4. Kingsley
KINGSLEY
“’Bout time you got yo’ ass out here to check on things.”
I frowned and turned to see Ace. He’d driven a tractor over to where I was at one of the rice fields here in Nome. I smiled slightly.
“Says the nigga that’s always MIA.”
He chuckled, then walked over and slapped my hand. “You been kickin’ it with Treasure?”
“Yeah. She let me come back around, so I stayed there last night.”
“Damn. That’s what’s up. I’ve been hoping she would come around to see what we all see.”
“And what’s that?” I asked.
“How much you love her. It’s obvious to us, but I know it’s a little harder for her since she’s so guarded.”
I nodded. “You ever get at Lauren?” I asked to take the focus off me.
“Naw. Her bougie ass giving me the run around.”
I chuckled. “I guess she not who you thought she was.”
“Oh, she is definitely who I think she is. She fucking with me. I’m not for games. I was checking out Iesha’s sister though.”
“For real? Which one?”
“The dark skinned one. I can’t remember which name goes to who.”
“I think her name is Taj . . . that’s her nickname.”
“Yeah. Tas’zhane. I want her fine ass. She smile at me every time she at the diner on Fridays.”
“You cool with dating a single mother? I think she have two kids.”
“Yep. Pussy be elite after kids.”
I slowly shook my head. “She gon’ turn yo’ ass out like Aunt Syn did yo’ daddy.”
He fell out laughing. “Shiiiid, she can turn me inside out if the pussy good enough.”
This nigga was a trip, just like Uncle Marcus ass.
I could remember all the grown-up conversations I had no business listening to.
They thought we would be in another room playing, but we were in there listening to their asses.
It was a miracle we all turned out okay for the most part.
We could be rowdy like their asses, but most times, it wasn’t without reason.
“Everybody talking about going out tonight to Pour 09. That was what I came to tell you.”
“Who is everybody?”
“Me, Seven and Iesha, Kane, Royal and Aaliyah, and I think the twins, Maui, and Ashanni are going too, along with their spouses.”
“I’m supposed to be taking Treasure to dinner tonight, but I’ll see if she wants to chill with y’all.”
I said that shit to get him on his way. I didn’t think Treasure would want to go out with all of them. Although she was close to Maui and two of her brothers would be there, I wasn’t sure how she would feel about the environment of Pour 09.
“Naw. Go chill with her. You are really good for her. She may be uncomfortable with that many niggas around. I mean, Pour usually ain’t that crowded during the week, but still. We can hang anytime. We just thought, since Crew died, we needed a reset. PJ is supposed to be there too. We gon’ see.”
I wanted to hang. I really did. Ace being understanding of Treasure’s mental state surprised me.
I supposed he had more sense than I thought.
“Damn. I really wish I could hang, though. I hadn’t really gotten to chop it up with PJ since he’s been back.
Y’all muthafuckas really kept that shit from me. Like, who was I gon’ tell?”
He chuckled. “You actually work for the family by overseeing the rice and grass farms, so I’m not sure why you got left out.”
“Naw. I’m not on payroll from Henderson Ranch and Farms. I do this shit because I want to. Nobody asked me to do it. It just gives me peace, man.”
He frowned hard. “Naw. We gotta change that. I always thought you were an employee. Hell naw. Uncle WJ must not know.”
“Naw. Leave it alone.”
“I will the fuck not. Holla at’chu later, nigga.”
He walked off and hopped on the tractor like it was the flyest pickup invented. When I heard the music blasting from it, I couldn’t help but laugh. This nigga was a whole ass fool. After checking the irrigation system’s output, I pulled my phone from my pocket to text Treasure.
Hey, baby. I miss you already.
Last night and this morning were unbelievable.
Holding Treasure in my arms all night was like a dream come true.
Feeling her body against mine was torturing me though.
My dick had gotten hard during the night, so I had to turn slightly so she wouldn’t feel it.
I was so turned on I could have nutted just from staring at her for too long.
Then, eating breakfast with her and her parents this morning was just as amazing.
It felt like I was a part of their family, especially after the conversation I had with them.
Mr. Legend had asked me about my devotion to Treasure and what made me so hellbent on making sure she overcame this.
I had to enlighten him of just how obsessed and in love I was with her.
He was beyond impressed and by the time I was leaving, he was calling me son. We didn’t know each other as well as he knew some of my cousins because my dad wasn’t as close to him, but he said he knew I was raised right. He admired my dad, as most people did.
When my phone chimed, I pulled it out and saw Treasure had texted me back.
Hey. I miss you too, King.
I loved when she called me King. It made me feel powerful when I often felt weak.
There were times where I felt like I was a weak ass nigga for pining after her all these years when there were women literally throwing themselves at my feet.
Nothing and nobody felt right though. My boys used to tease me, saying I was scared of pussy.
It wasn’t that. I just only wanted Treasure, even back then.
I had only been with a couple of women in my lifetime, not losing my virginity until my senior year in high school.
I didn’t hang around niggas at school, so peer pressure never really got to me.
My cousins and my brother were my best friends.
They joked about me not fucking around, but they never really pressured me to do so.
Sometimes I tutored people in math, and a girl I was tutoring was really trying to fuck me.
It didn’t help that I’d gotten turned on.
My problem was that she was known to fuck around with whoever.
I took all the lessons my dad taught us to heart.
He even told us about Tasha and other women he’d gotten caught up with.
He didn’t leave a stone unturned. He told us how that even sometimes when you were careful, shit happened.
So, I opted not to even go there with her ass.
She told everybody around the school that I was gay.
Luckily, Seven, Kane, Royal, Epic, and a couple of homeboys from the baseball team had my back.
I didn’t bother nobody, and I didn’t want nobody fucking with me.
I eventually had to make an example out of somebody my junior year.
After fucking his ass up and getting suspended for a couple of days, I didn’t have any more problems.
By the time I got in my pickup truck and was heading home, my phone rang. When I saw Treasure’s number, I smiled. “Hello?”
“Hey, King. Carter and Epic said everybody’s hanging tonight. I don’t know if I’m ready for that, but I wanted to tell you that we can reschedule dinner if you wanted to go.”
“Naw. I wanna be with you. Ain’t nobody trumping that.”
“Are you sure? Maybe we can go by there after dinner.”
“I’m not risking your mental health for that. I can catch up with them another time. You number one, baby. Can I come back early?”
“Come over here?”
“Yeah. I’m on my way home to shower, then I have to go to the truck stop. I’ll be done for the day after that. I mean, if you’re going to be busy, I can wait.”
“You can come back. I’m just going to be baking with my mom.”
“I just wanna be in your space. Last night and this morning was beautiful. I wanna be like that with you as often as possible. I don’t wanna be clingy, but—”
“I get it. I like you being around me.”
“You sure? I can hear a little hesitancy in your voice. You’re not going to hurt my feelings if you tell me to stay my ass at home, Treasure.”
She chuckled. “I want you here. I don’t wanna be clingy either.”
“For the record, you could never out-clingy me. Whenever you want me in your space, I promise, I will be there with bells on. Damn near break my fucking neck to get to you, baby.”
“Okay. Well, I’ll see you soon.”
“See you soon,” I responded, then ended the call.
It was like I could hear her happiness through the phone.
That, in turn, made me happier. When I got home, I practically ran inside to take a shower.
I had been sweating like crazy, checking the irrigation systems and pumps at the rice and grass farms. We owned five rice farms and five grass farms. Two of the rice farms were extremely large.
I took pride in contributing to the business.
I didn’t need anyone to know what I was doing.
I did it because I wanted to, not for the money.
I’d gotten my Henderson money. The only serious amount of money I’d spent was on my house and car.
My truck was an older model that my dad had bought me nearly eight years ago.
The rest of my money was sitting in IRA accounts and investments, making me more money.
I bought a few things for Treasure, but none of that even made a dent in what I had.
Not to mention, I was on my dad’s payroll for work I did at the truck stop and the ambulance service.
I kept his books in order for both and managed employee payroll.
I was sort of like a single man HR department.
I even sought for insurance benefits that were affordable and brainstormed on ways to make the businesses run more smoothly.
He also had me researching ways to generate more revenue within the businesses .
. . learning what was important to the citizens of Nome that they went to Beaumont to obtain.