Page 21 of Follow Me to Your Heart

A week had passed, but I swore it felt like an eternity.

I sat outside of Korren’s school, watching as she got in the car with Taylor to head home.

Call me crazy, but I’d been keeping check on her.

If I wasn’t at the same location as her, I was checking it from my phone.

I hadn’t been right since she called herself taking a break, and in my soul, I felt she hadn’t been either.

I trailed behind Taylor until we arrived at Korren’s apartment.

She parked, and they got out. Immediately, Korren turned around and waved at me.

It wasn’t a surprise that she’d noticed me.

She did every time because it wasn’t like I was trying to hide.

I wanted her to see me, for her to know I meant what I said. I wasn’t going anywhere.

After they made it safely inside, I pulled off to go meet with Keith at the house we’d bought. He pulled the trigger without consulting me any further after I walked out of the last meeting, but he also made sure to include me. Keith was a real one, and I owed him.

The house was located on the corner of 5 th Street.

It was around the way from the house I grew up in.

The layout was three bedrooms with one and a half bathrooms. It was an open space floorplan where the kitchen and living room connected.

I thought it was perfect for a single mother who needed her own.

Or even a small family who couldn’t quite afford the dreamhouse they desired.

Either way, it was my goal to do for them.

Keith was there waiting for me. I spoke to the people outside before going inside to find Keith in the kitchen.

He was on the phone, so I dapped him up and let him finish his conversation.

I explored the house, envisioning exactly how I desired for each room to be.

The shit was scary, to be honest, but I could no longer allow fear to hinder me.

“What you think, man?” Keith asked as I rejoined him in the bare, gutted kitchen.

I whistled. “It needs some work, but I’m ready to see our vision come to life.”

“Yeah, me too. The best thing we can do is put our minds together and get to it. I know we’re going to kill this, Cage. The reason behind it is the reason we’re going to thrive.”

“To be real, Keith, if we don’t make a dime off this, I’m set for years.

To know we’re going to help the people like us, the people who raised us, is enough for me.

I appreciate you, for real. I know I’ve apologized for my actions, but I feel I can’t say it enough.

Regardless, you had my back, and that shows how real you are.

I’ve said it before, but I’m ten toes down on this shit this time. I’m ready.”

Keith dapped me up, pulling me in for a brotherly hug. “It’s because I’ve always seen what you didn’t. I hate Korren had to be the one to pull it out of you the way she did, but things happen for a reason.”

“You’re right. She gave me the wake-up call I needed. After my talk with O’Shea later, I should officially be done with the streets. I already told Red to expect to take my spot.”

“What was his response?”

“You know he was cool with it. He wasn’t too happy about me leaving, saying how I shouldn’t let a woman dictate my life choices. I didn’t even try to explain myself. I let him rant.”

Red and I were no longer on the same path, and I was cool with it.

He would always be my boy because we got it out the mud together.

We’d been friends for years, and he’d never done me wrong, but my mindset had changed.

My life had changed. Until his did, he wouldn’t understand where I was going.

I’d always have love for him, but our friendship wouldn’t be the same.

“I figured.” Keith chuckled with a shake of his head. “I like Red. He’s a good dude, but it’s okay to outgrow people and situations. That’s what’s going on with you now. You can still have love for people without being in the same predicament.”

“My thoughts exactly. When I started running the streets, I knew I didn’t want to do it forever.

It was quick and easy money for me to turn my mama’s life around.

I was able to do that plus more. It’s time for me to do something different.

I’m still young. I don’t want to lose my life at an early age because I was too afraid to do what my heart was calling me to do.

Like I said, I owe it to you and Korren for helping me. ”

“Nah. You owe it to yourself. You’re the one who came up with it and felt moved to act on it. We just gave you the push you needed. Now, let’s talk business. What you got in mind for our first project?”

I rubbed my hands together, and we got to work. We spent hours conversing and getting everything in play. Renovations would start next week. We would meet with an architect tomorrow to redo the floor plan.

Things were moving fast, but I was grateful.

My goal was to have everything done to start so when I went to let Korren know her break was over, she wouldn’t have a reason to protest. Not that I thought she would, but I also didn’t want to give her any leeway to.

“What’s good, youngin’?” O’Shea greeted me, rising to his feet to embrace me.

“Not shit. I appreciate you for meeting with me.”

“It sounded important, so I had to make time for you. What’s on your mind, Cage?”

O’Shea sat down and sparked up a blunt. After taking a pull, he offered it to me, and I accepted. It was rare I smoked, but I needed something to mellow me out. The conversation was about to be a hard one.

I passed it back to him and sat back, rubbing my hands along my pants. “I’m ready to step down and let Red take over.”

“Step down or step out?”

“Step out.”

He bobbed his head, leaning over to ash the blunt. “I had a feeling this was coming.”

“How so?”

“I see a lot of me in you, Cage. While I had this shit handed to me, we’re both go-getters. We put our all into things to ensure we’re successful. We take what we do seriously, but we’re also lovers. Let me guess. That girl of yours plays a big role in why you want to do this.”

“She does. I’ve been working on shit behind the scenes, and I’m finally able to take things seriously.

Don’t take what I’m about to say offensively, but I can live without doing this the rest of my life.

I can’t live without her, and this was taking me away from her.

That and my indecisiveness, but I’m not allowing this to keep me from the life I’m going to have with her.

I waited too long. I kept my true feelings hidden too long to allow anything to fuck it up. ”

All I could do was keep it real with O’Shea. There was no need in making things seem any differently. Korren played a major part in my decision, and he had no reason but to respect.

“Let me tell you something you don’t know about me,” O’Shea started, blowing rings of smoke from his mouth. “I was married once. I’ve been divorced for about six years, and every day, I regret letting the streets get in the way of my marriage.”

My eyes widened. “I ain’t know that.”

“It’s not something I talk about. I’m tough on the outside, but if that woman was to give me another chance today, I’d say fuck everything and make things right.

It’s a little too late for me to have that mindset, so I commend you for doing so before you ended up like me.

I may not seem like it, but I’m all for love, Cage.

I’m all for doing the shit that makes you happy.

Even if you don’t end up marrying your girl, just know you’re doing the right thing by walking away. ”

“I appreciate you for keeping it real with me, O’Shea. That’s deep, but you never know. She could have a change of heart one day.”

O’Shea chuckled and swayed his head. “Nah. She only deals with me now because we co-parent. Other than that, I’m her past. Don’t end up like me, youngin’. Wash your hands of this shit and keep your girl. If you ever need anything, know I got you.”

We rose to our feet and slapped hands. I felt like a damn feather, and I couldn’t stop smiling. Life was moving in a positive direction. Things were changing for the better, and Korren was the only thing I needed to make me feel complete.

As I headed out the door, I turned around and called out to O’Shea. “You know, there’s one thing I don’t agree with that you said.”

“What’s that?”

“There’s no ‘if’ I end up marrying Korren. I’m going to.”