Chapter 18
Ahmad
What I didn’t expect was to pull up to my house and see Kylie’s triflin’ ass on my porch waiting for me. I hadn’t seen her in months and I was hoping it would stay like that.
A sea of different emotions hit me as soon as my eyes landed on her. Mostly negative ones. Nothing would ever come of me and her again, so I wasn’t sure why she had shown up at my house.
“Ex fiancée,” I corrected her. I glanced down at Fatima and she looked lost.
“This is her? The girl that hurt you?” Fatima asked lowly.
I pulled on my bottom lip with my teeth and nodded. Slowly running my tongue over my top teeth, I frowned at Kylie. She looked the same, still pretty as hell, but I knew behind that pretty face was a grimy ass female.
I stepped closer to Fatima and wrapped my arm around her shoulders, pulling her to my side. Her body was tense, and I knew this situation probably wasn’t sitting well with her.
“Nah, me and my girl got plans.”
Kylie looked down at Fatima with her nose turned up. “After all we been through you can’t have a conversation with me?”
“All conversing ended with us after I walked in on you with another nigga.” Kylie’s cheeks instantly turned red.
“It was a mistake. You were so busy with your shop that I got lonely and found comfort in someone else.”
“So, the fact that you were lonely made you step out and fuck another nigga in our bed? In my damn house? Kylie, go tell that shit to someone else. I wasn’t perfect, but I was a good ass nigga to you.”
“I know that now. I should have been more open with you and told you how I was feeling. I was wrong and I regret stepping out on you. I still love you though, Ahmad. I want us to try to fix this.”
I quietly took Kylie in as she stared at me with sad eyes. Those same light brown eyes that would normally have me eating out the palm of her hands. I could see the regret on Kylie’s face. She looked defeated.
I unwrapped my arm from around Fatima. She was staring at me with concerned eyes. Her eyebrows bunched together, and her mouth was tightly pressed in a straight line. She had crossed her arms over her chest and shifted her weight to one side of her body.
I ran my hand down my face and turned my attention back to Kylie. She stepped off the porch and walked closer to us.
All the anger I had tucked away slowly started to resurface. Images of her and the nigga she cheated with flashed in my mind. Me snatching the engagement ring I bought her off her finger.
“You fucked up anything me and you could have when you had another nigga in my house, fucking him in my bed. I don’t want shit to do with you.
I’m good where I’m at with my girl. Don’t pop back up at my shit, don’t call me anymore, and leave my family alone.
Forget you ever met a nigga. It’s disrespectful to my girl for you to be here speaking this bullshit anyway. Now take yo ass on. We got plans.”
I grabbed Fatima’s bag off her shoulder and led her toward my house. Kylie stood there staring at me in disbelief, but I didn’t give a shit.
Brushing past her, I pulled Fatima into the house. Fatima didn’t say anything when we got inside the house. I let her hand go and walked to my room in deep thought.
I put Fatima’s bag down near my bed then sat down and rested my head in my hands. I was just now getting over the shit with Kylie, but she decided to pop up and bring old feelings back. I wasn’t trying to act like a bitch, but Kylie really did a number on a nigga.
The good and bad times with Kylie played over in my head, then I thought about what she said about cheating.
I was just getting my shop off the ground then, but I didn’t think I was neglecting her enough for her to step out on me.
Kylie could’ve asked me for anything, and I would have made it happen, so her feeling lonely was some bullshit.
I never made it hard for her to come talk to me.
“If you want to reschedule, we can, and I can head home.” I removed my head from my hands and looked at Fatima. She was leaning against my bedroom door with her arms still crossed. Her face was neutral, but I could hear it in her voice that she was bothered.
Fatima was already having a hard time trusting that I could do her right. I didn’t want her to think that Kylie popping up would change anything. I honestly didn’t expect Kylie to show up here. Nothing about our ending indicated that I could ever welcome her back into my life.
Standing up, I walked over to Fatima. “We had plans and we’re going to go through with them.”
She licked her lips and stood up straight. “You look like you have a lot on your mind. I can only imagine what’s going through it. I don’t mind a rain check.”
Reaching out, I grabbed her arms and pulled on them. Moving my hands to hers, I held them tightly and pulled her closer to me.
“We had dinner plans and that’s not going to change because an unwanted guest appeared.”
I could see the uncertainty in her eyes, but I bent down and kissed her to try and put her mind at rest. I didn’t want me and Fatima to take any steps backwards after how far we’d come.
When it came to me and Fatima, a nigga was trying to be all in, so Kylie coming back wasn’t about to put any stops to that.
____
Our date was not going how I expected. She had been quiet for the most part, only speaking if she was spoken to. She kept her eyes on her plate, moving her food around with her fork.
When we finally went to leave my house, Kylie was gone, thank God. I hoped the words I spoke to her stuck because I meant them.
Although I made it clear I wanted nothing to do with Kylie, Fatima was still in her feelings and seemed distant.
“Maybe we should have rescheduled tonight,” I finally said, getting fed up with the tension between us.
Fatima slowly glanced up at me. I had to smile because she looked really good tonight.
She had on a mid-thigh, coral dress that hugged her body.
She didn’t really wear makeup, but I could tell she put some on tonight, and even though she didn’t need it, it looked nice on her.
Fatima was just naturally a good-looking girl and never had to do much to get a reaction out of me.
Everything about her was attractive to me.
“I said that,” she shrugged.
I licked my lips and shook my head. “It’s obvious you feel some type of way about Kylie showing back up, so let me know what’s on your mind.”
She stared at me for a moment before speaking. “What happened with y’all?”
I sighed and sat back in my chair. The day I caught Kylie cheating was one that played over many times. I thought about it so much when it first happened that it drove me crazy for real.
“I was supposed to be working late at the shop one night finishing up a piece I had been working a few sessions on. The guy ended up canceling last minute so I was able to call it a night earlier than expected. I called Kylie to let her know because I wanted us to go see a movie or something since I had free time, and we hadn’t spent a lot together that week.
” I stopped and bit down on my bottom lip.
Just talking about it was like ripping the band-aid off an almost healed wound.
“Long story short, she didn’t answer. I got home and when I walked upstairs, I found her in bed with another nigga.”
Fatima’s face dropped and she gave me a sympathetic look. “What did you do?”
“Beat that nigga’s ass and kicked her triflin’ ass out.
After that, we didn’t have shit else between us to talk about.
She tried to talk to me a few times after that, tried to beg me to take her back, but once she saw I wasn’t budging, she let it go.
Today was the first time I’ve seen her since I snatched the engagement ring off her finger. ”
Fatima swallowed hard and nodded. “Do you miss her at all? That’s a lot to take in, but did seeing her bring back old feelings?”
“Hell yeah, it brought back old feelings. It reminded me how fucking hurt and mad I was the last time I saw her. Reminded me why I stopped trusting females and gave up on this relationship thing. Seeing her brought back a lot of ill feelings that I was trying to move on from.”
“There’s not a small part of you that wants her back?”
I smirked. “Why would I want her back when I got you? I’m happy with you, Fatima, and Kylie coming back isn’t going to change that.
In fact, it didn’t do anything but confirm how much I’m feeling this, feeling you.
I don’t give a damn about Kylie or why she came back.
I closed that part of my life. Now I’m trying to work on something with you, but that’s only if you’re not going to let this affect us. ”
I reached across the table and grabbed one of her hands into mine. “Now can we move past my ex showing up and finish this date on a good note?”
Fatima finally smiled for the first time since we had been here. “Yeah, I shouldn’t have let that get to me anyway.” She shook her head.
“You right, because it’s irrelevant to what we have going on.”
Even though she said she was over the Kylie thing, I could still see something was on Fatima’s mind.
“What’s wrong?”
Her shoulders sunk and her face dropped. She released a deep sigh and balled her hand up under mine.
“My dad called me today.” My eyebrows raised in shock. “I usually ignore his calls, but I was rushing because I was running late and ended up answering. Long story short he wants me to come over and have dinner with him and his new family,” she sighed.
I ran my thumb over the top of her hand, stroking it softly.
“And what did you tell him?”
“I told him I would think about it. I really don’t want to go, but my mom mentioned it would be good for me to let go of my anger toward him. Then he stated my brothers wanted to get to know me. I just…I don’t know how I can be willing to get to know them when they stole my life.”
Fatima had a flat look on her face and her eyes were narrowed. Her orbs were on me, but I could tell her mind was elsewhere. Her lip curled up and she brought the bottom one between her teeth and gnawed on it.
I thought about my words carefully before I spoke. I knew this was a sensitive subject for Fatima, and I didn’t want her to get back in her feelings, but I think she needed to hear this.
“I agree with your mom. Even if you don’t have a relationship with your dad after going to this dinner, I think you should build one with your brothers.
At the end of the day, they’re innocent, just like you.
What your dad did isn’t their fault, so you shouldn’t hold that against them.
Everyone needs closure, and until you get that, you will always have reservations about relationships. ”
She continued chewing on her bottom lip. I thought she was going to chew a hole through it. Her nose slightly flared, and she looked off to the side.
“If their mom would have never gotten pregnant, then my dad wouldn’t have left.”
“You don’t know that, baby. The only person to blame is your dad. He’s the one that left you and your mom; he stepped out on his marriage. Your brothers did nothing but be born. You can’t hold that against them.”
Fatima brought her eyes to meet mine. I could see tears building up in them, but she was trying to hold them back.
“You’re right,” she sighed. “It’s just hard not to hold it against them when he was there for them after abandoning me.”
“So, tell him that. Go to that dinner and let him know how you feel. You’re holding in all this hostility isn’t helping anyone.
It’s hurting you. Your dad was a dumb nigga to miss out on so much of your life but look at everything you did without him.
It was his loss so don’t let what he kept holding you back.
Tell him what’s on your mind then let it all go so you can move on. ”
“I guess you’re right.” She pulled on her curls. “Will you go with me?”
Giving her hand a small squeeze, I flashed a smile her way. “You know I got you.” The tears on her face disappeared and she was back smiling. This time it was a genuine smile.
The waitress returned with the check and the rest of our evening went well without a hitch.
Fatima’s attitude did a complete one-eighty, and now things felt normal.
The way me and her connected still amazed me, but it felt good.
Fatima had me opening up to her in ways I hadn’t done with anyone in a long time.
Yeah, her dad was dumb as hell to miss out on such a great girl.