Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
King
Ithought killing Prince would bring me some type of peace… That shit didn’t bring me shit, not even good sleep. A whole month had passed since I put a bullet in his head, and somehow it still didn’t feel like enough revenge.
My mom had gone back to Mississippi for a couple weeks to visit her friends, and the house felt empty as hell without her.
I ain’t even gonna lie, I had gotten used to her being there.
The smell of her cooking when I walked through the door, the random conversations, the way she kept everything spotless, spoiled me.
Now the place felt quiet. Too quiet. I was starving half the time because I had started depending on them home-cooked meals.
The only real satisfaction killing Prince gave me was knowing all three of the men who murdered my father were finally dead.
Even with that… the hole in my chest from losing my pops was still there.
That kind of pain didn’t just disappear. Some days it hit so hard it made my chest feel caved in.
And strangely enough, it made me think about Layloni even more.
For some reason I kept feeling like she was the only person who might actually understand what that type of grief felt like. Like maybe we could sit together and mourn the people we lost. Misery loved company… that old saying started making a lot of sense.
Instead of dealing with my emotions like a real man, though, I had been doing what most niggas did when they didn’t want to think too hard.
I was running through women. Back-to-back. So many that I couldn’t even remember half their names afterward. Just trying to cope the only way I knew how.
Today I needed to get out the house though.
Run a few errands. Clear my head. Maybe pull up on my cousin Hussle and see how business had been moving.
Lately I had been slipping. My focus wasn’t where it needed to be, and I hated that feeling.
My father raised me to stand strong on my own two feet, to handle business no matter what life threw my way.
Lately I had been feeling weak, too caught up in my emotions.
When I stepped outside, the California sun hit my face along with a cool breeze that instantly lifted my mood a little. That was one thing about living out here. The weather stayed perfect.
I hopped into my Range Rover, sparked up a blunt, and took a long pull while thinking about where to go first. Eventually I pulled up to the barbershop. Nothing reset a man’s confidence like a fresh cut.
I sat in the chair, chopped it up with a few familiar faces while the barber worked his magic, and by the time I walked out an hour later my line-up was sharp enough to cut glass.
I caught my reflection in the shop window and nodded to myself. Feeling brand new. Hussle had texted earlier saying he had a few moves to make before we could link up, so instead of going back home I decided to hit the mall.
Christmas was about a month away anyway. My mom deserved something special this year. I didn’t have many people to shop for. Just her… Rellianah’s spoiled kids… and maybe Layloni if her stubborn ass would ever start talking to me again. Other than that? My list was short.
An hour later I had already made two trips back to the car just to drop off shopping bags. While I was walking through another store, my phone rang. It was finally Hussle hitting me back.
“Yeah?” I answered.
“Man I got a few more plays to handle tonight,” he said. “Let’s link in the morning instead.”
“That’s cool,” I told him before hanging up.
There were still plenty of stores in the mall I hadn’t stepped inside yet, and I knew it would take me at least another hour to finish moving around. Now I understood why women could spend the whole damn day inside a mall.
I headed toward the food court and grabbed a plate of Italian food, figuring I’d sit down, eat, rest my feet for a bit, then finish shopping before calling it a night.
My hand froze mid-bite soon as I heard a familiar laugh float across the food court. I dropped my fork without even thinking and looked around. My eyes scanned every table until they landed on the one person I hadn’t seen in weeks.
Layloni.
Sitting across from her was that lame ass nigga I had already told her to stay away from.
Monty.
Instead of reacting right away, I sat there and watched. Layloni was laughing while she ate, smiling at every little thing that clown said like he was the funniest man alive. My eyes moved slowly over her.
She had light makeup on, probably covering whatever bruises had been left from everything she went through. Her skin was glowing though, and she looked thicker than the last time I had seen her.
She wore tight white jeans that hugged every curve, paired with a colorful Nike crop top and matching sneakers. The outfit fit her perfectly.
Her thick hair was pressed bone straight with a middle part. I couldn’t tell if it was a weave or her real hair, but either way she looked fine as hell.
And the fact that this goofy nigga got to sit there and see her like that before me, pissed me off further. She leaned over and playfully reached her fork into Monty’s plate, grabbing a piece of steak before popping it into her mouth. He turned red instantly.
Bitch ass nigga… I thought.
I watched them a little long letting jealousy take over. Here I was losing sleep over her… And she was out here smiling and eating off another nigga’s plate.
Next thing I knew, I was already walking toward their table. Monty spotted me first and tensed up. His eyes widened so big I almost laughed.
Layloni was still mid-conversation, oblivious to my pressence.
“So after the doctor checked the heartbeat, I—”
Monty nudged her under the table, cutting her off.
She frowned at him before following his line of sight.
Her big brown eyes landed on me. Like always…
something shifted inside my chest. I told her all the time to breathe, to calm down, when I was the one that needed the reminder.
For a second I forgot I was supposed to be angry.
Her hair looked silky. Her perfume reached me even over the smell of food. All I wanted to do was grab her, hold her tight, tell her how much I missed her. Instead, the first thing out of my mouth was—
“I been worried about you… I guess my terms and conditions don’t matter no more” My jaw clenched.
She tilted her head slightly and gave me a small smile.
“King,” she said softly. “I was actually planning on calling you today. I need to talk to you.”
That caught me completely off guard.
“You remember my good friend Monty, right?”
That little introduction made the anger flare back up in my chest.
“What type of games you playing, Loni?” I asked, staring at her.
Did she not realize that I would kill this nigga without thinking fucking twice about it. I rested my hand on my waist where my shirt concealed my gun. Layloni’s eyes landed right on the target, her eyes widened before she licked her lips and looked around nervously.
“King, I’m just having lunch with a friend,” she said calmly. “I can come talk to you at your house in a few hours if that works.”
“Yeah,” I said after a second. “That’ll work. Put your new number in my phone.”
I handed it to her, daring her ass to play with me in front of this nigga.
“I expect you there in three hours.” I added flitting my eyes over to Monty.
He kept his head down the whole time, staring at his phone like it might save his life.
Pathetic ass nigga.
When Layloni handed my phone back, I nodded slightly. She understood my body language like always. Without me saying a word, she stood up and stepped to me boldly. I eyed her intensely as she rose onto her tiptoes to wrap her arms around my neck.
My body relaxed, she felt good as fuck in my arms. I bent down and pulled her into me. The moment her body pressed against mine, everything in my chest tightened. I buried my face into the curve of her neck and inhaled her scent deeply.
My hands slid through her hair, and I realized with satisfaction that it was her real silky strands of hair brushing the middle of her back. My hands slid down her back until I was squeezing both ass cheeks to let her know that she still belonged to me right in front of that nigga.
Letting her go took great effort. I wanted to drag her out of that mall and remind her exactly who she belonged to.
“I’ll see you in a few, King,” she uttered nervously, blushing hard and obviously flustered.
She sat back down but kept looking at me.
“Bet,” I said, biting my bottom lip.
“Three hours. Don’t keep me waiting, Layloni.”