Chapter 9 #2
In the car, Blak texted Block to see where he was.
Once he got a response, he headed in that direction.
Block would more than likely tell him that backing out of the deal was bad for business.
He already knew he wasn’t built for that shit, and he never would have agreed to it.
Blak had always been a man of his word, but none of that would matter if he tried to back out of marrying Naomi.
The average person would feel like Averi should accept shit for what it was and just play the background.
He couldn’t be mad at her for having standards and morals and shit.
She didn’t want to be a side chick, and he could only respect it.
Blak pulled up on his cousin at one of their favorite soul food restaurants. He found Block inside demolishing fried chicken, potato salad, collards, ribs, and hush puppies.
“Got damn, nigga. Hungry?”
Block stuck his middle finger up and kept eating.
It was the first day he’d been able to really eat like he wanted without smoking weed.
Block found that the pills he took mixed with weed made him slow as hell and sluggish, and he didn’t like it.
He had some drank waiting since his man had gotten in a new supply.
Block knew that smoking weed didn’t mix well with pills or ‘drank’, so he opted not to smoke for a few days.
And since he’d just recovered from pneumonia, he was still trying to give his lungs a break.
Not being able to breathe and having chest pains was no joke.
It made him second guess all the years he’d filled his lungs with smoke.
“I fucked up,” Blak confessed.
Block’s gaze lifted. He studied his cousin intensely, but he didn’t speak.
“Averi is pregnant.”
Block wiped his mouth with a napkin and rested his back against the booth. “Okay?”
“And she doesn’t want to keep it. She doesn’t want to be a side chick. I don’t want to marry Naomi anymore,” he broke it down in the simplest form.
Block sighed and shook his head.
“I already know,” Blak spoke before he could.
He could feel the disappointment wafting off Block.
“Uncle Tech is going to be pissed. Naomi’s pops is going to be pissed.
It’s not just the situation with Averi. Naomi was nagging today, and it dawned on me that this shit might not be real, but certain aspects of it are.
She’s moving into my crib and intruding on my space.
I have to watch how I move out in public.
Her and her father are acting like I’m a peasant and owe them my life.
I didn’t think this shit through. Naomi is bad and all, but having her forced on me will be the fastest way for me to be sick of her. ”
“And you didn’t think about any of this before you agreed to marry her?” Block was perplexed. “Why you think I was so against the shit?”
“I don’t know, but I assumed arranged marriage meant business. I didn’t even mind her living in my crib, but if she’s going to be dead ass nagging me like a real wife, and if I can’t fuck other bitches without her or her pops tweaking, that shit is going to be annoying.”
“You don’t have enough self-control to keep it in your pants? You’re a grown ass man, Blak. You gotta grow up sometime.”
“I knew your ass was going to come with a lecture on being super mature and making every life decision like it’s a game of chess.
I didn’t love Averi when I agreed to marry Naomi.
Now, I do. She’s pregnant with my baby, and I don’t give a fuck about Naomi or her pops.
I just don’t want to put Uncle Tech in a bad position. ”
“That’s exactly what’s going to happen. I don’t know a thing about Naomi’s father.
You’re just going to have to talk to Pops about this and see what he says.
It might be easier to do what you gotta do to get Averi on board rather than backing out of an agreement.
This shit is all cute and romantic and shit, but life isn’t a Lifetime movie.
Wave some money up under her nose. Get her a mansion in another city or state and just live a double life and shit. Nigga, I don’t know.”
Blak placed both palms against his temple and scratched at his braids.
This was his problem to solve. Block was probably right.
Averi was stubborn as hell but over time, maybe he could wear her down and get her to accept how things were.
Maybe if he promised to sleep in a separate bedroom and not have sex with Naomi, she’d feel better about the situation.
Blak didn’t know what the hell to do because the wrong choice would have him possibly being killed by Naomi’s father or Averi.
No matter how he chose to handle it, somebody was gon’ probably end up killing his ass.
Symphony bit her bottom lip, but that didn’t stop a small smile from breaking through.
As she watched Block take the items out of the picnic basket he brought from the car, her heart was full.
He was really proving himself to be a different breed.
None of the men she dated in the past had ever been so thoughtful.
She even settled for some Netflix and chill moments when she was a broke college student dating other broke college students.
Since she’d been a doctor and dated, her dates had ranged from five-star restaurants to movie dates and once a play.
But she always had to tell the man where she wanted to go and what she wanted to do.
On both dates with Block, he planned everything and all she had to do was show up and be surprised.
Symphony finally tore her gaze away from her date and eyed the spread he’d set out. Chocolate covered strawberries, chicken salad, crackers, cheese, grapes, pickles, chips, and ham and cheese sliders.
“You did really good. This is your third gold star. First, the flowers, then dinner, and now a picnic. Laying a Hermes blanket on the ground is crazy. But I’m impressed.”
Block chuckled lightly. “I’m glad you approve.”
“You’re very good at this. You go on picnics often? This is my first one.”
“It’s my first one too. Never really thought about it, but since I asked you out, I gotta come with something worth you taking the time out to experience, right? Can’t do shit half ass.”
“For you to be a guy that likes to hit it and quit it, you can’t put in this much effort with everybody. If so, I know you have a stalker or three. Should I be watching my back?”
The fact that she seemed so serious had Block staring at her for a few seconds before he shook his head. “Shorty, you’re too damn fine to be so offensive all the time. I don’t handle everybody the same. That’s one thing you should remember about me if you don’t remember anything else.”
Symphony wasn’t opposed to sleeping with him.
He didn’t try after their first date, so she refused to be the aggressor.
However, if hitting it and quitting it was the way he usually moved, she didn’t really see the point of him planning out super romantic dates, but she was going to go with the flow.
One thing she’d learned in life was not to force anything.
He was handsome, wealthy, charming, and some more shit.
But she’d never been desperate enough to try and change any man’s mind about how he wanted to move.
If the end result was just sex, she simply hoped that he stroked walls as good as he seemed to do everything else.
“My bad,” she held her palms out in surrender. “I’ll try my best to not say anything else that’s offensive.”
“Thank you. What are you doing next weekend?” he inquired as she picked up a chocolate covered strawberry.
“Um,” Symphony went through her mental Rolodex. “Saturday, I have a massage and Sunday, I’m taking Mason out to eat. Other than those things nothing.”
“My brother has a soccer game, Saturday. You should come with me.”
“Mario?”
Block chuckled. “No. My brother, Brazil. He plays professional soccer.”
“Oh wow. That’s dope. I can’t say I’ve ever been to any kind of soccer game especially not a professional one.
I honestly forgot that Diamond Cove even had a team.
” Symphony would never admit to him that she had assumed his brothers were drug dealers too.
Offensive and judgmental. She was almost ashamed.
“Yeah, he’s been playing professionally for like five years. My other brother, Lethal is a boxer.”
“Two athletes. Wow. I know your father must be proud. Same mother?”
Block nodded. “Yeap. Only my father is proud of my drug dealing ways. My mom doesn’t like it too tough. I’m the fuck up.”
“Fuck up isn’t a term that I’d choose to describe you.
Your profession may be a little less than desirable but as a mother, I’m sure your mother just doesn’t want anything bad to happen to you.
How you make money aside, you’re a very charming, thoughtful person, and I can tell you’d do anything for the people you love.
That’s something to be proud of for sure. ”
“If you want me to put you through the mattress, just say that, shorty.”
Symphony opened her mouth only to clamp it shut. The perplexed look on her face made Block chuckle.
“I’m fucking with you.”
The heat radiating through Symphony’s body reminded her that she’d actually like if he did just that. “Being put through a mattress kind of sounds like a good time.”
It was Block’s turn to be stumped. Shorty was a whole doctor, and he could tell she was genuinely a straight up, ‘good girl’, however, the fact that she didn’t put up some super perfect bougie ass facade turned him on.
He knew she was smart, had her own paper, and deserved the finer things in life.
But she didn’t walk around with her nose up in the air acting as if she was better than everyone else.
“I’m usually really good at being able to figure people out, but you be throwing me for a loop,” he admitted.
With a smirk, Symphony lifted her plastic champagne flute filled with strawberry lemonade. “Figuring me out is easy,” she winked. “I’m on whatever you’re on.”