CAKE

Fifty-Seven

Kathryn 

"Buenos Dias, mi amor," my ears perk at the sound of my boyfriend's heavy accent. My attention is immediately pulled away from myself in the mirror and toward my boyfriend. I smile at him and place my mascara on the counter. "Good morning," I mutter allowing his lips to meet mine before he makes his way to the shower.

"You didn't wake me up, I thought I was going with you today?"

I raise my brows and glance at the man before squinting my eyes. Honestly? I had no intention of letting him join me today. It's one thing if we're around the Kings' during a gathering but it's another when it's just us. "I figured you wouldn't want to go. Usually, after church, I spend the rest of the day with them."

Mateo shrugs his shoulders, not having an issue with that. I eye him for a few seconds before turning back to the mirror to finish my makeup. "Well, if you're coming you only have about 30 minutes until it's time to go," I mutter, hoping that would sway him. The man nods his head and quickly strips out of his clothes.

I sigh, realizing things were not going to go my way today. If anything, I just hope the end of the day doesn't consist of me having to tell him about Casey. 

25 minutes pass and Mateo and I are leaving my apartment. "Where is your car?" Mateo questions, realizing that I haven't been with that piece of shit for a while. Letting out a breath, I glance down at my phone, checking to see how long it would be until our uber got here. 

"Every time I get it out of the shop, there's something else wrong with it. So I sold it for scraps and I'm hoping that with my next paycheck, I can go ahead and buy a new one," I mutter, glancing at him. He nods his head and we continue to wait for our uber.

Once it arrives, he checks the license plate before allowing me to get in and do the same. I can only smile, knowing he was being protective. You can't really trust most people these days. "How many Sundays do you do this?" Mateo questions, keeping his eyes forward, watching our surroundings.

I glance at him before answering. "Every other Sunday."

"Are you religious?" 

I furrow my brows, "It's complicated. I do believe in God and I do claim Christianity but I don't go to church much or pray in public. Pretty much no one would know I'm religious unless I say it... does that make sense?" I question.

He nods his head. "I'm the same way, but with the way my family has been treating my transition, I've been away from church for a while but I think I would like to explore the religious options."

I nod my head, knowing exactly what he meant. It was the same way with Casey. She'd turned her back on religion because of the way her mother and other Christians treated anyone in the LGBT+ Community. I bite my cheek in annoyance. I just compared them. God, I need to stop doing that. Wiping my forehead, I sit in silence for the rest of the ride. 

After a 15-minute drive of just light background music, we finally arrive at Lillie's church. I let out a breath as we exit the car, gaining eyes from the congregation as per usual. 

No matter how many times they see me, they'll always see me as an outsider. But I couldn't really blame them, it wasn't that many Caucasians that attended this church. And the few that do have been with the church for years, whereas they only see me every other Sunday and it hasn't even been a year since I started this little tradition. 

And now it doesn't help that I'm arriving with Mateo.

My eyes land on two familiar faces and I make my way to them, pulling Mateo along so he doesn't get lost. "Morning," I smile, scaring Cassandra. She groans as she realizes it's me. I watch her russet eyes land on the man behind me before they land on me, surprised.