Chapter 4 #3
“Yeah. I thought about it. My son is doing well, so I might hit the club up tonight. That shit doesn’t mean I won’t be working while I’m there, though.”
“What do you mean, working?”
“I don’t go to clubs to party. I go to secure them. If it wasn’t for work, I probably wouldn’t even be there.”
“Oh yeah. I forgot, you are security.”
“I’m more than that, baby.”
After he took another huge bite of his fish with a little bread, we ate in silence. When we finished eating, I still had a few pieces of fish left and some greens because they had given us a lot of food. I packed my plate up to go, put it in a plastic bag, and then we headed back out to the car.
When we pulled off, there was no music playing. Just silence as he drove pretty calmly, compared to how he usually does.
“You okay? I haven’t seen you drive this slowly any time I’m in the car with you.”
“Yeah, I’m good. Just thinking about some shit.”
His phone rang through the speakers, cutting off our conversation. He took the call off speaker and put the phone up to his ear.
“Talk to me.”
I couldn’t hear the other end, but Proctor was mostly listening, dropping an “uh-huh,” and a “yeah,” every few seconds. When he hung up, he sucked his teeth and twisted his neck like he was trying to work anger out of it.
“Yo, I gotta stop by this club real quick. It won’t take long, but if you want, I can drop you off at the mall nearby and you can Uber back to the hotel.”
“No, you don’t have to. I would honestly rather not. I can wait in the car. I’ve had bad experiences with men alone in Ubers.”
“Aight, understood.”
We drove to a club that was on the outside of the strip, but I’m sure close enough to the action to have a crowd.
I crossed my arms and watched him get out and lock the car behind him.
I sat there waiting, calm but alert, because he could’ve driven me straight to hell, and I would’ve come back burned, but happy as hell that I rode with him there.
When the door swung open, and Proctor came back to the car, I snapped out of my thoughts.
“Yo, just letting you know it might be another ten minutes or so. You good out here?”
“Yeah, I’m okay. Take your time.”
“Alright.”
I tried to sound as cool and laid back as I thought he wanted me to be. He nodded his head and went back inside, which made me feel good that he was being somewhat protective. As soon as he did, my phone rang with a call from Ari.
“Hello?” I answered the phone on almost the last ring.
“Where are you?”
“We were on our way from eating, and then Proctor said that he had to make a stop.”
“Oh, it took y’all that long to get food?” Her tone came with an attitude.
“Yeah. He took me somewhere far as hell to get some bomb-ass food. You should’ve come with us.”
“Nah, I wasn’t really hungry, but I was just checking on you. Be careful.”
“Okay, I’ll be back soon.”
“K, bye.” We hung up the phone.
I stared out the window for another fifteen minutes before Proctor finally came back in the car.
I noticed immediately that his chest was rising and falling hard, and he was breathing heavier than before.
His hands gripped the steering wheel, knuckles bruised and bloody like he’d just been in a fight.
I didn’t know with whom because I didn’t hear anything from the car, and there were barely any cars outside the club.
Proctor started his engine and pulled off fast, the way he usually drove.
We hit the freeway, then exited into streets I never would’ve known to take while in Vegas because it wasn’t the tourist spots.
I looked out the window, sightseeing, because this was the part of Vegas that wasn’t in movies.
It was gritty, dry, and hood and just like most cities, I see that Vegas has a hood too.
When we stopped at a red light, I had my head on a swivel and noticed a gas station to my left.
In the parking lot of the gas station was a car that had three men surrounding it, and of course, my eyes went straight to them.
I would always check niggas out, even though I was sitting next to one of the finest men I’d ever seen in my life.
The light took forever, and I kept glancing to the left, until the faces I saw started to look hella familiar.
“Wait, is that JoJo and them?”
I said out loud, smacking my lips, and Proctor looked over at me.
“Who did you just say that was?”
“JoJo, I think. He and his family.” I shrugged my shoulder, hoping he shrugged it off too.
“JoJo. The JoJo who shot my son? The one who is on the run from the courthouse.”
“Yeah, I mean, I think that’s him. What, are you about to call the police and tell them where he is?” I asked, getting nervous from the way Proctor was looking at me.
Proctor didn’t respond and made a left at the light, parking across the street from the gas station in front of some run-down apartments.
They reminded me of the ones that I grew up in back home.
Washed over brick, iron railings, and no one outside their units because everyone slept during the day and stayed up in bull shit all night.
“What are we doing here. Proctor? Are you going to wait here until the police get here?”
“Fuck the police. Just sit back and be quiet while I think.”
He reached his long arms into the backseat and spooked me by pulling a gun from the back and resting it on his lap, as if it belonged there.
The gun was heavy-looking, with a scope attached to it like it was for the military.
My stomach dropped, and I almost screamed, but I swallowed it back inside because the last thing I needed to do was spook a man who’s already on edge.
“Wha, what are you doing with that?”
My voice came out quieter than I meant it to, but it was because I had to force the words past the lump sitting in my throat.
“I think it’s time for a little payback against this pussy ass nigga. I can’t believe they still hanging around Vegas like the fuckin cops are the only ones they need to be running from.”
The way he was talking scared me more than the gun. Calm, flat, no yelling, and just cold, calculated words. His face didn’t twist up with anger, and it stayed locked, focused, like a switch had already flipped and there was no turning it back off.
My hands started shaking. I pressed them against my thighs, trying to keep them still. My heart was beating so hard I could hear and feel it in my neck, in my chest, and in my fingertips.
Surely nothing was about to happen, right? I mean, it’s the middle of the day, and we were in front of an abandoned building, I’m sure Proctor wasn’t stupid. But then again, I don’t know this man at all besides him being fine, which got me in this position in the first place.
Damn what did I just do.