19. Halo
Halo
“ W hat the fuck do you mean I need to leave!” a female’s voice yelled from the opposite side of the door. I turned over and faced the closed bedroom door. I just know Joker didn’t bring me over here and another bitch popped up. This was the exact shit I wasn’t trying to deal with.
Soon as I sat up in bed, the door opened, and Joker’s face appeared. “Is everything okay?” I asked him. If I needed to leave, I didn’t mind.
“Everything straight,” he responded and went into the bathroom. I heard the water turn on. He was probably about to take a shower. I scooted back against the headboard and rested there, waiting for him to return. He was in the bathroom for a while before coming out with a towel wrapped around his waist. This man’s body… it was everything. His abs looked like I could wash several loads of clothes on them. My eyes roamed every single tattoo that was visible. They were so detailed. He had to have paid thousands of dollars for them.
Stopping in front of the dresser, he pulled out a pair of briefs and slipped them on. “Did you get any sleep?” he turned to me and asked.
“Yeah. I’m not sure how long I slept. I heard arguing. That’s what woke me up.”
“I’m sorry ’bout that. Mufuckas just be tripping.”
Strolling to the bed, he pulled the covers back and slipped underneath. When he held me earlier and I fell asleep, that was some of the best sleep I had gotten in a long time. I couldn’t even remember the last time I cuddled with someone other than Brave. My body yearned for the intimacy.
“Come here,” he said and stretched his arms out in my direction.
I scooted over to him, and he wrapped his arms around my body. I still couldn’t wrap my mind around everything that happened today. It bothered me that I was now without a job and had to hurry up and find something else before I was drowning in bills.
Joker held me for the remainder of the night while I slept peacefully in his arms. This was definitely something I was gon’ have to do again.
The following morning
My eyes fluttered open. I stretched and yawned. Joker was no longer beside me. Sitting up in bed, I grabbed my phone off the nightstand and saw that it was going on ten in the morning. I had three missed calls from Krissy and four messages.
Kris: Did you make it home?
Kris: I called and texted and you still haven’t responded.
Kris: Hello?
Kris: Oh my God, Lotus is on fire! Are you okay!
Pressing the phone icon, I placed the phone up to my ear. Krissy immediately answered. “What the fuck, Halo! You had me worried sick! Are you okay? Where the hell are you!”
“Please calm down, Kris. I’m fine now. With everything that went on last night, I forgot to call and let you know that I wasn’t there anymore.”
“What happened? How the hell did Lotus catch on fire?”
“Steven and I had an altercation. I was so upset that I called Joker.”
“The coach?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s still not telling me how the restaurant caught on fire.”
“That I don’t know.” Tossing the covers back, I climbed out of bed. My toes squished in the beige carpet. It was so soft as I padded to the bathroom. Pushing my panties down, I sat on the toilet.
“Where are you? I went by the house and you weren’t there.”
“I stayed the night with him. I find it weird that he still stays with his mama, but that’s none of my business.”
“A rich man that’s a mama’s boy. I’on know about that one, Halo.” From the tone of her voice, I already knew she was turning her lips up at him and hadn’t even met him yet. I couldn’t blame her though. All she wanted was the best for me.
“Please don’t start. I still don’t know much about this guy that you’ve been dealing with.”
“I know. I’m trying to keep him to myself for now. I’on want to jinx it, but I promise you’ll meet him soon.”
“Uh huh.” I wiped, pulled my panties back up, and flushed. Stepping to the sink, I washed my hands and rummaged through the cabinet in search of an extra toothbrush. He had simple things in the medicine cabinet. No prescriptions out the way. No feminine products. Although that shouldn’t have even been on my mind because I was supposed to be trusting him, it was nice to see that it wasn’t in there.
“What are you looking for?” Joker asked from behind me, causing me to jump and bump my head. My phone dropped to the floor. I picked it up and looked at him. He stood there in nothing but a pair of black basketball shorts with his Versace house shoes.
“I was looking for a toothbrush. I wanted to brush my teeth,” I replied, rubbing the back of my head.
“Got damn, he sounds fine as hell,” Krissy said, and I pressed the red button on the screen and tossed my phone onto the counter. How loud she was, I was certain that he’d already heard her.
Joker stepped closer to me, and my eyes roamed from his abs up to his face. My heart banged against my ribcage. “Let me see,” he said and gripped me by the shoulders and then turned me where my back faced him. I gazed at his reflection in the mirror. His fingertips glided across my shoulders up the side of my neck. They intertwined in my hair, and he gently massaged my scalp. My eyes closed, and a moan escaped my lips. Him massaging my scalp was the one of the best things I’d ever felt in the world.
“If you needed a toothbrush, you could’ve just asked for it.” His voice broke the trance I was in, and he removed his fingers from my hair. Reaching around me, he opened the drawer and grabbed a single toothbrush out of a pack. “Here. Handle your business, then I got breakfast in there for you,” he said and stepped out of the bathroom. My heart reached for him.
Tilting my head back, I shut my eyes and drew a breath. I turned on the water and opened the toothbrush, tossing the box into the trash. Sticking it underneath the toothpaste dispenser, I then placed it into my mouth and brushed my teeth. Once I was done, I rinsed my mouth with mouthwash, grabbed a rag out the linen closet, and washed my face.
By the time I stepped back into the room, Joker was sitting on the foot of the bed with his phone in his hand. Behind him was a tray with a single red rose in a vase, a glass of apple juice, and a plate filled with French toast topped with powdered sugar and strawberries, bacon, scrambled eggs, and grits. My mouth watered from just looking at it.
“Your mama cooked breakfast?” I questioned him, and he looked up from his phone.
“No. She’s gone to work.”
“You cooked this?”
“What? You think a nigga can’t cook?”
“I just never had one cook for me before.”
“Clearly, you been messing with the wrong niggas. Eat before it gets cold.”
Shutting my mouth, I climbed into the bed behind him and placed the tray over my lap. Picking up a piece of bacon, I took a bite from it. It was cooked perfectly. I sat there and ate my food while Joker did something on his phone with his back facing me. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was texting the chick that showed up the night before. It was so hard not asking him about his business.
Once I was done eating, he took the tray back into the kitchen. “Everything was delicious,” I made known when he came back into the room.
“’Preciate it. I got a few errands I need to run today. I’ma take you on back to the crib.”
“Okay,” I replied and got up from the bed. I grabbed my clothes off the floor to put them back on. He went into the closet and came out fully dressed.
After I was dressed, I followed him back to the garage and he opened the car door for me. “You know, if someone looked at you, they wouldn’t even be able to tell that you’re a gentleman.”
“I ain’t,” he said and shut the door.
Joker climbed into the driver’s seat, hit the pad for the garage door, and backed out. I sat there silently as he drove me to my apartment. Honestly, I didn’t even feel like going there right now. Krissy was at work and Brave was at school, so I was gon’ be sitting in the house alone, knowing I didn’t have a job to go to.
He pulled up in front of the building. I turned to him and said, “Thank you for last night.”
His hand cupped my face, and he stroked his thumb down my lips. “You don’t even have to thank me for some shit like that.”
“But I do. I feel safe with you, and I can’t tell you the last time I felt like that. Well, yeah, I can. Eno was alive.”
Joker’s hand wrapped around my throat, and he brought my face to his. Our lips collided. Before him, I would’ve never thought that getting choked was something that would turn me on. I be so ready to climb this fucking tree every single time he did it.
“I’ll check in on you later,” he said when he peeled away.
“Okay.” I climbed out the car and stepped up to the front door. It took me entering the building to realize there wasn’t anyone hanging around out front.
Soon as I touched the first step, my phone began to ring. Pulling it out, I quickly answered. “Yeah?”
“Can you come out the door right quick? This Jah.”
“Where the hell have you been?”
“Just come out the door and I’ll explain things.”
Disconnecting the call, I slipped my phone back into my pocket and turned around. Soon as I pushed the door open, I noticed a black Range Rover parked out front. The driver’s door opened and Jah exited.
“Now who car you done stole?” I asked him with a huge grin. I was just happy to see that he was okay.
“It’s mine.”
“You’re lying,” I said, folding my arms over my chest. Jah never made enough cash to afford a Range Rover.
“But I’m not. Remember how I told you that my uncle died?”
“Yeah?...”
“Well, I came into some money behind it.”
“I guess that’s a good thing.”
“That’s why I’ve been gone. I needed to take care of that shit, but I’m back now. A nigga rolling in more dough than ever. I wanted to talk to you ’bout something though.”
“What?”
“You know how I was always hustling and shit. Well, now that I got this money, I was wondering if you wanted to be my girl now? I can take care of you and Brave. We’ll be straight, and don’t hit me with that I’m too young shit either. I’m mature enough for you, Lisa.”
“Yo’ girl?” That question caught me by surprise.