Chapter 20
“Ihope this shit is good, if it’s not, act like it is,” Nyla said as she placed the meal she prepared for Sunday dinner on the table in front of Chello and Jada.
“If this shit nasty, we going to Kisha’s Kitchen or Doll’s Kitchen because we ain’t eating shit from this kitchen.”
“I’m with you when you right, baby,” Jada chimed in, immediately catching her choice of words along with Chello and a smiling Nyla.
“Fuck both of y’all, ok.” She walked out the dining room and back to the kitchen, leaving the two alone.
Chello couldn’t keep his eyes off her and she tried to look away but couldn’t.
“What, Chello?”
The room felt smaller without Nyla and Jada felt the pressure of Chello. She sat back like she was deciding whether to stay in her skin or jump out. He always made her feel all weird inside and little did she know, she did the same for him.
“Nothing, just thinking.”
“That’s a dangerous pastime for you.” She giggled a little.
“I did what you asked me to do.”
“Huh?” she asked, utterly confused because she hadn’t asked him to do anything.
“You asked me to get rid of my hoes, I did that.”
She smiled and shook her head, “Yeah ok, that ain’t no easy task.”
“For me it is.”
He pulled his personal phone from his pocket and slid it across the table, “Check it,” he said.
Jada looked at the phone then up at him before shaking her head, “I don’t need to, your word is enough. So, what now?”
“You trust me that much?”
“I shouldn’t?” she shot back quickly, challenging him with her eyes.
That stopped him for a second, he studied her like he was trying to figure out why she trusted him. Jada smiled and sipped her wine, he leaned back and exhaled.
“I cut off everything I had going on, not for you, for me, to be better for you.”
She blinked, “What?”
“All of it, dead.”
“Why?”
Chello looked at her like the answer should’ve been obvious, but she needed to hear it, he didn’t mind saying it.
“Because I want you.”
His words fell on her like a two-ton brick, Chello was the only man she ever wanted, since a teen. She had no voice, all she could do was slide the phone back to him. For a nigga like Chello, belief without proof wasn’t normal.
“I’m a handful, Chello,” she finally spoke with a smile.
“That’s why I got two hands, Baby.”
Jada went quiet for a minute before leaning forward, motioning him with her index finger, he eagerly leaned in.
“I’m not scared of you, Chello.”
That straightforwardness made his expression harden and his dick, too.
He didn’t know what it was about her, but he wanted her, bad.
They went from hi and bye to talking all day long over calls and text.
She was molding him and didn’t even know it, Chello had never done anything for a bitch, but he wanted to do everything for Jada.
He was mad at himself for sleeping on her as long as he did, but God’s timing, his mother taught him that years ago.
Before he could respond Nyla walked back in and took her seat. She looked at them and started pointing and smiling.
“Y’all kissed again? Didn’t y’all? Fuck, I missed it!”
The three laughed and enjoyed the meal Nyla prepared. Somehow, the three ended up outside, Nyla in the back, Jada riding shotgun with her boo, the whole night was a vibe. Chello’s phone started going off, fuckin’ the music up, he frowned when Tyzir called back-to-back.
“Yo,” he answered with the phone to his ear as Jada stared but stayed silent.
“Fuck! I’m on my way!” Chello ended the call and turned his car around in the middle of Independence.
“What the fuck happened?” Nyla yelled, Jada sat still, while Chello drove like a bat outta hell.
Chello didn’t answer, he just drove, fast as fuck.
“Chello!” Nyla yelled.
“We got hit!”
He didn’t have time to drop them off, he had to get to his spot. Jada didn’t have a single ounce of worry on her face, Chello made sure to look over at her. He pulled up the block doing a hundred, niggas were everywhere, but he was looking for Tyzir.
“Y’all stay right here,” he hopped out.
Chello jogged up the steps, the door was off the hinges. Tyzir stood in the back room, it was empty, money and product gone. Chello walked through slowly, his eyes traced the house for details most people would miss.
“This wasn’t a robbery,” he finally spoke.
“Then what the fuck was it?” Tyzir asked.
Chello stopped near the wall where a camera should’ve been, but he didn’t believe in incriminating himself.
“A message.”
“From who?”
Chello took a minute to speak because in his mind, the list was already narrowing.
“Nobody in the city is stupid enough to hit us.”
Before Tyzir could reply, Chello’s phone and Tyzir’s phone rang at the same damn time.
The second location a few blocks away, hit.
Same pattern, timing, and everything, Tyzir looked at Chello like they had a real problem, and they did.
If it was internal, he would’ve seen it; if it was local, he would’ve felt that shit, but that shit, it was coordinated.
“You think it was Londa? I don’t trust that bitch,” Tyzir looked at him.
“No. This ain’t Chicago work.”
“And that bitch ain’t from Chicago. Open your eyes, bro.”
Chello’s finger was pointing at Harlem, it was the only thing that made sense to him.
He could’ve been wrong, but that was the only thing that made sense to him in that moment.
The wheels in his head were spinning. The only nigga that came to mind was Kyst, and as soon as Nyla and Jada walked inside, it showed on his face.
He was pissed the fuck off, kilos gone, thousands of dollars gone from both spots, and there was nothing they could do about.
“Everything ok?” Nyla asked, standing near the door.
“I told y’all to stay in the car.”
“I know but we was worried, what happened?”
Chello was trying to keep his cool, but he couldn’t.
“Yo nigga robbed me!” he snapped as Nyla frowned her face.
“Kyst isn’t even in Chicago, Chello. He flew back to Harlem yesterday.”
Tyzir shook his head. Chello didn’t know who the fuck to blame, all he knew was that somebody had signed their own death certificate, and he was going to find out who.
He always did, shit always fell in his lap.
He wasn’t tripping off the loss, it was the principle behind it.
He could get all that shit back, but it was something about someone feeling comfortable enough to try him that didn’t sit well with him.
“I told you, you thinking too far outside the box when shit is happening right under your nose.” Tyzir backed Nyla.
“Kyst isn’t your enemy for real, Brother, he has his own motion and this ain’t his style.”
He was listening to both Nyla and Tyzir, but he just didn’t believe Londa could pull off such a big hit, twice. Now he had to get her in a personal space to read her, but she hadn’t been fucking with him since Jada got on her ass. Chello was a charming ass nigga though and he knew how to get her.