10. Kenyon
10
Kenyon
A fter pushing ‘what could have been’ with Zara out of my brain, I checked my gun while Nolan drove.
“What the fuck happened?” I asked.
“Miyan got stopped on the way to drop the money.”
I started to ask more questions, but I knew Nolan was smart enough not to ask too many over the phone. Unfortunately, I was stuck, playing all types of scenarios out in my head until we arrived where Kross was waiting for us.
“Nice to see you pulled your ass out of the club to do some real work.”
“Fuck you,” Kross spat, moving toward the entrance of the warehouse.
Nolan and I were right behind him, and we all breathed a little easier when we saw Miyan seated on a pallet.
“Has he been checked?” Kross asked as we stepped into the dimly lit room.
Miyan’s jaw twitched at Kross’s question. Disrespectful as it may have been, the fact that he was sitting in front of us and not in a cell was justification enough.
“He’s clean,” Shaudi replied.
“What the fuck happened?”
“It was like them nigga’s knew the route. Like they were waiting on us or some shit,” Miyan paused, taking a drag of the cigarette I wanted to tell his ass to put out. Mom claimed weed had the same aroma, but I begged to differ, “I was on McKinley, and the next thing I heard was sirens.”
“How the fuck did you get out of it?”
Miyan smirked. “I didn’t have the cash.”
“Dramatic ass nigga,” Shaudi shook his head because he’d likely already heard the story before we arrived. “Idris made the drop with no problems. We’re good.”
Kross and I shared a glance because we weren’t. We survived the night and bought ourselves some time, but somebody was looking for something and knew we had it. Miyan recounted his interaction with the two cops who stopped him. They drilled him for thirty minutes, asking the same question in various ways, hoping to trip him up, but they eventually let him go.
“We gotta switch up the schedule,” I said over my shoulder.
“I’m on it,” Nolan agreed, disappearing while Kross and I dipped outside.
The cool night air hit the back of my neck as I strolled towards Nolan’s ride. I opened the door and leaned in, grabbing the takeout bag from the passenger seat.
“Now my shit is fuckin’ cold.” I seethed, glancing at the clock on the dashboard.
“Somebody opened their mouth,” Kross declared. He had more experience than I did, but I’d even considered that idea.
“Miyan?”
Kross ran his hand across his low cut, likely thinking what Pops would do in this situation.
“I don’t know, but nobody is safe until we figure it out.”
“My gut says it wasn’t him.”
A line etched between Kross’s brows. “Your gut?” then he chuckled.
“Yeah, nigga.”
“First, you didn’t want any parts of this. Now we’re trusting your gut?”
“Fuck you nigga. I don’t see yours offering up any solutions.”
“Your first response isn’t always the right response. You still got shit to learn, grasshopper.”
“Teach me something then, Boss ,” I challenged.
Nolan pushed through the door, looking more irritated than he had been when we walked in.
“We have another problem,” Nolan announced.
“Goddamn, is it a full moon tonight or what?” I asked, craning my neck at the sky.
“Route 66 got shot up tonight.”
Route 66 was a staple in Northbridge. A few hours ago, I ran into Zara and her girls there.
“Why would anybody fuck with Route 66?” Kross’s question was rhetorical, but Nolan and I knew why. It was no coincidence that I embarrassed Makori a few hours ago, and now it was decorated with bullet holes.
“What do you wanna do about it?” Nolan asked.
Kross’s expression switched from sympathy to irritation, asking, “What did you do?”
Nolan leaned against the side of his car, passing the invisible baton to me. He knew why, but it wasn’t his place, so he wouldn’t say shit if I didn’t.
“Now both of you nigga’s are mute. What the fuck happened?” Kross ranted.
“I got into it with Makori.”
“Makori?” Kross’s face twisted in confusion. On a typical day, we didn’t have shit in common outside of living in the same city. Makori ran a completely different hustle, so there was no stepping on each other's toes.
Until he disrespected Zara.
“We ran into him, grabbing something to eat. He disrespected one of the girls from the club, so I checked him.”
Kross looked to Nolan as if my version of the story wasn’t sufficient. Nolan didn’t give away anything. We had been friends since high school, too, so he was used to us arguing.
“One of the girls,” Kross turned and shook his head, mirroring the same mannerisms as Eric when he was pissed. “Nova.”
“It doesn’t fuckin’ matter!”
“Only it does matter nigga because you’re thinkin’ with the wrong head, and now we have another problem that could’ve been avoided.”
“Protect the girls. Isn’t that your motto?”
“It’s more than one way to do something, Kenyon. You’re smart enough to know that.”
“Makori was out of line, and I’d do it again. It’s my problem so I’ll solve it. I’m not about to sit here and argue bullshit with you,” I fussed, climbing in the car because I had more important shit to focus on right now.
“He was out of line,” Nolan added on his way to join me.
“Keep that nigga alive while I try to figure out what happened tonight,” Kross demanded, leaning inside the window.
I didn’t give a fuck what Kross thought or felt about the situation. I would’ve handled it the same way if it was anyone else. But it wasn’t anyone else, and I needed to know Zara was safe. Nolan pulled off, and I dialed her cell.
Each call went unanswered and eventually stopped ringing altogether. When we pulled into the packed parking lot outlined in yellow tape, it went straight to voicemail, and I feared the worst. Miss Margie was crying, speaking to a police officer, jotting down her version of events.
“This nigga lost his fuckin mind,” Nolan said, wowed by the destruction.
“He’ll regret it when I’m done.”
It was an unwritten rule that Miss. Margie was off-limits. She had watched most of us grow up. As much as I hated rules, even I followed them and Makori wasn’t above me. She was finally wrapping up her conversation with the officer, so we walked over, and there was a small glimmer of hope when her eyes landed on us. Thankfully, the only thing that hurt was her heart, watching the diner that had been in her family for years riddled with bullets.
Shaudi had a location on Makori’s baby mama, so I assured her I’d take care of the repairs. We jumped in the car and headed home so I could change because we were in for a long night.
“Did she respond?” Nolan asked.
“Nah. I’ll hit Otto and see if he’s heard from Brandy.”
My knee bounced as I glanced at my phone again. Still nothing from Zara. I ran my hand over my face, trying to push down the worry, but it wasn’t working, so I dialed Otto.
The phone rang a few times before he picked up, sounding like he just woke up from a nap.
“Keyes, what’s up?” Otto asked, surprised. Until now, the only business we had was the DDs, which never required a phone call.
“Have you heard from Brandy?”
“Nah, I haven’t heard from her,” Otto replied.
“She was at the diner earlier, and it got shot up.”
There was a pause on the other end. Too long of a pause considering the news I’d just shared.
I clenched my jaw, heat rising up my neck. “You don’t care that the place got shot up? That your girl might’ve been hurt. You good with that?”
Otto sighed. “I’ll call her.” Then, like a lightbulb, his voice rasped with anger. “Why are you so worried about Brandy?”
“Somebody needs to be because her nigga isn’t.”
I hung up because Otto was worthless, and I still didn’t have a location on Zara. Every second she didn’t pick up made my gut twist tighter.
Nolan glanced over at me, reading the frustration all over my face. He didn’t say anything. He knew what it was. We had business to handle, so I hopped out of the car and tried to focus.
“Oh my God! I was so worried,” Syd sighed as I walked into the house, taking the stairs like hurdles to my bedroom. “Is Miss Margie okay? Asha told me what happened.”
“She’s straight.”
When I walked out of the closet, dressed in black, my locs tucked in my hoodie, she asked, “What is going on, Keyes? "
“Stay here until I say otherwise.”
“Where are you going?” She repeated, as I breezed past her.
“I gotta handle something.”
“For Nova,” Sydney’s mouth twitched, trying to conceal her emotions. “Asha told me you were at Route 66 earlier, grinning in her face.”
I couldn’t tell if Sydney’s anger was rooted in jealousy about me or her not grinning at Nova tonight.
“I don’t have time to get into that right now. Just stay here for me. Please.”
“What is it with this fuckin’ girl? Did you fuck her?” Syd yelled, following me downstairs.
“The girl that has you running around losing your mind. You tell me.”
“That’s sex and different from what you’re doing right now!” She rationalized.
“No, I didn’t fuck her, but I wanted to.”
My laughter had Sydney back on her feet standing before me cursing and jousting her finger in my fuckin’ face.
“Guess that explains why you’re racing out of the house to start a war over some pussy you haven’t even whiffed. Never thought I’d see the day.”
“Who the fuck are you talking to?” My turn was so sharp that Sydney stumbled backward with wide eyes. “Don’t let your feelings get you in some shit you ain’t ready for. Stay here until I say otherwise.”
Sydney waited until I was across the room with my hand on the knob to deliver her final remark.
“I hope you’re done saving her by Friday night so you can escort me to Dad’s dinner like you promised.” Her tone was dismissive as she plopped back down on the couch and picked up her phone. “I’ll pick up your suit.”