Page 21 of And It’s Still You

Ocean eagerly bobbed his head. “I’ll be able to cook better than Mommy.”

“Oh, whatever.”

We all shared a laugh before silence fell over us. Ocean looked back and forth between me and Moya. Already knowing what he was thinking, I picked him up and set him on the end of the bed. I glanced at Moya, who nodded for me to sit as well. With my hand draped over Ocean’s shoulder, I gripped his head, which was covered by his blue durag, and kissed his temple.

“Do you want to talk ’bout last night?” I questioned.

He fiddled with his fingers and looked at Moya who raised her hand.

“He’s not talking to me, Bubba. If you want to talk about it, we will. If you don’t, we won’t.”

Barely above a whisper, Ocean said, “I do.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Why were there bad guys at our house?”

I sighed and pulled him closer to me. “That’s what I’m trying to figure out, Son. I can’t give you an exact reason, but just know you and your mother will be safe staying with me while I figure it out.”

“O’Shea.” Moya hissed.

“Moya.”

Her eyes lowered to slits as she tipped her head to the side. “I never agreed to staying here.”

“And I never gave you a choice.”

“We need to talk about this.”

“For what? My mind isn’t changing, so there’s nothing you can say or do to convince me otherwise.” I tapped my temple with my fingers. “Think back to what I told you last night, Ms. Collier.”

I thought the fork was going to bend in her hand with how tightly she was holding it. She didn’t get a chance to respond. My phone vibrated, and I received a notification that someone was at my front door. I excused myself and went to let Moya’s father and sister in. Cress had reached out to me last night, asking if it would be okay for them to stop by and check on Moya and Ocean. I didn’t mind one bit. They needed to be surrounded by love.

“What’s up, Cress?” I greeted him, opening the door and giving him a hug before doing the same to Albany. “Hey, Albany.”

“Hey, O’Shea. How are you?” Albany asked.

“I’m a’ight. Ain’t shit I can’t handle. How ’bout you?”

“I’m worried, if I’m being honest. I mean, things could’ve ended badly for them.” She fanned her watery eyes and blew through the circle her lips formed. “Can you take me to them? I’ll get lost in this big-ass house.”

I chuckled and led them upstairs to Moya and Ocean. Ocean almost fell off the bed trying to get to his grandfather. He ran right past Albany, straight into Cress’s arms. Albany’s jaw hung open as she glared at Ocean.

“Is that how you do your auntie, Ocean?” she asked.

Of course, all he did was laugh and stay put in Cress’s arms. He carried Ocean over to the bed with him and kissed Moya’s forehead. I decided to give them time alone and went to go call Onyx to see if he’d gotten any news. When he didn’t answer, I sent him a text to call me when he got a chance.

Since Moya and Ocean were occupied, I headed to my room to lie down for a bit. The second my head hit the pillow, I started to drift off to sleep. My mind and body were exhausted from yesterday, and with the lack of sleep I’d gotten, it took me no time to knock out.

I didn’t wake up until five hours later. It would’ve been longer if it wasn’t for my phone ringing. Jess was calling. I had the right mind to answer and let her break me off. She could easily be my stress reliever, but it wouldn’t feel right with Moya in my home. Going to Jess would be an easy solution. Only thing was, I’d never been to her house. She always came to me, so I silenced my phone and lay there a few minutes to fully wake up.

Once I felt better, I got up to shower and handle my hygiene again. I dressed in nothing but basketball shorts before going down to Ocean’s room. He was lying halfway off his bed, knocked out. I laughed to myself and tucked him in. My boy was tired because the only thing he did was roll over and breathe hard. I kissed his temple, picked up his toys, and went to check on his mother.

As I neared Moya’s room, I heard her talking on the phone to someone. I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, so I knocked twice and waited for her to allow me entrance.

“Come in!”

I eased the door open to find her sitting on the side of the bed with a towel wrapped around her body. She held her finger up and finished her conversation, giving me time to admire her. One thing Moya did was take care of her body. I peered down at her feet and licked my lips. She kept her toes white all the time, and it did something to me every time I saw them. To me, she had the perfect feet. They were blemish free, and her toes were all the same size. I used to suck on them all the time.