“You want sup’m else?”
I bite my lip. “Yeah… plantains again.”
He cocks his head, eyes narrowing slightly, that smirk back on his lips like he’s reading my body, not my words.
“Yah crave it?”
My breath hitches at the way he says it. Low. Thick. Intentional.
I nod. His fingers drag along the edge of the sheet, slow and deliberate, and my breath stumbles in my throat. The look in his eyes? He already knows he’s the reason my thighs won’t stay still.
“Yes,” I answer, settling into the warmth of his attention.
“That alone nuh enough enuh, mami,” Nickoi says, his voice gentle but firm.
“I know…” I glance away, “but that’s what I want.”
He doesn’t say anything. Just sighs, deep and quiet and gets up from the bed. I watch him go, his presence still lingering even after he disappears through the door. I fried eggs this morning, but the moment they hit the plate, I lost my appetite. That’s why I just had plantains. My comfort food.
And look how much I love eggs, too.
I scroll through reels, letting the random clips numb my thoughts. After a while, the screen feels like noise. I slide off the bed and pull on a robe, loosely tying the string around my waist. Just as I tighten the knot, Nickoi walks back in. With a plate in his hand.
“Awww,” I smile instinctively, a flutter blooming in my chest.
He hands it to me and I kiss his lips. “Thanks, babe.”
Plantains. Frozen grapes. He paid attention.Whew. Chro mon.
My chest warms. I sit and eat in slow gratitude. His phone rings. He answers and walks off. When I’m done, I pick up my plate and walk into the living room. That’s when I hear the sound of water running from the kitchen.
My brows pinch. I follow the sound and pause in the doorway.
A dark-skinned woman, maybe in her thirties, is at the counter, spraying Lysol and wiping down the surface with practiced care. The scent of disinfectant fills the air.
She turns to me with a soft, polite smile. “Hi, Zara,” she says like she’s said it a dozen times before.
I blink. She knows my name?
“Just put the plate down, I’ll wash it,” she says sweetly, her hand already reaching for the sink.
“Good morning,” I offer, still surprised. “And… thank you.”
She nods with a reassuring smile and keeps cleaning. My brain scrambles to catch up. She’s a helper. Like… a real helper.
Why Nickoi have a helper?
Yuh nuh pregnant? Cho him nuh wah you a do too much,my subconscious spats.
A who and har?
“I’m not new, enuh,” she says while wiping the counter. “Mi come whenever him call. And him always pay me, even when mi nuh come. So mi try mi best fi always show up for him.”
“Ohh,” I nod, taking it all in. That sounds like Nickoi. Always taking care of people without saying a word.
“You usually clean?”
“Yes. But him say yuh pregnant now and him want mi come early morning fi help out… so when mi done, mi just leave.”
