Angel

 

When I left the library at the end of my shift, I wasn’t surprised to see Trey in the parking lot. He was sitting on the back of his bike and giving me a cocky smile. Whenever I saw him look at me like that, my insides melted. I hated that he inspired that reaction, but I couldn’t help it. Trey was like oil to my water — we’d always clash, but we looked so damn good together. Part of me wanted him to bend me over and take me right there and then. The other part of me remembered my responsibilities, my life. My son. Our son, I corrected myself. Our son.

 

“You ready to go get your boy?” Trey winked at me and I felt my stomach do a flip-flop.

 

I nodded. I almost corrected him — the words “our boy” would have fallen out of my mouth without a second thought. But when I realized he’d likely spoken that way for a reason, I changed my mind. A numbness sat over me. He knew Chuckie was my son, the son I’d raised alone. And he apparently didn’t want that to change.

 

“Trey, this really isn’t necessary,” I said, giving him my fakest smile. “I mean, we’d only be in your way. You know that’s true.”

 

Trey sighed. “Stop trying to talk me out of it, Angel,” he said. “You know once my mind is made up, it can’t be changed.”

 

“Nice to see some things haven’t changed,” I snapped. I blushed as soon as the words were out of my mouth. I was such a bitch sometimes! No wonder no one else had pursued me since he left.

 

“Angel, come the fuck on,” Trey said softly. “I’m not fucking around. You both need to come with me, and the sooner we do it, the better. Get on,” he said, tapping the back of his bike. “Leave your car here.”

 

I shook my head. “No way,” I said quickly. “I need to drive, okay? That’s my one caveat.”

 

Trey set his mouth in a thin line. I knew he wanted to argue with me, but he kept his mouth shut. I could tell he was probably more stubborn than he’d been as a teenager, when I’d last known him. Back then, it was impossible to get him to change his mind about anything. I thought I’d mellowed with age, but being around Trey was showing me that I still had a spine of steel underneath everything else. He was a different story; I could tell he was even more stubborn than he had been all those years ago.

 

“Fine,” Trey muttered. “You drive. We’ll go get Chuckie, and then we’re going to my place.”

 

He gunned his bike and was out of the library parking lot before I could even turn the engine on my old station wagon. I rolled my eyes. For someone who wanted to protect me, he was doing a great job of showing off.

 

When we pulled up in my driveway, Lindsey ran out in the front yard. After what had happened before, she was totally right to be cautious. But I couldn’t shake the sense that she was also annoyed, like somehow this was more than she’d ever wanted to deal with. I shook my head. Now I was just being paranoid. If Lindsey knew what was going on, she’d want Chuckie to be safe, just like I did.

 

“Hi,” I said. A guilty look crept on my face as I looked into Lindsey’s naïve face. “I’m taking Chuckie on a little trip for a while.”

 

Lindsey frowned. She put her hands on her slim hips. “Why? What’s going on? What about school?”

 

“He’ll be fine,” I said. “He’s smart; he’ll catch up. We need to stay with Trey for a little while.”

 

Lindsey’s eyes narrowed and went immediately to my arms. I cringed when I realized she was checking for track marks. I’d never given her a reason to suspect my behavior, but I knew I was acting strangely. After all, she was Chuckie’s caretaker. If I had been in the same position, I probably would have acted the same way.

 

“Okay,” she said after a few seconds. “I’ll get his bag packed.”

 

She went back into the house and I could hear her calling out to Chuckie, her voice packed with false cheer. I frowned. I didn’t want to upset or startle Chuckie, but I was beginning to get the feeling this was serious.

 

Damien. That name was familiar somehow. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I’d met him before. Back when Trey and I were together, I actually met a lot of his friends. Most of them obviously didn’t care for me — they made no secret of showing how they thought I was stuck-up and obviously a bad choice for their friend. But some of them had been nice, though not really accepting. I racked my brain, trying to remember their names. Damien sounded familiar, but I didn’t get a face popping into my mind. Maybe he was just someone Trey had mentioned.

 

“Are you coming by to get me tonight?” I dropped my voice to a whisper. I was on the phone with one of my friends, Amanda. What my parents didn’t know is that Amanda lived right next door to Trey, and sometimes Trey would call me from her house.

 

“I can’t,” he said. “I’m sorry, baby, I have some shit to do with Damien.”

 

“I don’t like the sound of this guy,” I admitted. “You’ve been blowing me off to hang out with him for a few days now.”

 

“I know, baby,” Trey said in a soothing voice. “I’m sorry, but it’s really important. We’re trying to set shit up for the future.”

 

I blinked myself back to reality. So that was where I’d heard the name. He had been a friend of Trey’s for the second half of our relationship, the part where we fought all the time. The part where things weren’t as good as they had been at first, even though we still loved each other more than ever. Things had been different, all right, and at the time I’d hated Damien for taking Trey away from me.

 

Then, right before we broke up, I stopped hearing about Damien. Trey said they had some kind of fight, but he wouldn’t tell me what it was about. I never suspected that it had anything to do with me. Until now.

 

Lindsey and I got Chuckie settled in my car.

 

“Mommy, where are we going?” He looked up at me with curious eyes. “Tell me.”

 

“We’re going on a little trip,” I told him softly.

 

Chuckie grinned. He liked changes from routine, as long as they weren’t too scary. He never even minded when I only had money to make pancakes for dinner. He was a trooper, and I loved him. He had a big heart. When he got older, I knew he’d have girls swarming around him for miles.

 

Chuckie was quiet as we drove to Trey’s house. It was in a nicer part of town, and his house was nicer than I expected. It was spartan, but clean. The grass was cut military-short, and the inside of the house was done in masculine hues of dark grey and black. It was so different than my homey little cottage. A little thrill of excitement washed over me when I crossed the threshold and Trey’s scent of leather and sandalwood washed over me.

 

“You can pick a room,” Trey said. I thought he was talking to me, but I turned around to see him squatted down on the floor and looking at Chuckie.

 

“Really?” Chuckie grinned. “That’s awesome!”

 

“Just make sure your mom approves,” Trey said. He winked at me and I felt my insides flutter. “I wouldn’t want to start any beef with her.”

 

“’Course not,” Chuckie said in a playfully tough way. He looked to me for approval and I nodded. As soon as he saw me smile, he took off and raced around the house.

 

I shook my head. “You’re good with him,” I admitted. “You used to being around kids?”

 

Trey snorted. “Angel, come on,” he said under his breath. “You know I’m not.”

 

He was right, but I remembered Trey had always been really good at reading people. It made sense that he’d be good with kids. He’d been downright charming with Chuckie. I had to smile at that, even though he was as cocky as ever; he seemed harder now. More determined.

 

I wonder what else has changed, I thought to myself. Maybe I’ll never find out.