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Manhattan, New York May 7, 2019 7:06 p.m. Onika Tanya Maraj
The blue tin full of contraceptives caught her attention as the foil crinkled in my grasp.
"What are you doing?" G mumbled, hunched over, her mouth afoam with toothpaste. She squinted beside me as we stood before dual granite boat-shaped sinks. Running the cold tap into a clear drinking glass, I gently set it atop the counter. We'd only just awoken from yet another spasmodic round of bed play.
Giving her a blank stare, I resumed popping the small sphere out of its plastic holding. She frowns then spits the minty substance into the drain.
"I could've sworn that I asked you something Onika." I watch her eyeball me in the mirror as she grabs a spare white towel to wipe her mouth, tossing it over her shoulder afterward, then placing both hands firmly on the cold marble, head now facing me.
I put my hand up.
"Beyoncé, please don't start this up again. Please." I sighed. There was a pregnant pause as we looked at one another. Or rather, she looked at me, wordlessly challenging me to defy her. I kissed my teeth. Pulling a strand of my hair behind my ear and picking up the crystal, I made a show of tossing the Plan B onto my tongue, washing it down with water. She looked as if she wanted to spring towards me and yank it clean back out of my stomach herself.
Dropping her toothbrush into the wooden holder with force, she took a calm step closer towards me, her face unreadable.
"I wouldn't have to start this up if you wouldn't pull this shit after every time that I fuck you." I jerked my head back at both her tone and curt statement. I damn near choked on my spit. She spoke with such venom, and that was my tell that this exchange would be heading downhill.
When I finally decided to pick my mouth up off of my chest, I sputtered for a response, "What? What are you talking about?"
"Yeah, okay. Play stupid." Brushing past me, she made sure to get a bit of my shoulder as she made her trek back into the master. Snatching her elbow, I pulled her back towards me. I didn't play with disrespect, and that was a form of it to me. If there's a final word to be had, better believe I'll be having it.
"I'm speaking to you Gise."
She shrugs her arm out of my grasp and slowly leans down to my face level. I could smell the toothpaste on her breath. That's just how close in my face she was. There was a fire within those warm irises and within herself, and I had no idea what ignited it. I had to slightly back into the door trim, just to put some space between us.
