Page 22 of Breaking the Rules

SEVENTEEN

When morning came in with its ease and warmth, Savanhi was awakened by Areli’s bright eyes and her equally bright smile.

“Sassy,” she hummed. “It’s wake-up time.”

Savanhi stressed, knowing that Noble was gone for the day. Workouts, practices, and whatever meetings he had were underway. Her hand brushed over the softness of petals. With one arm around Areli like second nature, she rolled over to take in the bouquet of flowers and the card lying on his pillow.

“Deucey bought us flowers,” she shared. “Mine are in the kitchen with Remi.”

“You want to read my card?” Savanhi posed, smelling the flowers and opening the card.

“I can’t read,” Areli said with a slight giggle.

“We’ll change that.” Savanhi pulled the pink card out and read it silently before reading it out loud.

“Morning, Sassy. Sorry I wasn’t there when you woke up.

I’m prepping for this weekend. On the dresser in your purse are the spare keys to the truck.

Take the day to take care of you. See you when I get home. – Deuce.”

“Are you Deucey’s girlfriend?” Areli quizzed, sitting on Savanhi’s lap and watching how the smile crept over her face.

“I think so,” Savanhi shared. “What do you think?”

“I think he likes making kissy faces with you,” Areli replied.

“Me too. Is Remi making you pancakes?”

“Yep.”

“Let’s go help her and then go find something cute for you to wear because we’re going shopping!”

“Yay!” Areli bounced off her lap, off the bed, and down the hall.

Savanhi followed her down the hall to the kitchen, where she was greeted by Remi.

“If it isn’t my favorite dance teacher,” Remi spoke, putting the whipped cream on Areli’s pancakes.

Savanhi laughed softly and smiled. Even Remi caught it. Savanhi’s smiles had always been manufactured and professional. Today, she beamed. “My favorite non-parent.”

“I know I am. Those other women are insufferable,” Remi said with full confidence as she flipped her springy curls over her shoulder.

“They’re the literal definition of privileged and want discounts every single time. For little things, you only leapt with my daughter twice and another three times,” Savanhi huffed, rolling her eyes, but still not losing the pleasantness on her face.

“Is that what you always wanted to do?”

“I’ve always wanted to teach dance from the fundamentals to the advanced stuff. The mommy and me classes are quick money. When I was younger, I wanted to have an actual theatre with a dance troupe. Somewhere along the line, I lost that dream.”

“You know it’s never too late to revisit dreams,” Remi shared. “While you take your time today, you should rediscover your dream.”

“About that, how about you come along? I told Areli she was shopping today with me. I’m not spending all the money on me.”

Remi stopped what she was doing to take Savanhi in. “Say that again?”

“There’s like three stacks in my purse, I’m not spending a third of that.”

“Let me find out you like Deuce for Deuce.”

“I do,” Savanhi spoke openly and freely. “Now have I outright told him that, no. Men get comfortable when they find out they got you. Then their representative fades away, and the real one comes out. And if you make them work for real, the real them comes out.”

“I think this goes without saying, but maybe it’ll give you some ease coming from someone else.

Who you see is you, who you get. He’s a fierce protector.

He’s soft for the ones he loves. He’s a beast if he’s disrespected.

He believes heavily in that. And I’ve never seen him not work hard for what he wants. ”

Savanhi moved her hair off her face. “I see all of that. Glimmers of the beast. Not that he’ll bring it out, but it’s there. Coming from the belly of this city, you see a lot of men who have the bark but no bite.”

“And he don’t bark at all.”

“I got to say I like that. And his softness, at first, I wasn’t sure if it was just physical. I mean, partially yes, because it’s how we started, but it’s very quickly growing into more, and I can’t control the velocity.”

“I’ve learned that there is nothing we can control in life but ourselves. How we react, how we treat people, how we love after we’re done wrong. That’s all we can control, everything else, blow it in the wind.”

“You know what, Remi, I like you,” Savanhi shared, as Remi placed her hand over her heart. “I have two friends, my brother, who is going to prison, and my cousin, Lawryn.”

“Well, you have three, now.”

The two hugged, ate breakfast, got Areli ready, and once Savanhi was dressed and pulled together, the group was on their way. Nail salon, boutiques, lunch and ice cream, and finally, landing at the park so Areli could run all of her energy off ahead of her nap.

“You said your brother is going to prison. How do you feel about that?” Remi asked. “And if I’m in your business, tell me to be quiet.”

“You’re not in my business. All of the neighborhood knows, I’m sure.

He was – is in the game and it caught up with him.

I’ve spent my adult life trying to create a life where I could stand on my own two because I knew in my gut the day would come where he wasn’t here to always take care of me,” Savanhi shared.

“I feel lost without him but I’m learning my way and I’m trusting myself more because I can’t pick up the phone and have him fight my battles. ”

“My brother is the same way. Sincere doesn’t let me do much but run my business and when I say run my business, he pays the overhead every month and pays the accountants and taxes every quarter. I really don’t know what I would do without him.”

Savanhi’s brows rose. “Sincere is your brother?”

“Yeah, you didn’t know that?”

“No. What I do know isn’t my business to tell,” Savanhi shared.

Remi squinted. “It’s a woman, isn’t it?”

Savanhi nodded, making Remi huff.

“My brother and his inability to commit will forever be something that needs to be studied. He’s a project,” Remi said with a chortle. “Like, him and love are like oil and vinegar. That’s our mother’s fault, though.”

“Your mom…she’s living?”

“Mmhmm. Very much alive and well, living her life in La Bega. She has a permanent residency there.”

Savanhi squinted her eyes and tilted her head. “You’re not about to tell me your mother is Lady Reese.”

“My mother is indeed Lady Reese. You can’t see it?”

“Looking at you now, I can see it. Oh my God.”

“Yeah, she had dreams and left us to figure it out. Even when she made it, she never came back, never sent for us. Never told the world she had kids by a convicted felon. So of course Sincere did what he had to do and followed in our father’s footsteps.

The way he avoided his gift like the plague was painful to watch.

Music was a reminder that we were abandoned. ”

“Is that why you have your company?”

Remi nodded. “My babysitters while Sincere was hustling were women he used to run his product. So when I started my company, I was dead set on making sure children who look like me had an extra layer of love like I did.”

“That’s beautiful. Not the abandonment, that shit sucks, but the angels amongst us.”

“It is.”

“My grandma was mine. Even though I had her for a very short time and I was so young, I can still remember her perfume, her hugs, and the way she tended to me. Zayden is a great brother, but nothing compared to her warmth. Until recently, I’ve been missing that the most.”

“You have that warmth. I can tell with the way you care for Areli. It’s going to take all of us to give her the love she’ll miss from Kym.”

“They say it takes a village. There’s no truer words.”

“None at all. All I want to know is, are you running or are you staying?”

“He wants to keep me, I’m not above that.”

Remi squealed and hugged her. “I was about to say, I can fight.”

Savanhi chuckled and hugged her back. “Me too. We would’ve been rolling all around this playground.”

“Lookin’ crazy as hell.”