Chapter 28 Nyce Tuesday | 1125am #2
“So… that’s what happens with you now?”
“What you mean?”
“Back to business.”
I kept my eyes on the road, nodding my head. “Same shit. Different day.”
“You mean street things?”
“I mean everything I touch,” I said, voice steady.
“Some of it clean. Some of it ain't.” She nodded slowly, lips pressed together. “But what I do doesn't matter right now,” I added. “What matters is that you’re breathing. You’re safe. And I ain’t letting nobody fuck that up.
” I could feel her watching me as we pulled off the expressway and turned into a quiet residential area.
“Where are we?” she asked.
“You’ll see,” I said again. I pulled into a private lot beside a stone building that looked more like a luxury hotel than what it really was. Havencrest Hills Assisted Living Center. The best facility money could buy.
Princess looked at the sign, then at me. “We’re visiting somebody?”
I turned the engine off and unlocked the doors. “Come on.”
She followed without another word. Inside, the front desk staff looked up and straightened fast. I nodded once, and the woman behind the desk smiled widely and reached for the phone. “He’s here,” she whispered into the receiver.
Princess raised a brow. “Wow. Do people always act like this when you walk into places?” she muttered.
I smirked as we headed to the elevator. “Respect isn’t optional with me.”
An older Black woman in scrubs stood near the nurse station and smiled the second she saw me. “Mr. Richards,” he greeted. “She’s already awake, sipping her hot cocoa. Enjoy your visit.”
Princess looked at me as we walked. “You come here often?”
“Every couple weeks,” I said. “And when I can’t, I’ll send someone to check on her and drop some money.”
She was quiet after that. I stopped at the door, knocked once, then pushed it open.
My grandmother was a feisty, short, brown-skinned woman with gray coils poking from under her bonnet.
She was sitting up in bed already with a throw blanket across her lap and a thick Bible open beside her on a wheeled tray table.
When her eyes landed on me first, her mouth pressed into a line. “Look what the devil dragged in.”
I exhaled through my nose, stepped inside. “What’s up, Ma?”
“Don’t bring no darkness in here, Nyles,” she said without missing a beat. “I been up since dawn. Prayed for peace. I don’t want your sins hovering over me while I sip my cocoa.”
I gave her a dry smile, leaning down anyway to kiss her cheek. She turned her face slightly, letting me do it, but didn’t lean in. Same as always. “I’m not here to start trouble.”
“Mmhmm. You bring it just by breathing sometimes,” she muttered, reaching for her mug. Before I could respond, her eyes shifted past me, landing on Princess. “And who is this young lady?” she asked, sitting up straighter.
“Princess,” I said.
She stepped forward, unbothered by the tension in the room. “Hi. It’s really nice to meet you, ma’am.”
“Diana,” Ma corrected, looking her over from head to toe. “You got a name like that, you must be something special.”
Princess smiled softly. “I like to think so.”
“Not a single woman done walked in here with my grandson ‘cause I know he usually likes ‘em with no sense,” Ma said bluntly. “Most of ‘em loud and half-naked, smelling like bad decisions.”
I lifted a brow. “What the fuck, Ma?”
“Watch your mouth.”
Princess laughed quietly. “Well, I promise I’m fully clothed and unscented.”
That made Ma flash a half-smile. She nodded toward the chair. “Sit down, baby. You, too, Nyles. Don’t just stand there like you waiting on judgment day. It’ll come.”
I pulled a chair up, and Princess sat beside me. Ma kept her eyes on her more than me, like she was trying to read between the lines.
“You look like a good girl,” she said to Princess. “I hope you ain’t tangled up in the mess he’s into.”
Princess looked at me, then back at her. “I’ve seen some of the darkness, but I’m not a part of it. And, if I have anything to do with it, he’ll soon see the light and do better.”
Ma let out a long breath. “Lord, I see what you did,” she mumbled, flipping a page in her Bible. “You gave him a smart-mouth girl with a spine. That’s how you gon’ teach him, huh?”
“You know I’m sitting right here, Ma,” I said. “Come on with all that.”
“You think that changes the facts?”
I leaned back. “You know I take care of you, right?”
“I’m aware of what you do for me, Mr. Nyce. This fancy place, groceries, blood money. All that. But don’t act like you don’t also bring demons to my doorstep ever since you were seventeen.”
Princess stiffened beside me, but I didn’t move.
“People whisper when they see my name connected to yours,” Ma said, voice quiet now. “You think I don’t hear it? You think I’m proud every time another boy ends up dead and they say, ‘he worked for Nyce’?”
My jaw clenched, but I didn’t defend myself. “I didn’t ask for this life,” I said.
“But you sure as hell claimed it,” she snapped. “And you walk in it like you invincible.”
“I’m not.”
She looked at me, eyes suddenly soft. “I know that,” she whispered. “And that’s what keeps me up some nights. Afraid the next phone call will be the one that breaks me.”
The room went quiet as Princess reached for my hand under the chair and held it tightly. I cleared my throat. “Ma, I didn’t come here for the lecture and all that. I just wanted her to meet someone who actually means something to me.”
Ma’s eyes went back to Princess. “Just don’t get so close that you can’t run if things catch fire.”
“I’m not scared of fire,” Princess shot back.
“That’s cute, baby. Just make sure you know how to hold the water, too.
” Ma reached over and gently tapped her hand.
“You’re welcome back anytime.” I stood, leaned over to kiss my grandmother’s cheek again.
She turned just a little more this time and whispered, “Just promise me you’ll try to be normal and let love in. ”
“We’ll see,” I said. “Just never been perfect at it.”
“No such thing as perfect. But there is such a thing as willing. And I need you to be willing, Nyles, before this life swallows you whole.”
I nodded once. “Aight.”
She reached for her Bible again. “Go on now. Let me read in peace. And don’t even think about leaving me none of that money you got in your pocket. I’m fine.”
I exhaled, nodding my head, knowing damn well I was going to leave it anyway. “Take it easy, Ma.” As we walked out, Princess glanced at me sideways. “What?”
“You okay?”
I nodded once. “That’s just how we are.”
“Felt like she was preaching.”
“She always is.”
Princess smiled. “I can tell she loves you.”
“Yeah,” I said quietly. “Even though she doesn’t always like me.”
Before heading out, I spoke with the account manager and staff members.
I made sure they took care of the money I left for my grandmother and set up everything for her weekly activities.
She might’ve been old and a little frail, but she still liked to go out with her old lady friends every once in a while.
Once Princess and I were back in the car, I peeled off, noticing she was holding back something. “What?” I asked.
“Nothing,” she said. “I just… I see it now.”
“See what?”
“The version of you that loves. It’s buried deep, yeah… but it’s there.”
I looked over at her. “You think that’s safe?”
“No,” she said. “But I think it’s real and honest.”
I tapped the steering wheel, then reached over and took her hand, lacing our fingers slowly. She didn’t pull away, and I didn’t let go. Whatever the fuck that meant.