EJShaun.com

That night, Kelvin went to bed with a splitting headache. He didn’t sleep much, blaming himself for the article. He caught it at work after Tiffany posted their response. Aliyah called him in the evening to talk about it. She said they needed to lie low for a while. She also said he should meet her sister. He agreed to everything, of course. He apologized for the run-in, but she reassured him it was nobody’s fault. Except Brian’s. The next morning, she texted him to cheer him up.

I’ve got a surprise for you. Keep Saturday open. Be at my place at noon.

He almost dropped his phone reading it.

Can’t wait.

Friday crawled. At work, he printed off the pictures they took at The Dome. He put one in his locker and framed another for his nightstand. He taped one with Aja to his wall. The CD she signed was already on his dresser. In the evening, he binge-watched the show where Aliyah and Tiffany met. He cringed at himself for doing it. They looked so young.

He pulled up to her gate at exactly noon. The oak doors had a rich red luster. He said her name out loud while reading her initials.

The gate opened right away. She told him to text when he got off the highway. He crept in slowly, waving to the cameras.

At the end of the driveway, her Escalade sat with the engine running. The sleek body shined like new. He saw Markus and Jamal in the front. Aliyah was in the back with her arm out the window. She smiled as he passed, gesturing for him to hurry.

His foot slipped off the brake. The car jerked forward because of it. Something clunked under his hood.

He parked in the grass beside an icy blue Mustang. He practically drooled over it. Cars always lined the front of her yard. People came and went constantly.

He hopped out then rushed over. A breeze helped tame the sweltering heat that day. The scent of jasmine filled the air.

“Was that your sway bar?” she asked after he climbed in, “Sounds broken.”

He giggled. “Shut up.” His hair fell in his face. “So, what’s the surprise? Are we going somewhere? I thought we were lying low.”

“We are. We’re just lying low somewhere else.”

Jamal turned the music down before driving out. He and Markus argued over which route to take. Neither of them let slip where they were going.

Kelvin pressed his hands into the seat. The leather felt nice. It brought him back to their meet-and-greet.

“Good memories back here.”

She snickered.

“Is Tiff coming?”

“No, not today.” She turned away to adjust her seatbelt. The strap pulled taut across her chest. “I sent her to the spa. She deserved a day off.”

He might’ve stared a little too long. She wore a lowcut shirt with a pendant necklace that sparkled in the light.

She shoved him. “Hey, you should spit something for me. Warm up.”

“Warm up? What do you mean? Where are we going?”

She cursed, covering her mouth like she wrecked the surprise. “Don’t worry about it. Just spit something for me.”

The air conditioner belted from the front. Despite the chill, a rush of warmth washed over him. He’d never seen her so flustered before.

Markus switched the song to an instrumental. The sub-woofers thumped behind them. Kelvin tried to go in on the first drop, but for some reason, nothing came to him. He could see Aliyah in his head, but none of his usual material formed around her. Something else hit instead.

“Lately I’ve been feeling kinda lost. Maybe things been getting crossed. Ever since The Dome leaked, I’ve been slipping off the top. Almost like I got shot from that little photo op. And it wasn’t like we got caught doing something wrong.”

She hummed. “You know that’s right.”

“Can’t a woman rock with it? Maybe even drop with it, not setting off every single paparazz with it? Nah, let them talk with it. Not, like the Boss tripping. Tell them, any shots fired, watch, is a shot missing.”