Page 32 of And It’s Still You

They spoke back and left it at that. It didn’t bother me. Wednesday hadn’t been a fan of me since I divorced Shea, while Onyx and I always had a rocky relationship. It was mainly due to him forcing Shea into JMG and telling him there were more women out there than me when he found out I’d left. I kept it cordial with him, but that was it.

Shea wrapped up the conversation, and we prepared to leave. In the garage, he opened the door to his truck for me and helped me inside. I melted into the leather seats, loving the way he had touches of him all throughout the truck.

“This is nice, Shea,” I complimented when he got inside. “You had this custom made, didn’t you?”

“I did, and I let Ocean help me with a few things. It was something I wanted to get for myself after opening the pharmacy.”

“I remember when you got it, but I’ve never been inside of it. It’s nice.”

“Thank you.” I waited for him to pull out the driveway and get down the street before saying, “I see Wednesday still isn’t feeling me.”

“Don’t worry ’bout her. We all know how she can be. She’ll get over it eventually.”

“And what if she doesn’t?”

“That’ll be on her. I’m not worried ’bout it, and you shouldn’t be either. Maybe y’all just need to sit down and have a conversation one day.”

“With her, I will. As far as Onyx goes, I’m cool on him.”

Shea chuckled. “I’m cool on his ass too, for real. That’s my father, and I love him, but I don’t always agree with the way he moves.”

“I get it. You know I’m the same way with Zena.”

“How is she? And when’s the last time you talked to her?”

My relationship with my mother was complicated. We only talked to her on special occasions, and even then, it was brief. When she divorced our father, and he was granted full custody of us, she let everything fall on him. She embraced her new life with her new husband. I was closer to Angela than I was Zena.

I hunched my shoulders. “Honestly, I’m not sure. She’s reached out to check on me over the last two weeks but only by text. I guess she’s doing good.”

“That’s crazy that she’s still like that.”

“Oh, did you think she would change? I surely didn’t. I love my mother, always will, but I know what to expect from her to where it won’t bother me or hurt my feelings. As long as she continues to be an active grandmother, I’m fine with that.”

One thing I wouldn’t take away from Zena was that she loved Ocean dearly. She probably spent more time with him than she ever did me and Albany when we were his age. That was fine with me. I’d gotten over her shenanigans, but if she ever switched up on my son, it would be a problem.

Shea and I rode around for a good two and a half hours, and I was impressed. He showed me the ins and outs of his business. There was a lot that went into being a pharmacist and owning your own pharmacy. His eyes lit up anytime he explained something to me, and I was happy to see his love for it never disappeared.

Even though his pharmacy was closed, he had me in the back helping him with a few things. As he was showing me how to mix something, a flashback hit me, and I burst out laughing.

“What you over there laughing at, Love?”

It took me a few moments to catch my breath. “Remember when Daddy wanted to beat our asses when we blew up something in the garage your freshman year of college?”

The dip in Shea’s brows rose, and he chuckled. “Man, I thought he was going to make you break up with me for that. We had yo’ entire house smelling for days.”

“He was pissed. I couldn’t even bring your name up without him cussing.”

“I can’t wait to remind him ’bout that. He’ll probably be ready to cuss my ass out all over again.”

“I love that you still talk to him. At first, I wasn’t too happy about it, but I think it’s good.”

Shea smiled. “Yeah, that’s my dog right there. Whenever I need some solid advice, I go to him. He’s always been my go-to.”

“Oh, I know. He’ll tell me when y’all talk. It’s like he wanted me to know he hadn’t let you go.”

“Just like Angela didn’t let you go. I had reminders too.”

“Touché. It’s good that we have a decent relationship with at least one of our parents, especially for the sake of Ocean.”