefully, Mahari swooped her up from the bed and placed her in his lap. With her face buried in his neck, he rubbed her stomach and kissed her forehead, allowing her to cry it out.
Seeing Aspen like that did something to Mahari. His eyes closed as his mind drifted to Heaven.
Light taps on his shoulder stirred Mahari from his sleep. He turned over and adjusted his eyes to the bright lamp illuminating the room before peering up at Heaven. When he saw how wet her chocolate cheeks were, he sat up and carefully studied her.
“What’s wrong, baby? Do we need to go to the hospital?”
“No, we don’t. I just need help getting up, and I really, really want a chili cheese dog with onions and mustard,” Heaven admitted, wiping her face.
Mahari pressed his lips together to keep from laughing. He knew it wasn’t a laughing matter to Heaven from the way she was crying, but he thought it was hilariously cute. Sitting up, Mahari stretched and got out the bed. He walked over to Heaven’s side of the bed, and she raised her arms.
“Come here, my big baby,” Mahari joked, swooping her up in his arms and kissing her temple. “You know I got my girls.”
Heaven’s medium-brown eyes gazed into his. “I know you do. You always have. I don’t know where I would be without you, Mahari.”
The feeling of Aspen’s hand softly running down his cheek brought Mahari back from his thoughts.
“Are you thinking about Heaven?” Aspen asked barely above a whisper.
Mahari grabbed Aspen’s hand and kissed the back of it. “I was but I’m good. I promise. This just reminds me of one night when she needed me for this exact reason, except she was hungry too.”
“Well, food does sound good too.”
“We can go grab whatever you want.” He rose to his feet with Aspen still cradled in his arms. “Where do you need to go?”
“To the bathroom and downstairs to get something to drink. You can put me down. I need to walk the pain off, but it’s just hard.”
“Are you sure?”
Aspen nodded her reassurance, so Mahari carefully placed her on her feet. It took them a few minutes to get to the bathroom where Mahari waited outside the door. He leaned his head against the wall and released a breath. Aspen had scared him, and his heart rate was beginning to return to normal.
Her urgency had him rushing to her and forgetting all about their last interaction at the club. For days, Aspen’s words echoed in his mind, and there wasn’t anything he could do about it because she was right. She belonged to Lance, but where was he? Why wasn’t he the one there to comfort her?
Mahari decided to find out for himself. As he waited for Aspen, he pulled out his phone and tapped on Lance’s contact to call him. The phone rang three times before Lance answered with a bunch of shuffling in the background before he spoke.
“What you doing up? At the studio?” he questioned.
“Over here doing what you need to be doing. Tell me something. Why is it that I had to get up out my sleep to come tend to your pregnant girl?”
There was more shuffling in the background before Lance smacked his lips and huffed into the phone. “Is she good?”
“You would know if you were here or had answered the phone. You gotta stop doing this shit, mane. If you don’t want to be with her, you need to keep it real and go.”
“How many times are we going to have this talk, Mahari? You and everyone else knows Aspen is my heart, and I’m not going anywhere.”
“Then you need to fuckin’ act like it. You need to get your shit together and tend to your girl and daughters more than you do the streets before someone else steps in and do it for you.”
“And what the fuck is that supposed to mean? You know a nigga trying to step in?”
Mahari ran his hand down his face and bit down on his bottom lip. The words resting on the tip of his tongue were hard to swallow. What he desired to say would have caused havoc within their relationship, so Mahari chose to redirect the conversation.
“Nah, mane. I don’t. I’m simply keeping it real with you on the situation. Have you thought about how your actions affect Aspen?”
“I’m sure he hasn’t,” Aspen spoke as she opened the door. “It’s funny how he can sit there and answer your call, but apparently, I’m blocked for the night.”
Lance fussed in a harsh whisper, “You didn’t tell me she was beside you listening. Let me find out you’re trying to be on some sneaky shit, Mahari.”
“Sneaky shit? How would I be on some sneaky shit when I’m calling you out on what you’re doing and trying to help you. You know what . . . It’s all good. I’m going to stay out of your relationship.”
Without waiting for Lance to reply, Mahari hung up and shoved his phone in his pocket. He glanced over at Aspen. She was leaned against the doorframe with her arms crossed while silently crying. Mahari held his arms out, and she slowly made her way into his embrace.
“I got you, Bunny.”
Aspen sniffled. “I know. It’s just frustrating for me. My father would be so pissed if he were here. All this really makes me miss him, Mahari. I know it wouldn’t be like this if he was here.”
“I know you miss him, and going through this pregnancy is hard without him, but when you start to feel down, think about the positive. It’s a lot easier said than done, but it helps.
Whenever I think about Heaven, my mind goes to the good times.
I try not to dwell on how it would be if she was here, because she isn’t, and there’s nothing I can do about it.
I’m simply grateful for the time I had with her. ”
Grief was one thing Mahari and Aspen bonded over. They were there for one another when they experienced the major losses in their lives. While Mahari’s was a little fresher than Aspen’s, it didn’t take away how deeply it cut.
Lifting her head, Aspen peered up at Mahari and gave him a soft smile. “You’re right.” She paused and took a deep breath. “Thank you for that. It was exactly what I needed to hear.”
“If anyone knows how you feel, it’s me. No thanks needed.”
For a moment, they got lost in one another’s eyes.
Mahari’s grip tightened around Aspen’s waist as he pulled her closer.
The emotions swirling in the pit of his stomach told him he was walking on the line, on dangerous territory, but he couldn’t pull away.
He wanted to bask in the feeling of how good it felt to have Aspen in his arms.
Their moment was interrupted by Aspen’s phone vibrating against the nightstand. Mahari went over to grab it for her since it was uncomfortable for her to walk, to see it was Lance calling her. He held it up for her to see, and Aspen smacked her lips.
“Answer it and put it on speaker, please,” she instructed, and Mahari did as she said. “What, Lance?”
“Aye, mane. Fix your tone.” Lance fussed. “You good, mamas?”
“As if you truly care.”
“Don’t be like that, Aspen. You know I do. I’m headed home now to get you right. Do you need me to stop anywhere to get you anything?”
Aspen waved her hand as if Lance could see her. “You can go back to wherever you were. Mahari is about to take me to get what I need like he always does. I’m good on you.”
The frustrated breath Lance blew out made Mahari chuckle. His cousin was upset for the wrong reasons, but it wasn’t his place to speak on it anymore. Mahari couldn’t wait to fill Justin in on what happened.
“I’m coming home to you and the twins. Text me what you need, and I’ll see you soon. I love you, and I mean that shit.”
Mahari witnessed Aspen’s face soften and knew Lance was getting to her.
He didn’t understand their dynamic, and maybe it wasn’t meant for him to understand.
No longer would he insert himself to try to get either of them to see his point of view.
If they wanted to continue with the back-and-forth, so be it. None of it concerned him.
Sighing, Aspen walked over, wincing with every step before taking the phone from Mahari and taking it off speaker.
She and Lance conversed a bit longer. By the relaxed expression on Aspen’s pretty face, Mahari took that as his cue to leave.
No words were spoken as he helped Aspen back into bed, kissed her forehead, and headed toward the door.
“Mahari?” Aspen called out.
Mahari looked over his shoulder and waited for her to speak.
“I love you.”
“I love you.”
She blew him a kiss. He caught it, put it in his pocket, and left. Trying to push everything to the back of his mind, Mahari drove with the windows down. The way Heaven plagued his mind almost had him in his feelings, but he remembered what he told Aspen.
Think positive, mane.
Doing so was harder than he desired to admit.
Not only about Heaven, but about Aspen as well.
Deep down, Mahari knew if Heaven were still alive, the thoughts and feelings he was experiencing wouldn’t be present.
Once again, it was something out of his control, something he silently dealt with every day.
When he arrived back at his house, Mahari was happy to see that Dynasty was still sound asleep.
He quietly peeled from his clothes down to his boxers and climbed into bed with her.
Her body immediately clung to his and all Mahari could do was lie there, praying sleep found him soon and thoughts of Aspen were freed from his mind.