Chapter 5 #2
The second Nyelle finished her spiel, Vega popped into her mind.
She had mentioned the situation to Joi, who cussed her out three times over for letting him in her condo that night.
Nyelle was beginning to wonder if he really lived there because it had been days and she hadn’t seen him since.
Several times, she considered randomly knocking on his door the way he had done hers, but common sense prevented her from doing so.
He could have easily lied and she would be face to face with another stranger who might actually do some harm.
Even if Vega was a liar, she felt safe with him, around him, and with him in her space.
That was the part she didn’t understand.
There was just something about him that didn’t set off any alarms, but she still hadn’t used the number he left for her.
Nyelle wasn’t completely sure why, but a part of her wanted him to remain a handsome, sexy, charming mystery that she had shared a moment with.
If she called and got to know him, Nyelle was convinced it would only be a matter of time before he showed her what she already knew.
He was just like every other man she encountered.
“I don’t want to be like that. I want all the good stuff.
Life is too damn short to be on a fuck all men agenda, but it seems like that’s what it’s gonna be.
” Joi pouted, slightly angry that she was, yet again, about to be alone.
Sometimes she wondered if a piece of man was better than no man at all, especially considering that no men ever leveled up and proved themselves worthy.
“I don’t know what to tell you, boo. The fairytale doesn’t exist.”
Joi released a short sigh, feeling her girl’s energy. It mirrored hers and she hated how lost the two felt where love was concerned, but it was their reality.
Or maybe it wasn’t. As if the universe was trying its hand at changing the ladies’ minds, a fist connected with Nyelle’s door. The two women looked at each other before their focus went right to the door.
“Who is that?”
“Hoe, I don’t know. I’m sitting here with you.”
Nyelle grinned at her girl before pulling her feet from beneath her and placing them on the floor.
She glided to the door with movement dangerously close to slow motion.
When she pressed the monitor to see who had shown up at her condo unannounced, she dropped her chin and bit her lip to suppress her smile.
Closing her eyes briefly, she then calmed her nerves enough to face her visitor.
“So you really are just dodging me I see, because clearly you’re alive and well. Tony told me that he gave you my number, but you haven’t hit my line once. It’s been three days.”
Joi stretched her neck to get a glimpse at the face and body that the sexy voice belonged to, but the angle at which Ny was standing blocked her view. Damn it.
“I’m not dodging you. I don’t know you, so why would I dodge you?”
Vega smirked and moved his tongue over the top row of his teeth before he lowered his eyes enough to see her face.
The trail didn’t end there as he moved down her neck to her chest and her lower half.
She was kinda short and curvy, or short to him, since he stood at six three and Nyelle couldn’t have been more than five six or five seven.
“If you didn’t hit my line when I extended the offer, then you’re dodging me. Can I come in?”
“No, I have company.”
“Oh, shit, my bad. He’s not gon’ be mad, is he? Not that I give a fuck.” It was the truth. Vega didn’t care one way or the other. With him having just touched down, he needed to keep his nose clean, but checking someone wouldn’t likely end up getting back to his PO.
“He’s in the shower, so he won’t know you were here.”
Vega sensed she was lying, but he didn’t call her on it. He only nodded and took a step back. “Aight, bet. But you play cards?”
Nyelle frowned. “Cards?”
“Yeah, cards, Pretty Ny.”
“Like Spades?”
“Spades, Poker, Blackjack, all that shit.”
“Umm, I know how. I won’t say I’m good at it.” She wondered if his hood ass was really about to ask her to play cards with him.
“Good enough. Send dude home and be ready by nine. I want you to hang with me tonight. We’re going to a card game.”
“Uh, no, I’m not. I have plans with my girl. Plus, I don’t even know if you live here. I haven’t seen you since that night. We should have at least crossed paths once.”
Damn, Pretty Ny has been looking for me. Vega felt a tinge of something, but he wasn’t sure how to categorize it just yet.
“I’ve been busy. Had a lot of shit to do. I’m trying to get my life together so I can qualify to be in yours.”
My God. Nyelle’s entire soul blushed. How did this man, this stranger, fine ass stranger, have this type of effect on her?
“You’re full of shit.”
Vega chuckled and looked her over again, this time in a motion that matched the same slow-motion stride Nyelle used to get to the door when he first arrived.
“I’m full of something, but it isn’t shit.
I want to see you tonight. Your girl can come too.
There will be hella muthafuckers up in there from what I know.
I’m sure she’ll find something to keep her busy.
Plus, I know how y’all be on that tag team safety shit, and since you keep throwing it out there that you don’t know me, you might be more comfortable if your girl rides with you. ”
“I’m gonna be hella comfortable with her and not you because I’m not going anywhere with you.
” Nyelle was beaming on the inside. As grown as she was, there was something about a sexy man who brought out the giddiness a woman felt when she was crushing like a teenager.
Vega had that quality and it had her fighting hard not to expose her smiles.
“Come on, Pretty Ny.” Why does he call me that? “Give a real one a chance. One date, in a room full of people. I have a feeling you’re gonna bring me some luck, and I need that. My boy said the stakes are high. You don’t want me to lose it all on the table, do you?”
“That’s not my concern.”
“Damn, you’re difficult.”
Joi rolled her eyes and jumped up. She’d had enough, and when she stepped behind Nyelle, it surprised her, while the very sexy man standing in the doorway surprised Joi. Shit. She said he was fine, but not this damn fine.
“We’ll be ready by nine. I have a permit to carry and I’m a straight shooter. You try any dumb shit and I will pull the trigger.”
“Oh shit.” Vega chuckled at Joi. “You’re ’bout that life, I see.”
“Hell yeah, now go. We have to talk about you. We’ll be ready at nine.”
Joi slammed Nyelle’s door unapologetically. They both heard Vega’s deep voice on the other side by way of the laugh he released before he walked away.
“I’ve been here for an hour and I haven’t seen a man. That must be one long-ass shower.”
“Shut your dumb ass up. There isn’t anybody here but you. He just didn’t need to know that. I didn’t want to look desperate.”
“Well, you are,” Joi teased. “Why did you tell that lie in the first place? That man is fine as hell, Ny. You can be desperate for a man like that.”
“And he just got out of jail or did you forget? It was the first thing I told you about him. I’m not trying to be anyone’s post jail rehabilitation program.”
“Well, give me his number, I will. He’s been locked up for how long?”
“Three years.”
“Three years of good dick that he looked like he wants to offer you. You said you’re focused on your job, Nick, and occasional side dick. He completely qualifies.”
“Joi, are you serious right now?”
“Hell yes, I am. You better ride that man with no remorse. Rehabilitate and reform him and all. All that, sis, all that.”
“Sis, you’re trippin’. I’ma need you to leave with that craziness.”
“Oh, I’m leaving, boo. I’m about to go get fly so we can go to this card game. I don’t even play cards, but I’m hyped as hell right now. I can’t wait.”
Joi jumped up and grabbed her purse from the end table near where she was sitting before. She started the short distance to the door, only stopping after she had it unlocked and the door open. “I’ll be back by eight. Dress cute, Ny. None of that safe stuff.”
“How many times I ask you to report in?”
Vega fired up the blunt in his hand then placed it to his lips. Inhaling deeply, he accepted the smoke into his lungs and held it there before allowing it to seep through his full lips and his nose simultaneously moments later.
“I’m here now, Ace. Calm the fuck down,” Vega stated calmly before repeating what he had just done.
“I haven’t seen you in days. You haven’t been answering my calls or my texts.
I almost pulled up on your ass like you was my bitch acting up, but I’m trying to give you some space, fam.
If I feel like that space is giving you room to do some dumb shit, then I’m no longer extending the courtesy.
” Ace’s face was full of tension. His brother’s relaxed demeanor had him wanting to snatch Vega across the desk that separated them and fracture a few bones in his face.
Vega was the unrefined version of Ace and it pissed him off.
“I’m a grown ass man, Ace. You don’t need to pull up on me. I fucked up. Trust me, I get it. You for sure won’t let me forget it, but I’m working on my next move. I’m done with the fuck shit. Did I not give you my word?”
“Your word doesn’t hold much weight with me right now, Vega.”
Needing the high to calm his nerves, Vega inhaled again, chuckling as the smoke escaped his body by way of his full lips.
“My word is all I have, Ace. It’s what you taught me.
If it doesn’t mean shit, then I’m not shit.
Don’t take that from me. Give me time. I promised you that I would figure this shit out, and I will. I just can’t do it in your shadow.”
Ace leaned back and massaged his chin, caressing his beard while he stared at a face that mirrored one he loved without reservation.
Vega was a carbon copy of their mother while Ace was a perfect blend of both her and their father.
His parents often said Vega looked so much like Lilly Orr because she babied Vega, praying it would redirect him from following in his father and brother’s footsteps.
It didn’t. The second Ace allowed Vega the opportunity, he embraced it with his entire being, hitting the streets with a vengeance.
It crushed her soul and she carried that until the day she died.
Ace’s chest rose and fell aggressively just thinking about it before he changed the subject.
“You falling through East’s spot tonight?”
Vega smirked. It amazed him sometimes how connected his brother was. Ace knew his moves for later and Vega hadn’t mentioned it once. That meant the streets had told him.
“Yeah. Do I need permission from you to do that?” Vega spoke with a sarcasm that made Ace smile. He knew his brother didn’t give a fuck about permissions. He did what he wanted, when he wanted, and that was what scared Ace the most.
“You’re grown. The fuck I look like policing your moves that closely.” Ace paused and caressed his beard once more. “You’re good around East. He isn’t about any dumb shit.”
Vega chuckled and nodded. “You respect him more than you do me, fam, but that’s my fault. I’ma get that back.”
He pulled from the blunt one last time before he was on his feet and handing it over to Ace.
“Vega?”
Ace spoke his name with simplicity, but there was something heavy behind it.
“Nah, we cool, bruh. I get it. He earned it and I didn’t. I don’t have any animosity toward East, but like I said, I’ma get that back. I respect him too, trust. No hard feelings. That’s my word…” He paused and grinned. “If I’m allowed to have that.”
Ace chuckled and nodded before he accepted the blunt still extended his way. “I’ll holla at you in a few days, so don’t try and pull up on me.” Vega said on his way to the door, only stopping when he heard his brother’s voice.
“Ay, you’re an Orr. That name means something, Vega. Don’t embarrass me tonight.”
Vega nodded and left his brother’s office and house. He had a lot of heavy shit to work through, but it would have to wait. Tonight, his goal was to win a lot of money and impress a pretty woman.