Chapter 6 Priest
PRIEST
“Idon’t care what they told you,” I said into the phone as I eased my car into the lot. “This ain’t no regular shipment. We’re talking thirty bricks, straight from Miami. That’s too much weight to be playing with.”
“Yeah, I know. I already got two of our guys posted down there,” my right hand, Blu, told me. “They’re making sure it comes in without any issues.”
“Two ain’t enough,” I spat as I slid my ride, six figures of pure luxury, into a spot right up front. “I want eyes on it from the second it gets off the truck until it’s sitting in my spot. And I don’t want no middlemen touching it.”
“A’ight, I’ll lock it down.”
“Make sure our people down there know it’s my money on the line, and if anything goes wrong, it’s their necks before it’s mine.”
“Say less, big bro,” Blu replied.
“Good. Keep me updated every hour.”
We hung up, and I slid out of the car.
Stepping out, I adjusted my jacket, still thinking about that shipment.
This was just one of many big shipments I’d had in the last few months.
I’d been moving weight at a crazy rate lately.
Business was booming, and the money was stacking faster than I could spend it.
But these kinds of moves and money came with eyes on you from every direction.
I had to be on my P’s and Q’s more than ever and keep my head on a swivel.
But for the next hour or so, I didn’t want to think about business. My stomach growled as I walked up to my favorite breakfast spot on 35th and Michigan.
The spot was small and easy to scan in one sweep. So, when I walked in, I easily spotted Solae sitting at the bar with a mimosa and a nearly empty plate in front of her.
The way the morning light hit her skin, I had to fight the urge to just stand there and stare.
I’d been feeling her since she first started at the bank a few years back.
Plenty of women crossed my path. They were beautiful, eager, and the type to answer my call at two in the morning.
But Solae was different. Her natural beauty didn’t need make up or filters.
And she had a kindness that felt rare where I came from.
She felt like home, the kind of place you didn’t have to earn kindness, where your guard dropped the second you stepped in.
She felt like a warm and safe space in a way I hadn’t felt since before the streets became my reality.
She felt like the kind of peace you dream about when the world outside is nothing but chaos and cold.
Her presence was familiar, comforting, and impossible to let go of once you’ve found it.
She smelled like love and sounded like peace.
That’s what had me continuously shooting my shot, despite her being committed to her man.
When I reached her, I softly pinched her side from behind. She jumped like I’d set off a firecracker, damn near knocking her mimosa over. The whole bar looked our way.
I laughed, holding my hands up. “My bad, Ma. Didn’t mean to scare you.”
I slid onto the stool next to hers.
With her hand over her heart, she caught her breath. “H-Hi. You scared the hell out of me.”
“Sorry about that.”
“Are you stalking me?” she joked while rolling her eyes.
“Girl, this my spot. I eat here damn near every morning. What you doing here? You off work today?”
She sighed with a little smile. “I’ve always wanted to try this spot, and I had the time today since I got fired Friday.”
I raised a brow. “Fired? What happened?”
She sipped her mimosa while shaking her head like she still couldn’t believe it. “The bank manager said it was because of ‘procedural violations.’ But I know that’s BS. I’m Black and a little hood in their eyes, so I guess that makes me guilty by association or at least suspicious.”
“That’s some bullshit. But don’t trip, though. Maybe God is clearing space for something better. Sometimes the blessing comes wrapped in ugly paper, you feel me?”
Her lips curled into a smile. “I feel you. I hope that’s true.”
The bartender slid a menu in front of me, but I didn’t need one. I told her what I wanted, and she left to put my order in.
I noticed that Solae was trying her best not to look at me. She was suddenly fidgety and nervous.
I had always known that the attraction was mutual, but there was something more between us that I couldn’t shake and refused to acknowledge because of her man.
Now that I had a chance to finally talk to her like a real man, not just a customer making small talk across a bank counter, I leaned on the bar with my arm resting on the back of her chair. “So how old are you anyway? I don’t even think I ever asked.”
“Twenty-seven. You?”
“Thirty-two.”
She playfully smirked. “You’re an old man.”
I chuckled. “Just means I got a little more game than you.”
“I bet you do.” Then she asked, “Where you from?”
“South Side. Born and raised. You?”
“Same,” she said proudly, setting her glass down.
I sat back, surprised we’d never run into each other before she worked at the bank. “What high school did you go to?”
“Whitney Young.” She smiled like she knew that answer came with bragging rights.
I chuckled. “Okay, so you was smart-smart.”
“And you?” she asked.
“Simeon,” I said.
Her eyes lit up. “You played basketball?”
“Nah, I didn’t hoop. I was too busy making money.” She playfully rolled her eyes as I asked, “What about you?”
She blushed like she was embarrassed. “I was in the band.”
That threw me. “Word?” I looked her over, trying to picture her in one of those little uniforms.
She laughed at my expression. “Yep. I played alto clarinet and saxophone. All four years.”
“I don’t even know why that’s surprising me. I should have expected you to have been a good-girl.”
“I ended up having my kids in high school.” Then she locked eyes with me before saying, “So, I have a little bad in me too.”
I held her gaze, daring her to look away, to deny how hard she was making my dick with those glossed lips and short blonde hair.
The bartender interrupted us by sitting my cutlery and napkins in front of me.
“You know I gotta be real with you… I’m seriously attracted to you, Solae. And I don’t mean just your looks. You’re beautiful, yeah, but it’s more than that.”
Her smile wavered just a little, like she didn’t know if she should look at me or look away. “Priest…” The rest of that sentence escaped her, like she didn’t know what to say.
“I know you got a man. And I respect that. I ain’t here to cause no problems in your life. But I’m not gon’ lie and act like I don’t feel this energy between us.”
She looked down at her plate, pushing a piece of toast around before saying softly, “It’s there… but my relationship matters to me.”
I nodded, biting back the urge to say more. “And I respect that. I just wanted you to know that if that nigga ever fucks up, I’m ready to pick up the pieces and never fumble the ball.”
Her eyes met mine again, and for a second, it felt like the whole restaurant got quieter.
“I hear you,” she finally said.
I softly squeezed her thigh. “Good. Now tell me more about this band. I definitely assumed you were on the dance team or something. Never the band.”
We kept the conversation going, and every time she laughed, smiled, or even ran her fingers through her short cut, I fell for her all over again. She had this way of tilting her head back and closing her eyes, like she was letting herself forget the world for a second.
I tried to stay platonic and respect her boundaries, but I couldn’t.
I leaned in while she was mid-sip of her second mimosa. “You know you trouble, right?”
She blushed. “How so?”
“You got a man, and I’m still sitting here wondering what you taste like.”
Her eyes bucked as she swallowed down the champagne and pineapple juice.
She shook her head while wearing a blush. “You need to stop it.”
But I caught the way her knee brushed mine under the counter.
By the time we paid and stepped outside, I knew, no matter what, I had to have her.
The December air smacked us both in the face. I walked her to her car. She stopped by the driver’s side, and for a second, it was just quiet. The city noise was there, but it faded in the background.
I stepped closer and my hand brushed hers. “Tell me you don’t feel this.”
She hesitated a bit, but admitted, “I do… but I love my man. I don’t have a reason to cheat.”
I nodded slowly. “I respect that. And it tells me that when I do get you, you’ll be just as loyal to me.”
Her cheeks flushed a pretty pink against the cold.
“Can I at least get your number? Since you don’t work at the bank anymore, I can’t pop up on you.”
She opened her mouth, about to answer, but her phone rang. She glanced at it and frowned. “It’s my kids’ school. I have to take this.”
I stayed quiet as she answered the phone. “Hello?....What happened?… Is he okay?… I’m on my way right now.”
She ended the call, already fumbling for her keys. “I have to go, Priest. My son hurt himself at school.”
She was in such a rush that I was forced to step back as she flung her door open and climbed in. She looked so worried and scared that I felt selfish for forcing myself on her, like I wanted to, so I stepped back and let her peel off.
I stood there, watching her taillights fade, feeling like she was taking a piece of me with her.