The Homeboy and The Virgin

28-Duke

Chapter 28—Duke

 

 

“Laila, when did I stop lusting after you?” I questioned, as she ran her fingers through my hair. I hadn’t even wanted to see her when I came through. I wanted to be my Junior, not Laila. And, this time, I wasn’t settling for second best. “I want Junior. More than anything.”

    My head hurt. Maybe it was the alcohol. Or it could’ve been the stress. Whatever it was, I hated this feeling. Aching head, twisting stomach, fucked up life. Everything more or less sucked. Seeing Liam drive a knife through his heart made me want to… go lay down for a long, long time.

    “When you fell for Junior,” she remarked casually, pulling my head closer to her chest. “And I know you do. Which is why I’m done fighting for you to leave her alone.”

    I sighed, letting her caress me. I needed to be held. And I wanted Junior to do it. But I couldn’t go back there and ask for her help when she had read me my rights. And I had to admit she was right. It was selfish of me to want both girls. I couldn’t have it all. But Laila, she wanted me to—

   “Wait, did you say you were done fighting me?” I asked.

   She nodded, smiling tiredly. “Duke, I’ve been a bitch. A horrible person. Seeing you come home like this after what happened today made me realize something—you only come to me when there’s no one else there. I don’t wanna be that girl, you know? I want you to be happy. And the only thing standing between your happiness and you is me. So I’m letting you go.”

    I let the words wash over me, not believing them for a second. This was Laila. She always had some ulterior motive, some plan. “And what’s in it for you?”

   She shrugged. “A chance to do the right thing for once? The minute I decided I was letting you free was when I heard from your friends what had gone down with you and Junior. A few seconds after that, my dad called and told me he was sorry he was such a dick to me and Mom. They’re working things out now, and they want me to come back and be a part of that. Sure, it might be too late for him to see the most important things for me, but we can catch us, make things better. It’s not too late for that.”

   I nodded. That would be nice. I figured half of her problems came from a lack of a good father figure, so maybe she could get straight on that sort of thing and a find a guy that really loved her. “And what about love? Who you gonna be with?” I asked. Love or no love, lust or no lust, I still wanted her to be happy, too. It wasn’t in my nature to hate people. Not anymore anyway.

   She was silent for a moment, just running her fingers through my hair gently. “You know, this man stopped me the other day. He was homeless. He told me, Baby girl, God doesn’t care what you did lately—He still loves ya. And, I mean, I guess I’m gonna try Him out and see if He stays with me. Besides Him, I got Daddy, and I got this little booger in here.” She patted my stomach. “I’m gonna be alright, Duke.”

    Yeah, she would be. I could tell by the way she spoke that Laila was a new woman. She was different now. Whether she would stay that way was the question. I felt like this change was permanent. She would relapse, but it wouldn’t be permanent. “You know, if you ever need me—“

   “I’m not coming back, Duke. Not immediately. Don’t forget about me, but focus on Junior. That girl is too much of a damn handful for you to focus on any other girl but her.” She laughed. “And treat her right for me. No other girls, no ignoring her, none of that. Treat her like you would lay down in a puddle of water so she wouldn’t have to walk over it and get her shoes dirty.”