Her Last

Cʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ Sᴇᴠᴇɴ

I drove Ron's car back to his place and had breakfast with my momma. About 5 minutes later I got a call from Ron.

"Wassup?" I asked.

"He got his daughter with him..." he sighed.

"Shit!" I semi-yelled. "Pussy ass nigga using her as a shield."

"So what now?" Ron asked.

"Fuck you mean what now? Bring ya ass home you know we don't bring kids into this shit." I said.

"No shit but how the fuck we gonna get him?"

I let out a sigh, "We gon figure somethin out. This need more planning anyway. Get home na, this food good as hell."

"Ight we be there in a few." he said.

Momma side eyed me. "You puttin a lot of hot sauce on them eggs." She pointed out.

"Cause it taste good, ma." I said dumping maple syrup on my bacon and pancakes.

"Mhmm." she said walking to the kitchen.

Ron and Vito came back to the house about 30 minutes later.

It was a slow day. Not much was going on but I kept myself occupied in order to keep my mind off of Ken. It's like every time I was left alone with my thoughts he would consume them. I was playing dominos with the boys and ma when my phone rang.

Incoming FaceTime from Janet 🤍

I hadn't heard from her since that night momma cooked for us.

"Hey girlyyy," she beamed.

"Hey booo," I replied less perkily than her.

She asked me the typical things you ask someone who isn't in such a good place. "How you feelin?", "Did you eat?", "You sleep last night?", blah blah blah. Don't get me wrong I appreciate it but hearing it for like 4 days straight just reminds me of what I lost.

"Well I'm glad to hear baby," she started after I answered he later question. "Anyway, J gave me some money sooo I wanna take you out. Well actually it was his idea, but ion wanna give him credit. Oh, and I'm not takin no fa an answer. So yeah. You gon be ready by 12?"

I rolled my eyes and laughed, "Yeah ima be ready. Thanks girl."

"No problem, sis." she smiled back.

I told everyone bye then hopped in her car. We hugged then headed to the mall. I hadn't been in months. Not since Ken took me shopping in December.

•••

(Flashback)

"Why you so stubborn, ma?" he whined.

"How you mad at me cause ion want some shoes?" I asked. "They jus so ugly to me."

"Who don't like Jordan's?" He giggled.

I rolled my eyes and walked to the checkout counter. He rolled his eyes and followed me.

He put his stuff on the counter and half-greeted the cashier. I caught him staring at me when I went to correct him. One thing my momma never played about was manners.

"Boo, answer them!" I coaxed. "Sorry about him." I apologized to the worker.

He corrected his mistake then continued staring at me.

After what felt like forever, we headed out of the store and went to the food court for some Cinnnabon.

"Why you keep lookin at me?" I asked shyly.

"Ion know, you jus look so fuckin' good." He replied licking his lower lip.

I swear if I was white my cheeks would have been red. I loved how in love with me he was, cause I was so deeply in love with him.

•••

We hopped out her car and headed in. My first stop was the apple store so I could get a new phone. Not that I would get rid of Ken's phone, but I wanted it to be in the same state he left it in.

I got the iPhone 12 Pro Max to match his like he was convincing me to do. I didn't want to at first because it was too damn big, but since I'd been using his phone I had gotten used to it. I decided to spoil myself with a case too cause why not?

After that stop, Janet took me to the Gucci store. I wasn't that interested in name brands but she wanted to go and I didn't have a problem with it. She begged me to let her buy me something and after 15 minutes of antagonization, I let her. She bought me some tan slides with burgundy Gs and soles and a case for my new phone. 

We hit a couple more places. Nike for some hoodies, a jewelry store for a rope chain and some anklets, random clothing stores, and of course I had to get some crocs. I got an orange pair cause it was his favorite color and some charms that said LLK, a heart, and other charms that reminded me of him. I know it's corny but I didn't care.

Before we headed out I got some Cinnabon. I got his usual order as a tribute. A caramel pecan center of the roll with a frozen strawberry lemonade. I smiled to myself remembering how I would always tease him cause of how gross it sounded to eat those things together.

I thanked the cashier for my food and walked with Janet to the car. The drive gone was filled with comfortable silence while I set up my phone, snacked on my food and listened to her playlist.

"Be easy na, baby," Janet said as she was exiting the door after helping me bring my bags in.

"I will, thanks so much for today. I really appreciate you." I said before hugging her.

"It's no problem at all," she said hugging me back. "I'll see ya later, okay?"

"Aight. Text me when you get home." I said waving her off as she did the same.

I didn't realize before, but I felt nauseous as hell. Probably because of the snack I just ate. "Told his ass it was a shitty combination." I thought. 

I walked around the house looking for my momma to ask her what I should do about my stomach ache.

She laughed at me, "Girl, you are too grown to be runnin to me fa this."

"Ma, I'm serious!" I laughed back.

"Come here imma make you some ginger tea, baby."

While she was making my tea, I sat down with Ron while he was playing his game with Vic. She brought it to me and I thanked her.

A couple hours passed and everyone was thinking about dinner.

"Some Panda?" Vic suggested.

"Ew," I blurted out. "Just thinkin about that makin my stomach sick." I finished as I scrunched up my face.

The boys looked at me confused.

"What?" I asked.

"You love Chinese food." Vic started.  "Das why I suggested it."

"And you always bullyin us into gettin it." Ron chimed in.

"Well ion want it right now." I thought for a second. "What about some Indian?"

"Ight bet," Vic said. We started searching for some restaurants nearby.

We finally found a place after about 10 minutes of looking. We doordashed the order cause I didn't feel like going out again.

I got a notification from my phone.

"Damn they quick as hell." I said thinking it was a message from our driver.

1 (386) 638-8364: Hey T, it's Kiana. I know it's been a while please call me when you get a chance.

My stomach dropped.