Page 20 of Make Me Forget

“And you think you gon’ come out unscathed? Huh? Don’t forget who fucked you up the first time.”

He crossed the room, and I quickly stood from my seat. “What? I don’t give a fuck no more, nigga. For real.”

“Good.”

He took his phone from his pocket and dialed 9-1-1. Before he could even hit the send button, I snatched that shit and threw it against the wall just like he did my phone. “If I can’t make a call, neither can you.”

I could tell he wanted to get at me, but I was no longer interested. The only thing keeping him from trying to fuck me up right now was the charges he planned to file. If he beat my ass, I could file charges as well. The charges I filed would be taken just as seriously as his, if not more seriously simply because he was a man. I at least had a legitimate reason. I wasn’t trying to fuck him up as bad as I did, but he would clearly be trying to hurt me if he attacked me.

I walked away and went to our bedroom, pulled my duffel bag from the closet, and began packing shit. We purchased this house together, and I could kick my own ass every time I thought about it. The first legal document we should have signed together should have been a marriage license. No agreement was as important as that one, but yet, I signed loan documents with this nigga.

When I put deodorant and shit I needed in there and went back into the bedroom, he was standing there. He glanced at my duffel bag and nodded repeatedly then left the room. When the phone in my pocket vibrated, I knew it was Kendrall. It was the phone he’d given me that I did my best to keep out of sight. Since I had on black, oversized sweats, I knew Mesani wouldn’t be able to tell it was in my pocket unless he was staring extra hard.

I went back to the closet to change into some jeans and a crop top. Once that was done, I dropped the phone inside my purse and grabbed the duffel bag. When I got to the front, he was sitting on the couch, looking pathetic.

“Cassie, after three years, this is what you’re going to do? I thought we were better than this?”

“I did too, until I saw you fucking that bitch in our house.”

“See, you supposedly forgave me for that shit, but you keep bringing it back up.”

“Oh, like you forgave me for hitting you with that vase? Fuck outta here.”

I grabbed my keys from the kitchen countertop, but before I could leave, he pressed his body against mine, sliding his arms around my waist. “Damn, Cassie. This is it, baby?”

I closed my eyes, wishing things were different… wishing that I’d never met him and that I would have been with Kendrall from the start. After taking a deep breath, I said, “Yeah. This is it.”

“Honestly, I was just trying anything I knew of to keep you here. I could see that you weren’t happy. Suddenly, you seemed excited again, and I knew it wasn’t because of me. That was why I mirrored your phone. I felt the woman I loved slipping away from me. I’m sorry for everything, Cassie.”

I turned around in his arms and stared into his eyes. I nodded, and as I was pulling away, he kissed my lips. Swallowing hard, I turned away from him and left the house. He was doing whatever he thought he could to make me stay. Things had gone way too far for that. Not only did I cheat on him, but I had fallen out of love with him.

Kendrall was quickly consuming every part of me, even though we hadn’t been seeing one another much. After getting in my car, I backed out of the driveway and headed to my dad’s house. When I got to the red light, I took the phone out of my purse to see Kendrall’s text message. I love you so much. Call me when you can.

I quickly responded before the light changed. I love you too, baby.

The tears fell down my cheeks, but they weren’t tears of sadness. Despite what I felt like Mesani was going to do, I felt a sense of freedom. I could help kids without a career in education, eventually. I knew that a felony charge would slow things down, but it wasn’t a death sentence. My calling couldn’t and wouldn’t be denied.

When I turned in my parents’ driveway, my daddy was standing outside on his phone. He dropped it to the ground and ran to my car. I opened the door, and he practically yanked me from the seat.

“Cassie, shit! I thought something had happened to you, baby girl. I called you back, and your phone was going straight to voicemail. When I called Mesani and his phone did the same, I was starting to panic. I was calling the hospitals, but I was about to head to your place.”

I hugged him tightly and sighed, trying to decide if I wanted to tell him now or call Kendrall to come meet us. I laid my head on his chest for a moment then pulled away to get my bag and purse from the car. I supposed my dad realized I hadn’t said a word, because he said, “What the fuck that nigga did?”

When I turned around with my duffel bag and purse, I said, “Can we go inside?”

The fire I saw in his eyes didn’t do a thing for my nerves. Before we could get inside, Ebony drove up. Great. She’d probably tried to call me to see if I was going tomorrow and was coming to see if Dad had heard from me. She got out of her car and practically ran over to us. After grabbing my hand, she kissed it and followed us inside. Hopefully, Evan didn’t show up. His temper had a hair trigger. The nigga flipped on a dude at McDonald’s because he asked to see his receipt when he told them his order was wrong.

Once inside, I saw Mama at the stove. She smiled big and said, “Cassie! Hey, baby!”

When I cleared the countertop, her smile dwindled some. “Wh-What’s going on?”

“Hey, Mama. I’ll talk to y’all in the front room.”

My dad led the way. I dropped my bag and my purse to the floor, then fished my phone out of it. I called Kendrall on speaker so they could hear. I knew that would spark the conversation instantly. When he answered, he said, “Hey, baby. How was your day?”

The frowns on everyone’s faces only made me tremble in nervousness. “Hey. My day was interesting. I’m uhh… I’m at my parents’ house about to explain.”

“You want me to meet you there?”

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