Page 66 of Girl, We Go Together
“Damn, girl, you need something more than some fruit punch in that cup. Ya ass need a shot.”
She laughed and then lightly pushed me, which caused me to laugh too.
“Well, let’s get you unpacked. You don’t seem to have a lot of downtime. Baby girl sleeping? Let’s get you together.”
She sat there in silence until I stood from the couch. I finally took off my jacket and tossed it over the back of one of the folding chairs she had on the other side of the room.
“Kass, what are you doing?” she asked as I walked over to the first stack of boxes.
“Shit, tryna get you settled back in.”
I pulled at the ends of one side of the box until the tape popped open. A shit load of lingerie was inside the box, so I quickly shut it.
“What’s in there?” I heard her ask as she walked in my direction.
“Some personal shit.” I picked up the box, and it felt light. “What you want me to do with this one?”
She twisted her face like she was thinking.
“Just set it over there.” She pointed to the closet door that stood beside the front door. “I guess I will go through that one later.”
I placed the box on the floor in front of the closet while she opened the next box.
“Awwhhh, man, I miss these babies.” She pulled out a pair of YSL heels. “Where’s the bag to match?” she said excitedly.
I could tell by the look on her face that she was thinking back to times when she had it like that. She had a glimmer in her orbsthat had me smiling. She was happy over a pair of fucking shoes because I was sure a story came along with them.
“Dig deeper. It's gotta be in there somewhere. Let me see you strut ya shit,” I said as I snapped my fingers like how muthafuckas that model be doing.
She smiled brightly as she dug deeper into that big ass box. When she finally pulled her hands out of it, she turned around with the bag dangling from her forearm.
“Toss the shoes on. Let me see something.”
She kicked off her slippers and then slipped her feet into the stylish heels. Her stature rose five and a half inches off the floor, but still, I looked down on her. Suddenly, a boost of confidence was displayed on her face as she strutted back and forth across her worn-down carpet. I had to give it to her; she had the walk of a model, and the way her arched eyebrows bent in determination let me know that even on her worst day, half the bitches that I had encountered in my life didn’t have shit on her. What was even sexier was that she was carrying some weight on those heels, and she did it effortlessly.
“Man, I miss going out and whatnot,” she said in sort of a sigh.
“What’s stopping you?”
Growing up, Cayla’s family was big and really close-knit, so it shouldn’t have been that hard for her to get a sitter to take a night to enjoy herself.
“Well, besides me not having the funds to do a damn thing but pay bills, I don’t have anyone to watch Oriana.”
“Ya family wouldn’t watch her?”
She took the shoes off and tossed them back into the box along with the bag.
“Na, ever since my mom died, it’s like none of us speak. I guess my lady was the glue that held us all together.”
She picked up the box and then put it up against the adjacent wall before popping open the next one.
The only family that I gave a shit about was my grandmother. All of us came together for family functions, but that was about as far as it went. I couldn’t imagine anything happening to her. When that day came, I knew I would lose my shit for sure. My grandmother was the gorilla glue that held us Crawfords together.
When I saw Cayla struggling with the next box, I walked over and took it from her. Some appliances were in there, so I walked to the kitchen and placed that box on the counter. She was engrossed in her phone, and when I heard the next song play, I started smiling to myself.
I don't need me a basketball player
All I need is somebody that's down for me
