"Don't start, Rah."
The waitress brought over our drinks and I took a sip, letting the smooth burn settle in my chest. Rah was watching me, his eyes softer than I remembered.
"You look good," he said.
"Thanks."
"Nah, for real. You glowing. Life been treating you right?"
"It's been aight." I shrugged. "I'm still here, so that's something."
His face got serious then, and he leaned forward, his hands clasped on the table.
"Mya, I know I said it on the phone, but I need to say it again. I'm sorry. For everything. For leaving you that night and for not checking up on you. For basically being a fuck up."
"Rah—"
"Nah, let me finish." He looked me dead in my eyes. "You ain't deserve that. You was there for me, held me down, and I left you when you needed me most. That shit been eating at me for a year, and I ain't been right since that night."
I didn't say anything. I just took another sip of my drink.
"I know saying sorry don't change what happened," he continued. "But I want you to know I mean that shit. And I wanna make it right."
"How you gon' make it right, Rah? I got shot."
"I know." He was quiet for a second, his jaw working. Then he looked up at me with something dark in his eyes. "I also know you been fuckin' with Trigg."
My whole body went stiff. "Excuse me?"
"Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about. Word get around, Mya. You been with that nigga."
"And?" I sat back, crossing my arms. "What was I supposed to do, Rah? Huh? For a whole year you did nothing. You left me. You ain't call, you ain't text, you ain't check on me. What the fuck was I supposed to do? Sit around and wait for you?"
"Nah, but—"
"But what? You mad 'cause I moved on? You mad 'cause somebody else was there for me when you wasn't?"
"I'm mad 'cause it's Trigg!" His voice got louder and a few people looked over at us. He lowered it back down. "That's my mans, You know that."
"He was your mans. And he the one who saved my life. He the one who came back for me when you left me bleeding on the ground. So yeah, I been fucking with him. And I don't owe you no explanation for that shit."
Rah leaned back, his jaw clenched tight. "So that's how it is now?"
"That's how it been, Rah. You made your choice that night. I made mine after."
He stared at me for a long moment, and I could see the hurt and anger fighting in his eyes. Then he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a white envelope, sliding it across the table to me.
"What's this?" I asked.
"Open it."
I picked it up and opened it, and my eyes went wide when I saw the stack of bills inside. I pulled them out, counting quickly.
"That's fifty-five hundred," Rah said, his voice flat now. "The five hundred I owed you from the dice game that night. The two-fifty I borrowed before that. And forty-two fifty more added to it. Call it interest. Call it an apology. I don't care. It's yours."
"Rah, this is—"
"Take it, Ma. You was good to me when we was together. I owe you way more than that, but it's what I got right now." He looked away, his jaw still tight. "I know I fucked up and I lost you. But at least let me pay you back what I owe."
