“You just fucking cursed at me!” I hollered back.
She paused and put her hand onto her hips. “I don’t have time for this… Gerald, you were my client and that is where this story starts and ends. We can never be anything because we’re too different.”
“Too different… yeah.” I repeated.
She refused to look at me. “You can leave.”
“Zoya, you so fucking stubborn, you know that?”
I watched as she handed Bando a treat and he trotted over toward his dog bed. “You don’t have to deal with it.”
“You right… I don’t have to deal with anything. Iwantto deal with everything that comes with you, Boobie. Yesterday, I fucked up. I let shit get out of control, but wanna know what stopped me?”
“What?” she asked, her arms folded, making sure she remained back from me. My touch would send her into overload, so she had to remain at a distance.
That was cool with me though. I didn’t need her next to me to say how I felt, and what her voice did to me.
“Your voice stopped me from making a mistake last night. I thought about you and leaving you this time. Each time I was locked up, I thought about my family and how I was letting them down again. Not this time, it was you that I was worried about letting down.”
“You promised me that I wouldn’t have to visit you behind bars again… fucking promised me, Gerald.” She slammed her hands onto the granite countertop.
“Stop cursing at me.”
“You promised.” She lowered her voice. “Why the fuck would you do some shit like that? Who knows who recorded what?”
I took a breath and walked closer to her. She backed up against the counter, as I stood over her, taking her chin in my hand so she could stare up into my eyes. “I said I’m sorry. I apologize for putting you in that situation and you got my word that I’d never put you in that situation again… word to Sharon.”
That wasn’t enough for her.
I could tell in her eyes she was used to making things difficult. A man apologizing to her, trying to make it right was all new to her. She was used to the toxic and arguing because it led to makeup sex.
“That’s not fucking good enough.” She shoved away from me, and went to the other side of the counter.
“Then make it enough, Zoya. The fuck you want me to do? Get on the floor and beg for your forgiveness?
She folded her arms like that was what she wanted me to do. I’d do anything for Boobie, but I wasn’t about to beg her forgiveness for a situation she knew nothing about.
“I don’t have to do a damn thing for you, Gerald. I said it’s not enough for me… you’re fucking dismissed.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yes. Leave… need me to spell it out for you.”
I chuckled. “Yo mouth fire, eh?”
“Doesn’t fucking matter what my mouth is… we’re not together. We need to stop whatever we think this shit is just because we have mutual friends. That doesn’t mean we need to be together. I’m dating someone anyway.”
“And your choice of men is so solid… who the fuck is he? The fucking boogie man.”
“He’s not a fucking felon.” she shot back.
“Nah, just a nigga that used you to get to your brother.” I responded, wanting to hurt her just as much as she thought she was hurting me.
Something switched when I saw the hurt in her eyes, and I felt like shit.
“Boob—”
“Get the fuck out my house, Goon!” She raised her voice.
