“Now, I paid it for two months. I figured you’ll at least have a job by then to pay the rest yourself.” I held my hand up to stop her from moving.
“Before you go, it’s something I gotta tell you.” I wasn’t sure if she knew what Leah was up to when she wasn’t here at home, but she had a right to know. I didn’t want her to walk around here blindsided. I knew too well how that felt when she did it to me.
“What’s wrong?” she replied, sitting back down.
“How much you know about Leah and Derek?” I examined her face carefully.
“Not much. She told me they met a few months ago, since this mess with T.K. happened, I figured what she told me was a lie. Your party was the first time I ever seen that boy,” she clarified, rubbing her hand down her arm. “Why you asked?”
“I ran into him at the restaurant, he told me he met her the day before the party.” Her eyes widened, her hand reaching for the cigarette in the ashtray.
“Hold on, child. I need this here because I just know you finna tell me something crazy.” She pulled a lighter from her pocket, lit it up, and took a long pull. “Go ahead.”
I shook my head, chuckling lightly. “Anyways, he told me he met her the day before and, after the party, her and her boyfriend ambushed him, took all his money.”
“Oh, Lord Jesus,” she sighed, pressing her fingers against her forehead. “It must’ve been that goddamn T.K. I knew his rock head ass was trouble when you brought him here the first time,” she confessed. I wish she would’ve shared that information with me, got me out here dealing with a fuck nigga.
“But that ain’t all of it.” I tapped her leg dramatically. “He said he knew somebody else they did that too.”
Auntie reared her head back, a shocked expression etched on her face.
“Can you try and talk her out of this Auntie? I don’t wanna see her go to jail for this.”
“Talk? Baby, you know that girl is way past the point of talking to. You saw the way she defended that damn boy the other day, he got her head so fucked up. And now that she’s pregnant, I’m sure it’s much worst.” She buried her face inside her hands. “I don’t know how I ain’t see this sooner. When you got sent away, she wasn’t as sad as I thought she’d be either. I should’ve seen the signs then.”
Well, damn! Just hurt my feelings, Auntie.
“It ain’t on you, she made a fool of me too,” I reassured her, rubbing my hands on her back. Just as she opened her mouth to speak, there was a knock on the door.
“You expecting somebody, Baby?” she asked, raising to her feet. I said no, glancing down at the phone. I was too busy looking down at my new phone, I didn’t hear when he came in.
“Baby.” I froze, my heart thumped wildly in my chest. His voice was like a siren drawing me in.
I snapped my head up. “Love?”
He watched me with a smile, his deep dimples on display, and it made my stomach flip. He reached for my hand, and I didn’t hesitate to put my phone down. Pulling me up from the couch, he wrapped his arms around my waist. Throwing mine around his shoulders, I breathed in his cologne. It’s the same one he had on Valentine’s Day. I wanted to know the name of it so I could buy it for myself.
He smelled so damn good. We stayed in this embrace for a few minutes, with him nuzzling my neck.
“When did you get out?” I pulled back to lock eyes with him.
“This morning,” he answered, caressing my cheek with his thumb. “Hey, beautiful.”
I ducked my head shyly. Seeing him in front of me had every emotion I felt that night rushing back. A throat cleared, and weboth turned to the door to see Auntie standing there with a goofy smile on her face.
Oh, hell. I forgot all about her.
“Oh, um- auntie, this is Love.” I introduced her sheepishly. “Love, this is my auntie, Misha.”
He extended his hand for a shake.
“It’s nice to meet you, ma’am,” he said respectfully, and I couldn’t keep my eyes off him.
Auntie noticed, chuckling to herself, before she returned his gesture. “It’s nice to meet you too, honey. Call me Misha.”
He nodded with a smile, then turned back to me. I heard her telling me she was going in her room if we needed anything, but I barely spared her a glance.
“I’m so sorry I couldn’t help you,” I apologized to him the minute she disappeared, my bottom lip trembling.
