Page 24 of Make Me Forget

“I got it. I always do.”

This competition was important for me. If I won, this would solidify my standings in the top fifteen. I would be eligible to go to the championship competition. The purse was a cool million dollars. Nothing would get in the way of me getting my money. I didn’t give a fuck if somebody was tryna kill me. They’d have to take me out on the back of Suge.

Suge was my horse. That nigga was a whole gangster in these rural streets. He was big and didn’t take no shit. I literally watched him bite another horse in the pasture and kick the shit out of him all because he’d eaten some feed out of the trough before him. The trough was for all four of the horses I owned, but his ass bullied all of them. It was like they knew they were supposed to let him eat alone first, and they got whatever he didn’t want or was too full to eat.

I should have named his ass Storm Henderson. Suge was a bully just like his ass. If the other horses looked like they were having fun without him, he broke their shit up. He was my cutting horse though. His ass would have been out on the streets if he wasn’t. When it came to cutting, Suge was a beast. This competition was more about him than me. He did all the work. I was just the rider.

This competition was about show. It judged the horse’s agility and strength. They gave me numbers, indicating which cows had to be isolated from the herd, and Suge’s job was to keep them isolated for a certain amount of time. One of the cows had to be a deep cut, which meant it had to be deep within the herd, toward the middle instead of the periphery.

Because of how aggressive Suge was, it took work for him to be gentle with the cow when isolating it. That nigga would push her to the ground. That was a steep penalty. The other penalties were no issue for Suge, because we were able to effectively do our job within that two-and-a-half-minute timeframe. He was also good at focusing on the job and not trying to go back to the herd.

When I got to where I needed to be, my phone rang. That was unusual, because people I was close to knew that I was at a competition. I checked it to see it was a number I didn’t have saved in my phone. I didn’t bother answering, because I didn’t need no bullshit occupying my mind right now. I powered the phone down and made my way to Suge.

CHAPTER 8

CASSIE

Ithought the competition would be boring. It was the total opposite for me, at least while Kendrall was out there. Seeing how low his horse got to the ground to keep that cow away from the herd was interesting to me. I’d never seen a horse with fancy footwork like that in person. Of course, in the age of TikTok, one could see it all, but in person, it was totally different. It was like I could feel the adrenaline. I knew that had a lot to do with who was competing.

My man was on one. Watching him talk to his horse and the horse obviously executing the way he was supposed to was exciting as hell. When he was done, I left my seat to go find him and hop into his arms. I knew he’d done well, simply by the fist pump he’d done while still in the arena. I didn’t have the slightest clue where I was going, but I had to find him.

When I did, he was just as excited to see me. The way he hugged me tightly and kissed my lips was something I’d never tire of. I’d been loving him a long time, and sometimes, I hated that it took him all this time to see it. Then I would chastise myself for thinking that way, knowing that things happened in their own timing… when they were meant to.

Our excitement went to higher heights when Kendrall won first place. Seeing him at the height of his career meant the world to me, but it also reminded me of how my career could be in jeopardy. I hadn’t heard from Mesani because he’d broken my phone. I had to transfer everything to my new phone, and he didn’t have that number.

As we headed back to Kendrall’s house, his phone rang. He frowned as he looked at the number on his radio screen. “That’s the same number that called me earlier, before the competition. Hello?”

I just knew he was going to make the call private, but he answered through the Bluetooth. When the voice on the other end came through, I nearly stopped breathing. “I know she’s with you, because where else would she be? She can come get her things. I called a realtor about selling the house, unless she wants to buy me out.”

Kendrall glanced at me. “Anything else?”

“It would be nice if I didn’t have to go through you to communicate with her. Tell her to call me so I can have her number.”

“Naw. This way is perfect. Again, anything else?”

“Yeah. I don’t think you should be in the middle of?—”

He ended the call in his face then glanced at me again. “If you want him to have that number, it’s up to you. I don’t mind being the middleman.”

“What do you think I should do? I mean, he could still press charges.”

“You don’t have to kiss his ass. If he wants to press charges, he’s going to do that shit anyway. I’ll be around Nome for an entire month. I have nothing but time, space, and opportunity. I’ll go with you to get your things Monday, if you want. We can hire a moving company, or I can rent a box truck and pay some niggas from around Nome to get your shit out of there.”

“I don’t want you to get in trouble, because I know he’s going to say something that will cause you to hand his ass to him.”

He shrugged as I slowly shook my head. This man of mine. He was going to compete at the national championship. There was no way I would allow him to do something to risk not being able to compete. I grabbed his hand and squeezed it. “I love you, Kendrall, and I’m so proud of you.”

“I love you too, baby. You know you mean more to me than that competition, right? I know what I’m risking. There is no way I would ever allow you to be in a position to be disrespected. He can fuck around and find out if he wants to. So are we going Monday?”

I smiled slightly. “Yes.”

He nodded then started making calls. I slowly shook my head as my phone chimed with a text from Ebony. Your man fucked those white boys’ heads up, sis! You could see it on their faces. They were pissed that a nigga swept that money up.

I chuckled. She was right though. Kendrall ‘KJ’ Henderson was the only black man competing today, and he showed his whole ass. I loved every minute of it. I responded to her. Hell yeah, he did. That’s my man, my man, my man.

She sent back the laughing emojis as I smiled. I brought my left hand to the back of his head and massaged his neck then played in his hair. When his skin reddened, he looked at me. “We gon’ have to go home first if you keep that shit up, Cassie.”

I totally ignored what he said and continued massaging him. Taking off my seat belt, I went to my knees and leaned over the console to apply more pressure and to further tease him. Imagine my surprise when that nigga whipped his dick out. I glanced down at it as he asked, “We have an hour before we get home. What’chu gon’ do with it?”

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