Page 3 of Pieces of Us

Nehemiah Newson

M ay

The Past

She wanted to keep our relationship a secret because her father didn’t approve of her dating yet.

She was now a junior, and I was a senior at Churchill High Academy.

While my background was a little jaded, hers was the epitome of silver spoon, but I loved her.

She was smart and knew a hell of a lot to be a preacher’s kid.

And even though she came from money, she was humble and down to earth.

It was one of the things I loved the most about her.

Although her father was a preacher, she didn’t act like a PK.

She rarely cursed, but she had that around the way girl persona down pact.

When I first met her, I thought she was fronting, but when I had dinner with her family at their home, I could tell her pops used to be from the streets. He didn’t sugarcoat shit.

He forbade us from being together because he knew my pops supplied the hood with drugs.

He saw my car, nice clothes, and the money I gave his daughter, and automatically stamped me as a statistic, a lost cause, even though I worked at Footlocker to make my own money.

It was how my father raised us to be—independent hard workers that didn’t have to depend on him for things that we needed or wanted.

I wasn’t my father, though.

Cole Newson might have sold drugs, but he made sure to keep me and my two sisters away from his lifestyle and always pushed us to be better than him. His money kept us living good and eating, but he refused for us to follow in his footsteps.

That didn’t mean shit to Mr. Prescott, though.

He didn’t want us around each other at all, so we snuck around any chance we got.

Right now, she was supposed to be at a track meet in Clinton Township, yet she had her friend, Silvia, lie for her so she could spend the two days she was supposed to be away with me.

And I was enjoying it. We were currently sitting at the lookout, eating snacks and talking about what we wanted to do after college.

“I’ve been sitting here rambling for the past thirty minutes, and you haven’t said a word yet. What’s on your mind, Booby?” she asked, flashing me her perfect grin.

I smirked at her calling me that corny nickname, but my mood was solemn.

“I’m just listening, baby. I love to hear you talk.”

“Yeah, but I’ve been talking since you picked me up. You’re not your usual happy self. What’s going on?”

I sighed as I took her hand, interlocking our fingers. As much as I loved her, I knew our time together was coming to an end.

“You know I graduate next month.”

“I knooow. I’m going to miss kissing you under the bleachers.” Her soft giggle made my lips turn up.

She was so fucking pretty.

“Yeah…I’m going to Atlanta immediately after graduation. I got a scholarship to Morehouse…full ride.” I watched as she let my words soak in, and the smile that once adorned her face disappeared.

Please don’t cry, baby.

“But you said you were going to Michigan State so we could be close.”

“I know—”

“And what about our plan? You said you would wait for me.”

The transference of my melancholy was now laced in her voice. I didn’t like this shit. Morgan was sacred to me. She was who I saw as my wife and having my future babies. However, shit wasn’t panning out like I thought.

“Pops wants me to take the scholarship. Says it’s not an option since he’d rather not pay for my tuition.

I don’t want to go, but it’s not an option for me anymore.

It’s a requirement.” My eyes searched her angelic face, praying that even though this roadblock was being presented to us, that she wouldn’t say it was over.

It was quiet. She was quiet. The only thing that could be heard was Jodeci projecting everything I felt in this moment, and my heart beating a mile a minute.

“So, what does this mean for us? How will I see you?”

“I’ll come home for the holidays. I’ll call you every morning and every night. We can do this until you graduate and convince your people to let you go to Spelman instead.”

“You know my father is not going to let me go out of town for college.”

“Convince him. You know Spelman is an all-girls school. I think he’ll be more receptive if he knows that.”

She sighed. “I’m—I don’t know, Nehemiah. I’m scared you’re going to forget about me.”

“Never. You mean so much to me, Morgan. I don’t ever want to lose you. You’re going to be my wife, and I promise you that. I love you.”

“I love you too…Don’t hurt me, Booby.”

“You got my word. Now, give me yours.”

“I’ll never hurt you.”

She leaned over the console and kissed me. Our tongues met as I deepened the kiss. She crawled over the seat and straddled my lap as my fingers massaged her scalp. She pulled away, looking into my eyes lovingly.

“I want you to have me.”

I chuckled. “I already got you, Mo Boogie.”

“No…I want you to take my virginity. Right now.”

“Now?”

She nodded.

I swallowed. “Are you sure?” She reached in the back seat, rummaging through her bag until she found what she was looking for. When I saw the gold, shiny wrapper, I shook my head and smiled.

“I can get us a room. I don’t want your first time to be in the back seat of my old school.”

“Why not? I hear that’s where the best sex stories start.”

I laughed as she joined me. I would have preferred to take her to a bed, but I would do anything this girl wanted me to do.

After countless love songs guided us through her first time, I would always remember that, on this night, I made love to the first girl that stole my heart.

As we redressed, I saw headlights approaching and frowned.

“Oh my God. Do you think it’s the police?” Morgan asked, hurrying to put on her shirt.

“Nah. Nobody really knows about this spot but me and a few of my friends.”

I started the car just in case I had to pull off quick. I watched as the muscular frame headed our way until I got a clear view of the person approaching.

“It’s your pops.”

“What?” she shrieked.

Before I could put the car in drive, her door was snatched open.

“Get out of this car now, Morgan!” he roared.

“Daddy! I-I can explain!”

“Get out now!” he repeated, yanking her from the car.

“Yo, Mr. P. Chill!” I yelled, hopping out of the car and going to her side. I didn’t like how he manhandled her, and if I had to, I’d lay his big ass out.

“You stay the hell out of this! Didn’t I tell you to stay away from my daughter?

Are you that damn hard of hearing?” He turned to Morgan.

“You’re supposed to be two hours away at a track meet, but I get a call from your coach saying you never made it!

Is this what you do now, Mo? You lie to me now? ”

“Daddy…please. I-I don’t want to be on that team anymore. I don’t want to run track anymore either.”

“Look at you. He has you out here killing your dreams because he has no future.”

I scoffed. “I have a future. No matter what you think of me, Mr. P, I am not my father.”

He stepped dangerously close to me and sneered. “You will be.”

My face contorted. I wanted to steal on his ass so bad, but the frightened look and tears on my girl’s face prevented me from laying his old ass out. He didn’t know me to judge me.

“Thou shall not judge. Right, pastor? For a man of the cloth, you sure are breaking those commandments you preach about every Sunday.”

“When it comes to my girls, I’ll lay down the cross to protect them from heathens like you.”

He pushed me out of the way, snatched her bag from the back, and paused momentarily. When my eyes followed what he was looking at, I cringed internally. It was the condom wrapper.

“You manipulative son of a bastard!”

I anticipated what he planned to do next, so when I saw his fist coming toward me, I stepped out of the way. He stumbled and landed on the trunk of my car, but he caught himself and charged toward me.

“Daddy, stop it!”

I could hear Morgan screaming as he tried to grab me, but I swiftly ducked under his arms and pushed him away to give myself room to dodge him.

“I don’t want to hurt you, Mr. P. Come on, man.”

“Baby, please. Just get in the car!” Morgan yelled, pushing me toward my whip.

“Morgan, get your ass in the car now!” He was able to snatch her up and pull her away from me. With a stern finger, he pointed at me.

“You stay the hell away from my daughter, or I promise to God I will have you and your whole family put away for life. Try me!”

With that, he snatched her bag from the ground and stormed away. I watched him take my love away from me. Our eyes locked, and those tears broke me.

“I’ma see you, Mo Boogie. We ain’t over, baby. I promise! I’m coming back for you. Always!” I yelled just as he put the truck in reverse and sped out of the parking lot, taking my heart away with him.

May

Several Years Later

Present

“My client has made her desires known in this divorce. We won’t settle for anything less.” I sat with my fingers pressed against my mouth, brooding.

How did my life come to this?

Marriage had never been something I thought would happen for me. After losing my first true love, I had no desire to be with anyone else.

That was until Diana came along. She was everything my father wanted me to have, and everything I didn’t want. We were never supposed to get married. However, since my father and hers were best friends that wanted to keep our generations locked in, they forced us into this shit show.

Diana was cool at first. We were best friends at one point, but all of that changed when our fathers forced us into this marriage. I loathed the very day they sat us down and presented the bullshit about keeping the wealth in our lineage and creating a legacy for the next generations to come.

We were too young to make such a big commitment to one another, but our fathers couldn’t care less. Diana was Mr. Victor’s only daughter, and I was my father’s only son, so they thought it would be the best idea for us to mate. It wasn’t.