The talk in the parking lot with Melissa sat on me heavier than I wanted to admit.
She gave me a little.
Promised to answer when I asked where she at. Promised to stop disappearin’ just to prove a point.
But I could still see it in her face.
I had her lookin’ over her shoulder…That wasn’t love…That was fear.
And I was addin’ to it.
I tried to do my usual shit.
Handle club business.
Answer calls.
Make plays.
But my focus was trash.
Every time my phone buzzed, my chest jumped. Every time itdidn’t, my mind went back to every worst-case scenario I’d lived through.
Finally, I got tired of hearin’ my own thoughts echo.
Next thing I knew, I was pullin’ up in front of Nana Hope’s house.
She opened the door before I could knock twice.
“There go my grandson,” she said, lookin’ me over. “You look heavy.”
“I’m aight,” I lied.
She cut her eyes at me. “Come on in wit’ that lie.”
I followed her to the kitchen. She had a pot on the stove and somethin’ in the oven, smelled like peach cobbler.
“Sit,” she said, noddin’ at the table. “You want some tea?”
“Yeah,” I said, droppin’ into the chair.
She moved around efficient, makin’ tea like she done it a thousand times, then sat across from me.
“Now,” she said, foldin’ her hands, “which woman got you in here lookin’ like this?”
I huffed a laugh. “What make you think it’s a woman?”
She stared. “Boy.”
“Aight,” I said, givin’ up quick. “Melissa.”
She nodded like she already knew. “Mhm. What you done now?”
I fiddled with the mug. “She say I’m chokin’ her.”
“Are you?”
I thought about it.
