Page 24 of Color Me Broken
“You such aperv!” she hollered after him, still half laughing as the door shut behind him.
The PA shook her head, grinning a little. “Y’all are something else.”
Tasha sighed, eyes toward the ceiling. “Girl, you don’t even know the half.”
The ride home was a heavy one. The silence pressed harder than the engine’s hum. Tasha sat angled toward the window, cheek resting against her fist, eyes tracing the blur of passing cars.
Her stomach was still knotted from the doctor’s appointment. Juelz drove with one hand on the wheel, the other drumming against his thigh. His phone buzzed on the console, screen lighting up, but he ignored it. The phone buzzed again. Same missed calls. He glanced at it quickly, jaw tightening, then turned it over fast. Tasha noticed. She didn’t say a word, but her chest burned hot.
The phone buzzed again, and Juelz cursed under his breath. He cut his eyes at Tasha, trying to read her mood, but she didn’t move, didn’t even blink.
“Yo,” he said finally, breaking the silence. “You wanna grab somethin’ to eat? I know you ain’t ate all mornin’. Could slide by Grey Ghost for somethin’ quick.”
Tasha turned her head slowly, giving him a look. Her lips parted, but nothing came out at first. She just stared at him like she could see right through the offer, right through him.
“I’m not really hungry, Jue.” Her lower lip trembled as she turned back to the window, her arms folded.
Juelz exhaled, low and long, shaking his head. “Tash, you gotta eat somethin’, girl.” He reached over, squeezing her thigh. “We gon’ be straight. Shit, it’s gon happen. Don’t worry. When it’s our time for a lil one. We’ll have one.”
She gave a half shrug, but didn’t respond. Just kept her eyes on the glass, as if the outside world were safer to focus on.
By the time they pulled up to the house, the sun was dipping low, casting long shadows across the lawn. He cut the engine, but neither of them moved at first. She finally unbuckled, grabbing the small pharmacy bag from the floorboard.
“You need me to grab anything else? I gotta go handle somethin’ real quick,” he said, voice low.
“No, just go,” she said, already halfway out the door.
She didn’t slam it. But she didn’t close it softly either. Juelz stayed in the car, watching her walk up the steps, keys in hand, shoulders drooped. She didn’t wait. Didn’t glance back. Just unlocked the door and went inside.
He sat there, hands on the wheel, chest tight. There was nothing left to say. Not right now. Not while she was shutting down to survive whatever was happening inside her. He knew how to fix street shit and flip the work. But what he couldn’t fix? Was Tasha’s body. And he knew how badly she wanted to bear him a son.
Still, he hated seeing her like this.
He leaned back in his seat and looked up at the roof of the car, like maybe the answers would show up there.
But all he saw was himself, sitting still, with the woman he loved slipping further into silence.
And he ain’t know how to fix it.
Tasha didn’t botherwith the lights when she got home. The living room was submerged in the thick blue light of the late afternoon, the kind that made everything look unfamiliar. The couch, the coffee table, even the framed photos on the wall looked distant, like they belonged to someone else’s life. She stood in the doorway for a moment, the pharmacy bag from the doctor’s office still clutched in her hand. The plastic crinkled softly every time her fingers tightened around it.
She was done crying. The tears were long gone, replaced by a hollow, ringing silence. She felt alone, even though Juelz was outside in the car. She needed her best friends, the ones who understood her more. Tasha walked straight to the couch anddropped down onto it like her bones suddenly forgot how to hold her up. The cushions sank beneath her weight.
Her thumb moved across her phone screen until she found the contact she was looking for. Niyah. She answered on the second ring. “Tasha! I was just about to call you. What did the doctor say? Are you okay?”
Tasha opened her mouth, but the words stuck in her throat. All she could manage was a whisper. “Yeah… I’m at the house.” Her voice sounded strange to her own ears. “Just… come over. Now! Please.”
Niyah didn’t ask another question. “A’ight. I’m on my way.”
They hung up the phone, and Tasha tried to call Shyann. The phone rang steadily, and rang, and rang. She let it ring until the voicemail picked up before dropping the phone beside her on the couch. Of course, typical Shyann behavior. Probably somewhere outside, living her best reckless life while she was drowning in a harsh reality.
Fifteen minutes later, the front door opened, and Niyah rushed in, bypassing the usual pleasantries. She found Tasha curled up on the couch, wrapped in a blanket, looking smaller than she ever had. Niyah didn't ask questions; she just pulled Tasha into a tight hug. They didn’t need words. They were more than best friends. They were sisters. The kind that felt each other’s pain before it was spoken. And in that silence, Niyah held her, rocking slightly.
Whatever it was…she’d face it with her.
Tasha’s face was pressed into Niyah’s shoulder when she finally whispered, “She said…she saw somethin’.”
Niyah froze but didn’t pull away.
