Page 50 of His Four Leaf Clover

“You said all that to say what?”

“We should have never happened. I should have just followed my heart and we wouldn’t even be here. I’m too real not to say what’s on my mind and move the way I was doing. And, for that, I apologize.”

“First off, ain’t shit about you real. This ain’t never been what you wanted but, instead of you just being honest, you go fuck with your ex behind my back. How real is that?”

“I ain’t bout to sit here and act like I never fucked around before but it was never with Iva until a few days ago.”

“Yeah, ok. No need to keep lying, boo. My sources keep me well informed.”

“Man, fuck your sources. The fuck is you supposed to be that a nigga gotta lie?” Monty was trying to remain calm, but she was pissing him off. He didn’t know who her sources were but he was damn sure gonna figure it out.

“Bye, Damont.” Caprice turned her back and tried to think of anything that would stop the tears that were threatening to fall.

“I can’t take all that shit right now. I’ll be back.”

“You got two weeks before the keys get turned in and maintenance toss it.”

She actually had a little longer but she wasn’t trying to make shit easy on him. She wanted to piss him off just to get a reaction. His calmness hurt more than anything. That was her confirmation that it was really over as if she didn’t already know.

Monty ignored her and started looking through some of his bags. He wanted to take the things that he needed most before anything else. Unbeknownst to her, he wasn’t coming back. He would send Hank and his brothers to handle it for him. As bad as he wanted to spazz out, he had to take his lick. She was hurt, and he was the reason for her pain. He put as many bags in his car that could fit before going back inside to look through a few more.

“Where my design books at?” Monty asked when he walked back to where Caprice was.

“In one of the bags I guess.” She shrugged like she didn’t care.

“I looked through everything and didn’t see them.”

“Maybe they’re at you’re new house,” Caprice smirked.

“Stupid ass bitch,” Monty mumbled angrily.

He went into the spare bedroom and saw that nothing looked out of place. That room had become his since he stopped sleeping with Caprice. The closet was empty and so were the nightstands on the side of the bed. He searched high and low for his books and didn’t see them anywhere. He was just about to leave the room when he saw something sticking out of the trash can in the corner of the room. Monty wanted to wrap his hands around Caprice’s neck when he saw that it was his art books. He quickly thumbed through everything to make sure they weren’t damaged and he was happy that they weren’t. He rushed out of the room, ready to go off about his books being in the trash. Fortunately for her, she was no longer in the spot where he’d left her.

Monty wasn’t even in the mood to argue so that was a good thing. He was about to leave until something caught his attention. Caprice had left her phone sitting on one of the boxes. Monty never cared enough to look through her phone, but something was compelling him to do so now. For some reason, he had a feeling that a few of his questions would be answered if he did.

It only took a second for him to make up his mind. He picked it up and entered her father’s birthday to unlock it. He had to hurry so he went straight to her text messages. Monty knew that he didn’t have much time so he used his phone to take some pictures so that he could read it later. Caprice was in a group chat with some of Clover’s cousins. He saw Clo and Iva’s name in most of them and he couldn’t wait to see what they had been saying. He even saw Diva’s name, but that was nothing new. Seeing Amina’s name jump out at him was a shock though. His sister-in-law was one of the sweetest people that he knew. He couldn’t imagine someone having anything negative to say about her.

Monty went up as far in the thread as he could before deciding to call it quits. He was just in time because he heard the front door open, followed by Caprice’s laughter. More than likely, she was outside talking to one of the neighbors that he never cared to meet.

“You finally leaving,” Caprice sarcastically remarked.

“Shit, I don’t even know why the fuck I ever came,” Monty matched her sarcasm with a chuckle.

Caprice frowned the entire time as she watched him walk to his car and pull away. Him and his entire family had her fucked up if they thought they were gonna silence her. She knew a few secrets and she wasn’t gonna be satisfied until they were all revealed.

“That’s enough spice, Dot. It’s hot enough,” Diva said once she tasted the food that her mother was cooking.

Dot’s oxtail pasta was good enough to be sold and she sometimes did if she was in the mood to cook it. Everybody who came to the bar begged her to make it a regular thing but she didn’t like to cook as much as she used to. She used to serve food seven days a week for years but she stopped a while ago. She sometimes offered catering for private parties but, again, that depended on if she felt like cooking or not. Now, she rented space in the lot next to the bar for whoever wanted to grill and sell plates. A few times, she would let food trucks set up in the area since she was on the second line route. Dot was about her money and she knew how to make a dollar.

“Bitch, I know what I’m doing. Oxtail is a Jamaican dish and it’s supposed to be spicy.”

“I know but you still want people to enjoy it.”

“This is for the family and I’ve never had any complaints. I won’t put no more spice in it though. Poppa won’t eat it if it’s too hot.” Dot’s father loved her cooking. He and her mother were the only reasons why she ever cooked at all. It was her father’s eightieth birthday and they were having a small family gathering to celebrate.

“Hank just came back with the fish and Boobie just put the drinks on ice. What else needs to be done?” Clover asked when she walked into the kitchen. Kardi was on the trampoline that Dot had in her yard for her great-grandkids and she went to bring her some water.

“Put some fish fry in a bowl for me, Clo. I hope Hank got enough fish. Poppa will probably eat that more than anything else.” Dot knew how much her father loved fish. He was old school though, so he didn’t just eat anything. He didn’t do all that frozen and farmed raised mess. His fish had to be fresh, which was why Hank to drive almost an hour way to get it.