SNEAK PEAKParrish P-Newdy Toussaint
SNEAK PEAK
Parrish P-Newdy Toussaint
Eight Months Earlier….
The snow was falling fast and heavy, and there she was.
Still standing outside that damn shop. Parrish watched Kormia struggle to keep two overstuffed duffel bags balanced on one shoulder while a book bag hung from the other.
Every few steps she’d stop, readjust everything, then start over like she was determined to prove she didn’t need help. Hardheaded. As fuck.
He’d been waiting on her for damn near twenty minutes.
She finally locked the side door, tugged twice on the handle to make sure it caught, then stood there staring at the pearl G-Wagon parked along the curb.
“My truck,” she muttered. Parrish followed her gaze.
“What about it?” She bit her bottom lip for a second before answering.
“My check engine light been coming on. I don’t trust it to make the trip.
” His jaw tightened. Cause of course the car was fucked up too.
He pulled his phone from his coat pocket and dialed. The phone rang once.
“Yo, Bear. I need a roll back.”
“Nah. It can’t wait till the morning.”
“Come get it now. It’s parked on 52nd and Sansom”
Another pause. Then “Nigga, I didn’t ask you all that. It’s a G-wagon.”
“The keys will be in the glove.” He hung up.
“Leave the keys in it, he instructed. Kormia frowned. “I don’t know about this…”
“You don’t know about what? Newdy responded, trying his best to mask his irritation.
“Matter fact, leave it out here.” He said walking back towards his truck.
‘I really don’t give a fuck.”
“I tell you what though — if you do… it ain’t gon’ be much of a G-Wagon left by the morning.”
She still hadn’t moved. He added one last thing without looking back.
“Best case, they strip it. Worst case, somebody move in that bitch.”
She paused, before letting out one long, dramatic sigh. “Fine.”
He didn’t answer. He simply kept walking.
A minute later he heard the driver’s door of the G-Wagon open, then close again.
By the time she caught up, she’d traded one of the duffel bags for nothing — just the two duffels and the book bag still hanging from her shoulder.
She still looked like she was trying to carry her entire life at once.
Parrish sighed. Without asking, he stepped in front of her and lifted one duffel off her shoulder, then the other.
She opened her mouth to protest, but he reached for the book bag too.
That was the one she held onto. “I can carry this,” she said.
He looked from her face to the backpack, then let go. “Aight.” One duffel settled easily onto his shoulder. The second nearly pulled his arm down with it. His brow furrowed.
“What the hell you got in here?”
“Clothes.” He shifted the duffel higher on his shoulder.
“The fuck you got, bricks in the pockets or something?”
She sighed. “I packed some of my books.” That caught him off guard. “Books?”
She frowned. “Yeah, nigga. Books. What, you think bad bitches don’t read?”
He looked her up and down once. “Well… they damn sure don’t get their cars serviced.”
Kormia sucked her teeth. “My nigga usually handles that.”
“The same nigga that let you live in a cold ass nail salon.”
The words landed heavier than he meant. He saw it hit her, the quick flash of embarrassment that crossed her face.
That made him feel like shit. Because he really wasn’t trying to kick her while she was down.
But just as quickly as the expression appeared.
It disappeared. Her lips parted like she was about to say something, but nothing came out.
Instead, all she did was stare back at him.
Chest rising a little faster, snow catching on her lashes. Kormia’s jaw tightened.
“Nigga, drop my shit…I aint going nowhere with your nut ass.”
She turned, attempting to snatch the duffel bag out of his hand.
Parrish watched her make it exactly three steps before both feet shot out from under her on the black ice.
The sound of her boots scraping across the pavement cut through the alley.
“Shit!” He moved on instinct. He caught her just before she hit the ground, one arm hooking around her waist while the other still held both duffel bags.
Suddenly, he had her suspended — her body pressed tight against his, her breath fogging warm against his neck.
Then he felt it. His hand was wrapped too tight around her upper arm.
Kormia’s face twisted. “You’re hurting me.” Parrish looked down. Fuck.
He loosened his grip immediately and set her back on her feet. She snatched her arm back like he’d burned her, rubbing the spot with her other hand. Her chest was rising and falling fast.
“Don’t you ever put your fucking hands on me.
” Her voice was low, but it hit like a slap.
Parrish’s jaw tightened. The Cleo situation flashed through his mind — that ugly bruise, the way he’d almost put a bullet in that old nigga over it.
And now here he was, putting that same look on Kormia’s face.
“I didn’t mean—” he started. “Nah, fuck that,” she cut him off, stepping in closer.
“You don’t get to roll up on me, snatch my shit, and then grab me like that when I don’t move fast enough for you.
She poked a finger hard into his chest. I ain’t one of these bitches or niggas out here scared of you, Newdy.
He exhaled through his nose, trying to keep his patience because ordinarily if somebody doinked him the way she just did.
He’d take their finger. But it was Kormia so what could he do.
The snow was coming down harder now. He could feel the cold biting at his ears, but the heat coming off her was something else. “Kormia—”
“Boy, fuck you,” she snapped, turning like she was about to walk back toward the shop. That’s when his patience snapped. He stepped in front of her, blocking her path. The duffels shifted on his shoulder as he leaned down just enough to meet her eyes. Snow fell steadily between them.
“You burning me the fuck out,” he said, voice low and rough.
“I don’t have time for the brat shit right now, Mia.
” He glanced up at the snow falling harder around them, then back at her.
“It’s a fuckin’ blizzard out here, and we in the fuckin’ eye of it.
So when I move out the way… you gon’ get in that passenger seat willingly… ” He paused, eyes locked on hers.
“Or I’m gone put you in my fuckin’ trunk unwillingly.
” He didn’t smile because he wasn’t joking.
Kormia stared up at him for a long second, chest rising and falling.
The fight was still in her eyes, but something else flickered there too.
She looked away first. “Fine.” Newdy nodded once, jaw still tight.
He opened the passenger door without another word.
She climbed in. He shut the door behind her, walked around to the driver’s side, and got in. For a moment, neither of them spoke.
The only sound was the heater and the snow hitting the windshield.
Newdy kept both hands on the wheel, eyes on the road ahead, trying to ignore the fact that she smelled like vanilla even through the cold.
This was already more complicated than it needed to be.
And they hadn’t even left the block yet.
The silence in the truck was loud. They drove for several minutes before Graveyard broke it from the backseat.
“Damn, Parrish… did you really have to put this scratchy-ass tarp back here?”
He didn’t answer. Graveyard huffed. “I don’t got bedbugs.”
“You said that last time too.”
“That was one bedbug.”
“It had cousins.” Graveyard leaned between the seats.
“Mia, tell my nephew I ain’t got no bedbugs. Besides, Mia made me shower and change before she did my pedi today. I’m clean-clean, right niece?”
Kormia stared out the window, ignoring her. Graveyard sighed dramatically.
“Newdy… what you do to my girl?”
“Nothing.”
“Mm-hmm. You was being mean again.” She patted his seat.
“Niece, don’t pay him no mind. He ain’t as mean as he pretends to be. My nephew all heart underneath.” The truck’s speakers chimed, cutting through Graveyard’s rambling.
My Heart flashed across the dashboard. He answered before the second ring. "Yeah."
“You find her?” His mother asked immediately. Before he could answer, Graveyard pushed herself farther between the seats. “Yeah, Tru!” she hollered toward the dashboard. “I’m with him!”
A breath of relief came through the speakers. “Thank God.”
Then just as quickly, she got down to business. “Where are you?”
“Just leaving West.”
“How far out? “He glanced through the windshield.
Snow had swallowed most of the road. “’Bout another hour.”
“It’s gettin’ ugly out there.”
“I know.” A pause. “Did Luis leave the Silverado?”
“Yeah. He left it exactly where You told him. “Another pause. “I don’t want you back out once you get here, Parrish.” Her voice softened just a little. “The roads are already starting to close.
They’re saying this storm ain’t letting up until tomorrow night.”
“I know.” Silence settled over the truck. Finally—
“I got somebody else with me.”
“Oh?” His mother’s tone shifted. “Who?”
His eyes flicked toward the passenger seat.
“You don’t know her. “His mother’s laugh came through the speakers.
“I don’t know any of them.” A small huff escaped from the passenger seat.
Barely audible. But Parrish heard it and so did his mother.
“Oh?” Her tone immediately changed. “She can hear me?”
Parrish rubbed a hand across his beard. “Yeah.”
“Well…” There was a smile in his mother’s voice now.
“I look forward to meeting you, young lady.”
Kormia finally looked away from the window.
“…It’s nice to meet you too.”
“Well,” his mother laughed, “we ain’t met yet.”
Kormia’s mouth twitched, almost forming a smile.
“I suppose not.”
“I can already tell you must be somebody important.”
Parrish sighed. “Ma—”
“My son don’t bring just anybody home.”
“Ma, it ain’t even—”
“Tru,” Graveyard interrupted from the backseat, “she a really good girl.”
She leaned forward between the seats again. “Remember I told you about her? The one that do my nails.” The line went quiet. Parrish frowned. His mother didn’t miss much.
But silence usually meant she was thinking. Finally she responded— “Kormia Brown?”
This time it was Parrish’s turn to look over. Kormia was already looking at him.
“Yeah,” Graveyard answered. The line went quiet again.
Parrish waited.
Because how the fuck did his mother know Kormia?
Then his mother cleared her throat.
"Alright." Her voice was all business again.
"Drive safe, son." "Bet."
"I'll see you soon.”
The line disconnected. Parrish reached up and tapped the screen dark.
When he glanced over, Kormia was already looking at him.
The attitude was gone. In its place sat something quieter, and more uncertain.
Like she was trying to make sense of something she hadn't expected to find. Their eyes held longer than they should’ve.
Parrish looked away first, drawing in a slow breath before settling his attention back on the road.
Outside, the snow kept falling. Inside the truck... something had shifted.
It wasn't much. But he could feel it, and so could she.