Page 108 of Dope Boys: Most Wanted
“Let me,” she urged, tugging at his dirtied shirt.
He put space between them and let her remove the shirt, then the pants, socks, and underwear. She dropped them into a pile, making a mental note to burn them. Leading him into the bathroom, she turned the shower on.
“For today and tomorrow, let me take care of you,” she compromised. “Today, be weak. Don’t have the answers. Cry. No one will know. Trust me?”
Markus didn’t miss a beat when his truth slipped out of his mouth. “More than you know, Speechless.”
“Okay. Then let me do the heavy lifting for the next two days, my love.”
Inside the shower, she washed him, top to bottom. Sat him down to wash his hair, and when she was done, she left him alone so he could cry and have his moment without worrying about what it looked like. She cleaned the room, ordered food, and cleaned the floors below. When Markus emerged, her found her sitting on the couch, deep into her thoughts.
“Speechless,” his voice was heavy.
She turned to him. “Hm?”
“I’m sorry,” he said, moving closer so he could lay his head in her lap. “For talking to you like that.”
“I already forgave you. I said I was going to love you. I won’t hold that against you. I’m sorry you have to go through this. This version of death is brutal.”
“I can’t seem to figure out what hurts worst,” he muttered. “The betrayal or the loss.”
“Pain is pain. Neither one has to be greater. You have to process them both, though.”
“How? I got to lead. I got to stand up in front of all these niggas like this shit don’t hurt.”
Reign massaged his scalp, prompting him to rest. “You let me take care of you, and you handle the world.”
“How’s that fair to you?”
“It’s not about fair, Milli. It’s about the give and take. The exchange. It’s my turn to take care of you. Let me.”
It wasn’t long before Markus was finally asleep in her lap. The silence allowed Reign’s mind to go back to Ms. Ophelia’s loaded silence. Before she could get too deep into the possibility of it, she drifted off to sleep. When she woke up, Markus was unbagging the groceries she ordered. While a home-cooked meal wouldn’t take away his pain, it’d give him something else to think about for a while.
That, along with the other items she forgot, was sitting in her JoyCart.
When she rounded the corner, he looked up at her and back to the empty brown paper bag on the counter. “A pregnancy test?”
She froze. “That wasn’t supposed to come here with all of this. I forgot to take that out.”
“It’s here now. Not to rush you or make you feel no way. Having something else to think about other than death would do me some good, right now.”
Reign chewed on her lip before taking the bag off the counter. As she trudged away from him, she thought about the times the test was positive, and keeping it wasn’t an option. Anxiety set in as she went through the motions and waited. She could hear his breathing through the door.
“You good?” he questioned.
Reign shook her head with tears in her eyes. As the knob turned, she was sure to swipe them from her face and swallow any residual disappointment. When he stepped into the space, she caught his hopeful eyes.
She tried to turn her lips into an assuring smile, but all they did was quiver. “Maybe next time?”
“It’s negative?” Markus asked.
Reign nodded. “Yeah. I got into my head. Your aunt did something yesterday, and I thought they knew something I didn’t. It’s nothing. It’s fine.”
He stopped her from rushing out of the bathroom, cupping her face to study her. “No. It’s something, tell me what’s that.”
“This isn’t the time,” Reign shared. “Never in your grief will I have you worry about me. Never. I’m fine. What’d you want for breakfast?”
“Don’t do that,” Markus said, not letting her sweep how she felt under the rug for the sake of his feelings. “Don’t bury yourself because I’m going through some shit. Tell me what that was.”
