5. When Truth Gets Loud #4
Trevor smiled in response, his dimples peeking out, “We’ll see, if I’m back here, I’ll definitely want to see you.
” He gave her a nod before leaving the room and heading to the bathroom to clean up.
When he walked back to their section it was Angelou that noticed him first, a wide grin spread across his face.
“That man is walking lighter already.” Angelou stated, capturing the attention of Jackson and Leon. Leon was getting a lap dance which threw Trevor all the way off.
“Angelou, did you get our father a lap dance?!” Trevor asked, sitting back down in his seat. Leon seemed to be having a great time putting $20s in the women’s thong.
“Why is it my fault? That was actually Jackson.” Trevor’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Yeah, the prodigal son is out here buying lap dances for his Daddy.” Angelou snickered before sobering.
“You good?” He looked pointedly at Trevor searching for any crack in his armor.
“Yeah,” Trevor said, for once believing it, “I’m good.”
“You sure?” Jackson questioned, his eyes knowing. Trevor could never hide from Jackson.
“Yes, Jac. That was the reset I needed.”
“His ass is already coochie whipped and it’s only been one night,” Angelou laughed out while taking a sip of his drink. Leon snapped his head around.
“Son, just what were you doing back there with that young lady?”
Trevor answered, “You don’t want to know.” While Angelou answered, “Getting close to her on a spiritual level.”
“Lou, shut the fuck up, you talk too much,” Jackson barked trying to hold back his laughter.
“I raised a bunch of hoes. Wow. Thank you, young lady.” Leon dismissed her with a kind smile. His face turned serious as he looked at his youngest son.
“Trevor, don’t go starting something if you’re not ready to handle it,” Leon warned. Trevor finished off his whisky and looked at his father.
“Dad, I’m not starting something. I just needed something new.
I have been, excuse my language, fucking the same woman since I was a teenager.
It was time to feel some new walls. And wonderful they were.
Neither one of us was looking for love, just release…
and man, I got it.” Angelou choked on his wing at Trevor’s candidness.
Why did the youngest always have the slickest mouth?
“Just because we are in a strip club doesn’t mean you get to talk to me like you don’t have any damn sense…
I get it though. Glad you got your shit off.
Now eat your wings.” Leon gruffed back. “You deserve every bit of happiness that’s coming your way, Bunny.
When it comes, don’t run.” Trevor groaned at his dad calling him his childhood nickname because he used to love to hop everywhere and get on his mother’s nerves.
“Yeah, Bunny, you deserve every win that’s coming your way.” Jackson said.
“Y’all annoy me so much, but I love you,” Trevor gritted out.
He wouldn’t admit it aloud, but tonight loosened a part of him he didn’t know he needed.
He would forever be grateful for his family and the love that surrounded him even if he was struggling with romantic love.
Just as he finished that thought a flash of auburn hair and honey-colored eyes flashed in his mind.
Parent-teacher conferences came the third week of November right before fall break, right as the temperature dropped enough to make the air bite.
The school parking lot was full of bare trees and crunching leaves. The hallways smelled faintly of paste and pencil shavings. Construction paper turkeys decorated the doors, the kind where kids traced their hands for feathers. A bulletin board read Thankful for Our Class Family in crooked letters.
Trevor waited outside Room 107, hands shoved into his coat pockets. He could hear laughter inside, a soft, genuine sound that carried warmth even through the door.
Then it opened, and Aniyah stood there as a couple left hand in hand.
The light from the hallway caught in her hair, deep auburn curls that brushed her shoulders and framed her face.
She wore a fitted turtleneck, slate gray, tucked into wide-leg trousers that looked effortless but intentional.
A thin gold chain rested at her throat. Simple pearl studs. Calm poise in every movement.
“Mr. Porter,” she said, smiling. “Come on in.”
Her voice had a steadiness he hadn’t realized he needed until he heard it.
He followed her inside. The classroom felt lived-in, walls lined with watercolor self-portraits, bookshelves packed with paperbacks and plants. The windows fogged faintly from the difference between the cold outside and the hum of warmth within.
They sat at the small table by the reading nook. She opened a folder with Zara’s name written neatly across the top.
“First, the good news,” she began. “Zara is kind. She helps her classmates without being asked. She’s reading above grade level. She loves and excels at mathematics. She even volunteers to read during circle time, and the other kids listen when she does.”
Trevor felt his shoulders ease, the tightness he’d been carrying softening a little. “That sounds like her,” he said, voice low.
Aniyah smiled while her eyes lit up. “She’s a joy to have here. Truly.”
Then her tone gentled. “I have noticed she’s quieter lately. More reserved than when school first started. She still participates, but she prefers the quiet corner more often and she‘s not as lively in class. It’s not cause for alarm, but I wanted you to know I see it.”
The words opened something in him. He hadn’t realized how much he’d been waiting for someone else to notice, to confirm that it wasn’t just in his head.
He exhaled, long and unsteady. “Her mom… left,” he said finally.
“She filed for divorce last month and—” he hesitated, looking for language that didn’t hurt as much.
“She decided she didn’t want to be involved in Zara’s life anymore.
It’s only been two weeks, but it feels like Zara is holding on by a thread and I hated having to tell her that mommy moved away and won’t be coming back. ”
Aniyah’s expression softened as she took in Trevor’s stricken expression.
She didn’t interrupt. She didn’t try to fill the silence with noise.
She let it breathe until he could keep going.
He knew he had word vomit at the moment ,but it was the way Aniyah looked at him with concern, not pity, that made him feel like it was safe to share.
He told her what he could, what had happened and why Zara was more reserved.
He spilled the details about the hearing and Katelyn signing away her rights.
He told her about Zara sleeping on the couch some nights because she was still hopeful for her mom to come home.
About how Zara had started asking to stay home instead of going to her classmate's birthday party because she missed mommy. He didn’t vilify Katelyn’s choices because he didn’t need to.
The facts were heavy enough on their own and painted her in the cruelest light.
When he finally stopped talking, Aniyah reached for a glass of water and took a small sip. Grounding herself before speaking because rage overtook her and she wanted to be careful when speaking on a student’s mother.
“I’m so angry for her,” she said softly. “And…I’m proud of you.”
He blinked. “Proud of me? For what?”
“For showing up and remaining Zara’s foundation,” she said simply.
“For giving her steadiness when her entire world has tilted with Katelyn‘s sudden departure. For not making her your reason to break. You two have been together since we were kids, I can’t imagine how that feels. Yet, you show up every day and not missing a beat when I know it’s hard.
That takes guts, Trev. Give yourself grace for breaking down. ”
Her words landed slow and deep. He felt something in his chest unclench.
Aniyah reached across the table and placed her hand over his.
It wasn’t dramatic, just warm, steady contact.
Human contact, something he tried to act like he didn’t need, but he craved.
For all his bravado, Trevor was a teddy bear when it came to love, he loved to love on his woman.
..something he hadn’t done in years. It’s the reason he had been back to see Sapphire three more times since their first encounter.
A habit he would need to break soon because they were both becoming attached to a routine that could not last. Feeling Aniyah’s hand against him made him feel vulnerable.
Tears that refused to fall pooled in his eyes.
“You’re doing an excellent job, Trevor.”
He closed his eyes for a moment, letting the words settle in the space that had been empty for weeks. When he looked up again, she was still watching him, not with pity, but with respect. Maybe even admiration.
“Thank you,” he said quietly. His voice sounded different in the room, softer, truer. “You don’t know how much I needed to hear that. I know we got off on the wrong foot all those years ago. But you’re not so bad.” That last remark made them both laugh.
“I was never bad. That was always you trying to be a smart ass just because you’re fine.” Aniyah said without thinking.
“Oh you think I’m fine?” Trevor’s voice deepened at the weight of Aniyah’s admission.
“I wasn’t-“
“Nah, baby. It's too late now. You admitted it. For the record—you—Ms. Henderson, are fine as hell .”
“You were literally just lamenting about your divorce, now you’re in here being fresh?”
“Duality. Two things can be true at the same time.” Trevor’s voice gave finality to the incoming excuses.
Their hands lingered longer than necessary, neither of them rushing to move. When they did finally pull back, it was with the same small, nervous smile that acknowledged what had passed between them without naming it.
Aniyah cleared her throat, opening the next folder. She was sure her face was red and the way Trevor’s eyes watched every move she made? Her panties were good and finished.