Page 11 of Do You Right

“I’ma holla at you later though. I’m done talking.” I didn’t even give him a chance to respond, because I was already headed inside the house before I finished getting my words out. His demeanor over the last few weeks was rubbing me the wrong way, and I was lost on whether this was how he’d always been, and I was just noticing, or he’d changed too. Either way, if things kept going in this direction, I wasn’t sure what would remain of our friendship.

Putting thoughts of JoJo and Tycelyn at the back of my mind, I went in search of Chai. I was on my way to the living room when I heard crying from the bathroom that immediately stopped me in my tracks. I pressed my ear to the door and confirmed that she was in fact bawling on the other side of it. My heart dropped into my toes, and guilt bubbled in my core.

I knocked on the door softly. “Chai . . .”

I heard the sink come on seconds later, but she didn’t reply. Leaning against the wall, I decided to wait for her to come out. My mind was a maze while I waited. The second she opened the door and saw me waiting there, she rolled her eyes. I followed silently behind her because I could tell she didn’t want to be bothered by me right now.

I stopped at the threshold of her bedroom when she walked inside. “Chai, I’m⁠—”

Before I could even finish getting the words out, she slammed the door in my face. I heaved a sigh, suddenly feeling like the weight of the world was back on my shoulders. I thumped my forehead on the door thinking about what to do next before I finally settled on giving her some space. We lived together, so she couldn’t ignore me forever.

After three days of complete silence, I was almost certain that Chai could in fact ignore me forever. Every time she even thought I was about to open my mouth to say something to her, she’d run out of the room without a backward glance. And I knew the issue was me because she was all smiles, giggles, and plenty of dialogue when Kava and my mama were around.

I had finally decided I couldn’t handle another day of the cold shoulder in my own damn house. I hated what JoJo did and said as much as she did, but she had to know his thoughts were not my own. And if she didn’t know, I was determined to make it known today.

I walked in the house to the sounds of the violin. “Nice, Kava. You’ve got your finger placement perfect now.”

“Can you teach me to play a song now?” my sister asked her excitedly.

I placed my keys on the table and kicked off my sneakers while shamelessly listening to them talk. Tonight’s game was cancelled due to incoming inclement weather, so I was home earlier than usual. Typically, I never got to witness their lessons. Walking to the living room, I found Kava sitting on the ottoman while Chai paced in front of her. “Hey, sweet pea. Mama is outside waiting for you,” I told my sister, alerting them of my presence.

I saw Chai wipe away the smile that lifted her cheeks when she saw me. I couldn’t help but to chuckle to myself because she was a mean little thing. Kava hopped up and began to pack up her violin. It was funny to see because she came into this as a favor to me but started to really enjoy everything she was learning from Chai. I had a feeling she might keep it up as a hobby, but the future was unknown, after all.

I walked Kava out to my mother’s waiting Bentley and chatted with her for a few minutes before I headed back into the house. I was on a damn mission, and I wasn’t letting the night end without smoothing things over with Chai.

I expected her to be back in her bedroom by the time I went in, but she was in the kitchen pouring herself a glass of lemonade. She tried to hurry out of the kitchen, but I used my body to block the path. She huffed with a groan as I watched her big eyes roll to the back of her head. With a grin, I said, “The only way you’re getting paid is if you talk to me.”

She slowly turned to look at me with the cutest pout. Those doe eyes shot daggers at me, but it only made her look that much more adorable to me. I bopped her on her button nose with a grin. “What do you want, KC?”

I tucked a curly strand of hair behind her ear that made a shudder rip through her body. “You haven’t been smiling or talking to me, and I don’t like that. Can you give me the opportunity to fix it?” I did my version of a puppy dog face with my hands in the prayer position. “Please?” I shamelessly begged.

“Fix it how?” she finally asked. I smiled, seeing her tense shoulders finally relax.

“Follow me, miss lady.” I’d taken a shower at the facility before I left because I already had this planned out. She reluctantly allowed me to hold her hand and guide her out of the house.

After locking the house up, I led her over to the Lime electric scooter parked on the curb. “Hop on,” I told her before I busied myself with using the app on my phone to unlock it. Once it was ready to go, I climbed on the scooter behind her, and we shot off.

Chai’s laughter was music to my ears, and I loved having her so close to me. The wind whipped past our faces as I drove us downtown. There were a few times that the cracks in the sidewalk almost took us out, but we managed to avoid any accidents. Chai was having a blast, especially when I took us down the hill on Salt Blvd.

When we made it to the boardwalk, we hopped off to go for a walk around the park. “Why didn’t you get me my own scooter?” Chai asked with her arms folded over her chest.

“Because I wanted to be close to you,” I replied honestly.

She reached for my lips and twisted them up. My laughter was muffled by the action. “You’re such a sweet talker, Kaizi Carter.”

When she finally released me, I was howling as I told her, “I’m not trying to be though. It’s the truth.”

She waved me off and began fast walking toward the end of the boardwalk. I had to jog a little to catch up to her because she had those little legs working overtime to get away from me. “You finally done being mad at me, because my poor little heart can’t take it? I ain’t been able to eat, sleep, or nothing since the other day.”

Her shoulder bumped lightly against mine before she grinned. “You little liar. I just saw you scarfing down a breakfast burrito before you left for conditioning this morning. You didn’t look down bad to me.”

I didn’t realize she’d seen me, nor did I think she would call me on my lies like that. “I’m so shamed.”

“You should be.” Her laugh was light and airy as it filled me with warmth. “But I guess I am done being mad with you. It’s been boring not talking to you the last couple days.”

“I knew you was missing me too,” I joked.

“Oh boy, whatever.”