A few moments later, her arm reached gently over my shoulder, placing a peach-colored cup in my hand. Steam curled up from the top, and the tea bag tag dangling off the side made me feel fancy just by holding it.
“It’s pretty hot, so you may want to give it a few minutes before taking a sip.”
She walked around and finally sat across from me. She placed her own cup on the small table beside her, crossing her legs beneath a long skirt. When she looked up, our eyes met fully for the first time, and this lady was beautiful as hell in person.
Even with the hijab neatly wrapped around her head, it didn’t hide anything but looked as if it framed her. Her skin was deep caramel, smooth and glowing against the black fabric she wore. Her lips were full, natural, not overdone.
Dr. Rashid surprisingly had light green eyes, which I’d never seen much of in her race. It wasn’t often that I was intimidated by anyone’s looks because I knew I was fine, but right now was a rare time. Or maybe it was just my nerves because of the situation.
“It’s nice to meet you in person, finally, Jasmine.”
“Likewise,” I said, shifting in my seat.
“I've been nervous and looking forward to this since we spoke during the consultation.”
“Ahh, don’t be nervous.” She leaned back slightly. “Just think of it as two friends talking over tea with relaxing music, and a wonderful ocean view outside the window.”
She laughed, nodding toward the window, which showed a rusty fire escape running straight up the side of the next building, with pigeons flocking on and off it.
I took a deep breath and decided to let go of my fears, at least for the next hour. Dr. Rashid seemed to be very chill from my first interaction with her, so hopefully this session will help, and I will soon get back to myself and out of this funk that Trey’s murder has caused.
When the therapy session was over, it didn’t even feel as if I’d been in there talking for an hour. One second, I was submitting to the session, and then the next, I’d told her everything from my need to have sex with different men to feeling guilty because I couldn’t save Trey’s life. It felt good to talk, and while getting it off my chest felt good, I know I was still on a long road to recovery. That’s why I made sure to schedule another appointment for this time next week before leaving her office.
When I walked out of her office, I stepped out the door onto the street and checked my phone to see what I’d missed when I was clocked out from the world. I saw that my mother had called me, and as I walked down the street towards the bus, I pulled out my phone to return her call.
“Hey, mama, you called me.”
“Yes, I didn’t call more than once because I didn’t want to interrupt your interview, but Reggie came and got Rj about thirty minutes ago.”
“Oh, he didn’t tell me anything about getting him today. Let me call his ass. I’ll call you back, Mama.”
“Okay.” I hung up the phone and dialed Reggie’s number, not even seconds later. He didn’t answer, and my call went to voicemail, which pissed me off because he knows I don’t play about him answering the phone when he has my child.
As I walked to the bus, I called him again and again, but now my calls went straight to voicemail. This nigga was desperate to make me show up at his doorstep. I, however, hated to do that because me and his mama didn’t get along for shit. I’ve cursed that woman out so many times I often credited her as my number one opp.
Reggie had a family that never held him accountable for his actions. He was the only boy like Crew, but he didn’t have that same manly drive that my brother always had. Yeah, Reggie was finally working now, but it took him years to get a job, and now that he had one, he really thought he was hot shit. The only time he wasn’t his normal cocky ass was when Crewshon was around. That’s the only time his ass was humble these days.
“Shit!” I said out loud, realizing that I had left my purse inside Dr. Rashid’s office. Thank God I wasn’t too far down the block, or worse, on the bus headed to Brooklyn, because that shit would’ve pissed me off. It wasn’t anything in my purse that couldn’t be replaced until I came back, other than my favorite vape pen. The reason I was holding on to that mango jungle vape was because they’d discontinued them long ago. The bodega by my house still sold them, however, until I bought the last one a week ago. I turned around on my heels, quickly going to the office to retrieve my pen. Once I got to the front door, I admired the old school car sitting out front and walked straight down the hallway to Dr. Rashid’s office door.
“Who is it?” She asked from the other side.
“It’s Jasmine! I left my purse.” I shouted through the door.
I heard her whispering to someone, and then the locks on her door started to turn.
“Come in, I’m sorry I didn’t see it to remind you.”
“That’s okay.”
She was adjusting her hijab when she walked away from the door, and I saw why. Dr. Rashid must’ve been getting busy in here with her man that quickly and wasted no time when I left. He sat in the chair closest to my purse, and I bent down to get it, only coming up slowly when the scent radiating from his body hit my nose like a punch from a heavyweight champion. Whenhe and I caught eyes, I almost froze right in my tracks, seeing who was in this chair. It was Amir sitting comfortably in the place where I’d let out most of my demons caused by him. This has to be a joke; this can’t be real. My fuckin therapist knows the man who drove me into her chair in the first place.
“Sorry to interrupt.”
I rushed out of the office, with the door slamming behind me. I was hightailing it down the stairs when I heard the door shut again right after me. I can’t lie and say that I wasn’t slightly afraid of seeing Amir again. I witnessed him murder someone in cold blood, and I’m not sure if he would decide that what I saw was too bad for anyone else to know and want to silence me once and for all.
I need to get the hell away from him now.
Chapter 6
