by Prenisha Aja
I rushed out the kitchen and to the room, and the shock that went through my body, to see that she wasn’t here, should have killed me.
“Brynlee,” I yelled her name.
“Man.” I ran my hand down my face as I searched through the house. I then looked in the closet and that’s when I noticed her pink suitcase was not in there.
Fear slapped me right in the face and I began to back out of the closet and make my way over to her dresser. I pulled her drawer out and her shit wasn’t in there.
“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck,” I fussed as I dug in my pocket for my phone.
With one hand on top of my head and the other one holding the phone, I called Brynlee. I was trying to see where in the fuck she was, and what did she think was about to happen.
Our wedding was literally in seven months and we had already put down a lot of money for deposits and shit. There was no way in hell she was backing out of this shit now.
My nerves were so bad that my hand shook as I tried to dial her number. Finally, I hit the call button and was disappointed when it went straight to voicemail.
“Fuck,” I roared as I ended the call and sent her a text.
Jadoré was right, and I hated to admit that shit. I guess I should have tried a little harder because now Brynlee was gone, and I had no clue where she was and when she would come back home.
3
Brynlee Millz
It was now about four o’clock in the morning and I had finally landed in Texas. As soon as my feet touched the ground, I felt a sense of relief wash over me already. I think it was because I knew I was about to be surrounded by nothing but love. And also, I missed my mother. I needed a big ass hug from her.
The whole time I had been battling this depression and dealing with this pain, she was the one person I wanted badly. I had wanted my mother by my side but that was the downfall of her being miles away. I swear, it was nothing like a mother’s touch to help you through tough times and I couldn’t wait to get to mine, even at twenty-five years old.
“Aye yo Bryn,” I heard Merci call out for me.
I screamed so loudly as I dropped my bags and ran full speed towards her. I missed her so much. I swear I did. She was the yin to my yang. My right-hand man and my turn up partner.
“Oh my god, I’ve missed you.” I hugged her tightly.
“I’ve missed you too.” She hugged me back.
We let each other go then examined one another. I took my shades off as I looked her up and down.
“Are those new?” I side-eyed her as I playfully bounced her titties.
“You like?” She lifted them up and jiggled them.
Her boobs looked really nice, I didn’t take Merci as the type to get them done but they looked good on her. I mean, she was surrounded by nothing but women with fake asses and titties, so I could see why she would want some since she was never blessed with any.
“Yes, they look really nice,” I complimented her.
“But off of me. Look at you girl. New York did you right.” She cheesed as she walked a circle around me.
“Girl, I look the same.” I laughed.
“Bitch, please! You didn’t have all this ass. I hate to say it, but I guess Troy was good for something.” She rolled her eyes.
“I guess so…” I sighed as the thoughts of him hit me.
As soon as I got off the plane my phone was going haywire. I had missed calls, text messages and voicemails. They were all from him. He was trying to figure out where I was, but I had no intentions of telling him. I truthfully had no plans on calling him. I needed a break from his ass, and I was going to get just that.
“But fuck him. Let’s get home. I know you tired and shit. We can go to my house then figure out what you want to do later in the day,” Merci let me know.
I nodded my head then went and grabbed my suitcase. We walked out of the airport and to her Audi v8 and I beamed because my friend had done really well for herself.
“I’m proud of you Merci,” I stopped and told her.
“Thank you. But look Brynlee, get yo’ emotional ass in the car. It’s about to be five in the morning, and I need all my rest because I have another party to put together,” she let me know.
“Bitch, fuck you. I was trying to be nice.” We burst out laughing as she popped the trunk and helped me put my suitcase inside.
We then got in the car and drove to her house as the music played softly. We talked and caught up on everything that had been happening in Texas and both of our love lives.
When we finally arrived at her luxury apartment, she parked her car and we got out and made our way inside. We had to take an elevator up to her floor. It was crazy that the apartments that she stayed in reminded me of a hotel.
“Right here.” She walked over to the maroon-looking door and unlocked it.
Merci opened the door and we both entered as she flipped the light switch that was on the wall, causing the ceiling fan to come on and also light up the living room area.
“This is really nice.” I admired her apartment.
Merci’s living room area was red, white and black. Her sofa was white, her curtains were black and red, along with the pillows that decorated her couches. She had black and white pictures on the wall. There were red vases sitting on top of these tall, silver stands. Her place was pretty dope.
“Thank you. The guest bedroom is down the hall.” She pointed and I grabbed my suitcase and headed in that direction.
When I got into the room I placed my suitcase in the corner, came out of my shoes and sat down on the bed. I placed my phone on silent and laid down.
I guess I didn’t know how tired I really was until my head touched the pillow. Not even seconds later, my body was relaxing and my eyes were closing. My body was exhausted, and I knew it needed this rest.
Ughh, what time is it? I wondered as I opened my eyes and stretched. My head was pounding and my mouth was super dry.
Reaching over on the nightstand, I grabbed my phone and I saw that it was two in the afternoon.
“Woah.” I shot up.
I had never slept this late. As I scrolled through my phone, I checked my email and saw that my boss had emailed me back. I felt relief when I saw that she understood and even told me about a job that she knew would hire me right in my area. I was happy to hear that. I emailed her back and let her know that I would love more information about it, then got out of the bed so that I could brush my teeth, wash my face and find me something to eat. My stomach was growling so loudly and I almost felt sick.
Once I was done handling my hygiene, I made my way out of the room and rolled my eyes at all of the private calls and voicemails. I had been telling myself that I wasn’t going to listen to any of them, but it was getting so hard not to. I just wanted to hear what he had to say and to know if he was actually worried or not.
“Hey boo,” Merci greeted me when I made my way into the living room.
She was currently sitting down on the sofa with her MacBook in her lap and her planner on the side of her.
“Hey love. What you up to?” I huffed as I sat down next to her.
“Preparing for this party. You good?” She tilted her glasses down and peeked over them.
“Yeah, I guess so. It’s just that Troy has left me all these voicemails and it’s killing me not to listen to them,” I let her know as I stared down at my phone, deciding on if I wanted to just go ahead and hear what he had to say. It was obvious he had something he needed to get off of his chest by all the voicemails that he had left. Thirty-two of them to be exact.
“Let me see it.” She reached her hand out.
“See what?”
“Your phone.” She grabbed it from me and began to delete all of the voicemails that Troy had left on my phone and even the old ones that I had saved.
“Now you don’t have to worry about it.” She smiled like she had just done me a big favor.
“Uhmm ok.” I chuckled, still feeling unsure, as I darted my eyes around t
he room.
“Look, you did not come back to Texas to be stressing over him. Matter fact, you are coming to this party I’m hosting tonight. So, find you something sexy and be ready to mingle because I promise you there will be some ballers in the building.” She danced from side to side as she stuck her tongue out and rubbed her hands together.
“Merci…” I whined, because I should have known she had something up her sleeve.
“Don’t call my name. Just be ready because you know it’s about to be a party.” She got up and began to twerk, causing her ass to pop from underneath the black silk robe she had on.
All I could do was lay back and laugh at her silly ass as I thought about what I wanted to wear, knowing that I didn’t really bring shit. Which meant that I was going to have to go out and shop, but first I had to stop and see my parents.
I watched Merci walk out of the living room as I still sat on the couch with a silly smile on my face. I swear, I loved Merci so much because she always knew how to make me feel better and make me feel like I made the right decision. Because even though I jumped my ass on the plane and came here, I couldn’t lie and say I didn’t have this lingering feeling as if I had made a bad choice on the impulse of me being angry.
After sitting on the couch being stuck in my own thoughts, I finally got up so that I could put some clothes on and get in the streets. I still hadn’t told my parents what was going on with me and Troy. Matter fact, they didn’t even know that I was home. I had decided that I would pop up and surprise them. While I was pulling my clothes out of the suitcase, I paused for a few seconds so that I could set me up an Uber and once I got to my parents’ home, I could just hop in my car that I had when I was in high school.
I was finally dressed in a cute, all-white sundress and some Chanel sandals and a pair of Chanel shades that I purchased with my first big check when I started working for Lina.
Finally getting the alert that my driver was outside waiting, I peeked inside of Merci’s bedroom and told her bye, then headed out to the door.
“Shit,” I complained as I began to fan myself off.
I hadn’t been outside a good minute and I could already feel my breasts get sticky from sweat. It was crazy how I forgot how hot it could get, and I was currently feeling like I was melting away.
I did a quick power walk to the car and when I was hit with the cool breeze from the AC being on, I let out a deep sigh.
“Thank God.” I wiped my forehead as if it was really some sweat on there. I’m pretty sure my ass was being dramatic, but I didn’t miss this part.
“You need me to turn it up higher?” my Uber driver peered into the rearview mirror and asked me.
“No, it’s perfect.” I smiled back at the older white guy.
“Ok, well let’s get you to where you need to be.” He nodded his head forward then began to drive away from Merci’s apartment building.
The ride through what used to be my stomping grounds brought back so many memories. To think that I had been gone away from home for so long. It had been years since I had been back. I would still FaceTime my parents, but I knew seeing them in person was going to be way more sentimental.
As we drove to my parents’ house, the Uber driver played soft music that reminded me of the music that would be played in a business office. It was boring and was damn near making me sleepy as I covered my mouth and yawned.
When we finally pulled up to my parents’ home, my heart fluttered. I was so excited to see them and get a big ass hug from my mother and let her know what was going on, that I was damn near out of the car before the driver could even come to a complete stop.
“Thank you,” I thanked the driver as I got out of the car and made my way up the sidewalk. Everything was just how I remembered it to be. The grass was always cut really low, thanks to my father. He still had his beat up ol’ work truck in the yard and there under the garage was my baby. The car that my father got me my junior year of high school.
I loved that damn car and I hated that I had to leave it. If I could have taken it with me to New York I would have, but unfortunately when I left, I flew out. As I walked and surveyed the area, a cool breeze that I was so thankful for blew through my hair causing these pretty pink flowers that grew on a tree in our yard to fall and swirl around me.
Gliding my fingers alongside my mother’s car, I peeked inside and smiled when I saw that she still had my tassel around the review mirror of her car. I leaned back up and went to the door and held my breath as I knocked on the door.
“Who is it?” I heard my mother’s soft voice ask, but I didn’t say anything.
I knew that before she opened the door that she would peek out of the peephole anyway. My mother didn’t play that type of stuff. The neighborhood that they stayed in was the same one that I grew up in. It was on the northside of Houston and I couldn’t lie and say that it was a safe environment, because a lot of bad shit would happen. But my parents loved it and plus they owned their house, so there was no getting them to leave.
“Who is it?” she repeated again, and that’s when I heard my father’s voice follow.
“Who’s at the door Janice?” my father Bryan asked my mother, right as the door came flying open. The look of shock on both of their faces was priceless.
“Oh my god, Brynlee,” my mother squealed as she covered her mouth and made her way farther outside.
“Brynlee, baby,” my father beamed as he also came outside and met me on the porch.
They both surrounded me and gave me a big ass hug at the same damn time. I melted in their embrace and it was like everything that had been weighing heavy on my shoulders was lifted and I just wanted to cry.
“Is everything ok? Let me examine you.” My mother had her hands on the side of my shoulders as she stepped back and looked at me.
“You look good but there’s this feeling inside of me that tells me everything isn’t good. Why are you back?” she questioned me.
The levee of tears that I had been trying to keep from breaking, had broken and the tears began to fall at a rapid speed. No matter how fast I thought I was wiping them away they were still evident on my face.
“Oh my god, what’s wrong baby?”
“Do I need to get my gun and kill me a nigga?” my father roared, going into protective mode.
“No, Troy didn’t really do nothing wrong. It was just…just—” I couldn’t continue because the thoughts of what he said and the fact that I couldn’t have his kids began to cause me to cry even harder.
“It’s ok baby. Come inside out of this heat and we will talk about it.” My mother pulled me in for another hug and we then made our way inside of the house.
I was now feeling so much better. I had cried so much that I was still sniffling at the nose as if I was suffering from a cold. My eyes were still a bit red, but I had told my mother about what Troy had said, more about the miscarriages I had, and I even told her about Troy hitting me. I also let her know that I attacked him first, but she still reminded me that a man was to never put his hands on a woman. I was happy that she promised she wouldn’t tell my father that part, because I knew my father would want to fly out to New York and lay hands on Troy.
It was one thing that my mother said to me that stuck out. She told me that, just because I wasn’t blessed with a baby yet didn’t mean that God was punishing me. That maybe it just wasn’t my time yet. That maybe, God was waiting on that right moment, and when he knew that I was ready, he would give me a child. She even said that maybe Troy wasn’t who I’m supposed to be with, and it had my mind in overdrive. A part of me felt like she was right, but I wasn’t going to get my hopes up and Lord knows I wasn’t about to be doing anything that would cause me to get pregnant. Sex was the furthest thing from my mind right now. I just wanted to enjoy some me time, hang out with my friend, let my hair down, laugh a little and drink a lot.
“Here’re the keys to your old car baby girl.” My father walked from the back of the house and into th
e dining room, where my mother and I were sitting.
I grabbed the keys out of his hand and he leaned down and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “Remember to love yourself first Brynlee and to always know you are enough. I love you.” He kissed me one more time on my forehead and I smiled.
I loved my father and even though I was more attached to my mother, he was always in my corner giving me great advice also.
“Well, I really needed this and I’ll be back later. I guess I’ll come back home and stay in my old room now,” I let them know.
I was only staying over Merci’s apartment because I knew it was too late to be knocking on my parents’ door.
“Ok baby girl. Your key is still on there,” my father let me know, and I looked down at the keys in my hand and saw that my keychain still had the picture of me and Merci, hanging out on the stairs at our old high school.
“Bye Mom. Bye Dad. Love you,” I told them as I got up and headed for the door.
Even though I could have spent all day up under my parents, I still had to go shopping. I knew Merci would never let me back out of going out and actually enjoying myself.
“Love you too,” they both said in unison as I waved goodbye and headed to the garage to get into the black Nissan Altima that I used to drive.
4
Sawyer McKnight
“Man, Kelia I don’t want to hear that shit,” I expressed to my baby mama as I sat in the car in the parking lot of the mall with my homies Grey and Luca.
We were about to ride up in the mall and blow a bag or two for tonight’s event. There was going to be a party for me tonight and on some real shit, I was excited as fuck about it.
Tonight would the night that I let my city hear my new single that was to go live at midnight. I wanted to be in that bitch poppin’ bottles, smacking bitches on their asses and just living my life up. I had worked hard as fuck to get here and I wanted to let loose and enjoy the fruits of my labor.