The Games We Play

by Alexandra Warren

  His drinking having to do with a woman didn’t at all surprise me, but his explanation still left a few holes. Mainly…, “So instead of approaching her, you drank yourself stupid?”

  Khalid wasn’t at all a shy guy, especially when it came to women. He went after whoever he wanted and didn’t give a damn how it turned out, though it almost always went in his favor. I mean, he was handsome, charismatic, and funny; those three things enough to at least get you in the door. But his withdrawn demeanor made sense once he replied, “She’s different, LoLo. Like a… you, but older. A little more refined.”

  “Ohhh. So Jayla’s a bad bitch?” I gushed, grinning from ear-to-ear now that I knew the woman Khalid was dealing with wasn’t just any ol’ jump-off.

  He only doubled down on my claims when he answered, “I mean this respectfully, Jayla’s the baddest bitch I’ve ever come across.”

  “After me,” I quickly corrected.

  He brushed me off, falling back against the couch as he huffed, “Whatever. All I know is, Jayla’s the type of woman who makes you wanna get your shit together so you can come correct. I mean, you gotta come correct or not come at all.”

  My eyebrows shot up in shock, his obvious distress about her enough to make me gush, “Wow. Never thought I’d see the day you’d be so pressed. Then again, if she’s like a me…”

  He cut me off with a hollow laugh. “Man, I swear you’re the most insecure cocky person I know.”

  “Insecure? I am not insecure.”

  Instead of agreeing, he sat back up, attempting to mimic my voice when he said, “Oh my God. Chance is here. How do I look? What should I say? What do I do? Why doesn’t he like me? Why does he like me so much? Help me, Khalid cause I never know what I’m doing even when I act like I do.”

  I wanted to be mad, but the accuracy made me laugh as I told him, “Okay, you made your point. But I still need to see a picture of Ms. Anthony so I can figure out why you think she’s badder than me.”

  He released a sigh as if he didn’t really want to. But since he knew I wouldn’t let it go, he grabbed his phone, scrolling around a little bit before handing it to me. And it only took her first three Instagram pictures for me to profess, “Damn. She is bad. What does she do in our building?”

  “I’m not sure. I just know she works on the third floor, and whatever she does keeps her at the building late almost every night,” he replied, leaning over my shoulder to look at the pictures I was sure he had scrolled through a thousand times already. I mean, if I was him I would’ve cause sis was poppin’. But instead of acknowledging that, I just kept on scrolling as Khalid added, “I see her all the time. But when we interact, I can’t seem to get out anything more than, “Have a good night, Mrs. Anthony”.”

  I almost dropped his phone at that, snapping my head back to repeat, “Mrs. Anthony?! Khalid, you’re feenin’ for a married woman?”

  Once again, sis was gorgeous so I understood, especially since I might’ve lusted after a married man from afar a time or two myself. And I hadn’t seen her husband in any of the pictures meaning things could’ve easily been on the rocks anyway. But I was glad when Khalid clarified, “She’s getting divorced. Last night when I saw her, she was out celebrating the shit with her homegirls; part of the reason why I kept on drinkin’. I mean, seeing her in work mode was already sexy as hell. But seeing her let her hair down and all that? Man.”

  I wanted to tease him about being drunk in love, but the fact that he sounded so sincere didn’t allow for it. I mean, he was obviously into this woman and stressed because he didn’t know what to do about it. And honestly, it was kind of adorable, something I had to mention once I finally replied, “Okay. So this is cute or whatever, but I’m still not giving you a pass for busting up my shit last night. I mean, Chance and I were having the best night ever and your drunk ass wanna come through talkin’ about you gotta pee like you couldn’t have done it outside.”

  He held his hands up to apologize. “My bad, my bad. I ain’t know. I’ll apologize to him too if you want.”

  I gnawed at my lip, thinking of how that would probably only make things even more awkward. “I don’t think that’ll be necessary. But next time, if you see that car in the driveway, feel free to send me the Uber tab.”

  His eyebrow immediately piqued. “How much is available on that tab during other emergencies? Asking for a friend.”

  “Boy…” I started, giggling as I gave him another playful shove just as my phone began to ring. And once I saw who was calling, I told Khalid to be quiet before I answered, “Yes, mommy dearest?”

  Her voice was especially panicky when she yelled, “Is Chance with you?!”

  It almost felt like a trick question since she wasn’t supposed to know that we were still messing around. And even though I certainly wished he was with me, the truth was, “Uh… no. He’s not.”

  “Well tell him to get down to the hospital as soon as possible! It’s Ellen!” she shouted, just the thought of something being seriously wrong with his mom enough to make me panic.

  Unfortunately, I couldn’t exactly help with my mother’s request since… “I just said he wasn’t…*click*”

  “Damnit,” I hissed, scrolling through my contacts for Chance’s number when Khalid asked, “What’s going on?”

  I didn’t have time to answer his question, my phone already dialing with a call to Chance’s that went just as unanswered as the ones I was sure my mother had already made. But I wasn’t giving up just yet, scrolling through my contacts again to find an alternative route. And while I knew it was a little risky, I called my brother anyway.

  “What you want, LoLo?” he answered, making me roll my eyes since he acted like that was the only reason I ever called him.

  Still, I did my best to stay focused on my mission, blowing past our usual back and forth bickering to ask, “Is Chance with you?”

  “Why you wanna know?” he challenged, a question that might’ve had me a little shook under less important circumstances.

  But since this might’ve been a life or death situation, it only annoyed me more as I told him, “Dude… it’s a simple question. Is he with you or not?”

  “Nah. He was supposed to come hoop with us this morning, but he didn’t show up. Now why you wanna know?” he asked again.

  Even if it was unfortunate, I was glad to have a legitimate explanation. “His mom is in the hospital and they can’t get ahold of him.”

  “Aww damn. I’ll see if I can get in touch,” he replied before hanging up the phone. And now that my second plan hadn’t solved the problem, I knew I really had to jump into action, deciding to go straight to his hotel suite to deliver the news.

  I was already grabbing one of Chance’s hoodies to throw on when I asked Khalid, “You staying here or you coming with me?”

  He immediately sprawled back out on the couch, pulling the cover I had put over him the night before up to his chin as he answered, “I’ll stay. Catch a ride home once my head stops spinning.”

  That was probably best, especially considering showing up to Chance’s with Khalid in tow would’ve probably had him slamming the door in my face before I could even explain why we were there. But since it was just me rushing over to his place then knocking on the door, he answered it with a tired - and incredibly sexy - grin instead.

  “Already back for more, huh?”

  I pushed past him into his suite as I barked, “Chance, why the hell haven’t you been answering the phone?! Everybody is looking for you!”

  Of course he was confused by that, his face scrunched when he followed me towards his bedroom and asked, “Looking for me? Why is everybody looking for me? And who is everybody?”

  I was already sifting through his closet to find a shirt and a pair of pants for him to put on, something that only confused him even more. But as I tossed them each his way, I finally explained, “Your mom is in the hospital!”

  The news took a second to register as he repeated more to himself tha
n me, “My mom is in the… why is my mom in the… yo, we gotta go!”

  “Get dressed. I’ll drive,” I told him, watching as he quickly slipped into the sweatpants and long sleeve I had given him before stuffing his feet into a pair of sneakers. Then he snatched his wallet and phone from the dresser on his mad dash out of the door towards the elevator that seemed to be going in slow motion by the time we finally got on.

  “What happened? Do you know what happened? Is she okay?” he rattled, all questions I couldn’t really answer since my mom hadn’t given me any info.

  “I don’t know. Call my mom. I think she’s already there,” I told him, though I quickly realized my suggestion was useless once he held up his phone to show me it was completely dead.

  No wonder he wasn’t answering anyone’s calls.

  “Well, here. Use mine,” I offered, scrolling through to my favorites to find her number. Then I clicked it to call on speakerphone, handing it over to Chance who was already pacing back and forth.

  He didn’t even wait for her to speak first once it was clear someone had picked up, instead jumping right in to say, “Miss. Annie, it’s me, Chance. What’s going on? Is my mom okay?”

  “Boy, where in the hell have you been?! I’ve been calling your phone for about an hour now!” she shouted, talking to him the same way she’d talk to me or Eric. But in her mind, any friends of ours and any of her friends’ kids were practically hers too.

  And that went both ways, Chance not even shocked by her approach when he replied, “I’m sorry. I was sleep and forgot to put my phone on the charger last night. Now what happened?”

  The heavy sigh she released had me nervous as we both climbed into the car. And I just knew we’d be getting terrible news once she finally answered, “I tried to tell her that trap house was a bad idea. But no, she just had to wait until she fell halfway through the floor to agree with me.”

  “Fell through the floor? Is she okay?” Chance asked, his leg bouncing in the seat as I peeled out of the parking garage.

  My mom didn’t answer him right away, instead talking to someone else as she snapped, “Can’t you see I’m distressed right now?! No pictures please!” Then she got back on the line to say, “She’ll be fine. They think she might’ve broken her leg in a few spots, but she’s still doing all the important stuff. Breathing, getting on people’s nerves, and being cheap enough to make sure they’re giving her generic drugs instead of name brand so the bill isn’t sky high when this is all said and done.”

  While I immediately thought, “Thank God,” Chance said it out loud before telling my mother, “We’ll be there in a minute.”

  “Okay. See you then, baby.”

  Once the call was ended, Chance gave me my phone back. And I offered him the car charger I kept so he could give his own phone some juice while telling him, “I’m so sorry this happened.”

  I could only imagine how he felt, especially since I probably would’ve been ten times more dramatic had something happened to my mom. But his gaze remained out of the window as he said, “I was supposed to be there. Last night, I told her I’d be back over in the morning to do some more work on the house, but I overslept. Because of you.”

  While my eyes should’ve been on the road, I couldn’t help but look over at him when I asked, “Because of me? How is it my fault you slept in?”

  “Come chill. Drink this. Play that. Stay here. No, actually leave cause I need to make room for my drunk best friend,” he spat like venom as if any of that equated to his irresponsible ass forgetting to charge his phone. But just the fact that he was turning what I thought was a good time into something worth being upset about had my face pulled into a tight scowl.

  “Wow. Are you serious right now?”

  “Just drive, man.”

  “No. Cause what we’re not gonna do is act like somehow I’m to blame for you sleeping in which resulted in your mother falling through the floor of that raggedy ass house she had no business buying in the first place. You and Michelle must not have been working as hard to fix it up as you claimed y’all were.”

  It was a cheap shot, something I probably should’ve kept to myself since attacking him during his time of need was stooping to the lowest of lows. But now that it was already out of my mouth, it wasn’t like I could take it back, hardly surprised when he turned towards me in his seat to ask, “Now you’re bringing Michelle into this?”

  “You started it!” I quickly defended, keeping my eyes on the road instead of looking at him, though I could still feel his burning a hole through the side of my face.

  But eventually he fell back, releasing another sigh when he said, “Just drive, Londyn. Aight?”

  I didn’t respond, just did what I was already doing in getting us to the hospital as quickly and safely as possible even through the tension lingering in the car. And once I parked, I could barely keep up with Chance as he took off for the doors, stopping at the desk to say, “Looking for Ellen Washington. I’m her son.”

  The nurse stood up from her chair, giving Chance an appreciative onceover before licking her lips to reply, “And quite a son you are. I mean, look at those biceps. And that chest…”

  “Can you please just tell us where she is?! Damn,” I snapped, annoyed with her for multiple reasons - mainly for being thirsty as hell during an emergency.

  I shouldn’t have been surprised when she responded by sizing me up, giving me a onceover that wasn’t nearly as glowing when she asked, “And you are?”

  Since I knew emergencies like this usually only allowed relatives to go beyond certain security points, I answered, “Londyn… Washington? He’s my… bro…”

  “Husband,” Chance spoke over me, my eyes flashing his way and him doing the same towards me before he started to correct, “Bro…”

  But this time, it was me talking over him as I wrapped myself around his arm and answered, “Husband. He’s my husband. Newlyweds. Now where is she?”

  The nurse’s eyes skeptically bounced back and forth between us - and rightfully so - before she finally gave us the answer we were looking for. “She’s in with the doctor now. But if you two wait out here, I’ll make sure he comes to speak with you when he’s finished and take you back to see her.”

  “Thank you,” I told her as politely as I could, taking the “family” visitor badges she had given us for special access before pulling Chance towards the waiting area. But once we were out of the nurse’s view, I let go of his arm like it had cooties, my attitude from the car immediately returning as he plopped down into one of the chairs and rested his head in his hands.

  I felt bad for him.

  On one hand, I wanted to sit down next to him, rub his back, remind him that she was okay, ask him if there was anything I could do. But on the other hand… fuck him for blaming me like I had anything to do with it. I mean, I knew he was frustrated in general which probably had something to do with him coming at me like that, but that didn’t make it alright. And while I knew it wasn’t the time to address it quite yet, I was still tempted to until my mother emerged from the back and said, “There you two are.”

  Chance stood up to greet her, looking like a little kid in her embrace even though he was much bigger than her. But he was hugging her like he needed it, making me feel even worse for not comforting him when it came to mind.

  Damnit, Londyn.

  When she finally pulled away, she stuffed her hands in the back pockets of her jeans to inform us, “She’s just about done with the doctor, but we can head on back since I’m sure you’re dying to see her.”

  Chance didn’t say anything, only nodded as we followed my mother past the main security point then down a long hallway. And while I expected Chance to be rushing down to find his mom, his steps were slow and calculated as if the whole thing was making him uncomfortable.

  This time, I didn’t miss my opportunity to be supportive, grabbing his hand and giving it a squeeze to let him know I had his back. And for a second he seemed shocked befo
re offering a little nod of appreciation and squeezing my hand right back; an act that was so simple yet somehow still made my heart flutter even though I was supposed to be mad at him.

  “You can be mad at him later, Londyn,” I thought as we finally made it to Miss. Ellen’s room. And while it felt comfortable as hell, I was still aware enough to let his hand go before anyone really noticed.

  Now that he could actually see her, his movements were a lot quicker, rushing to the side of her bed to ask, “Mama, what happened?”

  She brushed him off like it was no big deal that practically her entire leg was in a cast. “It was just a little accident, Chance. I mean, how was I supposed to know that half-bath off the kitchen was so hazardous?”

  Chance immediately grunted - a grunt that may or may not have turned me on -, shaking his head as he scolded, “Mama, you know you’re only supposed to use the one in your bedroom.”

  “I know! But the latte Annie picked me up for breakfast ran right through me and I didn’t have enough time to get all the way upstairs,” she replied, making me roll my eyes since apparently blaming other people ran in their family. But at least she continued on to give my mother credit when she said, “I’m glad she came back by over lunch though, otherwise I would’ve still been dangling over the basement.”

  The imagery made me snort, catching a mean side eye from my mother as I whispered, “My bad.” Then she turned back towards Chance and Miss. Ellen to tell them, “We’ll give you two a minute. Let us know if you need anything.”

  She all but dragged me out of the room into the hallway, not wasting a second to acknowledge, “You two sure looked cozy. And I thought you said he wasn’t with you.”

  “He wasn’t,” I told her honestly, not giving her any more than I had to until she pried it out of me.

  Of course she was going to try, her first interrogation question being, “So how’d you guys end up together?”

  “I… picked him up,” I answered as plainly as possible, the backstory being what made everything so complicated. But I was glad when my mother only gave a skeptical, “Mmmhmmm” just as the annoying nurse from earlier approached us.