Chapter 14 Medicine
Medicine
“You see man a talk to yuh and yuh hang up?” Nickoi’s voice is calm but laced with an edge that slices clean. He lets out a chuckle, but there’s no humour in it. Then his face resets. Dead serious.
“Yuh mussy lick yuh chip.”
My stomach dips. But my mouth? Still hot.
“Yuh did a grieve mi, so mi hang up. Simple,” I snap, not thinking, just defending myself. His gaze slices across the space between us, locking me in place.
Zara… yuh mouth.
He turns his head, slow, toward Lizzie. She gives him a tight, polite smile before excusing herself. “Mi go get the drink,” she murmurs. Coward. I woulda run too.
I glance back at Nickoi, trying to keep my face neutral. Feminine. Sweet. “Wah mi tell yuh the other day inna di room?” he asks, voice low. Even.
I shrug. “Mi nuh know,” I mumble, eyes darting to the side.
“Look pan me.” I don’t move. He takes a step forward.
I hiss under my breath and finally raise my eyes. His stare is cold. Focused. Like he could see through my head and straight into my intentions. My heartbeat quickens, but my face stays still.
“Mi nuh member,” I offer, soft this time. Trying to soothe the moment.
Now yuh nuh want it escalate, after yuh just get bold?
“Mi tell yuh fi stop gwaan like yuh wah diss me. A nuh that mi seh?” he says, stepping even closer. I nod, slowly. A quiet, careful nod. His presence feels heavier now.
“Mi never a try diss yuh,” I say. My voice barely carries, but I know he hears it.
“Mi have the phone connected to the car majority of the time and mi have mi nigga dem in a the car wid me,” his tone flat but sharp. “And mi a talk to yuh and yuh go hang up in a man earz like you nav no respect fi me.”
Shame burns low in my belly. A slow ache spreading across my chest.
Damn, Zara… yuh embarrass the man.
“I’m sorry,” I murmur, voice tight. He hisses under his breath then turns.
“No worry. Mi a cut… right now mi affi reach inna treez fi meet one supplier. Take care a yuhself.” And just like that, he walks off. No kiss. No eye contact. No nutt’n. Him not even acknowledge mi apology.
A simple kiss teeth and silence?
That’s an answer too, ma’am.
I follow him back inside, slow and cautious. He’s already at the kitchen, talking to Lizzie in that cool, businesslike tone he saves for when feelings done shut off.
“Cook salmon fi har, and ensure she tek the vitamins.”
Lizzie nods. “With rice?”
“Yeah. Give har vegetables too,” he adds, then pauses. “Thanks.” He says it like he means it. Like no matter how vex him is, he’s still respectful, and he still cares about me. That’s what stings.
He walks past me without a glance, the air shifting as he moves through the space.
Still my man. Still the Don. But right now?
Mi feel like just another woman in his orbit, watching him from across the room, wishing I hadn’t made him walk away like that.
I step outside, the sunlight biting at my skin.
The air feels heavier than usual, like it knows I’m walking with something sitting on my chest.
“Zara,” Lizzie calls gently behind me. I pause and turn back. She walks toward me with a cup of orange juice in her hand and the softness in her eyes says more than her mouth ever could.
“Thank you,” I murmur, taking it. My voice merely above a whisper.
She nods once, like she understands too much. I turn again and head toward the car. Nickoi’s already there, door open, adjusting something in the console.
“Babe…” I call softly, nerves rising in my throat. “I’m sorry, enuh.”
He doesn’t speak. Just looks at me. Long and quiet.
Like he’s measuring whether my apology is weighty enough to tip the scale.
Then, without a word, he starts the car, pulls out the driveway and leaves.
Just like that. The gravel crunches under his tires as he fades down the road, taking the rest of my pride with him.
I stand there for a beat, blinking at the emptiness he left behind.
Wow.
That hurt in a way I wasn’t ready for. I exhale shakily, my shoulders curling inward. Everything mash up from morning. In less than four hours mi whole world start spin, argument with Sash, heartbreak fallout, Nickoi acting cold like mi nuh matter.
Now this. Now him. Not even a glance back. Mi apologize how much time now? And it still not enough? Silent treatment loud, enuh.
Today a nuh your day mi love. Not even close.
My chest is tight, my poor little pride sore, and I still haven’t even checked my results yet. Mi cyaah bother. Honestly?
Mi just a go sleep. If disappointment had a time stamp, it would be today.
***
Lizzie gently shakes me, and when my eyes flutter open, I see her standing beside the sofa, holding a plate in her hand. “Here,” she says softly, offering it to me.
The warm aroma of salmon, broccoli, and seasoned rice greets me instantly. “Mmm… thank you,” I murmur with a faint smile, adjusting my body against the cushions.
It smells amazing. My stomach growls in agreement. “A wah time now?” I yawn, glancing around the dimly lit living room, still groggy.
“You been out for a while, man. It’s 5:30 now,” she says, and I nod, trying to wake up properly.
“Nickoi come back yet?” I ask, already expecting her answer.
She shakes her head. A sigh escapes me. Mi a go call him. Lizzie heads back toward the kitchen, and I reach for my phone, unlocking it quickly. I tap Nickoi’s name and wait but it goes straight to voicemail. Mi know the phone deh right inna him hand, I think bitterly. Yes, but him nah answer you.
I try again. Then again. Still nothing.
Frustrated, I toss the phone onto the sofa beside me and dig into the food. I don’t even want to be angry, but the silent treatment burns worse than the argument itself.
“This nice,” I say between bites, forcing a smile toward Lizzie, who’s now seated around the island. She nods gently.
“Thanks, Zara.”
I get up and walk over to join her, bringing my plate with me. The kitchen feels calm. Too calm. Like a reset button I can’t quite find. Then, she breaks the silence.
“What kind of baby you want to have?” I glance up at her, and a real smile tugs at the corners of my lips.
“A girl,” I say, already picturing a tiny version of me with fat cheeks and too much attitude.
She nods like she saw it too. “Yeah… I think you’d be a great girl mom,” she says, then reaches across and holds my hand. Her eyes soften. “And congrats… yuh deserve it.”
It catches me off guard. I pause, confused for a second until I glance down and remember the ring on my finger. Oh.
“Thanks,” I whisper, a little choked up. But Nickoi’s still heavy on my mind. Then an idea hits me. I look over at Lizzie. “Yuh have yuh phone on you?” I ask.
She reaches into her bag and passes it to me without question. I dial his number.
First ring, he answers. “Everything good, Ms. Lizzie?” Nickoi asks, casual, calm. I hear the murmur of voices in the background, his boys, laughing, talking low.
“It’s not Lizzie. It’s me,” I say, heart hammering against my ribs.
There’s a silence that stretches too long. Too pointed. “Why yuh not answering when mi call?” I ask softly.
Still nothing. Mi allow him fi get over the shock.
I wait a beat, then keep going. “I’m sorry… and mi cyaa bother with this silent treatment thing weh you a—”
Click.
He hangs up. Just like that. The silence that follows is loud. Louder than anything he could’ve said. Shame slides down my spine, especially with Lizzie sitting right there, pretending like she never heard a thing. Jesus.
So this is how he felt? That sting, that humiliation… I feel it now. Deep. Sudden. Unforgiving. And worse? He’s not just any man. He’s their Don. And I disrespected him in front of his crew. My stomach twists.
“A the credit done?” Lizzie asks gently. No, enuh. A Nickoi hang up inna mi ears.
“Mi nuh sure,” I say, trying to soften the moment. She doesn’t say anything. She doesn’t need to. Nickoi just handed me a taste of my own damn medicine. I sigh and nudge a piece of broccoli around the plate.
“Mi have two daughters,” Lizzie says suddenly, maybe trying to distract me.
I glance at her, grateful for the switch in topic. “Yeah? How old?”
“The big one is 26, and the younger one just turn 14,” she replies, pride warming her voice.
“That’s nice, man.” She nods, but her face dims a bit. “Dem nuh live with me anymore. Dem father have dem in Barbados.”
“Eeeh? Him come from Barbados?”
“Yeah,” she says, her tone lighter again. “Mi just decide fi mek him take them. Mi couldn’t manage everything here by mi self.”
“You still close with them?” I ask softly.
“Yeah, man,” she smiles. “Mi big daughter always check in, always a mek sure mi good.”
I smile with her. “She visit?”
“Dem coming Christmas,” she says, and her whole face lights up. I nod, trying to feel that joy too.
***
An hour slides by in a blur of music and low conversation. Lizzie grabs her bag, sliding her phone into the front pocket with a sigh. “Mi nuh live far from yah, enuh,” she says, her lips twisting. “Just nuh live in this neighborhood though.”
I walk her out. The air is cool now, the kind of cool that settles on your skin and makes you miss warm hands. “Come early tomorrow,” I say, standing close. “Mi wah you help mi pick something.”
She nods, half-distracted. “Alright, hun.”
A car creeps around the corner, headlights flickering over the gate. Lizzie’s face lights up like Christmas morning. “See me driver deh come,” she grins, already pulling the door open before the car even stops properly.
The man inside nods politely. She slides in like it’s muscle memory, waves once with her fingers out the window, and they’re gone, just like that.
“Good night,” I whisper to no one.