AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Then what is it? Nothing you have said so far makes sense, and I know you. If you didn’t like this nigga you would talk to him bad every chance you got. With him, you seem almost shy. It’s cute!” she gushed.
“Naw, bahbee! I’m never shy. You just don’t understand.” I shook my head.
“Then make me. We are friends for a reason, right? But somehow, I always feel like I’m out of the loop with you two. Y’all know everything about me. If you don’t trust me, then why are we friends?” Her eyes were as serious as I’d ever seen them. Now she told me I was being shy, but that was her nickname for a reason. She was always soft-spoken before Priest. Now, sis’ had found her backbone, and it looked good on her. Plus she was right. The truth had to start somewhere. I was so afraid to lose everything. I looked over my shoulder to check that no one was coming, and when she saw my action, she moved closer to me in the bed.
“You know we left home but it was for a reason. I was in an abusive relationship back then. I was young and stupid. Ourmother was killed and we were left to our own devices. I found out Devin was cheating on me so we took a break. That’s how I met Maceo. He was a drug dealer, and I thought I hit the jackpot. He was taking care of me and my sister unknowingly, so when he started to hit me, I dealt with it.” Satisa’s eyes pooled with tears at my story, and I looked over my shoulder again. I didn’t even know how Nesha would feel about me telling this because we vowed not to tell a soul, but this shit was wearing on me. If I wanted to go anywhere with Prince, he would have to know too, so I guess I was calling this practice. “It got so bad one day. He was hitting on me, and Nesha tried to interfere. I remember being hit with something so hard over my damn head that I was so dizzy. Slipping in and out, I saw him pin Nesha to the ground and push her skirt up.”
“Oh my God. Did he?” Satisa gasped with her eyes closed and her hand on her chest.
“No! I stopped him before he could but we took all the money and ran. We had no place to go and we needed a start, and I have been on the run since. His father has been after us and we moved from state to state every time he popped up until we finally settled in Michigan. You see my hesitation now? Prince is rebuilding his life. He has been through so many hurdles, and I would be wrong to add that to him. He won’t stop until he finds us. I can’t allow Prince to get hurt. And there is so much more. What if?” I stopped short of finishing the story, telling myself it would be insensitive to talk about miscarriages at a time like this. I was scared about him learning my truth and feeling differently about me. The murder was a tough hill to climb, but not being able to bear this man's children, something every man wanted, was impossible. I couldn’t even speak it.
“How did you stop him?” Satisa said quietly and my lips just would not loosen. She laid her hand on top of mine.
“Prince is capable of making his own decisions. Lesha, I am so sorry. Come here, baby.” I don’t know how she had the strength after pushing out a human, but my best friend grabbed me so tight. She rocked back and forth with me in her arms.
“The way he treats me. I have never felt that before. The way he talks to me. I don’t even want to get used to it.”
“No, look at me. You deserve good things, Lesha. You are worthy of happiness. You have a Richards man, girl. They are a different tier than these other niggas you meet. Trust me, no matter what you did, especially in self-defense, its not a deal breaker.” She connected eyes to me, and automatically, I solved a mystery that was floating around about the death of her cousin. I wouldn’t press because it wasn’t her story to tell. I nodded, but I didn’t want to move. Her embrace felt too good. Being hugged genuinely by a friend, a sister, was what I needed.
“So what about you and Nesha? Y’all need to talk.”
“We will.”
“Are you okay?” As soon as the firm hands wrapped around my waist, I knew it was Prince. He sat me upright and made me look into his eyes. There was no way I could dry the tears in time. When the silence surrounded us too long, Satisa tried to help.
“We are just being girls in here.” She sniffed, and I caught that look Priest shot her. How the hell did they do that? It was like they knew when their woman wasn’t being honest.
“I should be getting discharged soon, but if you can, please stop by before y’all leave.” Satisa pushed the conversation forward.
“I’m sure we can try. Right, Prince?” I laid my hand on his chest, and he looked at it and then back at me.
“Yeah, we will. Let’s go.” He pulled me by the hand. It was like I could see the steam coming from him. He was gentle with me, but there was a distance in his hold.
“Where is Nesha and Chaz?” I asked as we walked down the hall.
“They started that arguing shit, and Priest told them to leave. He wasn’t having that shit around his kid.”
“I get it. I wanted to talk to her for a second before we left.”
He allowed my statement to hang in the air until we got to the car.
“So that’s what the problem is? Do you want to spend time with your sister? If you want to, all you have to do is say so. I don’t rule you, Le. I want your time, but I can understand if you want to spend time with her, especially since y’all are not seeing eye to eye right now.” His grip tightened on the steering wheel. Just like he could see through me, I could see through him. He knew it was something else, and even if I couldn’t tell the truth, I wasn’t going to lie to him.
“No. I want to see her so we can talk, but I am good with going with our plans. These last few weeks have been a blur, and spending some time together, which we planned this weekend to be anyway, is exactly what I want.”
I slid my hand onto his thigh, and I felt him ease an ounce. Shit, Prince was tough to crack.
“You hungry?”
“Not really,” I answered.
“We have plans for a little later, but I’ll pick something up so you can go back by the house and relax. Or you can take a nap if you want. I know that was two quick flights.”
“Oh, that must be code for you being tired, old man.” My joke fell flat when he forced a smile but didn’t respond. He passed me his phone, and I searched through it for which music to play. Nothing fit the mood, so I just put his Apple Music on shuffle.
The ride was mostly silent, other than the music. Once we stopped by Tony’s, he stepped inside and ordered us a meal. I wanted to shift the energy. I was so used to Prince being so loving and sweet toward me. He wasn’t mean in the least but I know it was me that was throwing the mood off. I stepped outside the car to stretch to my full height. I used the side mirror to make sure my face card was intact the way it should be. I only did a light beat on the flight over and it was still looking flawless.
Once he came out of the building with a bag in hand I greeted him with a wide smile.
