“Good girl. Now, was that hard?”
“Shut up.”
After we came to an understanding, we cleaned up the kitchen and decided to watch a movie. This time, it was my choice, and I choseAbove the Rim.
“I love this movie. I haven’t watched this in years,” Malyah said.
“Let me guess. You’re a Tupac fan.”
“Duh. That’s a given, but he ain’t the only eye candy in this movie. Leon was in his prime. Start the movie.”
“Don’t let me find out you have a thing for old men because Leon is old enough to be your daddy, and Tupac would be, too, if he were still alive.”
She shrugged and said, “Mind your business and start the movie.”
I looked at her for a moment and could feel a frown forming.
“Am I gonna have to listen to you talking about how fine they are the whole movie?”
“Maybe. Start the movie.”
She was already seated in the middle of my U-shaped sectional with a blanket covering her legs. I was surprised and pleased that she didn’t move to the other end of the couch when I sat beside her. A few minutes later, the movie began, and we were locked in.
Every time they showed Tupac or Leon, Malyah shook her head and said, “Umph, umph, umph.”
“Is all that necessary every time they’re on the screen?” I asked.
“No, but that nineties’ fine hits different. If I were grown in the nineties, a time would’ve been had.”
“Oh, really? How so?”
She pondered my question for a moment before saying, “Let’s just say my body count would be much higher than it is now.”
I leaned back and looked at her.
“I guess you would’ve been for the streets, huh.”
“Most definitely. The men of today are built different, from their looks to their personality to their work ethic to how they treat women. It’s a zero out of ten for me, and I don’t recommend.”
I chuckled as I paused the movie.
“You’re letting a few bad apples taint your view on all men. That’s not fair.”
“I know all men aren’t assholes, and honestly, I’ve only had a few serious relationships, and none of them lasted more than six months, so my experience isn’t vast.”
“If that’s the case, why would you give us a zero out of ten?”
“That rating is based on my experience, but I guess I have no room to talk. My life has been a mess for a while, and I haven’thad much to offer, so I shouldn’t have expected them to have much either.”
“You have a lot to offer, and I wish you wouldn’t say that.”
She didn’t respond right away, but when she did, she said, “You’re right. I do have a lot to offer, but my luck isn’t the best. I don’t want you to think I have low self-esteem or anything, because I don’t. I’m smart as hell, I look good as fuck, and when I get my shit together, I’ll be unstoppable.”
I agreed with everything she’d said and could add several more things to that list. Malyah was going through tough times, but she was definitely a diamond in the rough and a beautiful rose that grew from concrete.
“Yeah, you’ll be unstoppable.”
I restarted the movie, and about forty-five minutes later, Malyah’s head fell on my shoulder, as she had fallen asleep. By the time the movie ended, she was in a deep sleep, with one of her arms wrapped around my waist.
