“Nope, every time I call, her phone goes to voicemail.”
“Same here. I know you said not to call her, but it’s not like her to not call me at least once a day. I haven’t heard from her in two days. I sure hope she okay.”
I filled my electric kettle with enough water to make a cup of noodles then hit start. There was something about ramen noodles with a seafood boil that hit different and just right.
“Her ass is fine she’s just acting out. I thought about calling Dawn, but Ion want to deal with her ass.”
“Lord, this isn’t like her to just up and disappear though.”
“I noticed that one of her overnight bags is gone, so I know she good and that she planned this lil’ disappearing act she done pulled.”
“Well, just give her some time to get out of her feelings I suppose. She’ll be back. I’m just shocked that she’s that pissed about you coming in late. Like, she hasn’t tripped out like this before what made this time so different?”
“My thoughts exactly. Went rummaging through the clothes I had on that night and all.”
“Speaking of…” I interrupted. “How could you be so careless fool!”
“Man look, I forgot about the damn wrapper to be honest. I didn’t think she would go snooping through my shit.”
“Men can be so slow. Come on now! You gotta do better, Justin. Women are master investigators. If they wanna find some shit out that’s just what they gon’ do. I thought you weresmarter than that. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if she hasn’t smelled your drawers a time or two.”
“Smelled my drawers! What the fuck yo! That’s some nasty shit. Ava told you she smelled my fuckin’ drawers before?”
“Oh no, love, that’s something she probably wouldn’t tell a soul if she’s done it. I’m just saying, you need to be way more careful. No wonder she up and ghosted on yo ass.”
“Well, for what’s it’s worth, she should’ve been more concerned with getting ready for work and not being nosey. I was always told if you go looking for trouble, trouble is just what you gonna find,” he said.
“True, but you’re the ass that’s in trouble, fool, not her.”
“Whatever, Shane. I’m done talking about the shit. All I gotta say is that your bestie is foul for leaving and not at least checking in, but it’s cool. She don’t like that shit happening to her, but she turns around and does the shit to me. But it’s whatever.”
“On another note, I cooked some crab legs and shrimp. I just took it out the oven actually. I’ll save you some if you want. Did you anything today?”
“No, not since this morning. Good looking out. I’m on my way over now.”
“I’ll make you a cup of noodles too. See you when you get here boo.”
Hanging up with Justin, I felt better knowing that Ava had packed her a few pieces of clothes and planned on leaving. For a minute, I was hoping nothing crazy had happened to her. Justin leaving a condom wrapper in his pocket was just plain stupid. If he didn’t start being more careful, I was going to have to either ease up on him a bit before he blew our cover or school him on how to cover his tracks better ‘cause that was some bullshit.
AVA
Four days later
“Good morning, sissy. How you feeling this bright, beautiful morning?” Dawn answered, sounding extra chipper.
“Good morning, sissy! I actually feel a whole lot better than I did yesterday. Way more refreshed and well rested thankfully. How bout you?”
“I’m good. I’m actually on time and not running late can you believe it!” She giggled. “You still planning on going back home today?”
“Yeah, I think I’ve taken enough days to myself to think things through.”
“So, do you know what you gone do about that cheating ass nigga?”
“Well dang, sis, how you really feel!”
“Trust me, you don’t wanna know the answer to that,” Dawn emphasized sarcastically.
“You probably right.” I giggled. “To be honest, I know what my gut is telling me to do, but I haven’t made any final decisions yet.”
