Heavy Nights Like This

ch, 8

          When Barbie arrived at her condo, she was surprised to see Bird sitting at her gate, dozed off. "Bird..." she said, softly shaking him. "Hm?" He replied, his eyes still closed. He opened them and realized he'd fallen asleep. He got up and stretched, "I came to check on you."

"How long have you been out here?" She asked, putting in her gate code. He went to look at the time, but his phone was dead. "My flight landed at five, I been here ever since." She looked at the time and it was almost eight thirty. "You came here from Miami?" She questioned, pushing open the gate. He nodded and followed her up to her condo.

"You didn't have to do that." She unlocked her front door and held it open for him to come inside. "I dropped everything and got the first flight out here. I didn't even bring my charger. I just wanted you to know that I'm here for you." He explained, "Whatever you need, Barb. I'm here."

          "I haven't seen you since last year." She replied. "It doesn't matter. Whatever was going on before doesn't matter." She gave him a weak smile and sat down on her couch, "I honestly don't know what I need. I'm so confused." She admitted, her eyes starting to water. He sat beside her and put his face in his hands, "Um, Barbie what happened?"

"I don't know." She shrugged, "Petey went to get our ID's and the next thing we heard was gunshots. The cop shot him seven times. They wouldn't even call an ambulance. He didn't have a chance." She wiped away tears that rolled to the tip of her nose, "Ya know, you think if you go through something once then you'll never have to go through it again." She sighed, "At least I didn't see it this time."

"Ah, Barbie..." Bird wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his chest. When she was 16, her twin brother was shot and killed by police during a drug raid of their home, which landed her dad twenty years in prison. She lost her only sibling and a parent on the same day.

          "Thank you for coming here." She said with her eyes closed, "I don't want to be alone." His kissed her forehead and picked her up, carrying her to her bedroom. He laid her on the bed and took her shoes off for her. She still had on the clothes from her release party. She took off her jacket and curled up with her pillow.

          "I'm going to run you a bath, ok?" He said, taking off his hoodie, tossing it on the edge of her bed and taking his shoes off. She gave a nod and he disappeared into her bathroom. After a while, she walked into the bathroom and got undressed. She slowly stepped into the steaming hot water and sat down.

          "Ok, I'll be in—" Bird started, pointing towards the bedroom. "Stay. Talk to me... please." She begged. He hesitated for a second before taking a seat on the edge of the tub and leaning against the wall, "What do you want me to talk about?"

"Anything. Take my mind off... you know." She frowned. He cleared his throat and watched her wipe makeup off of her face, "Did you get my message from Cooke?" She smiled and nodded, "Highlight of my night." "I meant every word. I'm proud of you, baby girl." She deeply, "I'm sorry for always acting so stupid and playing games, I just— I don't know, I love you and I feel like I'm not supposed to but I can't help it."

"You don't need to apologize. I'm the married one and therefore it was my job to be responsible and act like a married man." He explained, picking up bubbles and moving them around in his hands, "That's why me and Bea broke up two months ago."

"What?" Barbie's eyes widened. "Yea, I just didn't feel like I was treating her the way she deserved to be treated." He said. "Ever since me and you stopped seeing each other, I just been off it, bad attitude, never home. We got in an argument and I called her your name." Barbie's mouth dropped, "What did she say?"

"She cried, but she never said anything to me about it after that. I don't know man, after a while I just felt like my marriage was a ring and papers, not a relationship." He explained. Barb stayed quiet for a while, "So what are you going to do now?" He shrugged, "Divorce, I guess. I don't wanna seem like a failure, but I don't think that's good reason to stay with someone."

They changed the subject and talked about some other things while Barbie bathed herself. After she was finished, Bird got her a towel and went to straighten up around her house while she got ready for bed. She crawled into bed and got under the covers. Later, Bird peaked his head in the door, "Are you sleep?"

"No..." she replied quietly. "Do you need anything?" He asked. She shook her head and he turned her light off, about to go to the living room. "Do I have to ask you to come in here with me?" He paused for a second before taking off his shirt and getting into her bed. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her body closer to his before resting his chin on her head and going to sleep.