Sick of the narrative that was being handed to me and the weight that was left to sit on every woman’s shoulders, I asked, “Why is that a thing?”
“Excuse me?” my aunt questioned, a wrinkle forming in the center of her forehead.
“Why is it that as women we have to constantly teach a man how to be a good man? Why does it seem like it’s okay for them to come into a relationship any old kind of way?”
“I’m not saying that.”
Kendra nodded. “Actually, Mama, that’s exactly what you’re saying. If you need me to sum it up for you, I will. You’re pretty much telling us that our main goal in life is to push a man to be a better man—some shit that he should want to do on his own, by the way—and put up with whatever just so we can say we have a husband.”
Nicolette threw up her hands. “Oh, God! Stop with all of the dramatics. Bottom line, marriage isn’t for the weak. If you’re the type that quits easily, you won’t last. So, if you want to be a quitter, Nova, and potentially be alone for the rest of your life, then do what you do.”
Pissed I sprung up from the table. “Fuck you, Nicolette. If choosing myself over being in a toxic ass marriage makes me a quitter, then fine. I have no desire to train a man on how to love me, and I’m definitely not going to sit around and smile while he gets another bitch pregnant.”
Holding up her hands Aunt Patricia said, “Okay, okay…let’s table this conversation so we can eat.”
“No thank you,” I quickly replied. “I lost my appetite.”
I could hear my aunt calling after me as I hurried towards the house. I needed to leave, and since Jayson was running his mouth in front of the gate, I was forced to go inside and use the front door.
As soon as I closed the sliding door behind me, I heard it open and shut again. I didn’t even have to turn around to know who it was.
Stopping, I spun around, “Are you here to give me the divorce papers that you’ve signed?”
He sighed. “I already told you that I’m not doing that.”
“Then we have nothing to talk about.”
“Nova, please. You can’t keep avoiding me.”
“Watch me.” I turned away from him and stormed out of the front door. But before getting in the car, I made sure to yell, “Whenever you do sign them, don’t bother trying to talk to me. Just toss that shit in front of the door and keep it moving.”
That was all I had to say.
Hopefully, he took note of my request and did just that.
8
Don
Today was starting much better than it had ended the day before. After my run-in with Aunie, I was definitely on edge. The only thing I could focus on was making sure my mom and Dakota were good. But, according to my mother, she’d only received one phone call from Aunie while at the aquarium, and she didn’t even bother to answer it. So, all drama had been avoided. At least, for now.
“I can’t wait for you to see the inside of this place,” Nova said while standing outside of the white brick building that housed her candles. “It’s so perfect, and it’s so much bigger than the space I had before.”
“I can’t wait. You’ve told me so much about it.”
“Yeah, I know. But words don’t even do this place enough justice,” she said as she led me inside.
The moment I stepped beyond the heavy steel door, I understood what had her so excited. The entire room was white with matching shelving, giving it a pristine workshop look. There wasn’t a window in sight, but the bright lights made up for that.
I couldn’t do anything but stand in the middle of the floor and smile. Nova had done the damn thing. Not only was the place massive and perfect for everything she was trying to do, it felt legit as hell. It was like looking at a fancy workspace on some network TV show.
“Damn, this is nice. I’m proud as hell of you.”
“Thank you. I appreciate that.”
Unable to resist showing her some more love, I pulled her into a hug.
The second I felt her body against mine, my eyes closed, and for a moment, I forgot that a friendship was the only thing we shared. She smelled like vanilla, which didn’t come as much of a surprise since that’s the scent she’d been working on all day. The entire warehouse smelled like vanilla.
