Page 37 of Mister Fireman

I was glad Robin’s parents weren’t home when I pulled up on her. The last thing I needed was for them to try and protect her from the truth. Something was off with her, and pacifying her for the sake of loyalty and friendship was over. As I banged on the door, I pulled in what I needed to be calming breaths. It was one thing for Robin to be on that crazy shit with me, but it was altogether different to approach my woman.

“Who is it?” she asked, but I didn’t bother responding. I’d already covered the peephole so she wouldn’t see me.

With a sigh, she swung the door open and quickly tried to close it at the sight of me.

“Nah, you been wanting my attention,” I said, pushing the door back. “You got it now. Let’s fuckin’ talk.”

I used her arm to lead her into the living room and set her down on the sofa. Instead of sitting next to her, I stood in front of her and crossed my arms over my chest.

“Dejvi, I…”

“What the fuck were you thinking, rolling up on my girl like that? If her and her girls would’ve beat your ass, then what?” Rolling her eyes, she crossed her arms and sat back in her seat. “You don’t hear me?”

“She’s the reason you don’t want to give me a baby,” she whined. “If she wasn’t in the picture, you wouldn’t have even given keeping your promise to me a second thought.”

“That’s true, but you’re looking at it wrong. Enjell isn’t a problem; she’s my promise. My promise of forever, of marriage, of family, of partnership. Do you really want me to give that up just to keep a promise to you that we made when we were eighteen?” When she didn’t reply, I chuckled. “The crazy thing is I considered choosing you.” Her eyes lit up. “I was going to choose our friendship and the pact over her. Thankfully, I came to my senses and chose myself and my happiness because it’s clear you don’t give a fuck about me.”

As I turned to leave, she hopped up from her seat.

“What! So that’s how you’re going to do this? How can you say I don’t care about you, V? You’re my best fucking friend!”

“I might be yours, but you ain’t mine. This past year, you ain’t come home once!” I yelled, turning to face her. “When we tried to link up with you for your birthday, you chose to go out with that nigga instead. Every conversation we’ve had while you were gone was because I initiated it. You ain’t give a fuck about me or the rest of our crew while you were there. Now because your relationship is over and you’re getting older, you want to use the best friend card and this fucking pact? If you cared about me, you’d be glad I finally found the one. You’re still young as hell and fully capable of falling in love and having a baby. Instead, you want to force that shit on me.” Chuckling, I squeezed the bridge of my nose. “Nah… you don’t give a fuck about me.”

“Dejvi, wait,” she pleaded, grabbing my arm as I tried to walk away. “You’re right. I did get a little self-absorbed. Things were going great for me in Chicago and in that relationship, but that’s not the case anymore. Now maybe I could have been a better friend over the last year, but the facts are the facts, and the fact is you owe me a baby. I don’t want to get technical with this, but if I have to, I’ll sue you.” She huffed, allowing determination to give her confidence. “If… if you don’t give me this baby willingly, I’ll sue you. Maybe a judge won’t be able to force you to lay down with me, but you’re gonna give me something for not honoring your word!”

I was in complete disbelief. The longer she talked, the harder it was for me to recognize her. My eyes scanned her frame from toe to head. Shaking my head, I turned to leave. It felt pointless trying to talk to this girl, and I was over it.

“You don’t believe me?” she yelled to my back. “I’ll take you to court, Dejvi! You’re going to give me my baby.”

Not bothering to respond, I continued out. I’d promised Enjell she wouldn’t have to deal with Robin. Now… I wasn’t so sure it would be that easy to get rid of her.

20

Enjell

A Few Hours Later

I was mentally drained more than anything. It raining only made me sleepier. I hadn’t planned to go to sleep so quickly, but that’s exactly what I did. Had it not been for my doorbell ringing, I wouldn’t have even tried to get up.

Groggily, I sat up in bed and yawned. Scratching my head, I pulled in a deep breath. My phone began to vibrate, and Dejvi’s name and picture was a good indication that he was the one at my door. Standing, I yawned again and headed out of my room. Since money was flowing in more freely, I did a complete overhaul of the house. I kept the furniture but changed the color scheme.

As soon as I opened the door, I said, “I told you I needed space,” as I hugged him.

“Your words can say you want space, but your body always tells me the truth.” I couldn’t deny that as I buried my face in his chest. “You want me to leave?”

My head shook as I held him tighter. “No.”

After locking the door, Dejvi carried me back to my room. He stripped down then joined me in bed, and I wasted no time cuddling up on his chest.

“How are you feeling, love?”

“Better than earlier. I got a little nap in but not enough sleep.”

“I’m sorry to have woken you up. This rain is the perfect time to sleep too. That’s why I came over here.”

Smiling, I looked up at him briefly. “You wanted to sleep with me?”

“I always want to sleep with you.” He kissed my nose. “You can go back if you can.”

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