Chapter 13
Thirteen
Brick
A s soon as I walked into Melon , I knew LaShontae was on some bullshit.
As soon as I finished my studio session, I hit her up because I was ready to dead this situation once and for all.
She wanted me to pull up at her house, but I wasn’t falling for that.
When she said she was meeting a friend for lunch and that she would just get there earlier so that I could say my piece, I was all for it.
My plan was to be in and out, but as I approached the bar where she sat, I saw that she had ordered herself a lemon drop, and beside it was an Old Fashioned neat.
It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know that she ordered that for me, and I had a feeling there was no friend she was meeting up with for lunch.
I wasn’t going to let her antics deter me from my mission, though.
I sat on the barstool next to hers, and she turned to me with a smile. Her smile was warm and inviting, like we hadn’t been broken up for months.
She reached in for a hug, which I returned loosely, and when she pulled away, my seat rotated slightly toward hers.
“I’m so glad you called me, baby. I miss you so much, and I’m sorry for?—”
I cut her off because none of what she was talking about contributed to my mission.
“Aye, Tae. I only hit you up to set some shit straight. I know when we broke up, you had it in your head that we would figure this out again, but it was never the case, and I’ve been telling you this for months.”
She sighed. “You’re only saying this because you’re still upset, and I get it. But let’s be real, Briston. There is nobody else out here for either of us. We’ve been together since high school. We’re meant to be.”
Feeling myself get annoyed, I closed my eyes briefly.
When I opened them again, I said, “You don’t even believe that, Tae.
If you did, you wouldn’t have been sleepin’ with another nigga in the first place.
I’m not even mad about that shit anymore, though.
I came to tell you that there is no chance of us getting back together, so I need you to stop going around making it seem like there is still an us. There isn’t, and there won’t be again.”
Just like any other time when LaShontae didn’t get her way, she pouted as if she were about to cry. Actual tears rarely came out during her little tantrums, though.
“But why ?” she asked. “I made a mistake, but I promise you it’ll never happen again. I was lonely, Brixton.”
“Okay, but that doesn’t change what is happening here. Tae, I’ve moved on.”
She frowned. “Moved on? Like, with a woman? When in the world have you had time to find someone new?”
I chuckled. “She’s actually not someone new. I reconnected with Dylan.”
Her eyes widened at that statement, but she quickly schooled her features.
“Dylan . . . from middle school,” she said flatly.
I nodded. “I wanted to meet with you today because she let me know that you made it seem like we were still dating. I know you spin that narrative to more than just her, too. Stop doing that shit, Tae.”
She smirked. “Or what? You ran into her and are trying to fulfill some childhood fantasy with the one who got away, right? It won’t last, and I’ll be right here when it falls apart, to remind you that I’m the realest woman you’ve ever had,” she said, leaning in.
I sighed. “Dylan and I are together, Tae. I ain’t about to?—”
The next few moments happened fast as hell. Cutting me off, Tae gripped my neck from behind and pulled me toward her open mouth.
Her boldness had me paralyzed for a second.
Not because I wanted it, but because I wasn’t expecting her to take it there at this bar.
I didn’t kiss her ass back, but I did hesitate a second longer than I should have.
I swear, it was only because I was trying to decide whether to mush her crazy ass in the forehead or push her out of her seat.
Deciding that neither of those was a good look, I put my hand on the back of her chair and moved it away from mine as I pulled away.
Wiping my mouth, I said, “What the fuck, Tae?”
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t act like you ain’t like it.”
I stood and pulled my wallet out. Once I retrieved two crisp twenties, I tossed them on the bar and looked at her.
“You’re disrespectful as fuck, but it don’t even matter. I wish you well, Tae, but this shit with us is over.”
I didn’t say anything else, because I was likely to cuss her ass out.
I didn’t know why I expected anything else from this woman, but the fact that she put her lips on me right after I told her who I was committed to had me heated.
I walked away, ready to put her and this entire situation behind me.
I knocked on the front door, then took a step back as I checked my phone again.
I had called and texted Dy a few times today, but she hadn’t answered any of them.
I knew she was spending time with all her people, so I wasn’t really stressing it, but I was happy to be picking her up now.
As far as I knew, she still planned on going to Paris on Sunday, so I needed my time with my girl.
After a few seconds, her mother opened the door. I smiled, but the angry look on her face stopped me cold.
“Good evening, Miss Dana,” I said, unsure if her anger was directed toward me or not.
“Why are you here?” she asked, looking me up and down.
The fuck?
What about her feelings toward me had changed since I saw her last? As far as I could tell, Miss Dana was in full support of me being with her daughter. Now, she looked like she wanted to cut my ass.
“I’m here to pick up Dy,” I said, my frown deepening. “Everything aight?”
Kissing her teeth, she said, “Hell no, everything ain’t all right. My baby is gone.”
I took a step backward. What was she talking about?
“Gone?”
“Yes. Gone. To Paris. She saw you today, on your date with that girl, ya know.”
Shit.
I shook my head. “That wasn’t a date, Miss Dana. I called LaShontae to?—”
She cut me off. “So it wasn’t a date, but y’all were sticking your tongues down each other’s throats in broad daylight? Honey, hush. Miss Dana ain’t no fool, and she ain’t raise one either.”
“I get how that must have looked to Dy, but I promise you it wasn’t like that. I’m in love with your daughter, Miss Dana, and I’d never disrespect her like that. Can I come in and explain?”
“No, you?—”
“Let ’em in, baby. I wanna hear how he’s gon’ fix this up,” Reggie said. He was now standing behind Miss Dana and opening the door wider.
“Whatever.” Miss Dana rolled her eyes and turned toward the hall.
Reggie didn’t look any happier to see me than his wife did, but he stepped aside so that I could enter their home.
I followed him into the living room and watched as he sat next to his wife on the sofa.
I elected to stand as I began explaining.
I told them about my conversation with Dy, about her run-in with LaShontae, and my intentions of going to Melon earlier. I let them know that the kiss caught me off guard, but that I did end it, and I walked out of the restaurant shortly after that.
“I messed up because I should have left my conversation with LaShontae at a phone call, but I promise I don’t want that girl. I want your daughter, and all I was trying to do today was make that clear to my ex.”
For a long time, they both stared me down silently.
I respected them, so I wanted to give them an opportunity to say what they wanted, but my mind was working overtime on how to fix this shit.
I was already behind the eight ball because she was likely already in the air.
I needed a flight and a plan immediately, because life without Dy wasn’t happening.
“I believe you,” Reggie eventually said.
“’Preciate that.”
“I don’t think you’re lying either,” Miss Dana said. “I told Dylan the girl was lying when we saw her at the store, so pulling something like this is probably not too far-fetched.”
Reggie cleared his throat. “So, . . . what you gon’ do?”
“I’ma fix this.”
“How?” he pressed.
“By any means necessary.”
Sitting up slightly, Miss Dana clasped her hands together. “You say you love my baby?”
“I do,” I said quickly. “So much.”
She chuckled. “How much is so much?”
Sliding my hands in my pockets, I said, “So much that I’m on the next flight to Paris. I gotta believe that me and Dy runnin’ into each other at that airport was a God thing. We’re supposed to be together, and I’ma make that happen, Miss Dana. Ain’t no way I’m letting her get away from me again.”
She resumed watching me silently. After a while, she said, “Okay, then.”
Reggie kissed her cheek, then nodded at me.
“I appreciate y’all,” I said, turning to leave. Then I thought of something and turned back.
“Could you give me her best friend’s number? Wilder?”
Miss Dana’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, but she laughed.
“Sure. You’ll probably need her to crack through my baby girl’s shell.”
She pulled her phone out and recited Wilder’s number to me. A plan was formulating as I saved it.
“Whatever you do,” she said as I was about to leave, “you better make it count, Brixton Ellis.”
She gave me a small smile, and her confidence in me gave me a little hope.
“No doubt. Dy deserves the world, and I’ma bring it to her doorstep.”