Page 10 of Make Me Remember

“Yeah,” KJ said.

“A’ight. I’ll meet y’all up there.”

KJ nodded then opened the door to his truck. Before getting in, I asked, “Where’s Cassie? Why aren’t you with your new bride? Jess can take me to the diner.”

“She’s in Beaumont with her mama and sister. You’re fine.”

I nodded then allowed them to help me inside. KJ’s truck was a little high. Although only one leg had gotten hurt, the other was bruised as well. They said nothing was broken or torn in it, but I was thinking about heading to Houston for a second opinion. That shit hurt bad as hell some days. KJ got in and gave me a slight smile. I didn’t know what that shit meant, but I was sure I was about to find out in a minute.

When we got to the gate, he said, “I’m glad they finally got this fucking gate up.”

“Yeah. Nesha said the company they’d hired was fucking with their time. She said it just like that too. So you know she was pissed, because she doesn’t usually use language like that.”

“Shiiiid, she’s around family all day long. It was bound to rub off on her sooner or later. My dad doesn’t curse much at home, but around his family, he’s a different person.”

We chuckled. Uncle Kenny was usually in his own world, handling his business, but whenever he was around Uncle Jasper and Uncle Storm, the curse words flew out of his mouth like it was second nature. I winced as I tried to stretch out my leg then relaxed in the seat. I wanted to complain about this shit, but it wasn’t my style. Most people never knew when something was wrong with me, because I hid it well. However, KJ, Christian, and Rylan knew when shit wasn’t right in my world from one glance.

When he pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant, and I saw the BMW in the parking lot, my heart started beating faster. Mekayla was here? I glanced over at KJ, and he had a slight smile on his face.

“You knew she was here?”

“Uncle Storm texted me, saying he saw her headed this way and to tell you.”

“Fuck! Let’s get out.”

I opened the door and slid out of his truck on one leg. I felt the pain shoot up to my thigh, but I didn’t give a fuck. I stumbled slightly then grabbed my cane to make my way inside. KJ was laughing hard as hell. He got on my fucking nerves sometimes. Jess had a big smile on her face. She was in on this shit too.

When I got to the door, I opened it to see Mekayla seated at a table with her back to the door. She didn’t look to be eating, so I wasn’t sure what she was doing. I winked at my mama, and she chuckled. It was no secret to anybody that I was feeling Mekayla, especially if they were at my house during my therapy sessions. I made my way to her and saw she had a small bowl of peach cobbler and ice cream in front of her. “What’s up, Miss Chatmon? What’chu doing here?”

Her eyes met mine, and she looked to have been crying. The smile fell from my lips as she wiped her face and started gathering her things. “Whoa, what’s up? Why you leaving?”

“I just wanted to get something to eat and decided to be greedy and get dessert. I need to go and get my daughter.”

I grabbed her hand, and I felt the tremble in it. “Mekayla, please talk to me.”

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “I can’t.”

“Why not? We aren’t in a professional atmosphere right now.”

“But you are still my patient. Your mom and your aunt have the best food I’ve ever tasted and for some reason, my spirit feels at ease here.”

“This isn’t your first time here?” I asked with a slight frown.

“No. If your mom doesn’t bring food to me at your place, I come here and get it. I love cooking, and I’m pretty good at it, but this is just so good.”

She’d effectively steered the conversation where she wanted it to go, but I wasn’t the type of nigga to let her have her way. I pulled her from her seat and hugged her tightly. I felt her take a deep breath then she gently pulled away from me. “This isn’t appropriate, Mister Henderson.”

“It felt good though, didn’t it?”

I stared into her eyes and could see her begging me to let shit go. It touched me and caused me to back down. “Okay. I’ll let it go, but you may need to talk to someone, like you were encouraging me to do.”

“I have a counselor, Mister Henderson. I was just… triggered earlier. I really have to go. Are you going to want me to come back?”

“What kind of question is that? I’ll make sure Uncle Storm isn’t there whenever you come.”

She shook her head. “You don’t have to do that. I’m just extremely irritable today. See you in a couple of days.”

I nodded and watched her leave me standing here confused as hell.

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