Its not me its him, p.31
It's Not Me It's Him, page 31
He held my face. “I’m sorry. And I know no kind of excuse will make you forgive me for what I said. I should never have said those words.”
“Your brother was sick, I get that. And I probably had bad timing. I know. But what you said had cut me like a rusty knife. It left an everlasting mark, played with my mental and...and...”
He tucked some of my hair behind my ear. “If I could take back everything that happened that month, I would.”
I should be mad at him, but seeing how torn his face and remorseful he was, I softened.
“Finding out that you left after that note...” he shook his head, dragging his palm down his face. “You wrote that letter and left, Daphney.” Then his face contorted. “No goodbye, no nothing.”
“You didn’t want to see me. I was a burden to you. You hated me. Had I stayed, I would never have forgiven myself.”
Losing Leo was hard. Being around for my dad’s birthday would have been my death. I’d sunk into a depression, and Europe brought a part of me back to life. Had I stayed, my life would have been very different. Seeing Leo and knowing I couldn’t have him would have unearthed my soul.
He pulled my hand, resting my palm against his chest. “This happened when I saw you again—my heart started beating only for you. Over the past year, it’s only been you. I couldn’t stop thinking about what you were doing—if you hated me or had really moved on. I wanted to hear your voice, but you shut me out. And I was to blame for that. I made you feel this way.” He let out a deep breath. “I love you, Daphney. And I don’t care if you’ve got someone else over there because I will not stop loving you until the end of time.”
“Someone? I don’t have anyone. Who told you that?”
His eyes bulged. “You don’t?”
I shook my head. “Who told you I had someone?”
“Britney.”
I bit my cheek with annoyance. I told her to stay away and not tell him anything. And the one thing she did was tell him I had found someone else?
He held my cheek. “What?”
“Nothing.” I planted my palms against his chest and sighed. “I…I don’t know what to think of all of this.” I looked up at him, and it seemed like sadness in his eyes and a bit of hope. “I...I want us to work. I don’t think I can ever get you out of my head. Back in England, I chose you and have never stopped choosing you. I just thought we weren’t on the same page, that we—“
“I love you, Daphney,” he cut me off.
All the tears I held back through this ordeal crashed through my chest and exploded through my mouth with ugly sobs.
Leo pulled me into him, swallowing me whole with his love, cologne, and every being. But...didn’t he have Maya? I couldn’t break them apart.
I broke the embrace. “I…I can’t. I can’t do this. What about Maya?”
His forehead crinkled. “Who?”
“The girl with the puffy hair?” I crossed my fingers behind my back, praying she was no longer in his life. Of course, it was selfish, but my heart was tied to him, and any hope of them not being together would bless my soul.
Leo held my face, sighing. “I was never with her.”
“Never?”
He shook his head.
“But Maya is in medical school now…If it makes you feel better.”
It did. But I didn’t care about that. All I cared about was his heart for me.
He pressed his forehead against mine, buckling my knees. “What are you thinking?”
I exhaled. “Kiss me…”
And he did.
I never imagined that whenever he kissed me, it was like a new experience—another clue about him. Leo’s wanton, needy kisses devoured me like—
A broomstick struck my head.
“Ow!”
“Are you okay?” Leo asked, examining my head.
I eyed his swollen lips and nodded with a smirk.
He kissed my crown where the broom had struck me and said, “I want no one else but you, Daphney. Be with me.”
My lips trembled. “I…I…”
“I want you to be my first and only.”
I peered up at him. Be his first? I would be his first? My heart skittered at the thought. “Yes.”
He buried his face in my neck. “You smell so…so good. Did you know peach is my favorite color?”
I shook my head, tightening my arms around his neck. I could have stayed like this forever—in his arms, with his kisses—
A blue bucket fell from the top shelf and collided with my head, tumbling to the floor.
“Crap. Are you all right?”
I rubbed the spot, nodding. Then we broke out in laughter.
I tugged him towards the door, unlocking it.
We stepped outside, inhaling the fresh air, and I smiled. This boy had no idea how much I loved him. I squeezed his hand, not breaking my gaze from his beautiful, dark face.
“Now, what?” he asked, glancing down the hallway.
“Now, I will introduce you as my boyfriend.”
As I pulled him along the hallway, he tugged me in for a brief kiss. I grinned. “Oh!” I tugged away. “Where’s Aries? How’s he?”
Then Leo’s face sagged into a frown.
“Oh, no...”
46
Daphney/Leo
Two months later.
“Have you decided what you want for your birthday?”
Sighing, I left Leo’s side and threw away my empty coffee cup. “No.” I looped my arm into him again as we stepped onto the escalator. I could finally spend time with him, given our tight schedules. We spent time, but not as long as I wanted. Ricky scored more clients for me over the past month, and it became so hectic I barely got to see Leo. Not to mention his exhausting work. Leo worked at a mechanic shop six days a week for almost ten hours a day. It was ridiculous, but he loved it. At least it gave him muscles…
Today, he took the day off for us to hang out.
Leo stopped in front of a women’s clothing store. “Why? It’s three days away. I want to get you something. You’re making this difficult. You’re hard to shop for, Daphs….”
My closet overflowed and barely fit anything else. I needed no more gifts. Once I had Leo, I was fine. I rolled my eyes. “For the millionth time, I don’t want anything. Once I have you, I’m happy!” I smiled, peering up at him, but he didn’t buy into it.
“Let’s go into this store. If you like something, I’ll get it.” He tugged my hand, practically dragging me towards the entrance.
I didn’t move until my sneakers screeched like chalk on a board. “No…I’ve got too many clothes.”
“So, what then?”
“Nothing!” I eyed the store next door, which, luckily for him, was a men’s store. “Oh, but we can get you something.”
He exhaled a deep breath, closing his eyes. “That was not the plan.”
“I don’t know why you insist on getting me something. I don’t want anything. Are you really going to let us argue about this? We’re supposed to be having fun.”
“Fine. But this isn’t over.”
“Okay…” I drawled. “Look! The arcade. Let’s go.” I grabbed his hand and darted towards the entrance. Kids flooded the room, bumping past us as we entered.
Leo drew me closer. “Wow…uh…What day is it again?”
“It’s summer. It doesn’t matter.”
He glanced around the room. “I’m not even sure we can play anything in here. It’s crawling with kids.”
Please. As if that would stop me…. “Nonsense,” I waved. “Let’s get our tokens.” Eight people stood in line by the cashier, looking anxious as ever. A humongous white teddy bear with a pink bow around its neck sat behind the counter. It could probably be seven feet tall—the biggest I’d ever seen. Then and there, I knew what I wanted for my birthday. It would be perfect for cuddling when I didn’t have Leo around. I tapped Leo’s shoulder. “Look, a teddy bear.”
“Where?”
I pointed over to the cashier. “There. I want that.”
He lifted a brow. “Really?”
“Yes…”
A frown tugged at his lips.
“What? What’s wrong?”
“Five thousand tickets? It will take more than a day to get that. Actually, an entire month—given my skills. I don’t do well with games.”
I giggled. “Relax. If we don’t make it to the thousand, we can always get something else.” He eyed the teddy bear and then back at me—his face unreadable. “What?” Sometimes I couldn’t get what he was thinking. It scared me because he would come up with something unexpected. I like random things, but I couldn’t take the suspense. “Leo?”
He shook his head. “Nothing.”
We bought fifty dollars in coins and headed over to the shooting range. I grabbed the longest gun and shoved him aside, poking my tongue. “Bet you can’t beat me.”
“We’ll see about that. Scoot over. You can’t take up all the space—that’s cheating.”
Two hours later, we scored 438 tickets—barely scraping by. And that was because the other kids took all the good games with huge ticket wins. They stuck us with boring games like Pound the Beaver and Coin Dozer. I played Pound the Beaver probably ten times until I felt ill. I even got a callous from the hammer. We received two packs of Twizzlers and a mini snake and ladder game when we cashed the tickets.
Leo ripped the candy from his mouth, chewing loudly. “Maybe next time…But at least I didn’t suck at the shooting game. How could you possibly miss all your targets?” he chuckled.
“Oh, hush! Just like you almost missed all your shots in Shoot the Hoops.”
His face soured, and I broke out into laughter.
He rolled his eyes. “At least I got some.”
* * *
Leo: -
“Rise and shine, birthday girl.” I stood at the foot of my bed and tugged the blanket off Daphney.
She turned on her stomach, burying her face deeper in the pillow. “Just one more hour…” she groaned.
I slapped her butt. “No. You said that an hour ago. Jeez, Daphs, it’s eleven o’clock. We have so much stuff to do.”
She groaned again, rolling over to face me. “You’re evil. You know that?”
I grinned. “But I’m your evil boyfriend.” Yesterday morning, I coaxed her to spend the night with me. That was the plan—get her out of her house by midday, and after she finished working, she would come straight by me. She was up for it and didn’t know what everyone had prepared for her. I threw one of Aries’s pillows at her.
“Ow!”
“Get up, Daphs. We’re gonna be late.”
She rubbed her forehead, squinting at me. “Late for what? I don’t feel like doing anything. Can’t we just stay here, and you hug me till it’s nighttime?”
“As good as that sounds…I have something planned.”
She sat upright, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. “Like, what?”
“It’s a surprise. Now get up and go get ready.” As much as I wanted to stay, I left—giving her some privacy. Though we slept next to each other, Daphney asked that we wait before we did anything further. Besides, I didn’t want her to feel pressured. It was also something big for me too. Even though I searched the whole internet for ways to make a girl happy and how to use a condom, a cold sense of unease always overshadowed me. My mind wandered to messing things up on a whole new level. It scared me.
Thirty minutes later, she emerged into the living room wearing a white tube top and jeans.
“You look lovely.”
She pursed her lips. “I look normal. But thanks.” She smiled. “Now, where are we going?”
“I told you it was a surprise. So why would you want me to mess it up?”
She sat on my leg, wrapping her hands around my neck in a playful chokehold. “Tell me, tell meeeee.”
I feigned a stifling noise.
“What in the world?”
We glanced across to see my mom standing in the hallway with her hands on her hips.
I stifled a laugh, as did Daphney, but she sucked at that because a snicker burst from her lips.
“Y’all kids,” mom grumbled, walking towards the kitchen.
Daphney smiled, giving her one of those innocent looks. “Good day, Ms. Robinson. How are you?”
“Mmm-hm…I’m good, Daphney,” she yelled from the kitchen. “Happy birthday. What’s in the making?”
She shrugged. “Well, I was trying to get Leo to tell me, but he isn’t budging.”
“I’m sure it’s something nice.”
Mom knew, and she played a pretty talented actor. I took Daphney’s hand. “Let’s go.” Then I yelled, “Bye, mom.”
“Later, Ms. Robinson.”
“Uh…How long again? And why did we have to take the bus? You could have used my car…Here is so creepy.” Daphney glanced across the aisle and shivered. “I swear. I will jump off this bus if Grampa gives me the sweet eye and licks his lips again.”
I smiled. Watching her squirm was the icing on the cake. But gramps did seem kind of creepy, though. He had no dentures, so his lips were caved in like a puppet.
“It’s not funny, Lee. Plus, we have been on this bus for over an hour. My legs are cramping.”
“Miss Complain,” I teased.
She huffed. “I’m serious. I could get a blood clot or something.”
“No, you won’t.”
“How would you know? You’re immune to this. Isn’t this supposed to be fun and romantic?”
“Who said anything about romance…Oh, look! This is our stop.” I snatched her hand, yanking her behind me.
As we stepped off the bus, Daphney slipped on her shades.
I grinned wickedly. “Now we have to walk.”
“What? Are you mad? Walk where? You still haven’t told me where we’re going.”
“A short walk. I promise.”
She regarded me and then surveyed the area. “I hope there aren’t any more pervs.”
“We’ll be fine.”
Five minutes into our trek, she grumbled like an old lady. We stopped three times because she complained about her aching feet. “My feet are tired…” she whined. “You want me to walk in this sweltering heat with no water? Look, all my lips are dry.”
When she pouted, I pecked her lips and licked her cheek.
“Ew! Get off of me.” Then, wiping her face with the back of her hand, she stormed off, giving me the finger. “Stop laughing. It’s not funny.”
“I’m sure you’re good now.”
“My face isn’t.”
“Do you want me to carry you?”
She froze, then met my eyes. “Yes, but no funny business. Or I swear….”
“Well, hop on.” Daphney hopped on, almost throwing me to the floor. I faked a groan. “Did you gain weight? My gosh, my back….”
She slapped my shoulder, “Oh poo.”
We walked a few more blocks, and she hopped off when she spotted the park.
“Oh, my gosh. I always wanted to come here.”
“Really?” I’d bought two tickets in advance to Pacific Park. It wasn’t any Six Flags, but it had enough rides to entertain her. She skipped onto the pavement, more excited to enter than the kids in front of us with their parents.
“Come on, you slowpoke. We have to go on that one.” She pointed at the rollercoaster. “Come on!”
“So, now you have energy?”
“Yes.”
Four hours later, she didn’t want to leave. We’d been on almost every ride and redone some over three times.
She pouted. “I don’t want to go….”
“We can come back on Saturday.”
I drew her into a hug, rubbing her back. We needed to go because the bus ride to Daphney’s house would take nearly two hours.
She mumbled under her breath.
“We’re going to eat now, Daphs.”
Clueless about what I had planned, she sighed and walked ahead.
“But I can’t go for dinner like this.”
“It’s not dinner-dinner…It’s more like a chill vibe. We can go like this.”
She gave me a side-eye, and for a moment, I thought she’d figured it out. “Hm.”
“Trust me. By the way, did you call your mom back? While you were sleeping, she called a million times.”
“Yes, I did. And it wasn’t a million times. It was only three times. The rest were from Britney.” She frowned.
“What?”
“I thought Ayomide would have remembered my birthday, but I hadn’t heard from her. I knew she had a project to do…but still…Maybe the time difference threw her off.”
“Maybe. I’m sure she’ll call. Don’t fret, babe.”
“Uh…Leo?”
“Yeah?”
“Why is the bus pulling up in my area?”
“I figured you would feel awkward wearing the same clothes to go for dinner. So, I brought you to get changed.”
“Dinner? I thought you said a chill.”
I scratched my head.
She squinted. “Mr. Robinson, what the hell are you up to?”
“Fine. It was for dinner.”
She gasped. “And you almost let me go like this? And my birthday outfit is at your place.”
“Well, you’ll find something else at home.”
She twisted her face.
While on the bus, I messaged her mom to let her know we were near. Since the nearest bus stop was two blocks from her home, we had to walk the rest. Oblivious to the ten cars parked on the opposite side of the road, Daphney strolled up the pathway, her arm looped into mine and sighed. I knew she was thinking about her outfit.
I did the honor and opened the door.
She sniffed. “What’s that smell? Is mom cooking—”
“SURPRISE!”
47
Daphney/Leo
Well, this was…unexpected. I glanced across the room, my heart galloping like a reindeer. “Ayomide?” I squealed. No, I screamed, rushing towards her. “No way!” I squeezed her into a hug.
“Yes way,” she said, holding me at arm’s length.
“I thought you were—”
“Busy?” she grinned.
“Yes, and I thought you forgot about my birthday.”
“Never.”
“What are you doing here? How did you—”
“Your brother was sick, I get that. And I probably had bad timing. I know. But what you said had cut me like a rusty knife. It left an everlasting mark, played with my mental and...and...”
He tucked some of my hair behind my ear. “If I could take back everything that happened that month, I would.”
I should be mad at him, but seeing how torn his face and remorseful he was, I softened.
“Finding out that you left after that note...” he shook his head, dragging his palm down his face. “You wrote that letter and left, Daphney.” Then his face contorted. “No goodbye, no nothing.”
“You didn’t want to see me. I was a burden to you. You hated me. Had I stayed, I would never have forgiven myself.”
Losing Leo was hard. Being around for my dad’s birthday would have been my death. I’d sunk into a depression, and Europe brought a part of me back to life. Had I stayed, my life would have been very different. Seeing Leo and knowing I couldn’t have him would have unearthed my soul.
He pulled my hand, resting my palm against his chest. “This happened when I saw you again—my heart started beating only for you. Over the past year, it’s only been you. I couldn’t stop thinking about what you were doing—if you hated me or had really moved on. I wanted to hear your voice, but you shut me out. And I was to blame for that. I made you feel this way.” He let out a deep breath. “I love you, Daphney. And I don’t care if you’ve got someone else over there because I will not stop loving you until the end of time.”
“Someone? I don’t have anyone. Who told you that?”
His eyes bulged. “You don’t?”
I shook my head. “Who told you I had someone?”
“Britney.”
I bit my cheek with annoyance. I told her to stay away and not tell him anything. And the one thing she did was tell him I had found someone else?
He held my cheek. “What?”
“Nothing.” I planted my palms against his chest and sighed. “I…I don’t know what to think of all of this.” I looked up at him, and it seemed like sadness in his eyes and a bit of hope. “I...I want us to work. I don’t think I can ever get you out of my head. Back in England, I chose you and have never stopped choosing you. I just thought we weren’t on the same page, that we—“
“I love you, Daphney,” he cut me off.
All the tears I held back through this ordeal crashed through my chest and exploded through my mouth with ugly sobs.
Leo pulled me into him, swallowing me whole with his love, cologne, and every being. But...didn’t he have Maya? I couldn’t break them apart.
I broke the embrace. “I…I can’t. I can’t do this. What about Maya?”
His forehead crinkled. “Who?”
“The girl with the puffy hair?” I crossed my fingers behind my back, praying she was no longer in his life. Of course, it was selfish, but my heart was tied to him, and any hope of them not being together would bless my soul.
Leo held my face, sighing. “I was never with her.”
“Never?”
He shook his head.
“But Maya is in medical school now…If it makes you feel better.”
It did. But I didn’t care about that. All I cared about was his heart for me.
He pressed his forehead against mine, buckling my knees. “What are you thinking?”
I exhaled. “Kiss me…”
And he did.
I never imagined that whenever he kissed me, it was like a new experience—another clue about him. Leo’s wanton, needy kisses devoured me like—
A broomstick struck my head.
“Ow!”
“Are you okay?” Leo asked, examining my head.
I eyed his swollen lips and nodded with a smirk.
He kissed my crown where the broom had struck me and said, “I want no one else but you, Daphney. Be with me.”
My lips trembled. “I…I…”
“I want you to be my first and only.”
I peered up at him. Be his first? I would be his first? My heart skittered at the thought. “Yes.”
He buried his face in my neck. “You smell so…so good. Did you know peach is my favorite color?”
I shook my head, tightening my arms around his neck. I could have stayed like this forever—in his arms, with his kisses—
A blue bucket fell from the top shelf and collided with my head, tumbling to the floor.
“Crap. Are you all right?”
I rubbed the spot, nodding. Then we broke out in laughter.
I tugged him towards the door, unlocking it.
We stepped outside, inhaling the fresh air, and I smiled. This boy had no idea how much I loved him. I squeezed his hand, not breaking my gaze from his beautiful, dark face.
“Now, what?” he asked, glancing down the hallway.
“Now, I will introduce you as my boyfriend.”
As I pulled him along the hallway, he tugged me in for a brief kiss. I grinned. “Oh!” I tugged away. “Where’s Aries? How’s he?”
Then Leo’s face sagged into a frown.
“Oh, no...”
46
Daphney/Leo
Two months later.
“Have you decided what you want for your birthday?”
Sighing, I left Leo’s side and threw away my empty coffee cup. “No.” I looped my arm into him again as we stepped onto the escalator. I could finally spend time with him, given our tight schedules. We spent time, but not as long as I wanted. Ricky scored more clients for me over the past month, and it became so hectic I barely got to see Leo. Not to mention his exhausting work. Leo worked at a mechanic shop six days a week for almost ten hours a day. It was ridiculous, but he loved it. At least it gave him muscles…
Today, he took the day off for us to hang out.
Leo stopped in front of a women’s clothing store. “Why? It’s three days away. I want to get you something. You’re making this difficult. You’re hard to shop for, Daphs….”
My closet overflowed and barely fit anything else. I needed no more gifts. Once I had Leo, I was fine. I rolled my eyes. “For the millionth time, I don’t want anything. Once I have you, I’m happy!” I smiled, peering up at him, but he didn’t buy into it.
“Let’s go into this store. If you like something, I’ll get it.” He tugged my hand, practically dragging me towards the entrance.
I didn’t move until my sneakers screeched like chalk on a board. “No…I’ve got too many clothes.”
“So, what then?”
“Nothing!” I eyed the store next door, which, luckily for him, was a men’s store. “Oh, but we can get you something.”
He exhaled a deep breath, closing his eyes. “That was not the plan.”
“I don’t know why you insist on getting me something. I don’t want anything. Are you really going to let us argue about this? We’re supposed to be having fun.”
“Fine. But this isn’t over.”
“Okay…” I drawled. “Look! The arcade. Let’s go.” I grabbed his hand and darted towards the entrance. Kids flooded the room, bumping past us as we entered.
Leo drew me closer. “Wow…uh…What day is it again?”
“It’s summer. It doesn’t matter.”
He glanced around the room. “I’m not even sure we can play anything in here. It’s crawling with kids.”
Please. As if that would stop me…. “Nonsense,” I waved. “Let’s get our tokens.” Eight people stood in line by the cashier, looking anxious as ever. A humongous white teddy bear with a pink bow around its neck sat behind the counter. It could probably be seven feet tall—the biggest I’d ever seen. Then and there, I knew what I wanted for my birthday. It would be perfect for cuddling when I didn’t have Leo around. I tapped Leo’s shoulder. “Look, a teddy bear.”
“Where?”
I pointed over to the cashier. “There. I want that.”
He lifted a brow. “Really?”
“Yes…”
A frown tugged at his lips.
“What? What’s wrong?”
“Five thousand tickets? It will take more than a day to get that. Actually, an entire month—given my skills. I don’t do well with games.”
I giggled. “Relax. If we don’t make it to the thousand, we can always get something else.” He eyed the teddy bear and then back at me—his face unreadable. “What?” Sometimes I couldn’t get what he was thinking. It scared me because he would come up with something unexpected. I like random things, but I couldn’t take the suspense. “Leo?”
He shook his head. “Nothing.”
We bought fifty dollars in coins and headed over to the shooting range. I grabbed the longest gun and shoved him aside, poking my tongue. “Bet you can’t beat me.”
“We’ll see about that. Scoot over. You can’t take up all the space—that’s cheating.”
Two hours later, we scored 438 tickets—barely scraping by. And that was because the other kids took all the good games with huge ticket wins. They stuck us with boring games like Pound the Beaver and Coin Dozer. I played Pound the Beaver probably ten times until I felt ill. I even got a callous from the hammer. We received two packs of Twizzlers and a mini snake and ladder game when we cashed the tickets.
Leo ripped the candy from his mouth, chewing loudly. “Maybe next time…But at least I didn’t suck at the shooting game. How could you possibly miss all your targets?” he chuckled.
“Oh, hush! Just like you almost missed all your shots in Shoot the Hoops.”
His face soured, and I broke out into laughter.
He rolled his eyes. “At least I got some.”
* * *
Leo: -
“Rise and shine, birthday girl.” I stood at the foot of my bed and tugged the blanket off Daphney.
She turned on her stomach, burying her face deeper in the pillow. “Just one more hour…” she groaned.
I slapped her butt. “No. You said that an hour ago. Jeez, Daphs, it’s eleven o’clock. We have so much stuff to do.”
She groaned again, rolling over to face me. “You’re evil. You know that?”
I grinned. “But I’m your evil boyfriend.” Yesterday morning, I coaxed her to spend the night with me. That was the plan—get her out of her house by midday, and after she finished working, she would come straight by me. She was up for it and didn’t know what everyone had prepared for her. I threw one of Aries’s pillows at her.
“Ow!”
“Get up, Daphs. We’re gonna be late.”
She rubbed her forehead, squinting at me. “Late for what? I don’t feel like doing anything. Can’t we just stay here, and you hug me till it’s nighttime?”
“As good as that sounds…I have something planned.”
She sat upright, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. “Like, what?”
“It’s a surprise. Now get up and go get ready.” As much as I wanted to stay, I left—giving her some privacy. Though we slept next to each other, Daphney asked that we wait before we did anything further. Besides, I didn’t want her to feel pressured. It was also something big for me too. Even though I searched the whole internet for ways to make a girl happy and how to use a condom, a cold sense of unease always overshadowed me. My mind wandered to messing things up on a whole new level. It scared me.
Thirty minutes later, she emerged into the living room wearing a white tube top and jeans.
“You look lovely.”
She pursed her lips. “I look normal. But thanks.” She smiled. “Now, where are we going?”
“I told you it was a surprise. So why would you want me to mess it up?”
She sat on my leg, wrapping her hands around my neck in a playful chokehold. “Tell me, tell meeeee.”
I feigned a stifling noise.
“What in the world?”
We glanced across to see my mom standing in the hallway with her hands on her hips.
I stifled a laugh, as did Daphney, but she sucked at that because a snicker burst from her lips.
“Y’all kids,” mom grumbled, walking towards the kitchen.
Daphney smiled, giving her one of those innocent looks. “Good day, Ms. Robinson. How are you?”
“Mmm-hm…I’m good, Daphney,” she yelled from the kitchen. “Happy birthday. What’s in the making?”
She shrugged. “Well, I was trying to get Leo to tell me, but he isn’t budging.”
“I’m sure it’s something nice.”
Mom knew, and she played a pretty talented actor. I took Daphney’s hand. “Let’s go.” Then I yelled, “Bye, mom.”
“Later, Ms. Robinson.”
“Uh…How long again? And why did we have to take the bus? You could have used my car…Here is so creepy.” Daphney glanced across the aisle and shivered. “I swear. I will jump off this bus if Grampa gives me the sweet eye and licks his lips again.”
I smiled. Watching her squirm was the icing on the cake. But gramps did seem kind of creepy, though. He had no dentures, so his lips were caved in like a puppet.
“It’s not funny, Lee. Plus, we have been on this bus for over an hour. My legs are cramping.”
“Miss Complain,” I teased.
She huffed. “I’m serious. I could get a blood clot or something.”
“No, you won’t.”
“How would you know? You’re immune to this. Isn’t this supposed to be fun and romantic?”
“Who said anything about romance…Oh, look! This is our stop.” I snatched her hand, yanking her behind me.
As we stepped off the bus, Daphney slipped on her shades.
I grinned wickedly. “Now we have to walk.”
“What? Are you mad? Walk where? You still haven’t told me where we’re going.”
“A short walk. I promise.”
She regarded me and then surveyed the area. “I hope there aren’t any more pervs.”
“We’ll be fine.”
Five minutes into our trek, she grumbled like an old lady. We stopped three times because she complained about her aching feet. “My feet are tired…” she whined. “You want me to walk in this sweltering heat with no water? Look, all my lips are dry.”
When she pouted, I pecked her lips and licked her cheek.
“Ew! Get off of me.” Then, wiping her face with the back of her hand, she stormed off, giving me the finger. “Stop laughing. It’s not funny.”
“I’m sure you’re good now.”
“My face isn’t.”
“Do you want me to carry you?”
She froze, then met my eyes. “Yes, but no funny business. Or I swear….”
“Well, hop on.” Daphney hopped on, almost throwing me to the floor. I faked a groan. “Did you gain weight? My gosh, my back….”
She slapped my shoulder, “Oh poo.”
We walked a few more blocks, and she hopped off when she spotted the park.
“Oh, my gosh. I always wanted to come here.”
“Really?” I’d bought two tickets in advance to Pacific Park. It wasn’t any Six Flags, but it had enough rides to entertain her. She skipped onto the pavement, more excited to enter than the kids in front of us with their parents.
“Come on, you slowpoke. We have to go on that one.” She pointed at the rollercoaster. “Come on!”
“So, now you have energy?”
“Yes.”
Four hours later, she didn’t want to leave. We’d been on almost every ride and redone some over three times.
She pouted. “I don’t want to go….”
“We can come back on Saturday.”
I drew her into a hug, rubbing her back. We needed to go because the bus ride to Daphney’s house would take nearly two hours.
She mumbled under her breath.
“We’re going to eat now, Daphs.”
Clueless about what I had planned, she sighed and walked ahead.
“But I can’t go for dinner like this.”
“It’s not dinner-dinner…It’s more like a chill vibe. We can go like this.”
She gave me a side-eye, and for a moment, I thought she’d figured it out. “Hm.”
“Trust me. By the way, did you call your mom back? While you were sleeping, she called a million times.”
“Yes, I did. And it wasn’t a million times. It was only three times. The rest were from Britney.” She frowned.
“What?”
“I thought Ayomide would have remembered my birthday, but I hadn’t heard from her. I knew she had a project to do…but still…Maybe the time difference threw her off.”
“Maybe. I’m sure she’ll call. Don’t fret, babe.”
“Uh…Leo?”
“Yeah?”
“Why is the bus pulling up in my area?”
“I figured you would feel awkward wearing the same clothes to go for dinner. So, I brought you to get changed.”
“Dinner? I thought you said a chill.”
I scratched my head.
She squinted. “Mr. Robinson, what the hell are you up to?”
“Fine. It was for dinner.”
She gasped. “And you almost let me go like this? And my birthday outfit is at your place.”
“Well, you’ll find something else at home.”
She twisted her face.
While on the bus, I messaged her mom to let her know we were near. Since the nearest bus stop was two blocks from her home, we had to walk the rest. Oblivious to the ten cars parked on the opposite side of the road, Daphney strolled up the pathway, her arm looped into mine and sighed. I knew she was thinking about her outfit.
I did the honor and opened the door.
She sniffed. “What’s that smell? Is mom cooking—”
“SURPRISE!”
47
Daphney/Leo
Well, this was…unexpected. I glanced across the room, my heart galloping like a reindeer. “Ayomide?” I squealed. No, I screamed, rushing towards her. “No way!” I squeezed her into a hug.
“Yes way,” she said, holding me at arm’s length.
“I thought you were—”
“Busy?” she grinned.
“Yes, and I thought you forgot about my birthday.”
“Never.”
“What are you doing here? How did you—”
