Page 67 of Crown: Phase 4

In that lobby, Danger had sat with his head in his hands, watching Crown, Nivéa, Kerri, doctors, and nurses move in and out while he waited for somebody to tell him Caresha was done being mad and would finally see him. He hadn’t showered. Hadn’t gone home to change. Hadn’t slept nor eaten worth a damn. And when she was finally released, she wouldn’t even look at him. He’d tried talking to her then, but she went off on him, and with her mother standing right there, there was only so much Danger could say or do. He didn’t want to come off disrespectful, especially with everything Caresha had just been through.

Now, he was sitting in her parking lot, begging and refusing to leave. He knew nine times out of ten her mother was pissed that he had shown up. He didn’t give a fuck, though. He was there for her daughter, not her. He’d wait until Caresha was ready to talk to him. So, he did.

Hours passed. At some point, exhaustion finally won. With his gun resting in his lap, Danger’s head fell against the seat, and he drifted off without even realizing it. When he woke, the sky outside had turned orange and pink. He blinked several times, disoriented, before checking the time. 7:03 p.m.

“Damn.”

He’d slept most of the day away. His body felt like shit, but he didn’t care about that either. He looked toward Caresha’s apartment and saw her bedroom window glowing faintly from inside.

Danger climbed out of the car and grabbed the roses and shopping bag that he’d left on the passenger seat. He didn’t bother with the food. That shit was cold and soggy by now. He walked up the stairs once again, stopped at her bedroom window, and knocked gently.

“Ree.”

He wasn’t surprised when she gave him no response. He expected it, but that didn’t stop him from knocking again.

“Talk to me. Come on, ma, please.”

The curtain moved slightly, and Danger’s heart jumped as he noticed.

“Please.”

Another few seconds passed before Caresha’s voice finally came from the other side.

“W…what?”

Danger exhaled, relief washing over him just from hearing her voice. It trembled, but he’d heard it. And after a few days of silence, that was enough to make his chest loosen.

“Baby—”

“Why are you here? I told you at that hospital to stay the fuck away from me.” Caresha cut him off.

“’Cause I need to see you. Make sure you aight for myself. Talk to you.”

“Now you wanna talk to me? Too bad, ’cause I don’t have nothing to say to you.”

“I know. I know. I fucked up. I’m so sorry, ma.”

Danger looked down at the flowers and bag in his hand before lifting his eyes toward the window again.

“I brought you some shit. I don’t even know if you gon’ like any of it, but I brought it anyway, Ree.”

Caresha remained quiet.

Danger swallowed hard.

“I know you mad at me. Probably scared to be around me after everything that happened. You got every right to be. I ain’t here to argue with you. I ain’t here to make excuses either. I just need to lay eyes on you for myself and know you good.”

“No. You should go home.”

“I can’t.”

“Dee…”

“I can’t. I tried. My heart won’t let me leave, Ree.”

Caresha didn’t say anything; she just listened.

“I should’ve talked to you instead of acting like I had all the answers, baby. And I damn sure shouldn’t have gone to sleep on you. A nigga had been drinkin’.” He stopped himself, licking his lips.