Page 50 of You Make Me Feel

“I’ll take you home. Come on.”

I lowered my head and headed back to her car. I hoped she would remain quiet. I didn’t feel like talking about it anymore. I sent Mr. Taylor a message, taking tomorrow and Tuesday off. I didn’t want to be around anyone.

I hated what I allowed Jarod to do to me. He made a fool of me, and I didn’t know how to recover. It didn’t help that I had made horrible decisions contributing to today’s fuckery. Hopefully, time to myself would help me reset. I desperately needed a recharge because all this shit had depleted me completely.

Chapter 18

Oliver

It had been an entire week since I’d seen Kinisha. She didn’t go to work Monday and Tuesday, and I had to go to Houston on Wednesday through Friday to conduct interviews. She refused to answer my calls or text messages. I’d even called her office phone, but she had caller ID on it, so she wasn’t answering. I wasn’t sure what was up with her. I wasn’t angry at her. I was angry that Anise was still letting that nigga dupe her into believing he loved her.

When he walked his raggedy ass into the house, I was heading out to see about Kinisha. What he said halted everything. He asked Anise if she invited “that bitch.” I made my way back through the house to handle him accordingly. He looked like he wanted to take out his anger on my cousin, so that caused me to stay inside even longer. I felt Kinisha was okay outside since Devin and his brothers were out there.

When I received the text that she was leaving, I nearly knocked Anise down, trying to get out the door before she left. I was still too late. They were driving away when I got to the driveway. I got in the car and went to her place. She didn’t answer the door. I was so desperate I almost broke into her apartment on Monday. I assumed she thought I didn’t want her anymore because I didn’t go outside after her on Sunday. That wasn’t the case. Kinisha Jordan was still the woman I loved. She was the woman that held my heart in her hands.

I called Devin yesterday, and he said she’d shown up to work for the rest of the week, so I knew she was ignoring my calls. Just the fact that I was trying so hard to get ahold of her should have let her know that I still wanted her. My message had simply asked her why she left Anise’s house, but she never responded.

I refused to lose the woman I loved over a misunderstanding. I loved that feistiness in her. I wasn’t angry that she was fighting. The situation with my cousin happened before she got pregnant. Why would I be upset about that? I didn’t understand. As I stood in the mirror and tied my tie, I could only mumble a prayer that God would make a way for me to get through to her. I hoped she would be at church today. If not, maybe I could talk to her parents or Kiana to help me get through to her.

After giving myself a once-over in the mirror, I put on my glasses, grabbed my keys, phone, and wallet, and headed out the door. My nerves were all over the place because I needed to see and hear from my baby. I needed to know that she was okay. I didn’t even turn on the music in the car. I was laser focused on reconnecting with my baby.

When I got to church, I went to where Kinisha and Kiana sat. They hadn’t gotten to church yet. I noticed her parents sitting over where they sat every Sunday with the deacons and deaconesses. Her mom gave me a weak smile, which didn’t do anything for my nerves. When Kiana sat beside me, she gave me the same weak smile. I leaned over to her and asked, “Is she coming?”

She shrugged. “I haven’t talked to her in a couple of days. She’s been shutting us all out.”

“I’ve been trying to call her every day, including last Sunday. Why isn’t she answering?”

Before she could respond, the musicians began playing, preparing for praise and worship. I didn’t feel right even sitting here without Kinisha. Glancing over to my right, I saw Jarod sitting there. He looked like somebody had knocked his ass out. The discoloration on the side of his face said it all. I smirked, thinking somebody had finally given him what he’d been begging for.

I did my best to participate in the service, but I couldn’t stop my mind from going over all the events from last Sunday, trying to see if I missed something. Maybe she thought I was siding with Anise since she was my cousin. She had to know that I wasn’t that type of person. Right was right, and wrong was wrong in my book, and it didn’t matter who was doing it.

It didn’t seem Kiana was paying much attention to what was happening either. She looked to be texting someone, and upon further observation, I saw she was texting Kinisha. I leaned over and asked, “Do you have a key to her place?”

“Yes, but I promised her I would never use it unless it were an emergency.”

Her phone vibrated, and she checked it. When I saw the crying face emojis from Kinisha, I knew I had to get to her somehow. This was an emergency for me. I wasn’t sure what Kiana considered an emergency, but this was definitely an emergency in my book. “Tell her I miss her.”

Kiana gave me a tight smile and sent the message to Kinisha as I tried to tune back into the service. When my phone vibrated, I just knew it was her. I nearly fell off the pew, trying to get my phone from my pocket. When I saw Anise’s number, I wanted to throw it across the sanctuary. I opened the message to read, I’m sorry, Oliver. You were right. Robert is a jackass that deserved his walking papers. I gave them to him Friday night. I’m cooking if you and Kinisha wanna come over. I owe her an apology.

I didn’t bother responding. She’d told me that she didn’t think Kinisha was even the one who pulled her to the floor. She thought it was her friend that did so. Either way, Nisha didn’t do anything wrong. Anise was so damned gullible and naïve.

Someone walking by caught my attention, so I looked up to see Ramsey. She had a young man with her. I guess she’d moved on too. Good for her. She probably had a level of naivety as well for her not to catch on to Robert’s bullshit sooner.

I’d practically choked Robert’s bitch ass last Sunday.

* * *

“Oliver, I don’t know about her. She rowdy, and she ghetto. How you go to a club to fight? That was what they were there for . . . to start mess.”

“Anise, listen to yourself. They had a case of mistaken identity? That shit is an obvious lie. Two grown-ass women would come to a club and intentionally attack him because they thought he was someone else? That shit don’t even sound believable. Now, him saying that she was lying could be believable if you had a guy whose word was credible.”

At that moment, the person in question walked through the door, fuming. I was about to walk out and give them their privacy. The ladies that were in the house had walked out as well. As I headed to the door, that muthafucka had the audacity to ask, “You invited that bitch over here? Why is she here?”

I quickly made a U-turn and approached him in the front room to see he was all in Anise’s face. “You might wanna back up off my cousin. And you calling my woman a bitch is gon’ get you bodied.”

His eyes widened slightly, and he said, “This matter is private. She may be your woman, but you don’t know her ass. She stay in people business, and my boy said she was nothing but a ho.”

He didn’t even see it coming. I crossed the room in record time and grabbed him by his fucking neck, pushing him against the wall. Anise didn’t say a word. She didn’t even scream to alert anybody that anything was going on in here. She knew my temper and how I could get when protecting someone I loved. It happened often when we were kids because she was so damn green. Couldn’t see a lie if the nigga told her he was a fucking giraffe.

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