“You keep saying that like it magically fix shit!” My voice cracked at the end, and I hated it because I sounded too emotional and too affected, and Rome always acted different when he realized he was really getting to me.
He stepped closer. “Come here.”
I moved back.
“Navy,” he said more firmly.
I shook my head. “No.”
“You acting scared of me now?” He questioned.
I stared at him for a second before answering as honest as I could. “I don’t know what version of you I’m waking up to anymore.”
That fucked him up hard and I could tell it did because his whole expression changed a little soft before it got all hard again. “You know I love you Nay.”
He did, and I know he did, but he just didn’t know how to be that man for me without letting his own ego in the way. I almost laughed because men like Rome really believed love covered everything… the cheating, lying, manipulation, bruises, apologies… all of that shit.
“I used to think that mattered,” I admitted. “But you changed when yo got money.” I sighed. “You really did.”
Rome looked at me hard after that, like he was trying to figure out what exactly had changed. The old Navy would’ve already softened by now. The old Navy would’ve cried, argued some more, then eventually let him pull her into his lap while he apologized and promised to do better while he fucked me tosleep or bought my love, but the old Navy wasn’t slipping away, and I think he was finally starting to realize it.
CHAPTER 3
Navy ‘Nay’ Prescott
Afew days later, the bruise had finally started fading, but it was still there. Every morning I stood in front of a mirror convincing myself it looked better than it did the day before, and every morning I was lying my ass off. The deep purple color had turned yellow around the edges, and the swelling had gone down, but it was still obvious enough that I wasn’t taking any chances. I leaned closer to the employee restroom mirror and carefully dabbed more concealer across my cheek before blending it out with a makeup sponge. If anybody from work noticed, nobody had said a damn thing. Maybe they believed I walked into something or maybe they didn’t but either way, I wasn’t interested in answering questions.
The bruise on my neck irritated me more than the one on my face and my scrubs covered part of it, but not enough. I tilted my head from side to side, checking the mirror from every angle while trying to figure out if it was visible. Working in an emergency room meant spending twelve hours around people trained to notice shit, and the last thing I needed was one of mycoworkers pulling me to the side asking if everything was okay at home because truth be told, nothing was okay at home and nothing had been okay for a long time. The only difference now was that I had finally stopped lying to myself about it.
I sat my makeup bag on the counter and stared at my reflection cause looking at myself felt strange these days because a week ago, I thought I was finally leaving. It made my skin crawl, but for now I needed him comfortable because comfortable people got careless, and I was counting on Rome getting a little too comfortable. If my big mama Lulu knew what was really going on, she’d knock me upside the head with a cast iron skillet because one thing she didn’t play about was taking shit from a man.
My phone started vibrating, snapping me out of my thoughts as I glanced down at the screen and immediately rolled my eyes. Of course, it was Rome and for a few seconds I just stared at his name lighting up my phone. There was a time I would’ve answered on the first ring. Hell, a few months ago I probably would’ve smiled when I saw him calling. It was funny how fast that kind of shit can change. Now every time his name popped up on my screen my stomach dropped.
“Hey,” I answered.
“What’s up, baby?” Rome asked, sounding entirely too damn cheerful for somebody who felt like he could do whatever the fuck he wanted when he wanted.
I grabbed my makeup bag and started putting everything away while he talked. “At work.”
“I figured that. You eat yet?”
“No.”
“You hungry? I can bring you some Airline’s. You know that’s our shit.”
‘Boy you know you wrong for that’,I thought to myself. I loved some Airline’s! See, shit like that used to make me feelspecial back when I thought checking on me meant he cared. Now all I heard was bullshit because the same man asking me if I was hungry had no problem taking every dollar I had with his stupid ass.
“I’m good,” I told him. “I brought something.”
“Aight, I was thinking about bringing you lunch but if you good then I got you for dinner.”
I walked toward the restroom door and pushed it open. “You don’t have to do that.”
“Why you always saying no?” He quizzed like he didn’t know what was up.
Because I can’t stand your ass!Is what I wanted to say although truth was deep down inside I still loved him. I just loved myself more now. The answer sat right on the tip of my tongue, but I swallowed it back down.
“Because I’m working, Rome.”
