Page 48 of A Cancer's Embrace
“Toot that ass up for me, baby.”
On his command, I jumped on all fours and waited for him to enter me. Before I could blink, Jabari had all of him inside of me.
He slapped my ass. “Throw that motherfucker back and don’t stop ’til I say stop. Got it?”
I moaned. “Yes, I got it.”
“Good girl...”
I satdown in the chair and checked my text messages. It was now the end of the week, and I missed my man. Our conversations have been limited since JaBria was staying with her mother this week, and Jabari used the free time to busy himself with the last-minute details for his restaurant. All week, I would text him, but I only got one-word responses. I reminded myself he was in go-mode and wasn’t thinking about anything but opening his restaurant, but I still missed him deeply. I went to our message thread and sent him another message.
Me:
Can you come over tonight? I miss you, and I want to wrap myself up in your arms and cuddle all night.
I slid the phone back in my pocket because I wasn’t expecting Jabari to reply right away. I grabbed my clipboard and went back to my patients. As I headed out of the room, Gloria walked out. I had seen her earlier today, but she was only there to have a conversation with the doctor. I studied her body language to make sure there was no bad news. She didn’t have a sad look on her face. She actually looked as if she had received the best news of her life.
“Have a good day, Gloria,” I called out to her.
She looked at me and smiled. “Amina, I was hoping I would see you on my way out.” She opened her arms to give me a hug.
“Is everything going okay?”
She nodded. “Yes, treatment is working. I’m feeling better than I’ve felt in a while, and I’m just happy. I even met a little friend at church. Don’t tell Jabari though. He’ll give me the third degree about it.”
“Ooh, a friend? Well, your secret is safe with me. But if he asks, I’m not gonna lie to my man.” I smiled.
“Oh, girl, he’s got your head gone, and you’ve got his head gone. I also wanted to thank you for what you did for him and Kya. Sometimes, all it takes is someone from the outside looking in to help settle the differences among others. JaBria needs both parents, with a healthy co-parenting relationship. So, thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I was thinking about JaBria at the end of the day. I only had one parent, and when I lost her, I was lost. I wouldn’t want your granddaughter to experience that.”
Gloria reached for my hand and patted it. “You’re a great person, Amina. I’m thankful that you and Jabari have crossed paths. He’s a better person now that he is with you. He’s spending more time with family and really living in the moment. And before you say you had nothing to do with that, you did, baby girl, you did.”
“Thank you, Gloria. I appreciate that.”
“Well, let me get out of here. I’ll be seeing you soon. Take care, sweetie.”
“You too.”
I watched Gloria walk off the unit until she reached the elevator. Before, I was grateful that I had met Gloria because she reminded me of my mother, but now I was even more thankful that I had met her because she had helped me get to know Jabari. I was too excited to see Jabari tonight. I checked my phone, and Jabari had yet to text me back. I didn’t take it as anything, though. I knew he was busy. Until then, I would continue my shift, anticipating seeing Jabari tonight.
It was 8:00 p.m., and I had yet to hear anything back from Jabari. I had called him multiple times and sent many text messages, but he didn’t respond. No matter how hard I tried, my thoughts were getting the best of me. I still had hopes he would show up. Jabari hadn’t let me down yet.
I had whipped up a few smash burgers and had done my research on a show to binge-watch. I prepared for his company, but still nothing. I called again to see if he would answer, but the phone rang once and then went to voicemail.
“This is Jabari. Sorry I missed your call. Please leave me a message at the beep.”
“Um... I know this is probably my fifth voicemail, but I just want to make sure everything is okay. I miss you. Can you call me back as soon as you get the message?”
I hung up the phone and tossed it onto the counter. I plopped down on the sofa and rested my head back against the chair. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t control the racing thoughts that went through my mind. Was this how things would be once the restaurant opened? Was Jabari going back to his ways of work coming first, or would I have to endure the woes of being last?
I felt the tears fill to the brim of my eyes. I’d noticed that since I’d been dating Jabari, I spent a lot of time in my head. Most of the time, it would be me overthinking and not feeling worthy enough of what we were building. The worst thing I could do was get into my head because I never could get out of it. I pulled the blanket over me, lying down and letting the tears flow peacefully until I fell asleep.
I wasn’t sure what time it was, but the sun was now up, and there was loud knocking at my door. I slowly rose from the couch and wiped the sleep away from my eyes. The knocking continued. I made my way to the door and checked the peephole. Jabari stood there holding a vase full of red roses. I hesitated for a few seconds before opening the door. As soon as I opened the door, he smiled softly, but I could see the worry in his eyes.
“Hi, baby.”
“Hi.”
