Page 4 of Adonis Gates

“I know,” I sighed. My family hated him and had no problem letting me or him know it. “Where are you?”

“Just got to the school, girl, and I am not ready.” She groaned. “I always take summer break for granted.”

I laughed because she said the same thing every year when it was time to go back to school. Gerica taught creative writing and entrepreneurship at a private school. Atlyn Prep had K-12, but she only taught the high school students. She complained about teaching but she loved children. I shared the same love, which made it hurt that much more knowing I probably would never have any of my own.

That, and the fact that I grew up in foster care, were the main reasons that I became a social worker. Geri and I lost our mother to drug addiction when I was two and she was five. We didn’t have any other family willing to claim either of us when our mother passed, so we went into the custody of the state and bounced around from home to home until I got to the sixth grade and met my science teacher, Jacob O’Neil.

He was a nice, caring, and compassionate man. His wife, who we’d seen at school several times, felt like she waited too late to actually have children, but they wanted kidsbad. Mr. O’Neil found out that I was living in a group home with my sister after we talked one day, had a talk with his wife, and the rest was history.

They adopted Geri and I by the end of the school year and had been our parents since. It was the best thing that ever happened to us because before them we were going from home to home and had given up hope that we’d ever have a real family other than each other. It was the first time that we’d experienced real, genuine love.

Our experiences at the group and foster homes were horrible and I made a vow that when we made it out I’d do everything I could to save other children from experiencing that kind of hurt and neglect.

“Guess who I saw this morning though, sis.” Geri said, jarring me from my thoughts.

“Who?”

“Your boo, Adonis.” I could hear the smile in her voice. “His little brother goes here.”

I’d seen little Apollo’s uniform when he was in the store earlier but didn’t pay attention to the logo on his shirt because Derrick was too busy rushing me out so he could go bother Adonis.

“He’s not my boo, Gerica.”

“He was,” she replied, amused. “You can tell that friendship lie to someone else. You loved that boy back then no matter how much you try to lie about it.”

“I did not.” I rolled my eyes as I entered my cubicle. “We were really just good friends.”

“If you say so.” She chuckled. “Time has done him well because he looks good too.”

She wasn’t lying. I had to force myself not to stare when I saw him at the store. He’d always been attractive, even when he didn’t have much, but grown man Adonis was truly a sight for sore eyes. He was dressed nicely and smelled lovely.

His muscular athletic frame was littered in tattoos, and I noticed that he’d finally let his beard start to grow in. He hatedit in school, always cutting it off, but it connected with the mustache now and looked good on him. I’d heard that he was cutting hair out of his house and could see he'd gotten good at it because both his and his brother’s hair was cut to perfection with a sea of waves circling their heads.

“I know you think so too, you don’t have to agree out loud.”

“Geri, don’t you have to go to work?”

“I do, but I had to let you know the one you stupidly allowed to get away was here and he said he’s single.”

“I know you didn’t ask him that shit, bitch.” I hissed lowly.

“I sure did,” she proudly responded. “That’s need to know information for when you drop that fuck ass nigga you’re dealing with.”

“I cannot stand you, Gerica.” I shook my head. “I hope you know that.”

“You’ll thank me one day.”

“I wouldn’t hold my breath, bitch. Goodbye.” I hung up the phone in her face. She was always doing something to embarrass me.

I got started on my work load after putting my phone on DND. Derrick bothered me my entire work shift, so I always put my focus on and used a heavy workload as an excuse not to talk to him while I was there.

I kept myself busy up until my lunch break. After locking my computer up, I grabbed my purse and phone then made my way to the breakroom where I warmed my leftovers from the night before then found a spot by the window to sit alone and eat while scrolling on my phone.

As I did, a few of my coworkers came inside, one being Bonita, whom I couldn’t stand, so I rolled my eyes but stayed focused on my phone.

“So, what are you doing tonight?” a girl named Amy asked Bonita. “You said it’s your anniversary, right?”

“Yes, girl, two years.” She beamed. “I just know my man is going to go all out.”