Rain's Theory Read online

  Rain’s Theory

  K.C. Mills

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  © 2015

  Published by Leo Sullivan Presents

  www.leolsullivan.com

  All rights reserved.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Unauthorized reproduction, in any manner, is prohibited.

  -1-

  Rain

  “Rain, come on. Please, just jump because if you don’t, I’m coming back inside and you know what Malinda is gonna do to me if she finds out I snuck out. I’m not leaving you Rain, just jump. I got you, I promise.”

  I looked down from the second story window where I was sitting on the ledge. Theory was below me on the ground after having jumped minutes before me. He was impatiently waiting for me, and I knew that he wasn’t going to leave me so I had to make a decision.

  “Rain,” Theory said aggressively but not loud enough to wake anyone else in the group home that we were trying to escape from.

  I looked down at Theory, took a deep breath, closed my eyes and jumped. When I hit the ground, I felt a sharp pain in my ankle from landing on it, but Theory did his best to break my fall.

  “I swear you’re so difficult sometimes,” Theory said looking at me with a grin, before he handed me my backpack and pulled his onto his back. Once I tossed mine over his head and had my arms through the straps, Theory grabbed my hand and we took off running. We had no idea where we were going, or what we would do when we got there, but neither of us looked back. I wasn’t afraid. I knew that Theory had me. He was my best friend and he always looked out for me, so I felt safe just knowing that he was by my side. With the clothes on our backs and the one hundred dollars that Theory stole from Malinda, we were off into the night.

  I felt Mel’s arms tighten around me and his lips against my neck, as I stirred in my sleep just before I heard his voice.

  “Rain, what’s wrong?” His voice was soft against my neck, as if he were attempting to use his words to comfort me.

  “Nothing, why?” I responded instinctively without really thinking about it because I was still drowsy from sleep.

  “You’re crying.” I felt his hand against my face as he wiped away tears that I didn’t know where falling.

  “I don’t know… bad dream, I guess,” I said, as I melted deeper into his body.

  “About what?”

  “I don’t remember,” I said not wanting to admit that I was dreaming about another man, the first man I ever loved and who loved me back. I grabbed my left wrist and let my thumb slide across my tattoo. I was the only one who truly knew what it meant. Most people just assumed that Rain’s Theory was about me. My theory as in ideal, not my theory as in my first love.

  “You sure?” he asked not convinced.

  “I’m sure, I’m good Mel. Go back to sleep.” I rested my head against his body and exhaled.

  As much as I cared Mel, he wasn’t Theory and he never would be. I felt a wave of guilt wash over me as I thought about the reason why I insisted on taking my current job, moving back to Atlanta. It wasn’t fair to Mel, but I needed to be here. If Theory was here, then I was going to find him. I tried for years to let him go, but it was pointless. He had my heart and he always would. I just prayed that it wasn’t too late to tell him.

  “Where are you?” Mel sounded irritated as his voice flowed through my phone. I ran my fingers thorough my curly lion’s main and then let out a sigh.

  “I stopped for a shake and fries. Do you want me to get you something?” I asked, irritated that he was attempting to clock my moves.

  “I thought we were going out for dinner tonight, why are you stopping now?”

  “I haven’t eaten all day. We’ve been on a shoot and this is the first time I’ve been able to get something. We can still go out, I just needed something quick for now.”

  I looked around my old neighborhood while waiting for Mel to respond. I had been here almost every day in the past month before work, during my lunch or after work, and still no sign of Theory. I was starting to think my search was in vain. Maybe he moved, maybe he was dead, who knows.

  “Fine, just hurry. I’ve got good news.” Jamel’s whole attitude changed and he sounded excited.

  “Tell me now,” I said, glancing inside Marty’s to check out the crowd.

  “No, just hurry. I’ll tell you when you get here.”

  “Okay, I shouldn’t be long.”

  “Love you Rain.”

  “Me too,” I responded, not really knowing if I meant it. Who was I kidding? I didn’t mean it, which is why I never actually said the words. It was always, me too. I cared about Jamel, but love was still questionable.

  I slid my phone into the back pocket of my jeans before I pulled the handle on the large glass door to enter Marty’s. The music was loud and the crowd was even louder. I smiled when I spotted the booth in the corner that Theory and I claimed as our own when we were kids. I bet our names were still on the wall in that booth. Not much had changed in here; in fact, everything except the faces was exactly the same. It felt like home.

  Something about this place calmed me. It was like I could feel him all around me and even though it had been six years since I had seen his face, I could recall every detail. His caramel skin, his dark brown eyes with a scar just above the right eyebrow from where he had been hit by a metal pipe defending me. Every detail was etched in my memory as if someone had programmed it there.

  I made my way to the counter and the young girl behind the register smiled at me.

  “What can I get for you?” she asked before she looked up at someone who was obviously standing behind me.

  “Large fry and a vanilla shake.” That voice hung in the air like a familiar fragrance and even though it had been years since I heard that voice, I knew before I even turned to face him who it belonged to.

  Once we were face to face, his hypnotizing eyes locked on me but I couldn’t speak, as Theory grabbed me pulling me into his chest, hugging me so tightly that I had to turn my head to breathe.

  “The fuck you doing here?” Theory asked with a grin after he let me go.

  “Looking for you,” I said unable to control my smile.

  “Is that all?” the girl behind the counter asked looking annoyed about our reunion.

  “Let me get a slice. Just cheese,” Theory said as he pulled a wad of money out of his pocket, peeled off a twenty and then extended it towards the cashier, but kept his eyes on me then entire time.

  “You’re change,” the girl said with an attitude as she slid a plastic number across the counter for us to place on our table for the waitress.

  “Just keep it,” Theory said looking annoyed with her for taking his attention away from me.

  I grabbed the number and instinctively walked to our booth, followed by Theory. I slid in one side while he slid in the other, and I felt self-conscious under the intensity of the way his eyes focused on me.

  “So you’re looking for me, huh?” he said, finally breaking the silence that surrounded us, even though the restaurant was loud and full of noise. It was as if he and I were the only two who existed in that moment.

  “I have been for over a month,” I admitted, needing him to understand my commitment to finding him.

  “When did you get back to the A?” Theory asked ignoring my comment.

  “A month ago.”

  “You look the same… different, but the same,” he said, as he searched my face e
xposing the dimple in his left cheek.

  “So do you,” I said as I did the same, admiring the maturity in his face; the smoothly laid hair covering his chin and his low cut, curly Caesar. This man was gorgeous and his eyes had me hypnotized the same way they had years ago.

  “Yeah, I guess so,” he admitted before leaning back and placing his arm across the back of the vinyl covered bench he was sitting on.

  “Autumn Rain,” he spoke with a grin as he looked around Marty’s as if looking for someone. “I missed the fuck outta you, girl.”

  “Really?” A shy smile crept across my face, as I stared into his eyes, which exposed the truth in his words.

  “Shit, you already know. I haven’t been the same since you disappeared on me Rain,” Theory said now matching my stare.

  “I didn’t disappear. I was placed with a family that thought it was a good idea to up and move to Florida. Trust me, if I could have stayed I would have, but at sixteen and being a ward of the state, you don’t really get a vote.”

  “Nah, you needed to get the fuck outta here. You deserved more than I could have ever given you.”

  I thought about the years I spent on the street with Theory, lying, stealing, sleeping in dark alleys, doing anything we could to survive. It might not have been the best life, but it was a good life as long as we were together, because Theory was all I needed. Theory loved me, protected me and looked out for me in ways that I would never forget.

  “You gave me everything I needed,” I said meaning every word. I never wanted him to ever feel like he wasn’t enough for me, because he was.

  He chuckled and looked away. “So I’m guessing you went to college and shit. I bet they made sure of that, huh?”

  I almost hated to admit it, feeling like I was somehow disloyal to Theory for having a good life. My foster parents had money. They moved us to Florida into a gated community, and paid for private tutors to get me caught up, since Theory and I lived on the streets for what should have been the first two years of high school for me. When I graduated with honors, they of course, paid for me to go to college. I was a Liberal Arts major with a minor in Photography, hence my current job as a photographer for Urban Pride, one of the hottest urban hip hop magazines in Atlanta.

  I guess my silence was my answer, because Theory spoke up. “Don’t sweat it, Rain. You deserved a good life. You were always smart and shit, and I knew you would be somebody important. It was always in you. I was the one holding you back. Don’t ever feel bad about making it. That’s all I ever wanted for you.”

  “So what about you? What have you been up to all these years?” I asked not wanting to talk about myself.

  “Shit, you know me. Born and raised in the streets. Ain’t shit changed, but I’m good so I won’t complain.”

  “Yo, Thee. We’re heading out. You rolling with us? We’re about to ride through the block and then head out to Buckhead.”

  I looked up to see us being approached by a very tall, sexy ebony colored guy. His hair was cut low, and his pearly white teeth stood out against his Hershey skin, as he smiled at me the closer he got to our booth.

  “Sup beautiful,” he said offering a head nod before he focused on Theory.

  “Nah, go ahead. I’ll catch up with you later,” Theory said, as he glanced at me and then back to his homeboy.

  “Aight, just hit me when you’re free. I’ll roll with Frank. Nice to meet you beautiful.”

  Theory cut his eyes at his homeboy. “Chill with that extra shit, Niles.”

  Niles laughed. “You know I’m just fucking with you Theory. I’m out bruh.”

  Niles turned to leave, and I noticed four other guys waiting for him by the door. They looked like money, street money, but money nonetheless, and for the first time I actually paid attention to Theory, who had the same exact look about him. His appearance was simple but expensive, which showed even in the simple graphic tee he was wearing. There was a Rolex on his wrist, no diamonds, just plain stainless steel, but still a Rolex, simple yet expensive, and a platinum chain around his neck that housed a diamond encrusted T.

  “Why are you looking at me like that?” Theory asked just as the waitress appeared and placed our food on the table. I just shrugged not wanting to say what I was really thinking about his lifestyle.

  “Hey Theory, I haven’t heard from you in a minute,” Carmen said, eyeing me first and then him. She was cute and I could tell they either had something going or she wanted to, but I suddenly felt a tinge of jealousy hit me from the way she looked at him.

  “Preciate it,” was all he said in reference to her bringing our food, and then stared at her in a way that made her turn and leave without another word. I kind of wanted to laugh at how he had her in check. Theory had always been that way with the women in his life; well, with all of them except me. He treated me different, with a certain type of respect that pissed off a lot of the women in his past. Even as a teenager, Theory commanded respect from women and men, and for some reason, they gave it.

  “Girlfriend?” I asked as I grabbed a few fries and shoved them in my mouth. I glanced over my shoulder and sure enough, all eyes were on us and there weren’t any smiles on any of their faces.

  “Come on Rain, you know I don’t do that girlfriend shit.” Theory winked at me and then lifted his pizza.

  “Fuck buddy then?” I said with a grin which made him almost spit out the pizza in his mouth because he laughed so hard.

  “I see you haven’t changed much.” Theory shook his head and glanced over my shoulder at the counter.

  “Yeah, I hit it, but that don’t mean shit, so I don’t know what all that was about.”

  Even though I didn’t have the right to be upset, I could feel my face tighten at the mention of Theory being with someone else. I was living with Mel, who I had been with for the past two years and even moved from Florida with, so I damn sure had no room to feel any type of way about who Theory was sexing, but I did.

  “Your business,” I said.

  He laughed, “Yeah, okay. So what about you? I know your cute ass isn’t single.”

  “Not really.”

  After swallowing, he chuckled and looked me right in my eyes in a way that only he could. “Not really, the fuck does that mean Rain? Either you got a man or you don’t.”

  “Then yeah, I do.”

  “I already knew that shit,” he said with a cocky grin.

  “How is that?”

  “Because females like you are never single.”

  “Like me?” I asked confused about what he meant.

  “Yeah, like you. You’re smart and shit. You got your head on right and you’re cute as hell. Always have been. Niggas dream about cuffing somebody like you Rain.”

  “I guess,” I said slightly blushing.

  “No guess to it baby girl.”

  “You’re not too bad yourself,” I said attempting to take the attention off me.

  He laughed again. “I’m just a typical street nigga. Nothing special about me.”

  Before I could respond, my phone started ringing and I knew it was Jamel, so I let it go to voicemail. I was wrong, dead ass wrong, but I didn’t want anything, especially not Mel, to interrupt my time with Theory.

  “Don’t let me fuck up your groove, Rain. Niggas don’t like to be ignored,” Theory said nodding towards my phone which was currently face down on the table.

  “How do you know it was a guy?” I looked right at Theory who simply smiled.

  “Because if you were mine, I would be keeping tabs on your ass too.”

  Again I blushed.

  “I better go. I have plans for later, but can we hang out tomorrow or something?”

  Theory looked at me and smiled. “Not tomorrow, I’ve got some shit I need to handle, but I’ll call you. Let me get your number.” He leaned back and pulled his phone out of his pocket, unlocked it and handed it to me.

  I entered my number, but couldn’t help but notice the back to back texts that came through fro
m three different females. When I was done, I handed it back to him.

  “You’re pretty popular I see,” I said, trying not to let my disappointment show.

  “People always want what they can’t have,” was all he said, before he stood up and waited for me to do the same.

  When I was on my feet, he pulled me into a hug and his scent filled my nose, as his arms surrounded my body and made me feel at home. With a kiss on the neck and then my forehead, he let me go and just stared at me for a few seconds before he finally spoke.

  “Damn I’ve missed you Rain. Don’t disappear on a nigga again, or I might have to come looking for you this time.”

  “I won’t. I promise.”

  “Come on, I’ll walk you to your car,” he said, as he placed his hand on the small of my back and guided me to the door. Several people in Marty’s, men and women spoke to him in a way that let me know that Theory was well respected around here and once we were at me car, I unlocked the doors, and he opened the driver’s side waiting for me to get in.

  “Don’t forget what I said, Rain. Don’t disappear on me again.”

  “You just make sure you call me or I’ll be the one looking for you,” I said as I looked up at him.

  He just laughed and shut my door. Once it was closed, he tapped the top of the car with the palm of his hand, stepped back onto the curb and watched as I pulled off. Theory was back in my life again, and I had to figure out what that meant for my future. But either way, this time, I was playing for keeps.

  -2-

  Theory

  “Yo Thee, who was shorty you were with at Marty’s?” Niles asked as soon as I walked through his front door.

  “An old friend,” I said.

  “Damn nigga, you been holding out. She’s that dope shit. Is that you?”

  I laughed, “Something like that. Just keep your ass away from her.”

  “She live around here? I’ve never seen her before.” Niles walked up to me and handed me a fat ass blunt, before he folded his arms across his chest, waiting for details about Rain.

  “She used to a long time ago, and just moved back.”