I stood by the chairs while rainwater dripped off my sleeve, and I kept thinkin’ about Toni in that clinic, tryna breathe through disappointment and relief at the same time.
When the lady handed me the bag, I stared
at it for a second like it was heavier than it was.
Then I left…
By the time I pulled back up to the mansion, it was dark as hell outside, makin’ the trees look like shadows, and the rain made the driveway shine like glass. I parked next to my other whips, grabbed the flowers, the jewelry bag, tucked the pharmacy bag in another box, and walked up to the front door with water runnin’ down my head and shoulders like I ain’t even have sense to wait for the rain to slow down.
Soon as I stepped inside, the air felt warm, and even from downstairs it smelled like Toni bath stuff. It was that sweet, clean smell she always keep around her.
I went upstairs, and when I got to our room, I set the flowers on her side of her bed first, ‘cause I wanted that to be the first thing she seen when she stepped out.
Then I followed that sound of water to the bathroom.
The door was cracked, steam rollin’ out, and when I pushed it open, I saw her.
Toni was in the tub with bubbles sittin’ high, a blunt between her fingers, smoke curlin’ up slow. Her hair was pulled up in a bun, but a few strands had slipped loose and was stickin’ to the side of her face. Her skin looked soft under the bathroom light, and her shoulders was relaxed in a way I hadn’t seen in a minute.
That sight hit me right in the chest.
Toni be fightin’ so hard all day, every day, and then when she finally let herself rest, she look like a whole different woman. She look like she deserved better than stress. She looked like she deserved a man that could keep her calm, not keep her on edge.
She glanced at me, her eyes low, and I saw love in them even before she spoke, and that made me feel worse and better at the same time.
“You been out in that rain?” she asked, her voice a lil’ raspy from the blunt.
“Yeah,” I said, walkin’ in. “I ain’t melt.”
Her mouth twitched like she wanted to laugh but didn’t fully give it to me. “What you got?”
She nodded at the bag in my hand like she already knew I was on somethin’. This damn woman always knew when I was up to somethin’. It was the problem and the blessing.
I grabbed the stool by the vanity and pulled it close to the tub, then sat down. I reached over and put my hand on her face, my thumb rubbin’ her cheek slow, and her eyes got softer.
“You look good,” I told her.
“You say that every time I’m naked,” she muttered.
“And I mean it every time,” I said back, ‘cause I did.
She took a pull off her blunt, then held it away from me like I was about to steal it, and I smirked.
“Relax,” I told her. “I ain’t come in here to argue with you. I came in here to love on you.”
Toni stared at me for a second like she was tryna decide if she believed me, and I ain’t blame her.
I reached in the bag and pulled out the black box first, the jewelry box, and I held it out to her.
“What’s this?” she asked, already suspicious.
“Open it,” I said.
She shifted in the tub, water sloshin’, then took the box and popped it open. Her eyes widened, and that hard look she been wearin’ lately cracked just a lil’.
“‘Lo…” she whispered, like she ain’t even know what to do with a soft moment.
“That’s for you,” I said. “Because you my wife, and you deserve shit that match you.”
