In Love With A Stripper

18.

King

I sat in the waitin' room as I waited fa Ember ta get stitched up. Pissed off wasn't the word fa how I was feelin'. I was bout ready ta say fuck his life and end dat shit. If I would've never showed up, he would've done what he's always wanted ta do.

She didn't even have ta tell me who did it. I already knew. I jus can't sit around and watch him hurt her. When I find dat nigga, it's over.

Fuck basketball. I can't take this 'sit and watch' shit no mo. If it meant ruinin' my career to protect somebody I love, then so be it.

I looked up once I heard footsteps comin' towards me. Ember looked at me with a small smile. "You stayed?" she asked in almost a whisper.

"Yeah, why would I leave? You good," I asked, gettin' up. I put my black bape jacket around her shoulders ta give her some warmth.

"I'm okay," she said, lookin' away from me. From her demeanor, you could tell she was upset.

"Come here," I said, pullin' her into me. She wrapped her arms around my torso and cried silently.

"I'm never gon leave you, aight? Nobody gon hurt you no more, and I mean dat with everything in me."

I really did. I would go crazy if somethin' happened ta her. She been through way too much. "I love you," she said.

"I love you too baybeh girl."

She looked up at me with fresh tears rolling down her face. I couldn't bear ta see her like dat so I turned away. "You want to go see Kristin while you're here? I'll wait in the car for you."

"Yeah but I ain't lettin' you sit in no car by yo self. Come on," I said, grabbin' her hand.

We walked through the cold hospital halls together, hand in hand. We got occasional looks from people who recognized me and instantly thought dat Ember was my wife. I didn't kno' what ta say so I jus laughed the shit off. I have enough problems. The media was jus gon make shit worse.

We walked up to the front desk and asked the lady who was workin' where we could find Kristin's room. "And how are you and the patient related?" she asked while typin' on the small Dell laptop.

"She's my wife," I said with a small smile.

The lady glanced at our intwined hands before lowerin' her small framed glasses at us. I kno' she had some extra shit ta say. "Are you sure that Miss Smith is your wife, sir?"

"It's Mrs, and yes I'm positive. If I say she my wife den dat's what she is," I said as I became agitated.

She stared a little while longer before tellin' us what room number Kristin was in.

"Maybe we shouldn't hold hands in public," Ember said as we walked inside the unoccupied elevator.

"We've always done it. It don't bother me," I said befo' droppin' her hand.

Ever since we were little kids, holdin' hands was just our thing. Of course people was gon assume things. That didn't matter as long as we knew what was up.

"I think you should've let me stay in the car. I know I be saying I don't like her and stuff, but she's still family. I can't help but to think it's my fault if I think about it."

I turned her small body towards my before lookin' into her eyes. She always had the problem of blamin' shit on herself when it wasn't even her fault.