By the time I made it home, it was well into the morning, and I saw my sister coming out of the barn with a bucket.
“Next time you buy us all a responsibility, tell me first please. G,” she muttered with a slight roll of her eyes.
“Uh yeah, my bad. I was coming to feed her.” My attention was snagged by the piece of mail I had just pulled from the mailbox. It was addressed to me, which wasn’t out of the ordinary, but it was from Boris. Confusion swept my features as I ripped into the envelope, wondering just what the hell he wanted. It wasn’t long before I was staring at a check in the amount of twenty thousand dollars in my name. My mouth went dry as I read the small card behind it.
I think about you every day, G. Here is a little something for all the time I’ve missed.
-B
I rolled my eyes toward the sky before I finally looked at my sister. She was going on and on about something, but I had tuned her out.
“You didn’t hear a word I said, did you?” she asked, hand now on her hip.
“Nope, I didn’t. I was too busy looking at this.” I held the check up for her to see.
“Well, I say it’s about damn time that good for nothing deadbeat did something for my nephew. Shit.” Funny enough, she was now sporting a mug at the thought.
I shook my head and continued toward my stairs. Then I remembered I had the key fob for her car. “Oh, and here.” I moved back toward her, holding it out.
“Wait, hold the hell up.” She snatched the key fob from me then stepped back. She was looking me up and down. “Bitch, where you been?”
“Minding my business,” I tossed over my shoulder, climbing the stairs to my front door. I knew it would be only a matter of time before she followed me into the house, so I didn’t bother closing the door. Instead I moved toward the kitchen, first plugging my phone into the charger. It was dead and had been since last night. I then moved to the coffee machine, getting ready to brew a fresh pot.
“So are you not gonna tell me where you were last night and whose big ass clothes you are wearing? Start talking, Greene.” Before I could even start talking, this fool leaned in and sniffed me. “And you smell like a man. The scent is expensive too.”
“Um… back your crazy ass up, please. And also, what does it matter to you? It’s not like you gave a shit about much of anything after Don walked in the door.”
She sucked her teeth and rolled her eyes. “You know it isn’t like that.”
“Mhmm.” I pursed my lips, turning around to grab a coffee mug.
“Okay maybe it is, but I gave you my car key instead of leaving you stranded. Plus, it isn’t like you called to check on me. Instead you sent a text message telling me I wasn’t shit.”
“Girl, bye. You most likely had a throat full of dick. You weren’t gonna answer the phone.”
Her mouth was wide open before she busted into a loud fit of laughter. “Oh my god.”
“Exactly and you didn’t deny it. Do you want a cup of coffee or not?”
“Yeah, what the heck? A third cup this morning won’t do any more harm than the second. Pour me up, and while you’re at it, tell me why you’re just now getting home and who you were with.”
I cut my eyes between her and the mug tree in the center of my island before I started speaking. “You don’t know him.”
“I don’t know him. I know every nigga from the Pointe almost to the Falls, hoe. Let me in on it.” She peered at me seriously, something flashing in her gaze. “Wait, Jonas’s son? The pro football player who was at Guuds last night.”
Confusion swept my features, because how did she know who he was when she had been long gone by the time Jonas introduced him. Damn, was I the only person unaware that this man was a pro football player? “How did you kn?—”
“He’s Don’s cousin, remember? And plus, even though I didn’t physically tell you I was leaving, I knew who I was leaving you in the company of, especially since from the moment he walked in the door he couldn’t keep his eyes off you. I mean, he literally didn’t even come outside to talk to Don like Duhani. He stayed in there, my guess is gawking at you.” She shrugged.
“Oh.”
“Don’t oh me. Was he at least good? I mean, he must have been for you to be walking in here at ten in the fucking morning, Greene.” I moved to set her cup of coffee in front of her.
I laughed at her enthusiasm. Then I commenced to giving her the rundown of my evening with Hudson. I didn’t tell her all of what we talked about, but enough for her to get the gist of theevening and how we ended up Guuds Ranch. The entire time she smiled and clutched her chest like the true hopeless romantic she was. In her opinion everything I described was either sweet or pure intimacy. My sister saw love in everything, even when to me shit was just basic reaction.
“So, you are going back over there, right? That man is fine and you must see it through. You never know, G, you might’ve met your husband. I’m praying a Christmas miracle over you.”
“See, that’s how I know you need help. Because I literally just met the man and you’re talking about a damn husband. Seek help, serious help.”
