Page 49 of Her Loyalty

"Hey, T."

"Hey." I spoke to Deja as I came into the house.

I'd just got off of work and made my way over here since I hadn't seen Dom in almost a week. I was missing him and he was missing me and the baby so I'd told him I'd come see him today.

"What's that?" I asked sitting down in the dining room, watching as she ate.

"Halal." Was all she said as she kept eating, making it look so good.

"Give me some." I told her and she slanted her lips.

"No."

"Please." I practically begged, hearing my stomach growl.

"Whatchu ain't eat today?" She asked and I said nothing as a smile crept onto my face.

"I'm snitchin'." She said and I smacked my lips. She knew that Dominic was really overbearing these days and he would practically force me to eat even when I wasn't hungry. The doctors had told us I needed to eat more but I wasn't much of a foodie, I could eat one meal a day and be fine.

He didn't like that though.

"Shut up." I ended up saying, not wanting her to tell.

"Where is he anyway?" I asked, looking behind me.

"He just went to go handle some business. Should be back in a min-"

Before she could even finish her sentence, the front door opened, making the both of us look.

"What's up, ma?" He smiled, seeing me first.

"Hey." I waved as he came into the dining room, kissing my cheek and putting a hand on my stomach.

"Why you ain't get me none?" He asked Dej and she smacked her lips as he left us, walking away into the kitchen.

"Y'all hungry asses need to go get y'all own food." She blurted out, being stingy while the both of us laughed.

"Pause."

"T, you ain't eat?" He ended up asking from the kitchen and I smacked my lips, looking at Deja with my lip turned up.

"Should've fed my nephew." She shrugged as she continued to eat her food and I looked down at my hands.

"No. I wasn't hungry but now I am and Deja's not sharing her food." I explained as she laughed.

"Na' she just tryna blame me because she didn't eat today." She went onto say as Dominic came out of the kitchen, looking directly at me.

"Why you ain't eatin', ma?" He looked at me seriously and I sighed deeply, knowing that he wasn't playing with me.

"I really wasn't hungry." I expressed to him as he made his way over to me.

"I know but you gotta eat, Tiana. The doctor already told you that."

"Why you ain't listenin'?"

"Okay, fine. I'll eat but I just want what she has." I pointed, expressing it to him and he nodded.

"Aight. How bout' you and Deja go and grab some." He said to me, making me raise my eyebrows.

"Here." He told me, digging in his pocket and pulling out a wad of money.

"First of all.." I trailed off.

"It's not this much, Dominic." I told him as he put too much money in my hand and I ended up taking what I needed then putting the rest on the table.

"Aight." He chuckled, grabbing the rest of the money off of the table and walking away from me.

"Deja." He called and she looked up, watching him walk away.

"Oh..yeah." She said, finishing up her food and I sat there confused.

Soon enough she was finished and she slowly stood to her feet.

"Come on, T." Was all she said after disposing of her plate.

I sat there confused for a while since I didn't know what was going on with them but whatever it was, I was getting food out of it so I didn't even mind it.

*

1 hour later

"Deja, where the hell are we?" I sighed as she pulled up to yet another store.

We'd been out for a whole hour and I'd already eaten. Now I just wanted to spend time with Dominic but here she was still not taking me back to the house.

"Just come on, Tiana." She said to me and I pouted, getting out of the car.

When we got out, I followed behind her, letting her leave me a bit because I was starting to feel tired. I mean, I'm 3 and a half months pregnant for god sake, I needed time to catch my breath.

And though I wasn't showing as much as I thought I would be, I got tired so fast these days.

"Come on, Tiana." She urged and I rolled my eyes.

"Okay. I'm coming." I told her as I picked up my pace and followed her into the store.

"A hair salon?" I asked, turning my lip up.

"Yup." She smiled as she told the lady what she wanted and I stood there, confused.

"And what can I do for you today?" The woman then asked me and I shook my head.

"No, thank you. I'm just here with her." I assured, considering I had no money right now. I didn't get paid until Friday and that paycheck was going straight to my bills anyway.

"Okay." She smiled, walking away from me as Deja sat in the chair and I sat in the waiting area.

I waited about five minutes before I heard the front door open.

"Baby." I heard Dominic call and I looked over to him.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him as he made his way over to me.

"Why you ain't getting your hair done?"

"Well I didn't plan to get my hair done today. I'm just here with Deja." I pointed as Deja sat there, getting her old braids taken out.

"Na' baby. That's whatchu here for." He said to me, walking over to lady and pointing to me.

"My girl need her hair done." He went onto tell her and I raised my eyebrows, a little shocked.

"Okay." The lady said with a smile.

"And what would you like today?" She asked and I looked over to him, trying to figure out how much money he was willing to spend.

"Um, I'm not sure." I looked at him, wanting him to give an answer for me.

Saying nothing, he dug into his pocket and pulled out a wad of money, wrapped in a rubber band.

"Get whatchu want, ma." He said, putting it into my hand and kissing my cheek.

"I'a see y'all later." He went onto say before he walked out of the salon completely.

"Okay..." I trailed off.

"I guess I'll be getting a sew in." I joked, making the lady laugh.

"How much are your bundles?" I went onto ask.

"Follow me."

*

An hour later 2pm

Still sitting in the hair salon, the stylist had just began straightening my weave and blending my hair into it.

"See that's why I get braids, ain't nobody got time for all that shit." Deja went on, scrolling her phone.

"Oh, shut up." I said to her as she sat there impatiently.

"I'm serious." She shrugged, still looking down at her phone.

"Yo, let me ask you something." She went onto say, finally looking up.

"What? Go ahead." I awaited her question, knowing it was going to be something crazy.

"Why you be letting my brother punk you out?" She asked, making me furrow my eyebrows.

"Like you always be actin' scary, T."

"He ain't no fuckin' body." She shook her head, making me twist my lips.

"I don't know." I furrowed my eyebrows, trying to think how I was going to answer this question.

"It's just I know him and he knows me. He knows exactly what to say to me if he wants to hurt me and I just be trying to spare my own feelings."

"Like I just never want to go there with him because most of the time, it's not even worth it."

"It's really not." I explained and she nodded her head.

"Plus he can be intimidating at times and he knows that. Like he does stuff to make me nervous just to test me, he loves testing me."

"So I'm not scared but I just know what to do and what not to do when it comes to him. I never want to overstep my boundaries, just like he doesn't want to overstep his boundaries with me." I expressed to her and she nodded.

"But don't think he's not scared of me too. He just puts on a good act to pretend that he's not but he knows just like I know not to fuck with me when it comes to certain things."

"And I know not to fuck with him when it comes to certain things. It's just a different type of respect we have for each other."

"So no, I don't let your brother punk me out. I just play my role and I play it well." I explained to her.

"Aight, coo then."

"Cause I be ready to beat the shit out that nigga when he gon' off and you just be sitting there quiet as a mouse."

"But I feel you. You just know when to and when not to engage in that shit."

"I need to learn that because a nigga like me just go off and ask questions later." She joked, making me laugh.

"Na' that's real though. I fuck witcha." She nodded, obviously impressed with my answer.

After our conversation died down, maybe about 15 minutes passed by and I was finally done. Deja and I were leaving the salon and I couldn't be happier. It'd feel like we'd been here all day but the sun was still out and shining so I knew that we weren't.

"So where to next?" I asked and she shrugged, scrolling her phone.

"That nigga ain't give me that much information na'."

"He just told me to take you to get your hair done and shit."

"I think he said nails too but I don't know.." She trailed off, still scrolling before she stopped and gasped.

"What?" I asked as she shook her head.

"Oh my god, bro."

"What? What happened?" I asked.

"Why the fuck this nigga just get arrested?" She turned her phone to me, showing me a message from Dom.