His Possession

12

I had to change my number...again.

But I was careful this time to only give it to my sister, Sam, Travis, Vivian, and Christian. Christian was actually the one who went with me this time to do it.

I've never wanted to cut my family out, but after what happened Saturday night at dinner, how my parents treated me and Christian...at a certain point I have to put myself first.

I haven't been back to Karman and I's place yet, wanting to spend the rest of the weekend with Cal. I need to just relax, and I find that I can do that best here, with him. 

We're lounging on the couch right now, watching a movie that I'm forcing him to watch. But in my defense Dear John is one of the best romance movies of all time, and he said I could pick.

"I hate this movie" Cal grunts.

"Why?" I sob blowing my nose into a tissue while laying against his chest. 

"Because it's making you cry" he checks the bulky watch on his wrist. "At three in the afternoon on a Sunday"

I sit up and pause the movie at the part where John is finding out that the love of his life is married to someone else. Ugh.

"I can't help it" I hiccup. "It's so sad"

"I've seen you cry too much already these last two days" he reaches up and tucks a curl behind my ear. "Turn something else on, Pumpkin. Seeing you cry hurts me"

"Okay, okay" I sniff, dabbing at my eyes with the tissue.

Before I can change it to a different, more happier movie, I was thinking Pride and Prejudice, there is a knock on Cal's door. I scootch off of him so that he can get up and answer it. He must have been expecting someone because he doesn't look surprised in the slightest.

I flip through the streaming app, looking for the movie as he opens the door, grumbles a thanks, and then shuts the door very quickly.

When he comes back over to the couch, he's holding a big box in his hands, it looks heavy, and he sets it down beside me.

"What's that?" I look at him curiously.

"Open it" he encourages softly.

I take the scissors he hands me and then gently use them to open the box. I set the scissors down on the coffee table and then open the box. 

The first thing I see is a set of silk sheets and pillowcases in a very dark, almost black, blue color. There are two silk bonnets in a light pink and sage green color, and then all the hair products I use. My shampoo and conditioner and curl cream, and even some other stuff that I don't have like a diffuser and specialized detangling brushes.

More tears burn behind my eyes and I look up at Christian who has an almost nervous look on his face. "What is all this?"

"When you come over you won't have to bring all of your products now, you can keep them here" he explains. "And I want you to be able to sleep comfortably without worrying that you'll mess up your curls. I spent a lot of time researching but if I got the wrong things-"

I leap off of the couch and lunge into his arms, wrapping my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck. "Thank you" I sniff. No one's ever done anything like this for me before.

Karman inherited our moms wavy hair, I got my curls from my dad who's a fourth white, two fourths African American, and a fourth Asian. I've always loved my hair and try my very hardest to take care of it, especially since my mom didn't know how and I relied on my grandma until she passed. My dad's mother and father were my favorite people in the world. It seems like I spent more time with them than with my actual parents. My grandmother passed from cancer and my grandfather soon after from a broken heart. Taking care of my hair is my way of honoring my grandma, just like wearing bright colors is my way of honoring my grandpa. He's the one who told me wearing white isn't accident proof.