The Raymond James Stadium was packed with people for the homecoming game versus UConn. The loud silence for the final snap of the game was Sanchez's favorite part — mainly when his team was leading the scoreboard. It seemed to spin around his head like 8D audio and brought a smile to his face every time. As left offensive tackle, he knew that he played a major role in how well the play was executed. After he completed his task, it was up to the quarterback and wide receiver to make it count.
Sanchez's only priority was to prevent his quarterback from being blindsided. With Sanchez keeping men off Dorian, Dorian had more time to scope the field and get the ball out of his hands. So far, Sanchez had been dominating at his job and was expected to go far if he continued to improve. His position wasn't popular amongst basic football watchers but his name was mentioned often between coaches and sports commentators.
"Down! Set! Hut hut!" the center snapped the ball.
Defense was playing a three-man rush. Sanchez knew he wouldn't have anyone to block so he quickly made his way to the right side of Dorian. He was just in time to block a hit, giving Dorian the little time to analyze then send the ball down the field. It spiraled through the air straight toward the open wide receiver. A man was on him heavy but he used his arm to keep him at a fair distance. When the ball started to go too far, he jumped in the air, catching it a little over his head. But he was in the in-zone.
The buzzer was barely heard over the cheer of the home team and their fans. They'd won their homecoming game. Sanchez yelled in cheer as Dorian shook him and punched him in the chest. Sanchez smacked Dorian's helmet and gave him praise for his performance.
"Hell yeah, boy!" Dorian then gripped Sanchez's head. "You was on your shit tonight."
"I gotta keep you on your A-game."
"My man. Whew!" Dorian bounced over to the other teammates.
After the team celebrated a little more and the stadium started to clear out, they spoke with the other team. The Bulls were never one to go without acknowledging their opponents because their head coach made sure of it. He didn't care if two players were enemies off the field, none of it mattered once each team had their uniforms on.
It wasn't until an hour after the game ended that the boys were back on campus and in the locker room. Sanchez was focused on getting in the shower and heading home for the night. Future played loudly from the locker room speakers as the team further celebrated instead of removing their sweaty uniform. Of course, Zeek was amongst the hype ones, dancing in the middle of the floor. He pointed at Dorian who didn't hesitate to copy the move Zeek was doing. Dorian pointed to Sanchez after completing the move and just as quick as Dorian, he hit it.
"I love y'all boys!" Bahzeek bobbed his head while bouncing on his toes.
"Love you too, boy." Sanchez grabbed his towel then headed for the showers.
The boys were going out to Club Whiskey to celebrate their win for the night and Sanchez opted out. He had a lengthy project that was due soon and he hadn't made any progress on it. He already had an idea for what he was going to do but he hadn't done any true research for it. If he didn't get started tonight he would mess up the calendar he created for the assignment. Due to its length, he created a timeline to get everything done without the need for cramming. He hated to rush because it stressed him out.
He walked out of the facility and pushed his hands in his pockets. It was windy out and the wind was fairly chilly instead of its usual humid wind. Music played from his phone because he was too lazy to take his headphones from his bag. He had a short walk across the facility's parking lot to the neighboring one, where he chose to park, to avoid his reckless teammates. Sanchez knew how wild they liked to act after games and he didn't need his car being crashed into because they wanted to do donuts in an occupied lot.
As he neared the other parking lot, he noticed a figure walking in circles, speaking with aggressive hand movements. It was a woman but he didn't understand why she was in a lot by herself at 10pm. He was going to walk past and just pray nothing happened to her but he started to recognize the woman the closer he got.
"Asha?" he called, making the woman spin around. She had a phone up to her ear and looked to be pissed. "You good?"
"No, I have a flat tire." she pointed to her back tire. The person on the other end of the phone said something that set her off, "You know what fuck you, okay? Every chance you get, you give me your ass to kiss but I got something for that. Take care, Mateo."
She ended the call, pressed a few buttons then released a sigh as she looked back at Sanchez. He sat his duffle bag down, "I'ma assume you need help changing it right?"
"It's okay I'll just leave it here until tomorrow. It's too late to be dealing with this."
"You have a spare? I can pop it on and you can be on with your night in minutes."
She sighed, "I should. Do you actually know how to change a tire or are you going to try?"
"I know how to change a tire." he replied as she popped her trunk. She had to move a few things around to get to the tucked away tire and jack. Sanchez pulled it all out then reached in his pocket for his keys, "You can sit in my car while I do this. It's right over there. Here."
"No, I don't want to leave you out here doing this for me." she shook her head.
"Girl, it's cool out here, you don't have a jacket on your arms, and I can take care of myself. Go sit in the car." he pushed his keys out further, urging her to take them.
"I have a blanket." she opened her back door and pulled a gold blanket from the backseat. He shook his head, "What? I don't want to leave you alone. That's not a crime."
She wrapped herself in the thick blanket then took a seat on the parking stomp beside her car. Sanchez placed the jack in its proper place then pumped the arm causing the car to slowly lift off the ground. As the son of a mechanic, it was mandatory that he knew how to fix the simplest malfunctions or accidents on a car. He also made sure to learn to keep from having to spend money on a tow truck service for something he could easily do himself.
Once he had the car jacked up, he asked Asha for her tire key and got to work. She sat nearby watching his every move while also questioning his reason for helping her. She knew there were nice men everywhere but nice enough to take off her shoes, keep her company and now change her flat tire? It made her wonder.
"Thank you for doing this."
"It's nothing." he continued to loosen the lug nuts. "What you doing out here by herself anyway?"
"I came to pick my car up after the game and came back to a flat tire. Was I surprised, no? I saw a nail in it earlier but I didn't think the air would go out so quick."
"Damn, your people just rode off on you?" he finished taking the lug nuts off and pulled the tire off.
"Fuck him. He probably doesn't even know how to change a tire anyway." she rolled her eyes then moved the subject along to avoid him asking about Mateo. She had gotten in the car with him to see what he needed to say to her, but it was nothing short of a ruse to get in her pants. "How did you learn?"
"My ol' man. He's a mechanic." he pushed the spare tire on. "And I don't like spending money on simple stuff like this so I made sure to learn to save a couple dollars."
"Yeah, I need to learn because with the way I drive this will be happening again."
"You reckless with it?" he finally looked over at her on the stomp. She looked very comfortable with the blanket tightly wrapped around her body.
"Maybe. It's not on purpose though. I'm just a natural passenger seat rider. I only have a car for when people don't want to take me places but I rather sit in the passenger seat."
He nodded with a small smile, "I hear you. I can't relate because I like driving but I get it."
"Wow...that quick huh?" she raised her eyebrows when he stood up from his squat.
"I told you I'd have you out of here in a few minutes." he lowered the car back down to the ground. After, he picked up the flat tire to put in the trunk along with the jack.
"Wow, thank you again. Here I have wipes so you can clean your hands really quick." she opened the passenger door and took a pack of wipes from the glove compartment.
After Sanchez had her trunk back to normal, he closed it and walked to the passenger side for the wipes. She handed him a few of them. He wiped his hands clean of any dirt and residue from the tires before letting her squirt hand sanitizer in his palm.
"You don't want to be on this spare for more than like two days. I say go to the shop in the morning if you can afford to and get a new tire."
"Okay." she nodded, getting up from the passenger seat. "What can I do to thank you for this? Food? An essay? How does fifty dollars sound?"
"Thank you is good enough for me." he picked up his duffle bag.
"But it's not good enough for me so name it. I know you're hungry after that long game. Waffle house?"
He thought on it for a second then nodded, "Aight. Waffle house."
"Okay."
Instead of hopping in a car together, the two decided to meet at the Waffle House just down the road. It would have been too much to drive back to the campus for the other's car when they could simply drive straight home from the restaurant. Sanchez was a speedy driver and wasn't for stopping or slowing down at any yellow lights so he beat Asha there. When she found a parking spot, he was standing at the trunk of his car waiting.
He gestured for her to walk ahead of him and she obliged. It was then he noticed she'd thrown a hoodie on over the halter top she wore. He reached ahead of her for the door handle and her side step let him know she had expected him to do it anyway. She still made sure to thank him and walked up to the counter that was unoccupied, per usual.
"Do you know what you want or do you need to look over the menu?" she rested her arms on the counter.
"Nah, I know what I want. The All-star breakfast no grits, hash browns and bacon."
"Okay." she nodded.
One of the two workers walked in from outside with the wicked stench of cigarettes trailing behind him. He rounded the counter, washed his hands then approached Asha without acknowledging Sanchez's presence. Sanchez noticed but kept quiet.
"Hi, can I get the Texas bacon cheesesteak melt with an Arnold Palmer or whatever you guys call it. A tea-monade?"
"Yeah." he nodded. "That's it?"
"No." she looked over at Sanchez then back to the worker, "The All-star special. Replace the grits with hash browns and bacon for the meat."
"Aight."
"What do you want to drink?" she looked at Sanchez who was mindlessly watching her.
"Nothing. I got my water." he brought her attention to the thermos in his hand.
She gave him a nod before she let the cashier know their order was complete and she was ready to pay. Sanchez stood back, watching the man try to be discreet with his googly eyes but he couldn't hide the way he tried to rest against the counter to see her bottom half. Asha didn't seem to be paying it any mind but it was bothering Sanchez. To think a woman was beautiful was one thing but to go out of your way to gauge her entire body and mentally undress her was disrespectful.
Instead of saying something to the man, he stepped closer to Asha which caught the man's eyes. He looked at Sanchez's scowl and fixed his posture and cleared his throat. Asha glanced between the two men, feeling the atmosphere change but she didn't pick up on anything because Sanchez gave her a small smile. She coward her head to try and minimize the size of her smile but it didn't work.
"Thank you." Asha took the change from the cashier then followed Sanchez to a booth in the far back.
Sanchez slid in on the side that was pressed against the wall to have his eyes on the entrance and everyone else. Rather than just take a seat like Sanchez, Asha opened her purse and pulled out a pack of disinfectant wipes and wiped the table down. From the look on her face and the way she kept all her belongings clear of the table as she wiped made him laugh. His snicker broke her serious face because she knew it probably seemed unnecessary.
"The food may be good but everybody knows Waffle House is disgusting." she tossed the wipes in a nearby trash.
"You do that every time you go out?" he asked once she returned to the booth and sat down.
"No, but like I said this is Waffle House. I just know the only time they wipe these tables is when they open and when they close."
"Not even. Probably just at the end of the night."
"Hell yeah." she chuckled. Sanchez finally stopped scoping out the restaurant and put his eyes on Asha, but she was already staring at him. "Which parent do most people say you look like?"
His eyebrows bunched in confusion, "My mama."
"I thought so. For some reason you just look like you and your mom are twins."
"How the fuck?" he chuckled. "That's like me assuming you look like your dad because of your high cheekbones."
"But I do." she shrugged. "And I was right about you looking like your mom and you were right about me looking like my dad. After years of observing people and their features it's fairly easy to create accurate assumptions like that."
"What about my face made you assume that tho?"
"Just the structure of it and your eyes. I think of Phyllis Hyman when I look at you."
"I don't know who that is." he shook his head.
"You don't? You've never heard the song No One Can Love You More? I'm sure your grandma has played it before."
He shook his head, knowing that he never had a relationship with his paternal grandmother — who Asha was more than likely referring to. His maternal grandmother only listened to reggaeton and classical music so he knew she never played Phyllis Hyman. The song she mentioned could have been played by his father who was a big R&B fan, but he wasn't sure.
"I haven't but I'm sure she's a beautiful woman."
"She is." she turned over her shoulder to check on the progress of their food. Sanchez then noticed a scar on the lining of her jaw. It was diagonal, leading him to believe it was from something sharp like a knife.
"How did you get that scar?" he asked.
"What scar?" she turned back to him. He touched his jaw which made her touch her own, "Oh, I was caught between a fight with my cousin and her boyfriend. She dropped her hand not knowing I was standing there and the blade came across my face."
"Damn." he winced like he could feel the pain of it. "How old were you?"
"Five. It didn't hurt too bad because I didn't feel it or start crying until her boyfriend rushed to me in panic and I saw the blood on his hands. I guess I was just too riled up about them arguing."
"I bet the kids at school had a whole lot to say about it huh?"
"Did they! But I used it to scare them and make them think I was hardbody. It worked so I liked having it."
He smirked, "And with the scar you still don't look hardbody. You look like you'd cry if someone flicked a ladybug."
"First of all, I wouldn't and second, what is this thing you have with disturbing animals? You're starting to scare me."
He smacked his teeth, "I don't even be on that anymore. I was just saying you have a sweet face. I'd never take you for a hardbody unless I caught you in the action."
"Because I'm not. Those white kids didn't know that though. They saw me as a threat anyway so the scar only made them think I was into some gutta shit."
"Ah okay, you went to a white school." he nodded. "And still chose a PWI? Why not a HBCU?"
The same question could have been asked of him since he had his talents at a PWI instead of a HBCU, but leaving his father behind was never an option. He and his dad only had each other so the idea of moving away from Tampa even just for school didn't feel right to him. He never planned to leave his dad alone even when it was time for him to build his own family. Whomever he chose to settle down with had to accept his father's presence because he was going to be around — if not leaving in the guest house.
"I didn't want to be far from my family and Bethune didn't interest me. I almost went to Spelman but it was still too far for me and something told me USF was a better choice for me."
"But you're from Florida right?" she nodded. "Where?"
"Jupiter. You're from here?"
"I was born in Riviera but we moved here when I was like ten." he started to rub his hands together once the man came from behind the counter with their plates. "Here we go."
"I knew you would be hungry, talking about thank you is enough. I appreciate the gratitude but never deny free food. My uncle taught me that. Free food taste better anyway."
"Don't it?" he agreed. "Thank you for this though. Lord knows I didn't want to go home and cook."
"Oh, you cook? Say less! I'll be at your spot tomorrow for dinner. No, I'm kidding. When did you learn to cook?"
"At like seven." she raised her eyebrows, impressed. "Yeah, I'm no Gordan Ramsey but he can't hoe me."
"Oooh, the confidence has me intrigued. What other hobbies do you have?"
"Aht, you gotta tell me one of yours." he drizzled syrup on his hash browns. "You think you're gonna get all in my business and I don't do the same?"
"To be fair, you started the personal questions, but I skate."
"Skateboard? Longboard? Roller?"
"Rollerskating. Got my first pair at five and haven't stopped since."
"Four wheels or blades?"
"Both." she smirked then took a bite from her sandwich. Sanchez stared at her for a few seconds longer and nodded his head before focusing on his food.
Much like every other Sunday, Asha was up and down the staircase taking a load from the washer and putting it in the dryer. It was 9am and she was the only person awake. All three of the girls had gone to the football game but Jema and Toria went to a party at Whiskey North afterward. Asha opted out because she wasn't in any mood to deal with anymore people or alcohol. She woke up feeling super drowsy after her Friday night and she hated the feeling because it didn't allow her to get anything done. Two days in a row was absolutely too much for her.
The newest episode of I Am Athlete played from her phone as it rested on top of the dryer while she dumped the hot clothes into a basket. Once she cleared the dryer, she cleaned the filter before moving the damp clothes from the washer to the dryer. She filled it up then tossed a few dryer sheets inside to make sure they smelled ultra fresh then set the timer to sixty minutes. Her bed clothes were the last load and she'd already brought them downstairs so she took them from the counter and stuffed them into the washing machine. In the midst of her pouring the washing liquid inside, Brandon Marshall was cut off by her ringtone.
She closed the washing machine lid then hit start. She picked her phone up to see her father was requesting a facetime. It surprised her. Her and her father didn't have a terrible relationship but after she discovered why her parents were having a hard time during her first two years of high school, they experienced a drift. He'd meant everything to her at one point — she saw him as her superman, but the jaded lens fell off the second she overheard her aunt soothing her mom about his infidelity. She was confused about his ability to step out on his wife of fifteen years and three kids with some random.
The pain in her mother's sobs enraged her and like the protective daughter she was, she jumped in her car and sped to her father's office. She didn't care if he was seeing patients or not. She needed to know what had come over him and why wasn't he fixing the issue he created. Little did she know, when she burst in his office demanding answers, she'd be quickly dismissed and told to stay in a child's place. She made no effort to speak to him again for months. The intense amount of pain she felt from being dismissed changed everything for her, because she hadn't approached him with anger like she wanted to during her drive. By time she got there she was in tears but the wet face and sad eyes weren't enough for him to sit her down and explain his wrong doings.
Even after her mom forgave him, she kept him at a distance and let him know she didn't need him like her mother did. He thought she was being dramatic but her mom and aunts all understood. His little girl wanted answers and wanted to be sure her superman wasn't actually the villain but he proved to be just that. Even when he decided that her icing him out still wasn't enough for him to sit her down and talk. Instead, he wanted her to move on because her mom had but what he didn't realize was the two women looked at him in different lights. One was his wife and best friend of two decades who knew his heart, who knew people made human mistakes, and could choose whether to leave or stay. Asha, however, was his oldest child who thought the sun and moon revolved around him since she was little girl. He could do no wrong in her eyes — until he did.
"Hey princess." he smiled the second her face appeared. "How you doing this morning?"
"Fine. Just getting some laundry done."
"I saw y'all won your homecoming game. Did you go?"
"Yes, I went. Did you call for something?" she walked out of the laundry room. "I was in the middle of watching a video."
"I uh...I was reorganizing the garage and I found this in one of the boxes." he flipped the camera to her old wonder woman costume then put the camera back on himself. "It made me miss when you were knee high, following me everywhere I went and thinking you could protect me from any and everything. "
"Funny how things change huh? You can throw it away if you want."
"Asha why won't you sit down and talk to me? I don't like you holding me at arms length."
"Because when I tried to talk I was barked at and told to stay in a child's place. Even to this day you refuse to apologize to me for how you made me feel in your office, how you and mom made me take over your responsibilities as a parent, and for having to listen to my mom cry every other night because you couldn't keep it in your pants."
"Asha—"
"I have a lot to get done today." she cut him off.
He sighed, "Alright, I'll let you go. I love you."
"Yeah, you too." she ended the call.
Immediately, she dropped her phone down beside her and deeply inhaled and exhaled. She hated that so much animosity coursed through her when her dad talked or came around. She remembered how it felt to love him and be loved by him and she wanted it back, desperately, but not at the cost of her settling for a rug sweep. It wasn't her style. She didn't like sweeping anything under the rug. She wanted him to apologize just as her mom had but that wasn't his style. The only person who could ever gripe an apology out of him was her mom and no one else, therefore, she knew that their relationship would continue on the way it was. Memories didn't swoon her, money didn't swoon her and neither did his title as her dad. She needed words of remorse and acknowledgment.
The doorbell ringing brought her from her moment of grievance and prompted her to stand up and see who was on the other side. She peeked out of the window to see a Kia Optima parked on the curb of the street but she had no idea who it could have been. She wasn't familiar with a Kia. She cracked the door to see Sanchez's friend Zeek holding up a phone. She pulled the door open more, causing him to hold the device out to her.
"Victoria left this last night. Let her know Zeek brought it."
"Okay." she nodded just as the driver's window to the Kia rolled down and a hand was up in the air. Her glasses weren't on so she couldn't make out who was behind the wheel. "Who is that?"
Zeek glanced back, "Chez. Sanchez."
"Oh." she smiled and waved back at him. "Well, thank you for bringing her phone, Zeek."
"Yeah, no problem. Enjoy your Sunday." he walked away.
"Asha come here for a second!" she heard Sanchez call from his car, opening the driver's door.
She immediately grew nervous and wondered just how crazy she looked. It was Sunday so she still wore her bonnet, an oversized tee with a pair of spandex underneath and no glasses. It was rare for her to wear her glasses in the house because she knew what everyone looked like and knew where everything was. She wasn't seeing blobs blind but her vision wasn't clear. She also felt exposed when she didn't have them on around people she wasn't familiar with. She didn't know every detail of their face which meant she couldn't draw them in a sketch for the police.
Zeek peeked over his shoulder to see if she was coming behind him. She looked around the door area and spotted her red crocs. She pushed her feet in them and stepped out the door which prompted Sanchez to climb from the car. Zeek climbed back in with a smirk, proud that his boy was choosing to speak up. Sanchez wasn't an insecure dude but he kept to himself even in the presence of someone he found attractive. Zeek thought it was time he tried dating around. All Sanchez offered was a few nights of sex then he cleaned his hands but Zeek thought he was too stand up for that to be all he did. Dating never really hurt anyone.
Asha met Sanchez at the end of the driveway with a thumping heart because she didn't know what the exchange would be like. They hit it off well last night and she would be lying if she said he didn't cloud her mind every couple minutes. Without even trying, he made a good impression on her.
"You scheduled an appointment for your tire?" he looked over at her parked car.
"Yeah, it's at ten thirty."
"Good but look I wanted to ask if you're free anytime this week? I've been wanting to hit the rink and since you're a skater, maybe you could tag along with me."
A bright smile spread over Asha's face, "You think I'm cool don't you, Sanchez?"
"Ah man." he threw his head back with a guilty smile. The two short moments they shared over the weekend had made a solid impression on him. "Just let me know, okay?"
"And how am I going to do that exactly? Wait until I see you on campus?"
"You have my twitter." he smirked.
"Twitter? Yeah, you can hold your breath waiting on that dm." he whipped out his phone and held it out to her. "That's more like it. I will be letting you know because believe it or not, I think you're pretty cool too."
"You'd be lying if you said otherwise." he took his phone back and slowly backed away, "See you later."
"See you later." she turned away and headed back for the entrance of the house.
She heard his car door shut and glanced over her shoulder. He leaned back in the seat, watching her walk the pathway until she was inside. He blew his horn and threw his hand up after she opened the door and slowly rolled until she closed the door behind herself. As soon as she reached the couch, her phone pinged with a message from an unsaved number — lock me in.
The next half hour, was spent finishing up the I Am Athlete episode until it was time for Asha to head for the mechanic shop. She didn't care to change her appearance because she expected to be in and out within thirty minutes. Still in a bonnet, big tee and spandex shorts, she climbed from her car after one of the men in uniform signaled for her to pull all the way in.
"What can I help you with?" he grabbed a clipboard.
"I have an appointment for a new tire."
"Ruben! The ten thirty is here for that tire!" he shouted over his shoulder. "The keys in the car?" she nodded. "Alright, go ahead and take a seat in the lobby."
Asha slipped inside of the propped open lobby door and quickly took a seat in one of the empty chairs. A man came out of a door to her right and gave her a bright smile. He was six foot three with a shiny bald head and a goatee that was just as shiny. Unlike the other workers, he wasn't in a uniform. He wore a simple white t-shirt and a pair of starch ironed jeans. He reminded her of her uncle who was serving time in prison; clothes ironed perfectly, tattoos that spoke to his past, and a dangerous demeanor. But something about the man's face reigned familiar though she knew they had never crossed paths before.
"You're the ten thirty?" he walked behind the front desk, swiftly sticking a pen behind his ear.
She stood up and walked over to him, "Yes, sir."
"Okay." he quickly typed on the computer. "I have one new tire and a wheel alignment, right?"
"Yes." she nodded.
"Alright. That's two hundred thirteen dollars and forty eight cents, babygirl." she reached into her purse and pulled out her wallet as he moved around, giving her time to get her money together.
"Is it ready for me to insert my card?" she asked.
"Yeah, go ahead." as she stared at the word 'processing' on the card reader, Ruben tried to take in her features. She resembled a woman from his past and he wanted to ignore it but the feeling of familiarity was too strong. "You from around here?"
She looked up at him. "Um...no."
"You got any family from Jupiter? I ain't tryna come off as some weird ol' head but you remind me of this woman I know from back in the day."
"Uh, actually I do. What's her name?"
"Sydnie. Sydnie Parris but she went by Tiptoe."
The last thing Asha expected was for the man to say her mother's name and to know her mom's nickname. She'd only ever heard a few family members call her mom Tiptoe, and the name was only a thing because of the way she ran. She was one of the best track runners in her district. Her speed was impeccable and because she ran on her toes, her feet were hardly visible as she lapped the track. But because her mother was popular for her athleticism and her scholastics, she figured the man was just a dude from the neighborhood that knew her mom because they lived on the same block.
Nonetheless, she was still shocked that a man on the other side of the state knew who her mom was. "Wow, yeah, I know who that is. She's actually my mother."
He stepped back with a smile even brighter than the one he'd greeted her with. "Word? Sydnie's yo mama? Her and my lady were tight as thieves back then. You the oldest right? Dulabug?"
"I haven't been called Dulabug in foreverrrr. They just call me Bug now. Dang, that's crazy. What's your name?"
She was going to make it her mission to let her mom know that she ran into someone from her past. Her mom had a love/hate relationship with her past but there were certain things that she would ramble about for hours, and people were one of them. There were a couple people Asha never met from her mom's past but felt like she knew from her mom's constant reminiscing.
"Ruben Harmon. If you mention Danielle your mama will know exactly who you're talking about. Wow."
"Danielle? Danielle Laporte? They were best friends since freshmen right?"
"Yeah, your mom talks about her?" both happiness and hope appeared in his orbs.
"All the time." Asha was also aware of how Danielle's life was taken but she wasn't going to bring it up. It wasn't her place, and she was sure he lived with that everyday anyway and didn't need a reminder. It did break her heart to know their love story ended in such tragedy because her mom described their love as one in a million. "My mom makes sure to keep her name alive with all the memories she share. She even has a few pictures up around the house. From what I've been told, she was beautiful inside and out."
"Indeed she was." he nodded. "Tell your mom I asked about her."
"I will."
He gave Asha another smile before he handed her the receipt then headed for the garage with the other employees. Asha reclaimed her seat then dug for her airpods in her purse to keep her a little occupied for the time being. The show playing on the mounted tv wasn't her taste but tiktok would get the job done for the mean time. So she thought. An incoming facetime call from Victoria prevent her from even clicking on the app. She accepted the call and burst out laughing when Toria took over her screen with a grumpy face, smeared mascara and a slipping scarf.
"Now why would you call me and you're looking like this?" Asha could tell that she was sitting on the toilet and that humored her more. It was so Victoria.
"Are you embarrassed of me? I thought this was for better or for poor?"
"Please. You miss me already?"
"Yes! I woke up and there was no sign of you. Shit I thought I was tripping because I could have sworn I lost my phone last night."
"You did. Zeek brought it to the house this morning. You must've had a good time last night to be losing your phone."
"Did I? I was shaking ass on anybody that was within two feet of me. We would've been out longer if Brad wasn't tracking Jema's every step. He would not let her leave his side last night and it was irritating me. Like let my girl enjoy herself."
"I'm surprised you didn't cuss him out."
"Who said I didn't? I made sure he heard what I had to say on our way out of the club and on the ride back home. Where are you anyway? It's almost eleven. You should be home."
"I caught a flat tire last night so I'm up here getting it changed. I should be back home in like twenty five to thirty minutes, big baby. I know your whole world would turn upside down if I'm gone too long."
"It sure will. Hurry and get back to me so we can snuggle and watch the new episode of Power book two."
"Yes ma'am. Now wash your face and brush your teeth. You look crazy, love."
"Kiss my ass, okay. Bye."
_____
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