“Everybody’s not meant to fall in love and be married like you and that nutcase, Rae.”
She smirked. “You’re right, because everyone’s story is different, including ours. Your brother and I ain’t a fairytale by any means, but one thing we both did was take a chance with each other. I know you’re still hurt behind –”
“Don’t,” I warned. I knew exactly what territory she was about to cross, and I didn’t want to rehash the memories of the first and last time a nigga played in my face. Sure, I was 19 years old when it happened, but the sting of learning that very hard lesson stuck with me over twelve years later.
Rae pursed her lips. “I’m just saying, Reina. At least unblock the man; he ain’t even do shit! He’s probably doing whatever it is that nerdy men do, and you over here playing, knowing you wanna see his ass.”
I gave her a small smile because she was right. I did want to see Vasiah again, and blocking him may have been a little immature.
“Fineeee.” I grabbed my phone and went to his contact. “I’ll unblock him. Not because you told me to, but because my board of directors and I decided that it was the right thing to do.”
“Board of directors?”
“The voices in my head, duh!”
“Bye, fool!” She grabbed her purse and shades from my station and headed towards the door. I had some time in between my next client, so I sat in my chair and opened up me and Vasiah’s text thread. Every message I tried to type, I ended up erasing because it just wasn’t me. I know I blocked him, but he should’ve sent a carrier pigeon or something to get my attention. I was an eligible bachelorette, and many vied for my affection, no matter how ruthless I was. Hell, even Enrico was back to texting me off yet another burner phone.
Rae’s words played on a loop in my mind, and I let out another exasperated sigh. If I didn’t get my shit together, I was gonna die an old rich maid. The rich part didn’t sound bad, but I didn’t want to be lonely in old age, never knowing what love in the romantic sense felt like.
But being ruthless to these niggas was safer than exposing my heart to them.
7
VASIAH
Blocked.
My text showed up green, and I wasn’t sure what happened. Even with me getting into that fight with that pussy ass nigga, I knew that LaReina and I had an amazing date, and I was anxious to plan another one. I came home, showered, iced my hand, and then went to sleep after our adventurous day. I woke up the next morning to my text messages turning up green, and I couldn’t understand it. I sent her another one the following day and realized it was intentional.
She blocked a nigga, damn.
My pops called to hear about the date, and I did him one better by pulling up on him. Now that I’m grown, my childhood home seems small to me. My pop didn’t change much about the home from when my mama was alive, but over the years, I’d added some upgrades when I started making real money. His favorite part of the home was his enclosed cigar room, where he’d smoke two and have a glass of whiskey while he watched the game. Over time, he shared that ritual with me, and that was one of the many ways we bonded.
“So, son, how was it?” he asked after settling into his recliner.
“I thought it went well…” I started.
“But what happened?”
I proceeded to fill him in on the day, the fight, and then told him how she blocked me. The old man listened silently, stroking his beard.
“That gal is just scared, son.”
My head snapped up. “What?”
“Ya mama was kinda like that, though back in our day we didn’t have no shit like blocking and whatnot. But beneath your mother’s bold exterior, she was scared…scared of love and all the heartache it could potentially bring. She’d been hurt before me, and while we shouldn’t pay for another person’s sins, if you believe that this gal is truly the one, then you gotta be patient with her. If you can’t be patient, then end the pursuit and go on about your business. It’s plenty of fine women out here,” he puffed on his cigar, and now I was even more confused. Right when I was about to pick apart Pop’s word salad, my phone pinged as if the lady of the hour knew we were talking about her.
LaReina: Hey handsome… tell me something good
I blinked at the message, perplexed. If you listened long enough, people would tell you any and everything you needed to know about them. Though Reina didn’t give me much, I could tell that she was a person who was used to having her way, regardless of how niggas may have felt about it. Now, I understand why she carried on that way because the consensus of niggas was indeed terrible. From the rates of intimate partner violence, to the elected officials who just wanted to control those they deemed less than them – women and children – to the niggas who regurgitated senseless nigga babble with theirpodcast mics and hot takes on social media – men were out of control. But under no circumstances should Miss King group me in with those other niggas. I was not a perfect man, but I was not a fuckin’ dweeb either. And blocking me when I didn’t do shit to you was grounds for dismissal before we even started… good date be damned.
“Why you staring at ya phone like you’ve seen a ghost?” Pop asked.
“Because she seems to have unblocked me and decided to text me. I ain’t gone lie, Pop, I don’t like the way that makes me feel.”
He took a long drag of his cigar, deep in thought. “Your feelings are valid, son. But I also know you like this girl. So I think you should either tell her straight up what you will and won’t tolerate in getting to know each other, or you could just stall her out for a bit… not respond, give her a taste of her own medicine. But I don’t know if that errs on the side of petty, and I ain’t raise no petty ass son.”
Now, I was even more confused. I ain’t wanna be looked at as petty, but I also didn’t want to let this slide. While there were plenty of fish in the sea, I think I found my favorite fish. Which is crazy, because we only spent one day together, not even a full twenty-four hours, but it’s not every day that I’m knocking niggas out for a lady I just met.
