Loved By You

Fifty-one

Maja

I was sitting in the car as Angelo drove to a small diner to meet Dimitri and his girlfriend. "You okay?" Angelo asked. "Yeah," I said. "You sure? If you're not feeling up to this we can reschedule." He said. "I'm fine I just want this to go well. He's finally in a good space where he found someone he really likes. I don't want to be the one who stops that." I said. "Are you going to this restaurant with the intention of finding something wrong with her?" He asked. "No," I said. "Then that's all you can do. You have to remember that if you hold your tongue to protect Dimitri's feelings it may hurt Sami in the end and that's your top priority." He said. I looked at him as he spoke before I leaned over and kissed his cheek.

"You've matured so much," I said. "I had too." He said as we turned into the parking lot. "For you." He said looking over at me smiling. "You smooth, boo," I said. "Well, I try." He said as he helped me out the car. He handed me my crutches as we headed inside. We looked around before she saw Dimitri wave at her.

They walked towards him and he pulled her into a hug. "How are you feeling?" He asked. I chuckled. "I'm okay. I wish both of you would stop asking me if I'm okay. If I'm not I promise I'll let you both know." I said. Angelo and Dimitri both nodded before they greeted each other. Angelo helped me sit down while Dimitri held my crutches. I looked at the woman that sat across from and the smile on my face dropped a little. My eyes immediately went to her hair seeing she had box braids. I was having a flashback from college when I had to check Kandace. I glanced at Dimitri giving him a subtle look. He gave me a look basically telling me to not to do or say anything crazy. I mentally rolled my eyes. "Elaina?" Angelo said. I raised my eyebrow as I turned and looked at him. "Mr. Rossi, I mean Angelo," Elaina said. "How do you two know each other?" I asked looking at him as he and Dimitri both sat down. "She the temp whose covering for you at work," Angelo explained.

"I see," I said as the waiter came over. "Can I get your drinks or orders if you're ready?" He asked. We each placed our drink and food orders before we all fell silent. "So Elaina how did you and Dimitri meet?" I asked. "He did one of my tattoos and eventually he became my tattoo man. Then he ended up hiring me as a tattoo artist and a year of flirting and sexual tension later we made it official. We've been rocking with each other for while a year now." She said. I smiled. "Well if he's happy then I'm happy. You're okay with the fact that he has a kid? And he's best friends with his ex/mother of his child?" I asked. This looked flashed in her eyes but she quickly covered it. 

"Of course from the one time I saw her at the shop I could tell that the two of them have a great relationship. As for the relationship you two share Dimitri has made it clear that you two are just friends and parents. I respect the way you are able to co-parent, remain friends, and not let that come between your own personal relationships." She said, "I see," I said. "Are you good with kids? Do you like kids?" I asked. "Of course. I love kids. I actually used to take care of children at another temp job i had." She smiled.

"So has Angelo driven you crazy yet? Especially with all the work, he likes to pile on." I asked glancing at Angelo with a smile. "He's been pretty good so far. As for the workload, I haven't had any trouble keeping up. I think my skills speak for themselves." She said with a slight eyebrow raise. "uh huh." I said sipping my drink.

~

I had caught Elaina staring at me at least five times and I was starting to get annoyed. "Elaina this question may sound strange but are you okay with black people?" I asked. "Maja!" Dimitri snapped while Angelo laughed. "What? Stop acting like there aren't stories of non-black people getting with people with black children and they start doing crazy things to the kid. Then after something crazy happens it comes out that the significant other was a secret racist." I said causing both him and Elaina to look at me like I'm crazy. "So I need to know how she feels about black because Sami is half-black and if she comes home with even the slightest thing wrong I will catch a case and do time behind that little girl," I said looking from Dimitri to Elaina. "I have no problem with black people. Some of my closest friends are black." She said dead serious. "Really?" I asked looking from her to Dimitri. 

I had an office moment and I just looked off in the distance at an invisible camera before I looked at Angelo who was laughing. "You can't be serious," I said. "I'm ready to go," I said. I glanced over at Elaina to see her staring a hole in the side of my face. I able to put aside the hair, the attempts to relate with all the random cultural references and even the creepy staring. But that answer, she gave it was a nope for me.  "Maja you know she didn't mean it like that," Dimitri said. "So her showing up here with the braids and telling me she loves rap and the Obama comments. Then all the fucking staring and now the I have black friends so I can't be a racist answer. I don't want Sami anywhere near her." I said. 

"Maja you can't do that. She's my daughter too and if I want to bring Sami around Elaina I will." He said. "So what was all that shit you were saying about, 'if you don't feel comfortable with her around Sami then they won't meet'?" i asked. "That was when I thought you would give her a chance." He said. "Do you really want to try me on this? Do you want to have this fight with me?" I asked. "Do you want to try me on this? Do you really want to lose another daughter?" He said. My eyes widened in shock before tears welled up in my eyes. Dimitri looked at shocked he let those words slip out of his mouth. "Maja I...." "I'll meet you at the car." I said trying to hold back tears but my voice broke at the end. 

Angelo

Maja hadn't spoken a word since we left. I begged her to say something but she just stared at the tv. I decided to take a shower only to run out of the shower when I heard Maja scream. "What!? Maja are you okay?" I asked worried only to see her staring at the tv. "You can't be screaming like that," I said as I stood there naked dripping wet. "Look." She said pointing at the tv. "Breaking News: DA Andre Lewis has issued a press release stating that his office will be going after several men including former Governor Richard Carrisi's, son Christoph Carrisi. The charges include conspiracy to commit fraud, bribing a state official, sexual misconduct, and multiple counts of rape." The man on the tv said. "Lewis?" I questioned. "My uncle, on my dad's side." She said in a daze. "This must be what he meant when he said he would handle it." She mumbled.

She looked over at me doing a double take. "Why are you naked and wet?" She asked. I shook my head before going to get dressed when i heard her phone ring. "So he's going to be arrested?" I heard Maja ask. "They have him now?" She said. I leaned against the doorframe as I dried my hair listening to her talk. "Do I have too? Can't any of the other..." She sighed. "Okay, thank you, Uncle Dre." She said before she hung up. "That was my uncle." She said. "Christoph's been arrested." She said. "And he said as things proceed its very likely that I'll be called to testify." She said falling back into the pillow. I walked towards her sitting next to her. 

"I don't want everyone knowing what happened to me. Sami's going to be able to google this shit one day and that would break my heart." She said as her voice broke. "She'll see that her mother is a strong woman who helped take down a bunch of predators," I said. She looked at me. "We got this shawty," I said smiling which made her smile as I wiped a tear that fell. "We're going to be just fine," I said kissing her repeatedly. "After all this shit passes I'm going to need a vacation." She huffed which made the wheels in my head start spinning.

Follow. Like. Comment. Share