LOVELESS

Chapter 48

Sam is standing outside of Yemi's truck, talking to her while she sits in the driver's seat. "... Imma go over there, then."

"No, 'cause you're not gonna wanna go home."

"Yemi, cut me some slack. Had I known you had a key to my place, I probably wouldn't've had my guard up that night. Think about it. The only person I knew that had a key was Veronica, and she always left that shit at home. So, when I go to sleep alone, I expect to wake up alone."

Yemi stares into his eyes as she contemplates his words. "So it had nothing to do with you having a dream about her?"

"About who? My ex?"

She nods and Sam sighs.

"Alright, look. Yes, having a dream about the day she cheated did play a role in how I responded to someone being on top of me. But I didn't know it was you, and I'm sorry. I really am. It fucked me up knowing you had a bruise because of me. You know I would do anything to protect you from any harm. So that really fucked me up."

She nods.

"Do you think you can have faith and trust it won't happen again? I don't want our relationship to be stagnant, ma."

"... How about I sleep in the guest room?"

He sucks his teeth. "Yemi, come on."

"What?" She asks, giggling. "That's better than nothing. And you can just walk right next door, rather than you using your gas to come to my apartment."

"Imma walk right next door, alright. Right into that kitty."

Yemi rolls her eyes. "Bye Sam." She starts the engine. "Don't forget to check if Veronica called."

"Alright. And make sure you come straight to the loft."

"Yes, papi," she responds flirtatiously as she puts the truck in Reverse.

Sam smiles at her as he pulls his cell phone out from the deep pocket of his sweat pants. On his phone's lock screen, he doesn't see anything from Veronica, but he notices missed calls and voicemails from his father and Stephen. He unlocks his phone and checks the messages.

Stephen: "Man, I just landed and got a message from pops saying mom is in the hospital." Sam furrows his eyebrows in shock. "I'm headed straight there. I'll tell you what I find out as soon as I can."

"What the fuck?" He says to himself before pressing the play button on his father's voicemail.

Larry: "Sam, this is your father. I had to take your mother to the hospital, and she needs all her kids here with her. We're at NewYork-Presbyterian."

Sam calls him back, but Larry doesn't answer. He then calls his mother, but it goes straight to voicemail. "What the fuck, yo?!" He calls Veronica, and her phone is still turned off. He shakes his head, angrily, and then calls Stephen.

"Hello?"

"Why the fuck isn't anyone answering their phones? They're getting me real tight, B."

"I don't know. I called pops, but he didn't pick up for me either. I just parked at the hospital, but I think visitation hours just ended. Not sure if they'll let me up."

"Has Ma told you anything about her health?"

"Nah. Nothing." Stephen hops out of his car and then looks over at Nate who is walking around from the passenger side. "Nate, Ma told you anything about her not feeling good?"

"Nah, but I did notice how distant she was last night when we went to go see her."

Stephen nods, thinking back to that time. "Damn, she was distant with us, huh? I just realized that."