“I’m sorry, Zoey,” he whispered painfully before giving me a lingering peck on my lips. “I’m so fucking sorry.”
Stenton turned and walked off. His shoulders, though high and wide were weighed down with something that he didn’t want to share. And no matter how self-assured a person I was at the tender age of twenty-one, no amount of hopefulness would fool me into misinterpreting what he’d just done. Stenton had just said goodbye to whatever we made in the Cayman Islands. It was over. I watched him walk away with my heart in tow.
Chapter 10
~Zoey~
When my door burst open, I jumped from my bed and into the wall that it sat against, holding my chest. An earplug flew out and my mouth went dry.
“What in the world is your deal, girl?”
“Momma has been calling you for five minutes now!” Ruth managed with all the b-girl attitude she could spew my way. “Could your depressing ass come out of this hellish bat cave to dwell amongst the living for once?”
I ripped the remaining bud from my ear and leaped off the bed, pushing my way into my little sister’s face.
“Who on God’s earth do you think you’re taking that language with, little girl?” I issued the most threatening glare I could. I was prepared to toss Ruth around the second floor of our parents’ home.
“Well, now that someone has your attention, I’m talking to you. You’ve been in this room since we got back from South Carolina a week ago, Zo!”
“You have two-point three seconds to get out of here or you’re going to have to have be lifted out,” I hissed directly into her face.
I’d never been a violent person. At the most, as children, Ruth and I would shove each other around, but nothing more than that. Until this day. Today, I would make Ruth regret even being born.
“Hey! What is all this commotion going on up in here?” My mother came stomping through the halls. She arrived between the two of us. “I know you two know better than to be fighting! Elizabeth, what is going on with you?”
I’d had it. I jerked back, went into my tiny closet, pulled out the overnight bag that was last used for the Cayman Islands. The one I’d refused to unpack before I could understand what had happened. I tossed a few things in there, packing it to capacity.
“Nothing,” I answered my mother. “If anyone needs me, I’ll be at Karen’s helping with the baby. Then I’m off to school.” I made my way to the door, noting Ruth had disappeared.
“Now, hold on just for one second, young lady!” My mother hooked my arm before I could breeze past her in the small doorway. “You’ve been pouting in this room for days now. This wouldn’t have anything to do with that ball player that you been gushin’ over, would it?”
Now panting, I realized lying to my mother was pretty much futile. I had been home since returning from the Cayman Islands, because it was a far more comfortable environment that didn’t remind me so much of Stenton. I hadn’t made love to him here. I’d fallen into a dark pit, a place where I could feel every hollow place, yet had no understanding of how to survive there. I’d never known this chasm of despair.
I leveled my eyes with hers. “Momma, right now is not a good time. I haven’t been doing too well with having too much time on my hands from taking just one class this summer. I think sitting with Karen for a few days to help her out will help me.”
For minutes long, she just stared at me. I knew she could see right through me, but I made sure not to give her the ammunition she needed to pull the mask clear from my face.
“You be sure to call me when you’re ready to talk. I’m your momma and ain’t nothing I don’t feel from or for you. Do you understand me, young girl?”