“Man, please. I need cash.”
“Are you serious, ole school? Why can’t you do one of the apps?” Blake asked.
“I don’t do apps. I trust nothing online. Run me my coins,” Asad countered.
I laughed. “How about y’all work it out in the driveway on your way home,” I suggested, stifling a yawn.
“It’s only a little after eleven. Why you yawning like it’s past your bedtime?” Blake asked.
“Because I just finished working twelve hours straight. I’m tired,” I replied, yawning this time.
“I think he’s trying to get with that little cutie who’s living with him.” Blake muttered under his breath loud enough for only me to hear.
I glared at him before I turned my gaze to my brother who grabbed his keys and the plate that he had packed. We had eaten wings and veggie pizza while we watched the fight.
Blake smirked and followed my brother to the door. I followed them and dapped them up before I turned back inside and knocked at Sevyn’s door. I hadn’t seen her much since I had been home. She was holed up in her bedroom the entire time I had company.
Whereas I figured it might have been to give the fellas privacy, I wanted to be sure. When she didn’t answer, I knocked again. I heard a muffled “Come in” before I turned the doorknob.
The room was extremely dark, and she was huddled underneath the covers. Her small frame in the bed looked so fragile, and I wanted to chase away all her monsters.
“I’m sorry. Did I wake you?”
“No,” she whispered.
I could tell something was wrong, but I wasn’t sure what it was. I headed deeper into her bedroom, but slowly enough so that she didn’t feel like I was violating her privacy. I sat at the edge of the bed and touched her covered foot.
“Hey, is everything okay?”
She immediately broke into sobs and shook her head no. I moved to the top of the bed and gently touched her shoulder. She turned around to face me, and her eyes were swollen.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m so scared, Deuce.”
“Of what?”
“My life feels like it’s spiraling out of control. Everything that I thought I knew, I no longer know. I got in the car today, and I tried to drive to the corner store.”
“That’s good.”
“No, it wasn’t. I freaked out. I got to the corner, and I felt like the car was closing in on me. I couldn’t breathe, and when the light changed from red to green, people honked behind me to force me to move. I tried to move, Deuce, and I couldn’t.”
“Sounds like you were having an anxiety attack.”
“I . . . I couldn’t breathe. I have never been so scared in my life.”
I rubbed her back and pulled her close to me. “You made it back home. Let’s focus on that, Sevyn.”
“I was so embarrassed and so terrified. I don’t even know who I am anymore, Deuce.”
“You’re a beautiful woman who had an unfortunate set of circumstances in her life that has changed what she once knew. But inside, you’re still that same beautiful woman. You’ve just become stronger and better in spite of what you’ve been through. Don’t let this cause you to give up, Sevyn.”
“I don’t know. It’s too much sometimes. I’ve lost everyone who meant anything to me, other than Waverleigh, but she’s thinking about moving back to Pennsylvania for her mother. I will be here all alone.”
“You’ve got me,” I replied as I wiped away her tears.
“But you’ll have to go on with your life eventually. You cannot continue spending time on me and my pity parties.”
