Tainted Memories (GxG)

4

Destiny's POV

The sun shone through the window behind me to gaze at the screen of my laptop and I sighed tilting the device slightly to dispose of the intrusive glare as I leaned back in the chair, hating the tension in my body that my everyday responsibilities had caused.

I was silently counting down the seconds until I could leave as a yawn left my exhausted body. If it was a regular day I would have already been home enjoying my second glass of wine while my roommate Aliyah gathered the events of her day to gift them to me but since I had arrived late today I was left to catch up.

I had decided to place half of the blame on Mesi whose addictive and interesting conversation caused time to slip away, and the other half on me who sat in the chair seemingly compelled by the woman for hours.

I was waiting for her to initiate a romantic gesture for the majority of the time I spent with her since I could sense her hidden attraction for me, but she never made a move to step across the line of friendship much to my dismay and I had guessed that her relationship with my sister was the cause.

But on the other hand, I was also grateful she didn't since I was still closeted when it came to my family despite me coming out numerous times and I wasn't mentally or emotionally strong enough to embark on that journey once again especially when I was still at war with the internalized homophobia that years in a religious household had blessed me with.

-

Two Days Later

Samantha's POV

The regret in my system increased with each second we spent in the neighbourhood as I continued walking down the street with Ackeem by my side. The changes I missed out on and the people who I barely recognized aided the depressive state I was falling into as he pushed open the gate to the house I once spent my days in.

"Ms Tammy guess who?" He asked as we stepped in while my hand moved to the small gate to push it close. Her dry garden a foreign sight since it was always well kept before my time served.

I watched as Ms Tammy's gaze stayed on me as we moved up the small stairs, and the second realisation flashed in her eyes, I was left to release a smile.

"Samantha," She called out happily before standing up slowly and I moved to meet her to accept her loving hug that felt like a piece of home.

"Look at you all grown up," She voiced as I pulled away with a smile. The love I had for the woman was overwhelming since she was the parent I never had growing up, she taught me how to love myself when the world around me had me convinced that I was God's greatest mistake, the woman practically raised me.

"You hungry?" She asked.

"No, I'm okay,"

"I got some leftovers, come inside," She replied, ignoring my response and I smiled while Ackeem and I followed her inside.

"What's up with the garden mama?" I asked while gazing around her house that remained the same and the fact brought me slight peace.

"I had a stroke a couple of months back, so I don't really have the strength to care for it anymore but my daughter said she's going to get somebody to take care of it next month," She replied, and the hurt in her voice made me frown since I knew how much that garden meant to her.

"I can stop by and tend to it since I'm free most days," I offered, hoping she would agree since I was home most days because I barely got accepted for job interviews due to my conviction.

I had also grown to hate the silence since the lack of noise suddenly became suffocating to my thought busy mind.

"I would love that," She accepted gleefully and I smiled while stepping into the kitchen watching as she moved around the area slowly.

"You mentioned your daughter earlier, is she visiting?" I asked, remembering how she used to tell me stories back in the days about how she had to send her daughter to live with her father. I never met the girl but it felt as if I had known for years since sometimes she was all Ms Tammy talked about.

"No she actually moved here after my stroke," She replied and a wave of sadness suddenly rushed over me at the thought that I could've lost her while I was locked up.

"Ms Tammy let me get the food," I said since her cautious steps only served to worry me.

"Baby I'm fine just have a seat,"

"I know you are but I want to hear more stories of what you've been up to, so sit and talk," I told her with a smile since I knew the woman's biggest fear was growing old and not being able to take care of herself and because of that, I was very selective when it came to my response.

"Okay baby," She replied, moving to sit down as my gaze moved over to Ackeem who was on his phone.

"Why did you come if you were gonna be on your phone the whole time?" I asked him and he smiled, lifting his gaze to look at me.

"These kids nowadays that's all they do," Ms Tammy mumbled disappointedly as I opened the refrigerator.

-