Page 5 of Cove City: Volume II
SASHA
My eyes opened to the bright sun beaming into the room. I had been lying in the bed Zeus and I had made love in so many times over the past two days. I knew I couldn’t lie here forever, and the thought of even leaving his house made me sick. I dragged myself from the bed and stood in the middle of the room. I glanced down at my hand, where the perfect engagement ring sat. I missed him and the fact that I didn’t know why the fuck he shut me out, had started as sadness but was beginning to turn into anger.
I stood there as my eyes bounced on everything in the room, and I lost it. I began screaming. I screamed from sadness, loneliness, for every time I opened my legs to his ass, for the love I shared and even the trauma I let rest on my shoulders. I swiped everything off the dresser, pulled the sheets from the bed and used my fist to put holes in his fucking walls. Zeus had me fucked up. I had given him too much of myself to let his ass walk away happy while I suffered.
“Sasha!” I heard someone scream my name.
I quickly stopped as I turned to look and saw no one. “What the fuck are you doing? Get the fuck out my house!”
It was Zeus. My eyes frantically bounced all over the room until I realized the picture he had of me on his wall had a small red light blinking in my eye. “Zeus?” I said as I walked in front of it.
“What?”
“Why are you doing this? Why?” I shouted.
I could hear him breathing heavily. “Go to that nigga cause your home is not here.”
I didn’t know what he was talking about; it only made me more upset. “Zeus you are my nigga.”
“No!”he roared. “Your nigga is the one you let hold you and stroke your face in that fucking shop! I told you, one time that’s it.”
Now it made sense. He saw Pierre and me and took it out of context. Then I thought about the call, and he was there all along. “Listen to me. It was not what you think.”
“I needed you. I called you and I saw you. Get. The. Fuck. Out!”
The red light shut off. “Zeus!” I shouted. “Zeus!”
I could not believe this shit was happening. He wouldn’t even allow me to explain. I was losing my mind, and I could feel myself turning into a woman I didn’t want to be. I stormed out of the room and then the house. I hopped on my bike and took off. Zeus had taken my heart with him and left me all alone over a fucking assumption. I knew he had shit going on with Dio, but now he had to deal with me as well. If he thought this shit was over, he had me mistaken.
January, 1990
Compromise
Nook,
You have probably been eagerly waiting for my letter, I’m sure. It took me a while to decide whether I wanted to write back to you or let you enjoy, Angela. When I read that letter, it broke my heart, but I understand. The urge to call you, to run to you, was aching. We both made a choice that has led us to be apart. You believe in compromise, and I don’t. I guess that was the problem. I love myself enough to know that no matter how much I care for you, it should have been no question to allow our dreams to flourish together. Instead, you chose the easy route. Run off to be with someone else.
Hearing you give yourself to someone else made me want to run. I wanted to run far away from here and act like we never happened. Naheem, I couldn’t. I couldn’t because I love you. Although you are with someone else, a part of me believes we will figure it out, but I think that part of me is slowly dying.
I got a job at Cove City Press. I’m excited; hopefully, this job leads to something bigger. The only thing, Nook, is that my first article is about your father, James Avery, and whatever he’s gotten into with Yassir King. If you know anything, please share it with me. I would hate to uncover things about you and your family.
Listen, I’ve got to go, but I hope all is well, and I hope that Angela treats you like you're supposed to be treated.
Love, Bunny.
I sat on the couch, staring at the TV, trying not to focus on Pierre. I didn’t even bother to look at my phone because every thirty minutes, it was him who was calling. I wanted to talk to him, but I was still angry, hurt, and disgusted. If there were a rewind button on my life, I would have hit it so fast up until the day my car door slammed into his Benz.
The sound of my mother’s happiness bothered me. Her loud laugh while she was on the phone took away from what I was watching on TV.How could she be so happy in a moment like this?Her daughter was going through something. We were about to be put out, money was tighter than a girl’s braids on some thin edges, and I had left the one person I had become comfortable with.
I shot up from the couch, eyeing my mother as I made my way back to my room. I looked at all the letters I had placed on my bed and hadn’t touched. I pulled out my phone to see if I could find any articles on the Cove. The first thing I saw was an article on Grace King and Angela Prince. As I sped through the article,I realized they were at war with each other. Then I thought about what Naheem said as he mentioned different names to me during the block party.
I hurried toward the letters and scanned to find the next one in line.Who was Naheem?I picked up another letter and opened it to read, but my phone went off again. Pierre was calling again. This time, I remained silent as I answered his call.
“Tuesday?” he called out.
I hadn’t said anything yet; I just listened to his voice.
“Baby, I know you hear me, and if you don’t want to say anything, fine. Let me talk to you then. How are you? Did you eat today? Do you need money?” he asked.
