Kwame & Kyhanna(18)

"I told you we good. I'm not mad at you." I answered. I looked at him  and wanted to say more about what was going on with me but a part of me  was scared to open my mouth and tell him anything. He would probably run  away from me if he knew what was really going on with me and my  situation. Kwame then got onto the freeway and started driving. I didn't  have a clue as to where we going. Instead I looked out the window and  my thoughts and my mind were in a million places. What a difference a  few days made and I had went from having a few people in my life to  practically having no one. Regardless of the relationship me and my  mother had I still missed her. There was a part of me that missed coming  in from school every day and having her there. A part of me that missed  the smell of cigarettes throughout our townhouse. I was even starting  to miss having to watch my little brother. I was missing everything and  without them around and my other brother being locked up my whole world  felt like it were in shambles. Before I had realized it the tears that I  had so desperately tried to stop reappeared and made their appearance  down my face but this time I wasn't able to contain them or even get  myself together. Kwame noticed my mini breakdown immediately.

"Yo Kyhanna what's wrong? Did something I say upset you?" He asked as he  pulled off the freeway. I hadn't noticed he had driven down in  Millcreek Park.

I nodded my head no.

"It's not you. It's not you at all. It's just … " I started to tell him  but I stopped. I don't even know why I stopped but something in me just  did.

"What baby? Spit it out. What's going on with you?" He asked as I pulled  a piece of tissue from my pocket that I had managed to stuff in my  pocket right before I left school.

"So after I left Marquis' party I went home but when I got there my mom  and little brother were gone. She left me a note saying that she had to  leave town ‘cuz she owed Zeke some money and I haven't heard from them  since."

"Are you serious? Have you tried calling her?"

"Yes and now her number is disconnected."

"Damn … that's fucked up. How you feeling about this? Where are you staying?" He asked me.

"Honestly, I don't know how to feel. Like I really have nobody out here.  With Tremaine locked up it's just me against the world I guess. I've  been staying with my bestie but who knows how long that will last. It's a  gang of us staying at they two bedroom spot. I'm just staying there  until I figure out my next move."                       
       
           



       

"Why don't you come and stay with me?"

Ok so either I'm hearing things or Kwame just asked me to stay with him  at his crib. That was definitely something I wasn't expecting him to say  to me.

"I wouldn't want to just put that on you. Besides, we just met."

"It doesn't matter. I'm offering you a place to stay so what's up? And  no I'm not trying to get all freaky if that's what you thinking … I swear  your mind is so nasty Kyhanna." He said as I started laughing at his  crazy butt. Leave it to Kwame to always find a unique way to make me  smile. Getting freaky was actually the last thing on my mind at that  point.

"I can't Kwame. I mean it's a nice offer and all but I can't ask all  that of you. I don't know what I'm doing next. But one thing I do know  is I need to have a plan and figure it out quick."

"You know what I've noticed about you? Why do you have a hard time  accepting things from people? Here I am offering you a warm place to  stay and your own space and you trying to give me every excuse in the  book as to why you can't accept."

"Well at least I'm not one of these thirsty females jumping at the fact  that you asked me to stay. I don't know why I can't accept things from  people." I said as I crossed my arms over my chest. I don't even know  why I had copped an attitude that quick it was just something that  naturally happened. Maybe I had an attitude because I felt like he was  pressuring me into doing something that I wasn't even sure of yet. I  don't know why but my emotions were all over the place.

"But I'm trying to be there for you Kyhanna."

"Well maybe but I've never had anyone do anything nice for me Kwame.  Have you stopped to think of that? There hasn't been anyone in my life  who I could ever depend on and I'm not used to this." I admitted. Tears  threatened to rise up again but I refused to let too many of them fall. A  few were beyond my control.

"Well there's a first time for everything." Kwame answered me and when I  looked into his eyes somehow I knew there was something about him that I  could trust. There lay truth in his eyes that I felt like I could carry  all the way to the bank. He leaned over and wiped the tears from my wet  face.

"I hate to see you cry. You're far too beautiful for that." He then  reached across the middle console and grabbed my hand intertwining it  with his.

"I know we just met each other and you barely know me but there's no  secret that I'm feeling you and I want to get to know you better. I feel  such a strong connection with you that I've never felt with anyone. I  don't even know why we crossed paths but God meant for us to be in each  other's lives. I know everything that has happened to you recently is  pretty messed up but let me be here for you. I know you haven't been  able to depend on anybody but you can depend on me. I promise you that."  Kwame explained.

There was something about the tone of his voice that suggested that I  could trust him with everything I had in me. There was something about  the way that he looked at me that suggested that he could be my safe  place.

"I would like that." I replied not knowing what else to say.

"So you'll come and stay with me?" He asked again. I realized in that  moment not only was he someone who I felt I could trust but he was  someone who was also persistent and didn't take no for an answer.

"Not so sure about that just yet. I think I'll go stay with my friend  Tameeka tonight and we can talk about this later." I answered.

"Fair enough."

"So where are we about to go now?" I asked as he pulled into a parking  lot in the middle of the park. He pulled his car into a parking space  and put the car in park.

"We're about to go for a walk." He announced.

"A walk? Why?" I asked with both of my eyebrows raised.

"Because I said we are. See Kyhanna you gotta open yourself up to new  things and see the world in a different way. That's why I'm in your  life … to show you." The way Kwame looked at me it became easy to become  lost in his dreamy and warm eyes. When he looked at me it felt as though  all my fears, doubt, and worry all melted away with just a single  glare. Once I got out of the car, Kwame came over and grabbed me by the  hand.

"Let's go for a walk my dear."

"So you come out here all the time?"

"Yeah. I come out here from time to time when I need to think and clear  my head. And by the looks of it today was the day you needed to come out  here. Millcreek park is slept on but it really is a beautiful place and  can make you forget we even in Youngstown. Sometimes you need to have  that getaway."                       
       
           



       

"Yes, sometimes I wish I could just getaway."

Even though I had lived in Youngstown my entire life, I had never been  to this part of the park and never been able to appreciate its beauty.  Kwame had already taken me somewhere I had never been. Walking with him  hand in hand in the park felt so natural and wasn't awkward at all.

"So you've been feeling me where do you see us going?" I asked. I know  it was a bold question but I was eager to hear what he had to say.

"Of course I want us to take things slow but I would love for us to see  where this thing could go. Who knows you could be my wife one day. You  just never know." He smiled.

"Your wife?" I asked surprised that he even mentioned me and wife in the same sentence.

"The reason why I said that is because I truly don't believe in wasting  anyone's time. If I'm feeling you I'm feeling you and I'm gonna give you  my all."

"Well I'm feeling you." I blurted out being totally in the moment and not caring how I sounded.

"You feeling me?" He asked.

"Yes." I shook my head confirming what he had just asked me. Without  warning, Kwame grabbed me and took me into his arms planting his lips on  mine. His full lips were so soft and his kiss so warm and inviting and  our lips intertwined creating their own rhythm and vibration. When he  let me go I literally felt weak in my knees.