by Sequaia
“I wasn’t making a joke.” She sucked her teeth.
“It sounded like it, Aúrea, especially because I already told you that Brittney wasn’t my girlfriend. What reason do I have to lie to you? You know what? It’s coo’. We can drop that for now. I can show you better than I can tell you.”
“If you say so.”
“I do say so. You know you scared the shit out of me, right?”
“You told me,” she giggled.
“That supposed to be funny?”
“A little.”
“So, what’s the reason you’re not trying to stay with me?”
“It’s nothing against you, Prentice. Honestly. My entire time in L.A. was spent with me living with someone. Then I got caught up in some stuff when I knew better. I came home to say my goodbyes, and I had no intention of staying longer than doing that. But now that I’m considering staying, I need to make my own way, and I need you to respect that, please. I just want someone to let me take care of myself on my own, for once. I can do it.”
As hard as it was for me to agree with what she was asking, I guess I had no choice. I could give her what she wanted for now, but I wouldn’t make it easy for her to be so distant as I had when she left.
“So while you were gone, and I was trippin’, I realized I don’t have your phone number, and you don’t have mine.”
“I don’t have a phone. Well, I have one, but it’s not turned on. It only works on Wi-Fi.”
“Is that by choice, or you can’t get one?” I hoped I didn’t sound like an asshole. I knew she just came into some money, and since I never expected her to pay for anything while with me, I wasn’t sure if she had a nickel to her name.
“A little of both, honestly. Before I left, my phone was cut off, and I needed to figure out my next move before deciding to get a new phone.”
“I want to get you a phone.”
“Prentice, no.”
“It’s not up for debate, Aúrea. Tomorrow, we’re going to get you a phone, all right?”
“Fine.” She rolled her eyes, sitting back with her arms folded across her breasts.
* * *
“Choose any phone you want,” I told Aúrea as we stepped into the Verizon store. I planned to get her a phone, adding her to my phone plan, but I decided against it, realizing that she didn’t want me getting her a phone anyway. To make her feel better, I would get whatever phone she wanted and put it in her name.
“Hi, I’m Erica. Do you know what phone you and your sister are shopping for?” The customer service rep kept her eyes on me, and her attraction to me was evident, which was why she called herself throwing a dig at Aúrea. We damn sure did not look like we could be related.
“Whatever phone I get, yo’ ass surely won’t be selling it to me,” Aúrea spoke up, standing in front of me.
“Uh, I-I’m sorry,” the girl stuttered, and I shook my head.
“I bet. You called yourself throwing a shot to get at him, and, honey, you’re not even his type,” Aúrea told her before walking off to look at the phones. I wasn’t crazy, so I carried my ass on behind her.
It didn’t take her long to choose a phone, and I stood to the side while a different associate helped her set it up.
“Thank you, Prentice.”
“You’re welcome. Now, dial my phone so that we have each other’s number.”
“I don’t know your number,” she confessed, laughing while handing her phone to me. I dialed my number, allowing it to ring a few times before locking her new number in.
“Why didn’t you save your number?” she asked me.
“Wanted to give you the option to lock me in under whatever name you wanted to lock me in as.”
“What did you save me under?” she questioned with a raised brow.
I grinned before shrugging, and she rolled her eyes as we both let out a light chuckle. We made our way to my car, and as soon as she was seated, she got on her phone.
“Nah-Jii,” she sang into the phone. “It’s me. You know who this is, so quit playing. No one else better be calling you, Nah-Jii. That’s reserved for me and me only,” she said to whoever she was speaking with.
I turned the music on low so that it didn’t disturb her conversation, just loud enough so that my eavesdropping wasn’t obvious.
“Everything is going pretty good. Really? You want to come out here with me?” she asked like she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“Yes, I would love that. When can you come? Okay, I’ll see you then. I’ll call you when I get to Prentice’s house, and then we can discuss everything. Okay, love you too.” She ended the call.
“You hungry?” I asked, now that I was sure she was done with her phone call.
“Sure.”
My phone rang, and I noticed it was Brittney. At first, I wasn’t going to answer because I didn’t want to be bothered with her ass. But I decided now was a better time than any.
“What’s up?” I answered.
“Now you answer?” she yelled into the phone, clearly irritated. I noticed Aúrea looking at me from the corner of my eye.
“What do you want, Brittney?” I spoke her name because I wanted Aúrea to be sure it was her on the phone.
“Are you really just going to throw away what we had?” she whined.
“And what did we have, Brit? Were we in a relationship? Are you or were you my girlfriend?”
Waiting for Brittney’s answer, I cut my eyes at Aúrea to see if she was paying attention, and she was. She also looked a little jealous, which made me glad.
“No, but—”
“There are no buts, Brittney. You and I weren’t, nor are we, in a relationship.” I blew out a frustrated breath. “Listen, Brittney. It’s time we go our separate ways. I won’t call you anymore, and you don’t have to call me, cool?” I asked, even though I knew she wasn’t cool with the shit.
“No, I’m not okay with that because you’re not trying to give us a real chance.”
“I’m out of chances to give, Brit. Have a nice life. You’re a good girl. You’ll find someone who’s right for you. It just ain’t me, ma.” I hung up the phone, not bothering to hear anything else she had to say. She couldn’t change my mind, and going back and forth wasn’t something I was about to do.
“Did you really have to handle her like she was yesterday’s trash?” Aúrea questioned, breaking the silence. With my brows furrowed, I turned to look at her, confused.
“How did I handle her like that?”
“If you don’t know, Prentice, then there’s nothing for me to explain to you. Just know you could have been nicer.”
“You believe me now?”
“Yes, I believe you, Prentice,” she laughed.
“And now you’re moving in with me?”
“Don’t push it,” she told me, turning to look back out of the window.
I would let her have that. One thing she didn’t know about this new Prentice was when I put my mind to something, I wouldn’t stop until I got it.
20
Aúrea
So much had happened since I first met with Patricia at her lawyer’s three weeks ago. Now, as I signed the last document in the batch of papers in front of me, I asked the notary, “Is this all that’s left?”
“Yes, the house is officially sold.” She smiled, taking the papers from me, stacking them neatly before putting them inside her brown briefcase. We were sitting at the dining room table of my new condo.
“Okay, thank you,” I said as the two of us stood, and I walked her to the front door. Locking the door behind her, I turned around with my back against it and looked at my new home—my home. The walls were a light grey. The floors were grey tile, which looked like hardwood. My living room was spacious and right in front of the open kitchen. My kitchen is one of my favorite parts of the place outside of my bedroom. The cabinets were white marble, the backsplash grey and silver. I wasn’t a big cooker; however, I knew I would be making many meals in here with me h
aving this kitchen. All my appliances were stainless steel, courtesy of Prentice, who I begged not to purchase me anything, but, of course, he wouldn’t listen. The only reason I quit fighting him on it was that it was my way of giving into something he wanted since I moved out of his place, and he didn’t want me to leave.
A week after I left the law office, my check was ready. I deposited it in the bank and began the hunt for a place to live. I liked the area Prentice lived in, but from what I could tell, there were only houses in that neighborhood, and I wasn’t quite ready for a house yet. To my surprise, there was an area for condominiums and townhomes around the corner from his home, and that’s where I ended up.
I’d only been here a week, and already it was fully furnished. Prentice was here every day. He was truly amazing and surprisingly hadn’t pressured me for anything outside of trying to make me live with him. A part of me began to wonder if he found me attractive. I mean, he always called me beautiful, yet he hadn’t tried to kiss me, sleep with me—nothing romantic at all. That was one of the other reasons I decided to move out of his home. I was starting to feel more like a woman he felt needed saving than a woman he could see himself in a relationship with, and it was not sitting well with me. Not that I wanted to be in a relationship with him or anyone else for that matter; still, it did something to my self-esteem that he didn’t even try to push up on me in any way.
Walking over to the dining room table, I picked up my copies of the paperwork and headed upstairs to my home office. My condo had three bedrooms, and I used one for an office and the other for a guestroom. My home office was decorated yellow and white. I know it wasn’t the traditional route of colors for a home office, but I always wanted to feel alive when I walked inside the room. I wanted it to make me feel energetic and ready, and since the sun was yellow and indicated the start of a new day, I went with that color. I opened the file cabinet and placed the papers inside before removing a medium-sized, rectangular, brown box.
I took the box, walked over to my white, generic, marbled desk, and sat down. I opened the box, pulling the contents out. Inside were my birth certificate and a photo of my birth mother and me. Her name was Aundrea Shepard. The area that was to include my father’s name was blank. His identity would forever be a mystery. I looked at my mother’s photo and could tell she was young when she had me, maybe 16 or 17 years old. Still, she was gorgeous, and I favored her a lot. We were both the color of butterscotch, with slanted eyes, pouty lips, and a button nose, with thick, curly hair. Two weeks ago, I picked this box up from Patricia and Von’s house, even taking a few items from my old room that I left behind. I was shocked to see they left my room exactly how I left it that day, even down to my messy bed. The room was dusty as hell, which told me no one had been in there since the day I left, I assumed.
Anyway, I got everything out of there, including this box, sold the home, and donated the large items to women’s shelters and the Salvation Army. When I retrieved the box of my birth certificate and photo of my mom, I was pissed at Patricia all over again, as well as emotional. She had all this information about where I came from and didn’t tell me. I got over the anger quickly, though, because at least now, I had the knowledge and the option to decide what I was going to do with it. At the moment, I was going to let sleeping dogs lie. If Patricia fostered me at my mother’s request, she knew where I was, and she hadn’t reached out, so why should I?
The loud ringing of my cell phone captured my attention, and I rushed out of the room toward it.
“Hello.”
“So, are you picking me up from the airport or what?” Nijah practically yelled in my ear.
“No. I would love to, but I have to work. Can you Uber here? I’ll pay for it.” I felt horrible. I wouldn’t be able to greet my best friend properly when she made it into town. I just started my new job, and I couldn’t get the time off. Well, I probably could, but I didn’t want to look like the employee who was already asking for favors.
“Sure. Am I coming to your job or what? Because how am I supposed to get in your home?”
“I’ll leave the key so that you can let yourself inside. I have a flowerpot right outside of my door. It’s also a key holder. I’ll text you the code, and you’ll be able to get in.”
“Cool, well, my flight gets in around 8:00 p.m., so I’ll see you when you get home,” she said excitedly, and I can’t lie. I was getting just as excited as her. We went from seeing each other every day to it being over a month since we last saw each other.
“Love you. See you later.” I ended the call and started getting ready for work. I still had a few hours to spare, but I was so happy about all the good things happening for me now that I looked forward to going to work. I was working part time at a local café which stayed open ’til 1:00 a.m. Friday through Sunday. Tonight, I was working the seven to eleven shift. Working wasn’t something I had to do, especially since I inherited some cash and sold the house and cars, gaining me more money. Still, I knew that money wouldn’t last forever, and since I wasn’t the type to just sit in the house all day and had experience as a waitress, the café worked for me.
“This isn’t nobody but Prentice,” I snickered while rolling my eyes at the sound of my doorbell. I headed downstairs, opening my front door to see him standing there looking sexy as hell. He wore a pair of distressed dark blue jeans that hung off his hips just a little, held in place by a Hermès belt. The navy-blue T-shirt he wore had the Hermès symbol on the left side, while on his feet, he wore a fresh pair of high-top navy Air Force Ones. Prentice always looked like money when he stepped out.
“What are you doing here, Prentice?” I asked as if I were bothered by his presence, even though that was far from the truth. I’d gone from seeing him and being around him every day when living with him, and I was having a hard time adjusting to the change. I was adjusting, though.
“Man, I can come over here as much as I want. If you stopped acting like a stranger and brought yo’ ass around the corner to my spot, I wouldn’t have to keep poppin’ up over here.”
He walked inside, brushing past me, and I swear I felt my nipples harden. Closing and locking the door, I took a seat across from him on my sofa.
“It’s only been a week since I moved out; plus, you’ve been here every day since then.”
“You got a problem with it?” His brows furrowed.
“Would it matter if I did?” With my arms folded across my chest, I gave him the same look.
“Nope.”
“Of course, it wouldn’t,” I mocked, shaking my head.
“What have you planned today besides going to work?”
“Well, nothing outside of my friend Nijah coming into town.”
“That’s what’s up, I guess.”
“You guess?”
“Yeah, I mean, I was used to being your only company, and now, you have a friend other than me,” he spoke as if he were sad.
“I didn’t say you couldn’t stop by just because she’s here, Prentice.”
“Oh, I know that. You couldn’t keep me away even if you had a little boyfriend coming around.”
“Whoa. Don’t go that far. I’m not even interested in having a boyfriend right now.” At least, I thought I wasn’t. Maybe if it were him trying to be my boyfriend, I would consider a relationship.
“That’s good to know. Look, I came over here because I wanted to take you out to celebrate. I know I gave you a hard time about moving out and shit, but I’m proud of you. You got your own spot, a job, and you really doing good for yourself. Most of all, I’m happy that you’re doing all of that here, with me close by. You could’ve dipped again, and you didn’t. That means more to me than you’ll ever know.”
I looked at him and smiled. Prentice was amazing. The growth I saw in him every day since I got back made me appreciate our time apart. Had I stuck around, maybe he wouldn’t have become this man. And the way he’s made me feel every day since I’ve been around him would have been tragic not to ex
perience him the way he is right now.
“When are we going to celebrate? I have to work, and then I’ll have company.”
“Right now. Go get dressed. You can even wear your work uniform, and I’ll drop you off at work afterward.”
“If you drop me off, how am I supposed to get home, Prentice?”
He gave me a look that said, “Quit fuckin’ playing with me.” I laughed before taking my ass upstairs to get dressed.
I had no idea where we were going, and I didn’t want to wear my uniform out, so instead, I threw on a cute romper and brought my uniform along. I could change at work or wherever we were. Today, he was driving his Range Rover, and I swear it was my favorite of all his cars. He was currently letting me use his Tesla since I hadn’t purchased a car of my own yet. That was one thing I wasn’t in a rush to do. After driving his Tesla every day, there was no way I was looking forward to buying a car that I could afford, and that damn sure wasn’t a Tesla or a Range Rover. My money could get me a used BMW, maybe, and it would be at least three years old. So I was going to keep using his car until he decided he wanted to take it back.
“Where are we going?” I asked, looking out of the window.
It still amazed me how our hometown had developed. Well, this side of town anyway. The hood hadn’t been touched.
“Just ride.”
Doing as he told me, I sat back in my seat and rode, listening to the music he played. Prentice’s choice of music was always the same. He only rode to rap but only one rapper at a time. Today’s rapper was Lil Wayne, and The Carter III was his album of choice. I didn’t complain because this was one of my favorite Wayne albums as well.
When he pulled into the parking lot of our local zoo, I smiled. Not a place I expected him to bring me.
“You remember our first time here?” he asked.
“Yeah.” I laughed at the memory. I had been standing with my back to the glass, and a tiger damn near broke the glass to get to me. Well, I’m exaggerating, of course. The glass barely moved. Still, it was enough to scare the shit out of me, and I was done with the zoo after that.
