Blend

10:00 | promise

IT DOESN'T take long before I'm sighing back into the couch, defeated. To distract myself from the heaviness weighing on my chest, I turn my attention to the mysterious Walmart bag resting unopened on the coffee table. I carefully untie it, taking everything out one-by-one. There's a couple of ramen packages—something I've already got—a box of bandaids, a used chapstick and—

My smile grows when I finally understand Uncle's weirdness about the bag. Buried at the bottom is a box of condoms, accompanied with a sloppy post-it. 

Laughter sprouts up from within me like a fountain. This feels like something Dad would've pulled. Uncle never ceases to amaze.

Of course, just like that I'm sad again, thinking of Uncle Joe and Mom. Would they like Devyn? Probably more than Abby—AKA "that girl who's always on her phone".

An ache grows in me, refusing to be quieted. I think of the news clip I caught of my mom shortly after Devyn fell asleep last night. She bolted from a bunch of cameramen, hiding her face, and screaming, "No comment!"

Does she think I did it—that I'm capable of murdering someone like Uncle Joe does?

Maybe I'm reading too much into it. Maybe Mom is just losing her mind, worried about me. Mom does hate attention, even on her birthdays.

I pick my phone up, debating.

Don't the movies say you can call someone for sixty seconds before the cops trace it? What if I called long enough to hear her voice? Let her know I'm good.

I breathe in and out for what feels like a million seconds. My thumb hovers over the call button. But just before I press it, there's the softest knock on the door.

I jump, dropping my phone.

"It's Devyn," the knocker mumbles.

Exhaling my relief, I quickly stuff the condoms back into the grocery bag, my face burning. Then I unlock the door but step out of the way. The police were just here and they could be roaming around, spying the place out.

Devyn walks in with her shoulders slumped. She looks beautiful in that colorful romper. Her legs and face are glowing from the sun. But her frown spells out her mood.

"Did you find Peewee?" I ask.

"No. She found me. Was waiting outside my aunt's hospital when I got out." She harrumphs. "But then we tried going to Nate's and she got all spooked about being there. I had just made it into the bathroom where she died when she suddenly ghosted me."

"Ghosted you?"

"Yeah," Devyn says with a scoff. "She just disappeared on me. She told me that last night she took possession of another cop, searching for answers. I'd check there but I'm too scared to revisit the police station right now. I don't want them to connect me to you while I look for her."

"Don't want that either."

"We would know the killer by now if she hadn't run off. I'm so damn angry, Ace. I could punch something."

I wrap her in my arms. "Punch me," I whisper. "I got you."

Every tense muscle in her shoulders stands down. She tightens her arms around me and buries her face against my chest. "I won't let them take you away. I won't."

"I know." I kiss her forehead. "Peewee will come back. She always does."

Devyn sighs and then stumbles to the couch. I'm quick to join her. She breathes me in and snuggles close.

"What if I can't get her to relive those memories?" Devyn asks. "What will we do?"

"We will do nothing. It's me who's in this mess. And I'm gonna be honest. Turning myself in is making more sense."

Devyn sits up, anger splitting her mouth open. "No!"

"Devyn." I rub her shoulder. "I can't keep putting yours and my family's lives before my own. It ain't right."

"If you turn yourself in, I'll never speak to you again."

"Good."

"Ace!" She squeezes me tightly. "Please, please don't do this. Not yet. I'll find Peewee and I'll make her do this for you."

"My cousin said Ben Crump is going to take my case, but it'll look better on my end if I stop running from the law. They could get me outta this without Peewee's help. Who knows."

Devyn shakes her head. "No, Ace. If you go in, you aren't coming back, you hear? Too many Black men become victims of this fucking system. I won't let you be another Kalief Browder or Korey Wise. You go in there accused of killing a white girl, you won't come out the same." She squeezes me tighter, crying into my shoulder. "Don't do it, please!"

"Sh, sh, it's okay." I rock her. "I won't turn myself in."

At least not today.

But she don't need to know that I'd spend my whole life in jail if it meant keeping her out.

She blinks her tears away. "Promise?"

"Promise." I gently press my lips to hers.

It's instantaneous.

Her warmth, her touch, the longing we both share for one another. My need sets me on fire. And the next thing I know, Devyn is climbing on top of me, her moan loud in my ears.

I work my hands up and down her skin, worshiping each curve. Damn, she's soft. My dick grows harder by the second and I have to anchor myself to keep from tearing her clothes off, to make this moment last as long as possible.

"I've never felt this way about a girl before," I mumble through kisses.

She runs her hands through my knotted roots, her moaning intensifying. But I can't help it, I can't stop expressing how I feel.

"I hit the fucking lottery with you, Dev."

She sighs in my ear, her expression just as needy as mine. "Ace?"

"Yeah?"

"Shut up and fuck me." Then she glances over her shoulder. "I brought a condom."

Those words welcome a hurricane of want. I'm helpless against them and find myself willing to do any fuckin' thing she says, including shutting the hell up about how much she means to me.

"You sure?"

"Yes." She nods impatiently.

We both stand up from the couch to head for the bedroom. Devyn grabs my hand, tugging me along and giggling her excitement. Meanwhile I can't keep my eyes off her face, her booty, her warm brown skin. I never knew a person could make me this happy. The feelings I have for her already exceed the ones I had for Abby. And the trippy thing is that Devyn has no clue. But I intend to show her every way I can.

As we turn the corner, Devyn grips my hand tighter, stopping in her tracks. She looks like Medusa just turned her to stone.

"What is it?" My eyes flick between Devyn and the open bedroom.

The expression on her face ices, lips firming.

She slowly backs up into me. "Ace," she whispers hoarsely. "It's here. The demon."