by Denora Boone
“Girl, bye. I am not a superstar,” Chey said reaching out for what she already knew was her lunch.
“Well, that’s not what this video with over 2 million views and a hundred thousand comments are saying,” she told her, shocking Chey. She hadn’t even bothered to look at the numbers the video was doing. She was just glad that people were responding to God the way they were. She may have been the one singing but He was the one that got the glory.
“Anyway, what’s going on?” she asked as she dug into her food. She paused for a second to pray because she had been so hungry that she began chewing knowing good and well that she didn’t bless her food.
“I just got my keys!” Von squealed and Chey did her best to join in the excitement with a mouth full of food, without choking.
It was a moment that they had been waiting for and it was finally here. All of the praying and fasting they had been doing on behalf of Von, had opened God’s floodgates of heaven and her blessings were overflowing. Von had landed a good internship at the Lowndes County Health Department with the help of Chey that had the potential to become a permanent job once she graduated. With that job and a good reference from the school and from Chey, she was able to land her apartment and it would be ready by the time she would be released from the halfway house. But the biggest blessing of them all was that she now had her son back in her life and was given a second chance to be the best mother she could be.
The day that Nivea brought Von’s son to meet his mother was the day that Chey saw a woman make that final declaration that there was no turning back to her old ways. Just the look in her eyes as they held on to one another said it all.
Amir was the sweetest little boy and Chey could tell that Nivea and her husband Terrance were raising him to be a well-rounded young man. He had all A’s on each report card, he was into sports, and even was a part of their youth dance ministry at the church they attended. Amir even helped other kids who faced the same struggles he did with his illness, and he never let it get him down. He said it made him just like his mommy and he wasn’t mad at her for it.
Von wanted so bad to have him with her full time, but she didn’t want to snatch him from his environment and the life that he was used to. She wasn’t able to take care of him like she wanted to just yet, and it would be selfish of her to expect him to move with her right away. She let him know that it wasn’t because she didn’t want him, but because she wanted the best for him, and staying with Nivea and Terrance a little while longer was best. They had come up with a visiting schedule and would see how that worked for them, and once Von was fully self-sufficient then they would go from there.
After the excitement died down a little, they ate silently while in their own thoughts. Von’s thoughts were of her new beginning and Chey’s mind was consumed with thoughts of Qyree.
“What you over there thinking and smiling about?” Von asked. Chey hadn’t even realized she was smiling until she was called out on it.
“Nothing,” she simply stated as she took a sip of her Arnold Palmer.
Von sat back and crossed her arms giving Chey a knowing look. Something was on her mind and she had a feeling of what it may have been.
“You called Qyree yet?”
Chey’s eyes got as wide as saucers as she unwillingly gave herself away. She tried to keep a straight face but the muscles in her jaws betrayed her.
“Mm hmm. I knew you were feeling him. So when do I need to get my dress ready to be your maid of honor?” Von asked biting into her food.
“I thought you didn’t like him when you met him,” Chey reminded her. It was true that when she first saw him there was something that she felt was off, but now she knew that it was just him not trusting anyone.
“I didn’t, but that was me all in my flesh. I thought he was going to try and holler at me and I just wasn’t in the mood. I can admit I was wrong. Even after seeing that little episode he had with the three blind mice, something said give him a chance.”
Chey couldn’t help the laughter that erupted from her when Von called those girls that. She was the queen of petty but it was so funny at the same time.
“How in the world do we go from me talking to him to us walking down the aisle? Where they do that at? And you know you wrong for talking about those girls like that.”
“Guh, bye! It ain’t like you getting any younger and I know those eggs ‘bout to dry up if you don’t use at least one of them,” by now, Von was laughing so hard she almost choked.
“That’ll teach you,” Chey laughed. There was no way that marriage was on the horizon, and especially with Qyree.
He just wasn’t the marrying type, she felt like. She had been taught for as long as she could remember that if a man wanted to be a husband, he had to act like one long before he made it to the altar, and vice versa. A woman couldn’t be a wife once she said ‘I do’; she had to be that before the ring. If they behaved in that manner then when God finally presented the one to the other, it wouldn’t be so hard for them to handle their responsibilities. The only way an athlete could become an MVP is if he exemplified and embodied the qualities that were needed to hold that title. You can’t be what you haven’t practiced to be and expect to reap the benefits of something great. Marriage was hard work and you had to clock in long before the ring was placed on a finger.
“I’m for real though,” Von said, clearing her throat and removing the tears from her eyes. “A blind man can see the chemistry between the two of you.
She was right. There was definitely chemistry between them and that was evident since the first time she met him in college. But the moment she saw how he handled women with little to no respect, she couldn’t put herself in that kind of situation. Chey didn’t think he was a bad person, she just felt he may have been misguided in some way. She knew he was capable of changing with the help of the Lord, but only if he wanted to change. Until then, it was just nice seeing him.
Chey was raised in the church and her parents always told her the importance of her body being a temple unto God, and that she should wait until marriage to have sex. Even when all of the girls around her were venturing out and experimenting with different things, Chey would always remember what her mother told her.
“Baby, no man will respect your body if you don’t even respect it. Giving your heaven away to every Tremaine, Denarius, and Hakeem you meet, will only show them they can defile you because you allow it,” her mother schooled her. She was 13 at the time and to this day, she remained a virgin. It was during that time that she decided to stay that way until marriage because she knew the value of not only her body, but her self-worth. Any man that stepped to her had to come correct or not come at all, and Qyree definitely wasn’t that one.
“I can’t lie, Qyree is fine, but I need more than a tall glass of water to quench my fleshly thirst. If he can’t fill me up spiritually, then he can’t fill me up with anything else,” Chey said raising her eyebrow to emphasize what she meant by the latter part.
“Man, where were you when I needed to hear this talk. The only talk I got from my mother was how to make sure I didn’t slip and fall as I twirled my body around a stripper pole at 13,” she shook her head sadly. Although she chuckled when she said it, there wasn’t anything funny about what she had just said. Her mother Candace was an Evangelist by day and a madam by night, pimping out her young daughter in a strip club. Von had a hard life but she was steady making a change.
Once again, they were consumed in their own thoughts, just as Chey’s phone dinged with a notification. Completely forgetting she had messaged Qyree over an hour ago, her heart felt like it had dropped to her feet as she looked down at a message from him. She was so scared to open it because she knew that he could see if she read it or not, and if he had said something that she wasn’t prepared to answer, there was no way that she could ignore him.
“Tell Ree I said heyyyyy bro!” Von laughed.
“How you know it’s him?” Chey quizzed.
“‘Cause I just messaged him and told him you were thinking about him,” she said with a straight face.
“You. Did. Not!” Chey squealed and Von fell out.
“Nah, I’m just messin’. But I did tell him you would be free around this time when I saw him at school a little while ago,” she said standing to throw her stuff in the trash to leave. Her lunch break was almost over and she had one more class after she left the clinic for the day.
Totally missing what Von had just said about seeing him at the college, she hurriedly opened the messenger app and read it silently before saying, “You told him where I worked? Ohhh I’m going to get you!” Chey did her best to act like she was mad, but deep down she was kind of excited.
Shrugging her shoulders, Von stuck out her tongue as she snatched the door open. Chey was looking for something to throw and Von wasn’t waiting around for it. Turning to run out of the door, she was stopped immediately by a smiling Qyree.
-17-
Qyree checked his messenger for what felt like the millionth time, but the only message he was looking for was from Chey. His message had gone unanswered for days, but it was still unread as well. That gave him a little room to relax. Had she read it and not responded, then he would have panicked. There had to be some way that he could get in touch with her and as soon as the thought popped up, so did another one.
He remembered the day he ran into Chey with her friend she told him they were there registering her for classes. They didn’t say what classes, so he didn’t even know where to begin scoping the campus, but it was worth a try.
Hopping in his car, he made his way over to the school. It was almost ten in the morning so the campus life was in full affect. Stepping out, he looked around and decided to head in the direction that he first saw them. He may not have done everything right in life, but he hoped that something he had done good would be enough to give him just a little favor at that moment. After rounding the corner and heading into one of the buildings, it looked like his favor was in full effect as he saw her.
“Hey Shawty, hold up,” he yelled behind Von.
She almost didn’t turn around because she didn’t think whoever was behind her was yelling for her attention. No one knew her like that and that was the way that she liked it. Right then, she didn’t need many people in her life while she was trying to get it back in order. Against her better judgement she turned around anyway to find Qyree behind her.
“Hey. Qyree, right?” she greeted. Of course she remembered his name, but she had to put up a front. There was no way she was about to let him know that her girl was talking about him like that.
“Yea. I’m sorry, I don’t remember your name.”
“It’s Von. So what are you doing here?” she wanted to know. From what Chey had told her, he lived in Atlanta and there was nothing coming up around town pertaining to his company, so that could only mean one thing. He was on the search for Chey. Von knew it was only a matter of time before he returned, she just didn’t know it would be this soon.
“I was wondering if you could give me Chey’s number. When we met up last, I didn’t get a chance to ask because of everything that was going on.”
“Mm hmmm, you were entertaining The Three Stooges,” she smirked.
Qyree couldn’t help but to laugh at her; she was definitely a character, but he liked her.
“Yea, well Larry, Moe, and Curly got dropped off and got the boot at the same time,” he said staring off into space. Von was shocked. To hear that he only dropped them off contradicted the interaction he shared with them at the event, as well as what Chey had filled her in on. She watched him for a few moments before speaking to him.
“Chey is at work but she will be going to lunch around noon. I’m heading over there in a few minutes to take her some lunch. I’m sure she’ll be glad to see you,” Von smiled. No matter how Chey tried her best to front, she could tell her friend liked Qyree, but she was very protective of her heart and her body. If he didn’t or couldn’t come correct, that was his loss.
“Don’t tell her I’m coming, I want it to be a surprise,” he pleaded with his eyes.
“You just better not make me regret helping you. I don’t know much about you except what I saw, and that wasn’t favorable. But since I believe in everyone getting a chance at least once, I will help you out. Don’t get it twisted though, Chey may be real saved but I’m fresh off the yard,” she said with a straight face. Qyree knew she was serious and for some reason, he wanted no parts of that.
“Nah man, you good. I ‘preciate it,” he said jogging back towards his car once she gave him the address. He needed to handle a few things before he got to her, to make sure their encounter would be one she would remember in a positive way.
Before he had the chance to get his seatbelt on, his phone was ringing. Not bothering to see who it was before he answered, he cringed as soon as he heard the voice.
“Qy! Where are you?” Natalia yelled through the phone.
“That’s none of your concern,” he told her with one of the nastiest tones he had ever given anyone.
“Oh really? We supposed to be kicking it but I can’t ask my man where he is?”
Removing the phone from his ear, Qyree looked at it with a confused face. There was no way that she had just said that to him after finding out what she had been up to. She must have eaten something in Cancun that made her lose her mind.
“Man, go ‘head on! You come up to the house where my mother lives and expose the affair that you are having with my father, and now we were in a relationship. Shawty, you wild,” Qyree fumed. Even though he had left as soon as he saw Natalia, he later learned from his mother what she was doing there. To say he was shocked would have been an understatement.
“Had an affair,” she said like that made it any better. “If you had answered your phone you would know that already.”
“Listen, I’m cool on you. It never was an ‘us’ and even if there was a possibility, you blew that one,” he said sucking his teeth and pulling up to a flower shop. He had planned on bringing Chey some flowers, something that he had never done for a woman, and invite her out to dinner.
“Come on baby, don’t be like this. I didn’t even know he was your daddy,” Natalia lied. She knew that man was his daddy because she was sleeping with him first, but now wasn’t the time for her to divulge that piece of information.
“Aight. It don’t even matter though. I got somewhere to be,” he told her while the lady behind the counter totaled up his purchase. Qyree had no idea what her favorite flower was, but he decided to get something other than the normal roses.
“Who is she?” Natalia asked. It sounded like her words were getting choked up in her throat and he knew darn well she wasn’t about to cry. Off jump, she knew what it was when they met and she was cool with it. No need to get brand new and let some feelings develop that were definitely not mutual between the two of them.
Not even bothering to answer her question, he hung up the phone in her face. She was talking crazy and he had to get himself together. He didn’t know why he was feeling the way he was, and the feeling had Qyree so far out of his comfort zone. But he figured with everything else going wrong in his life, this could possibly be the one thing that could possibly go right.
He wasn’t far from Chey’s office which was a good thing. Looking at the time, he figured that he had wasted enough time driving around, and headed to the building of the address he was given. Checking his messages real quick, he saw that he missed a notification. His cheeks began to hurt as he saw it was from Chey. The fact that she was concerned if he was okay or not did something to him. She had asked him where he wanted to meet her and as he got out, he replied he was already at her job and ‘bout to walk in. Von gave him the directions to her office and just as he was about to knock, the door came flying open to a pleased Von and a shocked Chey.
-18-
Six Months Later
“Hello?” Chey answered her work phone. She
had just a few more things to take care of before she could enjoy her four-day weekend with her bae, and she couldn’t wait. This would be the weekend that she would be introduced to Qyree’s parents as his girlfriend.
To say that Chey was surprised by the relationship would be an understatement. The Qyree that she had met in college and even the one she reunited with a few months ago, was a totally different Qyree than he was now. His past may have been one that should have turned her away from him, but it was something deeper there that she couldn’t deny. During the week, it was hard to see one another, but they had been making it work and she was happy. When she wasn’t on the phone with Qyree, she was spending time with Von, who just so happened to be on the other line.
“Hey sis!” Von said. It had been such a blessing to be around Von and watch the changes that she went through for her son. Amir was now coming to see her twice a month, holidays, and would be staying with her once the summer started. The love that little boy had for his mother was unreal, and Chey couldn’t wait for her time to become a mother.
Many would have thought it would be a tough transition for the two of them, being that Von was missing out on so much of his life. But God had a way of lining everything up where it worked out for everyone involved. He had placed Amir with two people who were after His own heart, when He put him with Nivea and Terrance. Now that Von was no longer in the halfway house and in her own, she could finally be the mother that God called her to be. Chey was so proud of her and they had really become like sisters. Even the three of them would hang out a bit when Nivea would come to drop Amir off.
“What you doing?” Von asked.
“Just finishing up in the office before I call it a day. I was just given a new file so I was trying to go over it real quick before I leave,” Chey told her.
“Girl, if you don’t go home and get ready to spend time with your boo you betta! I know he can’t wait to get you all to himself,” Von laughed.