hug.â
âWell, that wasââ
I crane my neck, glancing over my shoulder at her. âUm, hellooooo,â I snap, finally turning to face her. âDo you mind? I mean, heâs here to see me. â
âKamiyah, donâtââ
âKayla,â Daddy says, coming back to the front door, cutting her off before she tries to get it popping out here. âCâmon in and let them be. I have something I want to show you upstairs.â I smirk.
âKamiyah, donât be out here too long,â Daddy says to me.
âI wonât, Daddy,â I say, all sweet and whatnot.
The Wicked Witch stares me down. I turn my back on her again. âGood night, Sincere,â she says.
âGood night, Missus Nichols.â
She grits her teeth. âKamiyah, Iâll speak to you later.â
âWhatever,â I mumble under my breath as she angrily walks off, her heels stabbing the pavement with each step toward the house.
Sincere looks at me. âWhy do you treat your mom like that? She seems mad cool.â
âOh, please. You donât have to live with her.â
âWell, you still shouldnât treat her like that.â
Well, she shouldnât be such an evil woman. And you need to mind your damn business , is what Iâm thinking, but I keep my thoughts in check. âDid you come here to lecture me?â I ask, raising a brow and placing a hand on my hip.
He smiles at me. âNah, I came to see my girl.â
I smirk. âIâm not your girl.â I glance down at my feet and notice thereâs a smudge on the toe of one of my new boots. I hand Sincere my gift so I can try to wipe it off.
âYeah, right. You already know what it is. Now let me check out the new whip.â
âCâmon.â I grab his hand and practically drag him up the driveway to my car. Before I can go in to get the key, Daddy opens the front door and disarms the alarm so I can open the door and show Sincere the inside. âThanks, Daddy,â I say, smiling. âYouâre the best.â
âYeah, I am, arenât I,â he says, chuckling. He goes back inside and lets me and Sincere be.
âDamn, baby, this is sweet,â Sincere says, sticking his head in. I tell him to get in. He does, and I walk over to the driverâs side and get in. Sincere runs his hand over the dashboard and wood-grain finish, admiring all of its fly-ness. âReal nice.â
âI know, I love it,â I say, gripping the steering wheel. I am so wrapped up on the smell and the feel of my car that I almost forget Sincere has my gift in his hand.
âHere,â he says, handing the box back as if he read my mind. âOpen your gift so I can see that pretty smile of yours.â I take it from him, grinning as I rip open the blue wrapping paper, then open the box.
I gasp. âOhmygod, I love it,â I say, reaching over and giving him a hug and kiss on the lips. He bought me an eighteen-karat white-gold heart tag charm. âItâs beautiful.â
âLike you,â he says, smiling at me. And even though he didnât tell me he loved me today, I can tell Sincere really is big on me. But Iâm not gonna be completely satisfied until I know for certain I have him wrapped around my manicured fingers.
âAww, youâre so sweet. Thanks.â
âYouâre welcome, baby. You deserve it.â He leans over and kisses me again; this time he slips his tongue in. When we finally finish our tongue dance, Iâm almost dazed. Kissing him is like eating a whole bag of Reeseâs Pieces. And I loooove me some Reeseâs Pieces; whew . . . delicious!
âCâmon, get out so I can put on your necklace and see how fly my baby looks with it on.â
He doesnât have to tell me twice. I hop out and walk over to him, turning my back to him. I pull my hair up. He kisses me on the back of the neck. His lips feel good on my skin. I