“Me not talking because I have nothing to say.” She shrugged.
“Get the fuck outta here. You better be fucking when we get in this house, because on my mama this attitude shit is for the birds.” I hopped out of the car and walked around to open her door. Instead of letting her out of the car I barricaded her in the car and buried my face in her neck.
“What is your problem, Avery?”
“Why didn’t you let me beat her ass?” she asked, wrapping her legs around my waist and arms around my neck.
“You feel this? This life in here?” I rested my hand on her stomach between us. “You were pissed in that moment, shit you’re pissed right now and not thinking clearly. You would’ve beat her ass, but then later on thought about that shit and realized just how much it wasn’t worth it. Just how much she wasn’t worth it. She wants your life, and that’s punishment enough for her.”
She didn’t speak back, but I could feel her soft fingertips under my crewneck against my skin. “Yeah, I’m fucking tonight. After I eat, of course.”
I pulled back and just looked at her. “Says the same motherfucker that wouldn’t say shit on the way home every time I asked what you wanted to eat.”
“Well, we did just establish that I was possibly mad because you didn’t let me beat her ass.”
I laughed. This was indeed that shit. When we made it into the house Niema was knocked out on the couch and lil’ man was next to her snoring his ass off.Omiya’s pops dropped him off while we were on our way back this way. That was good, because not only was I ready to lock the house up, but I was ready to lay it down for the night. I could do that semi-peacefully even though I didn’t have a bit of a clue as to what Namari was doing. I couldn’t ask because then I’d see like I didn’t have faith in his abilities. So, I had to let that shit rock.
“What’s on your mind?” Omiya’s voice interrupted the silence that had engulfed us the moment we both got onto the bed.
“This may sound repetitive, but everything.”
“It’s not because I know how you think and most of all how you carry things. Lay some of it down if that’s what you need.”
I chuckled. That if was loaded as fuck and she knew it. “If I need to? I turned over and faced her.
“Yes, if you need. I’m not gonna force you to tell me what’s on your mind, North.”
That statement as well earned a laugh from me. “Force.”
“You know what? I’m going to sleep because constantly repeating certain words from my statements isn’t cute. It’s actually annoying.”
“I mean if you’d come out and say what you wanna say I wouldn’t repeat your words. Just say, baby I wanna crawl in your skin and be all in your thoughts. I won’t think you’re crazy or nothing.”
“I don’t care if you think I’m crazy. It doesn’t move me one way or another. If anything, it excites me because you know not to try me.”
“Try you? Damn. I might just have to do that,” I joked. I liked pressing her buttons.
“Goodnight, North. I don’t have time to be going back and forth with you about nothing.” She went to turn around, but I stopped her.
“The hell you do. We got a lifetime of going back and forth to do it.” I leaned forward and pressed my lips against her forehead while my hand caressed her stomach. “Maybe even a few of them.”
“Oh God.” She sighed dramatically.
“All jokes aside I’m wondering if some shit I did earlier was wise.”
“As far as what?”
“Allowing my brother to go off on his own instead of go?—”
“Do you think he can do what’s necessary by himself?” she asked before I could finish my sentence.
“Of course, I do. He came to me for somewhat of a green light and I gave it to him.”
“So, you don’t regret giving him the okay, but you’re worried.”
“That’s an understatement.”
“I won’t say that worry goes away because it doesn’t. Unlike any other feeling it has the ability to sit with you for as long as you let it. Worry is tricky, it’ll thrust the worst scenarios into your mind and have you somewhere chewing at your fingernails. Worry is a bitch, but if you have faith in the people you worry about it’ll slowly disperse.”
