“I’m just shocked to see you out and about. You’re usually cooped up in the house or at work.”
“I know how to live life, Jakeem,” I snapped.
“I’m not saying you don’t, but compared to others, you ain’t out here in the streets.”
To me, that felt like a jab. Jakeem always complained about how I didn’t go out as much or how most of my life revolved around work and my mom. That was the reason for our separation. He felt I wasn’t living enough, and I always placedhim on the back burner. However, that wasn’t the case. During that time, I had a lot going on. It broke me knowing he used my current situation against me. I begged him to give me another chance and work things out, but he wasn’t hearing me. He packed up his belongings and left me grieving my mother and hating my job.
“Damn, I should’ve met you then, because now, you’re all in the streets,” Jabari interjected, coming up behind me, wrapping his arm around my shoulder.
Naturally, I curled up under him, and he kissed my forehead. I looked back at Jakeem, and the smirk he had on his face was replaced with a smug look. However, Jabari didn’t lose his cadence.
“What’s up, my man? I’m Amina’s man, Jabari.” He stuck his hand out.
I could see the hesitation on Jakeem’s face, but he still offered him his hand. “This is my fiancée, Moriah.”
“Nice to meet y’all. My baby never mentioned y’all before. Y’all work together or something?”
“She ain’t mention me?”
“Is she supposed to?” Jabari’s tone had shifted, and it was no longer friendly.
“Nah, she ain’t.”
I could tell Jakeem was embarrassed.
“Bet,” Jabari said. He looked over at me. “Baby, I haven’t gotten a credit card alert yet. You ain’t get your stuff?”
I shook my head, not even sure how to speak anymore.
Jabari looked at Jakeem and Moriah and laughed. “Amina’s so damn bashful. I told her to shop ’til she drops, but she ain’t shopped yet.”
Moriah looked at Jakeem and rolled her eyes.
“If y’all don’t mind, I’m going to take her and show her how to spoil herself... on my dime. You know, when you have awoman who puts others before herself, she deserves that. Don’t you think?”
I sensed the shade, and I was sure Jakeem did too.
“Ye-yeah, I’ll let y’all gone ’head. I’ll holla at you later, Amina.”
I didn’t reply. I rushed past them toward the back of the store. I was trying to process everything that had happened. My feelings were all over the place. I always thought about how I would react if I ever saw Jakeem again, yet here I was, freezing at his words and beginning to feel bad again about how I’d handled things.
Jabari walked up behind me and reached for my hand. “You good?”
I nodded.
“That was your ex, huh?”
“It was. I’m sorry about that. I?—”
Jabari held his hand up. “Don’t apologize. Are you good?”
I thought about it. I was no longer good. I felt uneasy. Jakeem had caused me to lose all the confidence I ever had in myself. I felt that everything I did in life was not good enough or too much. I ruined my last relationship due to issues in my personal life, and it’s possible that I could repeat the same mistake with Jabari. Jabari may say he didn’t care about everything I had going on, but Jakeem said the same thing, and look how it ended for me. I couldn’t help but feel uneasy now. Instead, I told Jabari I was good.
“I’m fine. Let me go find some more clothes, and then we can get out of here.”
He looked me up and down. “Are you sure?”
I kissed his lips instead of replying because I didn’t want to lie to him. I reached for a shirt behind him and held it up.
