Chapter 5 Xyleek
Chapter Five
Xyleek
Banging against the navy-blue door, I took a small step back and impatiently waited for someone to open up.
It was nearly three in the morning, and I was running off fumes and zero patience.
Blow was able to get me a name and an address from the only tag that passed by the street where Drek’s shop was.
Once I had that, I wasted no time in dropping her off at my crib and bringing my black ass right on over.
The house wasn’t in an area where I expected someone to live that had just committed a deadly crime.
I say deadly because that’s exactly how they were gon’ end up for fuckin’ with what was mine.
Nonetheless, the house was almost picturesque with its perfectly manicured lawn, nice cars in the driveway, and wind chimes blowing in the summer breeze.
It definitely wasn’t the type of place for a nigga like me to be showing up, but there I was anyway.
The porch light turned on before the door cracked and a small statured white woman came into view.
Her ginger-colored hair was pulled back into a neat bun, and she was wearing black scrubs with a medical badge clipped on the neckline.
She looked scared, and she should’ve been.
It always boggled my fuckin’ mind that white people just answered the door without asking who it was first. Especially at this time of morning.
“H-hi, can I help you?” She eased her body out of the door a little more.
Giving her the once over, I could tell she wasn’t one of the ones from the video. The people in the video were much thicker and shorty in front of me was thin like a piece of paper.
“Yeah, hopefully you can,” I put Sleep up and tagged in businessman Xy. There was no need to scare snowflake more than she already was. “My wife’s shop was broken into tonight and completely vandalized. When the tapes were pulled, we were able to get a tag number, and it came back to this address.”
Her eyes went wide like I had a gun pointed at her or something. “W-w-what?” She leaned out a little further and glanced at the driveway before looking at me. “What car?”
Pulling up the video and stills that Blow sent me, I showed them to Miss Frizzle. She scratched her scalp, tilting her head slightly as I swiped through the evidence.
“That looks like Mr. Hubert’s old Camry, but he hasn’t had that car for at least two years now,” she gestured to the driveway. “As you can tell, he’s a bit of a car collector, and when he’s done with one, he’ll just give it away.”
I stared at her, trying to figure out if I believed her or not. “He gives them away?”
“Yes. If he’s driving and sees a struggling mother or something like that, he will ask their story, and then just give them the car.
He does it with his money, too. That’s how his family figured out that he has dementia,” she finished softly, her bright green eyes meeting mine.
“He’s selfless to a fault and will help anyone.
That’s why I’m here, to keep an eye on him.
He’s not allowed out unless I’m with him,” she offered more information than I needed.
“He’s given away at least six or seven cars. ”
Dragging my hand down my face, I couldn’t believe this shit. “Basically…what you’re telling me is that anybody could have that car right now?”
“Y-yes. His wife used to keep track of it, but then she passed and I’m not sure where the family moved her stuff to or if they even kept it at all.”
“Fuck!” I gritted my teeth, realizing I was at a dead end.
“I can ask his daughters in the morning if they have any ideas,” she quickly extended with slightly wide eyes.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” I told her once I picked up on the fear that was running out of her pores. “But yeah, do that,” pocketing my phone, I took my wallet out next and handed her my business card. “Make sure you call me, not the police.”
“Okay,” she nodded feverishly.
“If you can help me solve this crime, there’ll be a big pay day for you.”
Incentives normally lit fires under people’s asses but monetary incentives?
Now that made even the biggest nigga light on his feet.
Especially if the digits were right, and my money was always right.
She nodded again with a spark in her eye that said she needed that money, so I hoped she transformed into Velma and solved the mystery like Scooby Doo.
Getting back into my car, I shot Blow a text to let him know what I’d found out.
Before I pulled off, my gut was telling me to check Drek’s location, so I did.
Why was her air head ass on the move? When I called her phone and got her voicemail, I already knew the bullshit she was on.
Instead of going to my house, I headed to hers because I knew that’s exactly where she was going.
Arriving just ten minutes later, I killed my engine and checked her location again to see that she was two minutes away.
I took my pre-rolled blunt from the console before getting out.
Putting a flame to the end of the blunt, I leaned against the back of my car and waited for her to pull-up.
Exactly two minutes later, her headlights were blinding me, and she slammed on her brakes because I knew she wasn’t expecting me to be there.
“Dreka,” I walked up to the driver’s side. “Get out of the car.”
She rolled the window down a hair. “How did you know I was here?”
“You think I’m dumb? I know you by now. You’re blaming me for what happened to your shop, so you don’t wanna be around me but that’s too bad, baby. Park the car and get out.”
Drek had no idea I installed a lil’ software on her phone to keep up with her movements.
After she declined to share her location with me, I had to do what I had to do to keep my angel safe.
Between me and her father, she was heavily protected, whether she liked that shit or not.
Even when she called herself being married, I still had eyes on her.
I didn’t know her husband from a can of paint, so who’s to say he was actually guarding her with his life?
I ain’t trust that nigga with the most precious thing life had to offer me.
With the roll of her eyes, she hopped out, snatched the blunt from me, and switched her thick ass to her front door. Licking my lips and laughing, I shook my head and followed right behind her like a lil’ duckling following its mother.
She tossed her purse on her deep-seated couch then spun around to face me. “Xy, what do you want from me?”
“Your hand in marriage. A baby. But for right now?” I took the blunt back from her. “I’ll settle for this.”
“You’re not getting either, and I dead ass don’t want shit to do with you. My shop? That’s my baby and because of you, somebody destroyed it. Do you not understand the seriousness of that?”
“And you’re my baby, do you not understand the seriousness of that? You’re my angel. I don’t like when you’re upset, and you know that, so tell me what I can do to make this better?” I held her by her waist with one hand while using the other to puff on my blunt.
“Leave me alone. That’s what you can do. I’ve worked too gahdamn hard on myself and my shop to slide backwards because of some bitch’s pussy you sliding in.”
“I’m only sliding in your pussy, Angel. I told you that.”
“Yeah, now! Obviously, somebody is mad about you cutting them off, and I just…Xy, I don’t wanna have to go back to being the old me.”
I kissed her lips softly after seeing the stress and weariness in her eyes. “Ma, on my entire fuckin’ soul, I’m not gon’ have you out here like that again. I’d die before I put you through the same shit. Can I have just a lil’ grace, Angel? Just a lil’ bit?”
“Nigga,” her facial features pulled tight with a mean mug. “Every ounce of grace I had for you, you used that shit up. With all your cheating and lying and bullshit.”
“God had—”
“Ahhhhh, shut the hell up. Don’t do that, Xyleek.
Don’t bring the man upstairs, downstairs into the messes you like to create,” she pulled away from me, rolling her eyes and flopping down on the couch.
“I don’t think I’m ready for this again.
We can keep our arrangement with me getting dick whenever I want it, but that’s it, Xyleek. Being yours is too exhausting.”
“I ain’t giving you shit without a commitment,” I let her know, blowing out smoke and passing her the last of the blunt. “The fuck I look like?”
“You do it with—”
Grabbing her cheeks with one hand, I silenced her.
“I don’t give a fuck about them, that’s why.
Stop comparing yourself to bitches who can’t even stand next to you on your worst day, Rahdreka.
I’m not in the mood to be listening to all this rah rah.
You’re mine, you’re ready for it, end of discussion,” kissing her lips, I released her face from my grip and took a seat next to her.
“Finish that blunt so we can go to sleep. I’m tired as fuck. ”
She laughed and snorted, a combination that I always found so cute. “You not just gon’ tell me what this is between us. End of discussion for who? ‘Cause I ain’t done talkin’ about it.”
“Go ‘head, Drek,” my nostrils flared as I tossed my arms across the back of the couch and kicked my legs open. “What you wanna discuss, baby? Hm? You wanna talk about how you gon’ sell this crib and finally move in with me? You wanna talk about how we gon’ decorate our kids’ rooms?
You wanna talk wedding details? Talk to me, Angel. ”
“You’re delusional as fuck.”
“It’s not delusions, it’s real life, and you gon’ be my real wife. I told you that back when we were kids, and we shook on it so ain’t shit changed,” I lustfully stared at her.
“You always bringing up when we was kids,” she rolled her eyes, leaning forward to grab an ashtray. “We’re not kids anymore, Xyleek, no matter how much your overgrown ass still act like one.”
I sucked my teeth. “I’m a kid now?”
“I said you act like one. Having multiple women is kiddie shit.”
“Bro…” I counted to three in my head even though I could never really get mad at my angel.
“Get all that shit out of yo system tonight. Say it as many times as you need to ‘cause tomorrow, we not talkin’ about it no more. I can never take back the shit I put you through, but if I had a gahdamn genie in a bottle, that’d be the only thing I wished for.
I did not want to hurt you, understand me?
But just because I didn’t want to doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.
I know I hurt you in the worst ways possible, Angel, and I will spend the rest of my days eating and kissing yo ass to make up for it.
On Pop, I will, but I don’t wanna keep hearing about that shit every day, ma.
How we gon’ move forward if we gotta talk about the past every single day? ”
Her lips parted slightly, indicating she was debating on how to respond to me. I could tell she knew I was right, but Drek just wouldn’t be Drek if she didn’t have a smart-ass comeback.
“You can’t cut me and then tell me how to bleed, X. Do you know how crazy you sound? I have to talk about it to get over it.”
“Isn’t that what the fuck Idaho was for? The fuck did you even do out there if you still need to talk about it?” My tone came out more dismissive and irritated than I intended it to.
Biting into her bottom lip, she scoffed and stood up. “Fuck you, Xyleek. See yourself out.”
“Drek,” I called after her as she stormed out of her living room. “Drek!”
Seconds later, I heard a door slam, prompting me to release an aggravated grunt.
Pushing myself up off the couch, I jogged up the staircase and trekked to the end of the hall where her bedroom was.
I turned the knob and surprisingly, it wasn’t locked, so I walked in and heard her talkin’ hella shit to herself.
Just that quick, she came walking out of her closet wearing an over-sized t-shirt and nothing else.
When I saw her face was wet, a piece of my heart broke.
I was tired of making this damn girl cry.
I sucked my teeth and grabbed her up as she tried walking by me. “Comere, ma.”
“No, nigga! Fuck you!” she belted, trying to get away but failing miserably.
“I ain’t mean it like that, Drek. It’s late, and it came out all the way wrong.”
“You always saying shit you don’t mean! How can you sit there and make fun of the one time I had to go fix what you broke!” she screamed, her tears falling even faster.
“I wasn’t making fun of it, and I’m sorry if it sounded like I was.
It’s just…Angel, I’m mad at myself for even pushing you to that point.
And I hate myself for letting it get that far gone with us,” I walked her over to the bed as she cried.
“I’m a flawed ass nigga, so I’m not perfect, but I am trying,” gently, I laid her down and pulled her shirt up to her neck.
“I want to build something real with you, Drek, more than anything in this world and you know that.”
“Then stop fuckin’ talkin’ to me like I’m supposed to be over it because you’re finally ready to get your shit together.”
“You’re right,” I French kissed her clit, causing her back to instantly arch off the bed. “You’re entitled to your feelings, Angel. I don’t wanna drag you through nothing else. I just wanna drag my tongue through this pussy until you go to sleep. Can I do that?”
Pressing on the back of my head, she opened her legs a lil’ wider. “Stop talkin’ and eat.”
With a smirk on my face and a song in my heart, I ate my favorite meal with pure pleasure.