“I do,” I admitted with no hesitation. I was extremely attached tothegirls,andwasheavilyinvolvedineverythingconcerning them. In fact, I’d been added to their emergency contact at their schools. And would speak directly with their teachers, versus Face. “Then how would you still be able to see them if you stay with
Too Low when he gets out?”
I sighed. “I hadn’t really thought about that. But…another reason that I don’t want to get rid of the apartment is because… regardless of anything, I want Too Low to have a place to stay when he gets out.”
“Aint nothing wrong with that,” Soya admitted. “But I can tell that you’ve just been moving around, not thinking about what will happen when that day comes. I feel like you’re in a fucked-up position, regardless. Too Low won’t go away quietly. I know that y’all don’t physically fight or whatever, but I bet that this situation will bring out a different side tohim. Then Face? His feelings are involved and I don’t see him just letting you run back to Too Low.”
I exhaled. “You probably right about that. And I honestly don’t know what to do.”
“But I feel like youdoknow exactly what to do. You just don’t want to admit that what you want may not be ethically the right thing. Other than being a criminal, Too Low hasn’t done nothing for you to walk away from him. I get it. But you opened that door, Babi. You let that nigga sneak in. And now, you gotta face the fact that you let Face take you from Too Low.”
s soon as I stepped into the house, Shi rushed me. “Wherehaveyoubeen?”Shequestioned,asshe
wrapped her arms around me.
Laughing, I hugged her tightly. “You are so dramatic. What happened?”
“My daddy cooked some cabbage. And I told him that only you can cook cabbage for us. Then he put a bunch on my plate.”
I laughed heartily. “You know your daddy’s petty.” “And is,” Shi giggled, while clinging to me.
“Lil’ One, let her breathe,” Face expressed, clad in a muscle shirt and basketball shorts, as he approached us. “She just got through the door.”
I pursed my lips. “Now, you know that I don’t mind.”
He nodded. “I know. But you can hang out with them after you get settled in. Do y’all lil’ TikToks or whatever.”
“Boy,” I sighed. “There really aint much settling in to do.” “Yeah, it is. Let’s go take that test like we talked about.”
125
“Seriously?” “Yeah.” He nodded.
I shrugged, feeling like he was setting himself up for disappointment. I’d been down this road too many times to count. My period would skip a month and Too Low would be geeked, thinking that we’d finally struck gold. Then every time, we’d stare at the stick, wishing that it was positive. Since then, I’d long ago stopped setting myself up for failure, but I was seeing that Face wanted to learn the hard way.
“Okay. Let’s get this over with,” I grumbled, as I sauntered through the house.
Face was hot on my heels, acting like a damn prison guard or something.
“Now, where’s the test?” I quizzed, as we stepped into the master suite.
“Right here.” He marched over to the dresser, and grabbed a box.
“Well, hand it here.” I extended my hand. “Cause I gotta pee, anyway.”
Stubbornly, he strolled right past me, and headed into the bathroom. “Come on.”
“Huuuhh,” I huffed, while stomping into the bathroom. With no shame, I pulled my leggings down, and sat on the toilet, while watching him open the box.
After glancing over the instructions, he handed me the stick. Having done this a thousand times before, I spread my legs and let loose. Rolling my eyes, I was honestly rather annoyed, knowing that this was a waste of time.
“Here,” I sighed, after lifting the test.
Face grabbed the stick, and placed it on the counter. He then washed his hands, before peering down at the test.
“Okay,Iseesomelines.There’sone.There’sanotherone—”
“And that means negative. A line in each little window,” I smartly summarized.
