“Not every girl is like that, G. You got to move past that. I’m sure Tyla’s not looking to get pregnant or wifed up.”
“I have moved past it. How do you think we’re still able to be friends?”
I gave Raymond a knowing look, and he shook his head. He knew exactly what I was referring to without my needing togo into detail. I already told him multiple times about how he moved, so I continued with what I was saying.
“Besides, anybody I deal with now gotta sign an NDA. I’m not playing games with these hos no more. A nigga’s getting too old to still be fucking with randoms, so it’s a no on Tyla for me.”
“Oh, I know what this is about.”
Raymond started laughing in my face. Raymond was another person I met in the Army and had been my best friend for years, which meant he knew too damn much about me. He probably knew me better than I knew myself.
“What you mean?”
“This is about your long, lost love from high school.” He cracked up laughing like he knew what he was saying was true, even though I didn’t confirm it.
I don’t know how many times I had mentioned Karina over the years, but it was obviously enough for him to remember. Once another man knows your weakness, they rarely let you forget it. That’s exactly what Karina was for me — a weakness.
I scoffed instead of replying because he had hit the nail on the head. I was still salty about how Karina had played me over Thanksgiving. She agreed to hang out but then avoided my ass for the rest of the time I was in town. That was some straight-up bullshit, but that was Karina. She was always too fast for me to catch her.
“Man, whatever.”
“It is, isn’t it?”
“Nah, man.” I shook my head, letting it drop a little. Karina had my head fucked up for years, but being so close to her over Thanksgiving and still not being able to have her in my life was really killing me. “I saw her over the holiday.”
“And you’re just now mentioning this? That’s why you’re bullying that girl for offering you coffee.”
“First of all, her coffee is always nasty, and second, I don’t have to tell you shit.”
Two things could be true. Yes, I was salty about what happened with Karina, and Tyla’s coffee was nasty as fuck. I had been tempted to show her how to make it the way I liked it, but that would be just another reason for her to be in my personal space. I would rather just keep declining the shit.
“So, what happened?”
“What you mean what happened?”
“Kareem, I’m not about to pull this story out of you, man. What happened when you saw her nigga? How did y’all even end up in the same place?”
“I saw her grandmother in the grocery store, and she invited me over for Thanksgiving dinner. It wasn’t something I had planned. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. And how was I supposed to turn down somebody’s grandmother?”
I shrugged because I was really lost as to why Karina wasn’t with it. It wasn’t like I just popped up out of the blue. I was invited.
“A pop up is still a pop up, Reem, even if you use her grandmother as an excuse.”
“Man, Karina wouldn’t even look at me for longer than two seconds, and when I asked her out, she agreed, then stood me up.”
“Can you imagine that? World-renowned ladies’ man Kareem Sheffield was stood up.”
“You’re enjoying this, ain’t you, ol’ hating ass nigga?”
“You damn right I am. Come on, man. It’s just one girl out of the thousands that are on your dick every day. Don’t let this minor setback keep you distracted for too long. We can’t always have what we want, but you, my friend, you have options.”
That was the problem. I didn’t want options. I wanted Karina.
I let the conversation between Ray and me fade into a memory because I knew I wouldn’t like any advice he gave. I tried to focus on the business at hand, but my mind just kept wandering back to her.
Chapter
Three
