#sinners cast

Smoke comes into town, ready to settle down. He bought a house in a quaint, rural area of the delta. A three bedroom house fit for him and his old lady, the two of them were as happy as could be. He met her in Chicago and she came with him back down to the delta, arm in arm.

You hadn’t seen smoke in years, seven approximately. The only reason you kept track was because of the daily reminder that he left behind—Layla. You found out you were pregnant shortly after smoke ended things. The last argument between you two still rings in your ears. You yelling, him cussing, the tears falling and your heart breaking a way it never had before.

You two had a complicated relationship, always making your way back to eachother— but not that time. He slammed the door and didn’t look back. You accepted it, no matter how hard it broke you— even after you found out you were pregnant. You made everyone swear to keep it a secret, even Annie and Mary. They knew how things were and understood your reasoning.

Once he left, you fought to keep him out of your mind. He didn’t deserve a space there, you had more important things to worry about and if he ever cared then he would come back to you— at least that’s what you thought.

Layla seldom asks about her daddy and if she did, you were always stumped on what to tell her. She looks just like him, he couldn’t deny her— even if he wanted to.

You and Layla have a simple life, nothing too fancy— just something fit for both of you. Your routine consisted of the same thing— wake up, eat, clean, work on things you had to do, play with Layla, dinner and bedtime. The only time it changed was if you went to the store or to someone’s house. Other than that, it is very mundane and considered boring to most.

Today, was like any ordinary day. You sat outside on the porch, shucking corn and Layla running around the yard.

“Layla, please be careful!” You yell as she gets the edge of the yard.

“Yes, mama” Layla laughs, running around in the yard chasing butterflies.

While shucking you realize that you need a few last minute things from the store, so you grab Layla and make your way to Bo’s store.

Layla stands outside the store, playing with some kids—while you go inside. You push the door open and the bell jingles above you, you grab a basket and start your shopping. Bo sees you and waves, he doesn’t speak like he usually does and he has a funny look on his face. You wave back, not putting much thought into it.

You bend down near one of the shelves looking for pickled garlic and can’t seem to find it. You read over everything on the shelf multiple times and just as you’re about to give up, you see a hand in your face holding the garlic— a deep voice to go along with it.

“Is this what you’re looking for?”

You take the jar and turn around smiling.

“Thank yo—“

You stop in your tracks, almost forgetting what you were even saying. Smoke is standing behind you, eyeing you. You’re unsure of what to say, a million things racing through your mind. Your hand shakes while holding the jar, your nerves completely wrecked from seeing him. Before you can say anything, a woman walks over to smoke— wrapping her arm around him.

“Honey, you ready to go?” She asks.

He taps her hand, not looking at her— still keeping his focus on you.

“Just give me, one minute. I’ll meet you at the car.”

She smiles and walks out of the door to car, glancing back to see what was going on.

“How are—“

“Who’s she?” You point, interrupting smoke.

He stands there, almost like he’s debating on how to answer you.

“She’s my fiancé, Robyn”

You feel a piece of your heart die off when he uttered those words.

“Congratulations—“

“I have to go, it was nice seeing you.” You say in a rush.

Smoke grabs your arm.

“Wait, now just hold on.”

But before the conversation can continue Layla runs in wrapping her arms around your waist.

“It’s hot outside mama.”

Smoke lets go of you and just stares.

You don’t even bother buying your items, you just sit the basket on the ground and rush out of the door. You grab Layla’s hand and start walking down the sidewalk, hoping that this wouldn’t turn into something.

Smoke is chasing behind you.

“Woman, stop right now.” He demands with a southern drawl.

Smoke approaches both of you and you bend down talking to Layla.

“Cover your ears and sing your song for mama, okay?”

She nods and starts loudly singing a blues song she heard.

Smoke points at Layla with a pissed look on his face.

“Is she mine?”

Your lip quivers and you let out a sigh, not responding.

“Is that little girl mine!?”

You shake your head yes.

Smoke steps back from you, covering his mouth. You feel awful when you see the look on his face, you hurt him.

You hold back tears.

“I’m sorry..”

“Sorry? I have a baby girl and you don’t even tell me. All you can say is sorry?”

Robyn starts approaching the two of you.

“Is everything okay?”

He nods, grabbing her hand to walk away.

You grab Layla’s hand and continue to walk home, you feel like you’ve messed up big time.

You get home, feed Layla, clean her up and get her to bed. You could’ve never imagined that your day would go like this, that smoke would be back in your life. Opening up a chapter that you worked so hard to seal and keep closed.

More than anything you are worried for Layla, not that smoke wouldn’t be a good father— but a father and step-mother all in a day? It’s a lot to take in. She also has auntie Mary and her uncle Stack. You won’t keep her from his side of the family, but you’d be lying if you said you weren’t worried about splitting time with smoke.

You light a candle and sit down in a chair, sipping on some of the corn liquor you had stashed. You never knew when you would drink it, but now was the perfect time. You gulp down most of it, just to take the edge off.

You hear footsteps on the porch, you don’t even bother getting up to check— you know it’s Elijah.

You go open the door and see him leaning against the wooden railing.

“So, why didn’t you say anything?” He immediately questions you.

You pick at your nails, looking down.

“You left, Elijah. You were done and I couldn’t change that. I didn’t want to ruin things for you.” You stammered.

He lets out a huge sigh.

“My child could never ruin things for me.”

His statement gives you a slither of comfort, knowing that Layla will always be in good hands.

He starts to pace the porch, smoking a cigarette.

“Who does she think her father is?” He hissed.

You shrug, feeling ashamed.

“She doesn’t ask often, but if she did then we would change topics.” You reply.

“Does she know any of our family?” He questions.

“Yes, of course. She knows her Aunt Annie and her Aunt Mary, she’s met Sammie, Cornbread and Slim gave her a harmonica.”

His brows furrow, he does not like what you said.

“The fuck!— they knew about her?!?” He shouts, exhaling smoke.

You put your hand out, trying to calm him down.

“Before you start getting in everybody’s ass over this, it was my decision. I told them and they respected it, be mad at me.”

He hesitates to ask, worried about your response.

“Did stack know?”

You immediately shake your head, reassuring him.

“No. I never told him, I wouldn’t do that to you and Mary swore to me that she wouldn’t say anything.”

He stomps out his cigarette and looks like he’s on the verge of tears.

“You should’ve told me.” He mumbles as he walks off the porch, getting into his car and driving off.

You wake up bright and early the next morning, getting Layla ready for the day. She hates when she has to get her hair done, so you normally bribe her and say that you’ll make pancakes. She doesn’t know that it’s an excuse, because you also want pancakes.

Today, she has on a yellow dress— with a white ribbon around the waist, two pigtails and white sandals. You can’t help but smile at her, she’s the best part of you. Mary bought the dress for her a while ago, but she had to grow some more before it fit properly.

She squirms in her seat, humming as she eats her pancakes, sausage and eggs. You pour her another glass of orange juice and set it down on the table. She hasn’t even met smoke and she has mannerisms like him, you gave birth to her— but she’s every part of him.

There’s a faint knock at the door, Layla paying no attention to it and devouring her food. You get up and make your way to the door, opening it. Smoke is standing there with a bouquet of daisies in his hand. You wipe your hands on your apron, taking in how good he still looks.

“Goodmornin.” He nods.

“Mornin.”

You stand there in the doorway, fidgeting with your cross necklace.

“Can I meet her?”

You nod yes. You would’ve liked a warning, but you knew smoke would just show up and ask.

“Just give me a minute.”

You walk over to the table and get Laylas attention, wiping the syrup from around her mouth.

“I want you meet someone.”

Layla grabs your hand as you lead her to the door.

Smoke’s face lights up when he sees her, he bends down— handing her the flowers.

“These are for you.”

Layla grabs them and giggles, still holding your hand.

“This is your father” you say to Layla, feeling weird that those words even came out of your mouth.

You’re worried about Layla’s reaction or if she’ll understand.

Layla drops your hand and runs to hug smoke, wrapping her arms around him.

“Papa!”

He picks her up and holds her close, tears in his eyes. You feel so awful for denying him this for years, you should’ve told him.

He is meant to be a father.

You watch as smoke walks around the yard with her, already a pro at it. It was like Layla knew he was her dad all along, she doesn’t question it at all. Normally, getting her to talk to someone she doesn’t know is like pulling teeth— but she’s immediately talking his ear off.

Smoke is outside with Layla all day. He’s given her multiple piggy- back rides, she’s had him singing her favorite song, she’s asked him a million different questions and they’ve played hide and seek.

You made dinner while they played outside— smothered pork chops, rice, green beans and bread. When smoke finally comes in with Layla, she’s passed out. The girl is exhausted, sleeping in his arms and drooling on his shirt.

“Where’s her room?” He asks.

You point to the bedroom on the left as you set a plate for him on the table.

He takes her into her room and tucks her in, leaving her door cracked open.

“I made you a plate, in case you were hungry.” You suggest.

“Thank you.” He replies, as he sits at the table with you.

“It smells good and looks even better.”

You were too busy eating, not paying attention.

“What?”

Smoke stares at you, looking you up and down. Almost like he wants to say something else.

“The food.”

“Oh, thank you. It’s nothing special, really.” You grin.

“Don’t do that.”

“Do what?” You question him, drinking your lemonade.

“Don’t put yourself down, even if it’s just your cooking.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that it would ruffle your feathers. It’s just how I talk.” You acknowledge.

Smoke gets up taking his plate to the sink.

“You’re just too good of a woman to be talking like that. I don’t like it.”

A silence lingers after he says that. A silence on both sides. Your heart flutters in your chest like it did the day you met him, he’s the only man you’ve ever truly loved— but that ship has sailed.

Smoke sits back down at the table.

“So, what will you tell Robyn?” You ask, fidgeting with your fork.

He stares at you blankly.

“I’ll tell her that I have a daughter. Nothing else to say.”

“Elijah, how well do you think that’s going to go?—“

“I don’t know her, but I figure that she didn’t accept your proposal thinking that you would have a child pop up.” You remind him.

“Hm.” He replies back, more of a grunt than a reply.

“You seeing anybody?” He pries, changing the subject.

You let out a chuckle.

“No, there isn’t anyone around here that I want.” You respond.

“There still isn’t?” He asks.

You grin and walk your plate over to the sink, trying not to let what he’s saying take root in you.

“I want stack to meet her.” He announces, leaning back in the chair.

You clean your plate in the sink, your back turned to smoke.

“That’s fine.”

“Tomorrow? Maybe we can have dinner again.” He suggests.

“Uh, yeah. That’s fine with me.”

You set the plate down in the sink and wipe your hands with a rag.

Smoke approaches you and gives you a hug, which you didn’t expect at all. You hug him back.

“Thank you for letting me meet her.”

“You don’t have to thank me. She’s your daughter too.”

The hug lasts too long, like he doesn’t want to let you go.

You pull away, trying not to make it more obvious what’s going on. You walk smoke to the door and watch him get in his car and back out of the driveway.

You lay in your bed and all you can think about is him, wondering if he felt the same way about you. You’re no longer angry about him leaving, but sad at what things could’ve been— what he missed out on.

All day, Layla has asked about “papa”— she’s only been away from him several hours and misses him tremendously. You tried to keep her busy as you prepare dinner, letting her know that papa was coming back— but she wasn’t having it. Just as you finish cooking, there was a knock at the door.

Layla screams, face soaking wet from tears and following right behind you.

“I want papa.”

You open the door and without paying attention, she runs right into stacks arms.

“Papa..” she sobs.

“Oh, my.” Stack laughs

We all laugh, she pays no attention to smoke for the first few minutes. Smoke hands you the flowers he brought and shakes his head.

They get inside and stack is still holding her, she’s calmed down now. She plays with his mustache and you can tell that’s he’s not used to this. She notices smoke standing to the side and looks at stack, then looks at smoke again— she’s completely confused.

Stack grins, fixing her dress.

“I’m your uncle stack.”

She starts pouting and the tears start coming, she holds her hands out for smoke and goes into his arms.

“Papa’s here.” Smoke reassures Layla, rubbing her back.

You shake your head.

They sit down at the table, you fix everyone’s plates then sit down yourself.

Layla hums while eating, completely in her own world.

“So, that’s my niece?” Stack asks, chuckling like he can’t believe it.

“In the flesh.” You respond.

“She’s adorable.”

“That she is.” Smoke responds, leaning over and wiping Layla’s mouth.

You hesitate, but decide to ask anyway.

“Did you tell Robyn?”

Stack and smoke glance at each other, stack sips his lemonade.

“No, I ended things with her.” Smoke answers.

You look up from your plate, shocked.

“You what?” You gasp.

“It wasn’t gonna work.”

You sit there, not sure what to make of that.

Layla finishes some of her food and starts rubbing her eyes.

“Papa, I’m tired.”

Smoke moves her plate and scoots back in his chair.

There’s car headlights beaming through the window and someone laying on the horn, all of you look at each other concerned. Smoke waves you over to grab Layla, they both jump up— hands on their guns and open the door to see what’s going on.

They open the door and it’s Robyn, she’s hysterical. Stack sucks his teeth and glances at smoke.

“I followed you—“

“Wondering what’s got you acting so funny and what do I know, you end up at some whores house.”

Stack chimes in.

“Robyn, sweetheart, you need to leave.”

“Shut the fuck up, Stack!” She rages.

You hold Layla in your arms hoping that she would be still and fall asleep, but all the commotion keeps her awake. She starts squirming out of your arms, running to smoke.

She wraps her arms around smokes leg, hiding.

Robyn sees her and sees you approach behind him. She clutches her chest.

“You had a bastard child, is that why you left?” She laughs.

“Excuse me?” You respond, pissed off at that comment.

Stack grabs Layla, picking her up and walking back into the house.

Smoke points his finger, running off the porch towards Robyn. He’s angry.

“Don’t you ever speak about a child of mine that way.” He corrects her with an extremely southern drawl.

Smoke grabs Robyn’s arm, bringing her to the drivers side of the car and they have a heated conversation. You couldn’t hear what was said, but she was leaving crying harder than when she came.

Stack walks beside you.

“She fell asleep, I tucked her in.”

You turn and hug him.

“Thank you.”

He nods, with a grin as usual.

“You don’t have to thank me. I’ll do anything for my niece and for you.”

Smoke comes back on the porch, looking at you and looking for Layla. You point inside the house, whispering.

“She’s asleep.”

Y’all walk in the house and you wrap their plates for them to take with them. Stack hugs you again, before heading out to the car.

You hand Elijah his plate as he stares at you.

“Please bring my plate back.” You giggle.

“I will.”

He hugs you, kissing you on the forehead. You pull back and your eyes meet each others, staring for too long. He leans in kissing you, the kiss was something you had craved for so long. He sets his plate on the table and wraps his arm around your waist. The kiss is long, passionate and well overdue.

You pull away, before things get too far. You just aren’t sure that you two are meant to be together.

You stand there not sure what to say and he doesn’t say anything. He grabs his plate, nods, and leaves out the door.

Dinner didn’t go the way you planned, but it ended on a better note than you could’ve expected.

You lay in bed, tossing and turning. Mind going millions of miles per hour, memories flooding back, old feelings rising up. Elijah ended his engagement for you, he’d do anything for you. Maybe some part of you is still struggling to accept that things can work.

In the middle of you thinking about that, you hear a tap at your window. You jump up, startled. It’s the middle of the night, who could be showing up? You see Elijah standing there in the rain, you run to the front door—opening it.

“Elijah, what—“

He walks past you into the house, interrupting your question.

“I can’t stop thinking about ya. I love you and I can’t stand here pretending that I don’t. I never did stop loving you. We started a family and I want us to do this together. I don’t want you to move on or find someone else.”

You stare at him, your heart beating fast. This was all you needed to hear.

You kiss him, like you’re scared you would lose him again.

He looks into your eyes, holding your face.

“I can’t go through life without you. I can’t.”

You melt all over again, tears in your eyes.

He kisses your neck, slow and passionate. Your hand on the back of his head, leaning against the kitchen table.

You move from the table and guide him to your bedroom, he slams the door behind him as y’all stumble in.

“Sorry.” He grins.

Y’all fall on the bed, trying not to laugh.

He pulls down the sleeves of your nightgown. Staring at you, completely topless and nipples hard. A sight he always loved.

He sucks on your neck and moves his hand, swirling his finger around your nipple. Moving his head downwards, leaving kisses.

He licks your nipples teasing you, then putting it in his mouth on one as his fingers swirl the other.

You loosen his belt, completely pulling it off. Trying hard to stay focused, but what he’s doing feels so good.

He stops focusing on you and unbuttons his pants, you pull your nightgown off.

His dick hard, harder than you’ve ever seen. You bite your lip, ready for him to take you. He rubs his hands over your body, taking in a sight that he hadn’t seen in years.

“You know what to do.” He groans

You move into the center of the bed, bending over and completely arching your back. He comes behind you, smacks your ass and lines himself up. He runs his tip along your entrance, making you bury your head into your pillow to hide your moans.

He pushes the tip in and slowly pushes the rest in, inch by inch.

“Elijah.” You gasp.

“Shit.” Smoke mutters.

He grabs your hips and starts slowly thrusting in and out of you with long and slow strokes, making you remember every inch of him. You can feel your pussy stretching, trying to get used to him again.

Once you’re used to it after the first few strokes, he starts fucking you the way like.

He slaps your ass, watching it bounce back on his dick.

“Oh, I missed you.” He groans.

“Don’t stop.” You moan.

His fingers rub your shoulder.

“Can I?” He asks.

You nod your head.

He grabs a fistful of your hair and starts fucking the shit out of you. He loves pulling your hair and fucking you like this.

“Smoke, fuck.” You moan, barely able to form a sentence.

You start clenching around him, he’s hitting the right spot.

“That’s it sweetheart, you cum for me.” He demanded, the southern accent coming out during this.

“Fuck yes!”

“Oh.”

You do exactly as he demanded and cum all over his dick, the orgasm feels never ending. His breaths become short and quick.

“Shit, mama.”

“I’m gonna—“

He thrusts one last time into you, ropes of his cum fill you. He lets go of your hair and you both stay in that position, trying to catch your breath.

He slowly pulls out of you and collapses on the bed beside you, pulling you closer to him.

He looks at you, pushing your hair out of your face.

“I want you to know that I’m not going anywhere. I won’t leave you like that again. I already know that you’re going to ask.” He reassures you.

A smile comes across your face, because that is exactly what you were thinking.

You lay your head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat and hearing him breathe. You don’t have to look after a few minutes because you can tell he’s asleep.

You close your eyes to get some sleep as well before Layla wakes up.

6 months later..

Your relationship with Elijah has continued to blossom ever since that night he came to you. He said he wouldn’t leave and he didn’t, he moved you into his house and put your name on the deed.

You two made the jump and got married two months after you rekindled things. You can’t imagine your life without him, now that he’s back in it.

All of your friends and family were there at the wedding. Slim was the officiant for the wedding, stack bribed him with some beer from Chicago. Cornbread and Therise, with their son Jacob. Mary and stack were there— Mary helped you get dressed despite being exhausted due to the pregnancy. Sammie and Unlce Jed, who lectured stack on his scheming ways. Bo and Grace chow, helping with the food. Annie, being your maid of honor. Layla being spoiled by the family and being a flower girl, she had to be convinced by Mary to do it . It was truly one of the best days of your life.

Layla is a full on daddies girl, practically attached to smoke. He is wrapped around her finger and just seeing him with her, makes you want to give him more babies.

This was the life you dreamed of. Your heart is full beyond words and you are happy.