Page 5 of Until the Ink Dries

I giggled. “They really are. I want a love like that,” I said absentmindedly.

“Um… don’t youhavea love like that? What happened to Ellis?”

“Girl.” I sighed heavily, preparing to tell her about the last two weeks. “Ellis and I are on a break.”

“A break? Why?”

“Because he proposed to me, Shy.”

“Get the fuck outta here! He proposed and didn’t invite any of us?”

“Exactly. On top of that… Shy, I don’t know if I want to be with him anymore. Like, I feel like I lost myself during the course of this relationship. I became who he wanted me to be to fit in with his people and I hate myself for that.”

“Well, I wasn’t gonna say anything, but youhavechanged.”

My head snapped in her direction. “Whywouldn’tyou say something? You gather me any other time, Shirah.”

“Because who can compete with pillow talk? I realized you had a man. Who was I to tell you who to be? Now that I know you have a problem with it, I just have one question.”

“What’s that?”

“Did he force you to change to fit his lifestyle? I know how much you despise his mother’s snooty ass.”

“Honestly, Shy, he was suggestive and to avoid conflict, I just kind of went along with it. Then it became this whole thing where it was expected. It just got out of hand after that and that’s on me.”

She sighed. “Well, you’re home now and if anybody can bring the old Willow out, it’s me. Prepare to be sick of me.”

“I could never get sick of you, girl. I’m so happy to see you, Shy. And you look so good!”

She grinned and stuck out her tongue as she twerked a little in the driver’s seat. “Thank you. I’ve been in the gym, getting this body snatched. My skin is glowing. My hair is growing and I’m fuck nigga free.”

“Wait! You and Ian broke up?”

“We did. I had to stop giving energy to a dead situation. Ian was never going to change.”

Shirah and Ian had been together off and on since high school. He was her first everything. The problem with that was, Ian was the typical ain’t shit, toxic ass nigga. She put up with a lot from him. They’d been doing the whole make up to break up thing for years now. Low key, I was happy she’d finally seen the light because my girl could do better.

“I guess we’re both single, then,” I said.

“No, no, no. I’m single; You’re on the fence.”

I rolled my eyes, but she was right. I needed to make the best of my time away from Ellis and he needed to do the same with his time away from me. If he really wanted me, he would take a long, hard look at things and see where and what he needed to fix.

Shirah and I continued to talk as she drove me to my childhood home. The closer we got, the more excited I became. I couldn’t wait to fall into my father’s arms for a hug that only he could give. I couldn’t wait to have a belly full of my mama’s good ol’ southern cooking. Coming home always made me feel so loved. Right now, I needed that.

Twenty minutes later, we pulled into the driveway. I hopped out of the Jeep and sprinted up to the front door. Covering the peephole, I rang the doorbell. A few seconds passed before the door cracked open and my mother peeped out. When she saw it was me, she screamed and swung the door open.

“Willow! Oh, my God!”

She grabbed me and pulled me into her chest, rocking me from side to side.

“Hi, Mama. I missed you,”

“I’ve missed you too, baby.”

She pulled back and cupped my face, smothering my cheeks with kisses. I giggled, feeling like a kid as I accepted her love. My father came around the corner and his eyes widened when he saw me.

“Baby girl!”

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