The Kick Back

Family Ties

After my conversation with Mike, I headed home. I was tired and the last thing that I wanted to do was entertain anymore bullshit. As I walked towards the house, I noticed someone was sitting on the porch. I was curious and wondered if it was one of Gabby's friends waiting on her. "Hey!" I called out to whoever it was. I approached them slowly and carefully. The closer I got, the more I recognized the face. It was Stephanie...and I was more than shocked to see her sitting there, waiting on me. Being in my neighborhood at that time of night wasn't a good idea and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't concerned about her safety.

"What are you doin here?" I asked her. She looked up at me and sighed. "We need to talk." she replied. I didn't feel like having the conversation at that point in time but it had to happen eventually. Besides, she had come all that way and endangered herself, the least I could've done was talk to her. "Come inside." I told her, walking past her and into the house. She reluctantly followed behind me. Walking into the house, all eyes were on us. My Mom and Dad stared at us for a moment before opening their mouths to make a comment.

"Antonio...what the hell?" My father asked, unable to come up with anything else to say. Both of them wondered if I had lost my mind, but neither one could find it in themselves to say it. I was irritated with the rift in the community, the rift in my home, I was tired and I didn't care what they thought. "Look, I'm not gonna talk about this with you guys right now. I just need to talk to my friend so make sure y'all give us some privacy and y'all aren't listening at the door." I snapped. Neither one of them said anything. I headed to my bedroom and Stephanie started following behind me. She waved at them and all she could say was, "Hi." They both gave her a partial wave and she made her way into my bedroom behind me. "Your son..." my father said to my Mom. She shook her head and then they continued the conversation they were having before we had walked in.

I took my hoodie off and hung it up on my closet door. I sat down on my desk while Stephanie took a seat on my bed. "I wanted to talk to you about everything. Me and Mike..." she started, before being interrupted by me. "...I don't wanna hear about you and Mike. Whatever y'all got goin on, it's not my business." I told her. She became a little frustrated, and then replied, "There's nothing goin on between me and Mike. We're friends and that's all it is and all it's ever been. I miss you, Antonio. I can't help that." she confessed. I had been longing to hear those words but something in me didn't allow me to get too excited. I looked at the way she had changed, from her look, to her attitude. I didn't wanna interfere with her growth process. She seemed happier than she had ever been with me. It seemed like things were better left alone.

"i miss you too. But we both know we don't need to be together. It's a big headache and it puts both of us at too much risk. I don't care how things are changin at school. The streets ain't changed too much. I don't wanna put you through that no more. As much as I love you, I can't do that. You finally gettin your life together and I'm happy to see that. I would love to be with you, but it's not the right time." I told her. She seemed to ignore everything that I had said. She approached me and I backed up, it surprised me and scared me at the same time. I gave her a crazy look and then she smiled.

"Don't be afraid..." she said, moving closer again. I started to back up again but she grabbed my shirt and pulled my body to hers. "I love you....I don't care about anything else, baby..." she said, pulling me even closer, making the most intense eye contact I had ever encountered. "Yeah?" I asked her, wanting to know that she was absolutely sure. "Yeah..." she responded, finally pulling my face to hers and planting a kiss on my lips. That energy that we had shared was back, as I felt a spark and then an intense feeling running throughout my body. We engaged in a passionate kiss for about two minutes before I had enough strength to pull back. "I have to think about some things." I told her. She sighed and then stepped back. "Because of Maria, right?" she asked. I was sick and tired of people asking about Maria or assuming that we were together because we weren't.

"Maria is a friend and she ain't got anything to do with us. I just don't wanna jump back into it. I'm still not really over what happened. I love you, I want you...but I'm not ready." I confessed. She grabbed her purse and stormed out of my bedroom. I stood in my room until I heard the front door open and slam shut. That's when I decided that it was safe to walk out into the living area. Boy was I wrong. My parents were still sitting there, waiting on some kind of explanation as to why I had brought one of 'them" into our home.

"Now that you've talked to her, we need to talk to you..." My Pops said, staring a hole into me. It was going to be a long ass night...