Chapter Nine
A/N: Its finally here! First chapter of 2024! To those who have been waiting so patiently THANK YOU! Enjoy! Comment, reblog & share!⭐⭐ PART OF THE CHAPTER WAS MISSING! I ADDED IT!
Warnings: Cursing, mentions of abortion, excuse any typos, MINORS DNI
Masterlist
Chapter Eight
Christmas Excerpt
Following the new year, things were buzzing and busy. Zilla was in demand, working hard on the road to the company's biggest show of the year. Moriah on the other hand was being shuffled around due to a shortage but presented to her as praise for the good work she does. By the end of the shuffle, she landed in Pediatrics, the last place she wanted to be. The couple saw each other less but they tried to make the best of it.
“Fat,” Zilla called out softly. He chuckled hearing her whine. “C'mon, Fat. Get up for me, please.”
She shook her head, trying to pull the covers over her head but Zilla snatched them before she could.
“Nooooo,” she whined, “You already kept me up all night. Uhn uhn.”
“I'm not waking you for that this time. I got something to show you.”
After another ten minutes of struggling with her, Zilla finally got her up and out the door. He walked carefully behind her with his hands over her eyes, leading her to the complex's parking lot. When he stopped, he kissed her cheek lovingly.
“I forgot to bring one of your gifts with me to Texas, Fat. You ready to see it?”
“You woke me up out of my sleep, you damn right i’m ready to see it,” she joked.
Counting to three, Zilla removed his hands revealing the gift. She stared with a wide smile on her face.
“Isayah Fatu, you did not.”
“I did,” he answered softly.
“You did not buy me a car!” She squealed not caring about waking their neighbors up this early in the morning. She jumped into his arms, kissing his face repeatedly. “I didn't need it but I’m glad you got it!”
“Of course I did. I couldn’t be in my new shit and not have my lady in some new shit too, Fat. It’s only right. Plus. baby, you deserve it. I told you that I was gonna take care of you. This just the beginning, Fat.”
At that Moriah pulled back to look at him, laughing at the sneaky smile on his face. Knowing what was coming next, Zilla turned them to the side so she could look at the cars. She was so focused on her own car, she didn’t realize there was a car beside hers with an identical red bow on it.
“You got your Challenger!”
“I did. You tryna go for a ride before I gotta go?”
Moriah tilted her head and raised her brows. “Out here? Somebody might see, Zay. well … the windows are tinted. Let’s do it.”
He laughed loudly, dropping his head to her chest for a second. “I ain’t mean that kinda ride, Fat. I meant in my car.”
“Oh,” she said shyly. “My bad.”
“No need. If we got time for that then I’m aight wit it but if not you know I’ll still make it happen for you.”
“In both cars?”
“Yeah, Fat, in both cars. And you stay talkin bout me.”
After taking her for a ride around the block, Zilla dropped her back off and went to the performance center. While he waited for his class to start, he tucked himself away to work on the promo he had been working on for the next show.
“Big boy! Where you at, man?”
Chuckling to himself, Zilla put his phone away and stood from the corner he sat in.
“You bigger than me, boy.”
Bronco laughed, slapping hands with him. “You still big boy either way. What's up though? How was the holiday?”
“Shit it was good, got to spend time with my family. My niece had shit everywhere.”
“I bet. My brother did too,” he laughed, “Soooo.”
Zilla squinted a little, chuckling under his breath. “What, man?”
“Did you see Rye's family?”
“Yeah, she tried to go to her mom's by herself and you know I couldn't let that happen so I went too. Her aunt and umi was there.”
“Umi?”
“Grandma.”
“Got it,“ he nodded, “Her mom said anything out the way to you?”
“For once not really, she said like one slick thing but Umi shut that down quick. We only saw her that one day.”
Bronco figured if Zilla knew he wouldn't be as calm as he is and safely assumed his friend had no idea what he knew. The two moved into a different conversation
“If I tell you again to get away from me, I’m going to HR. Get out of my face, Thomas.”
“I just wanna have a conversation with you, Mo. Is that so bad?”
Moriah looked up from the chart she was completing and rolled her eyes. Two months into this year and she was contemplating whet or not she would spend the rest in prison. “Yes, it is. And this is the last time I’m gonna tell you to stop calling me Mo. Nurse DeBreaux and nothing else.”
He chuckled to himself. “I know you in the biblical sense and I gotta call you Nurse DeBreaux? That seem right to you?”
“I slept with you one time in that whole time we were together so I wouldn’t say that you know me but in any case if you repeat that again, I’ll kick your ass myself and then I’ll call Zilla to do it and you don’t want that.”
“Oooh, I struck a nerve I see. Listen, I just got one question and I’ll leave you alone.”
“Spit it out.”
“Why did you even bother to make me use a condom?”
Dropping the pen on the table, Moriah slowly looked up at him with an infuriated expression. “What did you just say?”
He titled his head still smiling. “You heard me. What was the point?”
“Explain what you’re asking me, Thomas and do it quickly.”
“Oh now you wanna talk to me? I think I’ll keep the rest to myself for another time.”
Not wanting him to know that she already knew about the partnership between her mother and him, Moriah thought of something quickly to throw it off. She knew if she bought it up, he would tell her mother and Zilla would find out before she herself had a chance to tell him.
“Stay out of my medical files, Thomas.”
“Medical files,” he repeated with a chuckle, “Sure thing, Mo … I mean Nurse DeBreaux. I’ll see you later.”
Watching him walk away, Moriah counted backwards from 100 in her head trying to calm herself down. When she realized it wasn’t working, she let the other nurses know that she was gone for a fifteen and hurried down to the ED. As soon as Toni saw her face, she handed her device off to one of the other nurses and guided the younger woman into the break room, locking the door behind them.
“What happened?”
“Can you call Bronco to beat Thomas’s ass please?”
Toni chuckled, “I’m sure he would love that but why? Tell me what happened.”
“I’m filling out paperwork for a child that just got admitted and he comes over trying to talk to me and I tell him to leave me alone. Of course his ass doesn’t listen, never fucking listens.” She groaned.
Toni put a calming hand on her shoulder, “Breathe, Rye. Breathe.”
She took a few deep breaths before continuing on. “So he looks at me and says what was the point of making me wear a condom. And he’s smirking, so happy and proud of himself. Fucking bastard.”
“He said what? Why would he say that to you?” She asked, frowning.
“Because apparently my mom told him more after they talked up here. I had to play it off like he had been in my medical records even though I know he wouldn’t be able to get into them.”
“You don’t want him to know that you know about him and your mom because he’ll tell her that you’re onto them and she’ll tell Zilla before you can.”
“Exactly.” Moriah sighed hard, rubbing at her nose. “I fucking hate them. Especially my mama. Why won’t she just let me be? She’s done enough already.”
Pulling her into a hug, Toni rubbed her back and let her cry on her shoulder. There was a question she was dying to ask but she wasn’t quite sure how to ask it in Moriah’s given state.
“Some people aren’t happy with themselves so they take it out on other people, especially the people that love them.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever get over the shit she’s done.”
“I’m not gonna tell you how to feel, what to feel or what to do with those feelings, Rye. I’m here for whatever you need. You call, text or come over anytime. Okay?”
Moriah nodded, pulling away from the hug. She wiped her face, trying to give a small smile. “I know you wanna know what he meant but I just can’t have that conversation right now. I’ll tell you at some point though. I promise.”
“No rush. I’ll be here when you’re ready to talk. I do have another question, though.”
“What’s up?”
“When’s the next time Zilla has a day off?”
Moriah thought for a moment, rubbing at her eyes. “I think Thursday.”
“Okay, so you’re gonna be off on Thursday and Friday so you take that time to talk to him. It seems like you’re running out of time to tell him yourself especially with how out of hand Thomas is getting. And while I’m sure Zilla will not leave you for any of this, I know how important it is for you to tell him yourself. And I know he would much rather it come from you.”
Moriah stood quietly, replaying Toni’s words in her head.They were pretty much the same words she had been saying to herself.
“I know it’s gonna be hard,” Toni added interrupting her thoughts, “I know it’s gonna be scary but you can do this. If you want me and Bronco can be there for you both.”
“No … no. I can do it alone. But stay by your phone please.”
“Of course and remember that boy loves you a hell of a lot. He’s gonna be pissed, not at you but he will be and you have to allow him to feel and process things the same way you did.”
Quietly, Moriah moved around their apartment to gather the few small boxes she needed and sat them on their kitchen table. She fixed breakfast for her boyfriend knowing that after she told him what she needed to tell him that he probably wouldn’t have an appetite. She had been texting back and forth with Toni to talk about her plan.
“Damn, it smell good out here,” he called out in between his yawning. “Mornin’, Fat.”
She chuckled, going to hug and kiss him. He held onto her a few seconds longer than he usually would then released her with a smack on the ass.
“How’d you sleep, Zay?”
“Like a rock. I ain’t realize how tired I been.”
Moriah led him to the table then went to get his plate and juice. “I’m glad you got some rest. You deserve it after throwing them people around every day.”
“Thank you,” he got quiet for a moment to say grace, “You right. You ain’t sleep good though. Not all that tossin and turnin’ you did.”
“Was I?” she asked, avoiding eye contact with him.
“Yeah you were. Had to hold onto your lil ass to get you to stop.”
“That was the plan all along,” she giggled. “I sleep better in your arms.”
The couple ate their food, having small conversations here and there about their upcoming week and schedules. Zilla finally noticed the boxes on the table after he was done eating. He glanced between her and the boxes.
“What’s that, Fat?”
She hummed, quickly taking their dishes in the kitchen.
“The boxes. What in em? What you ordered now?”
Going back to the table, Moriah sat across from him and pulled the boxes closer to her. She pulled the top box open just wide enough to slide a manila folder out of it. Zilla waited quietly for her to say something, his eyes darted between the folder and his girlfriend.
“What you got?”
“You remember when you told me that whenever I was ready to talk about what my mom did to me while you were gone that you would listen and be here for me?”
“Yeah and I meant it.”
“Well,” she sighed out, “I’m ready to talk about it now. I need to tell you before she does.”
He frowned a little. “What you mean? Why she wanna tell me?”
“Because she knows that if she tells you that you’ll leave me and that’s what she wants.”
“Fat,” he called out, reaching across the table for her hand, “Look at me.” He waited for her to look up before he continued. “Whatever she did to you, you didn’t have no control over that. I love you and whatever she did or said won’t change that. Aight?”
Moriah sighed. “I know you told me that but you don’t know yet.”
“Fat, baby … just tell me. Zilla ain’t goin nowhere.”
She held his stare for a few moments, trying to figure out how she wanted to start telling him.
“When you got sentenced and stuff, I was distraught as hell. It was pitiful,” she chuckled. “I spent all my free time at your moms, in your bed and stuff. Then like three weeks after you left, I got sick on and off. Figured it was just cause I wasn’t eating like I should or a cold but three
weeks later I was still sick. Arthur came over to see me and him and mama gave me a pregnancy test.”
Her heart dropped a little, feeling his grip on her hand loosen.
“The test was positive. Um, my parents and Mama were upset at first but they realized that there was nothing they could do you know and we went from there.”
“You was pregnant? And nobody told me?” He asked, trying to keep his tone calm.
“We were gonna tell you, Zay, but we were trying to figure out a way to tell you because you were gonna miss 10 years of the child’s life. That wasn’t gonna be easy.”
“So everybody knew but me?”
She shook her head. “No. Only me, my parents, Mama, Arthur, Auntie Kami and Umi. It didn’t go beyond us because we didn’t want anyone telling you before we figured it out.”
“Keep goin,” he demanded softly.
She sighed softly, slipping her hand from his momentarily. Flipping through the folder for a moment, Moriah pulled out her sonograms and slid them across the table.
“My first appointment was at 10 weeks. I heard the heartbeat and the doctor said that the baby was fine. My mom kept saying smart shit but me, Mama and my daddy were happy. Mama cried when we found out the due date.” Moriah chuckled softly remembering.
He stared at the images in front of him, his thumb slightly grazing where the baby sat in the sonogram. “Why did she cry?”
“The due date was March 24th.”
Zilla looked up from the sonogram, locking eyes with his girlfriend. “4 days before Pops birthday.”
“Yeah,” she answered softly.
He huffed loudly, placing the sonograms on the table. His hands went to cover his face for a moment, taking slow, deep, long breaths. It was hard but he was trying to keep his promise.
“Clearly none of yall figured out how to tell me cause I’m just now findin out. So what you do with our kid? The only kid I’ve seen is Sisi and she ain’t old enough to be ours.”
Moriah wiped her tears away with the sleeve of her sweatshirt. “I don’t wanna tell you, Zay.”
“Nah, nah, nah. You can’t start then stop, Moriah. Where’s my kid?”
“You’re gonna be mad at me, Zay.” She cried holding the folder tightly to her chest. “I don’t wanna tell you. She made me do it.”
“Moriah,” he called out sternly. “Just tell me!”
She jumped from his voice booming through their apartment which he immediately regretted. He stood from the table wiping his hands over his head and face.
“I’m sorry for yellin’ at you, Fat but just … please just tell me.”
Sitting the folder aside, Moriah played with her fingers trying to get her mouth to cooperate with her brain.
“When I was 12 weeks, my mom told me that she had made another appointment for me to make sure the baby was okay. I was skeptical but I still went. Your mom was skeptical too.” She said between sobs. “It wasn’t a regular check up for the baby. She had scheduled an abortion. She let them take my baby and then she gloated about it.”
Abortion.
Abortion.
Abortion.
The word replayed over and over inside Zilla’s head. He was trying to wrap his mind around it but it wasn’t connecting. Feeling his anger start to rise well above what it should have been, Zilla started to pace back and forth.
“I didn’t want to but I was a minor and I didn’t have a choice, Zay. And afterwards she made me go tell your mom that ‘it’ was gone so yall would leave us alone.”
“Our kid is dead?” He asked softly.
“Yes.”
“That bitch killed my fucking kid?” He yelled, not able to keep the rumble inside of him. “She killed my kid and got the nerve to act like mother of the fuckin year?”
Moriah wanted to hug him but she knew he would probably push her away so she stayed where she was with the table between the two of them. Her eyes followed him as he paced back and forth, mumbling to himself. Going into the other box, she pulled out a small baby blue box holding that tight in her grasp.
“Afterwards, I kept asking her what did they do with the baby and if they had told her if the baby was a boy or a girl but she wouldn’t answer me. I kept asking and asking,’’ she explained softly, “And finally she told me that she had them cremate the remains and that she had the gender. In order for me to get both and my sonograms, I had to do something else.”
His pacing stopped but he didn’t look at her.
“I had to get my tubes tied. I had to agree or she was gonna destroy all of it.” She took a moment and approached him with the box. She took one more look at it then held it out to him. “I did it because she had already killed my baby, I couldn’t lose the rest of the only pieces of him I had.”
“Him?”
“Yeah,” she said softly, “It was a boy. I know it probably doesn’t mean much but I named him Angel.”’
Slowly, Zilla took the box from her, his thumbs caressed the letters etched into the box. ‘Angel Fatu’. Hot tears rolled down his face uncontrollably as he cradled the box to his chest. Taking a chance, Moriah moved closer to her boyfriend and he took a step back, shaking his head.
“If your tubes are tied, why are we using condoms and why are you on birth control?”
The second time she’s heard this question, this time she felt more comfortable answering.
“I’m not on birth control, Zay. The condoms … it was easier to just keep using them because if we weren’t I know you would wonder why there hadn’t been any pregnancy scares.” She explained. “Nobody knows that my tubes are tied except you and my mom. I was ashamed.”
“The condoms that she gifted us at the going away party?”
“A sick joke. She’s been torturing me for years. She made me get a job in a daycare not more than six months after Angel. I was in the infant room. Whenever her friends or co-workers needed a babysitter, she made me do it.”
Taking a short glance at his girlfriend, Zilla moved around her with the box still in hand and grabbed his keys from the kitchen counter. He didn’t say another word to her, he simply walked out of their apartment slamming the door behind him.
Hours and hours passed without Moriah receiving a response to the texts she'd sent to her boyfriend. Ultimately, she was worried about his safety and just wanted to know he wasn't on the side of the road somewhere. The radio silence on her phone also let her know that he hadn't called his mom because she would have called or texted by now. He was angry and he had every right to be.
By the time she got in bed there was finally a ping from her phone, alerting her to a message. Her heart dropped a little when she saw Bronco's name instead of Zilla's.
Bronco
11:43pm
Couldn't text earlier but he been with me all day. I got em, he good, sis. Get you some rest. He love you, he been sayin it all day. He just upset. Lock the door and call if you need us.
Moriah
11:46pm
Thank you. Good night. I love him too.
She laid back staring at the ceiling debating with herself. Deciding she needed to know, she sent another text.
Moriah
11:55pm
He has the blue box, right?
Bronco
11:58pm
Of course. Angel chillin next to moms. Don't worry ya pretty lil head, sis. They good.
Letting out a soft sigh, Moriah plugged her phone up and put it on the dresser then moved to Zilla's side of the bed, cuddling his pillow. She said a soft prayer before drifting off to sleep.
“What's this smile about? Who are you texting?”
Hassan pulled his phone to his chest away from his younger sister, Gabi's wandering eyes with a chuckle. It was their weekly visit and so far he had been splitting his time between entertaining her and texting.
“I always smile, thank you very much.”
She laughed still trying to get to his phone. “Not like that you don't. Fess up. What's her name?”
“Why you always in my business? I need to call my brother in law on you?”
She shrugged playfully, trying to start the phone. “Call all you want, I'm still gonna ask. Now who is it? Or I'm gonna call my niece and ask her. I know she knows.”
Hassan rolled his eyes dramatically. “I thought you would grow out of being nosey. But if you must know, I was texting my friend, Tamara.”
“Friend Tamara? You mean your girlfriend!”
“Not my girlfriend,” he chuckled, “We've been seeing each other for a little, seeing where it goes.”
Gabi raised a brow. “Is this the same friend you've been going out with since before Thanksgiving?”
“It might be.”
“Uhuh so that's your girlfriend! When do I get to meet her?”
“Whoa, whoa. Slow down, speedy. It's not time for that yet.”
“You've been seeing her for almost five months and yall are grown. It's time. Does Moriah know about her?”
He nodded, smiling a little. “She was with me when Tamera approached me. Rye wanted me to go out with her. Even offered to be my flower girl.”
Gabi squealed, hugging her brother. “Yes! So she's in. I'm so happy because I was terrified you were gonna go back to that bitch of an ex wife.”
“Gabriella,” he called out sternly.
She put her hands up defensively. “I didn't lie, she is a bitch but fine I won't say it again. I don't even know what you ever saw in her evil ass.”
“We're not discussing Nadine, we're discussing Tamera.”
“So tell me about her? You obviously like her with all this smiling and texting.”
His smile widened, starting to think about Tamera and the time they'd been spending together. When they first went out, Hassan honestly wasn't planning on taking her out again. He was simply going so Moriah wouldn't be on his back about not going but that first date pulled him in.
“Tamera is a good person. She's a realtor, has been for quite some time. She has two kids, one boy and one girl. Not too much older than Rye.”
“Uhuh, keep going.”
Hassan laughed. “That's all I'm telling you, nosey. Whenever you meet her, you can ask her all the questions you want.”
His phone ringing interrupted Gabi, he held a finger up as he checked to see who was calling.
“Is that your girlfriend?”
“No, it's Leata.” He responded sticky before putting the phone to his ear. “Hey, what's up?”
“I'm not interrupting you, Hassan. Am I?”
“Nope, you actually saved me from Gabi.” He laughed dodging his little sister's hit.
“Oh tell her Hey for me. I'm sorry to bother you guys.”
“I'll tell her but you're not bothering us. Everything okay? Was it Nadine?”
Leata laughed softly. “No, no, not Nadine. Haven't talked to her since Christmas. It's about the kids.”
“What about them? They okay?”
“Well I was checking to see if you had talked to either of them. I haven't talked to them in three days and that's not like either of them.” She sighed softly. “I'm probably just being paranoid but one of them would at least text, ya know?”
“Uuuh I talked to Moriah Thursday morning I think it was. She was cooking breakfast and just called to talk for a few but not since then.”
“I'm worried about them. I think I'm gonna fly there to check on them, this isn't like them.”
Hassan thought for a moment. “I have Rye's friend's number for emergencies so I'll call her and see if she knows what's going on then we'll go from there. Deal?”
“Okay, let me know as soon as you do.”
After agreeing Hassan disconnected their call and started to go through his phone in search of Toni's number. Gabi watched him, although she was only able to hear his side of the conversation she could put two and two together.
“You think they're okay? They probably just went on a lil trip and forgot to say something.”
“Yeah,” Hassan said softly as he put his phone back to his ear, “Hopefully so.”
The phone rang all the way to voice-mail, Hassan figured she didn't recognize the number and didn't answer so he shot her a quick text. A couple minutes later his phone was ringing.
“Hey, Toni. It's Hassan, Rye's daddy. How are you?”
“I'm good, running some errands. I didn't realize that was you calling. Everything okay?”
“No worries. I just wanted to see if you'd talk to Rye in the last few days.” He took the phone from his rear to put it on speaker so he could text Leata. “Zilla's mom hadn't heard from them since Wednesday and I haven't talked to Rye since Thursday morning so we're a little worried.”
Toni sat on the phone quietly for a moment trying to decide how much of what she knew Moriah would be comfortable with. While she hadn't directly talked to either of them, Bronco had kept her in the loop and she did call and text Moriah but got no answer.
“Toni? You there?”
“Yes, I'm sorry. I've talked to her and a mutual friend of ours has talked to Zilla in the last couple days so they're okay.”
Hassan let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding as he sent a quick text to Leata.
“Good, thank you.”
“I tell you what … I'm near their apartment so I'll swing by and lay eyes on Rye for you. Let her know that yall are worried.”
“I would greatly appreciate that, Toni. Thank you so much.”
“Oh it's no problem at all.”
After getting off the phone, Toni carefully switched labs so that she could get off the exit closest to Moriah and Zilla's apartment. She was thankful that Hassan called because now she had even more reason to go check on her friend. Bronco had been telling her that he had Zilla and Moriah would respond to his few text messages everyday and that she was fine to give her space. But space isn't something Toni thought Moriah needed especially not after three days. Zilla went to his friend and Moriah's alone. She's isolating herself.
Getting to the apartment, Toni carefully climbed the stairs with their bag of food in hand. She knocked on the door then pressed the ring doorbell and bent over a bit to talk into it.
“You know you hear me at this door. It's hot and I'm melting, Rye. Let me in, please!”
A few minutes and a few knocks later, Moriah let her in. Toni sat the food on the coffee table then went right to Moriah pulling her into a tight hug. Although she tried to hold it, Moriah couldn't stop her cries. She cried on Toni's shoulder as her body shook from how hard she was sobbing. The older woman held onto her and rubbed her back while she whispered soft encouraging words. Minutes later, Moriah pulled away wiping her face on the sleeve of what Toni assumed to be Zilla's hoodie. Toni pulled her over to the sofa so they could sit.
“I've been calling and texting you, Rye. Everybody has.” Toni spoke softly.
“I know,” she sniffled, wiping a stray tear away, “I'm sorry. I didn't wanna talk.”
Toni started to take their food out of the bag, setting it up on the coffee table.
“I understand but a text to let people know you're alive would've been great, Rye. Your dad called me to see if I'd talked to either of you. Apparently him and Zilla's mom are worried about you two.”
Moriah sighed, playing with her nails. Leata had been calling and texting, his brothers had as well but she didn't answer because she knew she wouldn't be able to hide any of this from them.
“You should at least text them back. Cause it sounds like the two of them were ready to come do a search party.”
She nodded, pulling her phone from her pocket. The screen is filled with notifications. “I don't know what to tell them.”
“Just tell them you've been working doubles at the hospital so you've been sleep when you're not working. It's a lie but it'll work for now.”
“Yeah. Thank you,” she mumbled. Her fingers moved back and forth on her phone while she tapped out her messages. To Leata's she added that she would call when she got a free moment. “I'm sure Bronco told you but he left after I told him. I knew he would but I was hoping he wouldn't.”
Toni gave her the plate of food and her utensils. “Eat. It's jerk chicken and rice, you like that. He didn't leave you, Rye. He left the situation. That was a lot to find out after all this time.”
Moriah pushed the food around her plate before taking a bite. “He could barely look at me and when he did he looked disgusted. Like he hated me.”
“He was not disgusted with you and he does not hate you.” Toni reassured. “The situation and your mother, that's where those emotions are directed. You gotta give him time, Rye. Have you healed from what she did?”
“No, not entirely.”
“Okay so it's been almost ten years since she did it and your not healed so just remember that Zilla's only had a few days and there's no way he's gonna heal in those three days.”
The friends sat quietly for a few minutes eating their food.
“That boy loves you to death, you don't need to worry. He left because he felt like that was the safest thing for him and your relationship. He didn't want to misdirect his anger at you. Okay?”
“What if he can't get over it, Toni? What if it's never the same again?”
“Hey, no … we're not doing that. Breathe,” Toni paused to take a few deep breaths with her, “You and Zilla are gonna be fine. Okay? Your mom will not win. You and him got this.”
Moriah nodded solemnly. “Okay, T. I just … I miss him.”
“I'm sure he misses you too. Sometimes space isn't a bad thing.”
“He hates space,” she chuckled softly, “He tells everybody the same thing. If he could live in my skin, he would. He loves being up under me all the time.”
“Trust me, I can tell with how much he interrupts my ED,” she joked. “Speaking of the ED, I'm tired of not having you there so I'm working on getting you back. That replacement of yours is working my nerves.”
“And Thomas is getting on mine,” Moriah added. “I used to wanna be in pediatrics but he's ruined it for me. I swear if I have to work with him any longer he's gonna need a colon repair surgery.”
They laughed loudly.
“I'm sure Bronco and Zilla would more than agree with you. But I'm working on it, I need my girl back in the ED with me.”
Constant buzzing during their workout was starting to annoy Bronco. He knew Zilla was tuning it out and he was trying to as well but he couldn't take it. Setting his weights down, he went over to the treadmill Zilla ran on and turned it off earning a confused glare from his friend.
“What's up? What you doin?”
“Your phone, man. Either answer it or put it on silent.”
Zilla glanced over at it, seeing it light up and vibrate again. “Nah, I'm good. It'll be aight.”
“If you not gon answer it, put it on silent for the sake of the rest of us in here.”
He shook his head as he wiped his sweat with his towel. “Can't. Just in case.”
Bronco sucked his teeth and stared at his friend like he had the heads. “What? Just in case? Just in case what? Cause I know not an emergency with the way they blowing you up, Zilla. Or you mean just in case with Rye? Yeah that's what you mean. Right?”
Zilla didn't answer but he didn't need to. Bronco knew him well enough to know that's what he meant.
“Look I get it, you're upset and you got every right to be but you shutting out the wrong people. And if you really cared about Rye being okay, you would've at least texted her to check on her.”
“She straight, man.”
“How you know? I mean I know she straight cause I check on her but how would you? The crazy shit is, you not even mad at her, bruh. I get you don't wanna take some shit out on her that ain't her fault,” he fussed, hitting his hands for emphasis, “But communicate that shit with her. You left y'all spot three days ago and ain't said shit to her. You think that shit sound right?”
Zilla rubbed his hands over his face. He knew his friend was right but he was scared to talk to Moriah. After he yelled at her when they last spoke, he didn't want to do that again and hurt her.
“And moms been calling you and she damn sure ain't do shit wrong but try and protect you, Rye, and Angel. But here you are not answering and stressing her the fuck out. She did the best she could, bruh. You putting a wall up with the wrong people, Isayah. You my boy and I love you but you doing the wrong shit.”
With a shake of his head, Bronco turned away from his friend and went back to the weight bench. Zilla too wanted to go back to working out but the lashing Bronco had just given him writhed heavily on him. Nothing that was said was wrong but he still didn't know what to do. Grabbing his phone and his towel, Zilla left the gym area and went to sit outside the Performance Center to get some air. He fiddled around with his phone trying to decide if he was going to respond to any of his notifications.
Zilla
1:45pm
I love u, Fat
Moriah
1:46pm
I love you more, Zay.
Not able to decide what else he wanted to say to his girlfriend, he exited their thread and called his mother. She answered on the second ring.
“Isayah, I've been worried about you and Rye.”
“My bad. Been busy,” he murmured, holding the phone to his ear. “We straight.”
“Yeah she texted and told me she's been working doubles. You don't sound like yourself, I need to see your face. Facetime me.”
He forced out a chuckle to throw her off. “Zilla aight, Mama. I'm at the PC supposed to be in class but wanted to check in with you.”
“Okay but I still wanna see your face so facetime me tonight.”
“Aight, Mama.”
“I mean it, Isayah. Don't make be come to Florida.”
He chuckled forreal this time. “Zilla got you, Mama. I promise. Zilla love you.”
“Uhuh,” she chuckled, “I love you too.”
He hung up with her then sent his brothers a message in their group chat and a picture of him. Proof of life so they would leave him alone for the moment.
“You're a mama's boy, huh?”
His eyes snapped up from his phone to the woman talking to him then back to his phone.
“Yeah, you can say that.”
“That's cute,” she smiled, sticking out her hand, “I'm Gia. Nice to meet you.”
Zilla stared at her for a second then shook her hand, briefly. “Zilla.”
“Oh I know who you are,” she laughed a bit, “Since I got hired, you're all anyone talks about. I'm one of the new backstage analysts.”
“That's cool, congrats.”
“Thank you,” she smiled watching him get up from the ground, “I think you're gonna be my first interview on Tuesday and I was little nervous.”
He started to squint at her but remembered he was at work and she was probably more than a little nervous.
“Why?”
“You know you hear things about asshole wrestlers and stuff so just a lil weary but thankfully,” she paused to put a hand on his arm, “You don't seem like one of them.”
Although her touching him felt strange, he let her keep it there for a moment until she got the hint. When she moved her hand, he took a step back from her.
“No, I'm not. It'll be cool.”
“Good to know. So what do y'all do around here for fun? I literally just moved here last week and know nothing about this area.”
“Wouldn't know. I don't go out much.”
Her smile widened and her hand found its way back to his arm. “Well how about we go find out together?
Gently, he moved her hand off of him and gave her a small smile. “Ima have to decline, Gia. I'm good plus I don't think my lady would like that.”
“You girlfriend don't let you have friends, Zilla? We're co-workers, it's fine.”
He tilted his head to stare at her briefly. The door to the center opened revealing Bronco.
“Aye, Book wanna talk to us, Zilla. Let's go.”
Thankful for the intrusion, Zilla nodded at Gia then jogged to the door letting it close behind him. Bronco stared at him.
“What the hell was that? Why she kept touching you and shit?”
“I thought she caught the hint the first time she did that shit but she didn't,” Zilla explained, “But she didn't. And she asked me out I think.”
Bronco squinted. “And you told her about sis.”
“Man,” Zilla sucked his teeth, “Of course I did but then she hit me with that ya girl don't let you have friends and then you saved me.”
“Sis let you have friends but not her ass.”
“Right. Fat will take my head off and hers. Ion play them kinda games with my life.”
Bronco nodded slapping hands with him. “As long as you know it. Watch that girl though.”
“Gotchu. Ain't nothin to worry about though.”
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