Chapter 2
“What we eating, Jada?” Nyla asked, tying a melting band around the wig she had just installed on her last client of the day.
“I have no idea, and I have one more once I’m done with this set.”
Jada was the coldest nail tech in the city and Nyla was glad to have her working in the shop.
Jada was the one person that knew her probably better than herself and Chello.
They had been attached at the hip since freshman year of high school.
When Nyla’s mother died, Jada shared hers and her entire family treated Nyla as if they were blood.
Jealousy, secret hate, and all the other grimy stuff females did never once crossed their path.
The two had never had a real argument, Jada was the sister Nyla always wanted.
“Ok, I’ll go grab something.”
“No you won’t… the sun is gone down and Chello will hurt me and you if we walk out of here without each other.”
“True, and I don’t want to hear his mouth.”
“Chello?” the girl in the chair repeated, her head snapped in Jada’s direction.
Nyla and Jada looked at one another then at the female.
“Yeah, you know him?” Jada asked, looking up with a slight mug.
“Yeah, I know him, very well.”
“We do too, very well,” Jada shot back, being messy.
Nyla giggled, she was used to hoes being crazy over her brother; she even had to tap dance on a few females’ heads about him.
She played about a lot of shit, but her brother and bestie were off limits.
Both Nyla and Jada were hood raised and no matter how professional they tried to be, they had no problem dragging a hoe.
Jada was a little softer than Nyla, but she had that hood in her.
“Where y’all know him from?” she continued to push, so Nyla picked up the pieces and fucked with her.
“I live with the nigga.”
“What? That nigga said he don’t have a bitch.”
“He don’t. Well not me anyway, I’m his sister.”
The look on the bitch’s face was priceless; little did she know, her time with Chello was over as soon Nyla got a chance to tell him about her.
“Girl, I am so sorry. I’m Londa, I love yo brother,” she giggled alone because Nyla and Jada didn’t catch the joke.
“I see.”
Jada rolled her eyes because she always had the biggest crush on Chello, if no woman loved her brother, Nyla knew Jada did for sure.
But Chello treated Jada like he treated Nyla, he was protective of them both.
You would think that he and Tyzir were ten years older than them instead of two.
Nyla was blessed with two men that loved her; she had her brotherly bond with Tyzir, too.
After wrapping up and cleaning up their work areas, Nyla placed a restock order on their products before grabbing her purse to head out.
Nyla and Jada were what you called the “it” girls, they looked good in designer or Fashion Nova.
Both had bodies from the gods - all natural with pretty faces, the only thing that separated them were their skin tones and height.
Nyla was tall, milk chocolate toned while Jada had a darker tone and she was short, very short. Both turned any heads they walked past.
“Come on, I’m starving!” Jada stood in the doorway of Nyla’s office.
Chello gifted her that shop for her twenty-first birthday and it was her pride and joy.
He remodeled it every two years and every time, she took her place to the next level.
She was currently in the process of hiring barbers for the new added on barber stations.
Nyla always loved hair and everything about it; her mother was her biggest supporter, she used to keep her mother’s hair laid. She even did her hair for her funeral.
“I’m coming, bitch. You so angry when you’re hungry,” Nyla closed her MacBook and stood up.
“I’m angry because that bitch was playing in my face about my husband.”
Nyla laughed because Jada had been claiming Chello as her husband since they were freshmen, and she did not play about him.
“You and Chello ain’t gon’ worry me.”
“I know I’ll never have him, but I’m gon’ keep the faith!”
They laughed out the door, but both heads were on a swivel; they may have looked like two careless females, but Nyla and Jada were always on point.
On Saturday mornings, they didn’t shop, they went to the gun range.
After seeing her mother get gunned down, Nyla made a vow to always stay alert and ready.
“Where we going?” Nyla asked, walking to her car while Jada stood next to her Range Rover.
“Soulé?”
“Cool, I can go for some lambchops.”
The restaurant was right in the hood on Roosevelt, so they were pulling up in no time. Nyla parked next to a sexy ass Benz that made her do a doubletake. The tints were so dark, you couldn’t see inside if you put your eyes on the window.
“That’s a nice ass car,” Jada said, walking up.
“It is. What is it? I think I want it.”
The window rolled down, causing Nyla to step back.
“AMG, Ma,” a New York accent smacked Nyla dead in the face.
The amount of weed smoke that came from the car covered the driver’s face, but Nyla could see braided plats and beautiful teeth through it all. For a second, she thought it was the rapper Jim Jones but way younger.
“Oh ok, it’s nice.”
“Thank you,” he shot back and rolled the window back up.
They went inside and got seated immediately, they ordered and small talked. Conversation stopped when the guy and his entourage walked in. Once again, Nyla’s eyes fell on Jim Jones, that go around, she saw how fine he was.
“Damn, he fine as hell,” the words slipped from Nyla’s mouth with ease.
“He cool, he ain’t Chello fine tho.”
Nyla giggled, “Girl, please.”
That same cologne and weed mixture filled her nose as he and his people walked past their table. The girls started small talking and eating, and minutes later, Jim Jones and a fine friend walked over. They didn’t ask if they could join their table, they just sat down like they belonged.
“What’s good to order? I’m not from here,” he finally spoke.
“What you like?” Nyla shot back as he looked up from the menu.
“I like you.”
“I’m not edible.”
“Shid…could’ve fooled me, but I like chicken.”
“Ok cool, I got you. Dinner on me.” She flagged the waiter down and placed his order to her liking as he stared at her.
“What’s your name?” he finally asked after ten minutes of talking.
“Nyla and yours?”
“Kyst.”
She frowned a little, “Like, give me a kiss?”
He smiled and nodded, “Yeah, I guess so.”
“Is that your real name? Of course it’s not.”
“It is. My mother had three sons, Love, Moon, and I’m the youngest, Kyst. My mother always said she wanted her kids to have soft, loving names so here we are.”
As soon as he spoke about his mother, Nyla’s eyes became glossy.
She still forced a smile, “That’s beautiful. You said your mom had three sons, where are your brothers? If you don’t mind me asking.”
“I don’t mind, ask me whatever you want to know. I meant my mother has three sons, they’re back in Harlem.”
She knew his accent was too heavy to be from the city, Nyla loved New York.
“I love New York!”
“Yeah? I’m starting to like Chicago, too.”
Nyla blushed, “What brings you to the city?”
“Real estate. My brothers and I own a company and we’re looking for properties in big cities like Chicago.”
“That’s what’s up! Well, I’ll be glad to show you around the city if you need me. Oh, and I own a salon that just expanded and will soon be servicing men, so you and your entourage stop by anytime you’re in the city.”
Even Jada and the other guy were laughing and talking, numbers and good vibes were exchanged.
Nyla caught the bill like she promised, but Kyst wasn’t that type of nigga, and he made it known from jump.
He stood to his feet and went into his pocket.
He peeled off five-hundred-dollar bills and dropped them in her Neverfull Louie bag.
And right then and there, Nyla knew hot girl summer was in full effect.
“Who you was up all night talking to like a schoolgirl on a Friday night?” Chello asked as soon as Nyla walked into the kitchen.
“Noseyyyyy! I don’t ask about your million hoes. Speaking of hoes, you mess with a chick named Londa?”
He looked over at her, “Yeah, why?”
“Another crazy bitch you need to leave alone. She tried to act crazy in the shop last night because Jada said your name.”
“What she say?”
“She pressed us, talking about how we know you?”
“Not Londa, Jada.”
Nyla gave him a stale face, “Nothing much, but why?”
“Tryna see what made Lon pop off.”
“Lon? You got a nickname for the bitch? Oh, she special, huh?”
“I fuck with her heavy. Back to this nigga you been talking to.”
Nyla laughed and shook her head, “I fuck with him heavy,” she shot back before walking back to her room to grab her phone.
“Yeah aight, don’t get homeboy fucked up!” He mocked Craig off the movie Friday.
Nyla laughed at Chello because she knew he was dead ass serious.
Her dating life had been hell since she could remember.
Most niggas were scared to talk to her and the ones that weren’t didn’t stick around long once they found out she was tied to Chello and Tyzir.
Had she not made the guy she took on prom break her virginity, she would’ve been a twenty-eight-year virgin, fucking with Chello.
She loved her brother with every fiber in her body, but his overprotectiveness could be overbearing sometimes, which was why she planned on keeping him far away from Kyst and whatever they were creating.