Sosa: Yo we got movement on that thing. Need you soon as you free.
Me: Give me a hour.
I put my phone back and headed to the car. Kynessa was already there, strapping Nova into her car seat.
"Everything good?" she asked, eyeing me.
"Yeah. We straight."
"Mmhmm." She closed the car door and turned to me.
“What?” I questioned.
“Nothing nigga, nothing at all. All I got to say is good luck with that one. She looks like she not gon play wit yo’ hoe ass.”
“I got this.” Was my only response as I started the ignition and pulled out the lot.
I didn’t know what was gon happen between me and Ya’Mya, but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t ready to embark on something with her crazy ass.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
One year later….
Yah-Yah
I was laid out on the big ass sectional in the living room, my feet propped up on the ottoman, scrolling through Pinterest trying to figure out what the fuck I was gon' wear for Thanksgiving.
The house was quiet except for the sound of that Jhené Aiko playing low through the speakers. This was my favorite time of day, when Sosa was still at the restaurant handling business and I had the whole mansion to myself.
A whole ass mansion. I still couldn't believe this was my life sometimes.
I looked around at the high ceilings, the chandelier hanging in the foyer, the marble floors that stayed so clean 'cause we had a housekeeper come through twice a week. This wasn't the cramped ass house I used to share with Yatta and Ya'Mya. This was some grown woman shit. And I was finally, finally, happy.
A year ago, I was still out here tricking, still letting niggas pay for my time 'cause that's what I thought I had to do to survive. Still hurt over Rylo's bitch ass and how he played me. Still fucked up about Morgan fuckin' him behind my back. That shit had me so cold, so numb to everything. I didn't think I could trust nobody, especially not no nigga. But then Sosa changed everything.
He saw me when I was at my lowest and didn't judge me. He didn't try to fix me or save me like I was some charity case. He just...wanted me. All of me. The hurt, the attitude, the walls I had up, and he broke through all that shit with his patient ass. He told me he was going to take care of me, and he was a man of his word about that shit.
We openedSontae’ssix months ago. It was a casual dining restaurant downtown that had Chicago going crazy. Named after Sosa's real name, 'cause that's what I called him when it was just us. The restaurant was doing numbers, we had a waiting list weeks out, and I worked there right alongside of him. Not as no hostess or nothing basic, nah, I helped him run that shit. Managing, planning events, all that. Sosa said I had a head for business and he wasn't wrong.
I ain't have to depend on no man for money no more. I was making my own. But the difference was, Sosa wanted to share his with me anyway. He wanted me to have everything I ever wanted. And for the first time in my life, I felt like I deserved it.
My phone buzzed and I smiled when I saw Sosa's name.
Sosa: You good baby?
Me: Yeah, just chilling. You still at the restaurant?
Sosa: Bout to leave in a few. Need anything?
Me: Just you
Sosa: Bet. Be there soon. Love you.
Me: Love you too.
I put my phone down, still smiling. Yeah, I was in love. Real love, not that toxic shit I had with Rylo. Sosa treated me like a queen, and I made sure he knew he was my king.
We had our arguments sometimes. I still had my attitude and he still had his stubborn ass ways but we always worked through it and came back to each other.