Page 44 of Obsessive Love

PYRITE

I figured Xoey would let Fable out of her cuffs when I got the notification that she’d entered my house.

Lowkey, I was panicked as fuck because this would’ve been Fable’s chance to disappear.

As much as Xoey was my friend, I knew she would help Fable if asked.

That ankle monitor would’ve been sitting on the bed waiting for me, dealing with her ass.

“Some chicken kababs or something like that,” Xoey answered. “I’m helping.”

My eyebrows damn touched my hairline, and I shook my head. Xoey plus twelve in the kitchen, cooking, was crazy. We all knew one of her voices was a chef, but we’d never seen her do anything in the kitchen besides rattle some pots. No one knew if she could cook or not.

“You know what you are doing?” I chuckled, and she shook her head. “Then why don’t you let the professional handle that?”

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Xoey said. She tried to move past Fable, but she grabbed her arm. “Bestie, you heard the man; this is not meant for me.”

“You’re helping,” Fable said. Xoey opened her mouth to argue, but Fable gave her a look that shut her down.

“Damn,” I said, shaking my head. “Let me shower, then make sure my life insurance policy is paid if Xoey is cooking.”

“Keep talking shit, and I’ll chop that braid off,” Xoey threatened.

I ignored that shit, though, because Xoey was crazy to niggas who didn’t know her. I did, she wasn’t going to do shit to me. I approached Fable, pulled her by the band of her shorts to me, and kissed the top of her head. “I’ll be back.”

I left the kitchen and went straight to my bedroom. After a quick shower, I came downstairs to find Xoey gone and Fable at the table.

“Where’s the twelve?” I asked as I sat down.

“One of her jobs called,” Fable answered without looking at me. Her attention was on her notebook. “She said she would see you later.”

“Bet,” I nodded. I dropped my head, said a quick prayer, and then picked up a kabab. “You're not eating?”

“Not yet,” she said, shaking her head. “I had this idea that I wanted to write down.”

“I’ll wait,” I said, pushing my plate away. I hadn’t eaten alone since we shared our first meal, and I didn’t want to start now.

“You can eat, Pyrite,” she sighed as she wrote. “I’ll eat in a minute.”

“Nah,” I said. “I’ll wait.”

She looked up from her notebook at me, and I swear I fell more in love with her. She was beautiful as fuck. I reached over and brushed a piece of her hair off her eyes and smiled. “I expected you to be gone when I got here.” I pulled my hand back and relaxed in my seat. “You didn’t leave.”

“No,” she replied. “I didn’t.”

“Why?”

“Because you would’ve found me anyway,” she answered, and I nodded. It wasn’t what I wanted to hear, though. I wanted her to tell me it was because she didn’t want to leave, that she knew this was her home.

She set her pencil on her notebook and put it aside, then picked up her plate and put it in front of her.

I pulled my plate to me and said another prayer before picking up one of the kababs and eating some. The shit was good as fuck, too, no lie; it had just the right about of sweetness to it.

“Ay, this is good,” I said, then took another bite. “What did you season the meat with?”

“A special blend,” she answered in between bites.

I ate my first kabab, then started working on my second.

There was also rice and mixed vegetables on my plate.

After I ate the second kabab, I ate some rice and couldn’t help but moan.

“Yeah, this is good as fuck,” I said, nodding.

My throat started to itch, and I cleared it.

“Fuck my allergies, man.” I took another bite of the rice and vegetables, not even bothering to care.

Fable sat there, watching me with a smile on her face. “This is good for real, baby.”

“I’m glad you like it,” she replied, returning to eating. “It’s some extra seasoning right there for your vegetable.” She pointed to a small black container, and I picked it up.

“What’s in it?” I asked as I started to cough. I set the container down to pick up my glass of water. I drank half the bottle and let out a deep breath. My chest was getting tight as hell.

“Just a special blend of lemon, orange crumbs, and other stuff.”

My eyes went from the container and then back to Fable. I couldn’t stop coughing if I tried, and it felt like my throat was closing. I stood, pushing my chair back so hard that it flew into the island, but I didn’t care. I needed to get to my EPI-Pen, which I kept in the drawer.

“You looking for this?” Fable taunted as she held up my EpiPen.

“Yeah,” I gasped, then coughed. My vision started getting blurry, and I dropped to my knees.

“I need it.” The coughing stopped, but only because I could feel my throat closing on me.

I fell to the ground and stared up at the ceiling.

Shit was crazy, my ass was dying, and the only thing I wanted to make sure was Fable was taken care of.

My people knew to look out for her so she would be good.

I looked around the room and didn’t see her.

She stepped into my sight, and I saw her lift her hand. A sharp pain shot through my leg, and then air filled my lungs.

“Dramatic ass, stupid nigga,” I heard Fable say as she pushed my leg.

I rolled to my side and coughed for what felt like an eternity, but I didn’t care because the air was in my lungs. “You fucking almost killed me,” I finally said after a while.

“Been doing it since I started cooking for you,” she laughed.

I rolled back onto my back and laid there like a starfish.

My chest and throat burned like a muthafucka.

Fable stepped over me and sat on my chest. “I told you to let me go, but you didn’t.

” She tapped my EPI pen against my forehead.

“You put this ankle monitor on me and refuse to take it off. You cuffed me to a chair and the bed.”

“I’m not sorry,” I coughed. “I’d do all the shit again.”

“Which is the problem.” She popped me hard as fuck with the pen. If I were light-skinned, I would be bruised. “You have a fucking girlfriend!”

“What?” I tried to laugh, but I couldn’t. “Who told you that?”

“Xoey!” she yelled and popped me again. “You have a fucking girlfriend, yet you’ve been fucking and sucking on me for over a month. Talking about you’re obsessed with me.” She popped me again. “How, when you have a woman?”

“Xoey-”

“Is not the problem!” She popped me in the mouth, and I sucked my bottom lip into my mouth. That shit hurt. “The problem is you and your psycho-ass ways! Don’t say shit else to me, don’t look at me, and you better not even think about touching me.”

“Hold the fuck up.”

“Shut up!” she said, popping me again. “I’m not finished. From here on out, we are back to the original agreement. I’m here to pay a debt, nothing more, nothing less. Get me a fucking bill, so I know what I owe you.”

“Itty Bitty,” I laughed and shook my head. “There is no-”

“I didn’t ask you to say shit, Mr. Stone.” She quickly hit me again, and I’ll be damned if my dick didn’t get hard. I wasn’t sure if it was because she was hitting me or because she called me Mr. Stone. “Give me my fucking bill.” She stood, threw the pen on my chest, and walked away.

“Bitch nigga!” Starburst screeched and flew out of the kitchen behind her. “Bitch nigga!”

“Home,” Watermelon said from on top of the fridge. “Home.”

I finally got enough strength to get up and grabbed my phone from the table. I dialed Hood’s number and put it on speaker.

“What’s good?”

“How long do I need to be alert if I have to use my EPI-PEN?” I asked as I sat in Fable’s empty seat. I hadn’t had to use my EPI-Pen in so long that I’d forgotten the rules.

“You used it?” he clarified.

“Yeah, a little while ago,” I answered.

“Go to the ER,” he sighed. “Even if you used it, you need to be checked out.”

“Nah, I ain’t doing all that,” I said, shaking my head.

“Go to the arena then; I’ll meet you there.”

“Not doing that, either.”

Hood sighed like I was about to piss him off, but I didn’t care. “Alright, how about this? I need to run some stuff by you anyway, so why don’t I stop by tomorrow morning?”

“That’ll work,” I agreed.

“Cool, I’ll stop by tomorrow. But legit, Pyrite, if you aren’t feeling like yourself, call back or 911; Xoey plus twelve will get them folks to you fast.”

“Alright,” I laughed. “Let me get off here and get in the shower. I’m sweating and shit.”

“Alright.”

We hung up, and I continued to sit there. I felt alright, but my mind was racing with what Fable said. I picked my phone back up and called Xoey plus twelve; her ass had some explaining to do.

“Hello?” she answered, cheerful as hell.

“Ay, what did you tell Fable?” I said, getting straight to the point. “She talking about I got a girlfriend and shit.”

“You do,” Xoey replied, and I stared at the phone like she was crazy.

“I ain’t got no woman-”

“Fable,” she interrupted me. “She’s your girlfriend or future wife. I don’t know how to call her. You Stone men are fickle when it comes to titles.” Xoey still felt a certain way about Amethyst sending Yale away.

“Sis,” I groaned, then laughed. “Her crazy ass thinks you mean someone else.”

“I know,” she laughed. “I saw her face when I told her you had a woman. She was pissed.”

“Why would you do that shit, Xoe? I was starting to get through to her.”

“She only got mad because she’s jealous,” Xoey replied. “She likes you, probably loves you if you want to be honest.”

“Man-”

“Yeah, it's love because ain’t no other explanation for what she’s let you get away with,” she interrupted me to say. “So I’m pretty sure I did you a favor.”

“She tried to kill me,” I said, and the line got quiet. “Hello?”

“Man, I love her!” Xoey laughed. It took her a moment to get herself together. She was laughing so hard I knew she was crying. “What do you mean she tried to kill you?”

“She’s been sprinkling some spice in my food with citrus.”

“You’re allergic to citrus,” Xoey laughed.