26. Joker
Joker
The following morning
I was still trying to figure out who had broken into Halo’s apartment. We searched the entire apartment last night to see if something was stolen, and nothing was taken. All they did was go in and trash the place. Her feelings were crushed. I had her gather some of their things and brought ’em over here with me ’til I figured something out. One thing was for certain, now that she’s my girl, she wasn’t going back there.
Halo was still sleeping. I checked on Brave a while ago. He was in the guest bedroom watching television. I ordered us Cracker Barrel for breakfast. I needed them to be full before we started our day.
All morning, I’d been searching for them somewhere to stay. I had my real estate agent on it. She called back not too long ago and told me that she’d come across a place off Taylor Road that’d probably be nice for them. I know that it’s different from what she’s used to, but hopefully she’ll love it. If not, we’ll just keep looking.
The elevator phone began to ring, grasping my attention. Getting up from the couch, I went over to answer it. “Yeah?”
“You have a food delivery down here,” the receptionist said through the line.
“On my way,” I told her and hung the phone up.
I stepped onto the elevator and took it down to the first floor. Getting off, I trotted over to the chick who stood there with the food. “’Preciate it,” I said to her.
“No problem.” She flashed me and smile and turned on her heels.
I went back up to the penthouse and placed the food on the counter. Reaching into the bag, I found Brave’s plate, grabbed him an orange juice, and took it to him. “I got you food.”
His head snapped in my direction. “Thanks.”
I placed it on the nightstand. “After your mama gets up, we’ll be heading out. I got a few errands to run.”
“Okay.”
Exiting the room, I went back into the kitchen, grabbed our plates and juice, and took it into the bedroom. Halo was still sleeping peacefully in the center of my bed with one of her legs tossed out from underneath the covers. Her arm was draped over her face and her lips were slightly parted. It looked to be the best sleep she’d gotten in a while. I hated to bother her, but I knew there were a lot of things we needed to do for the day.
“Bae?” I called out to her, and she squirmed in the bed, repositioning herself. “I got you some food. Gone get up so you can eat.”
She stretched out in bed and moaned so softly it made my dick throb. I was still tripping off the fact that I’d made her my girl and didn’t even know what the pussy felt like.
Her eyes peeled open, and she slowly sat up in bed. I’d never seen my shirt look that good. Halo was the first female to ever wear my clothes. “You went to Cracker Barrel?” she asked, eyeing the bag in my hand.
“No. I ordered it.” Placing the bag on the nightstand, I grabbed her plate and handed it to her. She popped it open and removed her fork from the plastic.
“It smells good. I haven’t had any in years.”
It was brought to my attention that Halo hadn’t done a lot of things. It was time that she stopped trying to survive and live life.
I sat down on the opposite side of the bed and opened my food. “There’s a couple things I want to do today after you’re done eating.”
“Okay.”
We silently ate our food. Once we were done, she got up from the bed and tossed her trash. When she came back into the room, she grabbed her duffel off the floor and removed some clothes from it. I watched her as she went into the bathroom and placed her toothbrush down on the sink. She shut the door behind her, and not long after, I heard the water running. I sat there, fighting the urge to get up and hop in the shower with her. It was already a lot going on for her. The last thing I wanted to do was make her feel like all I wanted was sex.
Getting up from bed, I went and tossed my trash. While I was in the kitchen, I called and checked in on Dough. After he got shot that night at the warehouse, I thought I was gon’ lose him, but he pulled through. He was at the house chilling, and it was killing his ass to be out of commission.
“Yeah?” he answered.
I leaned into the kitchen counter and replied, “I was just checking in on yo’ ass. I’m still working on trying to find out who the shooter was and who sent their asses.”
“I got word out on the street as well.”
“You need to be resting.”
“I’ll rest when I’m dead.”
“Shit, you almost were if you didn’t make it to the hospital in time. I got this. I’m gon’ handle this shit. Take time for yourself right now. I’ll hit you if I need you,” I told him and disconnected the call.
I went back into the bedroom and Halo was still in the bathroom. The door pulled open and she stepped out with steam emerging behind her. I’on know why I didn’t know she was one of those women that took scorching hot showers that burned the skin off you. She was wrapped in a towel with the water glistening on her skin. She went over to her duffel and bent down, pulling out a pair of panties and a bra.
“You’re really making it hard for me to keep my hands to myself right now,” I made known and licked my lips. Her eyes poured into mine. My feet gravitated in her direction. No words formed from her lips. Hooking her chin, I lifted her face and buried her lips with mine. I never yearned this much for another person in my life.
My hand gripped her by the back of the neck and pressed her body firmly against mine. She moaned as my tongue danced with hers. My dick stood at full attention. I needed to feel her insides.
“Ma?” Brave called out her name, and she instantly pulled away from me. I looked back and he hadn’t even reached the bedroom yet. She stepped back into the bathroom, and he poked his head into the door. “Aunt Kris says that she’s been trying to call you. She called my iPad.”
“My phone is on the nightstand over there. I’m putting on some clothes. I’ll be out in a minute.”
“I’ll tell her,” he said and disappeared from the door.
Scrubbing my hand down my face, I adjusted my dick in my briefs. Halo came out the bathroom fully dressed and went over and grabbed her phone. I sat on the edge of the bed, waiting for her to put her shoes on so we could leave.
“Yeah, Kris?” she said when she placed the phone to her ear. “Oh, we’re okay. We stayed over with Joker last night.” Her eyes drifted to me, and then she reached down and grabbed her sneakers off the floor. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she slipped ’em on and tied the laces. “I’m sure I’ll figure something out. We’re about to go somewhere with Joker right now. I’ll call you back later.” She lifted from the bed and said, “I love you too,” and then removed the phone away from her ear. “I’m ready,” was the next thing that left her lips.
I got up from the bed and exited the bedroom with her behind me. She stopped by the room where Brave was and said, “Come on.” He was out the bedroom within seconds.
We all climbed onto the elevator and took it to the first floor. Getting off, we exited the building. Mason was standing outside talking to a younger chick who lived in the building. His eyes landed on me, and he gripped my keys off the hook. “I’ll be right back,” he told her and zoomed around the building.
A few moments later, my truck rolled in front of us. I opened the door for Halo, and she climbed into the passenger seat with Brave directly behind her. Soon as I shut the door, I turned and bumped right into Mason. “That one right there is the one,” he said with a grin. Gripping him by the back of the head, I shoved him back toward the valet podium.
“Keep ya eyes to ya self,” I warned with a light grin.
Opening the driver’s door, I hopped inside and pulled away from the curb. It didn’t take us long to make it to Taylor Road. I pulled into the neighborhood and stopped at the address that Bria had given me.
Halo looked up at the townhome in front of us but didn’t utter a word. It had a nice front yard. I could only imagine what the back looked like.
Getting out the truck, I opened the passenger door for her and she got out. “Come on, Brave,” I told him before shutting her door behind her.
He got out and I led ’em up to the front door. Putting in the code Bria gave me, the lockbox popped open, and I used the key to unlock the door.
“Just how many places do you have?” Halo teased me. Pushing the door in, I gestured for them to step in first and then entered behind them. “Why is it empty?” Halo turned to me and asked.
“It’s not my place.”
“Then what are we doing here?” Her brow arched.
“Y’all need a new place to stay.”
“Joker, I can’t afford this. I was barely making it at the other apartment.”
“Halo, I’m not asking you to pay for anything. I bought it. It’s yours. There’s no rent. You don’t have to worry ’bout a bill. They are all set up as autopay on my account.”
“Joker…” Tears formed in her eyes as she searched mine.
“Y’all deserve this shit.”
“This ours?” Brave asked from behind us.
Halo continued to stare at me, and I nodded. “Yes, baby. This is ours,” she replied.
“Gone check out your bedroom,” I told him, and he ran upstairs.
“I don’t know how I’m going to ever repay you.”
“Just continue being you. That’s all I can ever ask for.”
She gazed at me and licked her lips like a dog in heat. “Ma, the room is big!” Brave shouted from upstairs.
“That’s great, baby,” she replied, eyes never leaving mine.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the black card that I added to my account and made her an authorized user on and then handed it to her. “Order y’all some furniture. I’ll take y’all back over to the other apartment so that you can grab whatever you need. We can just trash the rest.”
“Thank you so much, Joker. You just don’t know how much this means to me.” Tears streamed down her cheeks, dripping off her chin. I stroked ’em away with my thumbs. “I’ve been wanting to get us out that situation for so long. I just couldn’t afford to.”
“Now you ain’t got shit to worry ’bout. I’on even want you to worry ’bout working right now. Your main focus should be getting your GED. Everything else, I’ll take care of it.” Gripping me by the collar of my shirt, she pulled my face down to hers and shoved her tongue into my mouth. “Gon’ check out ya shit,” I told her when we peeled away.
I stood there in the foyer as she ran upstairs like a lil kid. “These rooms are huge!” she yelled from the top. It was a three-bedroom, three-and-a-half bath townhome. That’s more than enough room for her and Brave.
She came back downstairs and went into the kitchen that was at the back. There were glass sliding doors that led out into the fenced-in backyard. I stepped behind her, wrapping my arms around her neck, and asked, “How do you like it? Did I do a good job?”
“I love it! Thank you so much. Coming from where we’re coming from, I would’ve been happy with anything.”
“As long as you love it, that’s all that really matters.”
My phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out and when I saw who was calling, I peeled away from her and stepped back into the house. Swiping the phone, I placed it to my ear and said, “Yeah?”
“It’s ready,” she said into the phone.
“Great. I’m on my way.”
Ending the call, I went back outside, finding Halo strolling the backyard. When she noticed me, she bounced over to where I stood. “I haven’t had a backyard since I was staying with Ma.”
“I got something else to show you,” I told her and gripped her by the hand. We entered the house, and I called out, “Brave, let’s go!” Seconds later, he jogged downstairs, and we exited the house. I locked up and handed Halo the keys. We got back into the truck, and I backed out the driveway.
I drove to Eastern Boulevard and hopped onto the service road. The Mercedes dealership came into view, and I slowed up and then pulled into the parking lot. Halo’s head quickly whipped in my direction.
“Joker…”
Maggie, the agent that I’ve been working with, was standing outside in front of a black Mercedes Benz GLE AMG with a huge pink bow on top of it. Stopping the truck, I climbed out and opened the door for her.
“Joker…” was the only thing able to escape her lips. “Joker…” She turned to me and buried her face into my shirt. This was the first time I’d ever heard her do the ugly cry. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you,” she said into my shirt.
Gripping her chin, I tilted her head back and kissed away every single tear I saw on her face. I wanted her to know that my heart belonged to her. I needed her to know that I saw no one but her. My eyes searched hers.
“I’m the one that should be saying that. You’re more than worthy of deserving me. Now go check out yo’ new car.”
“We got a car too?” Brave asked, interrupting the moment.
I released Halo and replied, “Yeah. I moved y’all away from yo’ school. You need a way to get around.”
“Woooow,” he said and ran toward the car. Halo took one final look at me and went over there behind him.
“You want to take a picture?” Maggie asked them.
“Can we, Mom?” Brave looked over at Halo, and she nodded. She handed Maggie her phone and stepped in front of the car with her hands up in the air. My phone vibrated in my pocket. Slipping it out, I swiped the screen and placed it to my ear.
“I got a hit on one of those shooters.”