Chapter 8
J rue
We watched two movies and smoked two blunts before Ian fell asleep. He was worse than a little kid with his snacks. He loved gummies and sour candy. I almost had to pop his hand when he went for the third bag of sour worms. It was a wonder he had such a beautiful smile, because he loved candy.
It was three in the morning. Being away from home and away from Jeremiah was all well and good, when Ian was awake to entertain me. Now I was wondering what kind of trouble Jrake had gotten my baby into. Neither of them had called me from the county jail, so that was a good thing.
I hated that I couldn’t feel comfortable leaving my baby brother with our big brother. I warned Jeremiah not to tell Jrake that he was staying home alone for the weekend while I was nursing on Supreme. I knew my brothers well enough to know that he told Jrake the first chance he got.
I wanted to get out of the way and try to trust them a little more.
I prayed that my test wouldn’t backfire on me.
I wanted to be able to live and let Jeremiah live without having to constantly worry about him.
He was a good kid. I hoped that Supreme’s guidance would lead him to the straight and narrow and away from the glamorized street life his peers gravitated to.
After eating all that popcorn and candy, I woke up with my mouth dry as hell.
I’d killed the bottle of water that I got from Ian’s kitchen earlier.
He was knocked out on top of the covers while I slept cozily beneath them.
Just because I didn’t think I could get chickenpox again didn’t mean that I didn’t want to take any precautions.
The main thing I wanted to do was show up for Ian.
I figured he would be lonely in isolation.
Even Jeremiah, Supreme’s self-proclaimed biggest fan, didn’t want to tag along for the trip.
When I got out of bed, the house was dead quiet.
I made sure to keep it that way as I tiptoed down the hall to the kitchen.
I quickly retrieved a bottle of water from the refrigerator.
Since I knew I probably wouldn’t be going back to sleep any time soon, I grabbed a container of grapes to snack on while I checked my emails and looked at a few venues for an upcoming wedding shower.
I closed the refrigerator door and jumped when I noticed a man sitting at the counter.
He didn’t budge as his eyes shifted from the items in my hand and back to my face.
“I didn’t see you sitting there.”
“You should pay more attention to your surroundings,” he advised.
“Apparently so.”
“Trouble sleeping?” he asked.
“A little. I was going to catch up on a little work.”
“You not afraid to be here with Supreme while he’s going through this shit?”
“I’ve had chickenpox before.”
“So have I, when I was a kid. That don’t mean I want to get it as an adult.”
“I agree with that. At the same time, I didn’t want to leave Ian here alone. I knew everybody would be treating him like a leper.”
He chuckled. “I damn sure am. He better not bring his ass out here. I don’t care whose house this is.”
“See.”
I smiled as I cracked open my bottle of water. My eyes tracked his movements as he raised a steaming cup of coffee to his lips. Who drank coffee at this hour?
“You having a hard time sleeping too?”
“Haven’t tried yet. I decided to check on Supreme while he’s less likely to give me his flesh-eating disease.”
Thank goodness I slept with my clothes on. I didn’t know he had security checking in on him throughout the night. What if we were having sex? Every time I thought I was used to being around Ian, something else made me question things.
“Don’t worry. I didn’t come into his bedroom, if that’s what you’re thinking. I know better than that,” the man interjected.
“Is that coffee?”
He chuckled under his breath but nodded his head. “I’m working on some contracts. I usually don’t sleep too well when I’m working things out.”
“You’re a lawyer?”
“An agent. Sports, mostly, but I was the only one Supreme would work with.”
“He must really trust you.”
“Apparently.”
“Is he usually a good judge of character?”
“He picked a woman who’s willing to come take care of him while he’s dealing with a highly contagious disease. I would say so.”
His comment made me smile.“What kind of work do you do?” he asked.
“Event planning. I actually planned Ian’s birthday party. That’s where we met.”
“That’s wild.”
“Why do you say that?”
“He doesn’t celebrate his birthday. They had to trick him to get him there.”
“He told me.”
“Sit down if you want,” he said, motioning toward the seat next to me.
“It’s fine. I didn’t want to impose.”
“It’s cool. I’m used to having people around.”
“This life can get overwhelming, huh? I mean being around someone who’s famous. I’m having a hard time getting used to people popping up on me with a camera in my face. I don’t play like that. I almost pulled my gun on someone the other day until he stopped me.”
He chuckled under his breath, taking a sip of his coffee before peering over the rim of his cup at me. “I see why he likes you.”
“Tuh, I wasn’t aware that I was being vetted.”
“Yeah, I see exactly why he likes you.”
“Well, I’m going to take that as a compliment.”
“You should. Don’t think I’m trying to hit on you or no shit like that. I hate to have to choke slam his ass. This is just an innocent exchange from one insomniac to the next.”
“I hadn’t considered that, actually, but thank you for clearing that up. What are you reading?” I asked, peering over at the book in front of him.
Instead of responding, he held the book up for me to see. I had never seen the title, but it looked like it was about war or something that I didn’t want to discuss. So much for using that as a segway to a conversation that didn’t involve Ian.
“Boring history crap,” he finally said.
“It must not be too boring. You’re reading it.”
“It’s all about the Revolutionary War and how Crispus Attucks was the first American to die in the war.”
“I vaguely remember something about that from school. Doesn’t really sound like a page turner though.”
“Depends on who you ask, I guess.”
“Obviously, it caught your attention,” I noted.
For the next twenty minutes, I listened while he gave me a simple rundown of the storyline.
It was nothing like what I remembered from school.
I would even dare to say I would watch the movie if someone ever made it.
Lord knew, I didn’t have time to read a six-hundred-page book.
Then again, if Ian’s agent had time to read, then maybe I did too.
“I guess I’ll try to get some sleep. Good night, Jrue,” he said.
“Oh, I never caught your name.” I realized as he slid off the bench.
“It’s Sebastian.” He filled me in.
“Good night, Sebastian.”
“Wake up, sleepy head.”
“I’m awake,” I lied.
“Yeah right. Not with how you was just calling the cows.”
“Well, I’m awake now.”
“Have you seen the nurse that was here last night? I need to talk to her about something.”
“She’s off duty.”
“Damn, she was bad as hell. I should have gotten her number.”
“You snooze, you lose.”
“Well, her witchcraft seemed to have worked. I didn’t scratch myself to death in my sleep. I actually slept pretty good.”
“Call it what you want, but you’re welcome.”
“Thank you, baby, and thank you again for coming to check on my pitiful ass.”
“You’re not pitiful. You’re just infected,” I teased.
“See, I was about to tell you my dad made breakfast. Never mind since you want to be funny.”
“Stop playing. I’m hungry.”
“I would starve you, but he’s not gon’ let me mistreat my company.”
“Back up for a minute. I just realized you said your dad made breakfast. If I knew your dad would be here, I wouldn’t have come.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know how I feel about meeting your daddy, Ian.”
“It’s fine. He’s cool. I already told him that you were here.”
“So, he knows that I’m in here with you. I gotta put on some more clothes. I can’t have your dad thinking we been in here having sex all night,” I said, scrambling to get out of bed.
“Sit down, girl. My dad knows I’m not a virgin. We already had the talk and everything. I’m a big boy.”
“Just because he knows that you’re tainted doesn’t mean he knows I am. He’s gon’ think I’m a slut if he sees me laid up in here with you.”
“He knows I love sluts. So does he.”
“I know damn well you are not trying to be funny while I’m in the middle of a crisis. I came all the way out here to doctor on your ass, and you’re cracking jokes right now. I don’t need your dad thinking I’m a jump-off.”
“Jrue, relax. I’ve been telling him all about you. I’m actually glad you finally get to meet him.”
“I’m not. Are you serious? Tell me you’re joking right now,” I demanded, snatching a pair of jeans out of my spend the night ho bag.
“Calm down, baby. He’s cool.”
“You say that now. You’ve probably introduced a thousand women to your dad. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone’s dad.”
“You’re right. I’ve introduced a couple of women to him. That should tell you that it’s not a big deal.”
“That’s reassuring.”
“I’m sorry, OK. I asked him to come by.”
“Why did you do that? I’m freaking out right now. Why am I freaking out? I don’t get nervous about meeting people. I need a cigarette.”
“You smoke?”
“Not cigarettes, but I need one now.”
“It’s cool. I swear. We can smoke a blunt, though. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind joining us.”
“Be fucking for real right now.”
“I am. Remember me telling you how my mom left when I was eleven? My dad raised me alone, for the most part. Now he’s one of my best friends. I want him to meet you while you’re here.”
“What did you tell him about me?”
“That this gorgeous, ebony doll cares enough about his little boy that she showed up to take care of him. Excuse me for bragging about how you came through and surprised me. I wasn’t sure if he was in on it, but KD acted on his own. He actually wanted to meet you.”