I smiled, turning to Trey. “So, what you about to do?”
He looked up from his phone. “Well, I gotta stay here a little longer. I figured you’d wanna be here when he gets released.”
“Yeah, I do. Let me run her home real fast.” I could sit here and be uncomfortable, but I didn’t want her to be. Besides, she needed to be at home when her sister left town.
“I wanna stay with you, though,” she objected, pouting her lips.
Instead of replying to her, I told him I’d be back before leading her outside to the car. I didn’t explain myself until I made sure she was in, walking around to get on the driver’s side.
“I don’t want you to stay up here all night,” was the first thing I said once I closed the door. “Besides, you need to be there in the morning when Leah left.” Backing out of the parking lot, I headed in the direction of her auntie’s house.
“Why? My Auntie is there, she doesn’t need me,” she let me know, playing with the dials on the radio.
“Yes, she does,” I mumbled, turning to her. “And you need her.”
She sucked her teeth, huffing out a breath. “No, I don’t.”
She tried not to look this way because she knew I was telling the truth. I chuckled, shaking my head because she was so damn stubborn. I’mma have my hands full tryna keep up with her ass.
As I'm driving, I thought about all the shit that brought us to where we are now. Getting her case at my job, getting arrested, then all the stuff with her sister she had to deal with. Hell, I never thought me and Mama would have a civil conversation, but that happened too. Maybe the trip to the hospital was a blessing in disguise because she finally got her life together.
I was happy she apologized and came clean, but we still had a long way to go to repair what she’d broken. This incident was a wakeup call for me too, and I planned on working on my relationship with Valentine. I’m just grateful that we were able to prove his innocence and get him home.
This business that me and Messiah started was a dangerous one, but I ain’t new to the streets, and I think we’ll be alright.
Once I stopped at a red light, I used my index finger to tilt her chin toward me. “When you done with your parole, I wanna take you on a vacation.”
I knew she still had a few months left, but she needed something to look forward to.
Her face lit up. “For real?”
“Yeah. Wherever you wanna go,” I told her, looking back and forth between her and the road.
I asked her to let me lead and she followed without hesitation. That kinda trust wasn’t something I took lightly, so whatever happened, Baby will always come first in my life. After everything we’d been through to get here, there wasn’t a soul alive that could tell me we weren’t meant to be together.
From the moment we locked eyes, I knew I was hers and she was mine. She was my home, my peace, and I can’t wait to call her my wife. Her happiness is my responsibility now.
51
EPILOGUE
Fourteen monthslater
“I just wanna say, all y’all dead ass wrong for these cocktails, knowing I can’t drink,” I vented, eyeing everybody sitting around the table.
We were in Nassau, Bahamas for a few days. Love asked me where I wanted to go, and this was the place I picked. What I didn’t count on was these negros tagging along.
When I first mentioned it to Jayda, her and Messiah decided to make it a foursome without my permission. Then, four turned into six, when Tiffani and Trey invited themselves.
“Bitch, who told you to get knocked up fresh off parole? That’s what yo’ fast ass get.” Jayda called herself checking me, rolling her neck with attitude as she sipped her glass.
Many meetings and anger management classes later, I was finally off papers and free to do what I wanted. Apparently, that’s quitting my job at the gas station to have babies because I was six months pregnant with our son, Love Jr.
“Hey now, hop off my wife.” Love paused his conversation with Messiah and Trey to insert himself in the conversation. Did I fail to mention we’re married now?
The ceremony was a small one with only our immediate family, but I preferred that than a big one anyway. His mama couldn’t wait to tell everybody at her mental health treatment facility all about her new daughter in law and grand baby. Since the incident at the hospital, she changed dramatically. With the help of his Auntie Delia, who insisted I called her Auntie now, his mama stayed on top of her treatments and enrolled in outpatient therapy.
“Hop off mine, muthafucka!” Messiah added, and we all shared a laugh.
