Page 26 of Yearn

I pushed the door open, and sure enough, the war was on.

Two armies of stuffed animals clashed across the room: bears armed with Lego swords, a giraffe doubled as a battering ram,and poor Mr. Floppy, the old rabbit, had been tied to the bedpost like a prisoner of war.

Oliver screeched when he saw me.

I covered the phone and looked at them. “Excuse me?”

They froze, guilty grins plastered across their faces, pajamas still untouched on the dresser. Toothbrushes, nowhere near their mouths.

I pointed at them. “You’re supposed to be washing up, not staging World War Three.”

Oliver held out his hands and was dead serious, “But Mom, the bears are winning!”

I put a hand on my hip and fought a smile. “No more than twenty minutes for this war. Then, we get back to getting ready for bed. It’s already late.”

J put on their best smile. “How about thirty minutes, Mommy.”

“Fine. Then, it’s our routine. Getting school clothes out for tomorrow. Putting on pajamas. Washing faces. Brushing teeth.”

They saluted. “Yes, Mommy!”

I closed their door and put the phone back to my ear. “Sorry. I had to talk to J and Oliver.”

Cadence spoke, “Is everything okay, Tey? Did Scott do something else?”

“Well of course he did, but I’m not calling about his bitch ass this evening. I’m calling about my tenant.”

“Oh. Good God almighty.” Ro clapped. “This is about to be juicy. Let me turn my TV off. I don’t know what happened, but it better be sexy because that man. Mmmhmm. Yummy in my tummy.”

Cadence sighed. “He is not a man. He is a boy.”

“He is at the legal age of 25,” Ro countered.

“Which is still young. His brain just stopped developing.”

“He don’t need a brain to do what I want to do with him for one night.” Ro huffed. “So, what’s up, Tey? What did my new baby daddy do now?”

“Well. . .I caught him jacking off in my backyard tonight.”

Cadence shrieked.

Ro screamed. “What the fuck?! I know you are lying!”

“I’m not.”

“Details! I need them all and you better have taken a picture.”

I shook my head. “Oh my God.”

Chapter five

The Angel and the Devil on My Shoulders

Teyonah

Once I made it to my bedroom and closed the door, I went straight to the story. “So, I opened the back door, and my tenant—Dominic—was outside jacking himself off like he was preparing to be the leading hero in the filthiest porn known to humankind.”

Silence met me for a beat, then Rochelle asked, “How big is he?”