Page 63 of Until the Ink Dries

“Ellis!” I shoved him. “You are way outta fucking line. Don’t talk to him like that.”

“So, you’re defending him?”

“I am because you are dead ass wrong and childish as fuck to resort to name calling. You don’t know this man.”

“Oh, but I bet you know him very well. Did you fuck him?”

Again, Benny laughed. “Yo, Willow. You better get this nigga because if I come around this car, I’ma fuck him up. I’d hate to disrespect your people’s place like that.”

“If you touch me, I promise you’ll be back in jail before sundown.”

I slapped the shit out of him for that comment. He was taking shit entirely too far.

“What the fuck is wrong with you!” I yelled.

By this time, my parents had come outside. My father made his way over to us with a frown on his face. They’d met Ellis several times, but he rarely came home with me when I came to visit. If anything, he mostly stayed away when they came to visit me, claiming he didn’t want to crowd us.

“What’s going on?” he asked. “Why are you at my house, Ellis?”

Ellis immediately pulled all that animosity back. “I need to talk to Willow.”

My mother shook her head. “I understand that, but you went about this the wrong way. Now you’ve shown up here and got your feelings hurt. I’m sure my daughter would have spoken to you when she was ready. Don’t come here causing a ruckus.”

Ellis was visibly frustrated, but I didn’t give a fuck about him right now. My eyes fell to Benny, who wore a permanent frown. I walked around to him, grabbing his hands.

“Look at me.”

His gaze was still on Ellis and I could tell he wanted nothing more than to strangle him with his bare hands.

“Look at me, Benny.” Slowly, his gaze met mine. “I got this. I’ll call you later, okay?”

He glanced back over at Ellis. “Yeah… a’ight.”

I wrapped my arms around him in a reassuring hug. He returned the gesture, but the sentiment wasn’t the same. Without another word, he climbed in his car, handed me my bag, and backed out of the driveway. I watched until he’d made it down the road before turning back to Ellis and my parents with my arms crossed.

“Mama. Daddy. Please give me a moment alone with Ellis. I’ll make sure he leaves.”

My mother nodded, but my father remained stone faced. He stepped toward Ellis, towering over him in his six feet four stature.

“Don’t make me come back out here with my gun, understood?”

Ellis swallowed nervously and nodded.

My father sized him up before grabbing my mother’s hand and going back into the house. For the longest time, I stood staring at the man I once loved with my whole heart. Now, he was looking like a stranger. I take that back. He was looking very familiar. The Marcia Thompson in him jumped out when it came to Benjamin and it completely turned me off.

“I have never been more disgusted with you than I am right now, Ellis,” I said, taking a step toward him.

“You know what, Willow. The feeling is mutual. I don’t know who you are right now, either.”

“I’m me! Me, Ellis. The smalltown girl with the kinky curls and the foul mouth. The girl who loves the simple things over elaborate gifts and having money thrown at her. The girl that’s happy working her “lazy” job because it puts money in the pockets of people who look like me. The girl who likes to get fucked, and I’m not talking about a five minute session where I don’t even get mine.”

“So, you did fuck him?”

I scoffed. “That’s all you got from that? That I fucked him?”

“Did you?”

“What does it matter! I’m not fucking you. I’m not with you and I’m not going to marry you. For far too long, I’ve allowed you, your family, and the people around you to suck the life out of me. I lost myself being with you, and I had to come back home to find me again.

---