He chuckled as he handed me his empty plate so I could take it back to the kitchen with mine and Saphir’s. I returned to the couch and fell right into his arms. “How much paper did you give Nymir’s grandmother?”
I side eyed him. “We penny pinching now?”
He smacked his lips. “Nah. I just wanna know how soon I’m gone have to shoot her some more bread. Hopefully I won’t get coffee thrown in my face.”
“25.”
“Hopefully it’s enough to get her out of that building.”
I nodded, agreeing with him. I hated that building with everything in me. The conditions were unlivable, and it harbored the worst memories of my life. If so many people wouldn’t have lost affordable housing, I would’ve knocked a wrecking ball through that shit myself. “I used to live there.”
His eyes peered down at me, and I could read the shock that etched his face. “Word?”
“Yeah. When I was younger. We got evicted, and the super threw all our stuff outside in the courtyard. Priest came home before all of us and tried his best to save our good stuff, but the baseheads had already stolen most of it.”
A look of sympathy webbed his eyes, making me cringe. I hated when people pitied me or felt sorry for me. “I’m sorry, Lovey.”
“Ahkeem, don’t feel bad for me. Now I live in a presidential penthouse in Manhattan. I think everything turned out how it was supposed to.”
He glanced over at the other end of the couch and noticed Saphir had fallen asleep after he stuffed his face. “You never spend too much time talking about your childhood, Lovey.”
I laid my head against his chest, allowing his steady heartbeat to fill my ears. “I don’t like reliving that trauma. The less I talk about it, the more I can just act like it never happened.”
“I was the same way when it came to my mother. That shit not healthy. You really gotta allow yourself to feel that shit so you can truly move on from it.”
“I don’t like crying, Ahkeem.”
He shrugged his broad shoulders. “Maybe you need to.”
“I’m okay.”
“Jazzlyn?”
“Yes, baby?”
He secured his arms tighter around me before dropping a kiss on the top of my head. “Who are you trying to be strong for all the time? You know I will never judge you or shame you, right?”
Hearing that made my heart swell. Ahkeem loved every bit of me, even the parts I tried to conceal from him. “Yeah.”
“So, if you need to cry, you do that shit on my shoulder. You need to vent, I’ll listen. If you need to break down, do so. I’ll pick up all the pieces when you’re done. Being strong all the time eventually make you weak, Lovey, and I don’t want that for you.”
I leaned up and pecked his lips a few times. “Thank you, baby. I wanted to tell you something.”
“What’s up?”
I rose up from his chest and straddled his lap. “While I was talking to Nymir’s grandmother, she mentioned the fact that I may or may not have a sister.”
“Any truth behind it?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “That’s the thing, Ahk. I don’t know. Sylvia and Terrence did a lot of wild shit. I wouldn’t put it past Terrence to have another kid.”
“How you know she ain’t your mama’s daughter too?”
I pulled my head back. It wouldn’t have been the first time Sylvia shocked the fuck out of everyone… this time from the grave. “When the fuck would she have the time to get pregnant after me?”
“Maybe she had her between you and PJ, or even after you? You never know.”
“That crazy bitch would be the type to do some shit like that.” I shook my head. “I meet with PJ this week to see if we can get to the bottom of it.”
