“Hey, hi,” she stammered, clumsily.
“Sorry about popping up on you, but I was in the area, and I have your bag.”
Baffled, she glanced down and saw a medium-sized, black monogram Louis Vuitton duffel bag, and her mouth gaped open. “You got me a Louis Vuitton to use as my chemo bag?” she asked in awe.
With a passive shrug, Brazil acted as if it was no big deal. “I mean, you can use it for other things like traveling.”
He extended the bag, and she took it from him. “Thank you, Brazil. This was really nice of you. I appreciate it.” Despite not being able to see herself, Giavanna was almost certain that the smile she gave him was one that reached her eyes.
She loved the effort, support, and gifts from all of her friends and family but for some reason, Brazil’s acts were hitting her a little different, and she wasn’t sure why.
“It’s not a problem. How you feeling?”
It was her turn to shrug. “Same ole, but it could be worse. I’m hanging in there.”
“Glad to hear it. I gotta get going, but I hope you enjoy the bag, and let me know when you’re ready to see Unique.”
Just hearing her name made Giavanna’s chest tighten. She missed her so bad it was ridiculous. Nothing in her life was the same, and she hated it. Afraid that her voice would crack if she spoke made Giavanna refrain from doing so. She simply nodded and closed the door after Brazil turned and walked off.
When she turned around, Sheena was at the window peeking out of the blinds. “Baby that man is too motherfucking fine, do you hear me?!”
“I’m sure the neighbors hear you, girl.” Giavanna sat down while trying to ignore the flutters in her belly.
Sheena didn’t speak again until Brazil was in his car and backing out of the driveway. Whirling around, her eyes landed on the bag at Giavanna’s feet.
“That man got you achemobag, and the chemo bag is aLouiebag? Friend is there something you aren’t telling me?”
“No. He says I’m family. I mean, I did take custody of his daughter after Kera died. I’ve never asked him for anything, and I kept Unique out of the goodness of my heart with no ulterior motives. He appreciates that.”
Sheena didn’t speak. She stared at her friend with narrowed eyes until Giavanna widened hers.
“What, crazy?”
“Um that sounds nice, but I’m not buying it. He likes you.”
Waving the comment off, Giavanna shook her head. “I can promise you he doesn’t. I’m not his baby mama, but we’re basically co-parenting. That’s it.”
“Ummmhmmmm.” With pursed lips, Sheena took her seat. “You might be trying to convince yourself, but I’m not buying it. That man is fine as the fuck. Body is out of this world, and he plays professional soccer. He’d be an amazing catch.”
With a frown on her face, Giavanna drew back. “In all of your excitement did you forget that the mother of his child is my cousin?”
When Sheena’s response was a blank stare, Giavanna shook her head. In the rare times that Sheena was quiet, it typically meant, she knew what she was thinking was inappropriate, and she was trying to stop herself from saying it. Her intrusive thoughts always won, and she said the inappropriate thing anyway.
Sure enough, a few seconds later, she spoke. “Gia, friend, Kera isn’t alive anymore.”
With eyes as big as saucers, Giavanna stared at her friend with a slack jaw. “Did you really just say that?”
“What? She’s not.”
“So, if your sister, God forbid, passed away, you’d start messing with her baby daddy?”
“It’s not the same. For one, you and Kera are related by blood, yes, but y’all weren’t even close. For a few years when she started running the streets and living the life, she didn’t even talk to you because you were boring and a ‘Ms. Goody Goody’. She only started coming back around when she realized you had some sense, and she was going down the wrong path.”
“And that still wouldn’t justify me being with her child’s father.”
“They were never in a relationship. He didn’t even know he was Unique’s father, hell he didn’t know about Unique until you told him. That shows you that they weren’t like that at all.”
“Friend, we may as well end this conversation because it’s not happening.”
