Page 49 of Embrace

Both of our eyes lifted to the sound of the voice. A man approached us. He was a few inches shorter than me with tattoos covering his skin. He wore a tight ass shirt that looked like he was struggling to move in.

“Malik?” Suvi asked as she frowned.

Malik. Malik was one of Suvi’s ex niggas who left her on some insecure shit. He couldn’t handle all the woman Suvi was and ran like a bitch. Now he wanted to smile in her face. Nah, bro. Not on my watch.

“Damn, girl! You look good as hell.”

I cleared my throat. “What the fuck you on?”

Malik looked at me and chuckled. “This clown still around.”

My fists balled. Suvi stepped between us and pressed her body against my front. Her presence should have calmed me, but the liquor in my system had me ready to fight.

“Malik, don’t be on any bullshit. We’re here enjoying our night.”

“I should have known you were fuckin’ this nigga the whole time!” Malik scoffed. “I should have treated you like the cum rag you are. You made me feel like I was stupid for suspecting something was going on between y’all. Whole time you were a fuckin’ ho’.”

“Excuse me?” Suvi asked in disbelief. She placed her drink down and crossed her arms over her chest.

Malik opened his mouth to respond, but I’d already side-stepped Suvi and charged at him. I saw red as my fist connected with his jaw. The satisfying crunch of his bones against my knuckles fueled me to continue the assault.

“Bitch ass nigga! Don’t ever in your miserable ass life speak to my lady like that ever again.” I ordered. With each word, I rained punch after punch onto him. His bitch ass couldn’t do shit besides curl up in a fetal position.

I’d defended Suvi’s honor all my life, but it was something about having a nobody ass nigga disrespect her as my wife that made me black out.

“Blaze! Stop!” Suvi cried out. She knew not to intervene because I had no control when I saw red.

It took three police officers to finally pull me off of Malik. It wasn’t until I was handcuffed and thrown into the back of the police car that I’d realized I’d gone too far.

Stepping out of the precinct, I rubbed my eyes as my vision adjusted to the natural light of the sun. I was in desperate need of a shower and a hot meal. Luckily, I’d only spent thirty-something hours in the holding cell before Suvi came to get me. I climbed into the car as she brought the engine to life and pulled out onto the busy streets of Downtown Houston.

“Thank you for coming to get me,” I stated.

Suvi didn’t respond. In fact, she hadn’t said a word to me since I’d gotten arrested. It was clear she was pissed, but c’mon. I did what I had to do because nobody would disrespect the woman I promised to spend forever with. I could tell from her posture and body language she was disappointed in my actions.

“I’m sorry, Su. I shouldn’t have attacked the nigga.”

“You should be sorry, Blaze. You don’t know what I had to do to get the damn charges dropped.”

“What did you have to do?” I asked, mostly out of curiosity.

“I had to go down to the hospital where Malik was admitted and practically beg him to drop the charges,” she explained. She blew out a sigh as she turned the song playing lowly on the radio speakers.

I chuckled. “I don’t give a fuck about that nigga. He disrespected my wife, so he had to deal with the consequences.”

“We’re not teenagers anymore, Blaze! You need to grow the fuck up!” she shouted.

Her words rattled the windows as well as my emotions. I didn’t have anything to say because I knew in the tension filled atmosphere, anything I said would only add fuel to the fire. The rest of the ride back to the house was spent in silence while I sat with my thoughts.

My temper had never been as bad as it was at Top Golf. I was usually good at controlling my emotions to handle the situation, but I couldn’t stand by and let a nigga disrespect my soulmate. I don’t play that shit about the ones I love.

Malik dug his grave when he used such vulgar words in my lady’s direction. I understood why Suvi was upset. I should have stopped before the cops came, but the liquor in my system made me see red and black out.

All the work we’d done to build our relationship felt like it’d become diminutive. We celebrated two months together and were waiting to get approval for the home. There were so many things to celebrate in our relationship, yet it felt overshadowed by my lapse in judgment and loss of control.

What do I do to make it up to her? What do I do to show her it won’t happen again? The second question gave me pause. How could I guarantee it wouldn’t happen again? I’d had two exes pop up and show their ass. Then when Suvi’s ex popped up, I saw black and nearly caught a case.

How could I prove to her I wouldn’t go ballistic the next time we ran into one of her exes? I’d won her heart. I shouldn’t feel any way about them being mad they don’t have access to her anymore.

---