Chapter 9
Chapter
Nine
“It’s fifty dollars, Pops,” Quise adds.
“And? I gave you bread last week when I was there,” Akeem says while shaking his head.
“I spent it,” Quise reveals, as if Akeem hadn’t already ascertained that. Akeem knows his son and his propensity to blow money. “I needed a new headset for streaming.”
“And that damn game,” Akeem adds.
“For real, Pops. It’s for streaming. I got a hundred followers now. I should be monetized soon,” he boasts.
“That’s good, son, but you know what comes first,” Akeem says.
“Yeah. I know…school,” Quise assures him. “I got five Bs and two As.” Akeem smiles, proud of Quise.
“Just two?” Akeem jibes.
“Pops! Come on. That’s good.”
“I know and I’m proud of you. I’ll send the money as soon as I stop driving. When does the class start?”
“It’s online. I can start when I want. I just gotta do six hours. The fifty is for the class and my permit exam but you gotta talk to moms. She not letting me drive and I gotta practice. She tripping,” Quise groans.
“I’ll talk to her,” Akeem assures him. “She’s just nervous and having a hard time seeing you become a man.”
“Become? I’m already a man. I’m taller than her.”
“A’ight. That’s still your momma. You can be two feet taller than her and that don’t mean shit. You know how your MeeMee is with me and your uncle,” Akeem warns, referring to his five-foot, petite mother who’s larger than life.
“MeeMee don’t play,” Quise says, then laughs. “I talked to her this morning and she said that her and PawPaw are coming to my homecoming game,” he reveals and Akeem smiles. His parents love Quise as much as him and they are all in his life, even his brother Axton. “You coming, right?”
“You know I’ll be there.” No matter the job or location, Akeem shows up for Quise whenever it counts.
“Imma ask Unc too,” he says. “But where you at now?”
“Still in Florida but in the peninsula by Panama City,” he says.
“They have y’all at the beach?” Quise asks.
Akeem and Quise are tight. Akeem loves his son and is honest with him about everything, almost everything. Like everyone in his family besides Axton, Quise believes Akeem is still in the military, just in the reserves. The true nature of his travel is shielded from them.
“No time for the beach.”
“Well, that sucks.”
“Nah. I’m good. I have plenty to occupy my time,” Akeem says, then glances at Sunjiya.
Her seat is reclined and her sexy body is stretched out as she sleeps. She was knocked out before they made it to I-10 a little over two hours ago and she hasn’t moved during his entire conversation with Quise.
“Okay, Pops. Gotta go. Coach yelling,” Quise says.
“Love you, son.”
“Love ya too,” Quise says, then ends the call.
Akeem glances at his phone then places it back on the cup holder ring.
After looking back at her, he stares at the signs on the highway.
They are ten minutes from Tallahassee and he could use a smoke, at least a hit from one of his rolled blunts.
When he sees a sign for a rest area twelve miles ahead, he smiles.
I can fire up there.
Nine minutes later, Akeem exits the highway, following the signs to the car side of the rest area.
The side for RVs and trucks is pretty packed with weary drivers taking a reprieve but his side is fairly empty.
His rental takes the total count of cars to four.
He pulls into the farthest park on the right under two large trees.
Their grandeur and shade provide a hint of privacy.
After grabbing a blunt and his lighter from his bag in the backseat, he checks on Sunjiya but she’s still knocked out. He leaves the car running then slides out. His blunt is lit and he’s hit it twice before nestling between the two trees a few feet from the car.
As the smoke fills his lungs and THC seeps into his bloodstream, he relaxes against the large trunk of the tree and takes in his surroundings.
The sun is starting to set and the brightness of the day is dulling.
Traffic on the highway is steady and moving and this rest area is quiet and calm, a stark contrast to his last few days.
The simple track and snatch job he thought he had is far from simple. Shit is complicated as fuck.
His original mark, Tanjaya, is in trouble and clearly running.
He has to find her before Marcelin discovers Akeem isn’t going to fulfill the contract and sends someone else to find her.
He’s in a rental with his mark’s twin sister and crossed a professional line with her.
He’s risking it all for her because he’s falling.
Sunjiya has awakened a need in him he long pushed aside after Charis.
Her cheating on him bruised him and he couldn’t see himself falling for another woman until Sunjiya.
Her feistiness, obvious resilience, and eyes have him hooked.
Even when she was tied up, she never looked at him with fear and that says a lot.
The feel of his cell vibrating in his pocket pulls him from his thoughts. When he pulls it out, he remembers his promise to send Quise money.
“Shit!” he mumbles before looking at the screen. It isn’t Quise with a reminder; it’s Axton. “What’s up, bruh?” he answers.
“Seeing if you made it to Port St. Joe?” Axton says.
“Nah. Not yet. We didn’t leave Jacksonville until almost three. I got another two hours on the road. This shit’s wild,” he admits.
“I’m gonna have to agree. These twin sisters are like damn ghosts.
There’s hardly any shit on either of them.
Between the foster system and the fire at the group home, their first eighteen years is a mystery.
And shit, the years after are no better.
Besides the medical records of one and the college transcripts of the other, I—”
“Sunjiya,” Akeem interjects.
“Sun-ji-ya. My bad,” Axton enunciates and Akeem hears the smugness in his brother’s tone. “Let me say her name right,” he goads. “Damn, you got it bad. I can hear that shit in your voice.”
“Yeah,” is all Akeem can say, because shit, his brother is speaking facts. “I’m feeling her,” he admits after exhaling.
“I knew it. It’s loud and clear and about damn time,” Axton admits.
He was never Team Charis. It was always something about her. Because he’s missing one of his senses, Axton often picks up on other shit most people might miss. With Charis, it was her lack of reciprocal love for Akeem.
Akeem is all or nothing. When he loves, he’s all in, loving and protecting those in his life full force.
He gives unconditionally and would sacrifice his life for his loved ones.
He takes after their father in that respect and his stint in the military only exemplified his blind dedication.
Charis realized that after their first month together when he stepped in after Quise’s father walked away and relinquished his parental rights.
Akeem stepped up in a big ass way, and even though she wasn’t in love with him, she knew he was too good of a man to let get away.
She loved how Akeem accepted her son and treated him like his own, how their family and parents accepted and loved them both, her new upgraded life with Akeem.
But even after years of marriage, she couldn’t stay faithful.
She craved attention, and even though Akeem adored and doted on her, it was never enough.
Any new man who whispered sweet nothings in her ear or showed her any attention could have her and Axton knew it.
The one time he shared his suspicions with his brother, there was tension between them for weeks.
It eventually subsided but Axton learned to keep his thoughts about Charis to himself.
He felt vindicated when Akeem finally caught her cheating, but out of respect for his brother, Axton didn’t rub it in his hurt face.
“You fucked her yet?” Axton asks.
He knows his brother well. If Akeem answers and gives details, then this thing with him and Sunjiya isn’t more than physical. But if he refuses to answer, it’s real. Akeem is truly feeling Sunjiya and he’ll do whatever it takes to find her twin.
“That’s none of yo’ damn business,” Akeem huffs and Axton smiles.
“It is serious. I better work on those damn numbers and see what I can figure out,” he says, then laughs.
Ignoring his brother’s bullshit, Akeem just shakes his head then says, “You do that. I’ll hit you once we talk to your Pri leads. Hopefully, one of them pans out.”
“I got a good feeling about the first one I gave you.”
“I hope your feeling is right. We need a fucking break. I’m ready to find her and deal with that nigga,” Akeem admits and Axton knows exactly what “deal with” means. His brother is going to kill Marcelin.
“This lady Pri might be the key.”
“Let’s hope. I gotta get back on this road.”
“Be easy,” Axton says before ending the call.
Right as Akeem takes a pull of his blunt, he feels someone approaching. Then the wind carries a faint but sweet scent to his nose. Sunjiya. He turns to face her. She’s walking toward him, dangling the key fob.
“Where are we?” she asks as soon as she’s directly in front of him.
“Tallahassee.”
“Damn. I was tired,” she says with a yawn.
“More like full and tipsy,” he corrects before snaking his arm around her waist. She steps in closer as he lightly coaxes her. When her head is under his chin, he blows out his smoke then smudges the tip of the blunt on the tree bark. “I needed a smoke break and didn’t want to wake you.”
“My bladder woke me and those bathrooms are a no. I checked. There’s a big truck plaza one exit back and all the reviews say the restrooms are so clean.”
“You gon’ make it?” he asks.
“If we leave now,” she says with a titter. After tapping her hands on his chest, she adds, “Like right now.”
“Oh. Shit. Then let’s ride,” he says and they rush back to the car.