Soft.

t w e n t y

Why would the woman be thanking me?"

Senaya disappeared into the night, and after Zeke put up his camera, he got into the driver's seat. He was visibly angry and Naomi was not going to let him drive that way. She placed her hand on his thigh and he immediately looked her way. "Breathe." At that moment, he let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding in. "I'm guessing that was your mom?"

"Is it that obvious?" He asked that question like he was disappointed that Naomi had guessed correctly.

Naomi long eyelashes blinked, and she nodded her head. "Don looks just like her." She responded. "And so do you." She added.

"I don't look anything like her." Zeke shot back. "And she's.. not my mom." He started the engine, putting the truck into drive before pulling off.

"Is this how you're going to react every time you see her?" She pursued, resting her hand under her chin. Zeke glanced over at her before looking back at the road. "Because I got the source and it's pretty obvious."

"Naomi, just leave it alone."

Naomi chuckled bitterly, and looked out of the window while shaking her head. "There's a little black girl in the backseat that I'm raising, Zeke. She deserves someone around her who likes her kind."

Zeke sighed, getting quite annoyed with the conversation. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that you aren't over it. As long as your mother gets that reaction out of you.. eventually, so am I. And so will Nia." She looked over at him. "I want more days like this with you as well. But, I can't risk our wholeness for it." Zeke bit his lip, not able to say anything or even look her way. "Zeke, the one thing I've learned since being adult is that we do things for different reasons. Sometimes we do things because our parents taught us, it's tradition. At the same time, that may be the reason why we do the opposite. Whether we believe it or not, we also date certain people because of our parents. It's natural."

"I don't hate y'all. I hate her." He tried to explain.

"And that hate and rage towards her will eventually come out towards someone. Maybe me, who knows? I may do something, something small that may remind you of her and you'll probably shut me out. You have to release that anger, Zeke." She leaned her head back against the headrest, and closed her eyes. "Trust me, I know."

Zeke pulled the truck over, putting it in park. He looked in the backseat noticing that Nia was knocked out. Something he was grateful for at this moment. He didn't want her to hear any of what was being said. He didn't even wanting her to think he disliked her. Because, he didn't. There was only one black woman he hated, and that was Senaya.

"So, that's it? We don't get to see each other anymore?" He looked at Naomi.

"I'm protecting myself, and Nia. If it were just me, I'd risk it. But, I can't just think about me. I don't have that option." Her eyes began to blink rapidly as she tried to stop the tears from falling. "She has so much control over you and I know how that feels. You don't want that, Zeke. You have to let it go." Naomi held her head down as she started to cry.

"Hey, hey." Zeke softly turned her face towards him. He used his thumb to wipe her tears off of her cheeks. "Talk to me. Tell me who that man was."