Chapter 5 Mekhi
(The Present)
“I don’t understand you, nigga. You act like I’m asking you to give a kidney or some shit. I’m just asking you to come through, bless us with your presence,” Seth said, shaking his head at me.
“I’m not for you to understand. You know shit like that ain’t my scene.”
I looked down at the Vacheron Constantin on my wrist. This conversation had already wasted too much of my time.
Seth was my nigga, but I had zero interest in showing my face at some little party.
I had too much more important shit I could be doing, mainly making this money.
I was a born hustler, and my grind never stopped.
Right now, I needed to be in Shreveport. I lived between there and Emancipation.
“Did you need anything else?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Nah. Shit is straight around here.”
I nodded. That was what I liked to hear.
Seth kept his ear to the ground. If he said things were cool, then things were cool.
We were moving differently, slowly trying to shake off the chains of the past, almost there to legitimacy.
But extracting ourselves wasn’t that easy—we still had some very lucrative, if questionable, endeavors.
Still, I wasn’t trying to get fucked over on my way out the streets.
We shook hands and I started to step off the porch.
Suddenly, the screen door opened behind us.
By now, it was just instinct to check my back.
I turned around, only to come face-to-face with Kera.
She was smiling at me as she stood there in a bikini top and some little ass shorts. I shook my head, already knowing what her fast ass was up to. I didn’t even have to look at Seth to know he was frowning.
“Hey, Mekhi,” she cooed before sucking on the lollipop she had in her right hand.
“Sup, Kera,” I said, my voice cool.
“Take yo’ ol’ hot ass back in the house and put some clothes on!” Seth snapped.
“Seth, you not my daddy. I ain’t changing shit!”
She did the whole neck and eye roll drill, like she didn’t know Seth would shut her shit down. His eyes narrowed on her, and he walked up in her personal space.
“Fuck you say?” he asked.
She swallowed and took a step back. “I said I ain’t changing shit. But, Seth, we just going to Farrah’s house. Stop tripping!”
He mugged her for another few seconds before mushing her head.
She swung and popped him in the shoulder.
I half-listened to her squeal and him talk shit as he put her in a headlock, but my mind was on what she said.
We just going to Farrah’s house. Why somebody as cool as Kera still hung out with that stuck-up girl, I didn’t know.
Farrah walked around with her nose in the air, like she was above and beyond all of us.
And speak of the devil. The screen door opened again, and Farrah strolled out, a couple of books in her hands.
My eyes were drawn to her for a minute. She was pretty as ever, if you were into extra-thick chicks.
Personally, it wasn’t my thing. She looked at me and then looked away quickly.
I smirked. All these years later and her ass still refused to speak to me.
That was cool—I didn’t have time for that fake shit.
“You ready?” she asked Kera.
“So, it’s like that? A nigga can’t even get a ‘hey’ out of you?” Seth teased her.
She smiled at him before giving him a quick hug. Something in my chest tightened as he squeezed her back. “Sorry. I wasn’t trying to be rude. My mind is just on these books.”
He nodded. Her mind was always on the books. Farrah was smart as hell. She’d just come back from college and had started graduate school in psychology or some shit like that. The girl had goals, and she was what they called a goal-getter. I didn’t have to like her to respect her hustle.
“Yep, I’m ready,” Kera said, giving her brother a side hug.
She looked up at me expectantly. “Your turn.”
I held up both my hands. “I’m good over here, shorty.”
She didn’t even get offended. Instead, she winked at me and mouthed, “Next time.” Yeah, Seth needed to do something with her. We watched as they walked down the driveway toward Kera’s car.
“Shit, I like watching Farrah leave,” Seth mumbled.
“Annoying ass,” I scoffed.
“Nah. I like the way that fat ass be moving.”
I shook my head. “Nigga—”
“I know you don’t like her, but I know you see she thick-fine. If she and Kera weren’t friends, I’d be all up in that.”
I didn’t miss the fact that he shot me a look, no doubt hoping to get a reaction. Seth was convinced that Farrah and I were on some love-hate type shit, but he was dead wrong. Wasn’t no love in the equation. I had seen that chick like four times in the last four years and that was too much.
“If that’s what you…”
My voice trailed off as I noticed an Impala that had just turned on the street.
It was creeping along, and the dark tint made it impossible to see who and how many were in the car.
Next to me, Seth cursed. He was thinking like I was thinking.
We weren’t so legit that we had forgotten past lessons.
And the way that car was looking and moving…
I reached toward my back, ready to grab my gun.
And then my eyes went back to the driveway where Kera and Farrah were walking.
Fuck! I took off, Seth right behind me. Farrah.
My eyes were glued to her. I just needed to get to her.
“Kera, y’all get down!” Seth yelled.
They turned, frowning in confusion. I sprinted faster. Instead of doing what Seth said, they started to walk back toward us.
“What—” Farrah tried to ask a question as I reached her.
Grabbing her hand, I pulled her in front of Seth’s car.
I pushed her down hard and I heard her make a noise as she hit the concrete.
Just as gun barrels started to ease out the windows of the Impala, I covered her body with mine.
For one second, I was focused on the feel of Farrah—her soft, shivering body pressed next to mine, the sweet, chocolate scent of her.
And then the thunder of bullets ripped through the air.
It seemed to take forever, but I knew it was no more than a few seconds.
I pressed closer to her, determined to protect her as best as I could.
Shit like this didn’t regularly happen in Emancipation.
This had to be spillover from shit we handled in the city.
Seth said things were good, and I didn’t recognize the car, so this was probably somebody from elsewhere.
Still, somebody over here probably told them that Seth and I were standing out. When I found that nigga—
“Yo, y’all all right?” Seth asked as the gunshots died, and he stood up.
“I’m good,” I said.
But I wasn’t so sure about the woman beneath me. I could feel her trembling. I looked down at her, and her eyes were wide open, staring at the sky like she was in shock.
“Farrah!”
Rising to my knees, I shook her shoulder. I had to call her name a few more times before she focused on me. Her hands came up and she pushed me, hard as hell.
“Get off of me!” she screamed.
I felt my face twist up. “Bitch, I just saved your life, and you worried about me being on you? Stupid ass.”
I stood up and didn’t even reach down to help her up. She could stay down there as far as I was concerned. I walked over to where Seth had his arm wrapped around Kera’s shoulders.
“She okay?” I asked him.
Kera nodded herself. “I’m fine, thanks to y’all. Farrah and I weren’t even—” she swallowed hard as she thought about what could have happened.
“Don’t even worry about it, ma.”
Their aunt slammed out of the house and ran toward them. She wasn’t satisfied until she had checked both of them out, patting them down, searching for any injuries.
“Mekhi?” she asked.
I nodded, letting her know I was fine.
“Oh, Farrah.”
She walked toward the silly bitch, who was leaning against Seth’s car, shaking. Kera ran over and hugged her. She looked at me over Kera’s shoulder, then turned her head, like I was something she didn’t want to see. That’s why I didn’t fuck with her.