18

Janet

I laid in the bed with my phone in my hands as I went over my schedule with my assistant.

My bookings were everywhere for the next month, and I knew that I needed to get everything squared away as soon as possible.

Kyrin was next to me, sleeping. She had ate almost everything in the kitchen that was edible and just crashed out afterwards.

Looking at her, I shook my head slightly as she stirred and her eyes fluttered open. We met eye contact and I mumbled. "Glad to know you're alive."

"Shit, I was hoping you being here was a dream." She stretched a bit before asking, "Ok, on a scale of one to ten how high did I come in this house?"

"Oh, you blew the scale. Almost couldn't function."

She sighed. "Sorry. I know you haven't seen me that way before. My anxiety was just kicking my ass and I—."

"You don't have to explain that part." I replied as I cut her off. "I would just like to know what happened yesterday. What made you leave?"

Kyrin looked at me before pulling her knees into her body. "We argued."

"You and your family?"

"Yeah. My moms not sick. I mean yeah she's sick and she's probably dying painfully and slowly from the inside out, but she won't be dead in 2 days. She's not on any 48 hour thing. She's fine right now. They lied to me J." She looked off and began staring at the television that wasn't even on.

I fell speechless for a second before I shook my head. "Are you okay?"

My girlfriend quickly spoke. "I'm fine."

"No you aren't. You might be able to fool your family, but you are talking to me now. Seriously baby, are you okay?"

Kyrin's eyes snapped to me suddenly as she whispered. "Sometimes I just feel... I don't know. I guess, heartless."

Locking my phone, I sat it on the night stand next to me as I gave her my undivided attention. "But you aren't heartless."

She scoffed softly. "And what makes you so sure of that? I hate my mother so much that news of her being on her death bed didn't even scare me into coming to Texas. My father had to literally yell through a phone and lie to me to get me to come. You can't tell me that's not heartless."

"You have a heart Kyrin. A huge one at that. Look at you and Eissa's relationship, he loves you and you love him back. Everyone can see that you'll do anything to keep him happy. If that doesn't prove something then not much will. You are just strong minded but that doesn't make you heartless."

Kyrin's voice fell to a whisper. "Even the fact that I aborted my unborn child? Cause that feels heartless as hell right now."

"Kyrin... that doesn't make you heartless either. I've been there, trust me, I have. As women we make decisions that we feel are going to be better off for us and the child. Sometimes we just aren't ready."

Before I knew it, I was witnessing my girlfriend cry for the first time. I pulled her into me as she let it out and finally she spoke. "I was young and I didn't know nothing about being a parent. I was scared to tell my parents. My daddy was already struggling to pay bills cause my mother couldn't and wouldn't keep a job. All those reasons and I still feel like I made the wrong decision."

"Hey, you did what you felt was right. It's okay Kyrin. You have to forgive yourself for that type of stuff. Perk up, it's going to be okay. What happened isn't the end of it all. It's just another bump in the road for you."

My girlfriend lifted her head and I wiped the tears left astray on her face. She looked into my eyes before nodding. "Okay, I'm done being soft. Don't bring it up again. This moment never happened."

"What?" I asked as my eyes widened in surprise and humor. She had switched moods in the blink of a eye.

"What? I don't like when people bring up my sensitive moments." Kyrin shrugged as she looked out the bedroom window for a moment. "Hey, let me take you somewhere."

"Somewhere like?"

She smiled mischievously like she had something planned out. "Just come on Superstar. I know a place you'll love to go. It's all about being spontaneous babes and I have to make it up to you for worrying you so much."

Kyrin got out the bed and pulled me up with her. "Where are we going? Do I need to change?"

Simply shaking her head, she pulled me out the room and down the steps. Her sisters were sitting in the couch. "Hey, tell daddy I'm taking the car."

Phoebe shook her head. "Hell no, why can't you tell him yourself?"

"Cause I'm going to miss what I'm trying to do if I go upstairs and have the whole keep my car safe talk with him. Just tell him. Please?"

"Ok, don't wreck that mans car though. Know that's his one and only son." Ember joked. "And don't burn up his clutch."

"Girl boo." Kyrin mumbled as she grabbed some keys off the hook on the wall. "Only tell daddy if he notices it's gone. If not, then ssh."

"Kk. Be careful." Ember warned her as we walked outside.

Kyrin walked over to the garage and lifted it. A blue tarp covered the vehicle and she pulled it off. Underneath, a glossed over old school black Mustang sat in top condition and my eyes widened at the beauty.

My girlfriend smiled. "Just how I remembered it. Hop in."

Following instructions, I got in and looked around. It was amazing outside and in. This was a beautiful car.

"Baby."

"Hm?" I looked over at her as she started the car.

"Ever drove a stick?" The engine came to life roaring loudly, as my girlfriend quickly put the car in gear and backed out.

Shaking my head as she let the garage down, she put the car in gear but she had to do more than I thought. "It's simply gear shifting right..."

My eyes watched as she went into different gears. "Okay, I'm interested, continue."

"So you feel the car when it needs to shift, but also every gear will only take you to a certain speed." She shifted again and the car sped up. "You gotta shift when necessary though, or else you'll burn up the clutch. Like my sister warned me not to do."

"It sounds easy."

Kyrin smiled. "Yeah, until you're burning clutches up. Watch, you'll feel the car pulling when it's time to shift gears."

The car soon pulled and Kyrin shifted. I asked, "How many have you burned?"

"Oh clutches? Tuh. None. Embers the one that burns for a living and Phoebe never learned how to drive sticks. I'm the only one that really caught the concept and ran with it." She pulled into a gas station and parked in front of the store. "Come on."

"You sure this a good idea?" I questioned seeing some people walking out the store.

She chuckled. "You must not have realized that your girlfriend is bat shit crazy. Nobody's going to mess with you. Come on."

Getting out, we walked into the gas station together. Kyrin was right, nobody paid me any mind and I loved that. It was a breath of fresh air to not be mauled in public by cameras and people.

Kyrin began grabbing snacks and I simply followed behind her. She picked up a bag of chips and I asked a question as I read the label. "What's Chester's?"

"Hot fries."

I shook my head. "Never had em."

Her eyes widened as she looked back at me. "Baby, seriously? You've never had— awe man. I gotta put you on."

"Put me on?"

"And teach you the lingo while I'm at it." She mumbled as she grabbed 3 bags of hot fries. She turned around and asked. "What's your favorite candy?"

"Never really ate it. I'm more on a health kick right now anyways, ya know?"

My girlfriend looked at me weirdly. "You are not remotely close to anybody's over weight or fat. You are fine as hell, we gone forget about that health kick at the moment."

She grabbed different bags of candies off the racks and then walked towards the drink aisle. I followed behind her aimlessly.

Kyrin pointed her head towards the drinks. "Get what you like. Don't pick up no water either Janet, we are getting you out of that while you're in Texas. You have to experience the real deal."

Pouting, I mumbled. "I would really just like some water though."

"Alright. See no, hold this." Kyrin handed me the snacks she had grabbed as she opened the glass door to the drinks. She grabbed sodas and lemonades and walked to the counter.

She began placing things down and I did the same. The man who checked us out smiled at her. "I heard you back there giving her a hard time Apple Jack. Let the woman be on her die t."

What was a die t? Why was he calling her Apple Jack and who was this dude smiling at my girlfriend?

"Jeri, leave me be. She gotta experience Texas first hand. We don't do diet's around here. We embrace the calories."

The man chuckled as he rung up the last few items. "Nothings change with you girl. Totals 28.46."

My girlfriend pulled out her card and handed it to the man, but he didn't swipe it. He just acted like he did and handed it back. "Nice doing business with you J Man."

He bagged it and handed it back to us. "No problem, I don't see you often. Be safe out there Apple Jack."

"I will!" She shouted back as we got back in the car. Kyrin sat the bags in the backseat as she started the car and drove off to our next stop.

"Three questions."

"Ask away."

"Am I missing something or did we technically just steal from the gas station? What's a die t? And why did he call you Apple Jack?"

She chuckled. "J Man and I used to be friends in high-school. His pops died and he took over the store to keep his family above water. I would collect his work and tutor him so his grades wouldn't drop. Got him to graduate, and since then he's just given me free stuff. He just did the card thing to be funny."

"Okay, one answered two to go."

"Apple Jack is the nickname he has for me. Don't know why. Never cared enough to ask. I called him J Man one day and next thing I knew, I was Apple Jack."

"And a die t?"

"That's how he says diet." Kyrin laughed at my face. "It's another lingo thingy. Like when I said I had to put you on, that meant that I was introducing you to something new. It's like when we say on baby or how we say goofy when we mean stuff like stupid."

I nodded in understanding. "Okay, I think I got it. Some of it anyways."

"You have a lot of time to learn. No rush." She smiled to herself. "Hey, while I drive you need to try those chips though baby. Seriously, try them."

Reaching back into the backseat, I grabbed the chips and opened the bag. Pulling a chip out, I smelled it first.

My girlfriend shot me a look. "Woman, stop smelling shit. Eat the damn chip."

"It smells weird."

"It smells amazing. Eat the chip."

Shrugging, I put it in my mouth and my eyes widened as I chewed. "This is good. It's like... some mild hot sauce but on a chip."

"Exactly. You're welcome. Go forth and conquer with those from now on." I grabbed another chip and began eating it as I turned the bag to look at the calories. "Uh uh. Don't look at the calories. You'll shit a brick. These last three days, we are just going to eat what is appealing to us. When we get back to LA, then we can focus back on calories."

My eyes narrowed as I put the bag down and folded them. "Okay, that makes me not want to eat them anymore."

"But you're going to."

"Says who?"

"Says your girlfriend."

"My girlfriends probably still high."

"Oh. Was that shade ma'am?" She asked me.

"Yes. Yes it was."

"You ever smoked before?"

I shook my head. "No. Never got the chance to."

Kyrin sighed. "Aw man. You missed out on the good things in teenage years."

"I'm okay actually. You came in high as hell, ate up almost everything in the kitchen, and then slept for like half the day."

"It affects people differently." She side eyed me causing me to chuckle.

"I'm just saying though. Baby, where are we going?" I noticed how long we had been on the road and she had just now exited somewhere.

"Sit back and ride baby, we're almost there." Kyrin began driving down a long road and soon I began to see a large thing that looked like a wall almost.

A ticket booth and a gate made Kyrin stop as she grabbed her wallet.

The woman in the booth asked. "How many?"

"Two." Kyrin replied as she gave the woman her card. The lady swiped it and pushed a button as the gates opened.

"Enjoy." The lady told us dully. Kyrin grabbed her card and the receipt before driving into it.

When we got closer, I saw a movie playing on the screen that looked like a wall. "You brought me to a drive in movie?"

She nodded as she found somewhere in the back and parked. "You told me you liked simple, and I knew you'd like this one." Her fingers hit a button and the top to the Mustang let back.

"Awe baby, this is sweet." I gushed as I kissed her lips repeatedly.

Kyrin pulled away. "Okay okay. Watch the movie. Eat the snacks. You're in Texas now, you have to become a Texan at heart."

I chuckled. "Alright. Fine. What's playing anyways?"

"Poetic Justice." She mumbled as she played with her hair and put her head down.

"Kyrin!" I exclaimed my eyes narrowed and I made a face.

"It was the only thing playing tonight, plus you are a amazing performer, actress and speaker. You gotta stop being so hard on yourself." When I went to reply, she reached in the backseat and opened her bag of chips, making sure to crumble the bag. "Huh? What? I can't hear you baby."

"Mhm. I bet you can't."