Chapter 8 #2
A low growl rocked my throat. Tenderly, I slipped Kannon’s hands from my shoulders and spun her around so her back was to me.
I got comfortable, placing one arm around her waist and the other around her neck as we swayed to the music.
Anyone watching us could see Kannon had me open.
They could also tell I wasn’t hiding that fact.
From Eric to YG, the artists had the party turnt for hours.
Kannon was on Cloud 9 the whole time, having a ball and enjoying herself with no reservations.
She put on a show and twerked so good I showered her with cash like she was employed for the night.
A few times, I caught Levi’s dad hating from the sidelines.
His displeasure made the time more enjoyable since he had counted me out for years.
“Damn, Nep. We didn’t think you were coming back,” Pluto commented when I returned to his section. “Nigga. I’m the birthday, but you the wedding.”
Echo wrapped his arm around my shoulder. “Don’t deny it. We already know you’re coming to say you’re leaving with Kannon.”
A guilty countenance spread across my face, though I didn’t admit a damn thing. I dug in my pocket and tossed each twin a bankroll, then dapped them up.
“Happy Birthday, niggas!”
Echo pounded my fist while Pluto questioned how much I gave him. I went in about how he was ungrateful for the twenty bands, but chaos in the corner of the room snatched my focus.
“Nep. Isn’t that Kannon and her home girls fighting?”
The combination of words sent me to the other side of the building without peeping the scene.
Security attempted to snatch Kannon away from a bitch two times her size, but the firecracker used a move I taught her to drop the guard.
She moved to where her friends were teaming up on another duo, but more guards intervened and carried the ladies out the backdoor.
As soon as I got outside, I pushed everybody back until I found Kannon hyped up in a circle with her girls.
“Do not come over here talking shit, Tune. That bitch hit Nola first, then her friend pulled out a razor,” she explained, pointing to the light skinned girl near her side.
“Does it look like I care about some dick and pussy drama that doesn’t concern me? You put a guard down for doing his job. Who do you think is going to pay him a settlement to keep shit below the surface? I asked you to behave when you got here.”
She bucked up at me, causing the scent of liquor to attack my nose. “I’m not a fucking dog. You expect for me to chill when a bitch disrespected my friend?”
“I expected you to remember your man is connected to illegal shit. Drama like this muddies the casino’s reputation. With a snap of a finger, you could’ve had the bitch put out.”
Amid our argument, I heard someone laugh. My eyes swept the alley until they landed on Levi’s nosy ass. My dad and uncles had stepped outside too.
“Who is driving?” I asked Kannon.
She pouted and pointed to her cousin.
“Coo’. Take your drunk ass home until I get there.”
I waited for Kannon and her folks to speed out of the parking lot before I walked to the exit. However, Levi’s smart remarks stalled my self-control.
“What the fuck did you say, Levi?” I pressed him.
“I didn’t stutter. You swear you’re a big dog, but you’re bringing people around who could make the casino hot.”
“Listen, you don’t have room to talk. You need to take your drunk ass home too, unless you want me to drop all of your dirt in this alley.”
He attempted to size me up, but he tripped over his own feet. Between the alcohol and whatever pill he popped, my cousin could barely hold himself up.
“Levi, I’m trying to stall you out. You’ve been in and out of the country for months, and I know why, clown! Unless you want to have this conversation now, move the fuck around.”
He jumped in my face. “What the fuck you gon’ do if I don’t, bitch ass—”
The disrespect, combined with the sensation of his sloppy speech on my cheek, sent me into a spiral. As quick as a flinch, I punched Levi in his face so hard, I could feel his jaw break.
“Fuck that!” Levi’s dad, Lester Sinner, shouted from the sideline. “Give my boy a fair one, especially when you’re doing this over a bitch.”
“My bitch!” I corrected him. “Make that part clear when you tell the story, and be sure to add Levi got dropped for being a sneaky bitch, not for speaking like one.”
Done for the night, I pulled out my phone to see where Kannon was, but it started ringing.
“Yo!” I yelled into the speaker.
“Neptune?”
“Nigga, you know who you called. What do you need, Perkins?”
“One of my guys called to warn me that three ladies were just picked up on Peach Street. One of them dropped your name. She said she’s your girl.”
My blood boiled, thinking about the way my night continued to get worse by the second. First, a group of men I admired made me question their word. Then I had to lay hands on my cousin. A call from the cops five minutes after Kannon left my sight should have been expected.
“Fuck!” I yelled. “Why the hell would you let that happen to someone who belongs to me?”
“I wasn’t on the scene. Lakes called me and said his partner made the call to dispatch before he could stop him.”
“Where is she now?”
“In route to the station.”
I signaled for Pluto and Echo to follow me as I powerwalked to the parking lot. I didn’t want to drag my cousins into bullshit on their birthday, but once I dropped Levi, I knew the party was a wrap.
“Perkins, call the officer who arrested her, and tell him to take her back to where he picked her up from. When you get the location, send me the drop.”
By the time I reached my truck, my cousins were pulling the passenger and back door open. Perkins didn’t take long to send me the location, and since it was nearby, I sped down the backstreets to avoid traffic.
“What you on, Nep? Where are we going?” Echo asked from the passenger seat.
“To pick up Kannon’s drunk ass. She got pulled over, and Perkins called to lace me before some rookie took her to the police station.” I snatched a half-smoked blunt from my middle console. “I’m going to break her fucking neck. All this wild shit is giving me a headache!”
Pluto’s drunken laugh reached the front of the truck. “Stop frontin’! You love it. Chrissy’s phony ass was around for a year, and you never ran to her rescue.”
“That’s not true.”
“All right, well, you were never kissing on her in the club. I don’t even remember y’all partying together.”
“So what?”
“Calm down with your mad ass. I’m not saying it’s a problem. I go hard for my bitch, so I get it. I also don’t deny that I love my bitch.”
Though Pluto’s observation was spot on, I grimaced at someone calling me out.
I kept the details of my relationship with Chrissy to myself, but my cousins were around enough to see I was more protective of Kannon than I had ever been over any woman.
It could’ve been because she needed to be protected, or maybe I needed someone to look after.
Either way, I felt like Kannon’s safety was my responsibility.
The sight of police lights let me know we’d arrived at our destination. Three officers stood on the curb of the residential street, but I didn’t see Kannon. I left my truck in the middle of the block, then hopped out and marched over to Perkins so fast my calves burned.
“Take her out the fucking car!”
Perkin’s pale skin turned a rosy red. “Neptune, I understand you’re—”
“You don’t understand the right thing, or my lady wouldn’t be in handcuffs.” My fingertips ran across the butt of the gun in my holster. “Who arrested her in the first place?”
I canvassed the area and stopped on the person I had never seen before. All it took was for me to invade the short man’s personal space for him to shake.
“Mr. Sinner, I didn’t know Ms. Blackstone had ties to you until my partner said something. It wasn’t my intention to step on your toes.”
“Where are her car keys?” I asked.
He lifted his hand to show the keyring hanging from his pinky.
I snatched the metal so hard I knew I dislocated his finger.
I didn’t have the chance to check his partner before I smelled Kannon’s perfume mix in the wind.
The scowl on her face confirmed she didn’t believe she had done anything wrong.
“Fix your face, and go to your truck,” I declared, only a few steps away from her.
“No! These idiots threatened to impound my car!”
“Why are you testing me? Do what the fuck I said.”
The woman I knew as Yari walked over and hugged Kannon. “Call me when you get where you’re going.”
“Nah, her ass is on punishment. She’ll text you,” I replied before the reckless woman had the chance.
Kannon’s bottom lip sank to her chest as she stomped over to where Echo held her passenger door open for her. I handed him my key fob, then pointed to Kannon’s crew.
“Make sure they get home safely. I’ll pick my truck up from you in the morning.”
“Bet. Come on, Thing 1 and Thing 2!” Echo yelled, instigating a playful banter between himself and the ladies.
The tension in Kannon’s truck was thick. I waited a few minutes before I pulled off. All the things that could’ve happened to her made my head spin, and her lack of accountability furthered my silence.
“Why are you so mad, Neptune? They pulled me over for no damn reason.”
“There was a reason! You were drinking and speeding. You weren’t even supposed to be driving.”
“If you wanted to make sure I was straight, you should’ve taken me home,” she declared. “Where are you taking me? I don’t feel like lying up in your honeycomb hideout.”
“I’m going to take your ass home if you don’t chill,” I argued. “If you didn’t want me in your mix, you shouldn’t have dropped my name. Yo’ ass must be really drunk saying my name to the police.”