They both took off down the hallway laughing.
“Hey, Ever. Your mom tells me it’s a possibility that clown might be aware of your whereabouts,” James said to me, the concern obvious on his aging skin.
“It’s possible, but I’m not sure yet. If he does, he will surface soon. I just hope that isn’t the case.”
“Me either but if he come fucking with us, I’m going to gladly put a bullet in his ass like I’ve always wanted to.”
“I don’t condone violence, but please do. He has no business even near y’all’s house.”
“I was thinking that we should all get restraining orders against him.”
“That ain’t shit but a piece of paper. I got something to restrain his ass.”
“Oh Lord,” my mother complained.
“What? I’m just telling it like it is.”
“He’s right,” I agreed. “I’m going to talk to Luca about everything tonight and we will go from there. I’ll call you guys in the morning before you’re off to work, James.”
“You ain’t got to call me. I know what I’m gone do to his ass. Ole ain’t shit ass nigga. Ain’t worth a damn. God probably ashamed of niggas like him. Just running around causing helllike it’s nobody’s business, but now it’s my business. It’s mine, now.”
I’d known James long enough to know that he’d be at it for a minute. I wouldn’t wait around for him to finish his tantrum. The girls and I were going to head to the door as soon as they returned. I nibbled at my ice cream until they did.
By the time we made it to the truck, I was almost finished with it. Though I hated eating in the car, I couldn’t stand the thought of tossing it so I didn’t. Both Emorey and Essence had finished theirs before coming outside. For that, I was thankful.
“You girls buckled in and ready to go?” I looked in my rearview mirror at their smiling faces and asked.
“Yes, ma’am,” Essence responded.
“Yup,” Emorey replied.
Of course, she was the ruthless one. She didn’t care what came out of her little mouth. Though I wanted to let her have it sometimes, I loved her spunk. She was the feistiest of the two, and I lived for her shenanigans sometimes. Tonight was one of those times.
“Alright. Let’s go.”
I’d always loved my mother’s neighborhood. It wasn’t the one I’d grown up in, but it still felt like home. Years before I moved away from Channing, she and James had purchased their home. Their block was extremely quiet and had some of the most beautiful, middle-class dwellings in all of Channing.
How you ain’t say you was moving forward?
Honesty hurts when you’re getting older.
I gotta say I’ll miss the way you need me
Yeaaaaaa
I sang along to SZA’s “20 Something” as I tried clearing my head of the millions of thoughts that were flowing through it. I felt like I’d had the day from hell, and I honestly just wanted it to be over already. Luca was at my home ready to make amends,and I couldn’t wait until he swallowed me with his warm embrace and love.
I’d apologize until I turned blue in the face to show him just how sorry I really was. I had projected my bullshit onto him without warning, which was so unfair. Seeing Scar had thrown me completely off my square, and I had yet to recover when everything with Emorey went down. I needed to explain that to Luca. That and everything else that was happening in my world at the moment.
How you ain’t say you were getting bored?
Beep.
The familiar beeping sounded in the background, causing me to look up on my dashboard and at my gas hand. I cringed at the thought of stopping by the gas station, but I refused to chance the twenty miles that were left in my tank. My apartment was sixteen miles away. There was no way I was testing the mileage or playing so closely to a disastrous end. I’d needed gas on the way to my mother’s, but assumed I’d leave early enough to stop sooner.
We were nearing the expressway and almost out of the neighborhood, which meant there would be gas stations galore. Turn for turn, my eyes darted between the road and the gas mileage. Though it had barely changed because we hadn’t even made it far enough, I still kept an eye on it. I didn’t want any surprises.
Finally, out of the neighborhood, we stumbled upon three gas stations. The task wasn’t finding one. It was choosing one. I decided on the closest and on the same side that we were on and pulled into the parking lot. I pulled up to one of the pumps closest to the gas station entrance and slid out with my card already in my hand.
