Page 22 of U + Me

“Hey, Kimmie, I’m just checking on you. Are you ready for me to pick you up?”

“We just got some food. I have a ride back to the hotel, so you don’t have to pick me up.”

“You sure?”

“I’m positive. Soon as I finish eating, I’ll head that way.”

“Okay, well, I might be back kinda late. If you need anything just let me know.”

Once I hung up, we went inside. Darius’s mom was nowhere to be found; thank God, as we quickly went into the basement.

“Yo pops seem cool as hell.”

“So far, he has been. He doesn’t smother me. I think he just wants me to accept him cause ain’t no telling what my mom has told him.”

“I hope shit with me and my pops go smooth too.”

“It will, I know it will.” I encouraged him.

After we ate, I helped him pack the rest of his things and put them in his car.

“Maybe I should head to the hotel. You should probably get some rest for your long drive.”

“If you’re ready I’ll take you. I was just hoping to spend a lil longer with you.”

One thing led to another, then the next thing I knew, I was butt naked under Darius’s comforter on his bed and he was naked, on top of me, and pumping in and out of me with everything he had in him while whispering how much he was going to miss me. The whole time I rode each wave of ecstasy with tears flowing from my eyes, knowing I was going to miss Darius something terrible.

* * *

I lostcount of how many times Darius made me cum, but that last one put us both out. His phone ringing woke us up from a deep slumber.

“Oh my God, what time is it? I gotta go? I shoulda been left.” I huffed as I checked my phone.

Thankfully my dad was still out and hadn’t made it to the hotel cause he didn’t call. Darius kept ignoring whoever was calling him, then wrapped his arms around me.

“You gotta take a quick shower. Last thing I wanna do is drop you off to your pops smelling like sex.”

I planned on showering once I got there but Darius was right. I took a shower first then while I waited for Darius to get dressed, I texted my dad and told him that I was on my way to the hotel. He responded right away and at first, I thought he was going to be pissed that it was after ten at night and I hadn’t made it there when I told him around six earlier, I was on the way, but he wasn’t. He just told me he would see me later.

On the ride to the hotel instead of feeling excited about not having to go home my heart was breaking. My best friend and first true love was legit really about to leave me. I just prayed that moving forward I wouldn’t lose anyone or anything else close to me at least for a long time. My heart wouldn’t be able to take much more.

KARL KENDALL

As time continued to tick and it became later and later, I leaned back further into the chair I was sitting at by a side table that could double as a desk in front of the window in the living room area of the hotel suite.

I figured I’d wait for her until she got here to see how late she would stay out after I told her that I wouldn’t be here. I knew there would be an extra charge for me smoking in the room as I puffed on a Cuban stogie and twirled some Courvoisier La Part Des around in the small glass that I had got from the bar downstairs, but I didn’t care. They were lucky it wasn’t reefer with the way my nerves were set up.

I let Kimmie visit with her friend because I noticed she was having a hard time after the whole ordeal went down with that crazy ass momma of hers and Todd’s sorry ass, and then the adjustment of having to switch gears and come to live with me. It was all a lot I imagined for her to deal with because it was a hell of a lot for me to deal with.

When I got the call to come get her and was told what happened, my heart hasn’t slowed down from rapidly beating, and all I’ve been able to see is red. I was angry about what Kimmie had to go through and pissed with myself for not being there for her sooner. Now, my main concern was to do everything that I could to make her as comfortable as possible. We were both learning each other, the Kimmie I remembered was a toddler when her mother left. The last time I saw her was at her eighth-grade graduation and I couldn’t believe then how much she had grown. Now that she was almost eighteen and about to be a senior in high school, I couldn’t believe how grown she was both mentally and physically. Yet at the same time, she was still a child in my eyes. There was so much catching up for us to do that it was overwhelming for me, so I was positive that it was for her as well.

Knowing that now I was all that Kimmie had, I didn’t want to do anything to cause her anymore tension or drive us apart any further than we already were. Since she has been with me, one of the things she shared with me that she was worried about was her friend, Darius. Darius was the young man that saved my daughter’s innocence from being taken from Todd’s lame ass and for that, I would forever be grateful to him.

I wanted to meet him, but Kimmie wanted to surprise him since they hadn’t talked since the day everything took place. I wanted to push harder to see who he was, yet at the same time, I didn’t want to step in and be too intrusive in her life. I wanted Kimmie to get to a place of being comfortable enough to approach me with anything and how could she do that if I was being overly protective? Everything in me centered on how vital it was for me to keep her protected, always.

I wasn’t sure how I felt about Kimmie possibly having a boyfriend or a boy that she considered a friend since she claimed they were not dating. We had been staying back and forth between the hotel and my place. Today we just checked back into the hotel’s bridal suite because I had some business to take care of and that drive from my place into the city wasn’t fun.

Soon as we checked in, I took Kimmie to get her friend a graduation gift then dropped her off at his house to allow for her to see him before he moved away. I had no intention of ever letting Kimmie go back to live or stay with Rochelle ever again, especially as long as she stayed with dude. Knowing that, I didn’t want to take Kimmie away from her friend and the fact that he was moving away, I went ahead and let her go.

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