Page 5 of Do You Right

“Done? Done what?” She pretended not to understand, but I knew she did. “I know you’re not still tripping off last night? I had too much to drink and shouldn’t have popped a molly, but damn. Is it really worth ending things over?”

I nodded. “Yeah, this ain’t working for me anymore. Every other week, you’re doing something stupid, and at this point, it’s clear to me that you don’t respect me. If that’s how you feel, then just stay away from me. I’m good.”

Her mouth fell open in shock before her curls bounced as her head shook from side to side. “Wow . . . Does this have something to do with the little homeless bitch I caught in here last night? You been fucking around with her? Are your standards really that low?”

I couldn’t say Ty bringing her up was the only reason her round face appeared in my mind. I had been replaying the events of last night repeatedly in my mind and couldn’t shake the guilt hanging over me like a dark cloud. “Nah, it really doesn’t, but since you brought her up, you wanna tell me what you did to her?”

She backed away slowly with a sneer. “Kaizi, shut the fuck up talking to me. Especially about a bitch with nowhere to live when you just said you wanted to break up with me. Like are we just going to skip over that?”

“As far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing else to talk about. We’ve been trying for years, and it’s not working. I’m tired of forcing it, and I’m ready to see what else is out there.”

Tycelyn stood there in shock for a beat, but then the tears came. She charged at me, trying her best to slap me in the face. I kept her hands subdued while urging her to calm down. This was one of the reasons we always clashed. She couldn’t keep her damn hands to herself.

“Get off my son, little girl, before I give you the ass whupping you’re looking for,” my mama’s stern voice spoke from nearby. I glanced over to see her and my father standing there like they were ready for war.

Seeing my parents weren’t going for her mess, she let me go and took a step back. “Fuck you, Kaizi! You’re going to regret this. I’m the best thing to ever happen to you.”

“No, you’re the worst thing that ever happened to him. Get out before I drag you out!” my mama yelled back, getting all riled up. She was never afraid to bring out the girl born and raised in The Dumps. If Ty knew what was good for her, she would leave on her own.

I ushered Tycelyn out of the door, even though she kept screaming obscenities at me. I sighed in relief as I locked the door and added the chain for added protection. I turned to my parents to find my mother standing there with a huge smile. “What?”

“You know I was just on the altar this morning, praying in tongues for the Lord to remove all the demonic energy from around you, and would you look at that! The devil has fled, honey. Whew, praise him!”

She broke out in her signature shouting dance, making me and my father cackle. I couldn’t lie; it did feel as if a weight was lifted when I closed the door on Tycelyn. I just couldn’t allow her to wiggle her way back in this time around. If I was going to be done, it had to be for good this time.

“And what did she mean about getting rid of the violin girl? I look forward to hearing her play when I come over here. She’s really talented,” my mama said once she finally stopped praising the Lord.

“I’m not sure, but I plan to find out.”

I blinked hard twice, trying to fight the sleepiness from shutting my system down. Today was my first day back in town after having to travel to Dallas for two back-to-back game days. The moment my feet touched land, I was on a mission.

I spent the entire afternoon searching the streets for the pretty woman with the violin. Ty’s words echoed in my mind coupled with how we’d left things the night I’d hit her with my car, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had to find her. I peeked at the sky and noticed the sun was a glowing ball of pink. Since I was near the riverwalk, I decided to get out, stretch my legs, and watch the sunset. I wasn’t going to give up my search yet. I would continue it with every pocket of free time I could find until I was successful.

It was crazy because she had been playing around my neighborhood for a while, but I could admit that I never really noticed her. There were a few times I was certain I dropped some bills from my pocket into her case, but that was it. I was too focused on trying to make my relationship with Tycelyn work, and when you added in a busy career as a professional baseball player, there was no extra time for worrying about much else when it didn’t concern me. But by a twisted stroke of fate, our worlds collided, and suddenly, I couldn’t get her off my mind.

Even while standing in my kitchen soaking wet, when I took a good look at her, I couldn’t deny her beauty. She was tall for a woman, with a handful of breasts and hips that curved into a perfectly peach-shaped ass. Her natural hair was kinkier than mine, but I was sure it was just as long because of how massive her afro was. Her skin was the color of milk chocolate like her sad doe-shaped eyes that shifted things around in my mind to make room for her portrait. Her round lips were dark around the edges before fading into a natural plum color. Her little button nose was adorable, and her round face made her appear gentle and innocent. She was the kind of woman you saw and immediately wanted to protect from the darkness stalking this world.

I found a parking spot and hopped out, despite my aching muscles. There was a nice amount of people out enjoying the scenery. I inhaled deeply, took in the fresh air, and stuffed my hands in my pockets. After ending my relationship with Tycelyn and going no contact by blocking her, my life was quieter, and I was enjoying it. For the first time, I was starting to truly grasp how exhausting that relationship was for me over the years.

In the past, I always doubled back because I thought she was the woman I’d spend my life with. In retrospect, I knew I was just comfortable with her. It was also the fact that when we were good, I felt like I’d accomplished my lifelong goal of finding love like my parents. But honestly, we were nothing like the lovers who’d birthed and raised me.

I’d only made it about two minutes into my walk, when I saw the woman I was looking for sitting on a bench along the boardwalk. Dressed in a black oversized band shirt and distressed shorts, her eyes were focused on the horizon. She sat there eating a steak while tooting a bottle of wine up in the air to wash it down. She cried silently to herself, making me walk a little faster to close the distance between us. I didn’t need to get closer to her to see the dark cloud hanging over her head, because it could be felt by anyone who walked by and cared enough to spare her a single glance.

Unsure of what to say, I took a seat on the other end of the bench. From my peripheral, I saw her slowly turn to look at me, so I glanced in her direction. But when she saw my face, she frowned. Her head fell backward when she groaned, and I couldn’t help but to smirk. Since she didn’t say anything, neither did I. I watched her quickly twist the cap to her wine back on and close the tray of food she was devouring before I disturbed her.

When she stood up, so did I. She took off toward the water, trying her best to get rid of me, but I didn’t let up. I’d spent the entire day looking for her, so there was no way I was letting her out of my sight until we spoke. I followed her while trying to sort my thoughts until the boardwalk ended, and she had nowhere else to run without turning around to confront me.

“What? You wanna kill me now?” she hollered when she finally spun around toward me.

I abruptly stopped walking and frowned. “Now, why would I want to do that? I just want to talk.”

“About what?” she questioned with a fist resting on her popped hip.

I chuckled. “You got beef with me or something? What’s with the attitude?”

“I don’t like you,” she admitted honestly, causing my head to jerk back.

“Well damn, straight like that? How I get on your bad side?”