Page 30 of Pen Me

Am I close? Don’t be shy, let’s hear it. I’m all ears now, big guy.

Ketchum? Intense!

I managed to get into my apartment, finally, and my applications are turned in everywhere. So, I’m hoping to hear something soon.

You wouldn’t care for my reading tastes; I mostly stick to romance. It helps my mind drift off now and then when I need a break. Are you reading anything now?

Sammy Jo

It was shorter than my usual correspondence. I was more than a little disappointed by my father’s actions and needed to process the many trampled boundaries. It had nothing to do with Menace, but I swear, it was the fastest response I’d gotten from him yet. I had a return letter in four days.

Sammy Jo,

You didn’t answer the most important question in my whole damned letter. Girl, are you okay?

I’m not reading anything, which means you get to pick something for us to enjoy together while you’re laid up. I’ll enclose a money order, get us something intense and romantic. Let’s see how our combined tastes mingle, shall we?

Actually, I was not left looking at you as off limits. I’m a man who sees the world for what it is. Now, your daddy ain’t no punk, girl. But don’t get shit twisted, exclusive pussy is still exclusive pussy. Call it what you will, I’m gonna call it what it is. If Ziggy Nash is guarding that ass, it’s as exclusive as one can come, I’m a believer, and can’t nobody convince me otherwise.

No lie. Ask anybody who my last ol’ lady was. They’ll all tell you the same.

No one.

My brother, Henny, is three years older than me, so I knew most of the guys before I patched in. One dude in particular had an ol’ lady that made him look like a fool and I swore I’d never suffer the same. None of the women I’ve met around here are very loyal anyway. They’re for everybody, and that definitely ain’t for me.I don’t mind if women ask me questions. I guess I’d rather answer questions than suffer assumptions.

You’ll get a job lined out; I have faith in you. I bet you get called for an interview before I write to you again. You got this, beautiful!

Lennox

Okay was a loose term. My abdomen had various colored bruises around the belly button and surgical strength glue was holding the left side of my belly shut where they’d made two tiny incisions.

According to the doctor, I still had two ovaries that would need to be checked on, but the cancer was believed to have been removed. Pathology would be confirmed in the upcoming days according to the surgeon.

Menace didn’t need to be troubled with all of that. I’d taken great lengths not to trouble anyone. I took the bus to the hospital, and I rode it home by myself, too.

I’d really hoped the LEEP surgery would be all I needed. I wasn’t ready to contemplate being childless. Just thinking about it made my throat swell a little with emotion. I put my hand on my belly and closed my eyes against the ache, not wanting to become too dependent on the medication they’d sent home.

I took it at bedtime to be sure I wasn’t overwhelmed in the morning and unable to sit up in bed, but that was about it. I hated the way Tylenol tasted in vomit and pain pills had a way of nauseating me. They always tasted the same as far as I was concerned, going down and coming up!

The only good thing about the pain and nausea was that it kept me distracted from my inward pity party. I didn’t know how Menace survived in a cell; I wasn’t used to being this isolated. I wasn’t an overly social person, but I always spoke to a few people throughout the day.

I flipped on the television and tried to distract myself.

Chapter Sixteen

Flirting with Disaster

Menace

The following week I received a bundle rather than the singular, already opened envelope I’d grown accustomed to. There was a paperback book that smelled new and felt crisp, as well as the much-anticipated letter from Sammy. I smiled as I opened it. The first thought to cross my mind was a curse over the length of it.

Lennox,

Nor did you answer mine, about why you’re in there! I’m good. It was just an outpatient thing. I think the word you were looking for was monogamy. You want a chick that is only for you. Does that mean you don’t indulge with club ass? Are you willing to offer the same should you find a candidate someday? Because that’s the only way you deserve such loyalty out of a woman.

Okay. You asked for it, mister! Nah, just kidding. I took it easy on you and went with biker romance. Nyx it is! Now, get to reading so you can tell me how many pages in you made it before you decided romance ain’t the genre for you.

PS. I got a call for an interview, you were right!

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