“Yeah.”
“I don’t know. I gotta see.”
“Really, Babi? When did it get so bad that you can’t even honor the simplest request? If the shoe was on the other foot, then I would never shit on you like this.”
Right then, I realized that he was in his feelings, because he’d just said that he didn’t want his cousin in his business, and now he was saying all this.
“I’m definitely not trying to take a shit on you, Jarvin. You know that has never been my style.”
“Shit, I can’t tell,” he spat. “I don’t care what bitch I come across. Nobody could make me turn my back on you. I could see if
he we had a falling out or something. But nawl. We was good, and one day everything just changed. You started lying and shit. Stopped coming to see me. Was missing all my calls. Because you wasn’t woman enough to stand on your bullshit. And now I’m trying to cope with the way shit is, and you still offer resistance. I don’t understand you.”
“Too Low.” I clutched my forehead. “You’re giving me a headache. And I’m not trying to argue. I swear I’m not. I just feel like with everything going on, we have bigger fish to fry than some damn pictures. We haven’t been seeing eye to eye. So, what the hell would sending you some pictures solve?”
I had to ask, but I was keeping it PG, because his cousin was on the phone. One thing that Too Low must’ve forgotten about me was that I was far from green. Me sending him pictures could potentially have a snowball effect. Because niggas in prison liter-ally gossiped like bitches. And since Face had answered that collect call, we’d gone public. I’m talking Facebook, IG, TikTok. It was a known fact that I was Face’s girl. I’m also sure that it had Too Low shamefaced. So, he probably wanted to prove a point by me sending him some new pictures, revealing that he still had access to me. And I wasn’t necessarily opposed to him saving face, but I know that prison talk didn’t remain between those walls. Just like Too Low could call home, and email, then so could those other inmates. Which means that it could get back to Face. And there was really no plausible explanation to be sending him any pictures.
“And what harm would it do?” Too Low countered.
“I’m not about to go there—” I got out, before my line beeped. Peering at the screen in my new GLE Bez coupe, I sighed. “Look, I gotta go. I’ll talk to you later.” I clicked over, without waiting for a response. “Hello?”
“Who was you on the phone with?” Face immediately questioned.
I sighed, hating that he had a fucking Samsung Ultra, and that shit was so far advanced that I’d even switched, when I was a habitual iPhone user. Our phones could tell us when somebody was on the other line when we called, and everything.
“I was talking to my cousin,” I admitted, knowing that if he checked my call log, then it would really lead back to Too Low’s cousin.
“Oh, yeah? You still at HEB?”
“Yeah, but I’m in the lot, finna head home.”
“Oh, okay. Well, hurry up, cause the girls wanna go to the movies over there by the Woodlands mall.”
“Oh, good. Then we can go eat at P.F. Chang’s.”
“Hey, it’s y’all world, baby. So, it’s anything you want.” “Aww,” I cooed. “You mean that?”
“Hell, yeah. Now, get your ass to the house.” “Okay, daddy. You aint gotta tell me twice.”
he babies were doing somersaults in my stomach, as nervous energy surged through my body. I had told Face that I was going to a brunch with Soya. That meant that
I had to tell Soya the play, and even allowed her to use my car, because I knew that Face was tracking my location. So, I’d driven to Huntsville in Soya’s BMW. I’d texted Face to check in, right before I had to power of my phone. And now, I just prayed that he didn’t try to contact me for the next two hours.
Against my better judgement, I was there to visit Too Low. After thinking it over, I knew that this was the right thing to do. He deserved the closure, and I also wanted to make sure that he had everything squared away, before he came home. At least if we had a conversation now, then he’d have no reason to blow my line up, once he was out. Or at least I hoped.
Nevertheless, as I sat in the visitation room, waiting for Too Low, I was beginning to rethink my move. It was like I’d forgotten how familiar everyone was with me. They all knew my face, and
157
each time I’d spot a familiar person, their mouths would drop once they’d notice my stomach. With Too Low having been in prison for over two years, they all knew that there was no way that I was pregnant for him. And I could only imagine how he’d react once he laid eyes on me.
“You came,” Too Low uttered, seemingly coming out of nowhere, and standing above me.
For a moment, I just stared at him. It gradually dawned on me that it had been a nice while since I’d seen him in person. And he looked so different. In a good way. Despite his nick name, and reputation in the streets, he always had the looks that didn’t match his name.
Too Low was a pretty nigga. Always had been. He had a deep red complexion, now had wild curly hair, silky facial hairs, and tight eyes, making him appear to be mixed with Chinese or some shit. He was tall, and lean, with heavily tatted skin. Undoubtedly, whenever he was ready, he’d have his choice of women.
“Yeah,”Inervouslybreathedout.
