I nodded.
“Must be a new tenant. I think I know all the others by name. What’s yours?” He asked.
“Anthony,” I answered, deciding to be less formal. “Well, AJ.”
He had a look on his face as he committed my name and face to memory.
“Nice meeting you, kid. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you around.”
I nodded and smiled again. “I’m sure you will.”
*****
Sam
I’d been in a daze since hearing the news from Terrell that AJ was now basically my neighbor. The chances of running into him in a city this size were slim to none unless it was planned, but still…we have a way of finding one another like heat-seeking missiles. That realization had me looking over my shoulder since Saturday when Terrell texted me with a very annoying “Knock, knock. Who’s there? AJ!” message while Jason and I were hugged up watching a movie on my couch. Thank God he wasn’t paying attention; he would’ve seen it for sure.
By Sunday night, I’d talked myself out of the crazy notion that I’d run into AJ somewhere random and tried to forget that he was here altogether. Going on a date with Jason seemed like just the thing to help take my mind off of it.
I sat in his car while he filled the gas tank, watching the flow of customers stream in and out of the small convenience store. A woman and her daughter smiled and laughed together as they play-fought over a bag of chips and I found myself smiling right along with them, trying to figure out the young girl’s age. If I had to guess, I’d say that she was around six – just about the same age my child would’ve….
I’m not even going there.
I stopped myself just shy of completing that thought and was determined to think about something else. My attention went to Jason’s phone where it sat on his seat, apparently after slipping out of his pocket. The text alert announced the message that flashed across the screen from an unknown caller: “Another visit soon would be nice. Not that you don’t know this already, but you’re missed when you stay away too long,” was what it said.
Hmm…
I frowned and honestly did try not to get myself worked up without first making an attempt at being rational. I racked my brain trying to think of who would legitimately send Jason such a message. Not his mother – we hadn’t been to see her in L.A. since Christmas. Of course it hadn’t come from any of his boys or Lamar. That only left me believing that it had to be another woman. Especially when I considered the fact that the name and number were blocked.
The driver’s side door flung open and I tore my eyes away from Jason’s phone before he noticed that I’d been staring at it. Before sitting, he scooped it up from the seat.
I wasn’t going to say anything at first, but who the hell am I kidding? “You missed a text,” tumbled out of my mouth before I could even stop it.
Jason didn’t think anything of it. Before starting the engine, he opened the message I’d already read from ‘unknown’. Without saying a word, he viewed it, and then set the phone aside.
“You feel like Thai?” he asked casually, turning the key in the ignition like it was nothing.
I sat there silently.
We went toward the exit of the small parking lot and then pulled out into traffic. “Did you hear me?” he asked.
“Yup.” A fresh dousing of discomfort washed over me. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that the message was anything but innocent.
“Did I do something?” he asked.
My foot was shaking anxiously and I knew I wouldn’t be able to bite my tongue for long. When we stopped at a red light, I’d already reached my limit.
“I saw the message, Jason,” was all I had to say.
He sighed beside me and I took note of how long it took him to respond. “It wasn’t anything,” was all he offered up.