Page 11 of Whatever It Takes
“I can’t tell Messiah. He threatened to kill him if I did. I already lost my parents. I can’t lose my only brother, too.” I sighed, wiping the tears that had fallen.
“Look at your fucking face! You gotta think about this baby, sis. If you don’t want Messiah to handle him, then you need to do it.”
The sound of Sage’s cries through the baby monitor shook me from my thoughts. I climbed out of bed, heading into her bedroom. I scooped her into my arms and hugged her tightly. Tears filled my eyes as I rubbed her back, soothing her. Having her in my arms brought me so much comfort. I knew that if I didn’t have her, I’d probably still be in that abusive relationship with her father, or worse, dead.
I could hearBlessing laughing from the kitchen as I exited the guest room. The sound of her soft, sweet voice sent a sense of warmth into my spirit. “Good morning,” I said, leaning my crutches against the island before taking a seat next to her. The sweet floral scent of her perfume filled my nostrils. She smelled so fucking good.
“Good morning, Moo.” Blessing responded, nudging me. “How’s your knee feeling?”
I grabbed my protein shake, taking a sip of it before shrugging, “It’s okay. A little pain this morning. I put the cream on before I came out of the room, though, so I’ll be straight.”
My phone buzzed on the counter, signaling an incoming call from Mariah. I debated answering it for a moment. It had been a few days since she’d stood me up for dinner, and while I accepted her apology, her story didn’t add up. So, I had been keeping my distance.
“Yo..” I answered.
“Uh, good morning, Moo.” She responded. Her voice was laced with attitude.
“Good morning, Mariah. Wassup?” I watched as my mom rolled her eyes and left the kitchen. She couldn’t understand why I was still with Mariah. Shit, I couldn’t understand either.
“Meet me in the gym when you’re finished.” Blessing said, squeezing my shoulder before getting up from the island. My eyes were glued to her as she walked out of the kitchen. Blessing had a walk that would leave any nigga mesmerized. The way her hips unintentionally swayed caused a tent in my briefs.
“SAINT!” Mariah yelled into the phone.
“What?”
“Did you hear anything I said?” She huffed.
“Shit, my bad, what’d you say?”
“I asked if you could send me the money to pay the mortgage on my building and condo? You know my birthday vacation is coming up, so I need every penny I make in the upcoming weeks.”
I sucked my teeth. Of course she needed money. I just don’t understand why she needed extra money for her trip when my money was used to fund it. “I guess. The money will be in your account before the end of the day. I gotta go. Bye Ri. Love you.”
“Okay, bye, Saint.” She said, ending the call.
Damn, a thank you would’ve been nice. I shook my head and grabbed my crutches to head into the gym. That phone call put a damper on my mood. Suddenly, I was irritated as fuck. Blessing was seated on one of the benches, talking on the phone when I walked in.
“I’m ready,” I said, leaning my crutches up against the wall before taking a seat on the mat.
“Okay, warm up, then do your quad sets and heel slides.” She instructed after ending her call.
I did as told while she watched me intently.
“Do you feel well enough to get on the bike? Or we can do resistance bands. It’s up to you.” She asked, placing her hands on her hips.
“I can get on the bike.”
“What’s your problem?” She scowled.
“I don’t have a problem, Blessing. Let’s get this session over with.”
“Oop. Okay Saint. Go ahead and get on the bike. We’re going to start at a slow pace and slowly increase. Let me know if it gets uncomfortable for you.”
I slowly got up from the mat and walked towards the bike. Blessing squatted down beside me to adjust the tightness of my knee brace. Once she was done, I started cycling at a very slow pace.
I clenched my jaw, watching Blessing. She had gone back to sitting on the bench, tapping away on her phone.
“You here to sit on that phone or do your fucking job?” I snapped.
