Mama’s cooking had put both of us into a coma. I was stretched out across the sectional in the theater room, one arm behind my head, stomach full. optional. The big screen glowed in front of us while some Lifetime second-chance romance played.
Normally, I would’ve roasted the hell out of a movie like that. But I couldn’t even lie… that shit was good. A couple reconnecting after twenty years, arguing, crying, falling back in love like time never existed.
Kordai sat slouched beside me, remote hanging loosely from his hand, eyes low and relaxed.
The sun outside faded into evening. Between Mama’s food and the blunt Kordai convinced me to hit, my body finally felt… still and relaxed.
“I always wonder what my life would look like if I never went to prison.”
I turned my head toward him. The weed must’ve been talking. Kordai didn’t do deep conversations. He kept his thoughts locked tighter than a safe.
“What you mean?” I asked.
He kept his eyes on the screen. “When you locked up,” he said slowly, “you start realizing half the shit you chased on the outside ain’t even important.”
He shrugged. “I had women before prison… and after prison. Plenty of ’em.”
I smirked. “Yeah, we know.”
“But recently, I reconnected with somebody I always rocked with. Somebody real.”
“Man,” he said quietly, shaking his head, “she’s everything.”
He laughed under his breath like he couldn’t believe himself. “But I never looked at her like that before. We were just vibing. It was a connection that I couldn’t describe. It was like we always knew each other on the inside.”
He glanced over at me. “I really think we could’ve been the next Khloe and Kairo.”
That caught me off guard.
“We been knowing each other since we were teens,” he continued. “Just rocking… nobody even knew that we were kicking it. Like we were each other’s safety net outside the world.”
“But?” I asked.
He sighed. “But my past… the shit I done been through… the shit I done did…”
He shook his head. “I don’t think life ever gonna let us be more than what we are.”
I sat up. “Nah,” I said.
“Don’t shut yourself out of happiness just because you think you don’t deserve it.”
He frowned. “I’m serious,” I continued. “You paid your price already. You ain’t gotta keep serving a life sentence emotionally.”
He stared at the screen again, listening.
“You deserve to be happy,” I told him. “And sometimes things don’t work the way we planned the first time… but that don’t mean it’s the end of the story.”
I thought about Khloe without meaning to.
“Sometimes, love just waits until you’re finally ready to receive it.”
Kordai nodded slowly.
“Yeah…” he said. Then he smirked. “Damn. That weed got you sounding like a motivational speaker.”
I laughed. “Shut up.”
Right as the couple in the movie kissed, my phone started ringing. I grabbed it from the table to see that it was Kemi.
