Keep you to myself, p.20
Keep You To Myself, page 20
“’Cause that’s what you are,” he replied with ease. “That’s what you feel like.”
Torin didn’t know what to say. He’d given her a one-of-a-kind compliment. She didn’t want to mistake his words for him saying he loved her, so she took them at face value.
“You’ve never felt this before?”
“Nah, so it’s easy to identify.”
She hugged him a little tighter, always knowing what he needed at that moment.
“What about you?” he countered.
“Been in love? No. Loved a man? Yes.”
It was crazy to think back on her and Don’s relationship and how much she overlooked. Honestly, Torin didn’t know if it were love or infatuation now that the smoke had cleared.
“I think him having a son that I was close to helped play a role in that as well,” Torin added.
“You was playing step-mama young as hell.” Synovi laughed, making her do the same.
“No, I really was. No one could tell me anything either. Just young and dumb.”
“We all been there. Shit, I feel like I’m just now exiting that stage of life.”
“You’re young, though. We both are. We can make mistakes.”
He cleared his throat of sleep. “There’s a difference between being young and not knowing better and just doing dumb shit.”
“Like fucking a married woman,” Torin offered.
Synovi laughed heartily. “Man. Change the subject.”
“Hey, you brought it up.” Torin chuckled and quieted. “Have you spoken to your mom?”
He was not expecting her to ask that. Surprisingly, Unique had been reaching out to him, and Synovi let her. She knew he was of age now, and there were no classes to teach her how to parent anymore, so she was doing what she felt was right. It was a slow process, but slow motion was still motion.
“Yeah. She called me earlier today. Still talking about the flowers and chocolates I got her last week.”
“I know she appreciated that. I’m glad you both are trying.”
Synovi couldn’t lie; he was glad too. Having one parent he could now claim was something he’d always wanted.
“Yeah, she bet’ not fuck up and go missing again. She’ll be dead to me for real, then.”
Torin knew to give people grace in all situations, but she wouldn’t preach that to him. She hadn’t been abandoned and left in a world alone. When Synovi’s stomach rumbled in hunger, she tittered.
“You worked up an appetite.”
“Hell yeah. You gon’ fix me something to eat?”
“What you want?” Torin asked.
Whenever the conversation came up about fixing a man some food in the wee hours of the morning, Torin stayed mute. The way Synovi had her feeling, she’d build that nigga a boat to get to the island she built him, where only they were welcomed. She couldn’t relate to the girls who wouldn’t. It was whatever for her man because she knew he brought that same energy.
“I’ont know, but I’m starving. Let’s go down there and see.”
Torin lifted and climbed from the bed. Tossing her robe around her naked frame, she slid into her house shoes while Synovi slid on some shorts. She grabbed her phone off the dresser, and they headed downstairs.
While Synovi searched the fridge, rubbing his stomach and yawning, Torin frowned at her phone screen. They’d gotten in early from a gig, showered, and fell asleep earlier than usual on a weekend. Torin hadn’t checked her phone in hours, and seeing all the notifications and missed calls made her panic.
She didn’t know who to call back first: Leighton, her mama, Racquel, or her assistant, Mia. Her skin heated as she scrolled through her text messages filled with screenshots.
“What the fuck,” she hissed.
Synovi looked her way. “What’s up?”
Torin ignored him and kept reading the screenshots from Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. There were even a few from her website. In all of her years of being a chef, Torin had never gotten a bad review about her cooking. If she did, it hadn’t been brought to her knowledge or made public. So, to see someone not only bashing Kaine’s Kitchen but her name as well had her furious, but concerned.
“What you looking at that got you breathing all hard?” Synovi asked, glancing at her screen.
“Someone posted pictures of food they ordered from me, claiming there was hair in it and it was undercooked. They left bad reviews on all my social media pages and my website, basically dragging me all over their pages.”
“You know who it is?”
“Yeah, and you do, too,” she said, holding the phone up to his face.
Seeing Jade’s profile name and the disrespectful things she was saying about Torin had him seeing red. Grabbing the phone from her, Synovi scrolled through the comments to see what people were saying. He expected to see everyone bashing Torin, but they were doing the opposite, claiming that Jade must’ve gone to the wrong Kaine’s Kitchen. Or that she had placed the hair in the food herself and was trying to go viral.
Other comments weren’t necessarily bashing Torin, but businesses in general, saying how you couldn’t eat everything people cooked, and how Jade needed to get her money back. The shit was messy and right up Jade’s alley. Synovi had been spinning her for weeks. Ignoring her calls hadn’t been enough because she kept blowing his line down. Instead of blocking her, he let Jade experience what he had when dealing with her.
When Torin asked if he still talked to her, he hadn’t lied. He had plans to do so and end things, but hadn’t gotten around to it. It was obvious Jade wasn’t trying to let him go and was going to great lengths to get his attention. She had it now and Synovi hoped she knew what to do with it.
Locking her phone, he slid it into his pocket. “I ain’t letting you read that shit,” he grumbled, walking back over to the counter.
“Give me my phone, Synovi.”
Torin tried reaching in his pocket, and he pushed her hand away.
“Move, Love. For real. You and I both know that whatever she posted is fake and reading it just gon’ piss you off even more. Fuck her.”
“Oh, so now it’s fuck her all of a sudden? She’s trying to ruin my name and you won’t even let me clear the air and check a bitch?”
Synovi looked her in her angry eyes. She was ready to fight, and he knew it.
“No, I won’t ’cause she’s my problem that should’ve never become yours. I’ll handle her.”
“You said that the first time, and now look. Looks like you ain’t handle shit,” she hissed.
Synovi rolled his tongue over his teeth and pinched the bridge of his nose. “We both can’t be pissed off right now. When I get angry, I really take it there and I’m trying to remain calm for you.”
“Do you think that’s what I want to hear right now? This old, worn pussy ass hoe trying to make me look bad and you worried about me staying calm? Nigga, please. You wanna handle something, drive me to that bitch’s house.”
Synovi didn’t mean to laugh, but it slipped out. “I’m not driving you over there. It’s damn near four in the morning.”
“So? I’m sure you’ve been over there at that time of night, now it’s an issue.”
“You mad right now and trying to be funny, so I’ma ignore that,” Synovi said.
“No, what you should’ve been doing is ignoring her. She coming for me all because you don’t want her anymore. That’s not my fault. Oooh!”
Torin paced her kitchen, slamming her right fist into her left palm. This was the type of shit she thought she’d gotten away from after cutting Don off. Never did she think Synovi would bring this messiness into her life, especially with a woman who was rocking another man’s last name. Torin couldn’t stand hoes like her.
She stopped pacing for a second and it hit her. My business phone is in my purse. When she walked swiftly out of the kitchen, Synovi was on her heels. His long legs reached her in no time, and he swooped her up from behind just as she grabbed her purse off the couch.
“Nah,” he grumbled, wrapping her in a bear hug, already knowing what she was going for.
“Synovi, let me go. I’m not fucking playing.”
“You not about to give these mothafuckas a show. Think about everything you’ve built Kaine’s Kitchen and yourself up to be. You wanna tarnish that all over some fake reviews and lies?”
She hated that he was right. Breathing hard, she squeezed her eyes shut and counted down from ten. Her heart was thundering in her chest so hard, she thought she’d pass out.
“Relax,” Synovi spoke gently into her ear. He kissed her neck and pulled the purse out of her grasp. “Fuck her. She just jealous ’cause you can cook and she can’t.”
That got a laugh out of her. “Shut up. I’m not supposed to be laughing. I’m mad.”
“And you can be mad right in this house and off that phone, but I ain’t letting you jeopardize anything yo’ name attached to behind this broad. If I tell you I’ma handle her, believe me.”
Sighing, Torin decided to let it go for tonight. Tomorrow would be a different story, and Synovi couldn’t keep her in his grasp forever.
“Okay. I’ll let you handle it, but can I just post one thing?” Torin asked.
“What?”
“If I tell you, you’re going to say no. And if you say no, I’ma handle her myself.”
Synovi bit her neck. “That ain’t no even exchange.”
Torin laughed and squirmed. “Yes, it is. You want me to do one thing with your bossy ass, and I want to do something else. At least I asked. I only did that out of respect, but I can do what I want, Synovi.”
“Man, whatever. Grab your phone, Torin.”
“Torin!” she screeched, reaching inside his shorts. “What happened to Love this and Love that?”
“That ain’t who you are right now.”
She snickered and finally grabbed her device from his pocket. She had to dig deep, thanks to its depth. Synovi rested his chin on her shoulder and looked as she pulled up the Facebook app. Tapping on the spot that asked, What’s on your mind? Torin typed out her thoughts so quickly. When she said she had one question to ask, she meant exactly that.
“Man,” Synovi groaned. “No. That’s messy as fuck.”
She typed out, Aren’t you married? ready to air Jade the fuck out. It wasn’t her fault she was tripping over some dick that never belonged to her in the first place. Since she wanted to take things to social media, Torin could too. Erasing the status, Torin locked her phone.
“Ugh! Fine. I’ll let you handle her, but this is the last time I’m letting you, so get it right.”
Synovi spanked her ass. “I will. Now come fix me a sandwich.”
When he walked back into the kitchen, Torin remained where she stood. Though she couldn’t stand him for it, she was thankful Synovi hadn’t let her wild out like she wanted to. One bad lapse in decision-making could’ve turned things disastrous before she could smooth them over the right way. The Torin Kaine way that handled situations with poise like a grown woman.
“Love!” Synovi shouted, snapping her out of her thoughts.
Torin pivoted and headed his way. “You want mesquite turkey or smoked ham?”
If it wasn’t for bad luck, Synovi wouldn’t have any luck at all. He just knew things were going too well for too long in his life. That never happened. Technically, the situation he was witnessing wasn’t his, but it affected him tremendously, and it was only day one.
After weeks of using D’Marco’s car to get to his cleaning gigs and temp job, Synovi was going to have to find a new means of transportation. Nikki, D’Marco’s baby mama, had sliced three of his tires, broken the windshield, busted out the headlights, and stole the battery from underneath the hood. She’d done all of this while on Solace Place property, not giving a single fuck about the sirens in the distance.
“You keep taking me as a joke, and I’m done with your ass! You going right back on child support, liar!” Nikki screamed, chasing him around the parking lot with a bat.
D’Marco juked her, making her almost break her ankle. “Man, stop! I ain’t lying! You trippin’ for no reason! I told you Synovi had my whip.”
“Fuck him!” Nikki screamed. “I know I saw a bitch in your car, D’Marco!”
Synovi’s eyes widened as he stood idly by. “Damn. I was just trying to go to work.”
He knew his boy was lying and wanted no parts. Nikki swung the bat so aggressively, he couldn’t help but wonder if she played softball in her teenage years. When it connected with the back of D’Marco’s leg, making him trip, Synovi rushed over to them.
“Give me this shit,” he spat, snatching the bat out of Nikki’s hands.
That didn’t stop her at all. She pounced on D’Marco, fighting him like he was a bitch off the street who’d disrespected her. When the police swarmed into the lot, she hopped up as if she hadn’t just been drilling his head in.
“Ma’am, step away from him and put your hands up,” a woman officer shouted.
“Y’all need to be taking him to jail! He’s the one in the wrong!” Nikki said, but did as she was told.
The woman officer pulled her away from D’Marco but didn’t cuff her. Thankfully, none of them pulled their guns out either. They were trying to de-escalate the situation as best and quickly as they could. Lover spats were common, and they got it under control within twenty minutes of being on the scene.
“Give me my bat,” Nikki told Synovi with her hand out and too much grit in her tone.
“Nah,” he said before tossing it over the fence he was standing by. “Go get it.”
“Officer! Did you just see that?” Nikki fussed. “Y’all gon’ let him just trash my belongings like that?”
The woman officer shook her head. “You didn’t need it, anyway. Let’s go. Get in your vehicle and go home.”
Nikki mugged Synovi and D’Marco as she marched to her car that was parked crookedly in the lot. “Y’all think I’m dumb, but I know what I saw. That’s okay. Just be ready to come up off them good Ford paychecks every month, baby daddy.”
D’Marco childishly flipped her off. She swerved out of the lot, not caring that the cops were right there.
“I can’t stand that bitch. Look at my car!” D’Marco fussed.
Nikki had gone crazy with no remorse. Spotting a chick climbing out of his back passenger seat made her spazz out. What made it worse was that she gave him a day to confess, and D’Marco said nothing. They hadn’t even spoken because he’d broken his phone at work. When he went to try to get it replaced, they were talking crazy numbers, so he left.
He honestly didn’t know where she was getting her information from because he’d been trying to do right by her. Now, they were back at square one.
“I gotta get me a rental right quick. I got a job up north in two hours,” Synovi said.
“Where your girl at?” D’Marco asked as they headed inside the building.
Torin and her staff were an hour away, catering at a corporate event one of the women from the Mother’s Day Brunch hired her for. Even if she was in the city, Synovi didn’t feel right asking her for anything at the moment. He still hadn’t handled the situation with Jade, and until he did so, he was treading lightly with his needs from her. She’d give him a ride or let him use her truck, no questions asked, but like Synovi always did, he’d figure it out.
“She busy. Man, damn. Let me think right quick,” he fussed.
He headed toward the storage closet where Mr. K let him store his cleaning supplies. Ever since that day he called himself introducing Torin to Synovi, they’d been on good terms. They were never on bad ones in Mr. K’s eyes. He saw the potential Synovi had and showed him tough love in a way he wasn’t used to seeing. Torin let her daddy know that she and Synovi did more than just work together, and Mr. K couldn’t do anything but accept it.
As Synovi grabbed his things from the closet, his phone rang with an incoming call from his mama. She was doing her every-other-day check-in before she got off work. Placing the bag down, Synovi answered her call.
“What up, Unique?”
“Hey. What you got going on?” she asked with a smile.
“Too much,” he sighed.
He was still battling with opening up to her. Unique understood that and kept the conversation flowing before she got in her feelings.
“Oh, no. I hate to hear that. Is there anything I can do to help?”
A tingling sensation Synovi never felt coursed through his body. Hearing those words from the one person he always wanted to assist him was sobering like a mothafucka. He cleared the emotions from his throat. He wanted to tell her yes, but the thought of her letting him down would crush him.
“Nah. I’m good.”
“I know I abandoned you in the past, and I failed you as well, but please don’t shut me out. I want to build a relationship with you. What can I do to help?”
Exhaling, Synovi told her the dilemma he was in. To his surprise, letting her know what was going on with him lifted the weight he felt crushing his chest.
“If you can’t make it, I’ll figure it out,” he said.
“No, I can come get you and take you. I get off work in twenty minutes. Will that be enough time?” Unique asked.
“Yeah. You need the address?”
“No. I’ve had it for a while. Was just scared to use it. I guess today is the day.”
Synovi scratched the back of his head, not knowing if he should feel some type of way about her already having his address. Instead of harping on it, he let it go. Starting anew meant not letting the past hinder him, and he wouldn’t let it.
“I guess so. I’ll see you when you get here,” Synovi said.
“I’ll call when I’m outside.”
Hanging up, he slid his phone into his pocket and continued to gather his supplies. Setting everything outside the door, he went to his room to change clothes. While most of his nights had been spent at Torin’s, getting a pass from Mr. K himself, Synovi still kept most of his things here. It wasn’t much, but the valuables he’d cherished over the years were tucked away.
He couldn’t wait to move into his new spot and finally be able to claim a home as all his. Figuring out how to make it work was paying off, and Synovi told himself to stick it out for a little while longer. Feeling his phone vibrate again, he grabbed it and frowned.
