Amiyah signed out of her computer and grabbed her purse from underneath her desk. Checking the time on her watch, she stood from her desk with urgency. Her parents expected her and her sister to come to their childhood home on Friday nights for dinner. It had become their tradition ever since they moved out. A way to keep them grounded, and to keep a smile on their mother’s face. For the last few weeks, she’d been rain-checking with excuses that she was tired.
It had taken her parents a long time to accept Karim. Admitting to them that they’d possibly been right to warn her about him wasn’t an ‘I told you so’ she was willing to hear right now.
Amiyah’s three-inch heels echoed throughout the parking garage. Harsh winds ruffled her skirt as she nearly skipped to her Jeep. Her power was masked during business hours because someone else was in control. Inside of Cohen’s Law Firm, she had to be professional and obey protocol without a negative word about it. Outside of the building, her cosmic powers returned, ruling her the leader of her own world.
Amiyah downed the windows of her pink Wrangler Rubicon and sped out of the parking garage like she was responding to an emergency. The excitement on her face revealed the truth. She was happy to be free from never-ending office work that sucked the life out of her. After sighing peacefully during the riveting breeze that circulated inside her car, she turned up a Cardi B tune on the radio and recited the lyrics at the top of her lungs.
The distance between her job in Maitland was only fifteen minutes away from her parent's home in Altamonte Springs. She’d gotten through three ratchet songs before pulling in front of her family home.
Amiyah’s mouth dropped when she pulled into her parent’s wide driveway behind her mother’s van. Her father always protected his pride and joy by parking his Dodge RAM in their two-car garage. The distinctive challenger parked next to her mother’s vehicle belonged to none other than the domineering man she couldn’t escape.
She killed her ignition and panicked, wondering why he was even there. Amiyah’s parents were old school Christians. They’d initially disapproved of the couple shacking up together. Her parents had aired their frustration until they wore themselves out. Persistently, they’d lectured their eldest daughter for years before they accepted her preferred way of living.
Amiyah stepped out of her car and looked up at the cloudy sky. “I hope my father didn’t kill this man.” She sighed. Her father was a great man—often described as a real stand-up guy. About his daughters, he would change faces and turn into a monster if it meant protecting them. The men in their lives went through hell to get his approval.
Hesitantly, Amiyah approached the door and turned the knob. “Mom? Dad?”
“Come on in here, girl,” her mother’s sweet voice resounded. Amiyah smiled and joined her in the kitchen. Besides the mouth-watering aroma filling the air, she immediately knew her mom was in there. The kitchen was her sanctuary.
“Hey, mom.” She pecked her mother's soft cheek. Amiyah stepped back to look at her mom suspiciously. “Um. Karim’s car is outside.” Even saying it aloud seemed odd.
“So is he. He’s in the backyard with your dad pulling up weeds.” Angela Mays looked up from the dish she was rinsing to admire her beautiful, confused daughter. “Shocked me, too. I went to the neighborhood market down the street to pick up a few things and came back to them two fools playing in my garden.”
Amiyah snickered behind her fingers. “Need any help in here?” She would’ve done anything her mother asked to distract her from thinking about Karim being in the backyard with her father.
“No, thank you, baby. The food is almost done. Go wash up and relax. Was work OK?”
“Sure,” she answered, panicking internally and trying to relax while Karim was in the backyard with her father discussing God knows what.
Amiyah snuck to a window to spy on them in the backyard. She considered walking out of the backdoor to make her presence known but quickly thought against interrupting them. The idea of her father bonding with the man she loved swooned her. The visual of them getting their hands dirty while laughing together warmed her heart. Despite her and Karim’s iffy terms, she’d always wanted him to get along with her father.
“Everything OK with you two?” Angela joined her at the window and asked. Startling Amiyah, she side-eyed her daughter as she stumbled over an answer.
“Yes.” Amiyah nodded. “We’re... we're OK.” She shrugged. “Why do you ask?”
“Little girl. That man hasn’t been over here for a family dinner since your father was down his throat with questions the last time.” Angela scoffed, nearly amused. “It’s been a long time. Now look at him. He’s out there sucking up. You don’t have to lie to your mother. I know he done messed up some way, somehow.” Angela tossed a hand-towel over her shoulder and walked away. “Hurry up and wash your hands so you can set the table for four,” she called behind her shoulder. “Your sister says she’s working overtime tonight.”
“Great,” Amiyah mumbled and sighed. It was going to be an interesting dinner.
Just the four of them.
◆◆◆
The men’s hard chuckles were driving the women up the wall. Amiyah stared ahead at her mother who was looking her father upside his head. As the couples sat next to each other, Karim sat directly across from her father, laughing and interacting like they were best friends. Amiyah avoided Karim’s thirsty eyes whenever he looked over at her. She knew if she locked eyes with him, she wouldn’t be able to pull away from his mesmerizing gaze. During their trying times, she learned the hard way that she had to be strong enough to salvage herself. Karim was easy to submit to. He was a magnetizing lead she would always follow.
While the men were fully engaged in a debate over their favorite football teams, Amiyah poked at her lasagna in deep thought. She took small bites only when she looked up to her concerned mother staring back at her.
Karim had always been a bold man. He was willing to do whatever he needed to do to get what he wanted. She loved Karim with every breath in her body. She adored the ground he treaded carefully on. He was strategic, thoughtful and could come up with a scheme to get whatever he wanted, whenever he felt he needed it.
Although Amiyah knew him well, she just couldn’t figure out why he was there. He’d ventured to her parent’s home out of all the places he could’ve tracked her down at.
“Can I talk to you in the kitchen, Karim?” she whispered. Scanning the dining room like the vibrant teal walls were unfamiliar, Amiyah continued to avoid his eyes.
Karim rose one of his thick eyebrows. “What was that?” He'd heard her fine but inquired like he hadn’t. He drove her crazy in more ways than she could keep up with.
“The kitchen. Now.” Growing agitated with him, she smiled faintly at her parents and apologized for their need to be excused.
“Handle your business, honey.” Angela laughed under her breath. She didn’t involve herself in her children’s relationship quarrels. If they ever needed her assistance, they knew where to find her. But she didn’t meddle.
Amiyah rushed into the kitchen and turned around to Karim on her heels with his plate of lasagna in hand. Leaning against the tall island in the middle of the room, he stared at her intently as he feasted.
“Your father is coming around to me.” To avoid reacting to his beautiful smile, she dropped her head and closed her eyes for a moment.
“What are you doing here, Karim?”
Karim’s chewing slowed to a halt. Swallowing hard, he licked his lips and sat the plate on the counter to approach her. “No.” She backed away from him. “I asked you a question.”
“I’m eating,” he said. “You thought I forgot about Friday night dinners at your people house?” He chuckled. “And I’ve been hitting your line all day, pretty girl. I paid the bill, so I know it’s on.”
Karim didn’t need permission to pull her into his arms. He practically snatched her into him and held her close to his chest.
“I ha
d a busy day at work.”
“That’s new? Muthafuckers used to be in the waiting room cursing you out for taking so long to get to them. You would stop everything moving to answer my call.”
“Karim,” she whined, struggling to break free from his arms. Eventually, she gave up the fight and rested her head against his chest. “Watch your mouth in my parent’s house.”
“My bad.” Karim stepped back and shook his head. Towering over her, he raised her chin with his index finger to finally have her eyes. “I don’t deserve this shit.”
“Karim!”
“You got a good man on your side, pretty girl. Flawed like a muthafucker but I’m—”
“You can’t even help yourself, can you?”
Karim nodded and paused before trying it again. As he rubbed his fingers through his beautifully groomed beard, he never took his eyes off her. She’d hidden herself from him for weeks. Unsure of when he would see her again after this, he took his time to admire her.
“You don’t know what you’re doing, huh? That’s what this is.”
“What?” She scoffed. “What are you even talking about?”
“You don’t know what you’re doing to me,” he whispered harshly and patted his chest aggressively. With Amiyah, he was a patient man. These days, Karim was fighting to get his point across—fighting to prove his love to a woman who thought marriage defined it.
“You don’t know what you’re doing to us,” he said.
“I’m giving you a break to figure out what you want, Karim.”
Karim held back from calling her stupid. As badly as he wanted to tell her how foolish she was, he couldn’t bring himself to disrespect his Pretty Girl like that. He bit his fist to suffice the urge to curse. His phone interrupted him from speaking again.
“Yo,” he pulled his phone from his pocket and answered. His eyes traced her cheeks as his brother updated him on what was going on. “I’m on the way,” he assured Rashad and disconnected the call.
“I’ll be home in a few hours.” Karim looked at Amiyah as he stashed his device back into his pocket. Grabbing her hands, he rubbed them over his face and huffed.
“For what?” she whispered. Holding back tears, she looked down at her feet to hide her glossy eyes from him. Karim’s time management was another reason she suggested a break. As the women who was madly in love with him, she felt she didn’t receive enough of his time.
Amiyah may have been unaware of how him and his family acquired a lot of money, but she was well aware of all the time she didn’t get to spend with him because of it.
Ignoring her question, he lifted her chin and kissed her wet cheeks. “I love you, pretty girl. I’ll be home in a few hours.”
Amiyah watched him until he walked out of the kitchen. She stood in place until she heard the front door close. Wiping her eyes, she took a deep breath and returned to the dining room with her parents. Once again, she would have to come up with another excuse for why he had to skip out so suddenly.
Karim
Pressing in the gate code to access his father’s home, Karim drove up the long driveway and gaped at the mini mansion his father seasonally resided in. Xavier was always on the road traveling, blowing money and exploring his options like he was thirty years younger than his fifty years on earth. His spacious, red bricked home was nearly vacant. Beautiful from the outside with dozens of large, lavish windows—empty on the inside with only full-sized beds in each room and tall, wooden dressers next to them.
Xavier was hardly in town. His time spent in Orlando was always quick. He was occasionally in and out to check on his family. Each time he arrived, he summoned his sons to meet up with him, then blessed their pockets to suppress his guilt of tearing their family apart. He always offered them his knowledge toward their endeavors.
Karim parked behind Khalil’s Acura and sighed before stepping out. This wasn’t where he wanted to be. He was too far away from his heart, perplexed because he and Amiyah were on bad terms. Whenever she cried, it stuck with him. The tears she didn’t deserve to shed were imprinted in his head, taunting him whenever he closed his eyes.
Karim fought an anxious urge to start his car and race back to her. Stepping out into the night’s air, he brushed his hand down his face and channeled his thoughts. The last thing he needed was for his brothers to call out his emotions in front of their father.
He approached the door and looked around. Karim didn’t have to knock; the threshold was prepared for him to enter.
“Yo!” he shouted. His deep voice echoed and bounced off the walls. Karim’s steps were loud on the tile floors. Following his father’s booming voice, he met them in the kitchen standing around with glasses of whiskey in their hands. Rashad’s face harbored a scowl while his father and Khalil chopped it up with smiles on their faces. Rashad appeared relieved that Karim was finally there.
“My boy!” Xavier sat his glass down and approached Karim with open arms. Pulling him into a rough embrace, he patted Karim’s back and chuckled. The slur in his words along with the liquor on his breath confirmed he was intoxicated.
“What’s up, pops? Where you in from?” Karim inquired. He held his breath until Xavier freed him, then looked to Rashad and Khalil for answers. Khalil shrugged.
“I’m not shocked.” Rashad muttered and scoffed. He’d never been a fan of their father.
“Some of everywhere. You know how I get down, son.” He laughed. “But what’s been up with you, Rim? Fill your old man in on your life.”
Karim patted his father’s growing belly and chuckled. “Working hard. Everybody ain’t able to lay around and have bitches feed ‘em grapes and shit.”
“Grapes ain’t do that.” Khalil laughed while scrolling through his phone. He headed toward the doorway and announced his departure by waving it in the air. “Duty calls.”
“And he rode with me,” Rashad added. Gulping the rest of his drink like it was a shot, he mumbled good luck in Karim’s ear and rushed out.
“That’s cold,” Karim called behind them. He felt they set him up for failure to deal with their drunken father alone. “Y’all boys be safe,” he shouted again. Karim shot a quicker prayer to the Lord when they made moves together. However, he prayed especially hard when they weren’t performing their acts as a dynamic trio.
“They’ll be alright. Khalil is safe with Rashad. I taught that boy well. He can hate me all he wants, but I taught him all he knows. I’m the reason he’s tough.” Xavier stumbled to the counter to pour another drink. “How’s your mom doing?”
Karim hopped on an empty counter for a seat and shrugged. He was the spitting image of his father. It was almost like his mother despised Xavier during her pregnancy with him.
Karim had entered the world with the same curly hair atop his head, the same slanted eyes, small nose and plump lips. As Karim got older and let his beard grow out, he and his father could’ve gone for twins despite Xavier’s gray hairs and old age.
“She’s good.”
“Is she happy? Without me?”
“She is.” Karim nodded. He hated to break it to him, but his mother was actually ecstatic without him. Happier than she’d ever been.
“That’s good. That’s all I’ve ever wanted. Her to be happy.”
Karim stared at him with a concerned look on his face as Xavier looked off in deep thought.
“Can I ask you a question?”
“What you got for me, son?” Although his words slurred a bit, he looked toward Karim interested.
“What happened, pops? One day our family was complete. Shad and I was hype when y’all told us Khalil was on the way. The next day you were out. You and mom been beefin’ since.”
“She put me out.” He shook his head. Xavier smiled faintly as he reflected on it. “I made a lot of promises that I failed to keep. Dorinda didn’t ask for much. I just made it seem that way. She wanted time. So much fucking time. If it was up to her, we would’ve been making love in the house all damn day.”
“Time is money and love doesn’t pay the bills. Since she couldn’t understand that, I married her to trap her. I thought that would shut her up. As you can see, she got tired of my shit and left my ass anyway.”
“Were you in love with her?”
“Hell yeah. No doubt. She’s still my world. She’ll always be the only woman I’ve ever been in love with. I just fucked up, son. I chose the fast life over the woman who really loved me. She didn’t care about all the money or what I could do for her. She cared about me. She loved me.” Dropping his head, he rubbed through his beard and sneered. “Shit happens, tho’.”
“Right,” Karim agreed. Digging in his pocket for his phone, he unlocked it and went directly to his text thread with Amiyah. Karim informed her that he was on the way home as his heart throbbed to see her again.
The sighs he asked for were coming at him full force. Losing Amiyah would equate to losing his mind. If he proceeded to follow in his father’s footsteps, he too would be on the other side of a heart-wrenching outcome.
Suddenly, Karim feared ending up regretful from choosing the fast life over the woman who didn’t ask for anything but a promising commitment and a little extra time.
◆◆◆
Karim was careful not to frighten her as he entered their condo. Amiyah was asleep on the couch, exactly where he assumed she would be. It was where she always waited for him each time he gave her a head’s up that he was on the way home. Amid their differences, she was weak for his allure.
Regardless of the break she’d suggested, resisting him wasn’t easy. Amiyah was breaking. She was beginning to need him much more than she wanted to get her point across.
Karim locked up and stood in front of the couch. Admiring her peaceful slumber before he awakened her, he valued the light she’d left on. The dim lamp next to the coffee, plush couch illuminated her striking, brown skin. The ample ass he loved to squeeze, and caress poked from underneath the blanket wrapped around her.
If This Isn't Love Page 3