He looked up at me and smiled with the prettiest white teeth.
Damn and his teeth clean and straight.
“I’ll put both of our numbers on the paperwork. We both take care of them despite what Lonni told you.”
“I haven’t mentioned anything about your big head ass. Ms. Cole here is going to be worth every dime,” Lonni told him.
“I hope so. You’re not cheap.” He handed me the papers with his signature.
“I’ll call for the next appointment. On my next visit, I’ll have activities for them both to do. Dream seems to be a little more behind than Reign is. When I’m done, they’ll be up to speed, but it will take some effort from you guys as well.”
“You tell us what we need to do, and we’ll do it,” Lonni stated.
“Thank you. I’ll give you a call this evening once I get my schedule in front of me.”
I worked three more cases before I went home to do the rest of my work, which required me to put notes in and go over my schedule for the rest of the week. Wesley told me I needed to clear my schedule for a few days to clear my head, but I wasn’t in the mood. I just wanted to work to take my mind off things going on in my life. After a few hours, I closed my laptop when my phone pinged.
Kil: Are you free to talk?
I rolled my eyes and went to take a shower. To me, there was nothing else to talk about. The house was so empty without him here. I would usually be cooking dinner and he would be in his office on the phone. Life could change at the blink of an eye. Did I miss my husband? Of course, I did, but I was not about to let him think what he did was okay. A fuck up is sleeping with a person one time. He was comfortable enough to sleep with her without protection. Nothing he could do would make me trust him again.
As I dried off, I applied my skincare and wrapped my hair as Casi’s face popped up on my phone.
“Hey girl,” I said.
“I was just calling to check up on you.”
“Just got out of the shower.”
“Tati, for real. How are you? I know we joke and play all the time because that’s how we deal with our trauma. Let’s put all that to the side and talk to me.”
Neither of us were the weak friend. We were always strong. This was the first time that I felt like I wanted to cry. As I looked at myself in the mirror, the big diamond ring sitting on my finger reminded me that I needed to stop faking like I was okay.
“I’m scared, Casi. I loved him so much and this is what he does to me. I’m hurt and I’m trying to push through and not think about it.”
“You do know it’s okay to be hurt. You’ve given him so much of yourself. Do you want me to come over or you come over here, and we have a girls’ night?”
“No, I’m fine. We can meet up for lunch tomorrow. I need a drink and a good laugh.”
“Now you know I got you on that. Lunch is on me. I’ll text you later. Love you, girl.”
“Love you too,” I said as we ended the call.
When I was stressed, I did what I loved first, but I couldn’t do it as a full-time job. I changed my clothes and headed to the studio that was not far from my house. Once inside, I stripped out of my first layer of clothes until I was only in my lingerie. Taking my rag, I wiped the pole down before connecting my phone to the speakers. The soft voice of Usher crooned through the speakers as I sashayed around the pole.
Since I was a little girl, I’ve always been fascinated with music and dance. I opened this studio two years ago and was too afraid to open it up to the public. Fear was something that stopped me from living my dream. The vision I had for this place was so big, but I didn’t want to hear my dad’s mouth about the money that was paid for me to go to school. When work stressedme out, this is where I would come and lie and tell my husband I was in Pilates.
By the time I was through getting all my frustrations out, I was sweating and breathing hard. The tears stung my eyes as the warmth ran down my face. Men never gave a fuck how anything affected us. Yet we always made sure to nurture a man and stroke his ego even when he was wrong. Just like any other heartbreak, I wiped my tears and held my head up.
THREE
JAHMIR GRANT
It was early. A bit too early, but from the movement in my bed, I knew my niece and nephew were ready to terrorize the fuck out of me. Nothing in this world was more important to me than family. After losing one of my sisters to suicide, I vowed that I would be as present as possible in my family’s life. She left me and my baby sister, Lonni, her children, and that’s how we remembered her. They were the light of my life because they looked just like her. She was the oldest, I was in the middle, and my sister Lonni was the baby. Whenever I wanted to be close to them, I stayed at my other house I shared with my sister.
“Jah,” my nephew jumped on my back. Because they had a hard time with their speech, I taught them to call me Jah. Because uncle was a little too hard for them to get out.
“Yes, Dream?”
