Worthy of Sin | Nas

Thirteen

Zola 'Slim' Monroe || October 1998

        I stood in the mirror getting ready for work,  jamming to Babydoll by Mariah Carey in the process.

I was applying some lashes to my eyes when I heard a knock on my door. Before I could invite Kori in, she walked in on her own, holding a bouquet of flowers. I scoffed and chuckled to myself, shaking my head as I adjusted the lashes.

I already knew exactly who the flowers were from, and was I surprised? Not in the slightest bit.

"Damn— he's been sending flowers damn near everyday for the last two weeks. Has he still been calling?" She asked, setting the vase on my dresser alongside the bouquet I'd received a day or two ago.

It was ridiculous, at this point. I had so many flowers, I had to give some to Kori to decorate the house with because there wasn't enough space on my dressers for these damn flowers.

I nodded, "Mhm. Still leaving my mailbox full and some more shit," I shook my head at the thought of his actions while I cleaned up my makeup.

He was turning into a bugaboo, but despite how raw my feelings still were, I liked the persistence. It was always a quality I admired about him and it's what drew me to him in the first place.

"Damn... you slap a nigga and still get flowers? What type of power do you possess?" I smacked my lips and glared at her, causing her to raise her hands in defense as she laughed at my reaction to her stupid ass statement.

She thought my actions towards Sincere was funny because it was deserved. Although I felt the same way in the moment, I felt fucked up about it, I'd be the first to admit it and no amount of pride would ever prevent me from doing so.

My actions reminded me so much of my parents's when I was younger, and it made me sick to my stomach whenever I thought about it. I went entirely too far and while I did intend to apologize, my pride wouldn't make an exception for that in this moment.

"That's not funny, Kori! That was wrong, even though he did deserve it," I spoke while reaching into the bouquet to grab the card and see what he had written for me today.

"I mean, you right, I guess. Someone had to do it, though." I shook my head and proceeded to read the card,

Song of the day: Two Occasions.

I almost found myself smiling at the card, but I quickly caught myself as I shook my head and closed it back up, throwing it onto my dresser.

He was so damn corny, and he was making this a lot harder on me than I wanted to admit. His gestures made me miss him, and it brought so much confusion because I didn't know how to feel right now. As much as I craved his presence, I needed space to grieve this situation and sort out my feelings.

"When are you gonna talk to him again?" Kori asked and I shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, I really said all I had to say the last time I seen him, so," I shrugged and proceeded to finish getting ready for my shift.

"Well, I have an idea,"

"What, fool?"

"Tell that nigga to stop sending so many damn flowers— hold on," Her phone began ringing and I shook my head, although she did have a point.

While I brushed the front portion of my hair into a ponytail, I heard the doorbell ring and I was gonna ignore it until Kori asked for me to get it.

Sighing heavily, I released all the hair I'd gathered and I slid my hair tie onto my wrist to see who the hell was at the door.

When I opened the door, there was a tall delivery man with his visor flipped to the back with a yellow envelope in hand and a clipboard in the other. Instead of stating his business, he just stared at me and checked me out. Niggas couldn't even complete a simple task for work without hounding, my goodness.