16

                                    

                                          
Devonte
*Excuse any errors. Not edited 😭

                          
I was sweaty as fuck. I used to work out daily and shit in my football playing days, but this rapper shit had me slacking. The apartment Yazmine lived in had a fitness center and that's where I was coming from. I jogged up the stairs to the complex, checking my phone as I did. Opening Instagram, I checked my DMs. Nothing. Well, that ain't it. Nothing from Renee. It had been three days since I reached out to Renee on Instagram, and the wait was killing me. I already had a flight booked for Atlanta before this bullshit, cuz I had a music video to shoot. If Renee ain't answer by the time I got to Atlanta, I had half a mind to pull up on her. But shit, I ain't know where she lived now. Could have left Atlanta altogether. 
                          
Unlocking the apartment door, I stepped inside to find my girlfriend in the dining room, on her laptop. She had her glasses on, but not much else. Just a thin bra and some miniscule shorts. There was a plastic container of pineapples on the table that she occasionally dug into. 
                          
"What you doing?" I came over to her with a hug, but she leaned away from me.
                          
"Checking emails. Nigga, you sweaty, ew!" 
                          
"It's like that?" 
                          
She wasn't paying attention, eyes intent on the screen of her Macbook. 
                          
"Yaz."
                          
"Huh?"
                          
"Nevermind."
                          
"Say what you wanna say, I'm listen-" she paused and let out a little scream.
                          
"What?"
                          
"I got in!"
                          
"That's dope, baby. Got into what?"
                          
"Remember I was telling you about the summer programs I applied to?"
                          
"Shit, yeah. This the one where they gonna have you working with troubled kids or some shit?"
                          
"Yeah, like kids that get in trouble a lot, at school and out in the streets. But these kids all got artistic talent so it gives them a chance to express themselves without acting out." She was glowing as she discussed the program so I knew that shit was really what she wanted to do with her summer. 
                          
This time when I hugged her she ain't pull away. "That's wassup, for real."
                          
"Thanks." She smiled. "Now go shower." She gave me a push. 
                          
"Damnnnnnnn." I backed away with my hands up. "After I get out the shower, don't be tryna hug all over me, talking about I smell good and shit."
                          
"I will."
                          
I just laughed and went to the bedroom to get all my shower shit together. I got some shorts and a t-shirt out of a drawer, and a towel. Then, I went into the bathroom. Inside the shower, I did some reflection as I bathed. Where I was in life, being a father was the last thing on my mind. But there was no way I would deny my seed. If this was my child, I would be there for the lil nigga. I just knew it would be a lot to ask Yaz, to be by my side with this parenthood shit on my plate. Since Trey's graduation, she ain't really bring it up, she just went back to acting like everything was everything, but I felt like it bothered her. I just hated not knowing, I needed to know so I could act accordingly.
                          
Twisting the knob, I turned off the water and pulled back the curtain. I grabbed the freshly laundered towel, and wrapped my lower half in it. Once I was dressed, I wandered back into the dining room. Yazmine was gone. "Where you at?" I called, noticing my phone on the dining room table. 
                          
"The studio," came her muffled voice. I got my phone and followed the sound of her voice. It had been a minute since I had been in her painting studio. The door was cracked and I pushed it all the way open. Mostly blank canvases greeted my eyes when I stepped inside. Yazmine was sitting in front of one, but she wasn't painting, she was just studying it.