Page 16 of Tainted

“Kenyon.”

Hauling myself to my feet, I found Sydney in her old bedroom. It still looked and smelled the same.

“I don’t need a pep talk,” Sydney sniffled, trying to appear stronger than she felt.

“What do you need right now?”

“Nothing. Just go home.”

Stepping closer, I reached out again, wrapping my arms around her in a gentle embrace. Sydney resisted at first, pushing against me, but I held on tight, refusing to let her go.

“I’m sorry, Syd.”

And slowly, almost gradually, she relaxed, her resistance melting away.

“Maybe me not having kids is a blessing,” she mumbled, wiping her tears with the back of her hand, “I can’t even raise myself. What do I know about raising a kid.”

“You don’t have to do that. Especially with me,” I reasoned.

“We both lost something that night, Keyes, but I let you live in your delusional world. Let me live in mine.”

Sydney ran her palms across her face, erasing any evidence of the tears becauseSamanthadidn’t know how to mind her fuckin’ business. I was able to let most shit roll off my back because wallowing never solved one problem. It was harder to do when this time, hating ass nigga saw my car and ran Sydney off the road, changing her life and mine. They paid the price, but it didn’t bring back what we lost.

4

Zara

Pulling into the parking lot, I followed the signs to the leasing office. Otto and Brandy were still going at it, and to preserve our relationship, I needed space. After weeks of research, I found Oakwood Manor. This was the only complex I could afford with vacancies, so I didn’t have the pleasure of being picky.

Climbing from the car, I yanked the door open and walked inside. The cold breeze in the lobby made me cross my arms in my worn biker jacket.

“Welcome to Oakwood Manor. What can I do for you?”

My eyes dipped to his name tag, assuring thatNolanmatched the name given on the phone. I would’ve never paired his rugged appearance with working in a leasing office, but that’s why Nana Banana said never to judge a book by its cover.

“Hi, I called about the two-bedroom unit.”

He headed for the counter, waiting for me to follow. Resting my elbows, I waited for him to get situated.

“What’s your name?”

I imagined the color draining from my face because suddenly, my mind went blank. His face scrunched in concern, and thankfully, the alias I selected came flying out.

“Nova.”

“Okay, Nova,” Nolan replied, rummaging through a stack of papers beside the keyboard. “You sure you called here? We get confused with Oakleaf Terrace a lot.”

“I’m positive. I spoke with you.”

“I don’t know about that shorty. I’ve been here all morning,” Nolan assured me, leaning on the counter to let another man carrying boxes squeeze past him.

“You’re sure about that?”

“Positive. I took some calls, but it wasn’t from Nova.”

“Fine. Do you have any units available? I have cash,” I reasoned, withholding my frustration. Yelling and screaming wouldn’t solve my housing crisis, even though I wanted to tellNolanhe was full of shit.

“I’m sorry. You can try some of our other complexes. They may have vacancies.”

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