Deliverance (Fem x Stem)

20

Teyanne Sully

Dallas. Not quite Houston, not quite any other large Texas city, but unique in its own way. It was a mixture of Hispanic culture, Black culture, and country-as-hell people. Lilliana and I had packed our shit up and sent it to the large city ahead of time, and now we were making the road trip we had agreed on across Texas to the city of the Cowboy's.

It should have been maybe under a three day drive, but she wanted to see everything. And I hadn't seen Lilliana happy in so long, so I couldn't deny her that happiness.

Lilliana slurped on a vanilla ice cream cone as we finally crossed into Dallas city limits. "Let Daddy get some," I smirked at her, then focused my eyes back on the road. "Nope. I told you to get your own and you were complaining about the diarrhea you had," she told me smartly. I rolled my eyes. "You sound like them niggas always askin fa some sugar," she then cackled.

"Shush," I rolled my eyes back.

"Do you really think that this could be a new start for us, Tey?" she asked me quietly.

The ice cream must be making her hyper.

"It's gonna have to be. You didn't tell nobody that we were going here right? I didn't tell my people."

"I didn't," Lilliana told me, relaxing back in her seat. "I feel like I just became an adult for some reason. Like," she sat up in her seat, "remember when we turned 18 and that exhilarating feeling of freedom washed over us. I feel like myself, and like I can do anything."

"Everyone deserves that feeling. I'm just tryna give it to you," I smiled at her.

"That sounds so...I don't know," Lilliana laughed.

"It's cause you dirty minded," I laughed back.

"That's untrue," Lilliana then pouted. We drove through the uneven roads and started approaching our destination. "Do you think you'll transfer to a college out here?" Lilliana asked me.

"Honestly, I'm thinking about going into a trade or something else. College just leaves a bad taste in my mouth for some reason," I joked. "I wonder why," Lilliana half joked back. "I'm thinking about just working my whole life. Why waste more years in school when that's where I've spent my whole life?" she asked me.

"It feels like life is all forced learning and work. Where's the fun with it?" I asked her numbly.

"I don't know, but I wanna find it."

We entered our new apartment and paused in the doorway. I looked around, taking in the small yet useful design of the place. The way the kitchen curved near the living room, the way the bedrooms weren't completely across from each other. It wasn't the best apartment, but I knew it was far better than the one Lilliana had scraped together in Houston, even if it wasn't as fancy as Roach house.

"I love it," she turned to me, hugging me tight.

I love you, I thought back, too embarrassed to say the words. Somewhere along the way to Dallas I had figured out that's what this unfamiliar feeling for Lilliana was. But I've already caused enough damage. I've been a player since I had emotions, and I don't want to damage Lilliana any further.

We got ourselves adjusted, opening up boxes and placing things where they should be. We had decided we would spend today and tomorrow setting the place up so that we could continue our job hunting we had started already.

"I'm thinking about applying to a fast food restaurant, but I know that a lot of people have had bad experiences with that," she mumbled, showing me an application for a fast food place out here.