All American 2

VIII

Not only had he grown to enjoy Danielle's presence, but so had his wife and it was disheartening to know that Kofi had ruined something so beautiful due to his own selfishness. When he was with Danielle his nephew's optimistic mood was blinding, but now that they were no longer together it felt as if the pessimism had returned consuming him alive like an inextinguishable flame. During football season Kofi's appearance always took a dive, but now he looked almost unrecognizable. Due to his negligence his beard had grown out to a length they'd never seen, rivaling that of Isaac's and he'd actively stopped cutting his hair. Without weekly visits to the barbershop the curly strands grew out, tangling and knotting together in thick cords of locs that he allowed to fall freely over his eyes. What was even more shocking to Joseph than his nephew's appearance were the women that despite his caveman like appearance were still willingly throwing themselves at him. There had been many occasions where he'd be entering his nephew's home just as a handful of women were making their way out, satisfied smiles etched on their faces not the least bit taken aback by how terrible Kofi looked.

Although his nephew was unwell there was always a woman willing to put up with him, without a care that the intimacy was meaningless and that bothered him. Joseph knew the women were taking advantage of his broken heart, but he didn't think it was his place to voice his concerns. Kofi may have been close to him, but he wasn't his son. He had taken on a major role of caring for him as a youngster but now he was a grown man who was able to make his own decisions, and as terrible as he knew it would end for him being with them he kept his mouth shut hoping he'd see reason sooner rather than later before it brought him more problems than he was already dealing with.

The startling sound of Kofi's cell phone buzzing had his neck snapping forward, his brows furrowing at his peace having been disturbed. His eyes squinted as his vision struggled to adjust to the bright light on the screen of his cellular device. The number was one he didn't recognize, but he knew exactly who it was. For the past few months, he'd been receiving calls from an unknown number. Initially he had it in mind to ignore it, but the frequency of the calls had begun to irritate him until he ultimately decided to answer, and he was relieved that he had. His hands grew clammy as he quickly snatched the phone off the table, not even allowing the first ring to go through completely before his thumb swiped across the screen accepting the call. Placing the device up to his ear he could feel his heart thumping rapidly in his chest and his insides felt as if his intestines had formed coils in the pit of his stomach.

Kofi's eyes narrowed as he strained his hearing to detect a voice in the background, but all he was able to distinguish was a consistent whirling sound which he was able to distinguish as possibly being a standing fan. The silence stretched on for a while before Kofi's impatience got the best of him and he couldn't keep quiet any longer. "I miss you Chocolate." The caller would never speak to him, but he knew it was Danielle. Each time he'd call out to her his heart would do somersaults, and the caller's breath would hitch as if the person were seconds from introducing themselves, but they'd held back. It did bother him to not be able to hear her voice, but he found it comforting to know that even though months had passed she still thought of calling out to him, even if she refused to speak to him.

"I miss you so much baby." He whispered. Kofi tilted his head back, his eyes turning towards the ceiling. His hand curled into a fist as he exerted every ounce of self-control he had to not go on another emotion fueled rant and frighten her off as he did the first couple of calls they had. "I got a new ad coming out with Calvin Klein. It was supposed to come out later, but...but I asked them to push it for a earlier release so you could see it first." Silence. Kofi gritted his teeth as his vision grew blurry, his eyes welling with tears from her lack of response. Slowly, he could feel his resolve weakening. He'd rather her curse him out, shout, hell-he'd even take her threatening to send her sister to beat him up but her ignoring him was the slowest form of torture and he was sure she knew it too. Each time they spoke she'd hear how desperate he felt to have her back, and her refusal to speak felt ten times as painful as any injury he'd ever sustained. Danielle was acknowledging his existence by phoning him, but his pain was another story. Not once had she attempted to comfort him when he was inconsolable-which he expected, but she'd gone a step further and disconnected the second he began to unravel.