After Class (Janet and Aaliyah)

Chapter 57

Acacia

"Where's my baby?" I heard Aaliyah calling through the house about 10 minutes after I'd gotten off the phone with her. I was in the kitchen, cooking some salmon when I heard her at the front door. It made me smile instantly, and I turned my pan down to greet her. As she came into view, I noticed her stare going right past me and into my living room where Cairo was playing with his toys. I should have known.

  "Hi, cutie!" She rushed to him and he immediately got excited. She picked him up in his arms and gave him a kiss on his head, proceeding with mushy baby talk. I cleared my throat obnoxiously, waiting for her to turn around. She finally looked over her shoulder at me, but that was it.  "Oh, hey, Teach... How's my little Cairo Man? How's my—"

  "Absolutely not." My jaw dropped as I approached her and took the dog out of her arms, setting him back on the ground. He only pounced at our legs. I grabbed one of her shoulders to make her face me square, and gave her a long, disapproving gaze with a cocked eyebrow until she finally broke into a smile.

  "Hello, Acacia Lee King. Come here." She pulled me into her by my waist and gave me a longing, slow kiss as she squeezed my behind in the process. "I'm just saving the best for last."

  "That's what I thought," I managed while she continued with shorter, sweeter ones.

  "How are you, baby?" She smacked my ass, making me bite my lip to hide my blush.

  "Don't you ever come in here with that bullshit again, do you hear me?" I shoved a pointer finger in her chest before turning to go back to the kitchen. Aaliyah laughed.

  "I got exactly what I wanted. That reaction was priceless. What's for dinner? You? I like these little shorts you got on, smelling all good..." She came up behind me again while I checked on the fish, feeling me up once more.

   "Stop, now! No. Salmon and asparagus."

  "Then dessert?" She kissed the nape of my neck. It gave me chills the way it always did, and she knew that. "Acacia with whipped cream on top?"

  I laughed. "Go sit down. Tell me what happened today." She flipped some of my hair up in the back before retreating to the barstools at the island.

"You would not believe it, man. First it was my mama, then—"

  "Hold on. What time is it?"

  "6:30."

  "You need to be back in your house by 7:30 at the latest. I'm serious." I turned around to look at her, and she rolled her eyes.

  "Acacia, it's fine! Don't worry."

  "You've been cutting it close the last few days with her, and somebody's gotta make sure you're alive for graduation. That's all."

  "It's fine. She does this all the time. She won't be up for another 2 hours easily."

  "You better hope so."

  "Anyway, she just came out the cut with all this shit about how I spend too much time out, she wants me to stay home more and help out..."

I thought about it. Between her friends, me and her job, I would guess that she was probably home about three nights out of the week. I could understand her worry and concern, but from what I also understood, their house wasn't too much of a home. 

  "And what did you say?" I took the filets off the fire and checked on the asparagus in the oven.

  "That I don't want to, basically. There's no reason for me to be there."