Sweet Love [Book Two]

Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

Chris' POV
"Oh my gosh Chris! You haven't changed a bit."Draya smiled as I drove us home. Her car is still in front of the house so I couldn't just drop her off at her place.
I laughed,"You either. Your a real breath of fresh air."
"Well I don't know about that especially since I ate some garlic bread for lunch."
We both laughed and I pulled up into the driveway and turned off the car. We sat in silence for a bit. With all Mariah's bitching lately, this is the most fun I've had in months.
Draya sighed,"Chris?"
"What's up?"
"What are you doing out with me? Mariah obviously has a problem with it."
"How you figure?"
"I heard you two yelling in the house. Now c'mon, be real with me. What are you doing here with me?"
I groaned. Females always gotta turn something fun into something dramatic. "Didn't we just have fun?"
"Yeah, I mean it was nice to catch up a-"
"And that's all that we were doing. I don't know why Mariah was trippin, but she been doing that a lot lately and it really pisses me the fuck off."
She giggled,"Woah calm down. I can see the little veins popping out of your neck."
I let out a soft chuckle,"It's been awhile since me and you kicked it anyways."
"I know. Well, I gotta go Chris. I guess I'll see you soon, we should do this again."
"Definitely."I nodded.
She leaned across the seat and wrapped her arms around my neck to give me a tight hug. We slowly pulled apart and I felt her eyeing my lips and she even tried to lean in closer for a kiss but I turned my cheek to stop it. She caught my drift and got out of my car. I don't know whether she was mad, sad, or anything but even though me and Mariah are going through some tough shit, I'd never cheat on her. On God.
I waited until I heard her drive away before I got out of my car and walked over to the front door. I picked out my house key from my keychain and and let myself into the house. "Mariah?" I called out.
No response. I tried again,"Mariah!" this time a little louder. Oh that's right, she went to her doctor's appointment. I made my way over to the living room and kicked off my shoes then plopped down on the couch. I grabbed the tv remote and turned it on to the Laker's game.
"Her ass better not have gone with that punk ass nigga either." I mumbled to myself. "I swear to God I'll beat his ass if he went with her."
I looked down at my phone and it said 3:23pm. Tyson got out of school 23 minutes ago, I wonder if Mariah picked him up already. I dialed her number twice and each time it went straight to voicemail. "I guess I'll have to go pick him up myself."I said to myself.
I got up from the couch and put my shoes back and walked out of the house and into my car. As I drove down Tyson's preschool, my mind raced back to the lunch I just had with Draya. It was nice and I feel like even though she knows I'm married (to her employee!) that she still thinks she has a chance with me. That's probably why she tried to kiss me a few moments ago.
I shook my head and chuckled to myself. "You still got it bruh! Damn, I feel like going out tonight and Mariah better not say shit about it either."
I pulled up into the preschool parking lot but there was absolutely NO ONE there. "The fuck?" Hell no, what if something happened to my Little Man. What if he got kidnapped or something? Poor kid, his little skinny self probably wasn't strong enough to fight off the fuck niggas that stole him.
I pulled out my phone and called Mariah once more but she didn't answer. I kissed my teeth. Her son probably got kidnapped and she's probably out gettin her groove on with the next nigga. i shook my head at the thought and called Taylor. She's usually the one who picks up Tyson after school if me or Mariah can't do it.
"Hello?",she answered.
"Taylor, you know where Tyson is? I'm here at his school and there ain't nobody here."
"Really?"
"Real talk. And Mariah's ass ain't pickin up her phone."
"Aren't you supposed to be with her at her check up?"
"Yeah but- This ain't about me Tay! We need to find out where my Little Man is. I hope nothing bad happened to him or else I don't know what I would do."
"Calm down. I'll call Mariah and try to figure out what's going on. Maybe you should try calling Mama."
"Aight, cool",I hung up and dialed my mom's number.
"Hello?"she answered.
"Hey mama, I'm really freakin out over here."
"Why, what's wrong?"
"I'm here at Tyson's school to come pick him up but ain't nobody here! what if something happened to him!",I panicked. Nobody seemed to understand how I'm feeling at this point. My Little Man called me 'Dad' the other day.
"Christopher, I'm gonna need you to calm down. Take a deep breath."she said calmly.
"Calm down? Ma, we need to be callin the police."
"Listen to me Chris, Tyson is safe."
"He is? How do you know?"
"He's with me."
I sighed in relief,"Oh thank God. Aight, where y'all at lemme come pick him up."
"For now I just need you calm. Don't worry about coming to pick Tyson. He's gonna be alright."
"Ma, how can you say that? Mariah is probably on her way home right now and I don't want her pissing me off any more than she already has. Always nagging at me."
"I think you should talk to Maria-"
"About what? She ain't even answering my calls....."
"No, she's here with me. Hold on....."
"Hello?"Mariah said through the phone.
"Mariah? Where are you at? You supposed to be at the doctor's appointment."
"Ugh, please don't start with that Chris."
"Start with what? Is there something going on that I don't know about? Where y'all at?"
"I'm at my parents house. With Tyson."
"Why?"
"I really don't wanna have this conversation with you over the phone Chris."she said.
"Fine" I clenched my jaws "I'll come over then."
"Wait n-"I hung up before she could say anything else. I pulled out of the preschool parking lot and sped off the Mr. and Mrs. Jeffries house.

Mariah's POV
"He's coming over here.",I said to mom and Mama J.
"You better hope your father doesn't come back from work by the time he gets here or it's gonna be trouble."mom warned me.
"Mariah baby, come sit down. Your not supposed to be up on your feet so much."Mama J patted on a seat on the couch next to her.
I sat down and sighed,"Did I make the right decision? I mean, leaving the house?"
"I think so," Mama J said "Lord, knows Chris is so damn hard headed."
"I swear if I wasn't pregnant, I don't think he would be acting like this."I said lowly.
"Why do you say that?",mom asked.
"Because. He was gone most of my pregnancy while he was on tour and then the second he got back he as acting a fool."
We all sat in silence. A few moments later there was a loud knock on the front door and I just knew it was Chris. Mama J to up to answer the door and from the moment he walked in, he had an angry look on his face. He greeted his mom then greeted mine.
He looked at me and said,"Where's Tyson? Call him down here, we're going home."
"I'm not going anywhere.",I said blankly.
"Mariah, cut the games. This isn't our home. Let's go."
"I don't think you understand Chris. The only one playing games here is you."
"So this is how you handle our problems? You run away from them?"
"And why do we have a problem Chris? huh? Can you tell me or our mothers why we keep having the same exact arguments over and over again?"
"You always play the victim huh? None of this would have happened if you respected me enough to stay away from that nigga like I told you!"
"Language."Mama J said.
"Who is he talking about Mariah?"mom asked me.
"Oh, they don't even know?" he chuckled "Her little friend August been tryna tell me how to handle my family. His ass tried to fade up in the club a few weeks ago. On top of that he tryna get in her pants but she's too blind to see it."
My eyes stung with tears,"You know that's not true! None of it is!" I stood up from the couch and cried, "I can't keep fighting you anymore. I can't even stand to look at you anymore. You're not the same guy that I fell in love with. The one that would make me laugh, write me songs, and make me feel like I meant the world to you. Right now, I think it's best if we have a break."
His face fell,"Mari-"
"Get out Chris!"
"No baby pl-"
"I need space",I tried to wipe away the heavy flow of tears from from my eyes. "It's just the best thing for us right now."
He slumped his shoulders and dropped his head. He turned around towards the door and I watched him walk away wiping the tears that were falling from his eyes. I was crying, he was crying, and it was all because we loved each other so much we couldn't put our emotions in the right places. My heart feels completely shattered.