Chapter 2
Dyani
I popped a piece of gum into my mouth and rolled my eyes at my older brother while he looked at me from the driver’s seat of his car, one hand on the steering wheel.
“So D-Ville is good enough for you but not me, right?” I asked.
“That’s right, and we’re not about to argue about this shit anyway because I’ve already said how I feel.”
“And what? You think you get to just make decisions for me now?”
“Nah, but I can definitely block some shit and I know that.”
I scoffed at that and shook my head.
“You’re fucking annoying. You know that?”
“I’ve heard some shit like that once or twice.” He shrugged and faced forward again. “There’s a cute little apartment complex by Brunswick Meadows that has vacancies.”
“And what? You think you can commit me to coughing up that kind of money?” I asked seriously.
I had money saved, sure, but if I had to choose between living in D-Ville and living near Brunswick Meadows, I definitely would have chosen D-Ville.
Not only was it cheaper, but my brother lived in the building and I knew for a fact he knew a lot of the other residents so I wasn’t worried about safety or being uncomfortable.
“Man, listen. I’ll cover the price difference.”
I shot Darryl a look.
“So, what? You don’t want to be my neighbor?”
“Nah. You might be trying to spy on me and be in my business and shit.”
“Whatever, nigga.” I laughed and pushed him away from me. “If anything I should be worried about you trying to be in my business.”
“Probably,” he admitted. “I’m not going to lie about it.”
“Well that’s character growth,” I teased.
He laughed. “Look, they gave The Ville a little makeover and tried to gentrify that shit, but it’s still The Ville and always will be. There’s nothing too crazy going on in there or nothing, but at the same time, the less time you spend with or around my friends, the better.”
“You would think you would want me to be around your friends. You don’t think they’d look out for me?” I teased.
“My friends are hoes and I’d hate to have to fuck one of them niggas up behind you.”
“You realize I’m grown, right?”
“Don’t nobody want to hear that shit, Dyani.”
“Okay, Darryl.” I shook my head and crossed my arms over my chest.
I wasn’t even about to argue with him, and honestly, there was no reason for me to dig my heels in.
I would be getting a nicer apartment for the same price.
What was there to be mad about? I didn’t really want to be friends with Darryl’s friends anyway.
I just liked annoying him because it was ridiculous that he wanted to act like I needed him to look out for me as a grown ass woman who’d spent years nowhere near him.
He conveniently seemed to forget that part though.
“So, you’re down to tour the spot?” he asked.
“Yeah. I’ll tour it.”
“Good.”
Darryl threw his turn signal on and switched lanes. I pulled my phone out and checked my emails while he went. I was in the process of locking down a few art pieces a client of mine had been trying to secure for what felt like years now.
By the time we reached the spot, I’d secured the deal and a nice bonus in the process and was damn near dancing in my seat.
That good mood carried me through the entire tour, and when we finished, I had to admit the place was nicer than I’d even thought it would be with the price tag. I agreed to lock it in and the property manager promised to get a lease for me to look over as soon as possible.
“I told you that you’d like it.” Darryl chuckled and nudged me with his elbow as we sauntered out of the elevator.
“Yeah, yeah. You were right.” I rolled my eyes. “Is that what you wanted to hear?”
“Hell yeah.”
I sucked my teeth, then reached over and pushed him away from me. He laughed harder. A smile forced its way across my face.
Darryl and I both had our own quirks but I knew without a doubt he loved me and I loved him too. I was actually excited to be moving closer to him, even with his overprotectiveness.
“You ready to do some furniture shopping?” I shimmied.
“Hell nah.” His eyebrows fiddled together. “What are you doing with your old shit?”
“Probably selling it,” I admitted. “I’m not taking more than I need from there.”
“Okay.” He paused and I exhaled as I stopped next to him. He locked eyes with me and reached over to grab my hand. “If you ever want to talk… about Mom,” he clarified. “Or whatever, we can.”
“I know.” I nodded.
“Alright. I mean, I know I wasn’t as close to her as you were but I’m close to you and I’ll do anything for you, Dyani.”
“I know,” I assured him.
“Alright. Cool.” He nodded once and let me go.
“Let’s go.” He nudged his head toward the entrance and we started walking again.
“There’s this chick I know. Her name’s Jayme.
She’s cool people. She does that whole decorating shit.
She’ll help you find some good stuff for a good price and if you need help covering it, I’ll pick up the slack. ”
“The help with rent is enough. I just got a little bonus that I’m sure will help me get a nice amount of furniture.”
“But if shit changes, let me know.”
“Alright.”
Darryl yanked his passenger side door open for me to fall in then ran around the car to hop in. He grabbed his phone as soon as the car was on.
“I just sent you her number,” he said after a moment. “I texted her and let her know you were going to reach out too.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
I looked down at his message as it came in and sent my text to the number almost immediately, letting her know who I was and why I was texting in the first place.
Me: Hey. This is Dyani, Darryl’s sister. He told me to reach out to you about decorating my place?
Jayme: Yeah. I can help you out. I’m free Tuesdays and Thursdays if you wanna get together.
Me: Sounds great! Just let me know when and where.
Jayme: -thumbs up emoji-
I locked my phone and glanced at Darryl.
“Thank you again,” I sang.
He grinned. “Anything for you, kid.”
He winked at me and I settled further into my seat with a smile on my face.
I shifted my weight from one foot to the other and gripped my purse a little bit tighter. I didn’t know much about Jayme except she was affiliated with my brother’s gang and he hadn’t slept with her. I’d asked. More than once.
Jayme and I hadn’t exchanged a lot of texts. We actually hadn’t spoken again beyond our initial messages and today when she sent me a possible place and time to meet up. I agreed and that was all. I wasn’t even sure what she looked like.
I looked one way then the other and glanced at my phone screen again. It was about fifteen minutes after our meeting time and I was starting to think she’d stood me up. I went to the text thread I shared with my brother.
Me: Your girl stood me up???
“Dyani?” Someone called my name and I froze and glanced up.
There was a woman walking toward me, a little boy holding her hand as his little legs carried him as quickly as they could while the two of them halfway ran toward me.
“Jayme?”
“Hey, girl.” She exhaled when she reached me. “I am so sorry I’m late. Somebody,” she shot the little boy a look, “Made us have to go back home after driving halfway.” She scoffed and offered me a hand. “Nice to meet you though.”
“Nice to meet you too.” I shook her hand. “And nice to meet you.” I offered my hand to the little boy.
“Blake,” Jayme offered.
“Hi, Blake. I’m Dyani.”
“Hi.” He waved at me and Jayme ran a hand over his head.
“You don’t want to shake her hand?” Jayme asked. “No? Okay.” She looked back at me. “He’s coming off a nap and isn’t the friendliest,” she offered.
“That’s okay. I’m not the nicest right after waking up either.”
“I hear that.” Jayme snickered. “But okay. Let’s do this. Do you have any thoughts or ideas so far?”
She walked toward the entrance and I followed her.