Page 23 of Where There's Smoke…
“Oh, Phoenix, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to-”
I shake my head before smiling softly. “It’s okay, Sweets,” I assure her. “You didn’t know, but I’m good. Do I still miss him? Absolutely, but I’m slowly coming to terms with the fact that he wouldn’t want me to stop living my life. Hell, if anything, he’d want me to keep doing whatever makes me happy.”
“Like firefighting?” She questions, a bright smile gracing her face. I nod, leaning closer to her. I can hear the exact moment her breath hitches, and I can’t help but smile.
“And you too,” I whisper into her ear. I pull back to see the flustered look flash across her face. “Speaking of which, I can’t wait to finally have you in my bed.”
“You act like that’s my fault,” she smirks, leaning closer. “You’re the busy, sexy, firefighter.”
By now, the food was forgotten, and all I could focus on was the way her curly hair framed her round face like an aura around an angel. She’d taken the braids out a few days ago and decided to dye her hair a honey brown color. It suited her so well, and all I could think about was running my hands through it as she lay in my arms.
“Oh, so you think I’m sexy?” I flirt, stroking under her chin lightly. She nods, her lips stretching into a beautiful smile that showcases her chubby cheeks. “You might just pass out if you saw me in action, I bet.”
“Well, good thing you’re certified in CPR, huh?” She flirts back, and I can’t help the smile that stretches across my face.
“And I’ll save you every time,” I assure her. I kiss her lightly, but she deepens it, and who am I to deny her?
“Damn, I see y’all are here for a different kind of eating,” We hear someone laugh before breaking apart. “Oh, shit! Angel?”
I glance up at the guy standing at the end of the table, and my eyes furrow. I’d never seen him before, but like I said, I didn’t know most of the people at this crawfish boil. They were mostly folks from out of town. When I look at Angel, she suddenly looks uncomfortable and slightly irritated. I couldn’t fully understand what she was thinking, but she wasn’t looking at the guy. I look back over at him with furrowed eyebrows as he stares at her.
“So, am I missing something?” I ask, looking between the two of them. Angel looks up at me with a blank, almost distant expression. What the fuck was going on? “Sweets, you good?”
“I, uh, I need to go to the bathroom,” she quietly says before standing. She tries to get around him, but he lightly grabs her arm, and suddenly, I’m up on my feet.
“Whoa, nah, we ain’t bouta do that shit,” I say as I step closer to them, snatching her arm out of his grasp. She sighs deeply. “Angel, what is going on?”
“Angel, please stop running away from me,” the guy pleaded. “It’s been over seven years now. Can you talk to me? Please?”
“I’m sorry,” she says, shaking her head.
She looked like she was a few seconds away from crying, and I stepped closer to her, pulling her into my arms. She hugged me tightly, and my protective side was activated in full force. I just wanted to get her away.
“Come on, Sweets,” I whisper softly as I guide her away from him.
“Angel, you owe me at least one conversation after aborting my baby,” he yells after us, and it’s like the whole world stops.
I could feel the yard around us quiet as Angel froze in her tracks. I looked down at her and saw her body shaking as if she’d seen a ghost. Soon, her brothers were rushing over to where we were, and I could see her shoulders sag, all of the color gone from her face.
After ushering us inside and away from the crowd, her brother Orion asks the guy, “What the hell are you talking about, Nate?”
“We slept together back when I was in college,” Angel blurts out. The room fell silent, but I could tell that her brothers were furious about this tidbit. “And…I ended up getting pregnant.”
“Whoa. Whoa, what the fuck?” Orion exclaims as he looks between them. Chris looks equally as confused. “You got my sister pregnant, Nate? And you didn’t think to tell us that?”
“O, I’m sorry you had to find out like this after all these years, but your sister was against telling y’all. Hell, I barely had time to come to terms with it before she made her choice,” Nate tries to explain, and I rub my temples because now my head is hurting.
“Do NOT turn this all on me as if I’m some kind of villain!” Angel argues, glaring at Nate. I could see the rage written all over her face, and I was shocked. It was the first time I’d seen her this upset. “I TOLD you that I didn’t want to be pregnant. I TOLD you that what we did was a mistake, especially because I had no feelings for you. We were young, dumb, and we made a mistake!”
“Yeah, but you could’ve at least talked to me,” he argues. “We could’ve decided together what to do. If you didn’t want it, I would’ve raised them myself. I toldyouthis!”
“Nate, stop lying! Please! I tried contacting you for a week to talk, but you cut me off completely,” She yells at him. “Then, when you waltzed back into my life afterward, talking about how you wanted to be a father, it made me sick. Don’t act like you don’t remember how I broke down, explaining how I felt. I told you how much pregnancy scared me. I told you how I never wanted to go through that. We messed up, and I’ll take partial responsibility for that, but Irefuseto let you make me feel bad for a decision I made about MYreproductive system. I wasn’t ready, Nate, and you knew this, so stop trying to make me feel bad. Please.”
Hearing her stand her ground on her choices made me respect her so much more. I was glad she didn’t let one slip-up change her mind about her stance. However, I didn’t like what Nate was doing, so I made sure to let him know.
“Aye, I don’t appreciate you ignoring her feelings all because you’re in yours,” I finally interject, and he glances over at me. “From what I’m gathering, y’all slept together once, she got pregnant, and she told you why she didn’t want that. Like she said, it’s her body, her choice. At least she was nice enough to let you know before going through with it. Hell, I wouldn’t have…”
He doesn’t say anything but sighs before looking back over at Angel. “We could’ve been so good together, me and you,” he says, and I can see Angel wince. “I would’ve taken care of you and our child. I would’ve given y’all the world.”
