Page 22 of Intercept My Heart

Money Sutton

“Money, you have to relax.”

“I’m gonna kill him,” I hissed, pacing in the middle of my living room.

“I understand you’re upset, but I need you to calm down. The only thing that matters right now is that it was early enough for us to take care of it.”

“Naw, fuck all that. Tootie, he has to pay for what he did to her.” Dennis’s punk ass was sick in the head for touching a young girl in the first place, but you could expect me to believe he hadn’t gotten Charae pregnant on purpose. He deserved to die a slow death, and I wanted to be the one who handed it to him.

“You have every right to feel the way you do, but what will it solve, Money? You are all she has right now, so if you were to go do something reckless, where would it leave her?” My head snapped in Tootie’s direction, hating that her explanation made sense. Still, he was gonna have to see me behind this fuck shit. I didn’t care what anyone had to say.

“I’ve got to make a run. Can you make sure she’s straight?”

“Money.” Tootie huffed, with her arms across her chest.

“I promise I’m cool. Matter of fact, I’ll leave my tool here so you know I’m not on that type of time.” I put on the best smile I could so she wouldn’t suspect anything. Little did she know, this was only one of my many guns. I wasn’t quite sure what I would do, but I also didn’t want to bring her in the middle of my shit.

“I’ve got her. Nikki said she’ll probably be in pain for a few more hours, but she’ll be fine. I plan on taking her to the clinic to make sure everything passes the way it needs to. We’re gonna register her as a Jane Doe so no one will be able to report it. I’m putting a lot on the line to help your friend, and I hope you understand how serious this is. She needs to report what happened to her so those people can be held accountable. Regardless of what she says, she deserves to have justice.”

I agreed with her 100 percent, but I couldn’t make Sunny do anything, she wasn’t ready for. My plan was to wait until she healed from this and revisit the conversation. Right now, everything was fresh and scary for her. The last thing I wanted to do was pressure her when she wasn’t ready. She had enough people making decisions on her behalf.

“I’ll talk to her. Look, I’m not sure how long I’m gonna be, but if I’m not here in the next few hours, you can leave. She’ll probably be asleep for the rest of the night anyway.”

“I’ll be here. The girls are with their father for the week, so I don’t have a reason to rush home. All I’m gonna tell you is to be safe, Money. I don’t want you to get into anything that could jeopardize your future. Always put yourself first, no matter how much you care about someone. Nothing is worth the cost of your life.”

“I’m already knowing. I’mma go holler at her, then I’m heading out.” I kissed Tootie on the cheek, then headed upstairs. The light sounds of Rae snoring filled the room. She looked so peaceful, even through all she had endured. Tootie called in a favor from one of her nurse friends, and they were able to confirm her pregnancy and provide her with abortion pills.

When we first got home, it only took a few hours for them to start kicking in, and the sound of her screaming crushed my soul. I held her in my arms as she bled into the adult diaper Tootie bought for her. I’d never been so angry and afraid inmy life. Being helpless wasn’t something I resonated with, but tonight really showed me a lot about myself. My feelings for Sunny ran deeper than I had been able to admit until tonight. I wanted to take her pain away and eliminate every person on the planet who caused her any harm.

After it was all over, I helped her get cleaned up and changed before we climbed into bed together. I’d never shared a bed with any girl, and it wasn’t sexual. However, this was something special. She opened up parts of my heart I never knew existed. I’d never wanted to protect someone the way I did her. She never had anyone in this world she could truly count on, and it made me want to work harder to be everything she never had.

“Hey,” I whispered, kissing her temple. Her body stirred for a moment until she finally opened her eyes.

“Hey.” Her soft voice sounded exhausted, and I understood why.

“I’m about to step out for a bit. I don’t know when I’ll be home, so I wanted to let you know.”

“Where are you going?” She attempted to sit up in the bed, but I stopped her.

“No, you need to be resting. I have some things I need to take care of, but I’ll be back before you know it.” Her eyes were filled with worry, making me feel guilty for leaving her.

“Don’t do that. I promise I’ll be back before you know it. It’s really no biggie.”

“The same way you know me, I know you. You can tell me whatever you want out of your mouth, but I know your heart.”

“If you knew my heart, then you would understand exactly why I have to leave.”

“No, I don’t. I want you here with me.” Her lips poked out, and I stopped myself from pressing mine against them. Lil’ mama had no idea how much her presence affected me. Every day I woke up to her beautiful face, it was a blessing and slowtorture, all at once. In my mind, Sunny belonged to me, even if she wasn’t ready to accept the love I wanted to give her.

“You’ll have me. You never have to worry about that. I’m yours for as long as you need me.”

“I’ll always need you.”

“Then I guess you’ll have me forever.” Kissing the top of her forehead, I closed my eyes to savor the moment. If she wanted me around forever, then that’s what she would get. I just hoped she was ready for what came with me.

“Go back to sleep.”

“Okay. Make sure you come straight home.”

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