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“She went on a rant about how disrespectful it was that I wouldn’t speak to her and how she basically raised me. I knew then it was time for me to leave, because I’m still trying to work on my anger.”

“Delusional. She barely raised her own kids; how can she possibly try to take credit for taking care of you? She ought to be lucky they released her because she could be in prison like her funky ass momma.”

I laughed louder this time because it was funny to see Honesty all worked up.

“You do know she’s my momma too, right?”

“Meesha was nothing more than an egg donor. An incubator, if you want to be technical. You don’t owe either one of those gutter rats access to you at all.”

“I agree. I can’t remember the last time I spoke to my momma, and I damn sure don’t want to be anywhere near Brenesha. Part of me feels bad, though, because I could tell Draike felt uncomfortable. He knows I don’t like her, but we’ve never really gotten into it before because once she was released, I cut her off completely.”

I thought about hitting Draike up to make sure everything between us was good, but it would have to wait a couple of days. I needed time to process my thoughts and feelings.

Silence fell between us, and the look on her face told me she was trying to figure out the right thing to say. After a few moments, she moved over on the couch, closing the gap between us. No words were spoken as she interlocked our fingers while resting her head on my shoulder. For a moment, I thought maybe she had fallen asleep until she finally decided to speak.

“I hate anyone who has ever hurt you. You’re too special to have gone through so much pain. They might be your family by blood, but they aren’t the people who truly love you. I thank God every day that life didn’t break you because I don’t know where I would be without you.”

Her words hit me in a way I hadn’t expected. It was like they physically penetrated my chest, going straight to my heart. I wasn’t used to people telling me how much I mattered to them, and more importantly, I wasn’t used to feeling safe enough to believe them.

She snuggled deeper into me and resumed the show we were watching. Our hands remained linked, but it was comforting, so I let her rock. Most of the people in my life were aware of my dislike for physical touch, but Yaya and Honesty were the two people in my life who didn’t give a fuck. They loved on me as much as they could, and I had grown to accept it.

Eventually, we both relaxed and watched TV until my eyes grew heavy. When I got up to head to bed, I tried to move slowly to keep from waking her up, but I failed miserably.

“Where are you going?” She asked through a yawn, while stretching her arms and legs.

“I’m getting ready to head to bed. It’s late, so you might as well stay the night. You don’t need to be driving this late.”

“Oh, I wasn’t planning on it. I brought my spend-the-night bag and my water bottle with me.” She leaned down and grabbed a small silver duffel bag I hadn’t even noticed.

“The guest room is made up with fresh sheets.” Another thing I picked up for my sister. She always made sure the guest rooms in her house were refreshed every week, whether she had company or not.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m gonna take a shower first. You know I don’t like going to sleep without a hot shower.” She yawned again, and for some reason, I thought it was the cutest thing I had ever seen.

“Alright, well, you know where the towels are in the linen closet. If you need anything, let me know. Goodnight, Honey Bee. I love you this much.” I held my arms out.

“That’s not enough.” Her nose crinkled as she looked at my outstretched arms.

“You better make it enough. Goodnight, big head.” I chuckled.

Yeah, whatever. I love you, too.”

I started walking down the hall and towards my room, but I noticed Honesty still trailing behind me. I thought she would take a detour to the guest bathroom, but once I made it past my room's threshold, she was still behind me. I looked back, trying to figure out where she was going. She must have been too engrossed in her phone because she never looked up until she ran right into me.

Her head popped up, and she looked at me as if I had done something wrong.

“Why are you staring at me like I walked into the men’s bathroom or something?”

“I’m tryna figure out how you missed the bathroom and ended up in my room?”

“Your bathroom is better. It has way more space, and I love the shower.” She shrugged as if it was no big deal.

“Yeah, alright. Don’t mess with any of my shit. I know where I put everything, and I know how you get. Miss. Sticky Fingers.”

“You need to stop living in the past. I don’t see what the issue was with me taking a couple of things. You literally have a whole stockpile of soaps and hygiene products in the closet. It’s like a mini store in there.”

“I buy in bulk because I don’t want to have to go to the store every week. You know how much I hate shopping.”

“It sounds like a personal problem to me. I’m telling you right now, if you still have the peaches and cream Dove body wash, I’m using it, and you’ll probably never see it again after tonight.”