Fault

Chapter 4

The weather was perfect! People filled the blocked-off streets with unmatched liveliness, pride, and energy for the Puerto Rican heritage. I was so glad I decided to come out because man o' man, the energy was contagious and there were so many fine ass men to choose from. As we approached the park, we decided to walk around first to see the sights before we settled into a spot to chill and drink.

After several hours, the group decided to split up, but Leah and I continued to do our thing. During that time, I managed to give a few noteworthy men my number. However, I felt a little awkward and judged after one guy asked me if the Lil' Jamal was my baby when he started to fuss. Although Leah had control of the stroller, at fifteen she looked too young to be somebody's mother, I guess.

"It's gettin' dark out here beautiful, why don't you take that baby inside?" He said slurring his words. Evidently, he must've had one too many drinks, since he was talkin' to me crazy.

"Don't worry about this one here," I snapped. "Who are you to tell somebody to go home anyway?"

"My bad shorty, chill on that," he remarked defensively as he walked away. Maybe I wasn't ready to jump into the dating scene as I'd thought.

"Why did I even give this fool my number?" I uttered to myself. I knew for a fact he probably wouldn't be calling me now, or maybe I was just wishing he wouldn't at that point.

Annoyed wasn't a strong enough word to describe how I felt after that encounter. The audacity of this fool to tell me how to parent my child! Even though I certainly wasn't the only person there with a kid, his words were enough to kill my vibe— it was time to go!

Instead of going back to my grandmother's house, my cousin Leah and I decided to walk home since the stroll was similar in distance between both places. We were pleasantly surprised to run into my Aunt Tionna (who I lived with) and older cousin Esha, who was walking in the same direction.

"Ma! Esha! what are y'all two doin' out here!" Leah exclaimed, even though it was obvious.

"Minding my business honey," my aunt laughed sarcastically.

"Mmhmm, you're probably out here trying to steal somebody's husband," I accused with a chuckle. She rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at me, but never denied it.

We began exchanging stories about the festival, as we continued onward toward the house, which was about five blocks away. I was eager to tell her about the numbers that I had collected during my time there. Suddenly, a deep voice from behind us chimed in on the conversation. We weren't entirely clear as to whether he was intentionally speaking to us or not until he brazenly repeated his statement again.

"I said, but you didn't get mine yet though," the voice announced.

We all turned around out of curiosity. To my surprise, it was a tall, chiseled, fine, and mysterious dark chocolate man. Did I mention he was fine? Time seemed to stop for a moment while I processed what had actually transpired. It was apparent that he meant what he said, after all, he was staring me directly in the eye— I was shook!