He chuckled. “A nigga can’t get more details? You know I looked for you?”
“You did?” Her arched brows rose. He wanted to lean over and kiss the freckles scattered across her nose.
“Course I did. You ain’t look for me?” he asked as he reached out and pinched her chin playfully.
She grinned and swatted him away. “Honestly? No. My father pretty much had me under lock and key up until a year ago. He would mirror my phone and all kinds of shit. Believe it or not, he got more paranoid the older he got.”
She snorted, and her eyes found the ceiling before landing back on him again.
“Damn, it was like that?” Boogie shook his head. He’d heard stories about Vernon Bishop, but it was always street shit. The man was a tyrant, and by the sounds of it and from what he could remember from junior high, that overflowed into his family dynamic too. That was unfortunate. It made his heart ache for Sweetie because he knew what it was like to have a good and supportive family. It didn’t seem like she did, and she deserved that more than anyone he knew.
“You don’t know the half,” she mumbled.
“What happened?”
“What you mean?”
“You said he was like that up until a year ago. What happened?”
“I left.” She shrugged.
“You left? Just like that?”
Sweetie nodded. “With nothing but a suitcase. I was down pretty bad for a while. Honestly, I still am, but shit has gotten better. At least I actually have things to my name.”
She nodded toward the corner of the sitting area where a couple of suitcases sat. Boogie clenched his jaw.
“Yo, ya pops really cut you off because youleft?” He couldn’t fathom that.
“Yeah. I stayed for so long because even though I was uncomfortable with all the control, I was taken care of. I lived inluxury, but it all became too much, and one day, I just decided to leave.”
He thought she was strong for that, for real. He couldn’t imagine being in that situation. His lips quirked up just a bit. “So you started doin’ what you love to make a little money?”
He wanted to change the subject slightly because thinking about Vernon at the moment had him wound tight. He wanted to let off some steam, but that meant blood would be spilled, which would require him to leave that room. The only thing he wanted more than spilling blood was to be up under Sweetie.
Her heart-shaped lips formed a smile. “I did. My dad tried to box me out of that, too, but I’m relentless. When he found out his daughter was stripping, he paid off all major strip clubs to keep me out of them. That’s why I work at The Honey Pot.”
“You too good for that place.”
“I know, but it’s all I got at the moment.”
Boogie nodded in understanding, though he wanted to say so much more. He wanted to tell her to quit stripping and that he would take care of her, but that would come in due time.
“I always wondered if you kept dancing.”
Her eyes lit up. “For a long time, it was the only way I felt close to you still.”
“Crazy. I wanted to give up dancing after you left school.”
“What? Why?”
He chuckled at her widened eyes. “Because I couldn’t share it with you no more.”
“Did you stop?”
“Nah. Mama wouldn’t let me. I think she noticed I was sinking into some kind of depression or some shit. She started forcing me to dance anytime I had a frown on my face, which, of course, always made me smile. Don’t worry. I still got it.”
“That’s a good mama,” Sweetie uttered as she looked down at her lap.
