7 #3
Clover hadn’t been around that long but she seemed to have taken an instant liking to the younger woman.
He liked her and her dude too. They were young but they seemed to have their heads on straight.
Usually, Cash would be with her best friend, Sage, but she and her husband, Jace, who was Cash’s first cousin, were on vacation.
“We were, but Clover’s cousin wanted a piercing.” Cash pointed at Kimber as she spoke.
“Is that Monty back there?” Kimber asked while looking towards the back of the shop.
Clover followed her gaze and was shocked to see her brother-in-law sitting back there with another man.
She saw his car out front but she didn’t think he had any reason to be around that way.
Monty looked up and saw Clover standing there, looking just as surprised as he was.
He and the other man walked up front to see what was going on.
“What you doing here, sis?” Monty asked when he walked over to her.
“I should be asking you the same thing. What happened to your meeting today?”
“That’s why I’m here. This is my boy, DJ, that I was telling you about.”
Right then, it dawned on Clover that Monty’s friend was Cashmere’s younger brother, Lil Darryl, that she often spoke of. Montez was the brother-in-law that DJ linked Monty with. It was crazy because Tez was who she offered to link him with if things didn’t work out with his boy.
“Wow, this is really a small ass world,” Clover laughed.
“What am I missing here?” Montez was confused, and Cash was happy that he spoke up. She was just as lost until Clover explained everything to them.
“Ok, so this is the brother-in-law that you were telling me about and I knew him all along. A small world indeed. How did it go?” Cash asked.
“Man, I told that nigga he can start today,” Tez laughed but he was dead as serious.
Monty reminded him of a younger version of himself.
His attention to detail and color combinations were insane.
He was hungry, and Tez was ready to fill his plate.
He knew a lot of niggas that inked for a living but not many were as passionate about it as Monty seemed to be.
He loved creating and that was big in that line of work.
“I’m so happy for you, brother.” Clover stepped up and gave Monty a hug. His dreams were becoming reality and that was all that he ever wanted.
“What’s up y’all?” Rondell, Tez’s younger twin brother, asked when he walked over to them. He greeted them all but his eyes were glued to Kim’s the entire time. His twin, Montrell, was sitting close to Tru’s work station just like always.
“Nothing and the answer is no,” Cash replied with a roll of her eyes.
The twins had matured a lot over the years, but they still had a ways to go.
Rondell had his own apartment and a girlfriend who sometimes stayed the night there.
Cash couldn’t stand her stuck-up ass but she was always cordial with her.
Kimber was green as hell and she wasn’t about to let her perverted ass brother-in-law nowhere around her.
Montrell was head over heels in love with Tru, so she didn’t have to worry about him.
They used to live together up until about four months ago when she put his dumb ass out.
To her knowledge, Montrell never cheated but he loved the streets way more than he should have.
Tru got tired of arguing about the same thing, so she had his shit packed and waiting at the door for him one night when he came home from the club.
She had been working in the shop for two years now and she was as sweet as could be.
Just like Cash, she used to be the receptionist until she did an apprenticeship under Tez and got certified to pierce.
“Damn, I didn’t even say nothing. Who is that?” Rondell walked closer to his sister-in-law and whispered in her ear.
“Later, Rondell.” Cash talked just as low so that they couldn’t be heard. She wasn’t trying to get into a full blown conversation with him in front of everyone.
“Bet.” He nodded in understanding.
“Ask Tru if she’s available to do a nose piecing.” Cash saw a few people around her work station but she didn’t know if they were for her or someone else.
“Yeah, she should be. She just finished doing one. Let me ask her.” Rondell walked away to Tru’s work station.
“So, what’s next? Where do we go from here?” Monty asked, getting back to the business at hand.
“Real shit fam, you could open up shop tomorrow if you had the certifications, but it’s all good. That’s what I’m here for. We gon’ get you right. I know you said you work and stuff, so the time is up to you. I usually get here around three or four since I work by appointment only.
I’m ready whenever you are.”
Tez wasn’t a gatekeeping ass nigga. He liked to see other niggas win. There were a lot of other things that the younger man could have been getting into, but he seemed to be focused on his craft.
“Shit, that works for me. I’ll be here Monday right after work. I’m ready to get it poppin’!”
Monty rubbed his hands together excitedly.
Working in his family business was cool but being his own boss, doing what he loved, was even better.
One of his prayers was being answered. Now, all he needed was for Iva to act right and his other prayer would be granted as well.