Naomi Parker struggles to get through her last year of high school without her brother, Raymond, who has gone MIA. Raymond is the only one who can help her deal with their drug addicted mother. Because of the absence of Naomi's brother, Naomi finds...
I sat in my room, listening to "Hunny" by Ray BLK and painting. I had been listening to this song on repeat lately, trying to keep my mind off of Anthony. My phone buzzed, and I looked at the caller ID. Speaking of the devil...
Naaa, why you ain't been hitting me up?
I ignored it. I had been ignoring every text and call for three weeks, and he was still being persistent. After a minute or so, my phone began to ring. I hesitated before silencing it. Who am I kidding? Ignoring him wasn't even helping myself...I couldn't keep my mind off of him.
When I heard my phone ring for the second time, I took it as a sign from God to answer it.
"Hello..." I said into the phone.
"Na, why you been ignoring me? The hell did I do?" Anthony asked. He sounded agitated.
"Why do you think Anthony? You thought my brother wasn't gonna tell me?" I sassed. I was mad that he was still trying to keep up with his lie.
Anthony sighed. "Let me come over and explain everything to you."
"What is there to explain, Anthony? You had plenty of time to let me know...so what excuse could you possibly have?" I yelled into the phone.
"Please, just let me come over." Anthony pleaded.
I sucked my teeth. "Fine. Hurry up."
About ten minutes later, the door bell rang. I opened the door and lead Anthony into my room.
"What bullshit excuse are you about to tell me?" I asked him blandly.
"Na, I didn't wanna drag you into my mess...I thought it would be better if you didn't know that side of me." Anthony explained.
I scrunched up my face. "So how did you expect a relationship to happen between us if you're hiding secrets? Huh? You was just gonna keep living a double life?" I slapped my thigh in annoyance.
"Listen, if anything got real serious, I was gonna tell you. I just thought it wasn't necessary for you to know." Anthony ran his hands down his face.
"Really serious? I lost my virginity to you; how much more serious could it have gotten? This whole time, you knew about my brother...you knew how I felt about him being in the game. Yet, you still decided to keep it a secret that you're doing the same exact thing." I said. My chest hurt because I actually opened up to Anthony, and he betrayed me.
"I'm sorry, Na. This whole time away from you, I been thinking about you. I been thinking about how much I miss you and want to be with you. I won't mess up anymore, I swear. No more secrets." Anthony grabbed my hand trying to calm me down.
I sighed. I knew that I couldn't be mad at Anthony for too long since I'm not his girlfriend. This secret wasn't going to kill me, but of course I would have wanted to know earlier. But, everyone gets one fuck up, right? "I forgive you."
Anthony pulled me in for a hug and kissed my forehead. "Let me take you out to show you how sorry I am for hiding this from you."
I looked up at him, still in his embrace. My aggravation was slowly settling. "I have work."
Anthony sighed before letting me go. "Alright, what time?"
I looked at my phone. "In 30 minutes."
"Want a ride or you wanna walk there?" Anthony asked.
"I'll walk." I replied.
"Bet, guess I'm walking with you."
I changed into my work clothes before grabbing a small windbreaker. Anthony followed me out of the house. A small wind blew as we walked down the street.
"It's finally warming up. Before we know it, it'll be summer." I said cheerfully. Anthony and I walked beside each other with our hands intertwined. I couldn't lie and say I didn't miss being around him.
"Bugging. It be too damn hot in the summer." Anthony scrunched up his face.
"It be too damn cold in the winter." I stale faced him.
Anthony mushed my head, and I popped him on the arm. "Boy, stop playing with me!"
"You the one looking at me like you crazy." He shrugged nonchalantly.
"Shut up!"
After a few minutes, we were in front of the chicken shack.
"Have a nice day at work." Anthony hugged me and kissed me on the forehead.
"Hopefully." I walked into the building.
"Hey Steph!" I said once inside. Stephanie was restocking the cakes near the register.
"Hey, Naomi. How are you?"
"I'm good, you?"
"Same. How's Ray?" She asked.
"He's good."
I clocked in and stood behind the register, waiting for a customer to walk into the restaurant. At around 7:30 PM, I heard the bell above the door to the restaurant ring. I looked up from my phone and seen Key walking toward me.
"Hey, girl!" I said excited. I hadn't seen Key in months.
"Hey boo! I see you still holding it down here." She smiled.
"Yup, still getting my coin." I said, mocking her voice.
"Let me get the 10 piece wings with fries, and two pieces of cornbread." She said before pulling her wallet out her bag. She used her debit card to pay for the food.
"How you been?" I asked as we waited for her food.
"Real good, same ol' Key. I'm just sober now."
"Really? What made you stop?" I asked. I couldn't believe Key was done drinking and smoking.
"I'm eating for two now." She rubbed her belly.
"Oh my gosh, are you serious? Congratulations!" I said excitedly.
She laughed. "Thank you, I just found out. Got my first doctor's appointment tomorrow, actually."
"I'm happy for you!" I said before handing her the bag of food.
"Thank you. It was nice catching up, text me sometime." She said before walking towards the door.
"I will." I replied. Wow, I can't believe Key's pregnant.
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Ooooh, the tea is hottt!
Don't hate me for leaving y'all with this till Saturday!
