Chapter Twenty-One: Somebody Been Playing House
646 Words
Lyric
I must’ve only been out for two hours — tops.
But the second my eyes opened, I felt it.
His presence.
Zay was still there.
He hadn’t moved.
Still sitting on the edge of my bed, scrolling his phone with one leg stretched out, hoodie halfway off, like this was his spot and not mine.
“You still here?” I asked, voice rough from sleep.
He looked up at me, smirk creeping across his lips.
“You mad?”
I shook my head, trying not to smile. “Nah. Just surprised.”
He leaned back on his palms. “I said I’d stay.”
I sat up, pulling the blanket around me. My bonnet was hanging on for dear life, and my face was probably puffed from sleep — but Zay?
Still looking at me like I was made of something sweet.
“You always wake up looking like this?” he asked.
I rolled my eyes. “Shut up.”
“Can’t. You cute when you annoyed.”
I stood and stretched, walking past him toward the kitchen.
Zay followed, slow. Still barefoot. Still quiet.
The vibe was... too good. The kind of good that made you paranoid.
And that’s when the door opened.
Keys jiggling. Door creaking. Footsteps.
I froze.
Zay paused too, leaning on the fridge.
My mama’s voice hit before she even saw us.
“Lyric, you home—”
She stepped into the kitchen and stopped dead in her tracks.
Zay turned toward her, calm as ever.
My mama looked at me. Then him. Then back at me.
I didn’t say a word.
She did.
“You feeding grown men and letting 'em sleep over now?”
“Mama—”
“Nah, don’t ‘Mama’ me, Lyric Simone. You really got some man up in my house like it’s a hotel?”
Zay straightened up, unfazed. “Afternoon, ma’am.”
She blinked at him. “And who are you?”
He took a step forward, cool as ever. “Zay. I was just keeping her company. Ain’t no funny business.”
My mama squinted at him like she could smell the street on his clothes.
“I ain’t raise you to be fast, girl,” she muttered at me.
“I’m not—”
“You letting him eat your food too?”
Zay held back a smirk.
I wished the floor would open and swallow me whole.
Before the storm could really roll in… a knock hit the back door.
It creaked open like she’d done it a thousand times before.
“Bessssstieeeeee—”
Janiyah stepped in, smiling wide, until she saw Zay standing there. Still posted. Still looking too fine.
Her smile froze.
She looked between us.
“Oh,” she said, smirking. “So y’all cute-cute now?”
Zay didn’t even blink.
He glanced at her, then right back at me.
“She been mine. You just late.”
Janiyah clutched her invisible pearls and laughed, “Oop! Not you claiming her in front of her mama.”
My mama raised an eyebrow so high I thought it was gonna fly off her face.
“You claiming my daughter now?”
Zay nodded. “Respectfully.”
Silence.
Thick enough to slice.
Then my mama rolled her eyes, grabbed her purse from the table, and muttered, “I’m going back to Pam’s. Don’t burn my damn house down.”
She left.
The door shut.
Janiyah turned to me. “Girl... WHAT the hell did I miss?”
I stared at her. “I don’t even know where to start.”
She walked over, snatched a piece of chicken off the plate, popped it in her mouth, and said around a mouthful, “Start with the part where this man lookin’ at you like he tryna marry you and ruin you at the same time.”
- Writer
