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“It wasn’t a jail number, so I didn’t know,” I stuttered. Getting out of the bed, I walked to the patio. I didn’t want to talk in the house.

“I’m calling off somebody else’s phone. You not happy to hear from your man?”

“I just wasn’t expecting it.” We hadn’t talked since the last time I went to visit him. I didn’t know what he had going on, but I think deep down inside, I hoped he had made it easy for me and moved on. I kept my eyes on the bedroom door since I didn’t know how long Anton had been gone.

“Where you at?”

“I’m at Juanita’s. She’s been sick as hell. So, I been over here with her,” I lied.

“Well, can you come home?”

“What you mean? You said that as if you’re there.”

“I am. I got home today.” You could hear him smiling through the phone. Meanwhile, it felt as if I got hit by a Mack truck. I should’ve been happy. If it wasn’t for my sneaky ass being with Anton, I would’ve been screaming and crying. It was what I’d wanted. Hell, it’s what I’d been fighting for. It was the entire reason I knew Anton in the first place. “Baby, you there?”

“Yeah, I’ll be there.” Those three words put baby Michael on the map, but they just made me die a little inside. “I can’t come tonight. I need to make sure Juanita is good. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Okay. I can’t wait to see you.”

“Me too.” Hanging up, I walked inside and sat on the bed. I looked around and broke down crying. I knew this day would come, but I didn’t know it would be so hard when it did. Leaving wasn’t even the hardest part. I still had to tell Anton. God help me. How could I look him in his eyes and tell him I had to leave because my man was home? Yeah, he knew about Peanut, but I really thought he believed I would change my mind. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t. My pretend life was over, and it felt like my real one was too.

Anton “Tax” Hodges

I knew something was wrong the minute I walked in the room. Bubbles was sitting on the edge of the bed with Lovii in her lap, staring at the floor. She didn’t even look up when I walked in. Normally, her ass would be asking what took me so long or what I brought her back. Instead, she was sitting there looking like somebody died. She looked up, and I immediately noticed her eyes were red. She had been crying. Since she was avoiding eye contact with me, I figured it had something to do with us. Knowing I hadn’t done anything wrong, I wasn’t going to make it easy for her. Bubbles was gone have to spit that shit out. I leaned against the dresser and waited.

“Can you come sit down for a minute?” Walking over, I sat down.

“What’s up?” She took a deep breath and then let it out slowly. Her theatrics were starting to irritate me, but I continued to wait.

“Peanut called me today.” She looked at me, waiting for a reaction, but I gave none. He’s called before, so I wanted to know what was different about this time.

“And?”

“He’s out.” There it was. I always knew this day was coming. I just figured by the time it did, Bubbles would have enough sense to realize she didn’t have a reason to go back. Apparently, I had given her too much credit.

“What does any of this gotta do with me?” From how she was acting, I knew the answer. I just needed her to say it.

“He wants me to come home, and I told him I would be there tomorrow.” I waited for her to say something else, but she didn’t.

“Aight.” Her head snapped up.

“Aight? That’s all you gotta say to me?” I looked at her, confused.

“Was I supposed to say something else?”

“Anton, I just told you I’m leaving.”

“I heard you. I said, aight.”

“Then why you acting like you don’t care?” I didn’t know what she wanted me to say. I looked at her for a moment. She had tears in her eyes, and I wanted to pull her into my arms. I fought the urge and stood from the bed.

“I don’t know what you want me to do. You had a choice, and you made it.”

“It’s not that simple.” To me, it was.

“Sounded pretty simple when you told him you would be home. You didn’t have a second thought.”

“I don’t want to argue with you. Don’t be like that.”