Belonging to Lust

A week. Practically an entire week Heath had managed to lock himself as far away from Zaiyia as he possibly could. He needed time to think, and the only other way he could do that was to deflect her like a plague until he made his decision on this blasphemous orbit they found themselves to be. All this time he’d been telling themselves what routinely transpired between them was wrong, but it never did either of them any good when seconds later their naked bodies would be intertwined together again like nothing happened. It was a waste of time and breath. It took Zaiyia expressing that for him to finally face the truth. He wasn’t telling THEM that it was wrong this entire time, he was telling HER. In a way, he was pleading for her to see through the euphoric haze to the truth that he refused to see. He was needing her to be the stronger out of the two of them and stop the cycle from restarting again, because he wouldn’t. He had been putting all the responsibility and all the blame on her from the beginning because he was too powerless of a man to resist her, nor did he want to attempt to.

A week. It took a whole week for him to see the truth through clear perception. There was no walking away from Zaiyia when he couldn’t and wouldn’t resist her. He wanted her in more ways than sex. He could continue this cycle of denial all he wanted but in the end it didn’t matter how hard he tried, there was no ending this. For an entire week he’d been starving his body, making it go cold turkey so it could learn to think without her affecting presence. It took until this Friday from last Friday for him to see that he couldn't combat the appetite he had for her anymore, not without help. Sitting at the kitchen table alone, Heath cupped his phone in his hand as he stared down at it. He had to seek help from someone outside this mayhem that he could rely on to take Zaiyia off of his hands for good. That person was Yovela’s sister, Zaiyia’s aunt, whom he never met and who’s number he didn’t have. The only person around who knew it was Zaiyia herself. Sending the girl away had barely crossed his mind since he’d been sleeping with her, but now that his mind was clear, it surfaced like a lighthouse in a blinding storm. He had to take it. If not, then...he’d become a bona fide pedophile.

Stepping onto the porch, Zaiyia used her house key to open the front door to let herself in. School was finally over for the week, and like every student she was relieved. Shutting the door behind her, she headed for the kitchen, her mind on a visit she had made to the principal’s office during her lunch hour with her friends. She had been hoping Principal Quinn would be there to meet with her, but his secretary had informed her he was still away on a family emergency since Monday morning. At that point, there was nothing else she could do to expedite this plan of hers other than to leave him an imperative message that she needed to speak with him as soon as possible. She was just about to close the distance between her and the kitchen when she heard a familiar voice call out to her. “Zaiyia. In here.”

Zaiyia froze in place before she recognized the caller as being Heath. She didn’t know he had come home early. It was probably because he had been evading her at all costs since their quarrel last Friday. She honestly didn’t think he’d actually listen to her when she told him to leave her alone until he made his decision on their relationship, but he had. It had hurt her for him to be away from her all the time, but at the same time, she wasn’t going to take back what she said. He truly needed to make a damn decision on what they were going to be. In a relationship, or not! Believing that he might have made the decision, Zaiyia took several deep breaths and ignored the anxiety infesting her heart to enter the kitchen. Heath was sitting at the kitchen table in silence with his phone in his hand. Something told her he’d been sitting there for a long time. Idling in the entryway of the kitchen, Zaiyia cleared her throat before replying. “Afternoon. You’re home early.”

“I got off early.” Heath answered, his eyes gravitating in her direction, but only to reach her thigh high boots that looked way too sexy for a sixteen year old to be wearing. He swiftly averted his gaze again.

“Have you eaten yet?” Zaiyia asked him, trying to fill the foreboding silence. Turning to the fridge, she made her way over to it to cluster up some ingredients for dinner. Whatever he had to say, she wasn’t sure she wanted to hear it anymore. “If not, I can fix something up real quick.”

“Zaiyia, come sit down.” Heath ordered her softly, finally attaining the strength to look at her. “It’s been a week. We need to talk about us again?”

Tentatively peeking over her shoulder, Zaiyia saw the sternness on his face. He was dead serious which meant he had come up with his decision on their relationship. God, she didn’t want to do this. But she asked for it so here it was. She felt the dread swell in her stomach as a forewarning that this wasn’t about to end blissfully. Her heart already felt like it was fracturing before he had even said a word. Unable to physically move, Zaiyia refused his offer to brace herself against the sturdy counter behind her instead, her hands gripping the smooth edges. “I’d rather...stand, if you don’t mind. Just...say what you need to say, please.”

“Okay.” Heath said with a nod before lowering his eyes to his phone again. “I need you to give me your Aunt’s number. Yovela never gave it to me so I’m unable to call her myself.”

Completely forgetting that she had an ‘aunt’, Zaiyia echoed back with confusion. “My aunt’s number?”

“Yes, you’re aunt’s number.” Heath reiterated, lifting his empty green eyes to hers. “I need your aunt’s number to call her.”

Suddenly, it dawned on her that she had an ‘aunt’. Gripping the counter even tighter due to the blend of fury and heartbreak simultaneously producing up inside her, Zaiyia tightly asked him. “And why do you need her number?”

Heath hesitated, clenching his jaw. She was going to make him spell it out for her. She was going to make him twist the knife in her and in himself at the same damn time. He supposed he deserved the pain for all the turmoil he’s caused. Tilting his head a bit, he announced. “Because I need to call her to come pick you up.”

Zaiyia knew exactly what that meant. The decision he had finally come to was to get rid of her. All her life people always tried to get rid of her. She wanted to believe Heath would be different. His home was the longest place she’d ever stayed in and now she was gonna lose both it and him to live out on the streets, homeless. Pissed beyond belief, Zaiyia held on for control while her hand instinctively reached behind her for the small decorative vase on the counter. She glared at him venomously. “And why would you want to call my aunt to come over here and pick me up for?”

“Zaiyia…” Heath managed to say, before his voice cut off. He couldn’t bring himself to say more. It truly felt like he pierced another of his sharpest kitchen knives in between his ribs and was twisting the blade left and right for fun.

“WHY!?” Zaiyia snapped at him, her rage outburst her in her boots like a volcano set to erupt. “Tell me why!”

“So she can take you back!” Heath caved in with frustration, slamming a fist he had been clenching onto the kitchen table. “So I can get you out of my hair and out of my life once and for all, that’s why!”

Zaiyia already knew this, but hearing the words come out of his mouth was like a hand compressing her heart. Letting out a gasp of misery, she didn’t think twice about slinging the small vase directly at his head. “YOU COLD HEARTLESS MOTHERFUCKING ASSHOLE!”

Luckily, Heath had good reflexes and had tucked his head out of harm’s way just in time for the vase to shatter behind his head. Not believing she had just done that, he charged out of his chair, knocking it back against the wall as he took in the damage that had been meant for him. Spinning back around, his eyes glowed with green fire as he bellowed. “WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!?

“GIVING YOU A TASTE OF WHAT YOU DESERVE!” Zaiyia shrieked at him, her brown eyes filling with tears as she panted heavily with fury. “YOU HEARTLESS ASSHOLE!”

Battling to steady the fires that were being inflamed with gasoline, Heath pointed a threatening finger at her and demanded. “Zaiyia, I’m only going to tell you this once. You need to calm the fuck down or I’m gonna make you regret it!”

“REGRET IT!?” Zaiyia screamed, not the least bit intimidated by the giant muscle of a man before her even though he had the strength to crush her like an ant between his fingers easily. “YOU THINK YOUR ASS CAN DISH UP A REGRET WHEN MY BIGGEST REGRET TO DATE IS MEETING THE PIECE OF SHIT STANDING BEFORE ME!?”

Now steeped with gasoline, Heath violently strode over to loom over her like a giant skyscraper ready to teeter onto her. “WATCH YOUR FUCKING MOUTH, GIRL!”

Stupidly, Zaiyia spun around to locate anything else she could heave at him. She was not afraid to push beyond the borderline of no return even if that meant pitching a whole knife block at his dumb head. She should have expected that by his closeness he could stop her, but she was too blind with madness to think of anything other than hurting him like he’s hurt her for the final time.