Page 51 of Kissed By the Trillest Thug 2

On my way out, I laughed lowly as I closed the door behind me. Once the door closed behind me, I smiled before walking around the house to find Maliah.

MJ

Two Months Later…

It was crazy how much life could change in sixty days. Summer had come and gone, and just like that, school was back in session. Maliah was officially a senior. Maylee had started eighth grade and spent every morning reminding anybody who would listen that she wasn’t a little kid anymore. Mama was finally starting to show. Her little baby bump wasn’t big enough for strangers to notice, but around the house? There wasn’t any hiding it. Every chance Pops got, he’d rest his hand on her stomach like he still couldn’t believe another baby was on the way.

As for me… I was healed. The bruises were gone. The cuts had faded somewhat, and the doctors cleared me to play basketball weeks ago.

Everybody assumed I’d be back on the court, but the truth was, I didn’t miss it. Not the way I thought I would. Maybe one day I’d pick a basketball up again. Maybe I wouldn’t. Right now, I wanted something different. That’s how I ended up walking through the halls of Miami-Dade College beside my pops on a Tuesday morning.

“You dragging your feet already?” Pops asked without looking at me.

I glanced down at my sneakers before looking back up.

“I’m walking.”

“You’re sightseeing.”

A laugh escaped me.

“That’s because I ain’t been on a college campus before.”

“You better get used to it.”

I looked over at him.

“That’s your way of saying I ain’t got a choice?”

He smirked.

“That’s my way of saying that I always expected more outta you than basketball.”

Those words sat with me as we continued through the crowded hallway. Students rushed past us carrying backpacks, laptops, and oversized coffee cups. Some looked like they’d been awake for three days straight. Others were laughing loud enough to make it seem like classes didn’t even exist. The vibe here was…different. I found myself looking around more than I was paying attention to where we were headed. Finally, Pops stopped outside the administration office. He reached for the door.

“You coming?” he asked as he stood in the doorway.

“Yeah.”

I followed him inside. The office buzzed with students asking questions, advisers answering phones, and printers humming somewhere in the back. I barely had time to take it all in before somebody caught my eye. She was sitting behind the front desk with a laptop open in front of her. Her fingers were flying across the keyboard faster than I could follow.

One of the advisers leaned over the counter.

“Penelope, did you fix the registration page?”

Without taking her eyes off the screen, she nodded.

“About twenty minutes ago.”

The woman sighed in relief.

“Girl, you’re a lifesaver.”

“I know.”

She said it so casually that it made me laugh under my breath. Only then did she look up.

Our eyes met for the briefest second. She smiled politely and then went right back to typing like I wasn’t standing there. I blinked. Well… That was different.