Thy Neighbor II: Lovin' The Crew

Chapter Eleven

"It's okay, Jasmine..." Ciara finds herself Monday morning in the bathroom stall at Proverbs' Camden location rubbing the back of a seven-year-old girl puking up a liquid Ciara can't quite figure out. When Ciara signed up to volunteer at Proverbs, she expected to peer into the eyes of Y'lan, not the contents of a toilet. But as the only woman volunteering that morning, she bides her time inside the restroom with little Jasmine as she tosses up her little life.

Ciara went to church on Sunday slightly hungover with thighs that ached to the delight of Trevante. Even as she started to reconcile her decision to break her rule to have sex with Trevante, she found herself always reminded in church about being "in the world, not of the world" and how we all need to "stand firm", a sermon series in Ephesians convicting her as if she was up for capital murder.

Ciara's decision to not have sex wasn't a biblical one. It wasn't because the Church told her to keep her legs closed or because as a Christian, she is to save herself for marriage. She found all of these rules to be antiquated and patriarchal. Ciara chose to be celibate to prevent the heartache of sleeping with someone who would leave her, to not end up like she did after her ex-boyfriend left her: waxing her rejection away with as much sex as she could. As soon as she knew her man to be committed, she'd be down to consummate their love but Trevante hadn't make them official, so Ciara jumped the gun. So she wouldn't get left.

So when she saw that phone call grace Trevante's phone, she wanted so bad to throw the phone at Trevante and walk out. But she didn't want him to then call that girl back and leave Ciara out in the cold. So her heart – and her nether regions – made an executive decision to make Trevante stay. Whoever "Meganne Thee Intern" was would have to wait for her turn.

CIara wishes it is someone else's turn to coddle Jasmine inside of the bathroom. When she thinks Jasmine has no more puke left to give, she picks her up and carries her outside of the bathroom. To her delight, Y'lan is standing right outside waiting for them both to exit.

"Yo, Ciara ... I really appreciate you right now."

"Oh, I know...is her Mom on the way to get her or something?"

"Her Aunt is coming. She ain't happy but the girl ain't going to school like this..."

Ciara cradles Jasmine's head as she looks into Y'lan eyes, causing him to match her glance. They exhale to break their trance.

"Do you have clothes for accidents? I want to get her in a new shirt," Ciara says, wiping Jasmine's eyes to stop her from using her stained shirt.

"Yeah. There's a closet down the hall before the steps, to your left. I'm sure you can find something for her."

Ciara consoles Jasmine as she walks down the hallway. Y'lan stares at Ciara as she carries her patient, adoring her care of Jasmine in that moment. He's happy the church ladies chose to take this Monday off.

Y'lan walks into the kitchen just as Winston finishes prepping the after school snacks for later. Winston was caught by surprise when he walked into Proverbs to see Ciara sitting at the table with some of the children, helping them try to finish their math homework before heading off to school. Winston didn't want his car ride with Ciara to end, the both of them waxing off about their favorite rap albums and college courses.

He found himself enraptured in Ciara as she talked about her research paper, falling in love with her enthusiasm toward her project. He picked her brain to know the best place to grab a bite of Caribbean food in the city, she picked his brain about Harlem, New York, the city he lived in before moving to Philadelphia. The conversation felt so natural, as if they met in another lifetime. He couldn't help but think about who she was dating and what a lucky guy he must be.

And how it was that guy's loss and Winston's gain to be able to drive Ciara home that night.

Winston and Y'lan quit their small talk when Ciara walks into the kitchen.

"Hey, Y'lan. I just gave Jasmine to her Aunt, so we're good. There anything else you want me to do before I head out?"

"No, Ciara. You did enough today. I appreciate you. See you on Thursday at U City?"

"Yep! I think I might have some really good news for you. See you then. Winston, so good to see you! I'll see you later!"

Ciara waves at them both. Winston follows her graceful exit with a stare which Y'lan mirrors until he notices Winston's unbreakable gaze. He laughs and throws a bag of Goldfish snacks at Winston, causing Winston to quit following Ciara with his eyes.

"My bad, man...," Winston says to Y'lan breaking his stare with a laugh.

"No, it's cool. I just ain't ever seen you like that."

"There ain't drool on my shirt, right?" Winston looks down at the blue cotton fabric draping his broad chest. .

Y'lan laughs uncontrollably.

"Nah, you good King. She's bad, bruh. Y'all have classes together?"

"We have some seminarian classes together. I have to be careful, man. I feel like she catches me looking at her all the time."

"Yeah, she's good for that..."

"Hey, man. If you staking claim on that, I'll bow out." Winston's shot confidence causes him to believe that his tall and soft body with a bespeckled visage can't compete with a former football player like Y'lan.

"Real talk, Winston...she and I had a thing about a year or so ago."

Winston's heart catches another dagger. He knows the rules.

"My bad, man. Ain't mean to..."

"Nah, bruh. You're good. We're adults. It didn't work out; it wasn't her fault. She caught me when I was out here tripping. I thought she'd kill me when I first told her what happened. I'm surprised she's even volunteering. The non-profit she works for is helping us find staff."

"Maybe she's plotting your murder, eh? But nah, she seems like a good girl."

"Yep, she is..."

Y'lan continues packing lunches until he catches Winston's mood turn from jubilant to desolate.

"Winston, you aight?"

"Stuff like this makes me realize that I'm so scared to date. I keep getting scared about relationships, man. Like I don't want to meet a woman and punk out or think it's going to fail."

"Yo, man. I think you're being too hard on yourself. You've been doing the work to get yourself right since the divorce. If you think you're ready to step out there, you should do it."

"Wild thing is that I did with Ciara, man, and failed." Winston shakes his head.

"What you mean?" Y'lan grows more inquisitive.

"I asked her out like months ago, worked up the nerve and everything. And she turned me down."

"Word? I mean, she met you through me at the time when she and I were beefing real heavy."

"Maybe but she told me she was dating somebody, so..." Winston goes back to packing lunches leaving Y'lan's mind to go back to that moment inside of U City Coffee when Trevante offered to take Ciara home and it made his senses go off.

"She's dating not married, man." Y'lan says to reassure Winston. And himself.

"You're right, bruh. So are you telling me to stay close?"

Y'lan inadvertently juices up Winston, turning him into the competition. But now he's even more sure that Trevante's been in a race too and he needs just one opportunity to find out for sure.