Crimes of Passion

Chapter 22

Yvette

I woke up feeling sore all over from last night. I stretched out my body allowing it to release some of the built up tension. I looked over to see that Amari was still fast asleep and snoring. I quietly laughed to myself remembering when I had first heard him snoring during the New York trip. I got up and walked to the fridge to get a glass of milk. As I got the milk from the fridge I heard the sound of jingling keys at the front door. I looked up to see Amari's mother Shirley walking through the door. 

Oddly enough, in the month that I had been living under her roof, I hadn't seen her once. Ms. Shirley was one hard working woman if I'd ever seen one. She reminded me of my mom. Both were so dedicated to their grind and their families.

"Good morning Ms. Shirley." I said catching her attention.

"Good morning Yvette. I'm sorry I haven't been around since you moved in, and I'm deeply sorry about your family baby. How have you been? Is my son taking good care of you?"

I laughed at her last question.

"It's okay, I know how hard you work at both your jobs. I've been good. It hurts, and it's hard, but Amari's done a great job at taking my mind of things and making me feel comfortable. Thank you so much for letting me stay here." I told her while pouring my drink.

"Good, I'm glad you're doing well. You tell me if Amari isn't acting right!" She laughed.

We continued our conversation while making breakfast. Ms. Shirley told me more about she and Amari's lives back in Chicago, and I told her more about my parent as well. It felt nice to talk to a female again, and a mother at that. I was enjoying our conversation until out no where Amari barged in the kitchen.

"Yvette, go get dressed." He demanded.

Ms. Shirley and I looked up as we were both caught off guard by Amari.

"Why? We were just making breakfast" I said.

"Sorry, X called and we have business to take care of. We need to leave here asap." He said sternly.

"Go on." Ms. Shirley said nudging my side.

I left the two of them talking and went off to freshen up and change my clothes. I changed into a white sleeveless crop top and black high waisted jeans with the bottoms cuffed. I left my hair down, allowing my curls to fall freely into whatever form they wanted. I added some gold stud earrings and a few swipes of mascara before walking out of the room. 

Amari and I our goodbyes to Shirley, and made our way downstairs where X was parked and waiting for us. I sat in the back, leaving the boys to talk about what was going on. I blanked out, ignoring their conversation as I scrolled through my phone. I decided to finally reply to the collection of  texts messages I had from my friends, starting with Aaliyah.

Most of the messages where where are you?, call me, where have you been, and so on. I had to be careful with my reply. I needed to let her know that I was okay, but a lot had changed. I debated what to write for a few minutes before sending my response; Hey Aaliyah, I'm really sorry that I've just disappeared. I've been with Amari, I'm okay, I'm safe and all. A lot of things have happened over the last  two months girl, it's a lot for me to take in and I'm still trying to adjust to what life is now.I saw all the messages from you, Kiara and Chanel, I just didn't know how to explain what was going on. I want to see you soon and I'll tell you everything, I promise. Love you.

I took a deep breath, hoping she'd reply to me. I knew Aaliyah was beyond pissed at me and until I explained to her what had been going on in my life, no apologies would be good enough.