Page 6 of Rounds
She giggled. “My family is originally from Lake Charles, Louisiana, but I was born right here in Silverrun.”
“I was born in . . . Houston, so I’m familiar.”
“Well, it was nice meting you.”
“Nice meeting you too.”
When she turned to walk out, he wriggled his eyebrows at me. I slowly shook my head and followed her out while taking my wallet from my pocket. I gave her forty dollars. “I really appreciate this, Delaney,” I said as I grabbed her hand. “Your man must have really messed up.”
She pulled her hand from mine and said, “It’s no problem. We all need someone from time to time,” she said, completely ignoring my last statement. “I’ll be right back.”
I nodded as she walked away. I couldn’t help but watch her ass sway in the scrubs she wore.Damn.She was so fucking fine. It took serious will power to keep my dick from rising to the occasion. Just the way she stared at me was turning me on. That woman was going to be mine, and I couldn’t wait for her to kick her nigga to the curb so she could act on her desires. Her body language told me she was ready for the Hebrew dialect Dr. Israel would have her speaking. Conversions to my way of doing things was my specialty, but I was feeling like she would be the one converting me.
“Ihad to work late, Jaunté.”
“Really, Dee? It’s almost nine o’clock. You had to work four hours overtime?”
“Mm-hmm. Just like you had to work five hours overtime the other night. Fuck outta here with that bullshit. Find you something to do besides being worried about what the fuck I’m doing, nigga.”
“Oh, it’s like that? Why don’t you find somewhere else to live?”
“I’m ahead of you on that. We’ll talk when I get there.”
“Laney, for real? I was just bluffing, baby. You leaving me?”
“I said we’ll talk when I get home.”
I ended the call then got out the car to get Dr. Israel’s order. Jaunté had me fucked up. Last night, he thought I was asleep while he was in the bathroom. That nigga had the audacity to be on the phone with a bitch having phone sex. He wasn’t loud, butI could hear his muffled sounds. I went to the door and listened to him talk to a bitch named Reneé on speakerphone. How much audacity did it take to have phone sex with another woman while your girlfriend was in bed asleep? It took even more for him to have the ho on speaker. What kind of shit was that?
Despite my assumptions about what he was doing, to hear it for myself had gut checked me. When he started nutting, I went back to the bed and turned to where my back would be to him when he came out. The tears had fallen down my cheeks uncontrollably. I thought I had been doing everything to please him until he started pulling away from me. I had sex with him whenever he wanted it, which was all the time until the past four months or so. My ego had taken a hit. I was supposed to be staying away from Dr. Israel, but after that shit, I was in desperate need of his soft words.
I couldn’t respond to what he’d said without crying. That shit was still too fresh. My heart was hurting. That shit was bleeding. Jaunté was supposed to be the last man I would share a first kiss with. He was supposed to be my forever. We’d talked about starting a family. I was thirty-three years old and didn’t have any kids. It felt like time was running out on that. It would be even longer before anyone could call me mommy without a prospective man to procreate with.
I would have to go through another get to know you phase, trying to see if whoever I met was compatible. My list of deal-breakers seemed to increase with every breakup. Niggas who couldn’t communicate effectively were now on the list. Thanks to his ass, I knew my heart would have yet another hurdle the next man would have to jump. While I knew it wouldn’t be fair to the next man, I had to protect my heart. I couldn’t go through this shit again.
I glanced at the food in my passenger seat and headed back to the hospital. I wished I wouldn’t have thrown Glover’s phonenumber in the trash. I wouldn’t dare ask for it. He would have to give it to me again. I didn’t want anything but a friend right now, maybe one with benefits. He seemed to be the perfect fit. My parents and I weren’t as close as most people were to their parents. I loved them for sure, but I didn’t discuss my personal affairs with either of them. It was a weird dynamic, but it was our normal.
They’d divorced when I was only six years old. My older sister had left Silverrun to go to school, and she ended up relocating to D.C. That was where she found a job due to connections she’d established within her sorority. I didn’t make friends easily, and I truly believed that was because of how I grew up. I was mostly aloof around people. Tremeka, my work bestie, wouldn’t hear of it. She was the only person I told my personal business to, but I only did that while we were at work. She was married with two small kids to tend to. I didn’t dare call her and interfere with whatever she had going on at home.
After parking in the parking garage, I made my way back to the E.R. As I walked, I noticed Dr. Israel was standing outside. He looked slightly perplexed. I frowned as I made my way to him. When I got closer, he looked up at me and gave me a tight smile.
“Thank you, Delaney. I’ll take it right here, so you don’t have to walk all the way back inside.”
“Okay.” I pulled his change from my pocket and tried to give it to him as he shook his head. “It’s your change. I offered to do this for you. You didn’t ask. We’re good.”
“No. Keep it. I gotta go.”
“Everything okay?”
He shook his head. “I had to put him ICU. His lung collapsed.”
My eyebrows lifted. “I’m so sorry. Do you need?—”
“I’m good. Thank you again.”
He walked away before I could say anything else. I lowered my head and said a short prayer, hoping his dad would be okay, then turned and headed back to my car to go to the hell hole I called home these days. When I got into my car, my phone was ringing, and I knew it was Jaunté’s ass again. I was already gon’ have to deal with his ass when I got home. I needed these fifteen minutes of peace before the storm.
I’d found a nice loft five minutes from the hospital and was prepared to put down a deposit on it, but for some reason, I was hesitant. Starting over was scary, that was for sure, but after Jaunté’s betrayal, this should have been easy. I loved him. That hadn’t gone away. My feelings were still buried deep within. That was why what I heard last night fucked my core up. I swore that nigga stabbed me in my heart.
