I went silent.
“Nigga, my sister still there, right?”
“Nah, she’s gone.”
“Well, if you don’t call her back, yo’ ass gonna be stankin’ like Charles off Diary of a Mad Black Woman.”
One thing I hated was being dependent on another muthafucka to take care of me. Since my parents left, I told myself I would never depend on a soul for anything. I guess I didn’t take into account that a nigga might get shot and need someone. Unlike Adore, my pride when it came to her was something I could put aside. I was a street nigga, but one thing I was going to do was wash my ass and brush my fucking teeth. I wasn’t one to keep the same clothes on for days while I hustled. Not knocking the nigga that do it.
“Hello,” Adore said with an apparent attitude.
“I need help,” I stated.
“Oh, I didn’t think you needed any help. Being that your ass is back taking pain pills.”
“How the fuck would kno’ what I been doin’?”
“Whodie, it’s obvious. When you take them, your mouth is dry. You were asleep, but you asked me for three water bottles. You swallowed them bitches down with your eyes closed. Now, what do you need help with?”
I sighed, “I need help washin’ my ass, man. Hollow said I can’t shower right now or I’ll get an infection.”
“Damn, now I gotta wash your ass. Ain’t that some shit. What? You can’t call one of your homeboys to wash it. Oh! What about your baby mama?”
“Adore, it’s either yes or no. You kno’ I hate depending on muthafuckas and you throwin’ this shit in my face as a joke ain’t helpin’.”
“I’m on the way,” she said, hanging up in my face.
When she mentioned Zhane, I remembered I was supposed to meet her at the testing center for the DNA test. I had no number or anything for her to tell her what was going on. My only result was to search her social media and see if she would respond. After going to Instagram, I went straight to her DM’s and told her we would have to hold off another week because I had an emergency. The streets ran their mouths, and she was already hitting me back, asking if I needed anything. I was not about to be caught in the crossfire between her and Adore. So I shot her down and then went through her pictures of her son. Nigga looked nothing like me. Still didn’t feel an ounce connection, so I logged out and waited for Adore.
CHAPTER 10: ADORE
“You don’t have to wash my dick so hard, Adore. Damn!”
“Ain’t nothing wrong with your hands. Do you wanna wash it?” She asked, looking at me. “Aight then, shut the fuck up.”
After I got him washed up and clean clothes on, he wanted to sit on his balcony to smoke. I used this time to change his bed linen and put some clothes in the washing machine. As I put the new cover on his bed, I couldn’t help but notice a condom wrapper between the nightstand and headboard.
“Aye, Adore!” Whodie called out. “Come smoke with me. We need to talk.”
“Yeah, muthafucka. Let’s talk.” I grabbed the wrapper and headed right for the balcony.
“You asked where I was at this morning and I never got the chance to tell you,” he started.
“You don’t have to tell me.” I placed the condom wrapper next to his ashtray.
“What you sittin’ that there for?”
“You tell me.”
He laughed, “So you think…you think a nigga was out fuckin’ wit’ my leg like this?”
“I don’t know what you were doing.”
“So, you come yo’ ass out here wit’ a old condom wrapper and think the shit new. The jokes write they muthafucka selves, boy. This relationship shit is crazy.”
“How long has it been there then?”
He had no idea I was still about to catch him in a lie. I could tell he was thinking hard, trying to make sure his timelines matched up.
