“Does it make you feel a way?”
“What?”
“Knowing I– I was once with your brother?”
He chuckled. “I don’t know that nigga. He’s just one of my father’s mistakes. I never thought my Pops was on the straight and narrow. He had his ways. I just never thought he’d leave his blood hanging, but shit…”
“He said he advised his mother to get rid of him. She told him she would. She didn’t.”
Flocco sighed.
“We ain’t share shit but blood and pussy. I don’t know that nigga, Hyph. What y’all did ain’t got shit to do with us. I’m already in. You could’ve been my uncle’s old piece and I wouldn’t give a fuck at this point. It is what it is.”
“Seriously,” I laughed. “Urgh.” Immediately after, I groaned from the pain.
He kissed my forehead.
“Seriously. I love you. That’s it. That’s all there will ever be. Nothing else matters.”
“I love you,” I confessed. “And I’ve known for a while.”
“When?”
“On The Boulevard.”
“When I snatched your hot ass out of that car?”
“Um hm.”
“Fucked you behind the store.”
“And I loved every minute of it.”
“Cause you fucked up, Hyph. Some screws missing in the top of that head of yours.”
“Meanwhile you leaving five minute voicemails and triple texting.”
“You had two hours before I showed up at that door, too.”
“Mmm hmm.”
“Real shit, though. I’m ready to build with you. Get the whole hood in the church house. Put a rock on your finger. Bring pretty tears from those pretty eyes. Put your heart at ease. Be the loudest nigga at your graduation. Cheer for you when you’re too tired or too overwhelmed to cheer for yourself. Stay up with you through them long nights. Drop your fine ass off at the hospital for your shift and pick you up when you’re finished so you won’t have to drive sleepy, heartbroken, or overstimulated with whatever you’ve had to deal with at work. Probably have some babies. You want babies, Hyphen?”
“After I’ve walked across the stage, I’m open to having a child.”
“A child?” He laughed.
“We have to have one and see how that goes before we think about another one.”
“Fair enough.”
I yawned. My ear was pressed against Flocco’s chest. I could hear every beat of his heart. My heart.
Thank you. I told God.Thank you.
Three weeks passedbefore I felt remotely close to myself again. My face had healed. My life was evolving. And the pieces that had been shattered were being put back together one day at a time.
Zeek’s presence didn’t surprise me. I’d searched for a death certificate online, hoping one didn’t appear. I wouldn’t be able tolive with myself if he’d died in the fire. Neither would I have been able to live with myself if I would’ve stayed.
