Page 30 of Where You Should Be

“Oh. I was looking forward to seeing you.”

“Van, listen. We can’t do this anymore.”

“You for real? Why?”

“Yes, I’m for real. I’ve decided to quit playing games and give Jungle my love.”

“Hmm. I knew y’all were more than friends at the wedding.”

“No, we weren’t. I’ve always been attracted to him though. I fell in love with him a while ago.”

“Okay. I hope he doesn’t break your heart. If he does, you are more than welcome to come back.”

“We’re in love, Van.”

“He’s a ho. You’ll be back.”

I frowned hard because I couldn’t figure out what he had against Jungle. Apparently, Jungle saw my facial expression. He eased the phone out of my hand and brought it to his ear. “You seem to have plenty to say. Why don’t you talk to me about your concerns, Mr. Slayton?”

Jungle pulled the phone from his ear to look at it. “That nigga hung up.” He chuckled as I slowly shook my head. “Was I intimidating?” he asked as he handed me my phone.

“No, but he seems to know you.”

Jungle frowned hard. “Well, a lot of people think they know me.”

“He called you Milton, and he said you were a ho. How did you know his last name?”

What did I say that shit for? He ignored my question and called Vegas. “Check on Van Slayton, the nigga at the grocery store. I need to know the ins and outs about his bitch ass since he seems to know so much about me… Yeah… Hit me back when you know.”

He turned to me, still adorning a frown. “When did he say that? At the wedding?”

“When he was dropping me home. I didn’t like the vibe I got when he said that. I’m kind of glad he called, because I’d forgotten about it after seeing you.”

“A’ight. I’m gon’ let’chu make it on that. If he has anything else to say, let me know.”

“Okay.”

I could see that he was extremely bothered that Van knew shit about him. He remained quiet the rest of the way, and I knew it was because he was deep in thought trying to figure out who Van was. I just wished people would mind their fucking business and moved around. All Van had to say was okay. He didn’t have to pretend to care about me getting my heart broken. Just accept the rejection and move around.

When we got to Jericho’s house that he and Whitney purchased last month, I hurriedly grabbed my purse and was about to get out of the car until I noticed Jungle staring at me. I sat back in my seat and waited for him to walk around the car. He had to get on me about that shit all the time.

After opening the door for Manman, he opened my door. “I’m glad you remembered what we talked about and didn’t hop yo’ lil ass out of this car.”

I slid my hands to his cheeks. “I’m still learning. You have to remember that it has only been four months that I’ve been able to come and go as I please. I’m still on a high about that.”

He bit his bottom lip, and I could see the sensitivity creeping in. He pulled me close and kissed my ear then neck. “I’ll try to remember that, baby, and not be so hard on you about it.”

He pulled away and kissed my lips then stood up straight and grabbed my hand, leading me to the door. Manman was already standing there, waiting for us to join her. When Whitney opened it, she screamed in excitement. I missed seeing her every day. We were only around her for a month, but it seemed longer. After hugging Manman, she said, “Chelsea!”

I laughed. “You’re acting like we didn’t just see each other Saturday.”

“We did, but we only talked all of two minutes! That didn’t count one bit.”

“You’re right,” I said as I rubbed her belly. “So how far along are you? Jericho only said you’re due in like seven months.”

“I’m nearly twelve damn weeks. I was on the pill. How?”

“Whitney, I already explained that shit to you,” Jericho said.

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