"Days Like This"

Chapter 7

   (Danielle POV -- Their First Four Day Break, Three Weeks Later )

       I haven't spoken to De'Mario since our little incident back in June, it's not that I haven't wanted to it's just that I'm afraid of what I'll hear. I'm afraid to make it all a reality again, I'm afraid to take myself back to a moment in time when I was a statistic, back when I was a pregnant 16 year old.

       I don't remember it all but I remember the most important pieces, some of it is foggy, and some of it has huge blanks in it. But I do know that one night I left home pregnant and I returned a week later childless. The entire departure and return spanned a week and a half that included a brief stay in a hospital and the weeks after included plenty of therapy and medicines.

       And all the blame I've ever felt has went to De'Mario, he wants my forgiveness and I want to give it to him but I can't seem to find a place in my heart to put forgiveness. When I was in therapy the doctor wanted De'Mario and I in a session together but I refused to see him and he had already left with B2K.

       A knock at my door took me away from my thoughts, I pulled the covers back and muted the TV, checked my tank top and black pants in the mirror before I answered, "Who is it?"

       "Mario." A deep voice came floating across the door with hints of apprehension embedded in it.

       "Go away De'Mario!" I yelled still holding the door handle, I wanted to open that door but I couldn't let me.

       "Come on Danielle! We gotta talk about this sometime or another and frankly I'd rather it be now!" He replied through the door, becoming a little frustrated at my reactions toward him.

       "I'd rather it be NEVER!" I replied, still holding the door handle, half of me wishing I'd just turn it and the other wishing he'd just go away.

       "Danielle I'm not leaving until you understand that I never meant for any of this to happen!" He replied his voice changing it's tone to a softer shade, still strong and determined but not hard.

       I stayed quiet for a moment thinking of which way should I go back or forward? I unlocked the door, cracked it a little bit, and sat on my bed and waited for him to come in. My eyes cast to the floor and my heart pounding, not seconds later did he come in with a soft click of the door, I could feel his eyes on me.

       "I truly never meant for any of this to happen." He said putting his hands in his pockets, a nervous habit he'd had since he was a kid.

       I looked up at him wanting to believe that more than anything, "I don't mean to be so...weird about all this it's just...it was ours, mine and yours, and then you...pushed me."

       De'Mario jumped at the end at the very mention of 'push', he walked toward but stopped halfway there, "I didn't push you Dani, I promise, I never pushed you. I know you don't remember that night exactly but I do, and I DIDN'T push you."

       "Then what happened Mario? How'd I end up at the bottom of your staircase unconscious?" I whispered staring into his eyes begging him to tell me what I had forgotten, that night is a little foggy in my mind and I only can interpret bits and pieces but now I wanted to know exactly what happened.

       He sat next to me his elbow on his knees and his eyes on the floor in front of him, he voice came to me in whispers but it all sounded clear, "We were arguing at the top of the stairs, the argument I don't remember exactly..."

       "Stop yellin' Dani, you're upsettin yourself, damn!" De'Mario yelled as Danielle stopped at the top of the stairs. 
       She turned around slowly, her 2 month old stomach showing ever so slightly, her eyes were full of tears and voice carried all over the house, "No! You are upsetting me De'Mario!"
       Before he could say a word she turned quickly to run down the stairs, but he caught her arm before she could move, "We gotta talk about all this D."
       Danielle glared back at him throwing daggers with her eyes, "The hell we do."
       She yanked her arm away from him with full force, her body yanked to the opposite side and her arm flew toward the railing, he reached for her but before he could catch her she was falling head first down the stairs, her voice struggled to scream, "Mario!"
       The stairs seemed to go on and on and on, she rolled and rolled, her body skipping steps and her head hitting the floor with a morbid 'thump'.
       He ran down the stairs trying to stop her but before his foot hit the last step she was laying there, not moving, barely breathing, "Danielle!"

       "It was my fault?" I whispered trembling slightly, all the anger, remorse, and pain I had felt all these years was my own fault?

       "It was nobody's fault, it was an accident, Danielle an accident, I tried to catch you but it felt like I was in slow motion, I couldn't seem to get there fast enough and you just kept going." He replied with his eyes closed, running a hand over his face, like he had been over that split second over and over in his head a thousand times before.

       "I used to hear you calling my name in my sleep, over and over and over. I just couldn't forget it, I lost my child and I honestly believed that you weren't man enough to deal with what was going on. And I blamed you, God I was so blind." I whispered turning toward him for the first time since he sat down, I was seeing the error in my ways, I had blamed an innocent man for something that was no one's fault.

       "Don't feel guilty, I blamed myself too, I just came to realize that it wasn't my fault and it wasn't your fault. It just happened." De'mario replied taking my hand, something that I hadn't felt in a long time, his comfort, his love.

       I moved my hand and pulled him into a hug, holding him closer than I hand in a long time, "Oh God, Mario, I'm so, so, so sorry. I'm so sorry."

       "Don't be, it's OK, I know you love me because it's never went away." He whispered as he kissed the side of my head, I had come along way from the girl that flinched at the thought of him two months ago. And as usual he had led my journey, no matter how I could try he could never not be a part of me or my life.

       "What are we supposed to do now Mario?" I asked, my eyes closed letting him take me over once again.

       "Just live D, just live." He replied running his fingers through my hair, this was what I had been wanting all this time, and I was just to proud to admit it. De'Mario was the love of all my days.

   (Akilah POV -- A Month Later )

       Everyone has their friend and their lover and here I am alone, the man of my dreams some where else dreaming of someone else. The moment I stepped off stage I felt it, this heaviness that I had never felt before, something like loneliness but worse.

       "Hey you." Omari smiled walking in with his hand behind his back, I could tell he had just finished his shower, his braids were wet and he smelled of soft-soap.

       I looked up from the soap opera that I had been biding my time with, struggling with the smile that wanted to take over, "Hey what are you doing here? I thought you were going out?"

       "I did, I'm back now." He replied as he kissed the top of my head, his hand still behind his back.

       "Whatcha hiding?" I asked trying to look at whatever it was he was hiding.

       "This." Omari whispered as he pulled a small box rapped in baby blue paper with a big gold bow on top and a card from behind his back.

       "Who's it for?" I asked frowning hoping it wasn't for some other girl, the moment I said it he stopped smiling and sat next to me.

       "You girl, open the card first." He replied handing me the card and the little box, I had to smile at this one.

       I opened the card to see a little heart with the words 'I love you' written in the inside. I glanced at Omari who waiting for me to open the card and I could see it was hand writing on the inside.

What made me love you?
Don't ask me that
Because I don't know.
There is no one specific thing.

I love you because of your eyes,
because of your smile,
because of your laugh,
because of your voice.

What made me love you?
What made me want you?
What made me need you?

So many things.
So many reasons.
So little time.

From: Omari Grandberry to the one he loves, the woman sitting next to him.

         I couldn't speak, he wanted me, me! Of all people he could want, he wanted me, "O is this true?"

       "True as you are holding that card," He replied kissing my cheek, "now open the box."

       And I did just that, I tore the wrapping off the box and stared at the gold 'A' with a little diamond in the middle, I knew where he got the idea, we had been window shopping when I saw in a store window a couple of weeks ago in Dallas. I looked at him and noticed he had an 'O' exactly like it around his neck. "Thank you so much O."

       "No thanks needed, it's my gift to you A." He whispered as I hugged him, he felt good in my arms and I had a feeling that he'd be there for a long time to come. It almost didn't feel real, he wanted me as much as I wanted him.

       "What do you want O?" I whispered as he began an assault on my neck with his lips.

       "You." Came the muffled reply, as he continued making see the world in a new light.

       "Anything for you." I replied laying back holding him close to me, hoping this wouldn't end. These days are definitely new to me.

(Crystal POV )

       I was sitting on Achana's bed braiding her hair, we had a week break and she wasn't planning on doing a damn thing to her and neither was I. She was looking happier than she had been in years and so was I, Jarell was good for her, he was probably the best friend she has, second to me, and I like that, we both have no doubts and no troubles.

       "So where you going this week?" I asked as she turned her head toward Scooby Doo, which we really weren't watching.

       "Jarell said we were gonna stay in New York and hit every store and every club that we can in a week. What about you?!" She laughed as Scooby Doo jumped on Shaggy.

       "Juan taking me to some place in Jersey for a couple of days and just chill." I replied turning her head a little bit so I could make the braid straight.

      "No doubts?" She asked looking out the hotel window, I knew what she meant and I had no hesitation answering her.

       "None, I know everything that I need to know and I'm just fine with the way that things are." I answered turning her head again, wondering when Juan would get here.

       "You know I don't think there was a time when we've all been this happy, you know."

       "I agree. Dani and De'Mario, me and Juan, O and Aki, and you have Jarell to bond with."

       "He's never led me astray you know, he's the best friend a girl could have."

       "Well, as long as you are happy it doesn't matter what he is to you, all that matters is that he put that pep in your step and that twinkle in your eye again."

       "Life is so good for all of us right now."

       "Days like this are definitely a fantasy for some --"

       "Reality for us--"

       "WE are soo lucky!"

       Achana turned around, hit me in the leg and yelled, "Eww we just had a clueless moment!"

       "Oh goodness, hand me something fattening quick!" I laughed as she threw me a snickers bar. She was right we had something that may end today or tomorrow but it will always be a memory to tell our grandchildren one day. Days Like This...not much more I can say.

-- End