Chapter 11 #2
“The list was right though. We found her. Tanjaya isn’t here but Pritha thinks she might have something we can use. We’re heading back there tonight. I just need it to be something. The nigga checked in today and I’m really ready to end my connection to his ass.”
“Just stall him out until you find her. He can’t rush you when she’s been gone for a minute,” Axton says.
“I did but my patience is about to run out. My fingers are itching, bruh,” Akeem admits.
“Hopefully soon, with whatever the aunt has.”
“I hope so ’cause I can’t unsee those medical records. Shit was bad, real bad. He’s living on borrowed—”
“You ready?” Sunjiya’s sultry voice calls out, interrupting him. She’s in the doorway wearing a brown swimsuit that damn near blends with her beautiful skin. She looks fucking amazing and his appreciation falls off his lips.
“Damn,” he utters and Axton hears him and her loud and clear.
“Nigga, you in trouble. Go handle your girl,” he says with amusement then ends the call.
When Akeem drops the cell from his ear, Sunjiya notices. “Oh, my bad. I didn’t know you were on the phone,” she apologizes.
“I’m not now. Come here.”
“We’re not going out there?” she asks, motioning toward the beautiful, sugar-white sand and blue-green water just over a hundred feet away.
“We are,” he assures her. “I just want to get a closer look at all this beauty standing all the way back there.”
The lust and appreciation in his eyes are undeniable and causes her entire body to blush.
He sees her, appreciates what he sees, and doesn’t hesitate to speak on that appreciation.
Pure adoration from a fine ass man is sexy and will boost any woman’s esteem, even if it’s already through the roof.
So she happily struts over to him, intentionally adding a little extra sway in her hips just for his eyes.
“Is this close enough?” she asks when she’s standing between his gaped legs.
His warm hands land on the sides of her legs and he runs them up her thighs. They travel a little more and grab her ass. After squeezing, he lifts his eyes to hers.
“Nah. I really want you on me, on my face, but because you want to swim, I’ll take this,” he admits, then stands.
His hands stay on her ass as he nastily kisses her lips.
“Shit,” he utters when he releases her mouth.
“Put on one of them dresses while I change into my shorts. I don’t want to have to kill somebody before we reach the water. ”
“I’m not swimming in my dress,” she tells him.
“But it’ll be on you until the water covers you,” he retorts before pecking her lips.
“That makes no damn sense. You know that, right?” she asks but he doesn’t answer. Instead, he kisses her again before walking into the room. She simply shakes her head at him as she follows. When he steps to the closet to grab his bag, she grabs one of her dresses.
Not even five minutes later, he’s in his shorts and a tee and her dress covers her beautiful, chocolate two-piece. Together, they leave the room, grab two complimentary beach towels from the front desk, then trek to the beach. When they walk past the hotel’s pool, Sunjiya notices a bar.
“Let’s see what they got,” she says before grabbing his hand and damn near dragging him to the bar.
The Tiki Bar is in a prime location, right next to the heated pool, overlooking the beautiful beach.
It offers a full bar and even has several flatscreen TVs.
They walk straight to the bar where two ladies are seated.
Two small buckets filled with fruity drinks are in front of them.
“Excuse me,” Sunjiya says to the younger looking lady. “That looks good. What is it?”
“Oh, this is the Long Sunset and she got the Caribbean Banana. They are both so good but I’m a tequila girlie and hers has rum.”
“Then Long Sunset it is. I love tequila too. Thanks.”
“Don’t let the taste fool you though. It’s strong as hell,” the lady warns before turning back to her homegirl.
The bartender places a one-page menu in front of Sunjiya and she turns to Akeem. “You want something?”
“Nah. I’m good,” he says.
“It’s the beach. At least get a beer. Please don’t make me drink by myself,” she pleads, more with her eyes than her tone, and he can’t resist her eyes.
“A beer,” he utters, giving in.
“Bud Light, Budweiser, Miller Light, Co—” She starts to read from the menu but he stops her.
“A Heineken,” he says. Then he steps behind her and wraps his arms around her.
She looks sexy as hell under the sun with her hair blowing in the wind.
The dress can only do so much. While it covers her swimsuit, it also accentuates her curves and draws the attention of a group of men on the other end of the bar.
They just stepped up and glanced at her two too many damn times.
“You look amazing,” he utters into her ear.
“Thank you,” she utters back.
“Place the order.”
“He saw I was ready. He’s coming.”
“He better come quick before there are three casualties out here,” he says and she swivels to face him.
“Casualties?” she questions.
“Yeah,” he confirms, staring directly into her eyes. “Six-two with the wedding ring, five-eight who keeps checking his two cell phones, and six foot with the grill on the bottom have one more time to eye you. Just one and I’ma check ’em.”
“They just walked up. How do you know all that?” she questions.
“I’m always aware of my surroundings, especially the people. I could tell you more but it doesn’t matter ’cause either we or them will be leaving this bar soon. I just know they won’t like how they will be leaving.”
“It’ll be us. We’ll leave as soon as I get our drinks,” she says before grabbing his hand.
After latching her fingers with his, she adds, “Just in case, keep your eyes on me.” Still holding his hand, Sunjiya turns back to the bar and orders their drinks.
While they wait, she faces him as a distraction.
“Back at the ranch, I heard you shooting. Do you do that often?” she asks.
“Yeah. I either run or shoot to relax. I prefer shooting, and right now…” he says, then turns toward the men. Her hand lands on the side of his face and she turns his focus back to her.
“Teach me,” she says and his eyebrows furrow. “To shoot. I want to learn.”
“Why? You got a shooter. I’ll drop anything that tries to hurt you.”
“And I believe you but I still want to learn how. Please,” she begs with a faux pout.
“A’ight. I’ll teach you. When we have time and find a spot,” he assures her.
“I’ll find a spot,” she says excitedly.
“You charging to your room or paying here?” the bartender asks.
“The room,” Akeem answers. He left his wallet in the room.
After stepping toward the bar, Akeem signs the tab and grabs their drinks. When he hands Sunjiya her huge bucket drink , she smiles and takes a long sip.
“This is good,” she gushes. “Let’s go find a spot.”
She walks toward the beach but he makes a detour to the other side of the bar when he notices the nigga with the grill hawking Sunjiya. Akeem steps right beside him, glares into his eyes, then grits, “If you want to keep breathing this beach air, you’ll keep your fucking eyes away from mine.”
Grill’s eyebrows pinch together then he stares up at Akeem. However, his stare is no match for Akeem’s and he visibly cowers when Akeem doesn’t even flinch. While shaking his head, Grill quickly surrenders but tries to maintain some dignity in front of his homeboys.
“No disrespect, my man,” he offers.
“I’m very disrespected though. Don’t do the shit again,” Akeem warns before walking off and catching up with Sunjiya. As soon as he reaches her, she smirks and shakes her head.
“Yeah. We need to go shooting so you can relax,” she says. “Today has been a good day. The water is beautiful and we might get some good news tonight.”
“I’m good now but I’ll be better when we find a spot and you sit this ass on me,” he says after patting her butt.
“I like over there,” she says while pointing toward a blue umbrella hovering over an empty beach chaise.
The others on the beach behind the hotel are occupied.
He nods and they journey toward the chair.
He drapes a towel on the back of the chaise and spreads the other over the length of the chair while she removes her dress.
She eases down first and gets comfortable as he sits behind her.
The moment his back rests against the chair, she leans into his chest. For minutes, they stay body to body, silently taking in the view.
“Perfect,” she finally sighs as she marvels at the water.
“I love the beach. It’s so peaceful and just calm. You know?”
“It actually is,” he admits, to his surprise. “I’ve never done this.”
“What?” she asks, then sits up and turns to see his face. “Done what?”
“Just chill at the beach like this,” he says. “Not doing shit, chilling.”
“I’m glad you came down with me. After these last few days, I need this. Well, we need this. No telling where we’ll be tomorrow.”
“Hopefully, we’ll be wherever your sister is. Then, Miami next.”
“God, I hope so,” she says, then relaxes into his chest. His arms engulf her and she relishes his strong embrace. “I’m ready for both,” she admits while nodding slightly.
Soaking up everything about this moment, Sunjiya sips from her bomb ass drink, enjoys the feel of his strong yet tender touch, and admires the sight of the tiny ripples of waves cresting the white shore.
Peaceful.
Content.
Hopeful.
For once in her life, things seem to be looking for the better. She loves it because she deserves a man who wants her to cover up her goodies, who checks other men who gawk at her, and who’s willing to kill for her. Yes, she deserves all of this, especially him.
“I thought you wanted to swim,” he says.
“I did, but right now, this is perfect.”
“It damn sho’ is,” he agrees before kissing the side of her neck.
After spending a little over an hour at the beach, Sunjiya and Akeem return to the room, shower together, lounge for a moment in bed, then leave to pick up dinner.
Sunjiya finds a nice seafood restaurant about fifteen minutes from Aunt Pri, KrazyFish Grille, and orders two day catch seafood baskets for her and Aunt Pri and a grouper sandwich and fries for Akeem.
They pull into Aunt Pri’s driveway right before their scheduled time, and like earlier, she stands in the doorframe when they walk toward the house. After pulling Sunjiya in for another long hug, Aunt Pri apologetically looks into her eyes then sighs.
“I tried to call the hotel but I didn’t know what name the room was in,” Aunt Pri says.
“Why? What’s wrong?”
“I didn’t find it. The box isn’t here at the house.
I’ve been looking since I got home. It must be in storage but it’s close.
I’m so sorry,” she cries. Her face is flush from practically tearing her home up looking for the small box of Tanjaya’s correspondences and she’s disappointed at her failure.
“What time do they open tomorrow?” Akeem asks calmly, hiding his obvious disappointment.
“Nine but I have a morning assignment. From there, I’ll go straight to the storage unit. You can meet me at noon. I’ll give you the address. Again, I’m so sorry. You came all this way for nothing.”
“Not nothing. Did you eat dinner?” Sunjiya asks, but doesn’t wait for an answer. She doesn’t need one. “No, because we were bringing it. We can still eat and talk.”
Aunt Pri’s worried look morphs into a smile and she says, “Yes, we can. I’m definitely hungry. Come in,” she says.
The three of them walk into her kitchen and Akeem places the food bags on the island. He excuses himself to the bathroom while Sunjiya removes the food containers from the bags.
“KrazyFish,” Aunt Pri gushes. “I love their food and drinks. If you got their coconut shrimp, I’m going to kiss you.
You know that’s my favorite,” she says. Even hours later, Aunt Pri is convinced Sunjiya is actually Tanjaya.
Not once when she had Tanjaya did the state ever mention a twin.
Plus, she knows her baby and this beauty standing next to her is her baby.
If this is what she needs, I’ll go along with it, she thinks as she hugs her from the side.
“I got the oyster and coconut shrimp baskets. Lucky guess.” Sunjiya shrugs. “I figured we can share.”
“Mmhm,” Pri replies. “And what did you get that big ol’ man? He can eat,” she comments and Sunjiya smiles.
“He can but he got the grouper sandwich. It looks big,” Sunjiya says as she examines his box.
“If it’s not enough, I have more Crab Shala.” When Akeem rejoins them in the kitchen, Aunt Pri is standing at the island and Sunjiya’s at the table but hasn’t started eating. They are waiting on him. “Water or some of my tea?” Aunt Pri asks.
“Tea is fine, ma’am,” he says and she simpers, loving his manners.
After grabbing the pitcher from the kitchen, Aunt Pri joins them at the table.
Akeem blesses the food and they eat. As with lunch earlier, Aunt Pri makes small talk and tries to extend her time with them as much as she can.
She’s missed her baby and wants to soak up every minute with her.
It’s almost ten when they finally leave.