Free This Could Be Us But You Playin' 2 by Cachet Page A

that way.”
     
    *****
     
    Dominique signaled her blinker and switched lanes. She was headed to La Parrilla , a Mexican restaurant, to meet with Shanice and have lunch. While she drove, she couldn’t help but reflect on the conversation that she had with her grandmother. While the chat was awkward at first, it didn’t end that way. Dominique was initially ashamed that her grandmother knew about the fact that she was cheating on Deondre. She had always been known as a ‘good girl’ to both Franny, as well as her father, and knew that something like that would be something that they frowned upon. Turns out, Franny wasn’t as disturbed about the fact that she was stepping out on her fiancé. She was more troubled to find out that her granddaughter was head over heels in love with someone else and wasn’t with that person only because she felt that she owed her baby’s father.
    Although Dominique never said it out loud, what everyone else thought was somewhat true. She did feel like she owed Deondre for all of the things that he had done for her when she basically had nothing. Back then he not only allowed her to move into her apartment, but he wouldn’t accept the rent that she attempted to pay him on numerous occasions. While Dominique had a part-time job during that time, she wasn’t making a lot of money and Deondre knew this. Since his uncle was footing the bill for everything he had, he told Dominique that she could stay with him for as long as she needed rent free. This was something he’d done even before they became a couple. Deondre had done so much for her, and she appreciated him and loved him for everything. Did she love him as much as she loved Kaleb? The answer to that question was no. She and Deondre did have a bond that they shared, and that was DJ, their child, and while she wasn’t ‘in love’ like her grandmother predicted, she was going to make it work with her family. Not growing up in a two parent household was something that Dominique didn’t get a chance to have once her father was sent to prison and she was going to work hard to make sure that DJ did, even if it meant putting her needs on the back burner.
    After pulling into the parking lot of the restaurant, Dominique found an available spot near the front and parked her car. She looked around and saw that the restaurant wasn’t as packed as it usually was on the weekend, and was glad that there wouldn’t be a bunch of loud folks while she and her best friend ate. Once her vehicle was in gear, she pulled down her visor and inspected her hair in the mirror. She loved how it had turned out. The Bantu knots that she had put in the night before were damn near perfect. There were large, full curls all over her head. The ones in the front framed her face, while the ones near the rear fell gracefully across her shoulders and down her back. The new oil that she had started using had her locks shiny, and the edge control had her baby hairs laid. Happy with her look, Dominique put on a coat of lip gloss, grabbed her bag, and climbed out of the car.
    As soon as she entered the restaurant, she saw Shanice sitting at a table close to the bar. She was on the phone talking to someone, and from what Dominique could see, the conversation wasn’t a pleasant one. When she walked up, Shanice immediately ended the call with a look of annoyance on her face. Her expression quickly changed and she threw on a smile.
    “Hey babes,” Shanice squealed, standing up to greet her.
    “Hey boo. You look cute,” Dominique complimented.
    Shanice beamed, placed her hands on her hips, and turned around to give her best friend a full look at what she had on. When she was back facing the table, she smiled and replied, “Thank you. You do too. Sit down and let’s chat. I haven’t seen you in forever.”
    Taking a seat, Dominique thought for a second, “I know. It’s been at least a month,” she paused. “About the fight, I tried my best to break it—”
    “Girl,