Page 25 of Intercept My Heart

“Well, you can always come hang out with me and my girls. There are a few clubs that will let you get in with a fake ID and shit. You’ve got to learn how to let your hair down and live a little. We only have one life to live. Don’t spend it with your head buried in the sand. Here, I’ll put my number in your phone and call myself. My friends and I are hosting a summer bash nextweekend. I’ll even come pick you up, so you have no excuse not to go.”

“Okay. What should I wear?”

“Girl, don’t even worry about it. I’m gonna help you find the perfect bathing suit that’s bound to shut the whole party down. I’m telling you, girl. With looks like yours, you are gonna have everybody staring and whispering!”

Her advice made me uncomfortable, but I wasn’t sure why. Charae wasn’t my girl, and she was free to do whatever she wanted. However, I hated the idea of her being taken advantage of. The niggas out here didn’t care about her being fragile when they had their sights set on something they wanted. Charae deserved to be with someone who would take care of her heart, and the boys our age weren’t mature enough for that. All they cared about was getting their rocks off. She needed someone who would take care of her heart as well as her body.

“Hey, are you almost done? If not, it’s cool. I can give you my card while I head over to the food court.” Charae jumped when she heard my voice, while Shanique stood there with a smirk on her face.

“Oh, umm. I?—”

“We’ll take the card. We’ve still got to get some shoes and accessories to match her outfits, along with a couple of bathing suits for the summer.” Sunny glanced between the two of us as if she was afraid of what I would say.

“Alright, no problem. Text me when you’re ready, and I’ll come right back so I can grab your bags.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I’m gonna grab a slice of pizza to hold me over until it’s time for us to get some food later.” I planned for us to get dressed and go to a restaurant. She never left the house, and I figured she could use the fresh air. Plus, it would give me some time to really get to know her.

“Wow, this is so nice.” Charae observed the setup in the restaurant. I couldn’t care less about any of this shit. The only thing on my mind was eating. We spent about two hours in the mall, going from store to store. I ended up having to make three separate trips to the car to unload the things we bought.

In the beginning, Charae was shy, but over time, she warmed up and began grabbing whatever caught her attention. She copped a few pairs of shoes, but I made sure that she had a few pairs of designer sneakers as well. Right now, she wasn’t certain of her style, but that would all change with time. The smile on her face was more of a reward to me than anything. It felt good to do something nice for someone outside of myself.

“Come on, girl. Those decorations aren’t going anywhere.” Once again, I took hold of her hand as the hostess greeted us. A waitress came shortly after and ushered us to our seats. I wanted to take her somewhere a little more upscale because it was something she hadn’t experienced before.

“Here are your menus. I’ll give you a few moments to look it over. For now, what kind of drinks can I start you off with?” We rattled off our drink orders, and she wrote them down before walking off. I watched as Charae flipped through the menu with a pensive expression.

“What is that face for?”

“I don’t see any prices on this menu anywhere. How am I supposed to pick what I want without seeing how much it costs?” I chuckled at her innocence.

“This kind of restaurant doesn’t put prices on their menus because if you come here, they expect you to have money. Everything on there is expensive, so you might as well get what you want.”

“Oh. What happens if you spend more money than you have? Do they make you wash dishes or something?” I burst out laughing in response to her questions.

“I’m not sure. I’ve never had those kinds of problems before.” I chuckled, watching her stare at the menu in awe. It was clear that she hadn’t experienced this kind of life, and it honestly made me want to spoil her even more.

We laughed and got to know each other through our dinner. I ended up getting a T-bone steak with garlic mashed potatoes and parmesan-crusted asparagus. The portions were better than I expected, so I planned to take the rest of my food home. Charae, on the other hand, barely had any leftovers, which made me happy. It told me that I had made a good choice for us.

“Damn, girl, I see you don’t mess around. Most girls act like salad is the only thing they can eat on a date. You’re not shy at all.” I expected her to laugh with me, but instead, a look of embarrassment flashed across her face.

“When you don’t know whether or not you’ll get to eat day to day, you tend to appreciate food a little differently.” Her shoulders shrugged as if she hadn’t laid a major bomb on me. I was aware that Drake’s parents placed a weird cut-off time on their fridge access, but I never imagined it was deeper than that.

“What do you mean by that?” I could feel my temper getting the best of me.

“I don’t want to make things worse. I’ve already said enough.” The fear in her eyes pissed me off even more. What the hell had they done to her to make her so scared to tell the truth?

“Naw, that isn’t good enough for me. Tell me what you meant by that. Were they starving you over there?” Instead ofanswering, she nodded and then dropped her head so I couldn’t see her eyes. My ears were hot with anger and frustration.

“Did Drake know?” Drake and I had been boys since kindergarten, but if he knew about this shit and did nothing, our friendship would be on the line.

After the abortion, I caught Drake’s dad behind the factory where he worked. I beat his ass unconscious, leaving him to bleed out on the concrete. Drake called me distraught about someone hurting his pops, but he had no idea it was me. I made sure to wear a hoodie along with a mask and gloves. The fact that people saw his ass as a victim pissed me off because he was far from it.

“I don’t know. I mean, he was there, so I don’t see how he wouldn’t. However, I really don’t want to cause any trouble. I promise this isn’t that big of a d?—”

“Don’t ever fix your mouth to say some dumb shit like that. It is a big fucking deal. They had no right to mistreat you, especially when the government paid them to provide for you. That includes making sure you eat every day. What they were doing was illegal and inhumane. Why didn’t you say something earlier?” My voice rose, and I noticed Charae had begun to tense up.

The waitress came right on time and asked if we wanted any dessert, and I left it up to Rae. I wanted her to get the full experience, even though I no longer had an appetite.

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