“No, I called him, and he came to kill it for me, otherwise I would have never gone inside again,” she said.
“Okay, Bird,” he said, turning back for his car.
“Hey! Don’t walk away from me all mad. You’re tripping,” she argued, going after him.
He spun on her. “Do you know what the fuck I was doing before I came here? What I had to drop to get to you!” he barked.
Charlie’s brows lifted. “I didn’t ask you to drop shit! So, fuck you and whatever it is you’re so pissed about missing!” she turned to walk into her house, but he grabbed her wrist, pulling her back.
She pushed him and pulled away, but Demi pulled her back. It was like holding onto an iron, but he didn’t let her go.
He gripped her face so tightly that her jaws pushed in and her lips pouted as he stared intensely at her.
“You call me, you understand me?” he asked as he backed her up into her apartment. Bails came running to the front door, barking and tripping them up as they made their way inside. Charlie nodded and he kissed her lips. First-degree burn. His lips tingled a bit. “Call another nigga over here and see don’t I fuck you up.” A second-degree burn as he kissed her again.
“I was trying not to be clingy, babe,” she said, her eyes stinging.
“Be clingy, Bird,” he said, loosening his grip, but now she was tightening hers, around his neck as she gazed up at him. “Cling to me, baby.”
Kiss three. Third-degree burns. He felt it in his body as his kiss took her down to her couch.
“He’s just my friend, Demi,” she said.
“If you want to keep him breathing, stop playing with me, Bird,” Demi said. He was dead serious.
“You can’t possess the wind, Demi. I blow where I want to,” she said. “I have people in my life that were here before you and they’re not going anywhere.”
She was defensive, stern like she wasn’t willing to lose anyone to gain him.
He gave her space, swiping a hand down his goatee as he thought about what she said.
“I don’t want you to cut me off from everything and everybody I love. I just want you to be here too. I don’t want to lose myself in you, babe. I don’t want to be your everything. I don’t want that much pressure from anybody. I just want to be something to you, not everything, not your whole world, just a piece of it,” she explained. Demi was lost on the concept of doing this with her at half-mast. She wanted him to dial it back, turn down the heat a little. Could he? If he was going to half-feel Charlie, he could just keep Lauren. He already half loved her. Charlie was different because she made his whole heart work, she made it race, she made his skin burn. She touched him. “I mean, you have people, right? I would never tell you to get rid of your people for me,” she said.
It was then and there that Demi decided not to leave Lauren. Charlie wouldn’t even stop a random nigga from coming around for him and here he was having sit-downs with the mother of his child for her.
Fuck you doing? Get your head on straight,he thought. He stood, hiking up his pants.
“Yeah, Charlie. You got it. I’ma get out of here so you can call yourpeopleback. Do whatever you want to do,” he said.
“Babe,” she called after him as he stood. Demi was irritated at the innocence in her tone, as if he were asking too much, as if she were confused about why he was leaving. He ignored her and kept it pushing toward the door. “Demi!” He didn’t say another word. He walked out and Charlie let him.
Chapter 12
Lauren Sky sat in the stands with her eyes on the 40-yard line as she watched her son’s team practice their drills. She remembered not too long ago it had been Demi she had cheered on as he ran touchdowns for the University of Michigan. That’s how long they had known one another. College sweethearts. Those days had been amazing. She remembered how good it had felt to be under his arm in the student union as they soaked up those college vibes. They had been so in love then. She was still in love, but Demi, she knew he had fallen out of love a long time ago. She had made the mistake of cheating when they were younger, and he had never quite forgiven her. He said he had. He had even gone on to marry her, but somehow, she knew he had only done so because she had given him a son. Demi was loyal like that. She had given him someone to love for life and a ring had been her reward for that.
Lauren loved her family more than life. They had tried for a long time to expand it, trying for a little girl, doing everything they could to have another baby. They had been through IVF and all, but nothing had worked and as DJ aged, they had grown further and further apart. They didn’t hate one another. She was sure he still loved her, but their life had become one predictable routine. A routine she cherished, but one she could tell was redundant to Demi.
“DJ’s looking good out there!”
She smiled as she watched one of the other mother’s make her way up the bleachers.
“Hey, Alani. Yeah, he’s been working hard. Eazy’s taking to it pretty good,” Lauren said. “He’s such a sweet boy.”
“That’s my baby. I’m surprised he likes football at all. I made him try it just to get him off that game and get him out and interacting with other kids, but he loves it. All he does is toss around a ball all day with his daddy, practicing the playbook,” Alani said, smiling.
Lauren admired the woman before her. Her smile lit up the entire field. She knew a woman in love when she saw one. She used to smile that way with Demi. She could see the difference in their relationships. When Alani and her husband would come to practices and games, they always sat close, cheering their son on and Lauren would notice the little ways they loved on one another. Whether it was a shared pretzel that Alani would feed to her husband or the way he would carry her purse. Sometimes, they would have twin toddlers with them, and they were just the perfect family. When Demi came, he stood at the sideline, cheering DJ on and chopping it up with the coach. He barely acknowledged her until the end when it was time to walk her to her car. Lauren had never compared her relationship to others, but she couldn’t help but admire Black love when it was evasive.
“I’m glad. If he ever needs a friend to practice with, he’s always welcome over at the house,” Lauren said. “You too, I mean, if you ever just want to have a glass of wine...” she paused as Alani looked down at her bulging belly. “After the baby, of course,” Lauren added.
