4

Destiny's POV

The sun shined through the window behind me gazing at the screen of my laptop and I sighed tilting the device slightly disposing of the intrusive glare as I leaned back in the chair hating the tension in my body that my everyday responsibilities had caused.

I was silently counting down the seconds until I could leave as a yawn left my exhausted body, if it was a regular day I would have already been home enjoying my second glass of wine while my roommate Aliyah gathered the events of her day to gift to me but since I had arrived late today I was left to catch up. 

I had decided to place half of the blame on Mesi whose addictive and interesting conversation caused time to slip away, and the other half on me who sat in the chair seemingly compelled by the woman for hours.

I was waiting for her to initiate a romantic gesture for the majority of the time I spent with her since I could sense her hidden attraction for me, but she never made a move to step across the line of friendship much to my dismay and I had guessed that her relationship with my sister was the cause, but on the other hand, I was also grateful she didn't since I was still closeted when it came to my family and I wasn't mentally or emotionally strong enough to embark on that journey especially when I was still at war with the internalized homophobia that years in a religious household had blessed me with.

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Two Days Later

Samantha's POV

I continued walking down the street with Ackeem by my side, the regret in my system increasing with each second we spent in the neighbourhood, the changes I missed out on and the people who I barely recognized aiding the depressive state I was falling into as he pushed open the gate to the house I once spent my days in.

"Ms Tammy guess who?" he asked as we stepped in, my hand moving to the small gate pushing it close, her dry garden a foreign sight since it was always well kept before my served time. I watched as Ms Tammy's gaze stayed on me as we moved up the small stairs, the realization flashing in her eyes earning a smile from me.

"Samantha," she called out happily, standing up slowly and I moved to meet her accepting her loving hug, the embrace feeling like a piece of home.

"Look at you all grown up," she voiced as I pulled away and I smiled, the love I had for the woman overwhelming, she was the parent I never had growing up, she taught me how to love myself when the world around me had me convinced that I was God's greatest mistake, the woman practically raised me.

"You hungry?" she asked.

"No, I'm okay,"

"I got some leftovers, come inside," she replied ignoring my response and I smiled, Ackeem and I following her inside.

"What's up with the garden mama?" I asked gazing around her house that remained the same, the fact bringing me slight peace.

"I had a stroke a couple of months back, I don't really have the strength to care for it anymore, my daughter said she's going to get somebody to take care of it next month," she replied, the hurt in her voice making me frown since I knew how much that garden meant to her.

"I can stop by and tend to it since I'm free most days," I offered hoping she would agree since I was home most days, the cause being the fact I barely got accepted for job interviews because of my conviction and I had grown to hate the silence, the lack of noise suddenly becoming suffocating to my thought busy mind.

"I would love that," she accepted gleefully and I smiled stepping into the kitchen watching as she moved around the area slowly.

"You mentioned your daughter earlier, is she visiting?" I asked remembering she used to tell me stories back in the days about how she had to send her daughter to live with her father, I never met the girl but felt as if I had known for years since sometimes she was all Ms Tammy talked about.

"No she actually moved here after my stroke," she replied a wave of sadness suddenly rushing over me at the thought that I could've lost her while I was locked up.

"Ms Tammy let me get the food," I said her cautious steps worrying me.

"Baby I'm fine just have a seat,"

"I know you are but I want to hear more stories of what you've been up to, so sit and talk," I told her smiling knowing the woman's biggest fear was growing old and not being able to take care of herself and because of that, I was very selective when it came to my response.

"Okay baby," she replied moving to sit down as my gaze moved over to Ackeem who was on his phone.

"Why did you come if you were gonna be on your phone the whole time?" I asked him and he smiled lifting his gaze looking at me.

"These kids nowadays that's all they do," Ms Tammy mumbled disappointedly as I opened the refrigerator.

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Thanks for reading ❤️‼️

Hope you enjoyed the chapter ❤️‼️