Page 16

THE NEXT MORNING…

My doorbell sounded off, making me spit my mouthwash out and tighten my robe. Padding to the door, I peered out to see it was Unique holding a white plastic bag. I couldn’t smother the smile I was wearing, as badly as I wanted to.

“Yes? This is a single men only party.” I smirked.

“Well, I’m married. Can I still kick it?” His full lips tugged into a smirk. No man should’ve been this fine.

“Good one.” I rolled my eyes and widened the doorway.

He bypassed me, hitting me with his cologne on the way.

“I brought breakfast, so come and let’s eat.” He went right to my kitchen to wash his hands and start grabbing plates.

“Let me get dressed.” I rushed to the back to slip on my panties and the lounge dress I’d laid out.

After combing down my silk press, I slipped my feet into some house shoes and ventured back to the living room where Unique had everything set out.

I sat down beside him, and he took my hand in his to pray, which I liked.

We ate a few bites in comfortable silence before he said, “I wanna apologize to you, love.”

“For what?” I shielded my mouth as I chomped down on the buttery rosemary waffle. I’d never had this before, but I could tell exactly what it was, and the shit was amazing.

“For trying to make you be my number three and just all the shit I was on for the past couple months.”

“I accept. I knew you didn’t mean any harm though,” I stated truthfully.

“I’m glad you know that shit.” He nodded. “You remember why I said I had two women?”

“I do.” I took a sip of the juice. This breakfast was hard to stop eating. “Because no one woman could check off all the boxes.” I rolled my eyes playfully.

“And it was true as fuck until I met you.”

I coughed, not expecting him to say that. Unique was a huge flirt, and you had to take his compliments, smiles, winks, and whatever else with a grain of salt.

“Then why are you with them?”

“I’m not. Well, I got one out the way. I need to get the other too.” He ate some of his good-looking ass omelet. “Some shit went down and… yeah.”

“Like what?”

“Daisy tried to fuck my brother at his birthday party. Keep in mind, his son was just born at the house, all of us were there, including all my nieces, nephews, my parents… and she tried to get fucked. He was hot.”

“I know he was.” I shook my head. “She didn’t see how that man was looking at that girl on the yacht? I’m shocked he didn’t punch her ass. Or did he?”

Unique chuckled and shook his head. “He didn’t. But you speaking facts. Plus, Sif is big on his respect, and the whole shit was beyond disrespectful.”

“Yeah, that is fucked up. Out of all your brothers, she chose him ?” I snickered, frowning.

“What you mean?” Unique grinned.

“I don’t know. Seems like he would be the hardest one to crack.” I shrugged.

Amused by my statement Unique said, “I could see that.”

“But she would’ve failed with any of them truthfully.” I ate some more. “How did you feel though? She’s your girlfriend.”

“ Was my girlfriend. And I wasn’t tripping off what she was trying to do, more so of how she did it, when, and where. It wasn’t the fucking time.”

“You didn’t care that she wanted to fuck your brother?”

“As crazy as it sounds… nah.” He shook his head, leaning back some, and I fought not to admire his biceps and chest in that wife beater.

“What about your ego? Be honest.”

“My ego is just fucking fine, KK.” He smiled, eyes sparkling. “It’s the name of the game when you got a lot of siblings like I do. Literally every one of us has either liked a girl and she liked one of our brothers or tried to talk to a chick who wanted to instead talk to our brother.”

“That is crazy.” I giggled, and he shrugged like it was nothing.

“So we don’t be giving a fuck when it happens, not unless it’s a woman we saw a future with, but that ain’t happened yet, thankfully.”

“Yeah, and you don’t seem like the type of man to harp on a woman not wanting you.”

“Nope. None of us are. It’s always on to the next.” He thought for a second, then said, “I was planning to break up with both of their asses that morning, but shit got derailed when my nephew came.”

“I see. Breaking up, huh?”

“Yeah.” He sat up from being bent over his plate, looking me in the eyes as his elbows pressed into his thighs. “I think it’s hard to build a real ass bond when you jumping in between people—at least for me it is.”

“Maybe decide who you like more then.” I got nervous, and I was shocked my voice didn’t shake. His eye contact was stagnant.

“I have. I did. I married her.”

“Well, if you want a real chance then?—”

“I know, and I only got one more to let go. I was gon’ throw her ass out with Daisy, but she deserve better. She a good woman, just not for me. I wanna sit her down and actually talk face to face. What you think?”

“I think that shows you’re a real man.” I nodded, impressed.

“I didn’t tell Daisy about us being married because I know you don’t want the shit exposed, but I do plan to tell Aurora. She ain’t about to run to the internet with the shit, but I want her to understand how serious my pursuit of you and us is gon’ be.”

“Umm, okay. And you’re sure she won’t say anything?”

“Very.”

“Okay then. But if she does, I’m gonna kick your ass.”

“I might like that.” He grinned. Fine ass. I could only playfully roll my eyes. “So after I do that, you think this real nigga can take you on a date?”

“I said real man, not nigga.”

“Tomato, tomahto.” He shrugged cutely, sipping his juice with his beautiful, onyx ass.

“Who made this food, or where is it from?” I changed the subject, noticing my little pearl below starting to tingle a bit every time I looked at this man’s broad chest and handsome, bearded face.

“My sister-in-law. She’s a chef. I don’t know if you heard of her. Presley.”

“Yes, I have! I bought her cookbook but never used it because her shit is intricate, and I didn’t have nobody I would make half that shit for.”

We laughed.

“So whatever nigga you do make that for, what that mean?”

“That I’m in love with him, and he has my heart.”

“Bet.”

* * *

I had just left a meeting with the business loan officer at St. Thomas Financial, feeling good. I didn’t tell Unique because I didn’t want him getting me any favors, as crazy as that sounded.

The officer sounded like he liked my ideas and explained they would review everything and call if they had any questions before I got a decision.

I’d been praying all week that I got this loan so I could invest in starting my own makeup line. I’d already mapped everything out as far as what I would need for branding, the ingredients, website, and everything else.

My personal funds were quite low since clients had been coming in pretty slowly, so I began to accept the fact that my career as a makeup artist was surely over. Rina had been nice, but she was only one person, and I couldn’t float off that.

My phone was jumping as soon as I walked into my studio, making me retrieve it as I plopped down on the couch. I saw I was being tagged in a live from none other than Zosia. Typically, I would ignore it, but I hadn’t dealt with AJ in a minute, so my interest was piqued as to why she was even talking about me still. This was exactly why I couldn’t get my career back on track while AJ’s was seemingly untouched.

“She’s still fucking with him!” Zosia held up what looked like a phone bill with my number on it. “Where is my husband, Kabrina, because he’s been out all night!”

Like clockwork, hundreds of texts started coming through with people calling me all types of sluts, hos, bitches, and everything else, excluding a child of God. I couldn’t block or report it to spam quickly enough, so I just powered it down.

“What the fuck?” I grumbled.

That man and I hadn’t conversed since the abortion situation, so whatever bill she was holding was old. And whomever he was with, it wasn’t me.

Remembering she’d called me once, I turned my phone back on and unblocked her.

“Where is he!” she roared, and I could hear how hurt and upset she was. For a split second, I felt bad. She was almost hoarse.

“Zosia,” I said calmly, remembering she was post-partum. “I am not with him.”

“Yeah, right! Then where is he? He left yesterday evening and hasn’t been back!”

“I don’t know.” I tried to keep chill, though she was annoying me with all the yelling.

“Prove it then.”

“How the fuck can I do that?” I paused my pacing. My hands were itching to knock this ho out, and I’d refrained because, at the end of the day, I had slept with her husband. It didn’t matter if I knew or not.

However, the more she did, the less I felt inclined to hold off on her. I wasn’t exactly a huge fighter, but I did fight, especially when people popped shit like she did. Had she been anyone else, I would’ve been tried to pull up on her.

“Meet me right now.”

“Zosia, if I meet you right now, I am going to put hands on you. Is that what you want? If so, I can gladly give you my address or a meeting spot.”

She got silent, I guess debating on how truthful I was being.

“That’s fine.”

I read off my address to her, and after she repeated it back to me, we disconnected.

While I waited for her to arrive, I tied my hair up and put on some sneakers to wait. About twenty minutes passed before she hit me up to say she was outside, so I went down to meet her.

“Is he with you? Just tell me.” Her voice softened as soon as she saw me, fidgeting a little and making me feel bad.

“He isn’t. I haven’t dealt with that man since the day I found out about you, and I wish you understood that. He never mentioned you or being in a relationship. I don’t know you, and you’re not my favorite person, but you need to drop his ass. You don’t need him, and he is not a good man.” I shook my head, hoping she took my words seriously.

“Of course you want me to drop him so you can have him!” She laughed.

“Alright. I’m gonna only say this once, Zosia. Make this the last time you mention me on the internet, or I promise I will break my foot off in your ass. I have spared you because I’m a woman, and I get that you’re hurt, especially after just having a baby, but I won’t be going forward. So before you post your next comment or start your next live, keep that in mind. Ask yourself is it worth getting fucked up.” I kept my voice calm and serene so she’d understand how serious I was.

I was over being nice and giving her ass grace. She was either stupid, delusional, or just one of those women who chose to turn a blind eye to shit so they could stay with their no-good nigga. Maybe she was all the three. I wasn’t sure, but what I did know was that I was over being involved in her circus of a marriage, and if she kept on, I was gonna black her fucking eye.

“Bitch, shut up!” She whipped her phone out like she was about to go live again, and I lost it. “Ah!” She screeched when I snatched it and tossed it a little ways down the sidewalk.

Before she could even say another word, I popped that bitch in the eye harder than I even knew because she stumbled and fell back on her ass.

“You think I’m playing with you, ho?” I took a step forward, but Zosia hopped to her feet, one hand covering her eye and bolted across the street to her car, checking over her shoulder here and there like I was Freddy Kruger.

Suddenly I got visions of her having me jumped, making me bolt across the street. Before she could get into her car, I began pounding her all over the head before gripping her hair and delivering several uppercuts.

“Help!” she screeched, windmilling unsuccesfully.

“I’m calling the police!” A woman who I guess managed or owned the smoothie shop Zosia was parked in front of shouted, pulling me from my trance.

As soon as I stopped wailing on Zosia, she yanked on her car door and hopped in, all while crying and screaming like a banshee.

She sped off, and once I calmed down a bit, I burst into laughter right along with a woman sitting on her porch next to the smoothie spot.

“That bitch didn’t know what she signed up for!” The woman hollered before we both chuckled as I rushed back across the street.

I went back in my building and up to the studio, still chuckling a little as I removed my shoes. It felt good to beat some ass.

Sitting down after, I just stared out of my floor-to-ceiling windows for a bit, panting and wondering when this thing called life was going to take its damn foot off my neck. Before I could even ponder for a minute though, my phone was back blowing up with hundreds of texts from people insulting me, making me power the shit back off.

* * *

I struggled to close my car’s trunk while holding the few bags of groceries from Trader Joe’s, but when a hand that looked just like Unique’s did it for me, I sighed out of relief.

“Do you always pop up on people?” I jested, wondering why I was so happy to see him. He lifted my mood without even doing anything. And this was even while I was with AJ. For some reason, Unique was like a light without even trying.

“Nah. Just you.” He playfully tried to kiss me, so I moved. He then took the bags from me and nodded for me to walk to the parking garage’s elevator inside my building.

“I can carry at least one.”

“Why when I can carry ’em all?” He frowned at me like I was stupid before following me onto the elevator.

“Thank you. My arms were hurting, and I hadn’t even been holding them long.” I hit the button for my floor.

“I got you.” He leaned his tall frame against the wall. “I been calling you.”

“Yeah, well, my number got exposed a few days ago, and I just powered it off.” I stepped off the elevator, and he trailed me to my door. I started to unlock it as I continued. “I could barely use it because of people calling or texting constantly, so I just shut the shit off.”

“Sounds like you need a new one.” He set the bags on the kitchen bar for me before sitting behind it and watching me unload.

“I do, but I don’t have the funds for it right now. Plus, I need to focus on research and other things. My phone causes me to doom scroll.” I began putting everything away.

“I get it. But how am I gon’ contact you? Email?”

“Yeah, that could work. But what do you need to contact me for?” I was grinning before I could finish the question.

“To get my fucking makeup done. Why else?”

“Well, you’d be the first in a while.” I half joked but felt the pang in my chest every time I thought about that fact.

“How ya number get exposed?”

“Zosia. She saw it on a bill and showed it on her live to millions of people.” I shook my head.

I noticed Unique was quiet for a long time, making me look away from the fridge.

“You still fucking with him?” His brows dipped.

“Of course not. The bill must’ve been an old one. She was saying he’d been gone overnight, and I guess she thought he was with me and dug it up.” I shrugged. “You look like you’d be bothered by me messing with him.” I went around the bar.

“I would be.” He shook his head at himself as he exhaled. “I preached all that shit about being in a poly relationship just to wanna trade it all in for you.” He pulled me between his legs, just looking at me like he couldn’t understand what I was doing to him or where I’d come from.

I hated that I blushed and smiled while staring into his face, imagining his lips on mine again. The one kiss we’d shared was brief, but it left a lasting impression on me. I’d dreamed about it for a week after.

“Is that what you did?”

“Well, that was the plan until Daisy made her own exit.” He smirked. “When you free?”

“I’m only free for single men.”

“I’ll be single. How is Friday evening?” He pressed his forehead to mine, and it was a chore not to kiss him.

“Depends what the climate is like this Friday.”

“It’s gon’ be very clear. I promise.” I could only smile and blush like I always did with him. “You got me right where you want a nigga, KK.” His voice took on a serious tone.

* * *

THE NEXT EVENING…

The UPS man knocked loudly and jolted me from my nap like he always did with his ignorant ass. The mailboxes were too small in this building for packages, so the doorman always let the delivery men up to drop off anything bigger than an envelope.

Gathering my thoughts for a second, I sat up then padded to the door. Opening it, I found a small package.

Picking it up, I looked down the hall again to see if I could see the UPS man, but he was too quick, having already gotten on the elevator and rode down.

Letting my door shut, I grabbed some scissors to open the box and saw it was an iPhone. My lips parted in surprise before I powered it on and began setting it up. This had to be from Unique. No man was as thoughtful as him.

As soon as my service came through, I got a text message. I could immediately tell it was from Unique, making me store his name as I wore that same goofy ass smile he could always pull out of me.

Unique: Thought you could use this. I need to keep tabs on my wife. :) See you Friday, love.

I read it a few more times before telling him thank you and then getting right to signing into all my apps. I couldn’t help but notice how nervous and excited I was for Friday to come, however.