Lizette inclined her head toward the passage on the left.“First door on the right.”
“Thanks.”
He did his business in a tight space clearly meant for visitors, then washed his hands and face and dabbed them dry with facial tissue.In the mirror, his shoulders rose and fell while he rubbed his beard and avoided his gaze.He had no business in the Winters’ house and had to deal with that pressing issue.
One thing at a time.
Lizette wasn’t in the living room, but he heard her sneakers in the distance.He sat to wait until she finished whatever she was doing, and pulled out his phone when it buzzed.
Now what?Only one person, make that two, would be texting him at this hour of the morning: Christy or his mother.The message was from his ex-partner, the mother of his daughter.
Can you watch Natanya on Saturday?
Shomari massaged his forehead, counted to five, then typed,How am I supposed to keep her when I don’t have a place to stay?
Her response came in an instant.I’m sure you won’t have to sleep on the street.
Yeah, no thanks to you, he thought.
Why can’t you stay with her?What about your mother?
He watched the three dots on the screen until her response appeared.She and Ingrid will be out of town for the weekend.
Ingrid was Christy’s sister.
The back of his neck tightened in sync with his chest as he typed,I can’t commit.
Her response was quick.This is your daughter.
“I’m well aware of that,” he grumbled while sending another message.
So, you’ll pick her up on Saturday morning?
As if she were a package.Wanting to use words that would make a sailor cringe, Shomari stabbed the screen as he typed,I’ll see what I can do.
The cable knit sweater he wore shot his temperature into the stratosphere, and he wanted to drag it over his head, but couldn’t.Not with Lizette still in the house.A reluctant smile pulled at his lips as he pictured her reaction to finding him half-naked in the living room.His amusement faded, and he rose to pace in front of the sofa, then checked the phone when it pinged.
You have to do better than that.
Christy’s tone grated on his nerves, and he shot off another message.What would u have done if I weren’t on the island?
Mere seconds passed before she texted back.That’s none of ur business.
This was what irritated him.Always.Their inability to communicate without insults being thrown on either side.Everything had been good until he discovered she’d been playing him, and his world collapsed.
Lizette’s footsteps slowed his movements, and he sank onto the nearest sofa, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Is something wrong?”she asked, stopping a foot away.
“Nothing you can help with, thanks.”
He noticed she’d lost the umbrella, which he counted as a good thing in what was turning out to be another crappy day.
One of her eyebrows arched higher, but she said nothing.
He wanted to apologize for his terse words, but didn’t have it in him to make nice when his life was in disarray.Nothing he was going through had anything to do with her.Christy, though, could make him lose his cool without trying.Aside from this caper with Natanya, she was the reason he didn’t have a place to lay his head.That, he’d deal with later.For now, he needed rest.
Afterward, he’d figure out how to navigate coming home to Kingston, Jamaica, with no housing or money to his name, other than what was in his current account and what he’d invested.Those funds were locked in, and he’d lose big time if he cashed in on them.
