Page 28

“Good, you can sleep longer if you need to.”

“Nah, I'm good. I need to get my day started. You know twenty-four hours isn’t.”

“It isn’t enough time, I know,” she finished my sentence sarcastically.

I stood up from the bed and went into the restroom connected to her room, adjusting my boxers and pants I had on because I didn’t feel comfortable enough to sleep in my boxers. Being inside this house still felt strange because every time I came here back in the day, I was sneaking in, instead of being welcomed through the front door.

I remembered when Delilah was upstairs, and I used to sneak into their house while her parents were down at their laundromats, thinking she was just at home studying. Really, she and I were laid up in here making out half the damn day. She wasn’t giving it up, and I wasn’t the kind of man to force it on her. I listened to my brothers talk about sex for years before I ever tried it, so Delilah and I took our time.

I looked on the shelf in her restroom and grabbed one of the unused toothbrushes near the sink. After brushing my teeth, I picked up one of the towels folded neatly nearby and ran water over it to wash my face.

“Yo, how long does it take for this water to get hot in here?” I called out.

Delilah didn’t answer right away, and her silence made concern creep up on me. Anytime she got too quiet, my mind instantly went to her lupus or the pregnancy, stressing her body out.

I walked out of the restroom.

“You went back to sleep?” I asked, my concern soon fading when I saw her sitting upright in bed with the covers pinned tightly against her chest and my cell phone in her hand.

Her face was torn up enough for me to know she not only had my phone, but had also seen some shit she didn’t like.

“What are you doing with my phone, Delilah?”

“Why did that Jasmine girl just text you that she needs to see you today? You messing with her after all? And what is this picture of this building on fire about?”

I walked over to the bed and grabbed my phone from her hand.

“I don’t know what she wants to talk about, and no, I’m not having sex with her anymore. That picture is work, and that’s the last question I’m going to answer this morning. You going through my phone is out of line. Fuck around and see some shit you can’t unsee in this mutha fucka.”

I walked back into the restroom, this time catching the scowl sitting on my face in the mirror. A few seconds later, Delilah appeared in the doorway, leaning against the frame with her hair falling over her shoulders.

I hated that her ass was still pretty as hell to me right now because she had pissed me off with that prowling shit. I do too much heinous shit for her to ever go through my phone.

“Amir, I’m sorry I looked in your phone,” she said softly.

“I wasn’t trying to invade your privacy, and you know I never did that before.”

“But you magically start today?”

“Not magically. Your phone chimed, and I picked it up and saw the name. And that made me jealous. I don’t like you talking to any other girls.”

I shook my head while sticking the towel under the water that had just gotten hot.

“Anyway, I had a new client sign up on the website last night. It’s another guy. A teenager, I believe.”

“Is that right?”

“Yeah, and I hate to admit that I’m excited about it, but I am. Children and teenagers with mental issues were my main focus in college. It’s the help that I wish to give.”

After washing my face, I finally turned around toward her.

“How long are you going to keep listening to other people’s problems when you've got so many of your own?”

“As long as Allah allows me to.”

I couldn’t argue with her reasoning because most of the time, Allah was mine too.

“Well, I hope you don’t let others stress you out so much that it hurts my seed. You already have a lot of shit on your plate as it is.”