Chapter 9
"So you traded in city life for cow and horseshit, huh?" Money asked Swift.
"Fuck you, Money."
"Naw, fuck you. You took Papa from me. My feelings hurt, nigga."
They both laughed, all the while Swift was kicking himself for bringing Chevy and Papa with him at the same time. He asked the associate at Barks and Meows to put them in the doggie park section out back while he shopped. Still, he could hear Papa barking and whimpering the entire time.
"I couldn't leave him after you guilt-tripped me about not putting in time with him. He's smart, though, catches on fast, and he matches my fly."
"What? Big, dark… scary too?"
"Sounds like your ass is struggling with how handsome I am. Papa will be pulling all the hos out here. You know those country girls are sneaky as fuck, giving it up in the barns and bars," he teased.
"Naw, Papa cries too fucking much, but I won't lie. I did want his ass."
"I knew it, but maybe you can come out here in a few weeks. Moms roped me in for a little longer, but at least I get to see Granny and your dad."
"That nigga already told me I was coming.
He said Granny's been asking, and that I chose your damn dad and mama over him.
How, when my mama lives in Cedar Spike, too?
It's why his ass comes back and forth. My dad claims he ain't pressed but wanted to know if my mama's been posting her new nigga on social media since she'd blocked him.
I can't say I feel sorry for his ass since that nigga stayed cheating. "
"Uncle Law loves Auntie Octavia," Swift replied. "She loves him, too. She just doesn't like his ass. My mom's been over there, but I've been back and forth between the house and the mechanic shop."
Swift wasn't sure how much to share because he and Starlah had sort of been passing each other by, with no words in between, short of a simple "good morning" or "good night".
He couldn't explain it, but at night, it took him hours to fall asleep as he listened out for her.
Still, Money talked too much, too, so he decided to keep it to himself.
"Damn, putting in that work."
"I'm just helping out like Unc asked me to but let me hurry and get what I need from this pet store. Shit's been crazy out here with two dogs."
"I heard about Chevy. Cute name but big like that damn Papa, huh?"
"Almost. Dark-gray with gold eyes, though."
Swift wanted to say the color was close to Starlah's hazel eyes.
He couldn't help that she ran around in his head all day long.
He thought she would have returned to the mechanic shop, but she still said she wasn't ready.
He figured, most days, she was asleep because she'd be in her bedroom whenever he made it back home.
"Be safe, fam. Creed getting killed wasn't something I was expecting. I can't lose you."
"Pfft, nigga, you won't.
"Any news on who did that shit?"
Swift looked around, then lowered his head.
He was smart enough not to speak about anything that could land him on someone's radar, especially in Pellum.
There was nothing but land and swamps where bodies could be dumped.
The last he heard, the person of interest had an alibi that placed him over fifty miles away at the time of the shootings.
"Naw," was all he offered. What he didn't say, Money read between the lines.
"Alright then, family. Stay strapped."
"For sure. Always. Love you, nigga."
Swift may have struggled to commit to a woman like Starlah, given how he felt, but never his blood. Money was more than his cousin. He was his best friend. In fact, besides the family business, Money was the only reason he hesitated to stay a little longer.
If asked, Swift actually enjoyed being in Pellum. It was slower. The people were nicer, spoke to you, even if you were a complete stranger, and the community, overall, had a family-like vibe. Too bad Lucky and Creed, along with their friends, were the victims of gun violence.
"Sir, your order is ready. Want to drive around back?"
"Uh, sure. The name's Swift."
"Oh, I thought it was… " She looked at his order. "Cairo Brighton." She flashed a smile. It was the kind of smile that was warm, matching her reddish-brown hair and caramel skin, and complemented her full, peach lips.
"It is, but my family calls me Swift."
"Oh, what about friends?" She lifted one brown, angling her head. The lust laced in her voice didn't go unnoticed either.
Swift was so familiar with it, having heard it most of his life, once he discovered girls… or they'd discovered him. He grinned, examining her features from her breasts, the size of cantaloupes, to her wide hips housed in jeans that appeared to be painted on. She was tall too, easily five-foot-ten.
As he approached the counter, she giggled.
"Friends, huh?" He tapped the counter, then slid his cellphone toward her. "Put your contact information in there. I don't mind making a few friends while I'm in town."
"I can do that, and welcome to Pellum."
Swift was close to telling her his family had roots in Pellum, but it was best he kept it to a minimum because it was hard shaking a woman after he laid the dick down. It also frustrated him because the only woman he wanted to be inside of was emotionally unavailable, wrapped up instead in grief.
As she busily pecked away, he glanced outside when someone he noticed caught his attention. He frowned before walking to the door.
"Damn. That's that nigga Colt," Swift whispered to himself.
He learned his name after he'd visited a few times after the funeral.
Starlah wouldn't come out for him, but something told him they had a heavy history.
The petty side of Swift wanted to flaunt the fact that Starlah wasn't fucking with him, but the more mature side of him, the side that cared about Starlah, began to wonder if he was hiding something, especially because he wasn't alone.
He was with a dark-skinned beauty, one who appeared to be pregnant, in the midst of a heated exchange.
"Get the fuck out of here," he whispered.
"Hey, here you go. Good thing you didn't take off," the store associate said, her eyes then traveling in the direction Swift was looking.
"Hey? Uh, is everything okay?"
"Huh?"
Swift looked back at the associate who smiled, dangling his cellphone in the air.
"Oh, yeah. I'm good. I thought I saw someone I knew."
"Small town." She giggled, hiking her shoulders. "Everyone knows everyone, and if you don't, you will after a while. It happens all the time."
"Yeah, you're probably right." He accepted his cellphone and then looked at her name.
"Darcie."
"Darcelyn." She leaned forward and whispered, "But my friends call me Darcie."
"Noted."
Swift grinned, hearing lust in her voice. He was trying to stay focused, but his dick jumped, alerting him that he might have a winner to drop his load in… covered, of course. He was feeling Starlah, but he also knew that whatever he felt had to be shelved.
"I'll be in touch."
"And I'll be waiting. Just drive around back. The guys will load the doghouses for you. I hope they enjoy it."
The more active Chevy and Papa were, the more he felt compelled to take them outside, but he also didn't want to have to sit with them while he walked around with Wrangler, getting to know the other staff.
It was Peyton who took care of the horses, Jackson who attended to the cows, goats, and pigs, and Randolph, who attended to the chickens.
Swift was becoming quite the farmer himself when Wrangler took him through the field, where corn, potatoes, even tomatoes, and pole beans were grown, explaining how they treated the crops and then prepared them for shipping once sold.
What they didn't sell, Lucky made sure to set some aside for the free pantry that gave out free food every other Friday.
Unfortunately, since Lucky and Creed's deaths, the pantry has been closed, and the farm's production has suffered severely.
Even payroll was late, but Logan was working each day with the accountant to pay out as much as they could.
"I'm sure they will."
Once the doghouses were loaded up, Swift took the long ride home.
Colt being with some woman had really stumped him.
He'd heard he was on the outs with Starlah through rumors at the mechanic shop, but the way he looked at her on the day of the funeral told him that Colt wanted her badly.
It also didn't hurt that Colt would barely speak to him anytime they were at the mechanic shop.
Instead, Colt would pass by him, then he'd mumble an acknowledgement of sorts, but not much of anything else. Swift was no snitch, but he also wasn't sure if he'd sit around and let him pretend that he wasn't foul if he caught him snooping around Starlah's front doorstep again.
When Swift looked to his right, his eyes lit up when he saw an upcoming event on a sign.
He had an idea that included Starlah. He couldn't make her go to work, but he hoped he could draw her out of the house long enough to force her to let her hair down.
It also gave him some time alone with her.
He felt something between them, and he knew she felt it too.
He just prayed he didn't misread it, or he may fuck her up even more.