A Story To Tell | Book 2

.51.

:::CHRIS:::

Keira smelt just like honeysuckles. Something I haven't smelt in a real long time since I was about six years old, maybe. And the smell just brought back a lot of memories of when me, Lesley, and Gabby used to roam the garden in our Grandma Mederi's backyard.

    We used to pick the honeysuckle plants and suck the juice out of them. Grandma Mederi would find out and wanna beat our asses because we went messing around in her garden. We would always lie and tell her that animals get through the fence and eat them right off the stems. Of course, to us, we were just little liars. Her little liars. She'd threaten us with ass whippings all day long but never would lift a finger.

    Just getting a whiff of Keira made me want to do some things to her. Thinking about sucking all of the juice from the honeysuckle had me wanting to suck up all of her juice...if you know what I mean.

    Gently, I moved closer to her as her eyes were closed, the sun shining off of her skin from through the blinds. She was so beautiful and at peace when she was asleep. This was the reason why I didn't want to leave her side. She just looked so harmless. She slept as if her dreams were the most peaceful. And hell, it probably was. Her real life was chaotic and she had a crazy ass mother who'd called the police on me and falsely accused me of assault. This girl's life was just all kinds of fucked up. But, none of that is her fault. She was born into it.

    I wrapped my arms around Keira's petite frame and pulled her closer into me. Her eyes gently opened and she smiled at me, wrapping her arms around me and burying her face into my chest. I thought that she was going to fall back to sleep like that, but she lift her head up a little and moved it away from my chest while she still held me. I looked down at her and our eyes instantly connected.

    "Chris, are you really gonna move back to Georgia?"

    I really didn't want to talk about this shit. But I knew that either way, I was going to have to face it. Yea, I'm grown and all of that, but Maritza and Roland are still my mom and dad. I had to respect that. And they were more so worried about my safety more than I am. And if that cured their consciousness, then I had to do it.

    "As much as I really don't want to, baby, I have to." I confess to her.   

    "But, what about me and Yasmin? Where will we go?" She asked me, sounding worried and unfortunate. I closed my eyes a bit and thought about the talk that I had with Vanessa at the funeral.

    Vanessa wasn't so damn easy to convince, but I really hoped some magic happened and she'd just come to me and tell me that she had some time to think and she'd be more than willing to help Keira and take her in. I wanted to try and work something out for Keira and Yasmin before I leave, but I was out of options and names.

    "I don't wanna think about that right now." I tell her, hoping she'd just drop the discussion right where I tried to leave it. Keira sighed.

    "Well, we're going to have to talk about it soon. A month isn't a very long time to make a decision like this one. And it's me and my daughter who's going to be out there homeless when you leave." Keira sounded a little aggravated.

    "I understand what you're saying, Keira and believe me...I'm working on something." I tell her, not trying to let out everything. I damn sure didn't want to know that I talked to Vanessa about taking her in.

    "How?" Keira asked with this suspicious look on her face.

    "Don't worry about it, just know that I got you. Don't stress it." I gave her a smile, trying to lighten up the mood. To my surprise, she smiled back and buried her face into my chest again.