Chapter 5 #2
She had indeed ridden with Lyric to scoop me up, and I was glad that arrangement had come about.
Hearing Laike mention her living situation had my interest piqued.
Lyric didn’t allow anyone into her personal space.
She was introverted, a loner, especially since everything had gone down with that nigga, Chauncey.
Since, she didn’t trust a soul, always assuming the worst of a situation because she’d seen just how deadly it could become in a matter of seconds.
“Yeah. You seen her?”
If this nigga had seen her, then my chances of locking her in had possibly slimmed down to none. He couldn’t keep his dick in his pants if he tried. He was a lover boy. There was no questions about it.
“Nah. I ain’t. Not yet, but now I’m pissed ’cause nigga you just touched down and you’re already trying to keep her to yourself.”
I hadn’t realized I’d been holding my breath, but I exhaled after he’d given his answer.
Laike having not seen Ever meant that I was free to push forward.
If he’d tapped that, I’d have to hang my pursuit up early.
I didn’t want to, but it was part of the game.
I didn’t fuck after Laike and vice versa.
“Nah, you definitely haven’t seen her. I don’t even know why I asked.”
“Why you say that?”
“’Cause you’d be trying to keep her to your-fucking-self, too.”
He would’ve. Ever was just one of those that you want to hold on to.
Her essence was not only attractive, but it was magnetic, too.
Since I’d left her presence, I’d been trying to figure out how I’d insert myself into her world without overwhelming her.
She seemed like that type that was easily overwhelmed but accommodating because she was generally a hospitable person.
“It’s like that?” Laike’s brows raised.
“Just like that. And, you said she’s staying with Lyric?”
I wanted to know more about their living arrangements and why she was living with my sister. The odds of that were very slim so to hear of it actually happening was interesting to me.
“Yeah. She’s got two jits. One of them goes to the daycare. Em or some shit Momma calls her. She’s her fucking shadow. Moms can’t make a move without her little pretty brown eyes following her.”
She’s got them, too , I thought, imagining how pretty her children must’ve been if they looked anything like Ever.
Learning that she had two children was understandable.
Any nigga who’d crossed her path was right for attempting to hold her ass down.
She was a treasure, but whoever that nigga was had better made plans to scoot his bitch ass out of the way.
Because now that she was in my line of vision, I wouldn’t stop until she was rocking my last name and sporting marks from a few of my seeds growing in her womb.
She already had two. That was a great head start for me.
“You trying to be a stepdaddy, nigga?”
Yeah, I thought, but didn’t have to verbalize.
Laike already knew what was up with me. If I wanted you, I wanted everything that came with you.
And when you became mine, what was once yours was now both of ours – kids especially .
Liam, our father, made fatherhood look so fucking pleasing that I couldn’t wait for my chance at it. Just like him, I knew I’d be damn good.
“What’s her deal?” I ignored Laike’s question and posed one of my own.
“Anything I haven’t already told you, I don’t know,” he finalized, turning the bottle in his hand up and sipping from it.
“Aight. Let me pour myself a real drink and then we can head out of the door. You can sip on that shit you popped by yourself.”
“Whatever, nigga.”
We stepped out of the house ten minutes later, only for me to realize I didn’t have a house key.
I patted my pockets before remembering keys weren’t among the contents of the table where Laike had left everything I’d be needing.
I didn’t recall Lyric handing me a key or using a key to let herself in when we arrived, either.
“What?” I turned back to get a good view of Laike, who seemed to think something was hysterical.
“Ain’t no key, nigga. It’s a smart home.
Lyric and I are scanned in. Once we leave, the doors automatically lock.
When we approach, the doors unlock, unless our head is down.
For security purposes, the doors will remain locked if we approach without our faces showing or with an elevated heart rate.
It scans the body for any signs of distress before unlocking. We need to get you scanned in.”
“But what about if a nigga just left the gym or having a bad day or some shit?”
“Just look up when you step up or use the app on your phone to unlock it manually. It won’t lock you out of your own shit, nigga, not unless there’s a power outage. And, at that point, there is an emergency.”
“Then where it’s at?” I needed to know.
“In there,” Laike pointed toward the black King Ranch Super Dually on Forgiatos.
The F-350 was sweet. I was almost certain that it took over two hundred dollars to fill the tank, but I also knew that trucks as such were meant for the open road so they were great on gas. A full tank could hold you over for at least 600 miles.
“I see ya, nigga,” I complimented, loving the muscle sitting in my yard.
I couldn’t conceal the pleasure on my face even if I wanted to.
Laike had been making me proud since I stepped foot in the joint.
He’d taken on my roll with an iron fist and doubled my predicted profit over the ten-year span I expected to be down.
I received time served and came home in a little over eight.
Now that I was home, I was wondering if I even wanted to dabble.
He was getting the fucking job done with no questions asked, but I knew he wouldn’t let me sit it out.
He’d been waiting for me to return so that we could stand side-by-side and really run up a check. Both of our heads were better than one.
“That’s all you, bro.”
“All who?” I snapped my neck in his direction, peeling it from the designer shoes on the super truck.
“All you. That motherfucker too slow for me, man. That’s more of your speed. I need something that can get me out of there in ten seconds flat. That ain’t it.”
“Appreciate that,” I responded, pushing Laike across freshly laid grass.
“Keep your hands to yourself, Luca. I’ve put niggas in the ground for less.”
Laike dusted off his shirt as if I’d gotten him dirty.
Stepping closer, I pushed him again as I headed to the truck.
Knowing that it was mine made it even sweeter.
When I opened the door, the step descended so I was able to step inside.
There was a massive gap between the truck and the concrete, so it was necessary.
I stepped on it and then into the truck, admiring the interior, too.
When I started the engine and heard the roaring, a smile tugged at my lips.
Laike had truly outdone himself. He’d spent at least the last six months putting together my welcome home kit, and I was nearly certain he wasn’t finished yet.
“I know a spot where we can chill and kick shit at tonight. Nothing major, just good vibes and plenty of bad bitches.”
“If you’ve planned a coming home party, please cancel it now. I’m not showing up to that motherfucker,” I warned before piercing my salmon burger again.
We’d stopped by Manuel’s to grab a plate before heading to Channing Galleria.
I needed to holler at Rico, my jeweler, about upgrading the pieces I’d left with him before going in.
The salmon burger with dirty rice was the perfect meal to welcome me home.
I’d eaten bullshit for the last eight years, which included far too many noodles and snacks from the commissary.
“Then good, ’cause I haven’t planned one. I knew better than to organize a gathering for the Grinch.”
“Yeah, aight.” I shrugged, not giving a damn what he was calling me nowadays. It wasn’t anything new. He’d sworn I was the uptight one since we were children.
“It’s a spot out here. A restaurant with a stupid ass bar in the back for the guests who aren’t quite ready to leave after dinner and for guests who prefer the bar opposed to fine dining.”
“I’m with it.”
“Then call your sister and try to convince her to come outside. I hardly even see her ass unless it’s at the house,” Laike complained, referring to our parents’ home as ours.
“If I tell her to come, she’s coming. I’m not begging her little stubborn ass to do shit. I’d be better off physically removing her from her pad instead.”
“You know I’m with that, too.”
Of course he was. Laike was with anything that included physical force or violence. It was a form of therapy for him. My parents assumed it would be him behind bars long before I pled guilty, but to their surprise I was the one spending nearly a decade behind the wall.
“Unfortunately,” I responded, placing my sandwich on the extra wide arm rest and grabbed my phone as we stopped at the red light.
“Facetime Lyric,” I instructed Siri.
The music paused as the call was initiated. Seconds later, I saw Lyric’s pretty face on the screen. She finally looked like she’d gotten some sleep and had pulled herself together.
“What’s up, baby girl?”
“It feels like a dream, seeing you so clearly and whenever I want. Is this really real?”
“I’m happy to know you want to see your big bro or whatever. That means I won’t get no back talk when I tell you to come chill with me tonight, right?”
“None at all. Where are we going and who all is going to be there?”
“Me and Laike. You and your homegirl,” I insisted, not wanting to leave Ever out of the circle. She was officially part of the crew.
“You like her, huh, Luca?” Lyric smiled.
“Mind your business.”
“She’s good for you, so I don’t mind.”
“What’s her deal?”
“She’s fragile, fresh out of a relationship with a man who should’ve never gotten the time of day, but that’s the past.”