three

Austin calls me and says he wants to go out on a date. All he said was "Get pretty and come through." I work on my hair and then decide between two outfits. I travel to his place and I'm greeted by his father who reeked of alcohol, but seemed jovial besides.

"Hi honey," He shuffles back to the couch. I walk to Austin's room and find him sleeping. This nigga....

I poke him, he turns his head to look at me, and for a second looked startled. "Damn Nikki, my bad. I'ma shower right now."

Austin pulls me close and kisses me with entirely too much tongue for hello. He smacks my ass and goes into the bathroom. I glance at my watch 7:15. Wherever we were planning on going, I'm sure we'll be late. Sitting on the bed, I get comfy and turn the tv on. As I'm looking for it, I find Austin's phone underneath his pillow. Finally, I find the remote at the foot of the bed, underneath the blankets. While changing the channel, I notice his phone vibrate. I shake my head. Nah lemme not be nosy. I keep flipping the channels, but something tells me to look.

3 New Messages

347-555-0701

Um. An unsaved number is always interesting but three messages from an unsaved number is a mystery asking to be solved. I open his messages and my heart drops. She was fully naked. She had obviously just gotten out of the shower, she was dripping. Her tattoo between her breasts highlighted insecurities I didn't even knew I had. Her bush was freshly trimmed. Au Naturale. Good for her. I scroll up.

Austin

Ur Turn

His dick, his hands. And to make matters worse... or better, I can't tell yet, it was a picture he'd sent me before. Wow. I sent myself screenshots from his phone, deleted them from his messages and then left his room. I hugged his dad from the side and said "I have to go- I have a family emergency." My voice cracked.

He looks down at me, "Sure, honey." He walks me to the door. "Be careful out there."

He closes it behind me and I start welling up. On the train ride home, I took my hair down and pulled up my hood. As I expected, soon after I left the phone calls and texts started. I just don't understand. We have sex all the time. I come to his part of town, spend over two hours on the train just to see him for a few minutes and some dick and he cheats on me! I gave up going to Australia for him. I looked at the texts I sent to myself. Seeing them only made me more mad. I can't believe he had the audacity to send her the same damn picture he sent me! How original. I didn't know what I was going to do. His name kept flashing over my screen. I look at the picture he sent. The time stamp is a 5 minute difference from when he called and asked me to come over. He really played me.

I could feel the tears burning my eyes. My chest was starting to feel really heavy. I can't believe I ruined my future over some nigga that works at a bodega. I started to cry. I hate crying in general, but especially in public. I couldn't help myself though.

Fuckboy

My dad said you had a family emergency. Call me. ASAP. Are you good

I stare at his text. My stop comes and I shove my phone in my pocket. As soon as I walk into my house, I think of the perfect response to him.

Me

Nah, I lied. Just like you did. When you figure out what you lied to me about, I'll answer your calls.

The barrage of texts and calls continued for a few more minutes. Then my phone ceased vibrating. I put some R&B on the speaker and took off the outfit I'd gotten dressed up in. Wiped the bit of eyeliner I had from my eyes. I felt dumb, plain and simple. I needed to get rid of this day. I hopped in the shower.

A hug from my mom would be really great right now. I text her while trying very hard to ignore Austin's that I'd like to see her and Dad tomorrow, are they busy?

She hits me back almost immediately saying no, all she's doing is cooking Sunday dinner, will I be joining them? Feeling homesick as hell, I text yes. Not wanting anything to do with anything else, I skulk into bed with the covers over my head and instantly I was asleep.

Sunday dinners have and always will be the shit at my house. My mom always threw down everyday when I was in high school but according to dad, the weekdays are a free for all now. Sunday is the only day she'll actually cook a meal. Today, it was baked mac and cheese, chicken and rice with a side of vegetables. When I walked into the house, I was enveloped by the smell of home. Momma's perfume, warm food in the kitchen, incense in the living room. The dulcet tones of Erykah Badu's voice swam through the house. My toes were flush in the carpet, stretching and curling up when my mom called from the kitchen.

"Baby, do you want cornbread?"

I squealed. "Of course, momma!"

Dad was sitting in the recliner, pushed all the way back with his hands resting on his stomach.

"While I'm glad you're here, I was hoping you'd bring Austin over, honey. I wanted to rack his brain a little. Y'all are usually tied to the hip. What did he do now?"

"He didn't do anything, Daddy. His dad wasn't feeling well today so he's working at the shop." It wasn't totally a lie, but it wasn't totally the truth either. I'm positive Eddie is three sheets to the wind so it would be left up to Austin to take care of the shop anyway.

"Dinner will be ready soon, babies. Y'all ready to eat?" Momma had barely finished her sentence before I hear the springs squeaking shut in Daddy's recliner.

During a commercial break after dinner, I cleared my throat. I hadn't had a chance, rather I was actually avoiding telling my parents that I'd withdrawn from my classes. My dad's snoring had been getting increasingly louder over the past few minutes, so my mom kicked his recliner with the ball of her foot.

"Artie, you're getting too loud." His head snapped forward with a jolt and he coughed.

"Huh? What?" He says groggily.

I choke out a laugh. "Nah, Momma that's not the issue."

Her almond shaped eyes squinted with worry. I wrung my hands together while looking at them. Man, I'm just a few years shy of 30 and my mom still has a way of making me nervous even when I haven't done anything wrong. My dad, fully awake now, puts the television on mute.

"I'm not so sure I want to go to Australia anymore." My nerves turned to sorrow and I started to cry. "I thought I was ready to go, but it's not just like I'm a hop, jump and a skip away. I'm getting cold feet. I started thinking about packing my bags and I just-"

My mom puts her hand on my knee.

"Honey, it's perfectly okay. School will ALWAYS be around. Do whatever you need to do for you. What does that look like to you?" I look up at her and felt a rush of cold air go down my back and goosebumps rise on my arms. I've never been a good liar. But I realized now, I wasn't lying. Not really. It was true, I have had my own doubts about being two oceans over but I felt empowered in knowing I would come back with my final degree. Austin dug into my brain like a tick and now I'm afraid to go, I don't want to lose him. My mom is right, school will always be around.

Looking down at my hands, I murmur, "I need more time to think."

I hear my dad's chair creak, his slippers slap-slap-slapping the floor in my direction. His warm embrace envelopes me. "We are so proud of you anyway, going to school or finding a real job in the city, whatever you decide to do we are in your corner."

I look up at him. "Aunt Jackie would be tight if she heard you say being a receptionist isn't a real job."

He scoffs, "I'm sure she would be, however, why don't you put your degrees to work? Your mother has a friend who is an art curator at the Museum of Natural History, right Simone?"

My mom opens her mouth to respond but I cut her off.

"You guys, I don't need a solution, I just wanted to tell you what was going on."

Deflated, my mom nods. She stands and heads to the kitchen to clean up. Damn, now I feel even worse. I glance at my watch. Blunt O'clock. Dad had settled back down into his chair so I gave him a kiss on the top of his fuzzy head.

"I'm going home."

He squeezes my hand. "Don't tell Jackie what I said, hear?"

I smirk. "Never."

I give my mom a hug as well and on the way out the door, she calls out.

"Call me tomorrow, okay?"