Lighter Shade of Brown (Urban Fiction) BWHM

Chapter 14

The rumpled sheets on Liberty's empty bed, caused the already hollow feeling in Cleo's stomach to double in size. She was gone without as much as a kiss my ass. Even though her MIA status was no surprise her absence still had the capability to scare a load out of her. This binge could be her last. What if Monday came around again minus her mother? What if the streets swallowed her whole and she never saw Liberty again? Those very thoughts brought tears to her eyes and gave her a severe case of bubble guts.

Closing the door softly behind her, Cleo ambled down the hall to the living room and threw herself down on the tattered the old love seat that sat a few paces away from the aluminum bunny eared television set. The siren from an old school ambulance sounded from the fuzzy picture on the screen and the theme music from General Hospital filled the small area. Settling back into the cushion she stared at the TV without actually paying attention to the damned thing. Her focus was split between Liberty's neglectful behind, and C's lying selfish ass. Why she wasted time and energy on thinking about people who didn't think enough of her, she would never understand.  

For four days she'd taken care of Liberty. She'd washed all of those nasty vomit chunks out of her weave and even got the slob slapped from her when she'd forced her mom's into the bath tub. A tooth was almost knocked loose, messing around with her crazy behind mama, but did she pack it all in and leave? Hell no. Instead, she stayed, suffering through all the drama like she'd been cast in her very own Lifetime movie. The black youth who had to grow up with a sloppy ass crack head for a mama. At risk of becoming the same-pussy dropper for cash-as her mother. She could just see it now. Shame on everything involved.

Cleo shook her head in an attempt to free her mind of the finger breaking grip Liberty had on her mental. With her thoughts being cut off from its favorite nourishment they moved on to dessert. C's. Eyes rolling, she sighed as he slithered his way back into her vulnerable psyche. For days she'd battled to keep him out her head. Her brain and heart going pound for pound over his sorry, cheating, ass. One telling her to forgive and the other telling her to drop him on sight. Confusion, hurt, and anger kicked her ass as if she was a stray dog, when it came down to him. And the crazy thing was, there should've been no conflict.

When concerning him, her default setting should have read, fuck him even after the sun had burned black and the moon fell out of orbit and crashed into earth. She knew in every cell, which her body was made up of that she wasn't supposed to still want him. Hell, hate on sight should have been her motto, but there alone with no one else around, she allowed for only a fraction of a moment to be real with herself. She missed the shit out of him and it thoroughly fucked her pride that he hadn't even tried to reach out. Had the entire weekend they'd spent together been a game to him? Had nothing he'd spit been real? Did he really have that many hoes on deck that she could so easily get lost in the shuffle? Fucking Latinos. C's in particular.

A knock at the door dragged Cleo's attention from the out of bounds area of her mind. Shoving her body off the worn down sofa, she slowly approached the door and pulled it open. The sight of the Latino in question dropped her jaw. C's stood on the porch, arms and hands filled with shopping bags, wearing a puppy dog expression so pitiful it would've made Lassie sit up and burn emerald green with envy.

Ignoring the flip-flop in her chest, she lifted her chin, ready for whatever. "Thought I told you to fall back?"

"Yeah you did," he said, and then raised the bags, "but I wanted to bring this by first, before we faded to black."

Cleo folded her arms across her chest, leaning against the door frame, her elbow pressed flush with the screen. "Whatever it is I don't want it, so you can just get off my porch before I find Liberty's glock and shoot you in your ass."