Heaven.

FORTY-FOUR

Malik's phone buzzed and he glanced down, expression shifting. "My mom's keep calling it's prob about my little cousins," he said already standing. "Imma step away real quick." He said giving me a side hug. "Go save the family," I smirked, waving him off. Temporary man, temporary problems. The second he disappeared I flopped back into my chair and opened Crazy 8's like it was oxygen.

Crazy 8's Chat

the queen 👸🏽💕
can y'all play fr or what

cupidifiedzi 😻
oh NOW she wanna be active

daofficialmylo 🔫💯
phone magically work again huh 💀

yofavbabymomma 😋
i give her 2 mins before she vanish

ayyooq
play.

Not "hey." Not nothing extra. Just play. I rolled my eyes and dropped my card.

the queen 👸🏽💕
damn bossy much 🙄

He immediately stacked on me. Draw two.

daofficialmylo 🔫💯
NAHHHHH he on her neck 😭

cupidifiedzi 😻
this game got personal fast

I sucked my teeth and drew my cards, glaring at my screen like he could feel it through the phone.

the queen 👸🏽💕
you're annoying.

ayyooq
win then.

Oh. Oh he feeling bold today.

the queen 👸🏽💕
watch yourself.

ayyooq
or what

daofficialmylo 🔫💯
OH BROTHER HERE WE GO 💀

cupidifiedzi 😻
y'all feel that??? tension thru the screen 😭

I ignored them and played an 8, switching it to blue. Strategic. Petty. Necessary.

the queen 👸🏽💕
your move.

He didn't hesitate. SKIP. My jaw dropped. "Oh he cheating cheating," I muttered to nobody.

yofavbabymomma 😋
LMAOOOOOOO

daofficialmylo 🔫💯
she ain't even get to breathe 😭

cupidifiedzi 😻
HE COOKING YOU

I finally got a turn and slammed down a draw two like I was throwing a brick.

the queen 👸🏽💕
there.

ayyooq
🙂 two can play at that game.

I actually sat up. "Nahhh." This lil nig got something up his sleeve oh brotherrrrr.

October 19, 2017

Cruise time is weird. Every day feels long but also fast at the same time. One minute we just boarded, next thing you know we more than halfway through and I still ain't tried half the food on this boat. Luckily I got 3 more days left so hopefully I can cram everything in those 3 days.

We were walking the lower deck, heading toward the little shopping area, when Tia suddenly grabbed my arm hard as hell. "Don't look. DON'T LOOK." So obviously... I looked.

Malik was posted by the railing, leaned in real close to some girl I ain't never seen before. She was laughing, hair flipping, whole body angled toward him like she auditioning for a rom-com. He said something, she hit his arm, both of them smiling like they been talking for a minute.

Dee gasped like she just witnessed a crime. "OH." Tia whipped her head back to me. "Girl..." I blinked once. Twice. "...What?" I look at them confused. "What you mean WHAT?" Dee whisper-yelled. "Your man over there giggling and sh—" Pause.

"Not my man," I cut in immediately, already walking again. "Y'all dramatic." They scrambled to catch up with me. "But he was just with you yesterday!" Tia insisted. "And he with her today," I shrugged. "This is a cruise, not a marriage certificate." Dee stared at my face like she was trying to detect a crack. "You not bothered? At all?"

I thought about it for a solid two seconds. "He cute," I said honestly. "That's about it." Which was true. Malik was fine, fun to talk to, cool to pass time with... but my heart wasn't doing gymnastics over that man. If anything, I was more amused than anything else.

Behind us, I heard Tia whisper, "She scary calm." Dee nodded. "Too calm." I spun around mid-walk. "If y'all don't come on, I'm going to the candy shop without you." Immediate priorities shifted.

"WAIT FOR ME," Tia yelled, sprinting past me. Dee took one last glance over her shoulder at Malik, then shook her head like she couldn't compute the situation and followed. I didn't look back. Not because I was hurt. I just... didn't care enough to.