Page 23 of Beyond The Stars

“She good.” Qamar gripped her thigh. “I didn’t say no. I said you can get an iPad, Noodle.”

“I guess.” Her big eyes watered. It was her superpower.

A superpower Qamar was well versed in from dealing with Esmeray. He wasn’t budging. Instead, he pushed his door opened to let her out with Siasia pouting behind them. He held the door open for them which gave him the perfect place to yanked her up. Looping his finger in belt loop of her jeans, he pulled her back to his chest.

“This ain’t for you, it’s for me. Now fix your attitude and I might make sure you end your night floating.”

Siasia wanted to kiss him so bad. The way he had this take charge aura turned her own so much. It was everything she dreamed of and nothing she’d ever witnessed. Qamar had to be a dream. If so, she never wanted to wake up.

As if he could read her mind, he pushed his face closer to hers. “You can have whatever is yours. I want to be yours. Kiss me, Mama.”

How could she not suck his lips off his face after that spiel? So, she kissed him with passion. So much passion, it scared herself.

“Ugh,” Noodle grunted, shaking her head. “We here for a phone and an iPad,” she announced to the salesman who was closest to her. “At least that’s what I’m here for. I don’t know about them.”

Everyone in the store snickered.

“Noodle stop calling me, I’m right here in the car with you,” Siasia fussed after Noodle’s third time calling since she had her new iPad with cellular service.

“Girl, I ain’t never been able to call people when I’m not connected to the Wi-Fi. This is fire!” Noodle bounced in the backseat. “And I don’t have anyone else’s number.”

“You want mine?” Qamar watched her head nod through the rearview mirror. After calling out his number, it only took seconds before she was dialing his number. “I got you locked in, Princess.”

“Ugh,” Siasia snorted at their behavior. She was trying her hardest to hold in the same excitement as Noodle. Just like her little sister, she was elated to have the latest iPhone. The icing on the cake was not having to pay the bill. At least until Qamar got tired of them and moved on to the next girl with a banging body.

Hearing the excitement in Noodle’s voice, Siasia was willing to do anything to keep it there.

“You good?” Qamar gripped her thigh.

“Yea. Where we going now?”

He grinned sneakily. “To get the princess some fly ass pieces.”

“Clothes?!” Noodle bounced more.

“That’s what you want?”

“Duh, Qamar.”

Siasia snickered. “Told you, you will create a monster.”

“Good thing I’m trying to stick around,” Qamar replied casually like he meant it.

He didn’t give her a chance to respond before he turned the music back up, gaining him a deep grunt from her.

They pulled up to Lynn Beach Mall; a place Noodle had never been and Siasia only went to window shop. It was full of high-end stores that had been out of her price range all of her life. Her hand shot to her mouth where she bit into her tender cuticles.

“Yes day, Mama… just chill.” Qamar sensed her hesitation—knew from the jump she would be, but his desire to shower her with more than money could buy kept playing on his mind while thumping in his chest.

“Look, I appreciate the phone and iPad but I can’t take anything else from you. Don’t get me used to this lifestyle only for it to be temporary… only for you to get tired of fixing up the broken girls and place us back out to the side of the road for trash pickup day.”

Noodle’s once exuberant elation had quieted. She was only ten but with the ten years she’d lived, she understood what her big sister was saying. It made sense too. Yes, today would be a day filled with nothing but yes and extravagant things but what about tomorrow? Would their regular, trailer park lives be back to normal when the sun rose and the birds didn’t chip? In the trailer park, even the birds were songless.

Kissing his teeth, he looked at Noodle who’s big and bright eyes begged him to give them the fairytale for forever. When his eyes connected back to Siasia, he knew he would. They reminded him too much of his own family—before the money and fame. “My family has this saying we say, it binds us and keeps our eyes towards the prize. To the moon. It means I got y’all forever.”

“How you know though? We just met.” Siasia was desperate for him to make it all make sense.

“If I say it, I mean it. Okay?”

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