Two Steps Back by Britni Danielle Page A

waited.
    “Everything magically worked out?” A meager smile appeared on Johnny’s lips.
    “ No, not everything. But I moved to London, got a wonderful job, and met this handsome bloke who I can’t seem to get rid of no matter how hard I try,” she said, smiling. “You know what I’ve learned over the years?”
    Johnny shook his head.
    “Whenever you take a risk things get rougher before they get better. But in the end, it’s usually worth it.”
    “Really?” Johnny thought for a moment, and then kissed her, letting his tongue play gently in her mouth. “I hope you’re right.”
    “I usually am,” she teased, nuzzling his nose.
    They cuddled for a few minutes, Johnny rubbing her back and nuzzling her neck, and Jaylah stroking his head. No matter how angry she had gotten with him minutes before, Jaylah was happy things were right between them once again.
    Johnny broke their comfortable silence. “Can you hand me my phone?”
    Jaylah reached across the bed, got Johnny’s mobile, and handed it to him. “Who are you calling?”
    “My father,” he said, scrolling through his contacts.
    Jaylah’s heart leapt. Is he…, she thought, unable to allow herself to even think that Johnny was finally going to tell his family what they had was real and permanent and valuable.
    “What ar e you going to say?”
    He kissed her lips and pressed send. “What I should have said a long time ago.”
    Johnny put the phone on speaker and waited for his father to pick up.
    “You don’t have to…I don’t need to hear— “ Jaylah started to say, but Johnny waved her off and grabbed her hand. When she heard his father’s voice boom into the receiver her stomach raced to her throat.
    “Hello Pa pa, how are you?” Johnny asked as calmly as if he was just calling to shoot the breeze.
    “Fine son. Are you well? How are things in England? How’s the firm?”
    “Things are well, Papa. Business is busy, but doing really well.”
    “Wonderful. Does this mean we’ll be seeing you soon? You mother would love to have you home, she says you get too skinny when you stay in London too long.”
    Jaylah listened to the men’s familiar banter and imagined what it would be like to travel to Accra and meet Johnny’s family. She wondered if he got his striking looks from his father, or if he was, unlike her, his mother’s child. She let herself daydream about helping Johnny’s mother cook dinner as she balanced her little one on her hip while the men talked business in the other room. Jaylah could almost taste the Jollof Rice and barbequed goat when she felt Johnny squeeze her hand, causing her fantasy to drift away.
    “Papa,” she heard him say, his voice steady and assured, “I called because I have some news.”

 
    Thirteen
     
    Love is a battle , Jaylah thought, as she looked at Johnny’s slumped shoulders. He had put up a valiant effort against his father’s assault on his manhood, on his intelligence, but Johnny appeared to be broken in a way Jaylah had never seen.
    His conversation with the elder Poku had not gone well, although, Jaylah didn’t expect Johnny’s father to take the news of his son’s affair, divorce, and unborn child kindly. But she couldn’t predict Mr. Poku would go on such a tirade, calling Johnny stupid, worthless, and “an absolute failure of a man.”
    Jaylah winced when he’d levied that last blow, as if she had been the one sucker punched. And in a way she had. His father’s attack on her lover’s abilities had been as much about her as it was about Johnny’s indiscretions.
    “This girl,” Johnny’s father hissed, “is worth throwing away your life?”
    “ Her name is Jaylah,” he said, correcting his father before giving an answer. “And yes, she is.”
    “How can you be s o stupid? Fiona is a good woman, an elegant woman. You’ve known her since uni. And this, this girl comes along and now you want to mix up your life? Tuh!” Johnny’s father boomed, his distaste for Jaylah