“Nah, keep dancing.”
“Are you being serious right now?” Alicia asked.
“Why you here? Ain’t you supposed to be somewhere putting on for your deadbeat-ass ex?”
“I invited her. I didn’t know you had an issue of this magnitude with her,” Sheena said.
“Maybe you should have asked, sis,” I countered. “I don’t know why she came here anyway. Shorty don’t fuck with me like that.”
“Okay, so, um, I’m going to get a drink—” Rae started, but Alicia cut her off.
“No, you’re not. We’re leaving.”
“Cousin, I love you, but I did not get dressed up to come here for two minutes and leave. Y’all need to sort out whatever is going on between y’all. Um, you,” Rae said, pointing to Cinnamon. “Read the fucking room. Bye.”
Cinnamon hesitated for a minute, but she stood when she saw Raeley taking off her earrings. Cinnamon looked back at me. “Come find me whenever you’re done.” She gave me a light smile, then scurried off.
“I like you,” Sheena said, tittering.
“You can stay then. I’m leaving.” Alicia looked back at me. “You’re fired.”
I laughed. “Oh, now I’m fired because I’m letting you do you while I do me? Ain’t that what you wanted? Boundaries? Time? That boss/employee title?”
“Don’t even go there. I’ve been trying to talk to you, Basil. But you want to be childish and petty and ignore me because you’re in your feelings!”
“You started this shit. Instead of being an adult and talking to me about how you felt, you avoided me. Now, when I give that shit back, you want to be mad.”
“So, yeah, we’re going to go get a drink. Come on, girl,” Sheena said, wrapping her arm around Rae’s and ushering her to the other side of the room to the bar.
Alicia turned to walk away, but I grabbed her arm.
“Don’t touch me!” she yelled, trying to snatch her arm away from me, but I wrapped my other arm around her and pulled her to me.
“Chill out.”
“No. Let me go.”
“Nah. We gon’ talk about this shit.” Although I was still a little heated with her, I knew I didn’t want her to leave. I looked around and spotted a couple trying to go in one of the rooms that was closest to me. “Nah, watch out. Go fuck somewhere else.” I pulled Alicia with me, went inside the room, and locked the door. I pinned her against the wall and got in her face, close enough so she could hear and feel me.
“You gave that nigga my pussy?”
Her face twisted, and her head jerked back. “What? No!”
“I don’t believe you. You was so quick to make it known we only had a business relationship that I feel like you only told him that to soothe his weak-ass conscience about us.”
“I would never do that. I told you, you were being petty, so I was giving it right back.”
“You hurt my feelings.”
“I know, and I’m sorry about that.” She sighed as her head fell back, and she looked up at me. “Last night made me realize that who I thought I loved and gave my heart to wasn’t the manmade for me. He confessed to being selfish and never wanting to have more than one kid with me. Claiming he thought I was on the pill because he probably saw my vitamins prescribed by my doctor. It hurts, Basil, but I’m ready and willing to try to move past it and allow myself to trust myself with you.”
Before I could stop myself, the question slipped from my mouth like word vomit. “You let my kids go with that nigga?”
“No. They didn’t want to g—wait, what did you say?”
“You heard me.”
A soft smile lifted on her face. “They’re not your kids, Basil.”
