SAVAGE

19

"Candace sent over the files, Ray." Malcolm spoke into the phone as he held a cup of warm coffee. His large hand was protected by the sleeve, cloaked around it. He casually sipped on his hot coffee as he made his way out of the coffeehouse.

"I'm looking at them right now as we speak." Raymond replied while rubbing his clean-shaven face. He sat in his living room with his MacBook propped in front of him.

Apparently, Malcolm needed a lawyer. A badass one at that. Some kid was in jail for a murder he didn't commit. Blah, blah, blah. Raymond was used to these kinds of cases. He dealt with them-a lot and he'd won every single case. This one wouldn't be any different.

"I'll get right on it."

"Thanks, man." Malcolm sighed while dropping down in the seat of his Jaguar. He knew that Raymond wouldn't have a problem taking the case. "Contact the suspect's sister. Her information is included, Essence Williams."

After he ended the call with his grandmother's motormouth boyfriend, he used his thumb to guide him to a specific contact. Bingo! Once he found it, he tapped on the call icon and brought the phone up to his ear.

"You have reached the voicemail box of-"

Malcolm frowned while pulling the phone from his ear. Instead of overreacting. He decided to call the number again, hoping he would get through.

Ringggg, ringggg, ringggg.

"You have reached-"

He tossed his phone in the cup holder. Malcolm had insane speculations going through his mind as he pressed on his gas pedal. Instead of staying focused on his mission, he was overthinking about Jersey and the many, possible reasons why she didn't answer her phone, twice.

"Shit, I'm tripping." He said to himself while coming to a halt. He sat there at the red light, trying to get himself together. He didn't need to be overthinking shit at all. Jersey didn't owe him shit. They weren't together, so he couldn't tell her when and when not to answer her phone.

His phone started ringing, which caught his attention. Malcolm reached over to grab it and immediately became disinterested in who was calling.

Tilly.

He didn't understand why she was calling him. From what he could understand, she no longer wanted to see him anymore. They were over and she was moving on with her life.

Instead of stalling, he decided to answer it. He brought the phone up to his ear but didn't speak.

"Malcolm...." Tilly called out with a bit of nervousness. He could tell it took a lot for her to call him. Her voice was shaky, which meant she was indecisive on what she wanted to say next.

"What you calling me for?" Malcolm asked, with such a solemn tone. He didn't have time to play with Tilly. He had other shit to do.

"I..." she trailed off, still not able to make conversation. "I thought about us and... I think I'm willing to wait."

He furrowed his eyebrows while licking his natural, brown lips. "Wait? Wait on what?"

"On you." She continued while swallowing her spit. "I know that you're still young and trying to figure everything out. I know that one day you'll want to settle down and... I'm willing to wait for you."

"I don't want you waiting on me." Malcolm objected, feeling some kind of way. She had thrown him off with her sudden outburst. "Don't wait around for me. It's going to be a long time before I even think about becoming somebody's dad or husband-"

Tilly stayed quiet on the other end. She was contemplating on her life choices. She didn't want another man. She wanted Malcolm. He was the only man who made her feel things-good things. And if she had to wait for him to get his shit together, she was going to do just that. She loved him.