Page 34 of Pretty and Loco

This time he was quiet, and I gave him a look that said, “Yeah nigga, exactly.”

“Give me a minute to go to my truck.” He interrupted as he jogged out the door, left it open, then came back with a laptop tucked under his arm.

He flopped on my couch, sending all the roses on the other end to the floor with the rest of the shit Leah had put in my living room. It only pissed me off more. After a few minutes of typing on the laptop, he told me to enter my password into his device.

I did it, then waited. The expression on his face solidified everything that I said.

“So, I’ve been hacked?”

“Nope.” He said calmly.

“You’re definitely being watched, though. Here’s the master log of all the changes made to your account. I’m sure you didn't do any of them yourself. A month ago today, your account was recovered after answering all your safety questions correctly. By the way, in cybersecurity, we never recommend using real answers. Since then, there have been multiple changes to the cameras. There are also times on the master log where certain time frames have been set to play on loop. I’m assuming that this is when you feel like someone has been inside your house.”

I blew a breath out. Not because I was relieved, but because I finally understood why I thought I was losing my mind.

“Can you recover the original footage?”

“Nope, that’s a feature created for your privacy in case you don’t want something on camera. The devices authentically don’t record for the time frame selected.”

“What about my house? How is she getting into my house?”

I watched him type for a few more minutes.

“The security system says all entries are either finger or PIN code.” So, I’m assuming she has the password.

This shit is impossible.

I stopped pacing and sat on the couch trying to figure out when I had given Leah any of that information, and I knew I hadn’t. I had only given her the guest password that I use for my staff. Then something clicked. I thought back to the one time Leah’s crazy ass said, "Let’s play a game of 21 questions to get to know each other." Now that I think about it, three of them were security questions to my camera system. At the time, I didn’t think anything of it; now I realized that it was a setup.

I also realized that this wasn’t a decision she made because I had decided to stop talking to her. She’s probably been watching me since the moment I invited her into my house.

“There are three active sessions on your camera system right now. Mine, I’m assuming the one on your phone, and another one. It’s pinging in Sunnyvale.”

I chuckled and ran my hand down my face.

This shit couldn’t be my real life.

“This is what I can do for you, Rocko. I can deactivate the cameras and then set you up with an entirely new account. New logins, new passwords, everything. They’ll lose immediate access.” He assured.

“Appreciate it.”

As I sat back, arm in a sling, having all my security measures upgraded and changed, I just contemplated life. Leah said that she was going to make me regret the day that I played her, but it was looking more like I regretted the day I met her ass.

Ipulled up outside of my parents’ house and sat there trying to regulate my nervous system. I don’t see or talk to my parents much these days. When I did, it would only be short check-ins and I love yous, but tonight they invited me over for dinner, and it had me on edge. My parents and I had an amazing relationship until a couple of years ago, and we’ve never really been able to get it back on track.

I checked Daya’s location and saw that she was ten minutes away, and I was fully prepared to sit outside and wait for her, but then I saw the front door of my mother’s house open, and her appear in the doorway.

She smiled brightly when we locked eyes through the windshield. Her smile was warm and inviting as she waved me inside. I returned the gesture and waved back, but inwardly I groaned, then reluctantly pushed open my car door.

I took slow, labored steps toward her while she stood there, looking like a supermodel. My mother, Leigh Blanco, was the picture of beauty. She had a slim build and long legs, graying hair perfectly pressed and curled, and beautiful brown skin that held every sign of aging like a badge of honor. She didn’t have to look like she was in her thirties because she made fifty-plus look damned good. Her look was elegant; it was timeless, and she wore it well.

“Look at you, my baby!” She cooed and then held her arms out for me to walk into them, and I did. I stayed there longer than I expected, being wrapped in her embrace as she swayed me from side to side. For a second, I felt like five-year-old “Le Le.” I was free from the judgment and sympathetic eyes that I didn’t really care for. The things that had plagued me for years were nonexistent because in that moment, on that doorstep, I was just her baby.

“Hey mama, how have you been?” I asked after a couple of beats of silence.

She pushed me back, held me at arm’s length, and gave me a once-over like she hadn’t seen me in ages and needed to inspect me. The smile of approval warmed my heart.

“I’ve been good. Just mad that I got skipped over when God was giving out those hips.” She laughed as she slapped my thigh through the material of my leggings, making me laugh, and then pulled me into the house.