Lover's Island, page 12
The room was the last one on the right side of the hallway. Jabari knocked three times and glanced at his phone to see if Nyimah had replied to the text he’d sent minutes earlier. When the door opened, Jabari’s eyes settled on fresh white toes. They traveled up and stared at a pair of thick thighs that were completely bare. His eyes met a pair of D-cups next. “Damn,” he stated as he pushed into the room and closed the door behind him.
Paige batted her eyes, watching Jabari head toward the king-size bed. She placed her hand on her wide hip and bit the tip of her stiletto-shaped nail. “Wassup?” she purred, leaning on the dresser. The red lace teddy she wore barely contained her voluptuous assets.
Jabari licked his lips as he took a seat on the edge of the bed while eyeing Paige. She had been flirting with him since she returned from Vegas. Thinking back, he recalled different occasions where she had given him flirtatious vibes, but he had written it off then as her being friendly. “Come here,” he demanded lowly.
She sauntered over to him, then stood between his open legs. “You never replied to my text the other night. I thought you’d changed your mind,” Paige said.
Jabari ignored her and gripped her thighs with both hands before running his hands up and down them slowly. “What made you come on to me at the gym?” he asked, squeezing her thighs softly.
Paige shrugged and shook her head. She honestly didn’t know the answer to that question. “I don’t know, for real.”
She’d never admit it to anyone, but Paige had always been attracted to Jabari. They were familiar with each other from being from the same city. Paige had introduced Nyimah to Jabari at a party, and it was history from there. At that point in time, Nyimah had still been grieving Asun and had been dejected about life for a long time. In the beginning, Jabari had made Nyimah happy. Paige had buried her feelings for him because she had thought Nyimah needed him more.
“I was going through some personal issues, and you were there. I couldn’t help myself,” she admitted.
“Hmm.” Jabari nodded, and his hands drifted to Paige’s round ass. “And what about Nyimah?” Jabari was sure Paige could have her pick of the litter when it came to available men. He wanted to understand Paige’s reasoning.
“What about Nyimah? Does she care about anyone other than herself?” Paige scoffed and crossed her arms. “I’ve been stressed for weeks. My mom is sick, and I’m the one taking care of her household. Do you think Nyimah has even called to check on me?” She sucked her teeth and rolled her eyes.
“You here, so I guess not,” he replied. He didn’t care to hear about any of Paige’s personal issues or her issues with Nyimah. He didn’t partake in female gossip, but he did want to see if Paige had any information on Nyimah’s secret trip. “So, you don’t know who Nyimah’s in Charlotte with?”
Paige sighed and removed Jabari’s hands from her thighs. She shifted her weight from one leg to the other impatiently. “I just told you I haven’t talked to Nyimah. I know as much as you do,” Paige answered. Although she suspected Nyimah was with Cree, she didn’t know for sure. She wasn’t here to throw Nyimah under the bus. She just wanted a nut. “Are we here to talk about Nyimah, or are we fucking?” She pushed Jabari slightly.
Chuckling, Jabari slipped the Cool Grey 11s off his feet and placed them on the side of the bed. “Say no more.” He leaned back and propped his body up with his elbows.
“Thank you,” Paige said. She climbed on the bed and lowered herself to her knees. She crawled over to Jabari and ran her hands up his gray sweats. She pulled them down and reached for Jabari’s manhood. She grinned as he grew in her hands. It was thick and long. “I knew it was big.” She pulled it out and stroked it with both hands. Nyimah had made the mistake of bragging about sex with Jabari to Paige in the past. Now she couldn’t wait to sample the experience.
Jabari pulled at teddy’s thin material. Paige swatted his hands away and brought him into her mouth. “Oh shit,” he whispered as his knees buckled. Her mouth was wet and warm, just how he imagined it. Paige’s weave bounced as she bobbed up and down on his dick. He shoved her head down farther, thrusting into her mouth. “Shit,” he groaned and pushed Paige away before he busted.
Paige smirked and wiped the side of her mouth with her thumb. She pulled the straps of the teddy over her shoulders and removed it. Jabari retrieved the condom from his pocket and slid it down with one hand. She straddled Jabari and lowered herself onto him. She moaned in ecstasy as he stretched her out, slowly stroking in and out of her. “Fuck,” she uttered, then bit her lip and threw her ass back.
Jabari gripped Paige by the neck and slid in and out of her. Her pussy sang every time he thrust into her, the wetness dripping onto his pelvis. “Yeah!” he exclaimed as Paige rode him wildly. Minutes later he released himself into the condom, and Paige fell onto his chest, panting.
“That was amazing,” she said. She rolled off Jabari and rolled onto her feet. Her ass jiggled as she walked into the bathroom. She turned the shower on. “You want to grab something to eat?” Paige asked from the bathroom.
Jabari sighed and ran his hand down his face. He had hoped that sex would take his mind off Nyimah, but it had worked only in the moment. He didn’t want Paige to get things confused. They existed only between these four walls. “Nah, I’m good. Too risky.” He stood, pulled his sweats up, and went into the bathroom to flush the condom.
Paige peeked her head out from behind the shower curtain. “Shower at least?” she offered.
Jabari shook his head and pulled his wallet out. “I’ma do that at home. Get yourself some food, though.” He peeled off hundreds and laid them on the bathroom counter.
Paige rolled her eyes at the thousand dollars. “Seriously, Jabari? You think I’m a prostitute or something?”
“Nah, I think you a bitch that’s fucking her best friend’s nigga, who want to keep shit quiet as kept. Respectfully,” he answered. “If you tripping, let me know now. We can dead this.”
Paige scoffed and snatched the shower curtain back. “Whatever, nigga.”
Jabari smirked, left the bathroom, and grabbed his keys from the nightstand. “Pussy real good, though. Let me know when you want to get up again,” he shouted before leaving the room and closing the door behind him.
* * *
Cree landed in Fort Lauderdale within two hours after takeoff. He raced to the Miami-Dade County hospital in his Tesla. His mother and father were already at the hospital with Nova and were waiting on him. He prayed to find his daughter in one piece, or he’d be delivering someone to their mother in pieces. After whipping his car wildly into the emergency entrance, Cree hopped out, not even bothering to turn his car off.
“Hey, man! You can’t leave your car here!” the security guard yelled after Cree.
Cree paused, scowling, and pulled a few hundreds from his pocket. “Baptiste. Park it and find me,” he said and handed the security guard the money. “Don’t fuck with my shit,” he added as he held the man’s hand tightly until his pale skin turned red.
“I got it! I got it!” the security guard pleaded and backed away toward the Telsa. He didn’t want any problems with the menacing-looking black man. He’d park the car and return the keys straight to the front desk.
“Good,” Cree mumbled before jogging into the hospital.
He spotted his parents sitting with Nova in the waiting area and rushed over to them. He greeted his mother, kissing her cheek, and embraced his father. “Where is she?” he demanded.
“They’ve taken her to surgery,” Nova replied shakily and stood. Her messy bun and the yoga pants she wore spoke to her distress. She never left the house in anything less than a fully styled outfit and hairdo. She paced the area, running her hands down her face.
“What happened?” Cree demanded as he trailed after her.
Tears rolled down Nova’s face, and she covered her sobs with her hands. “I let her spend a few hours with Belle after their ballet practice. Sanai kept asking to go. There was a car accident,” she explained as her voice trembled. Sanai participated in ballet and attended practice three times a week. The children were preparing for their summer recital, and Belle was her best friend. Sanai had begged for weeks to spend time with Belle outside of ballet, and Nova had thought today was a good opportunity.
“How are Belle and her mother?” Cree inquired.
Nova twirled at her fingers nervously. “They’re okay. Minor injuries. Sanai’s side of the car is what received the most impact.”
“And the other driver?” he questioned.
Fabian cleared his throat and shot Cree a look that only the two of them could understand. “Drunk driver. Fled the scene without even a scratch.” Trespasses like this weren’t forgiven by Fabian. He wanted an example made of the man responsible.
Loveleen huffed and shook her head. “I told Nova about letting that child go over people’s houses,” she chimed in. If any irreparable damage came to her granddaughter because of Nova’s carelessness, she would never forgive her.
“Love, mind your business,” Fabian warned. He knew Loveleen disliked Nova, and any little thing she did could piss Loveleen off. Her judgment of Nova wasn’t fair, in Fabian’s opinion. But he had learned one thing: Loveleen was never wrong about her hunches.
“My grandbaby is my business! I would’ve gladly watched Sanai, and none of this would’ve happened!” Loveleen exclaimed.
“She’s going to be fine,” Fabian stated.
Cree turned his eyes to his mother and shook his head. He didn’t want her getting worked up. The anger he harbored in this moment was enough for all of them. He’d find the man responsible, but first, he had to make sure his baby girl was okay. He zoned in on Nova. “Where were you?”
Nova scoffed and cocked her head to the side. She didn’t appreciate Cree’s tone. He sounded like he was questioning her integrity as a mother. “I got called into my practice!” she shouted, pointing to her chest. She owned her own plastic surgery practice, where she performed such procedures as Botox injections, lip augmentation, and rhinoplasties on Miami’s elite class. “Where were you?” Nova shot back.
Cree rubbed his goatee in response. Nova’s defensive disposition turned him off. “I only asked. I’m not blaming you,” he said and took a seat beside his mother. His elbows rested on his knees, and he placed his chin on his balled fist as they awaited word from the doctors. He knew Nova would find a way to flip this on him. She’d argue that if he had been around more, Sanai would’ve never been in an accident. Though Cree spent most of his free time with his daughter, it wasn’t enough for Nova if she wasn’t included.
“How was Charlotte, baby?” Loveleen asked, changing the subject.
“Charlotte?” Nova repeated and scoffed. “I know you weren’t seeing that bitch.” She suspected that the woman from Las Vegas was the reason behind Cree’s impromptu trip to Charlotte.
Cree sighed and thought about Nyimah. She had sprung the news of her pregnancy on him, and he had barely had time to process it before getting Nova’s call. He hated that he had had to leave Nyimah, but his priority was to make sure his daughter was okay. He made a mental note to call and check up on Nyimah the following day. “We’ll talk later, Ma,” he said, ignoring Nova.
A white male doctor wearing light blue scrubs covered by a white lab coat approached the family. “Mrs. Baptiste, my name is Dr. Leland, and I’m Sanai’s surgeon,” he said as he gazed at Nova.
“It’s Ms. Saint,” Nova said, correcting the doctor, and stood.
“I’m Mrs. Baptiste,” Loveleen interjected. “This is my husband and my son Cree. He’s Sanai’s father.” The three of them stood to their feet. “How is she?” she asked anxiously.
“May we?” the doctor asked and pointed his clipboard to an area off to the side of the waiting area. The family followed behind him. Once they were gathered there, he went on. “We were able to correct the fracture of her fibula with minor surgery. She’ll have to wear a boot for the next twelve weeks and attend physical therapy after that.”
“Done,” Cree replied.
Nova nodded her head in agreement. “When can we see her?”
Dr. Leland sighed and flipped through the pages on the clipboard. “That’s the thing. We encountered a few complications during the surgery.”
“What kind of complications?” Fabian questioned.
“Well, her BP dropped a few times during the surgery, and I initially didn’t know why. We did a scan and found that Sanai suffered from an injury to her spinal cord. After calling in the head surgeon of our neurological department, we discovered that Sanai also had severe swelling around her brain. She began seizing,” he explained.
Nova gasped and held her hand out to grip Cree’s arm for balance. Loveleen gasped and held her hand across her heart. She imagined Sanai’s little body lying on the hospital bed, convulsing from a seizure. Clasping her hands together, she prayed for Sanai to be healed.
Cree sniffed away emotion as he thought about how scared Sanai must have been. She’d been all alone in a room full of unfamiliar faces. “There’s more?” he asked sternly.
Dr. Leland nodded. “We’ve placed her in a medically induced coma until the swelling on her brain subsides.”
“If it doesn’t?” Nova asked shakily.
“Because she is so young, there’s the potential of suffering from neurological deficits that can permanently damage her brain function.”
“Oh my,” Loveleen said and turned her head into Fabian’s chest to conceal her tears.
Dr. Leland handed Loveleen a few tissues. Responding to these types of emotional reactions was second nature to him. “As of now, Sanai is stable. I’m going to do everything in my power to keep her comfortable, but all we can do now is wait.”
“Can we see her?” Cree asked.
“Of course. But just the parents. Follow me,” Dr. Leland said. He headed for an elevator, with Cree and Nova following behind him. “She just finished up surgery about fifteen minutes ago. She won’t be able to respond, but she can hear you.”
* * *
Nyimah sat on the couch with her legs crossed, scrolling through stories on her social media accounts and eating a bag of salt and vinegar chips. Two days had passed since she spoke to Cree. After his abrupt departure, Nyimah had left Charlotte the following morning. She had sent a text offering her prayers and well-wishes for his daughter. Nyimah feared the extent of the child’s injuries were worse than she had first suspected.
As she continued to scroll, Nyimah landed on Paige’s Instagram story. Clicking through the story, Nyimah settled on a post Paige had shared. The girl in the video talked about relationships and uneven energy exchanges within them. Nyimah smacked her lips at the video and swiped out of Instagram. Paige must have felt a way, but instead of expressing it to Nyimah, she had taken it to social media. It was insulting to Nyimah, because after being friends with Paige for so long, she had expected better communication. She had expected Paige to communicate her feelings like an adult. After locating her contact information, Nyimah sent her a text message.
We need to talk. Pull up on me. I’m home.
The message was delivered and was read by Paige seconds later. Three dots danced at the bottom of the screen before her reply came through, letting Nyimah know Paige would be there shortly. She hoped to discover the root of the issue with Paige.
Their bedroom door swung open, and Jabari came out with nothing but a towel around his waist. They hadn’t spoken much since she got back, but Nyimah wondered if Rozai had called Jabari after he saw her in Charlotte. She’d bet money that he had. Niggas liked to gossip more than women sometimes. If Jabari was privy to her true moves in Charlotte, he didn’t mention it to her.
“You going into the shop today?” Jabari asked.
Nyimah shook her head. “Nah, I have to run a few errands,” she answered. It was nearly the truth, since Nyimah didn’t disclose the fact that she had a doctor’s appointment scheduled later in the day. “You got plans?”
“Just hitting a few plays.” Jabari hovered over the dryer and pulled out a clean pair of boxer briefs. He closed the dryer door and entered the bedroom to proceed with getting dressed.
Minutes later, a knock came upon the front door. Nyimah knew it was Paige. “Come in!” she yelled from the couch.
The door pushed open, and Paige walked in. She wore a fitted pink sweat suit with a pair of pink Nike Dunks. Her wig was pulled up into a bun, and her pretty face was free of makeup. Paige was glowing, and it was obvious.
“Hey, bitch,” Paige said as she took a seat on the end of the couch next to Nyimah.
“Hey, stranger,” Nyimah replied sarcastically. “You look good.”
Paige blushed and looked around the house. She knew Jabari had to be around here somewhere, because his car was outside. Paige hadn’t wanted to pop up with him there, but if she’d dodged Nyimah any longer, Nyimah would have suspected the worst. “Thanks, girl.”
“What’s up with you?” Nyimah wasted no time getting straight to her point.
“What do you mean?” Paige retorted. A small part of her wondered if Nyimah had figured out what was going on between her and Jabari. Nah, she would’ve popped off already, Paige thought. Play it cool, bitch, she told herself.
Nyimah was about to respond, but Jabari coming out of the bedroom distracted her for a moment. She didn’t pick up on the shocked look on his face when his eyes landed on Paige.
Jabari briefly locked eyes with Paige before he bent over and kissed Nyimah’s forehead. “I’ll be back later. You need anything?”
A slight smile crossed Nyimah’s face. “No, I’m good.”
Paige inconspicuously rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. The nigga didn’t even acknowledge her existence, like he hadn’t been knee-deep in her pussy last night. “Hey to you, too, Jabari.” She sucked her teeth.
Jabari shook his head in her direction and left through the front door without replying to Paige. He didn’t know what type of time she was on or what games she was playing. For a second, he realized how close to home this shit was. He already regretted getting involved with Paige.
