Coast stepped toward the arched entry into the living room and leaned against it. With her arms tucked across her chest, she glanced at the ground. Mozzi and Lin rubbed her wrong. She didn’t like how he engaged with her, and if she could still rattle him like that, what the fuck was he doing with her? She didn’t know what she was doing anymore as she swiped her fingers across her forehead.
“I hadn’t planned on it. I’m just tired.”
“Well, what’s going on with you and Mozzi? Haven’t you been staying with him since the tournament?” Bee sat up under her throw on the couch where she’d been sipping tea and watchingcrime shows while doing a crossword puzzle. She’d put her bonnet on her head and everything.
“That’s not going to work out.” Coast shook her head. “I don’t know why I thought it would. What the hell am I even doing? I’m working my ass off and not really making anything, my Jeep is on its last life, and I don’t have my own place. How can I bring a baby into this?”
“You just do. There’s no way to prepare for something like that.”
“Maybe I shouldn’t prepare at all,” Coast mumbled. “I’m going to shower. Goodnight.”
Bee watched after her with empathetic eyes. She knew this was something that Coast would have to genuinely figure out on her own. It couldn’t be her decision. She could be there and allow her to vent, but the choice in the end was ultimately hers.
Mozzi had called her several times from his phone, so she blocked him, but he started to call her from other numbers, so eventually, she put her phone on DND while showering.
She had her first doctor’s appointment in the morning, and was nervous as hell, but she couldn’t avoid it forever. For hours, she tossed and turned, hating that she couldn’t sleep because lately she’d been up under him when it was time to drift off. After about an hour, she was able to doze, but she couldn’t block Mozzi if she tried. He was embedded in her. She didn’t know how or why, but that man possessed some type of dopamine that had her rethinking life.
The next morning, her alarm went off at 8:30 a.m. Her doctor’s appointment was at 9:45, and she wanted to be early to fill out any paperwork that might be needed. Once she showered, brushed, flossed, and got dressed, she ended up downstairs in Bee’s kitchen, looking for something to eat. She hadn’t been able to keep much down yesterday, but she woke up starving.
“There’s pancakes in the microwave,” Bee said from behind her.
“Thanks.”
“Where are you heading?” Her aunt paused at the kitchen table, poised and confident in a pair of ivory pleated high waisted pants, a black off the shoulder top tucked into them, and a pair of open toe wedge sandals.
“To the doctor.” Coast grabbed her plate from the microwave.
She rolled some scrambled eggs, a piece of sausage, and a slice of bacon into a pancake so she could take it to go.
“Oh, well, that’s good. Do you plan on coming back here tonight?”
“More than likely. I have a shift at Eclipse from six to nine.” She took a bite of her pancake and strolled past Bee.
“Listen, I know we kind of got off on the wrong foot,” Bee began, “But I’m here if you need anything, Coast. If you want to talk, vent, whatever.”
“Thanks, Bee,” Coast replied quietly. “I realize I haven’t been too open to a relationship with you. I honestly don’t even know what that looks like. I blame my parents.”
“It looks however we want it to, chile.” Bee simpered. “You’re family and whatever you decide, I’m here for that baby too. I just want you to make the best choice for you.”
Coast let herself out and hopped into her Jeep. The clinic for her doctor’s appointment was about ten minutes across town, and she arrived fifteen minutes early. Seated in Dr. Orbin’s private practice waiting room, Coast nervously tapped her fingers on the arm of her chair as her leg bounced crossed over the other. When the front door opened, she thought her eyes were deceiving her. In joggers, a white tee, and a Celine hoodie over his head, Mozzi skimmed the waiting room before his eyes landed on her. He moved toward her, catching the eye ofa few women, and Coast studied him as he stepped past her and dropped into the empty chair beside her.
“What are you doing here?”
She could tell from his hooded eyes and the faint weed smell that he was blazed.
“How did you even know where to find me?”
“Don’t insult me.” Mozzi reached into his pocket for the rolled up McDonald’s bag. He’d stopped to grab a sausage biscuit and hash browns on the way. “You trying to hide from me?” he asked, unwrapping the sandwich and bringing it to his lips for a bite before he slid the bag into her lap so she could have one of the hashbrowns.
“You got a lot going on,” she responded, averting her attention to the other patients in the waiting room. “I didn’t think you would notice or care that I was gone.”
“Get the fuck outta here.” Mozzi bit into his sandwich again. “You blocked me.”
“This is my doctor’s appointment. I don’t need you showing up?”
“I ain’t going nowhere. Save your fucking breath,” he grumbled, sighing after swallowing as a nurse stepped out from behind a door down the hall.
“Ms. Bellamy, the doctor is ready to see you.” The young black woman with box braids told her with a warm smile.
