Chapter 38 Spoil
Spoil
Soft jazz hums in the fashion studio, but I barely hear it. My attention’s
lock on the sketch Matteo just rendered from the drawing I sent him. We’re working on her dress. I flew in Matteo, Milan’s finest to bring our vision to life. Cause when it comes to Zara? Nuh regular designer cyaa handle that.
“She a go love this dawg,” Gutta grins, stepping back to take it in. “Mi a tell yuh, she nah go wah take this off.”
“Yah. When a time fi the honey moon we’ll see about that,” I say with a smirk, stroking my beard. Truth is, mi already a plan how mi a go peel it off her… slow.
“Man a go fi more youth,” Gutta jokes.
“No sah,” I chuckle. Matte satin from Como, layered over tulle with hand-stitched embroidery. The beading on the bodice alone took three Italian seamstresses nearly sixty hours.
Matteo stands nearby with his hands folded, sleek in all black. His English has that crisp European cut. “This is exquisite,” he finally says. “You’ve got taste, Nickoi. The sketch was already stunning, but this… this is art.”
“It’s her,” I add after a beat. “Mi just hope she think so too.”
“You should ask her,” Matteo offers. “I’ll send over the digital render and fabric breakdown.”
“Yeah, email it to her,” I nod. “Let her decide.” The thing is, the dress isn’t finished yet, and I want to keep it a surprise for myself until she walks down the aisle.
But first, she has to approve the design.
He heads off to prep the file and paperwork.
I pull out the black card, swipe it, and sign.
No hesitation. Nothing’s too much for her.
We leave a few minutes later, stepping outside.
I jump into the front seat, Gutta slides in beside me.
I puff the high-grade, head nodding to Bayka’s song Ready.
One hand on the steering, the other nursing the spliff.
Every lyric feel like it line up wid mi life.
Some bwoy only sing badness. Mi live it.
I exhale the smoke, feeling the weight ease off my chest.
“Prime time and yuh face deh pan the telly…” Carlos and the others flash across my mind.
Gutta’s halfway in his Henny, already loose. He spots a girl walking and grins. “Watch dis,” he says, pointing her out. She has slim waist, blond hair, her ass in a short skirt, that has her cheeks poking out. The car creeps up beside her. She side-eyes it first then sees who’s inside.
“A wah?” she grins. Typical. That smile alone used to mean she’s mine if I wanted. Used to be my type. Pretty, flashy, easy. They don’t normally ask for too much. They just here for a good time. Zara changed all that. She never looked at me like that. Never made it easy. Now we stuck fi life.
“How yuh walk so fast?” Gutta leans out.
“Mi a go ‘bout mi business,” she replies, checking her reflection in the car mirror. Gutta pulls out a stack, flashing it like bait.
“Yow muma.” She slows down, lips glossy, gum popping.
“Wah yuh want?”
“Mi a chappa enuh. Mi have a Mark X—mi garage full, you just affi come find out.” She giggles. Teeth white. Lashes like broomstick. Mi already know she a walkin red flag.
“Punch in yuh digits and mi give yuh answers to all of your questions,” he flirts, stretching his iPhone to her. Jah Jah the man tipsy or him a test har? I’m laughing at this point. She glances at me.
“Unuh have money man.” Her tone change quick. Just one look at me and she assume that huh? Nickoi effect. A only one woman deh pan Nick mind. Zara, she’s like a drug. My drug. I should call her Molly. She probably cuss, but she used to call me stinka, it can’t get any worse than that.
“She takes Gutta’s phone, clearly impressed. “This a the latest iPhone?” Gold digger stamp approved.
“Mi name Tricia,” she adds, handing it back. Of course she name Tricia.
“Aite, big batty Tricia, mi o call yuh when mi reach back to the Mark X or the Crown,” Gutta grins.
“Unuh drive safe,” she says with a wave. As the window rolls up, Gutta laughs.
“Mi nuh rate deh b deh.”
“She flip too fast when she hear yah drag weights,” I inject.
“Dat mi a say. Woulda prefer if she did keep the tough act. Mi test dem fast enuh.” I nod slowly.
“You affi just test them and den yuh can find a genuine one but mi feel like Anna genuine.”
“Yeah… mi rate Anna, but she a hear too much and a believe everything. Every minute a’ argument. Kinda bruck mi vibe, mi nah lie.”
I glance at him. “Just try wid har still. A true she love yuh make she a give you a hard time.” He sighs, thoughtful for a second, then drinks again. My phone starts ringing. Soft trap still hums through the speakers when her name flashes across the screen.
“Hey babe,” Zara says. I hit the button on the steering and turn down the music.
“Mami, yuh deh pan lunch break?”
“No, mi a leave early. You can come pick me up now, please?” Why she even asking? Once you’re my woman, I’m going to treat you like a queen. I drop off Gutta and head to Jago. When I pull up, she’s not at the gate.
“Mi nuh see yuh. Mi fi come over?”
“Yeah.” A security guard approaches, I give a nod, windows winding up gradually as I drive in. She walks out the administration office just then—and immediately, mi spirit pick up something off. She looks… nervous.
“Mami, you good?” I ask as she slips into the car. She exhales sharply, the kind that tells you she’s trying to keep it together.
“Yuh good?” I press again.
“I’m okay, babe. It’s just that…” I wait, watching her close.
“Them find one a mi form student with a gun,” she says finally.
I blink. “Who? The principal find it?”
“No—police. And soldiers,” she mutters. Eeeh… that gwan?
“Mi affi check mi register to see if he was absent the time of the shooting,” she continues, digging through her bag for the book.
“Why yuh affi check it? The school cya handle that? Why dem a stress you?”
She sighs. “The detective ask me personally, Nickoi. So mi a go give it to him now. She opens the door. Just then, the man himself appears—Detective Mario. He blocks her from stepping out. Our eyes lock. Jah.
“I was just coming to meet you,” she says to him, her voice nervous. She shows him the register. He finally looks away from me. I stare at him hard. They stand outside for five whole minutes. I watch through the glass, tapping my finger against the Benz emblem until she returns.
“Sorry for holding up your time,” Mario says.
I nod once. “That good, man.” I force the tone calm, even though mi ready fi cut. Nick easy, him go wonder why yuh uncomfortable around him.
“This is the latest model, right?” he asks, eyeing my Benz. I chuckle, giving no reply. Assume fool. An officer calls him away. I watch him through the rearview mirror—he’s still looking at the car. Nickoi, him a pree yuh, my subconscious warns.
“The. Man. Is. So. Scary,” Zara finally exhales.
“Yuh nuh need fi fear no man when yuh have me or the Outlaw gang behind you,” I say. I hate that he had her nervous.
She nods. “Yeah… but he’s so confident, babe.” We drive in silence. I glance over a few times before resting my hand at the hem of her dress. It’s ridden up her thigh—smooth, soft skin tempting me.
“Yuh too thick it seem,” I tease, tugging gently at my beard.
She blushes. “You think I’m too thick?”
“Yuh mad? Mi love it,” I say, squeezing her thigh and biting my lip.
She giggles. “Okay…” I let my hand rest there, gently caressing. She tries to switch the subject. “Did you get the guy to do the drop-offs? Because mi have sooo many orders.”
I shake my head. “Not yet.” Silence again.
Then, “It a pressure you, Mami?”
“No.” Of course she’d say that.
“You want it be a physical business? ’Cause mi woulda get everything done fi yuh. Or yuh prefer it stay online?”
“Physical is too much,” she answers softly.
“Mi yaw deal wid it, just say the word,” I say, watching her face.
“Okay babe… and thank you,” she says and I nod.
“Mi feel like mi o mek it be an islandwide thing. Branches and more staff,.”
Her mouth drops. “Nickoi… it sound nice and everything but I don’t want you spending unnecessarily. I could just do it online.”
“Fi yuh stress? Mi see how much night yuh up a prep orders wid Gavin, then yuh up again fi write lesson plans. Mi nuh wah yuh burn out. Yuh a mi wife. Mi wah yuh continue live yuh soft life.” Her eyes soften, and she smiles.
She knows I’m serious. I already make sure mommy don’t lift a finger again, now it’s Zara’s turn.
“Aww, I know but…”
“If a money yuh think ’bout, stop it. Mi a go get the business sorted..” that tone left no room for debate.
She laughs gently. “You’re so bossy and can’t even help it.”
I smirk. “Mi a mek some calls later.”
“Thanks babe, yuh always a spoil mi.”
“Yuh used to it yet?”
She shakes her head. “All now.”
“Well get used to it,” I tell her.