Page 33 of Set me Free

"Hey, Ma."

"Boy, don’t ‘Hey, Ma’ me," she snapped immediately, her tone sharp and familiar. "You been acting real funny lately, and I need to know what’s going on."

I sighed, already rubbing my temple.

"What you mean?"

"I mean," she continued, voice tight, "according to Gianna, you barely talking to her. She keeps calling me, asking if I’ve heard from you. You been dodging her, Creed?"

I leaned my head back, staring at the ceiling.

Yeah. But I wasn’t about to say that.

"I been busy," I muttered.

"Bullshit," she shot back, quick as ever. "You always busy, but you ain’t never ignored her like this. So, what’s really going on?"

I ran a hand over my face. No point in lying.

"I’m ending things with her, Ma," I said, my voice even.

Silence.

A long, heavy pause stretched between us, thick with tension, before she finally spoke. "You sure about that?"

"Yeah," I said, no hesitation.

"And why is that, exactly?"

I sat up, resting my elbows on my knees, gripping my phone tighter.

"Because it ain’t right. I don’t love her like that. Maybe I never did," I admitted. "We were kids, Ma. She was just always… there. And I was doing what you wanted."

"This ain’t about what I wanted, Creed," she sighed, her voice quieter now. "Gianna has been good to you. She’s been by your side through everything."

"Yeah, and I been doing what was expected of me," I muttered. "But that don’t mean it’s what I want."

Another pause.

"So, what, you just gon’ throw away years with that girl? Like she never mattered?"

I exhaled. "She does matter. I care about her and love her. Just not in the way she wants me to."

More silence.

Then—"This about another girl?"

I hesitated, just for a second. "Yeah," I admitted.

My mama exhaled sharply, and I could already picture her shaking her head, pressing her fingers against her temple like she always did when she was trying not to cuss me out.

"So that’s what this is about," she muttered.

"No, Ma," I corrected. "I was already feeling this way about Gianna before I met her. Meeting her just made me realize I couldn’t keep lying to myself."

More silence.

"Who is she?"

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