Page 72 of In the Safety's Zone
“Why?”
“Because I knew I'd let him down. I was selfish and it was the last time I listened to Jill about anything.”
“You wanna tell me about it?”
The sadness was back on his face. Anthony had the most expressive brown eyes. If you looked closely enough you could read how he felt. Right now they were cloudy as he relived what he’d done.
“She was saying she needed money. She didn’t really, she was just pissed that my brother cut her allowance. She told me I owed her because I needed to make up the shortfall. That’s why that owe shit struck such a nerve. I know how that guilt can feel. At first I was just giving her the money that I got from him but I couldn’t do that shit every month because I was a brat and used to having a lot of money to play around with.”
His nostrils flared angrily and I really hoped I never had to meet the woman who gave birth to him. It worried me hearing him say he still loved her because I wondered if she could still get to him.
“Not a brat, maybe just spoiled.”
He gave a half smile but kept speaking. “Definitely that. But yeah, I was doing too much and it caught up with me. Got some money from a booster and somehow the press found out. I was out of school within the next week.”
“They didn’t even make you pay the money back to potentially mitigate the severity of your punishment?”
“Nah. It was one of those zero-tolerance things. You gotta understand that program is huge and they want the people that look like me. But the state? The press? They still doing whatever they can to keep our people down. Folk gotta hol’ of the shit I did and were callin’ for my head like I murdered somebody.”
Knowing the types of games my parents played something about that didn’t seem right. I ain’t going to speak on it because we needed a minute that was stress free.
“Enough of that. Come lay down and get some rest.” I patted my chest and his eyes roamed my flesh.
“I put my head on your tits one gone end up in my mouth, AP.”
I shrugged and patted my chest again. “You acting like I’m complaining. But you need to sleep first.”
He leaned down and captured my lips before letting his hand roam the plane of my body. “Questioning my stamina? Bet. Let’s put this theory to the test then.”
ANTHONY
“TELL ME WHAT’S on your mind.”
My eyes had been focused on the pool in the backyard. It was unimaginable that I still found any type of peace from water when I knew how destructive it was, but it still held me entranced.
“Does something have to be?”
I smiled at my brother happy to be with him tonight. I’d brought Aphrodite over to meet Rye and spend time with the family. It was our normal Sunday dinner and the first one I’d been a part of since I’d gotten back. I’d wanted to have her to myself for a while but finally gave him to Rye’s threats of kicking me in the ankle if I didn’t bring her today.
“If you’re out here wanting to talk to me I would think there’s something.”
“I think I’m in love.”
“You think or you know, Ant?”
I looked out over the backyard of my brother’s house and I knew what I needed to say. “I know I love her.”
“So where is the fear coming from?”
I jerked back cause ain’t nobody said anything about being afraid. “Fear?”
“The fear that you seem to hold on to when you speak with hesitancy about something we both know is a fact.” He was leaning against a column that led to the back and waited for my response. Choo was dressed down, which I appreciated. If he’d gotten all fancy to meet Aphrodite she wound’ve felt even more put on the spot. As it was Grams and Rye had snatched her upand shooed me away and last I saw her she was carrying baby Nia with a smile on her face.
And damn, she looked good as fuck holding a baby.
I filled in the blanks about what he was hinting at. “My love and being in love with AP.”
He pointed at me and nodded his head. “That.”
