Sisters Keeper

6

Sitting at the kitchen table Lucy helped herself to leftovers from the night's cookout. Finally getting another moment of alone time she reveled in the quietness of the house. Faintly she could hear the men and women of the neighborhood still outside. Her mind reminisced on the nights she and Jah spent ripping and running the exact streets outside her door. Who did he think he was attempting to buy his way back into her life? Lucy wondered if her new commitment to life on the straight and narrow to aspirational for her. She had been a criminal since she was sixteen years old. While other girls her age were standing at the window of the local fast food restaurants she was hitting the malls boosting the latest fashions to sell out of her locker the next day. Her little sister had more real-world experience than she did,  to be honest.

"Where Ryan!" Boo grunted snapping her out of her revelry.

In her mandatory anger management class Lucy Had learned to pick and choose her battles. When she decided to move in with Ryan she knew that with Boo this would be a needed skill.

"Auntie called and she had to go check on the baby," Lucy answered, focused on her food.

"Did she say if she was coming back or...."

Looking down at her food Lucy rolled her eyes. Picking up her chicken leg she took a large bite before she answered.

"She didn't say but I would assume you could call her and ask. I know I've been locked up but not long enough to not know what a phone is. Besides she went to check on your child it shouldn't matter."

"So you going back to slangin' or What?" Boo asked, taking a seat at the table across from her. Looking her up and down he appreciated the tone-ness of her muscles and the smooth chocolate of her skin. Prison had preserved Lucy making her come out looking better than she did when she went away. He had always had a fox and the grapes attitude towards Lucy. He knew she would never be with him. Before he had ever even gotten with Ryan she treated him like he was beneath her. He had met her the same day as Jah even spotted her first but she never so much as attempted to be his friend.

"Nah." She responded simply not looking at him directly. Boo always carried himself in an untrustworthy manner to her and she never felt at ease. Perceptive as always she noticed his eyes making their usual journey over her body. disgusted she frowned at him wishing he would find something else to do.

" You know you can't just stay here for free don't you?" He side attempting to get a rise out of her.

'' I ain't never had a problem paying my way. Can't say the same for you."

Lucy and Boo sat in a stare off with Lucy communicating her annoyance with him through her eyes. Breaking eye contact Boos stood up in defeat grabbing his shoes and keys. He wasn't about to stay and be disrespected in his own house.

"You still got a smart mouth, I see. Tell Ryan I'll be back." He said looking down at his silent cell phone.
"Where are you going this late at night Crispus ?" Lucy inquired suspiciously.

"I gotta go make something shake you know all of us can't be retired from the game ." He smirked at her sneakily walking out the door.

Exhaling Lucy realized she was officially alone for the first time in five years. Tears came to her eyes at the sound of privacy. looking around the apartment her heart filled with joy as she saw no cellmates or C.O's. Silently she again thanked God for his blessings. Getting up she turned on the small radio Ryan kept in the living room. Smiling as the fast-paced Whitney Houston song poured through the room Lucy began to move her body to the music. As she danced all her uncertainty about her life moving forward began to melt away. Singing offbeat she rocked her hips putting no thought into tomorrow. As the song began to wind to an end so did her epic moves. Walking into the bedroom she was to share with her niece Lucy began to take her time and go through the bags of clothing her sister and Jah had gotten for her. Smiling she saw that he remembered so much about her. Finally, she got to her last bag which was from Verizon. Going into it there was a rose gold iPhone with the plastic still on the screen. Mashing the power button she saw a message that had been previously sent.

Jah: When you get this give me a call.

"Give him a call!" Rolling her eyes to herself she tapped his contact prepared to officially set boundaries between them. Lucy couldn't believe that not even twenty-four hours out of lock-up she was having this conversation. In a perfect world, Lucy assumed that she would be able to successfully avoid Jah for months. There was no true reason for him to be breathing down her neck like he was doing. The moment they realized Lucy was going to have to do time Jah had pledged his undying love to her. He promised her he would be faithful and do all he could to ensure they remained together. When Lucy went in she believed that they would be together forever and had even been planning a wedding when she went in. Not wanting to rush her dream wedding or get married in prison she agreed with him to postpone until her release. Three years was her initial sentence and Jah had promised to ride it out with her until the end. Two years into her sentence Jah wrote less and answered the phone rarely. Lucy shook it off as a rough patch but in her heart, she knew something just wasn't right. If she had been out in the streets she could have just checked his phone or followed him around. Yet in this instance she was helpless. Ryan wasn't much help again with her wavering loyalty between Lucy and Jah. She was so in a fog with her drama that she would never give Lucy a real answer. Then there was the day Selena Latham was admitted into the prison. Selena was a professional credit card theft but frauding car loans is what got her sent to do time in the same FED as Lucy. Down on the block, Selena made no secret of her street ties purposely dropping Jah's name amongst the women. This woman that Lucy had only heard of in the streets told stories that described her man and the life she once lived to the letter. Hurt that she could be easily replaced she went to the phone to discern the truth from him directly. On the phone with him, she cut directly to the chase asking him about this woman who claimed to be his lover. Jah gave her a series of untrue answers that resulted in her fracturing Selena's occipital bone and gaining another year to her sentence.

The call connected between them and rang for a total of one second before she heard the methodical tone of his voice. Involuntary shivers ran through her body as her insides began to quake against her will.

"I've been waiting for you," Jah answered his phone knowing it could only be one person.

" I don't know why. You couldn't wait on me before." Lucy retorted attempting to mask the pain in her voice.

"Lou, chill on me. I missed you and I'm glad you're home ."

"Missed me?"

"Real shit, I did. How did you like all of your stuff." He attempted to soldier through her salty demeanor.

"You didn't miss me Jah."

"You don't know that.."
'I don't but Selena does ." She made the swift objection not wanting to be played with. She didn't call to rehash the past with him but she did want to use it to address the truth.

"That's old shit ."

"It's only old because you don't want to talk about it anymore. Which is something I expect from you ."

"Something you expect from me?" It was Now Jah's turn to be insulted by the direction of the current conversation.

"Lucy, I waited by the phone every day for you to call me so we could talk about this. I wrote you letters apologizing and even tried to explain myself when you would call Ryan. I don't know what else you want man but I ain't about to sit on the phone and kiss yo ass." He said exasperated with Lucy's cold and unforgiving ways.

Annoyed with him Lucy paused debating with herself if she was being too hard on him.

"Jah do you know what it's like to truly believe you know a person? Believe everything they say and honestly think that if there is anybody in this world you can trust it's them. I believed in you more than I believed in myself. You were my best friend Jah." Although her heart was internally breaking Lucy was surprised that not one tear fell from her eyes. She had waited two years for this moment to speak. While in prison she had taken all the love and hate she had for Jah and locked it away.

"I'm still your best friend." He said painfully. His tone carried a desperation that Lucy had never heard from him. Jah was a man's man always in control, never desperate. He carried himself with a power that made men twice his age give him respect.

"If that's the case then Jah you will have to prove it."