“No,” he hissed through his teeth. “Go call that nigga Amani.”
I went quiet after that because what the hell was I supposed to say?
“He doesn’t even have anywhere to stay himself,” I finally said.
“Well, damn,” Marvin replied. “Guess both of y’all fucked then, ’cause you can’t stay here.”
His voice dropped lower after that, slower.
“Now, leave before I decide to do something we both gon’ regret.”
My stomach tightened instantly. Part of me wanted to believe he meant he was going to open the door, pull me inside, and tell me he was just mad and talking shit.
But deep down, I knew better. Marvin wasn’t playing, and the crazy part was, hearing that edge in his voice should’ve scared me more than it did, but instead, it made heat crawl up my spine.
I took a shaky breath before walking toward the front door, my mind racing because I really didn’t know where the hell I was gonna go or how I was even gonna get there.
As soon as I stepped outside, I reached into my pocket and pulled out the phone he told me to leave on the counter.
Unlocking it, I quickly pulled up Sianni’s number and hit call, hoping like hell she’d answer and have some kind of solution before I completely lost myself.
I stood outside the house, wrapping my arms around myself while the phone rang against my ear. As soon as Sianni picked up, I let my voice crack just enough.
“Sianni… girl, you busy?”
I sniffled softly, laying the fake tears on thick. One thing about me: I already knew how to play on people’s emotions when I needed to.
“Nawl,” she replied, but her tone was off. Flat. “What do you want?”
I rolled my eyes at the attitude but kept my voice soft. “I was calling because Marvin put me out.”
“Oh.”
That was it.
Just, “Oh.”
My face twisted up immediately as I pulled the phone away from my ear for a second, staring at it like I had heard her wrong.
This was exactly why I couldn’t stand her ass sometimes. She walked around, acting like she was above everybody, and that shit got under my skin bad.
“What do you mean ‘oh’?” I asked, my brows pulling together. “You’re not going to ask me what happened or nothing?”
On the other end, she let out a quiet breath like I was already exhausting her.
“Alexia…” she started slowly, “what did you do?”
My jaw tightened. There she was. Always assuming I was the problem.
“Why I always gotta be the problem?” I asked, sucking my teeth.
“Because, Alexia, every time you and Marvin get into it, it’s always some shit you did,” Sianni replied. “So, what happened? What did you do?”
I rolled my eyes even though she couldn’t see me. “I ain’t do nothing. I guess the nigga on his period or something.”
I already knew I couldn’t tell her the truth. There was no way in hell I was about to let her know me and Marvin was falling apart because of her. That would ruin everything I had planned for her ass.
“I guess,” she muttered. “But what you want me to do about it?”
