Page 18 of Sunday

“About?”

“Who taught you to do hair?”

Cedar had plaited my hair in two long French braids to the middle of my back. He had managed to tame my curls, untangle my tangles, and straighten out my matted pieces.

“Tiffany. She forced me to sit and do her baby doll’s hair with her when we were little. Then when she got older, sometimes I used to watch Amber and Tiffany do each other’s hair whenever I was in their room bugging the shit out of ’em.”

He shrugged like it was no big deal.

“I can’t even braid my hair up this well.”

“Is that a thank you?”

“Definitely that. You did a great job, Cedar.”

“All right. C’mon.”

“Where are we going?”

“To the kitchen.”

“I don’t think I’ve got the energy, Cedar.”

“You need me to carry you?”

“Never mind.”

I got up from the toilet and followed him into the kitchen. I instantly noticed the difference in the way our townhome looked and smelled.

“You were off today?”

“Yeah.”

“It smells great in here.”

We took turns cleaning the house, and I had not been able to do anything in the last couple of weeks. The house smelled like disinfectant, bleach, and Lysol cleaning solutions.

“I had to do a little something. Between my work schedule lately and you being sick, the dust was piling up.”

“Or you want to make sure that you don’t catch the cooties?” I teased, laughing.

He winked. “Something like that.”

I loved that Cedar was a very clean person. That was the only thing that made me hesitant about us living together in the beginning. I knew that some men could be slobs, and I prayed that he wasn’t one. If anything, Cedar was more meticulous about cleaning than I was. He walked to the kitchen counters and pointed to the groceries he had set there.

“I’ve got you several cans of soup, crackers, a few more bottles of ginger ale, orange juice, and some boxes of Tame-a-flu and Denza-Seltzer cold and flu.”

“You’re so sweet. You didn’t have to do that. I don’t know that I’ll be able to keep it down.”

“We’ll—”

Ding. Dong.

“Are you expecting company?”

“Nah. But I’ll get it.”

I remained in the kitchen and started putting things away while he went to answer the door. I felt weak, and I was trembling. I needed to be able to keep something down so I could boost my energy. It didn’t take long before I could hear Janae’s voice at the door.

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