Chapter 25
ZOYA
It felt good to be home.
I hadn’t been into the office because I just wanted to settle into being back home.
Not to mention, everything was in an uproar.
Teddy had been murdered, and George was beside himself.
As much as Teddy got on my nerves, I didn’t want him to be killed.
I decided it was best for me to remain home while everything with this Preston case was being sorted out.
Goo had been busy with everything he had going on, so he hadn’t been across the hall.
He made sure he called me and made sure that I was fine.
I did miss him though.
I understood that his life didn’t revolve around me, and I needed to get my own shit together. This was the reason I hated to let someone in. All I wanted to do was spend time with him, and we both had a life and shit that needed to be done.
We stayed in Aspen for a few days and came back with Menace, Stevie, and Dennis. My nephew was a welcomed distraction from everything. As siblings, we were used to brushing things under the rug and moving forward.
It didn’t matter how big the mountain under that rug was, we ignored it and moved on.
Life continued, no matter if something of that nature had been dropped onto you.
What I appreciated about my brother was that he didn’t bombard you with questions.
He didn’t even ask me how I felt, because he knew I didn’t want to talk about it.
I pulled up on Goo’s mama’s block, and climbed out, getting Bando out the back. He sat perfectly while I grabbed the bottle of wine I brought for her. Kora had taught me to never show up to someone’s house without a gift for them.
This visit was unexpected.
One minute, I was sitting in my home office staring out at the view; the next, I was slipping on some clothes and grabbing Bando’s leash. Gerald was special to me, and getting to know his family was getting to know another side to him.
Before I headed to her building, I walked down the block to the corner store to grab something to snack on, and to allow Bando to relieve his bladder before going into this woman’s house. I prayed she wasn’t scared of dogs or allergic to them.
I snatched a bag of nacho cheese Doritos, a Pepsi zero and Linden cookies. Putting it up on the counter, I dug into my purse to grab some cash.
“Do you take American Express?” I questioned, once I realized all I had was two dollars.
He pushed a card reader out and nodded his head. “Yes.”
I tapped the card and put it back into my wallet while Bando stood behind me. When he started to growl, I shook his leash to get him to stop.
Usually, that worked and he was quiet. This time, he became louder, so I snatched my bag and turned around, coming face to face with one of the men from Labor Day weekend.
I recognized him as one of the men standing behind the man that Goon held his gun to.
He was smirking, showing his nasty ass teeth.
He needed to get his teeth cleaned because that plaque at the bottom of his mouth was starting to resemble limestone.
“Goon let his girl out in the hood alone?” He snickered.
I stared up at him and rolled my eyes. “Excuse me. He bites and I’m not pulling him off you when he does.”
Bando was salivating out the mouth while I held him. He wanted to get at this man desperately, and this fool didn’t understand that he was in danger.
“I’d shoot that bitch in here… ask Ock, he already know how we give it up around here.”
The man behind the counter looked worried, as if this man was a pest in his store. “So, you be in here stealing?”
I looked down at his outfit, and the smell of stale smoke and Dior Savuage surrounded us. “The fuck you talking about? I got bread… never been a problem.” He tried to touch me, and Bando lunged at him, making him back up a few paces.
“I’m assuming that you steal because are you opening those cookies and didn’t pay for them?”
He proceeded to pull a bunch of money out his pockets, some falling out onto the floor. Dipping down, he picked it up and was counting it out like that was supposed to impress me.
“I’m supposed to be impressed?”
The fact that I wasn’t impressed pissed him off as he counted off money to pay for his cookies. I rolled my eyes and pulled Bando towards the exit, because he didn’t like this man, and he had good reason.
“Bitch, I’ll slap the fuck out of you,” he called behind, as I stared at him.
I looked behind me because he had to be smoking crack. “You not touching a damn thing, but that fucking plaque at the bottom of your teeth.”
He had his hand raised, and I went to grab my pepper spray. The bell on the door chimed, and a tall man with a pecan complexion, low fade and tattoos everywhere walked out.
“You weren’t about to put your hand on her, right?” he questioned, calm. Almost too calm, because Mr. big mouth didn’t have that same mouth as he had before.
“K…Kano, what…what up?”
Kano ignored his greeting and punched the shit out of him. He fell into the freezer and slumped to the floor. “Nigga, you were about to put your hands on G’s wifey?”
I’ve heard the name Kano before.
Plenty of times.
Kano Cruzari.
Aimee hung out with his sister often, so the name was very familiar. It was nice putting a face to the name.
“I…I ain’t know that was your wifey,” he stammered.
He had been knocked so hard that he didn’t even hear him mention Goo’s name.
Kano stepped on his fingers. “Bitch, I know you heard me say Goon’s name… fuck you even talking to her for?”
“I... I came to get something from the sto—”
“Liar, you came directly to me and bothered me with your bad breath.” I folded my arms, as Bando continued to growl.
Kano kicked his ass again. “You don’t brush yo fucking teeth?”
I laughed. “Or visit the dentist.”
There was no reason for me to sit there and entertain him.
It was clear that Kano had it under control and didn’t need me.
I looked at the security across the street, and assumed Goo had his own security watching me too.
I knew the guard in the car watching me.
He was always around; I just ignored him.
I walked down the block toward Goo’s moms’ house.
I was more nervous about knocking on this woman’s door than the interaction with the asshole back at the store.
“Bando, please be nice… thank you for protecting mommy.” I rubbed his head, as I pulled him up the steps behind me.
He was still on alert and spiked up from the asshole at the store. I almost wanted this man to come so I could let him go and watch him tear him up in real time. I saw the way Bando bit into the man that helped me train him, so I knew my son was pressure.
As I entered the building, there were two doors on the main floor, one that had a handicap sticker on the door. I slowly knocked, standing there and wondering what the hell I was doing.
Everything inside of me was telling me to leave. This was stupid of me to come to his mother’s house.
What was I supposed to say to her?
I heard a door creak behind me and assumed it was a nosey neighbor. “Who?”
“It’s me, Ms. Wraithe. Zoya Caselli.”
She stuck her head further out. “Ah, Ms. Lawyer... come, come.” She waved for me to come to the other door I had walked by.
“Is this not your apartment?”
“Railroad apartment,” she answered.
She moved her chair back, so I could come in. “Is it alright for him to come in?”
“He’s a big one, huh?”
“Very big, but I promise he’s sweet.” She didn’t need to question if he was, because Bando was already shaking his butt and begging for her to pet him.
She slowly spanked his butt and smiled. “I had a dog like him back home… loved him.”
“Goo isn’t here you know.”
“Oh, I know. I didn’t get the chance to properly meet you and wanted to sit and talk, if you don’t mind.”
“Of course, I don’t mind… my home is yours. Come in and put your stuff down. Have you eaten anything?”
“I had a cereal bar and some almonds while working earlier. I picked me up some snacks from the store before coming here.”
She stared at me with her finger fixed on her chin. “I’m talking about real food. When is the last time you had a good meal?”
“It’s been a while, Ms. Wraithe.” I sat at the kitchen table, as she washed her rice.
“Sharon.” She smiled.
“Ms. Sharon.”
I had been raised to always address your elders with Mr. or Ms. It didn’t matter how old you were, you always had respect whenever you addressed them.
“What brings you by? Must love my boy.”
I laughed. “Why do you assume that?”
“Goo doesn’t have many women coming to see me anymore. I remember there was a time, but that was when he was being a man whore.” She cracked up, as she rinsed the rice once more. “Kenneth has taken his spot with all his girlfriends.” She kissed her teeth and then opened a can of coconut milk.
She poured it into the silver pot that had seen better days, and tossed in all spice, and some herbs wrapped together with twine. Before tossing the can of coconut milk away, she filled it with water and dumped it into the pot before covering it with the lid.
“He failed to tell me about his man whore days.”
“What man does... they all lie,” she chuckled.
Sitting in her kitchen brought me this sense of peace. Bando was in the living room and didn’t cross the threshold into the kitchen. Even home, he knew if he saw a stove, he needed to remain out of the way.
“Not your boy.”
“My boys are good ones. I made sure of it because their father was far from one. Goo has always had a hot head, but when he came home, he was more controlled and calmer. Different too.”
“In a good way.”
“I like to say a good way, but I also knew the man that he was before he went in, was gone.”
“Prison has a way of changing men.” I had spoken to many clients who had been to prison and paid me top dollar to keep them out.