Falling For Rome

by Edwina Fort

  “Alright, break that up. There are shawtys present.” Rob said from his little stool where he sat painting a little girl’s face to resemble a bunny.

  Oh y’all, did I tell you guys how wonderfully amazing my man is?

  He was so generous and giving. As we speak, I am standing here at an end of the school year block party that he’s put on for the last five years for the kids in the neighborhood. There were free food and games, carnival rides and live entertainment from local artists.

  But what was super amazing were the grade booths.

  There was a booth for C’s, one for B’s, and a booth for A’s. The kids stood in the lines holding their report cards and baskets to hold all their goodies. For each C, they received little small gifts like balls, jump ropes, paper and pens, back packs and stuff like that.

  For B’s, the prizes got a little better, brand name gym shoes, sports hats, bikes…

  The A booth offered even better gifts…Play stations, laptops, I-pads…

  Nossa!

  If someone had done this for me when I was a kid, I would have gotten better grades than I did. You can see the excitement on their little faces as they collected their end of the year treasures, rewarding them for all of their hard work.

  But it was the straight A booth that took the cake. Rome manned this booth himself. He looked over each report card and talked to each child individually about their goals and how they felt about their accomplishments. You can tell he really cares about them. And their little faces while they talk to him are priceless.

  He’s really making a difference in their lives.

  When he’s done talking to them, he hands them an envelope. From what I’ve seen, the envelopes have different things in them. For example, he gave the seniors vouchers for scholarships funded by him and a few of his clients (his words) for the college of their choice.

  And for some of the younger children, vouchers to attend whatever summer programs they were interested in that will help them continue to head towards their goals.

  Amazing!!!

  He is a real hero.

  Just imagine what could happen to the world if more people had hearts like his. If more people had the pay it forward mentality.

  He made me look at myself. I was thinking about changing some things about me.

  First, I think it may be a good idea for me to read the Bible. I just wanted to start at the beginning and work my way through to the end. I’d found his and was amazed at all the notes and marks I saw in it. He wasn’t lying about studying it thoroughly.

  For the last few years, I’ve been having this feeling that something else is calling me. It’s this feeling that there is a shift in the air. Times are changing. I can’t really explain it. But when I read some of Rome’s scriptural notes, I felt…

  I felt that the answer as to who I am, what my purpose is, and even why my life has gone the way it has is there in that book. And I want to know the truth.

  I need to know the truth…

  Next, I was going to try and find a way to pay it forward. I don’t know what purpose God has for me, but I feel that he has something he wants me to do, and I’m going to search for it.

  Rome is inspiring. Just like he does all these children, he makes me want to be a better person. He makes me want to search out my true potential and live up to it.

  I turned to head toward the truck, but Rob stopped me.

  “Hey sis, I have something for you.” He reached down next to him and pulled out a brown parcel.

  “Don’t open until you leave.” He muttered, clearly embarrassed at having given me a gift. Smiling, I leaned down and kissed his cheek. One day, like his big brother, he was going to make someone a very good man.

  I gave Rome, whose straight A booth was in the same area as his brother’s another kiss.

  “I’ll be right back.” He grabbed my hand…more like clutched it to him.

  “Promise?”

  Something about his tone and the way he was clutching my hand caused the smile to disappear from my face a little.

  “Of course…” I told him, confused at his sudden clingy behavior. I rubbed away the frown that was on his brow. “What’s the matter, crazy man?”

  “I just…” He paused for a minute searching for the words. “I just want you to know that no matter what happens, I will never give you up. I can’t let you go, Nak.”

  Smiling I leaned down and kissed him again. “No worries, Mue Rei. If we truly belong together, nothing can separate us.”

  ********

  [Fifteen minutes later…]

  When I was a little girl, my mother would play Bonnie Raitt’s Storm Warning on repeat, mourning for my father. I could never understand why she couldn’t let him go. At the time, my mother was the prettiest woman I’d ever seen. Men would go out of their way to get her attention.

  But her heart belonged to another. It belonged to someone who could never appreciate it, someone who didn’t deserve it.

  I hated my mother for not seeing that. I hated her for not being strong enough to survive without his love.

  I hated her… because I was not good enough.

  I was never good enough, just a constant reminder of a love she’ll never have, but that her soul craved.

  I chuckled without any humor. It was so easy for me to sit on my high horse and judge my mom, because before now, I’d never allowed myself to love...

  Before now… I’d never gotten my heart broken.

  As I stood in front of Rome’s computer staring at a file that said Joseph Law, I acknowledged the fact that this was my fault. I knew better. It didn’t matter what he told me with his mouth, I knew better.

  Hadn’t my father told my mother he loved her? Hadn’t he made her feel special?

  Lies!!!

  All Lies!!!

  With hands that shook, I clicked on the file that Rome had so obviously left here for me to see and tons of information flooded the screen, all the information the Sarge had sent me here to get, but I couldn’t see it. The only thing I could see through tears that I refused to let fall was that Rome had decided to test me.

  “I test everybody I don’t trust.”

  My heart hardened as I eased down in his chair.

  I had been such a fool!

  How could I have allowed myself to believe in a f***ing fairy tale?

  I knew better! I f***ing knew better!!!

  I will not be weak like my mother…I will not!

  I am not my f***ing mother!!!!

  Ha! There my hypocritical a** go judging her again.

  I’ll tell you what I mean.

  Over the last couple of weeks, Rome hasn’t been sleeping. He’s been looking into gene manipulation. Because I knew he won’t sleep if he can’t talk out his thoughts, I’ve tried to talk to him about it, asking him what he had discovered that had him so enthralled to the point that he was fervently going back and forward between his massive wall library and his computer.

  But he would only give me vague answers before distracting me with his drugging kisses that would eventually turn into his drugging love making that always left my body deliciously depleted.

  It was easy for me to look past the fact that I’d been here over two months on my own accord, intentionally not doing anything that will make me look suspicious, because I wanted him to know that I really cared for him and would never betray him, not even for Jo, who I’d known most of my life. Yet he still refused to discuss certain things with me.

  Hmmmm… I guess I’m my mother’s daughter after all, because I’d just let that slide off of me, convincing myself that it didn’t matter. Convincing myself that he wasn’t talking to me about what was going on in his head was because he was still trying to work it out, and not because he didn’t trust me.

  I balled up my fists as the tears fell. He’d told me he loved me, and I believed him. Even though everything within warned against it, I allowed myself
to love him back.

  I clutched my stomach feeling sick. I am so damn stupid?

  He’d set me up…He’d set it up so that I would be here in the loft in front of his cameras with the information he’d found about Jo.

  He was testing me to see if my words were true. He was testing me to see if I meant it when I told him I loved him, which means all this time, he’d not believed me.

  Didn’t he know what it took to confess my love to him? Didn’t he know how I’d had to break myself to change enough to love him?

  What hurt so much is that it never crossed my mind to test him…because I trusted him. He told me he loved me and I believed him.

  I am my mother’s daughter!

  Rage built up in me to a blinding point, but I didn’t let it show. My escape defenses had been triggered. You see, I was at a point where a lot of women find themselves; it’s the first real time their lover hurts them.

  Now I could ignore this, like I’d done him shutting me out. But then, where does it end? I’m sure Happy asked herself that question before her baby died, but she chose to ignore it until it was too late.

  I’m sure my mom asked herself that question and she too chose to ignore it…

  Not me…Once was enough!

  He showed me how he felt about me and now I was getting ready to show him what I felt about his feelings.

  I will never forgive him for hurting me…And I will never give him a chance to hurt me again.

  Period!

  In a way I’m glad this happened. Before I met him, I knew what needed to be done. I had my future all mapped out. I had everything in place. But then, I did something dumb like falling in love and had been more than willing to flush years of planning down the toilet.

  I continued to search through the files, because not to would look suspicious, and I wasn’t quite ready to alert him to my plans yet.

  Although, I wasn’t looking at Jo’s information; I wouldn’t do what Rome is expecting me to do, which is betray him, no matter what he thinks of me. His words before I left the block party came back to me.

  “I will never let you go…”

  I grinned; no doubt he really thought he could keep me when I didn’t want to be kept.

  “What do we have here?” I muttered when I came upon some much needed information. Although my ankle bracelets were not explosives, he was tracking me through them, which is why he felt confident sending me back here by myself. There was also a tracking device in Giant’s collar.

  But now that I’d found this information, my window for escape had narrowed. He can see what I’m looking at on his computer. I set my watch for three minutes…It will take him at least seven to make it to me…

  All I needed was three…

  Romeo, my dear Romeo…Chess champion of the world you may be. But even champions play the wrong move sometimes.

  Rome

  I watched her as she stood in front of the computer looking at the information I’d left for her. I had to know for sure if she was down for me. I was ready to put my ring on her finger… But I needed to know that she will not betray me for Joseph’s punk a**.

  She is the only person to ever see my guilt. Nobody, not even my mother knew I suffered from it. The fact that she can see the real me was a miracle. And I knew I will never find somebody like her again. For the first time in my life I felt whole, and I knew it was because of her. She was my other half, I hate to sound corny, but…

  She completed me… I need to make her mine.

  I was on some selfish sh*t too, because I wanted all of her. Not just her beautiful body, I wanted her mind, her soul…

  Her loyalty.

  I needed her to say f*** Jo and roll with me.

  I needed to own all of her…

  She eased down in the chair clicking through the file. I changed my phone to a split screen pulling up my computer monitor so that I could see what she was looking at.

  Over the last couple of weeks, the intell on what’s going on with Jo has really been spilling in. I’m afraid I may have opened Pandora’s Box.

  This thing was huge…Jo thought he was the only child, but he wasn’t. He had four other siblings. He and all his siblings had been a part of some kind of government experiment. Y’all remember when I told you that cat was a super soldier?

  Little did I know when I said that, that he really is a super soldier, he and all his siblings. It’s wild, this well goes very deep, and I’m still trudging through it to see just how deep.

  I think my sister and my niece may be in danger, but I didn’t know for sure and I wasn’t going to make a move until I did. But what was the crazy part about all this is that I had no idea of how I was going to tell Jo, who had no idea he was a f***ing government experiment.

  Over the last few days, Nak had been trying to talk to me about it, and I didn’t know if she was doing it trying to get intell or if she really cared. I wanted to talk to her, because she understands me like nobody else…but it’s been hard.

  After today, I will know for sure. I’ve given her all the tools she needs to betray me, the information Jo originally sought. An empty building, so that she won’t feel pressured to do the right thing because my men are there…even the keys to my truck.

  I was honest with her that I will never let her go. Even if she does betray me, I will get her back. I don’t care if I can’t trust her, I just need her next to me. I’m addicted to the feel of her in my space. To have it different is not an option.

  I had tracking devices in the truck, her ankle bracelets, and Giant’s collar. There was no where she can go that I will not come for her…

  Nowhere…

  I frowned down at the screen, she wasn’t looking through Jo’s information. In fact, she was going somewhere she shouldn’t be.

  “F***!” I hissed when I saw that she was looking at her tracking devices. “Rob! Let me get the keys to your car.”

  “Is everything alright?” He asked tossing me his keys. But I didn’t answer, I was already half way across the parking lot.

  “Nak, what you doing, baby?” I asked, speaking into my phone that was now coming through the speaker inside my house.

  She didn’t answer, she just continued to quickly throw a few items into the bag that I’d bought her, looking down at her watch as she went.

  “Baby, talk to me!” I tried again as I jumped in Rob’s car starting it.

  “Mutha F***A!” I yelled hitting the steering wheel.

  The parking lot was jammed with touch and go traffic.

  “Nak, wait for me, I can explain.” I told her as she removed the golden charm bracelet I’d given her from her wrist. One of the charms on the bracelet was the key to the golden ankle cuffs with my tracking device in them. Squatting down she quickly used it to remove the cuffs from her ankles.

  She was moving like she was on a mission, quickly and meticulously.

  “Baby, please!!!” I cried when she bent down and scooped up Giant, removing the collar from around his neck…seconds later, she was out the door.

  I tried to think of who I could call who was not at the block party. Whose a** she wouldn’t kick. The only person I could think of was Hitta, but there was no telling where he was.

  “Mutha f***A!!!!” I yelled hitting the steering wheel again and again.

  I can’t believe this was happening. I can’t believe I had miscalculated like this.

  By the time I got out the parking lot, my truck was moving fast. I sent the truck’s location to Rob and Hannibal’s phone, telling them to follow us.

  She had about a seven-minute head start on me and was moving fast. But she didn’t know the city like I did. She was heading toward the e-way.

  I cut down a few alleys to avoid some of the traffic…I would catch her before she got to the expressway.

  However, the dot on my truck stopped moving and I frowned, trying to figure out why. When I made it to the location where it stopped,
the only thing I could do was sit there and stare in shock.

  My truck sat still running with the door open, but it was surrounded on all sides by people. Instead of going to the express way like I’d thought, she brought the truck to a stop and exited at the busiest f***ing train station on the Westside of Chicago.

  It had to be at least a thousand people getting on and off the trains that were pulling in and out of the station. I got out of the car and tried my best to spot her in the crowd.

  But even I knew that was a waste of my f***ing time. Nak was a f***ing spy, she could blend into a crowd like a f***ing shadow blending in with the night.

  Needing to let out my rage, I turned to my truck and kicked the door closed.

  “Mutha F***a!!!!”

  To Be Continued…

  How could a man as smart as Rome make such a fatal mistake? And didn’t the man with no shoes warn him? SMH…if only he’d not been so proud and listened. Well…You guys tune in for part 2 to find out whether or not this brotha will be able to find his wild gal…

  Also be looking for Hitta’s Teamaker, a Law Boy Spin Off…Coming soon

  Peace!

  Coming May 10, 2019

  Note From Edwina Fort

  Thank you guys so much for reading Falling For Rome, please join my mailing list so that you can stay abreast of all the new and fun things we have going…Like the Love Chronicles.

  The Love Chronicles are free love stories that are my gift to you for being so awesome! A new episode is added every week. Right now, we are reading Sweetest Revenge: Monica & Kaleb’s Tale. You guys don’t want to miss this!

  Also, if you enjoyed Falling For Rome, please leave me a comment HERE letting me know what you think. Your thoughts matter to me and I would looooovvvveeeee the feedback.

  The free stories in the Love Chronicles will also answer many questions some of you have about mysterious characters. Those who follow my work, know that there are only 360 degrees of separation. Each story adds another piece to the puzzle.