Page 2 of Kassir and Rebel (D-Ville Projects #2)
Rebel Parks
“Ladies and gentlemen, we have begun our descent into Diamond Falls. The local time is one forty-five p.m. and the temperature is a nice eighty-one degrees with clear skies. Please ensure that your seatbelts are fastened, tray tables are stowed, and all electronic devices are turned off and stowed. Thank you again for flying Federal Airlines,” the pilot says, so I remove my earbuds and power off my iPad.
Here goes nothing, I think as I mentally prepare myself to return to Diamond Falls. When I left six years ago, my broken heart vowed to never return but, here I am, minutes away from my only true home I’ve ever known.
Me: Landing in twenty.
Bestie: Yes! Miss Chandra is going to be so surprised.
Me: I know but I’m stopping by your place first. I’m going to need to pregame before I walk back into that building.
Bestie: I got tequila on deck. Can’t wait to see you.
Thank God for Teaira. She’s my girl and the one person who keeps me grounded. We’ve been tight as hell since the day I was dropped off to Mama Chandra. I was thirteen years old and mad at the world. My birth mom abandoned me once again but this time felt different.
Unlike the other five times she had either left me at a neighbor’s or forgotten me at school, this time, she left money, forty-two dollars, and her necklace.
The only piece of jewelry she owned and cherished was left in our motel room next to the crumpled bills.
I didn’t go to school that morning. Instead, I stayed hidden in that musty room the entire day.
When I woke up the next morning, she still hadn’t returned.
I was used to her binges or escapes. They usually lasted a few days.
Most times, she would return before Child Protective Services could step in but there were five occasions she hadn’t.
During those, I was temporarily placed in foster homes.
However, she always came back for me. It might have taken a few months sometimes but she would complete the parenting classes, find a job, and hustle up a place to stay to satisfy our case manager.
That last time, she didn’t. When housekeeping reported that a twelve-year-old was all alone in Room 109, CPS swooped in.
After spending hours in the cubicle with my new case worker, I was taken to the drive-thru of Taco Express for my usual last meal before placement in my new temporary foster home.
Days went by, followed by weeks, then months.
My mom hadn’t returned and I got angry. My anger increased with each additional day, and after six months, I was furious.
My anger manifested in everything I did.
I fought my classmates, my teachers, and my foster moms. When the third foster family kicked me out, my two bags were packed and I was driven to Miss Chandra Wright in the Douglasville Projects.
I gave her hell my first months with her but she never gave up on me.
Never. I’m the woman I am today because of her.
“Close your window shade, please,” the flight attendant says, pulling me from my past.
After nodding, I close the shade and try to relax.
While I’m not afraid of flying, I hate landing.
With closed eyes, my hands grip the sides of the seat in front of me while I take deep breaths.
My eyes remain closed until the wheels smack the tarmac, skipping as they slow down then come to a complete stop.
My seatbelt is unfastened in two seconds flat and I’m up out of my seat, impatiently waiting to get off this plane.
As soon as it’s my row’s turn, I snatch my bag from the overhead compartment and bolt off the plane.
Luckily, I don’t have to wait too long for my bags and I’m seated in an iDrive by two forty-five.
For the next twenty-two minutes, I just want to relax, clear my mind, and mentally prepare for these three weeks back home, back in D-Ville, back near him. However, the universe has other plans. My doorbell camera alerts me, followed by my alarm.
“What the fuck?” I utter before quickly opening my camera. Cameron! Seriously! Totally disregarding my driver, I press the talk button and scream. “I’m going to call the police!”
“And say what? I have a key and alarm code,” he rebuts.
“But I put your ass out,” I snap back. “You have no right being in my damn apartment. If you don’t leave in ten minutes, I swear I’m calling.”
“When I get my ring, I’m out.”
“What ring?”
“My frat ring,” he says and I just roll my damn eyes.
“You could have waited until I got back.”
“I’m not waiting three weeks for my ring.”
“Cameron, we are over. You have to accept that and move on. When you get your ring, make sure you get anything else you so happen to have left. This back and forth is over. And leave my damn key when you do,” I say and he just walks away from the main camera.
My eyes stay glued on the screen until he goes to my room, grabs his ring, dramatically slams my key on the table by the door, then leaves.
Remotely, I set my alarm then log into my profile and change the code. “Bastard,” I utter as I shake my head.
Cameron and I were together for three years, living together the last eight months. A month ago we ended things on what I thought were mutual terms. I was wrong.
He’s having a hard time letting go, and for the past three weeks, he has been dropping by grabbing items he accidentally left behind.
He needs to move on; I have. Between his late nights, wandering eyes, and too many “spam likely” calls, I was over it, over him.
I let one man break my heart and I refuse to allow another to do the same.
So caught up in my head about Cameron, I didn’t even realize the driver had stopped. We’re in Brunswick Meadows outside of Teaira’s townhome. As the driver gets out, I gather my bag, throw, and travel pillow, then exit too.
“Thank you,” I say as I grab the handle of my luggage. Teaira’s door opens as I journey her way and my bestie stands in the doorway with a big ass smile on her face. As soon as I reach her, she pulls me in for a much-needed, tight hug. “Where’s the tequila?” I ask.
“Get in the damn house first,” she scoffs playfully as she reaches for my bag. When she turns to walk in, I follow. “All it took was Miss Chandra getting married to get yo’ ass back in Diamond Falls.”
“Can you believe it? Getting married at sixty,” I say, smiling at the thought.
“Listen, she gives me hope. May love find my ass too.”
“Chile. You can have it. Love don’t live here anymore,” I huff as I close her front door.