Page 116 of Just Listen
I gazed up at him. “What are you finna do?”
“I gotta handle some shit.”
I gulped, as my stomach twisted in knots. “But you said that you was chilling today. You still haven’t packed, and we have to head to the airport in a little while.”
He sighed. “Look, Jaylah, I know that I said that I’d go, but I got business to handle—”
“No, fuck that,” my voice cracked, as I became incredibly emotional. “You always swear that you’re a man of your word, and I need you to stand on that today.”
“And if this was about any other thing, then I would keep my word. But this is about my livelihood. This is how I eat.”
“No.” I shook my head. “You literally have multiple businesses, Khamere. Own a couple of properties. And there’s undoubtedly money in the bank. So, that’s not how you eat. That’s what you do, because you’re fucking greedy. With allthis bullshit happening, it’s not dawning on you that something might need to change?”
“Man, that’s easy for you to say when you don’t know the ends and outs. No matter what I wanna do, this shit can’t stop overnight. It’s people depending on me, and I’d starve at least twenty families, right now, if I said fuck it.”
“Okay, cool.” I nodded, as tears slipped from my eyes. “You do what you gotta do, and I’ma do the same.”
He paused and frowned. “Do what you gotta do? The fuck does that mean?”
“It means that if you aint on that flight, then I’m fucking done with you.” I wiped away my tears.
“Really?” He opened his arms. “So, so, just fuck everything else, right?”
“No. You have a choice in this, and if you show me that the bullshit outside comes before me, then we’ll have nothing else to discuss.”
“Man, fuck this,” he mumbled, before stomping into the bathroom.
Feeling like he was showing me where we stood, my head dropped into my palms, as I wept, feeling super fucking weak. I hated that I’d given him the power to make me feel this way. I was uncomfortable with how vulnerable I was, right then. And that had me questioning if I’d fallen for the wrong man.
Grabbing my phone, I was about to text my sisters in our group chat, when he came out of the bathroom, and traveled into the closet. He then came back out with his suitcase, and threw it on the floor, before grabbing a shopping bag off the bed.Saying nothing, he began tossing newly purchased clothes into the suitcase.
I sniffed. “What are you doing?”
He glanced at me with hooded eyes, but said nothing.
Shaking my head, I rolled my eyes to the ceiling, thinking that my family vacation was off to a fucked-up start.
~~~Chapter 26~~~
Once again, my daddy was doing the most. He’d booked an entire commercial flight to accommodate our family, as we flew out to the Bahamas. Then from there, we’d take a few boats to the private island he’d purchased a few years back.
My parents’ entire legacy was on that plane, from all their kids to their grandbabies. We also had my biological grandma, Tisha, along with my step grandma Roz. My grandpa Ray-Ray. My auntie Raquel and her tribe. My auntie Rye with my cousin Jaylen, and their kids. A bunch of my cousins. Some in-laws. And extended family, like Taz and Taraj. It was honestly too many to name, and I would’ve been excited, if I wasn’t going out of my way to give Malice the silent treatment.
I wasn’t over our argument, or how he’d tried to back out of coming on the trip. I didn’t like the feeling of having to force him to do something, he didn’t naturally want to do on his own. Granted, there was a lot going on in the streets, but taking a few days to regroup couldn’t hurt much.
Everybody was chattering around us, because taking a flight with everybody you know was a different type of vibe. Still, Malice remained reserved, and had his earbuds in, while mostly just observing. Meanwhile, Khari had long ago abandoned us, as she was seated with my granny Tisha and her boyfriend.
“Aye.” Malice randomly tapped my thigh.
Rolling my eyes, I turned to look at him. “Hmm?”
“You sure that everybody is gonna fit in the house you was telling me about?”
I sighed. “Do you really think that all these people would be going, if there weren’t accommodations?”
Saying nothing, he gave me a look.
I cleared my throat. “The house has like twenty rooms. It looks like a fucking museum. Then there’s also like ten full bungalows on the island too.”
