Page 97 of Taming a Menace

“You didn’t have to let me drag you out there.”

“I wanted to go, Iyla. I’ll take any chance I can to be around you. Why do you think I’m still going to therapy?”

“Because your parole officer is going to violate you if you don’t complete it by the end date. Or were you lying about that?”

“You can never know what that clown is going to do,” he said with a quick shrug.

“So you tricked me?”

“No, I just don’t know for sure. I’d rather be safe than sorry.”

“Whatever, Keywan. You tricked me.”

“I’ll do it again if I can spend time with the woman I’m crazy about. I wish I never had to leave you, baby.”

“I love spending time with you,” I confessed.

“I’ve been looking for a new therapist,” he revealed.

“What? What about your end date?” I asked, caught off guard by his statement.

“I plan to finish up my court mandated hours with you, but if I’m being honest, I haven’t taken it as seriously as I should. I read somewhere that it’s not healthy to date your therapist. I didn’t want to taint our bond.”

I sighed. “You told me youweretaking it seriously.”

“I took it as seriously as I could. Now I feel like it might help to get some of this shit off me. I don’t want to dump it all on my lady. I want to fix whatever is broken inside me so I can be the man you deserve in your life.”

“You’re a good man, Keywan.”

“I want to be better for you, Moon. I want you to be proud to be my woman.”

“I would if it weren’t for the circumstances.”

“Fuck the circumstances. Let’s move in together.”

“Keywan.” I sighed.

I loved spending time with him, but I knew it was foolish to think that we could just live happily ever after like he thought we could.

“Think about it, baby. I’m tired of sneaking and hiding with you. I want you around, not just when we can slip away. I’ll buy us a house. I’ll pay for yours if that’s what you want. We don’t even have to stay where we are. We can leave town and start over. I just want to be with you.”

“That’s easier said than done, Keywan. I have to think about my career.”

“I know you do. You’re brilliant, and you’re good at what you do. I know you’re worried about your career. You don’t have to worry though. Hell you can quit that job if you want to. My people have connections. We can find something for you. Go back to school and finish working on your doctorate like you planned to do. Focus on yourself for a while. Let daddy take care of you, baby. I’ll work overtime. I’ll do whatever I have to do.”

What Keywan had to say sounded good. I would have loved to throw caution to the wind and say forget the consequences like he did, but I needed to be rational. One of us had to.

“Can I think about it?” I asked him.

“Yes. I want you to meet my mom next weekend,” he said, throwing yet another atomic bomb in my direction.

“I think you should tell her what happened,” I said, changing the subject.

“Why would I bring all that old shit up?”

“Didn’t you feel better after you told me?” I asked him.

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I want my mom feeling sorry for me about some shit that happened over twenty years ago.”