Page 48 of Royce
She was such a sweet woman and now I felt bad for wanting to beat her ass. She wasn’t nothing but a real friend to Royce. Hell, she was the kind of friend he needed, to be honest. It took a lot of guts to give your life over to Christ and genuinely accept him and his guidance. I knew many who claimed to accept him and still lived a life he wouldn’t approve of. Kudos Heidi.
“As many screws as he’s missing, he needs every prayer he can get. So, Striker… he’s your man?” I was curious about her love life now that I knew she wasn’t after the same nigga as me.
“Hel… heck no! He’s a best friend as well. Me, Royce, Striker, and Mercedees all grew up together. They called us The Four Seasons all our lives from how different we were, but if you saw one, trust, the other three was right behind them. It was never a fair fight when it came to us, you were getting jumped for sure,” she commented with a smirk.
I could tell she wasn’t one to be played with. Her new persona didn’t change that she would throw them thangs if need be. I liked that. “Who’s Mercedees?”
“Uhm, when you came here on day one, she was the one wearing the black and green hair. She loves everything green by the way. She’s Royce’s cousin on his dad side but was raised as a sister to Royce. They’re closer than me and him. She has a chain of nail salons called Nail Fairy’s. Have you heard of them?”
“Uh, yeah! When I had the extra funds, that was the only place I let touch my nails. Jesus, I had no idea she was out here doing it like that. We haven’t had a chance to talk but maybe somewhere down the line we will. So, if not Striker, then who? Are you single?” I was just being nosy at this point.
“Very. I won’t touch a man until God places him in my path, and he makes me his wife. I can’t do anymore relationships or men for that matter that doesn’t walk in their faith the way I do. I take my relationship with God seriously. You though, that man isn’t going to let you be anything but his wife. Are you going to allow it?”
She was asking a question I’d spent weeks asking myself. Royce claimed me as his wife but if he ever asked me to be for real, would I say yes? He hadn’t released the gas since he stepped on it behind me and the kids. Everything he did, we were involved. Every time he held a conversation, we were mentioned. I felt like he wasn’t giving us up anytime soon.
If living a life as an Atkins came with so much freedom and advantages, anyone who was in my position would choose it at the drop of a dime. However, I was in my head more than anything. Cojak showed me that a person could have so much love for you and still betray you. Royce was a man of status, and he could have any and everything he touched. Who’s to say he wouldn’t do the same?
“I honestly don’t know. He talks a good game and backs up everything he says but I just left an abusive relationship and don’t think I should be getting into a new relationship right now.”
“Well, you know what they say. Sit on a new one to get over the old one.” I dropped my head to the side with raised brows and a smirk. My expression was all ofexcuse me. “I mean, at least that’s what I heard,” she said trying to clean it up.
“Right,” I said giggling at her hoe ass response. She wasn’t too saved. “Well, I’m fresh off a baby. I won’t be sitting on anything any time soon and if he’s already delusional, I ain’t trying to make it worse. I’m honestly shocked that he hasn’t tried anything with me. We shower together all the time, and he never makes a move.”
“Oh, Royce is a gentleman with all the women in his life. He doesn’t touch if he doesn’t have consent. That has a lot to do with me and my situation and he tries not to be categorized as anything other than a man who respects boundaries. If you don’t make that move first, he won’t engage.”
It made sense why he asked me if he could shower with me before he just undressed. When he bathed me, his hand never slipped, and he never made me feel uncomfortable being touched by him. A small smile appeared on my face as I thought about how much respect he had for women.
Dammit. I was not supposed to find that shit attractive.
“Good to know. Well, thank you for stopping by and making some goodies. Now that I know what’s up, come see your friend more. He acts like he has to be up my ass all damn day. You’d be saving me believe it or not.”
She laughed as she nodded, then said, “Will do. Thanks for the talk, Klarity.”
“Same.” I returned the smile and went on ‘bout my business.
As I made my way upstairs, I thought on Royce from day one until now. He really was in a lane of his own. His mouth was reckless, he was a different type of delusional, but he was better than anyone else I’d encountered. He made me rethink every word I said thus far. Maybe, just maybe, he was where me andmy kids needed to be. He’d slowly but surely become a safe space for us. There was no doubt in my mind we would find this type of security and stability anywhere else.
Give him a chance, Klarity. He deserves one.
Thirteen
Royce
“How you doing, Ms. Rachel? Heck, how my granny doing? Anything new?” One thing I never skipped out on was visiting my grandmother. Before a nigga got hemmed up for three months, I was here damn near every other day when my schedule was free. The only excuse I had this time was Klarity having my daughter. If it wasn’t for them, I would’ve been up here.
“We didn’t think we would see you again, Royce. She’s in the room. She was up talking today. I think she’s in a good mood.”
“Thank you. I’ll send something to the facility sometime this week for all the residents and staff. I appreciate you, Ms. Rachel.”
“That sounds like a plan. Thank you, Royce. Go ‘head back and spend some time with her. Can we get you anything to snack on or drink?”
“Nah, I’m good. I’ll stop back through on my way out.”
She smiled and nodded. I stepped out her office with a big bouquet of white lilies and headed down the hall that led to my grandmother’s room. She was the apple of a nigga eye. I hated that she fell ill but I was coming to terms with it. She had esophageal cancer, and her treatment caused morecomplications than anything. Being ninety-one, it wasn’t much they could do without complications being present. She accepted her illness and expected everyone else to do the same. I mean, we really ain’t have a choice.
I entered her room to see she was wide awake smiling at the television. I glanced at it to see what she was watching. I should’ve knownThe Golden Girlswas gon’ be there. She didn’t really care for anything else. Betty White was her real-life friend. She took her passing hard.
Walking over to her bed, I placed a kiss on her cheek catching her attention. She looked up at me and smiled even bigger. She was also suffering from dementia. I was my father in her eyes, and you couldn’t tell her any different.
