Antonio
When Aleena pulled up in my driveway I was standing at the door with open arms and a big grin on my face. With a Kool-Aid smile that mirrored mine I could tell she was as excited to see me as I was to see her. I kissed her cheeks and hugged her tight lifting her body off of the ground.
"I missed you so much girl."
"I missed you too Toni."
I took her bags and told her she would be sleeping in my room. Like always she was thinking of me.
"But where are you going to sleep?" She asked.
"I'll be on the couch. I'll be fine."
"But Toni-"
"Leena, we go through this every time. Now you know I'm not going to have you sleepin' on the couch. Just let it go."
She sighed. "Fine."
"So what do you want to do on your birthday, besides shop?"
"It doesn't matter. The point of this trip was to spend some time with you. That's all I want really."
I smiled. "Well, I was thinking we could go to the beach later."
"Of course. How could I come to Daytona and not go to the beach?"
"And I have a surprise for you."
Her eyes lit up and she smiled. "Okay so what are we doing for your birthday?"
"I don't know. We don't really have to do anything."
"Uh sir you don't have a choice. I came all this way to celebrate your birthday with you and I'm not going to let you sit up in this house all day like you used to when we were younger."
I smiled. She never let me slide. She was always thinking of me.
"I see you're still wearing my ring."
"I'll never forget about you." The twinkle in her eyes when she said that aroused me. I used to think she did that on purpose but after a while it was clear to me that she had no idea of the turmoil she was putting me through.
* * *
"Let me cut your hair." Aleena said looking at me from the kitchen.
I turned my head away from the television set. It was past time for my braids to be done. "How did you know I was thinking about getting it cut?"
"Because I can read your mind."
"Maybe you could cut it for my birthday."
