A year and a half later...
August 2012
Messiah hadn't realized the girl had woken up until he heard his bed squeak from beneath her as she was slipping out of his bed. Arms above his head from putting his long, deep brown locs into a ponytail, he turned to face her.
"Morning," Maria mumbled, scanning the floor for her Victoria's Secret panties. Her eyes shut as she slowly sat on his bed, making it clear to him that her hangover had already hit her by now.
"You okay?" he asked.
"Headache." Her fingers rubbed her circles on her temples. "And I'm a little sore."
"Damn, my bad. I got some Midol I can give you." He chuckled, picking up his phone to check the message that just came through.
His cousin was telling him to kick out whatever 'bitch' he had in his room. Messiah smacked his teeth. Shawn was already tripping, early in the morning at that. Sometimes Sy felt like he couldn't do anything here, but he had to remember that he was living here, free of charge.
"What?" she questioned.
"I know you don't feel good, but you gotta go." He sighed. "Technically this ain't my house, it's my cousin's. I just live here."
Her lip slightly curled, a sly look of judgement wearing her face. "Oh, you live with your people?" Messiah nodded in slight defense. "Hmm." Her lips then ducked to the side of her mouth.
He crinkled his brows. "What's that tone? What's the problem with me living with my cousin?"
Unlike most, Messiah respected the rules of any household he was living in free of charge. That was instilled in him before his grandparents passed away and he had to move into that despondent house he resided in a year ago.
He did sometimes bend the rules with Shawn though, but that was because he was constantly doing favors for his big cousin. Hopefully soon, though, he could save up enough money to get a place of his own again. He loved Shawn dearly but was more than ready to get out of the house and into his own again.
Right now, it seemed like that wasn't happening for a while.
Messiah had returned to school seven months after Michel'le and their baby died, having put all of his anger into a few things-the gym, sex, and most importantly, school-and got back into the books he dropped out of when she got pregnant.
He could've turned to drugs or some other illegal activity-disregarding the favors he does for his cousin-but instead decided to make the most out of his anger, and it was leading him to do very well. All Messiah wanted now was a good future for himself and a nice place to sleep at night.
"Nothing's wrong with that." She shrugged and stood up, not wanting to argue about whether or not she could stay. "You treat all the girls you fuck like this?" Maria asked roguishly.
"Chill." He opened his drawer and found a black All-American Rejects graphic t-shirt, slipping it over his head. He pulled his arms through the short sleeves. "I was planning on letting you stay, but this ain't my house. I'm gonna have to take you home."
Maria nodded in defeat. "That's cool. Hopefully I'll see you at school."
Messiah returned home from the quiet drive to and from their school and Shawn was waiting in the living room for him, smoking on a J. He watched his little cousin come in and looked at him, waiting for some sort of explanation.
"What, man?"
"What I tell you about having all these bitches in my house?" He mugged Messiah.
"Shawn, come on. All this shit I'm doing for you-"
YOU ARE READING
MERCY.
Romance777. Self-discovery and personal growth. Messiah knew poverty and suffering like the back of his hand. He'd spent years trying to find himself while lost in such a difficult time in his life. Still, his faith remained strong and pushed him to strive...
