Beauty and Thug

Something about Nelson made me feel like a girl falling in love for the first time. I was intrigued by his personality, his vibe, and his amazing good looks. After he left I couldn't stop thinking about him and wondering when he would call. I finished my shift and went home just like I did any other day. I didn't have a car at the time so I had some time to myself on the bus to think about the prior events from earlier that day. Two stops before my house I had to snap back to reality. I dreaded going home to Keith and having to deal with the pointless arguments. To be honest the only reason that I went home most days was because of my children.

The moment that I walked in the door I became irritated. The house wasn't clean and the girls were still up watching tv and doing whatever else it was that they wanted to do. Keith was outside by the back door smoking as usual. Here it is eleven o'clock on a school night and everyone is still up and running. The tv was blasting and music was playing throughout the house. I didn't even have the energy to fuss or chastise the kids. After I showered I went to my room and closed the door.

The next morning I woke up I said my prayers, brushed my teeth, washed my face, and checked my phone. I just knew Nelson texted me but I was wrong. Nothing but social media notifications ran across my phone screen. As I threw my phone onto the bed the notification sound rang out through the house. I tried to grab it and silence it because Lord knows that I didn't want to play the twenty-one questions game with Keith. He turned over and looked me right in my face. At this point I didn't care to explain anything so I grabbed my phone and walked in the living room.

Before I could sit on the sofa my phone went off again and when I looked at it I couldn't help but smile from ear to ear. The messages were from Nelson and they read, "Good morning beautiful. How did you sleep?" My heart practically jumped out of my chest. I didn't want to seem like I had been waiting to hear from him so I didn't respond immediately. Even though I was I couldn't let him know that. Five minutes later I responded, "Good, and you?" I already knew what his response would be and just as I thought he texted back, "I would've slept better if I were laying next to you." I couldn't help but laugh. I had been around him long enough to pick up on his actions and his lingo so that response fit him perfectly. We texted back and forth for about thirty minutes and while I was waiting for him to respond my phone rang. I looked down and to my surprise it was Nelson. I immediately answered the phone and walked outside. I didn't even say hello. The first thing that came out of my mouth was, " You're must be trying to get me in trouble!" I expected a smart response but all he said was, " I apologize beautiful. I just wanted to hear your voice." "Yeah okay", I said nonchalantly.

We talked on the phone for what seemed like forever. He told me about his hobbies and how he was thinking about opening his own business selling African attire and jewelry. He went on to tell me where he grew up and it turns out that we grew up in the same neighborhood. we practically walked right past each other day in and day out but never actually said anything to each other. He went on and on while I just listened. I was usually the one doing all the talking whenever I had a conversation with someone and I always found myself talking too much so I let Nelson continue telling me about his life. He seemed like he had everything figured out in his life but I would soon find out that he didn't.

I felt as if I had known Nelson my whole life but thing would quickly change how I felt and I would soon have to decide whether or not I wanted to continue our relationship.