11. Fiya
Fiya
2 ⒈／⒉ Months Later
“ T hank you for your order.” I handed the customer the Kai’s Kandles magenta and gray bags.
“Thank you, Kaifiya.”
“You’re welcome. And your receipts are in the bag.”
I moved from behind the counter and went to straighten some of the products on my shelves as my customer left. I hummed happily as I prepared for closing.
I looked forward to spending time with Smoke this evening. It was busy today, and I didn’t have time to eat lunch. I knew that Tamara was right and that I should hire some help, but I still hadn’t gotten around to it yet.
As much as I wanted to close early today, I couldn’t afford to do that. I still struggled to repay Terry, and I only had three and a half months remaining to pay him. I had only been able to repay him forty-five grand thus far, and most of that had come from my savings. There was no way that I would be able to repay him the balance by the deadline.
I heard the bell tinkle over the door. I looked up, and my heart plummeted to my belly. It was as if I had conjured his ass up.
“Terry,” I greeted in the most cordial tone that I could find.
He pulled a tape measure from his pocket and measured the front counter.
“What are you doing?” I demanded.
The doorbell tinkled again, and a curvy chick walked into the shop. I remembered her from his office. Devorah Jenkins, his receptionist. Before he could answer me or before I could say anything else, she teetered over to him on tiny heels.
“Terry, baby. I don’t know if this one will suffice.”
Baby? Oh, how quickly I was replaced by someone who had been underneath him all along. I knew his ass hadn’t been heartbroken over me. Not that I gave a shit about him moving on because I’d spent the last couple of months getting to know Smoke better.
But Terry had made life hell for me. Every Friday, he had these big, burly men showing up at my door, demanding payments.
It was embarrassing when customers were here, and it tormented the hell out of me. I hadn’t told anyone about it because I was afraid that it might get back to Smoke. In the last few months since we had been seeing each other, I realized that he wasn’t a joke, and I didn’t want or need drama at my place of business.
“Excuse me. What’s going on here?” I demanded.
“I think this is the perfect space for your bookstore. The space next door is up for lease, and I was thinking that I should be able to negotiate a sweet deal on that space. Knocking the wall out between the two spaces will give you the coffee shop you want to add on.”
“Terry…” I warned.
“Kaifiya, I think you remember Devorah. She’s my fiancée. We’re looking for a place for her bookstore. It’s going to be a great success.”
“My, how easily we get over heartbreak,” I replied snidely.
“Oh, he was never heartbroken, sweetheart. You were a means to an end. But my man has found other ways to get to where he needs to be,” Devorah stated as she looped her arm through Terry’s.
“So, you were fucking her all along while you were trying to convince me to have sex with you?” I asked.
“You and I were just a business deal, sweetheart,” Terry stated, mocking me with the words I had spoken a little over two months ago. “Nothing less and nothing more. After all, don’t you think that I should have gotten something out of the deal? I dropped a quarter of a million on you, and I haven’t seen a return on my investment.”
“You should have thought about that before you agreed to do it. You were trying to manipulate me, and it didn’t work out for you too well.”
“Oh, it will work out. If you don’t repay my money, then you’ll have problems on your hands.”
“Is that a threat?” I asked.
“I don’t make threats, only promises,” Terry stated as he removed Devorah’s arm from his and walked toward me with a menacing scowl. “I didn’t come here to argue with you, Kaifiya. We’re looking for a space for her new bookstore and coffee shop. And I think this is the perfect location.”
Rage burned in my veins, and I crossed my arms over my chest to stop from punching the shit out of him and yanking her by her nappy weave.
“Why the hell are you in here, Terry? I’ve been repaying you your money.”
“You’ve repaid me forty-five grand. Now, I was nice enough to overlook the interest on the payments. But let’s be honest. There’s no way that you’ll be able to repay me two hundred and five thousand dollars within three and a half months.”
“You have no idea what I have planned, Terry. And until those three and a half months are up, I don’t want you to step another foot in my damn shop! And you can tell your goons to stay away too!”
“Don’t you mean his shop? Honey, I thought the papers said—”
“They do, Devorah,” he replied and patted her on the ass before he kissed her lips when she tipped up on her toes to kiss him.
They were tap dancing on my last nerves, and I swear, I was so close to beating the brakes off that nigga and bitch.
“Like I said, I have three and a half months. You’re gonna stop harassing me, Terry.”
“See what I meant, dear? The language,” Terry stated and clucked his tongue. “What are you going to do? Get your little boyfriend on me?” He laughed and shook his head. “You may have three and a half months, Kaifiya, but I know that you haven’t had that much of an upturn in business since I left you.”
“You left me?”
Terry pulled away from Devorah and stepped close to me. He placed his hands on my shoulders and whispered, “You weren’t the woman for me, Kaifiya. But maybe that was a mistake. So, when the Smoke clears, and the dust of your little infatuation with him settles, pun intended, because he will clear out when he grows bored, call me. I might let you in my bed, or maybe you can negotiate your balance down if you can suck my dick really good,” he stated before he pulled back with a wink.
“Nigga, get your ass out of my shop!” I ran behind the counter and grabbed my gun.
Devorah shrieked loudly and threw her arms in the air when Terry jumped behind her. This nigga literally ducked behind her and then peered out at me. Did he honestly think that if I shot her, he would be saved?
“Nigga, you have five seconds to get out of my shop, or I’m going to blow that bitch’s tacky weave off her head and then bust a cap in that country-ass suit you’re wearing!” I threatened.
Devorah shrieked again this time, but she ran her ass out of my shop on those teeny-weeny heels. Terry was right behind her. I ran after them and immediately locked the doors. The way that I felt this evening, I had no patience to work with any more customers.
I headed back to my office and broke down crying. I dropped onto the couch and curled into a little ball as I cried my eyes out. I had worked so hard to build my business. It had been doing well until my cousin was killed. I had taken time off to grieve because I struggled to get out of bed and operate like business was normal.
It had taken me almost three months to get my ass up and back to business again. Then, last year, I fell back into that same depression around Demetrick’s birthday, which was five weeks before his murder. I had stayed away from my business for two months at that time, but I had gone into the shop and opened it intermittently.
I knew that it wasn’t a smart business model, but I struggled with depression. I hadn’t told anyone that I had been going through it either, not Christina or Tamara. When I battled the first round of depression after he was murdered, I lost my apartment. Noel had been kind enough to let me move in with him.
When I went through the second battle, he hadn’t been privy to all that I was going through. He had been on multiple business trips, and when he was at home, those were the times that I dragged myself out of bed and into the shop.
Tamara assumed that I had been frivolous and partying my time away. Nothing could have been further from the truth. But I couldn’t tell her that. In fact, I hadn’t spoken to anyone about that except for Smoke, and I hadn’t told him the entire story.
I sat up on the couch and wiped my eyes. I needed to go home and eat because my head was already killing me. I was going to skip going to Smoke’s house tonight. My phone buzzed, and I glanced at it and saw Smoke’s name.
“Hey,” I answered.
I sniffled and reached for tissues to wipe my face and nose.
“Where are you?”
His voice was serious, and it alarmed me.
“I’m at my shop. Why?”
“I’m at the front door. Your shop is closed, and you’re not answering the door. What’s wrong? It sounds like you’ve been crying.”
“I’m fine,” I lied as I rushed into my tiny bathroom to splash water on my face. “I was using the bathroom. Can you give me a minute?”
“One minute, Fiya. I’m not playing.”
“Okay, bye.”
I ended the call, splashed water on my face, and then dried it.
“That was three minutes,” Smoke stated when I pulled the door open for him. “And your eyes are red and puffy.”
He held two white plastic bags in his hands.
“What’s that?” I asked to change the subject.
“Dinner. I drove by here a few times today, and I saw that you were extremely busy. I never got a chance to stop and bring you something to eat, but I suspected even if I had, you wouldn’t have had time to eat it. Instead of risking that you might cancel on me, I decided to meet you here.”
I stared at him in disbelief. “Why do you always seem to be there just when I need you? I swear it’s like you’re a mind reader, or I conjure you up.”
“I just trust the way my spirit guides me.” Smoke brushed my hair from my face and brushed his lips against mine.
“You really need to hire some help, Fiya.”
“I know, but thanks for thinking of me.”
I locked the door behind him and then led him back to my office.
“What the fuck have you been crying for?” he asked after we sat down on the couch.
“Nothing,” I stated.
He reached forward and turned my face to him. “Tell me the truth. You’d better not lie to me again.”
I sighed and stated, “I received a visit from Terry today.”
I pulled the bag open and checked out the West African food inside.
“It smells delicious.”
I took my first bite before I noticed that he was staring at me and hadn’t spoken a word since I mentioned Terry.
“You just gon’ drop that shit like that and not say nothing?”
“It wasn’t that serious.”
“It had your ass in here crying. Now either tell me, or I go out and find out myself.”
I set my food aside and told him the entire story. When I finished, I demanded, “Don’t you dare go looking for him. I can fight my battles.”
“Aye, you earned them damn shoes back. If I can’t put a bullet in his ass, at least let me repay the man for you. You can always repay me, and I promise that my terms and conditions will be a lot more favorable to you and pleasing,” he stated with a wink before he kissed me.
“Mm. As sweet and enticing as your offer is, I think I’ll have to pass, Mr. Socco.”
“So what are you going to do?”
I shrugged and replied, “Pray. Stand in faith and keep working.”
He winked at me and stated, “It’ll all be okay, beautiful. Keep your head up. God will send his soldiers to fight your battles on your behalf.”
“I know. Thanks, Smoke.”
He always made me feel so much better.