18. Rico #2
Her cheeks pinken before she averts her eyes. Just to fuck with her, I reach in and collar her throat roughly, pushing her head to the side with my thumb.
Leaning in, I kiss her cheek. “Thank you, mami.”
She pushes me away half heartedly, before turning her car on and zooming back to the automated garage door.
The hanger itself is sparse, with a lounge area, the plane itself, and doors that I’m sure lead to restrooms.
Ty-Ty takes one couch, while I take the other. He stretches out, yawning loud as fuck. “Crazy how now that we safe and shit, I’m back high as fuck.”
I snort, shaking my head. “I’m just glad you ain’t piss on yourself. You know how you get when you scared.”
When I look up, expecting his ears to get red, I’m surprised to see him grinning at me. Hard as hell. Hard enough to see his back molars.
“It’s just us, cuzzo. I mean, I’ma relay our convo to Reem soon as we touch down, but for a few hours, only I will be privy to whatever the fuck you wanna tell me about Wynter Shaw.”
I sit up and fold my hands between my knees. “And what makes you think I want to tell you shit about Wynter Shaw?”
He shrugs, keeping that stupid grin on his face. “I think you done pretending. I think that, your usual partner-in-crime ain’t here, and you know I can be your sounding board, because you just as affected as Shad and Autumn that she upped and disappeared. Plus, you miss me.”
Tell ‘em, Rick. Ain’t like he wasn’t there.
Fredo sits on the floor, leaning on the wall. He drags his shoulders up before winking at me.
“If I say shit,” I drawl, “you can’t bring it up later. And you fasho can’t tell Reem.”
“Oh shit,” Ty-Ty chuckles, sitting up. “This must be juicy if I can’t tell my nigga.”
“Aht, aht. You first. How the fuck did Pooh know about the money on her head, and how the hell did she even get to that nigga? You was locked up that whole weekend.”
Granny didn’t talk to any of us for a month when she found out Ty-Ty spent the weekend in jail.
She and his aunt LaLa were ready to move out the Birch permanently, but settled for Ty-Ty being grounded until he graduated high school.
Of course, being the favorite, that lasted less time than her month-long silent treatment of me and Fredo.
“Well, about that,” Ty-Ty says, scratching the side of his head.
“So, okay. That Friday, me and Reem was in the house. Well, I was going to get us food, and no bullshit, Wynter climbs out a window stumbling and shit. Starts telling me about how Kilo ‘nem put the hit out on you, Fredo, and Pooh, so I drove her out there. Had to promise her I would go back for Autumn, and I was, but then I got pulled over and that’s how I got hemmed up for the weekend. When he got me out, and I came back to the home plate, the homies said you was looking for her and had bread for whoever would bring her to Jute, and I knew what the fuck that meant, so I called Unc and told him to keep her until shit calmed down. I knew once we dug out all the snakes you would call off the order.”
My eyebrows pull and I clench my fists to keep from boxing this dumb ass nigga up. “And why the fuck is you just telling me all these years later? And don’t play that ‘I told Fred’ shit. Niggas thought she left Haze for dead.”
Ty-Ty’s dumb ass just blinks at me. “You deadass?”
“Yes–”
“Nigga!” My dramatic ass cousin throws his arms in the air.
“You beat the shit out of me on they lawn! Wynter was persona non grata for years. Shit; you, Fred, and Turk were all different after that. Besides, I did tell Fredo. Told him everything I just told you. You mean to tell me he never told you that shit?”
My eyes slide to my brother on the wall, but he just smirks at me, like he always does.
“Nigga, I’m talking to you. Stop staring at the wall!”
I sigh, and redirect my gaze to Ty-Ty. “No. He never said a word.”
Ty-Ty drops his arms as his neck jerks back. “Hunh. Damn. Well, that ain’t my fault.”
I wipe my face hard. “I’m still not getting why you just ain’t tell me any time during the two weeks we was doing the fucking most. Yo ass ain’t say shit at all, actually.”
Ty-Ty rolls his eyes. “You sitting there acting like you the easiest nigga to talk to. I mean, I love you, you my cousin, but yo ass crazy. And you know I don’t get in the middle of dick and pussy shit.
You was kissing on that girl, then you got me and Fredo in the car with you while you shoot at her and an abortion clinic, and then a couple months later you plotting on her demise.
I ain’t know what the fuck was going on with y’all, and didn’t wanna know.
But now, we ain’t got nothing but time and opportunity, so.
” This dumbass looks around, before grinning at me. “Let’s hear it.”
Something dislodges in my chest, and I sit back. What harm could it do? Besides, maybe if I say it out loud, I can convince myself to take her back to Haze and let her go.
“Aight. I’ll start at the beginning.”
Tyree has had this shit-eating grin on his face for the past ten minutes.
Long before I stopped recapping my teenage love affair with Snow, as well as all the little digs and bullshit we’ve done to each other over the years; her PDA bouts with Set any time I was in town, and me picking off any nigga who even breathed on her.
“Say something,” I grit. I didn’t pour my heart out, fumbling over words for him to just stare at me–
“You been in love with Wynter Shaw since you were fourteen?”
“Maaaaan,” I wave my cousin off.
“That’s, like, what? Seventeen years–”
“Not even. That’s all you got from that?”
“Nope!” Ty hops up onto the sofa, pointing at me.
“Not at all, but that’s the most important part!
Damn! That shit really is in our genes, cuzzo!
One look from your one and that’s all she wrote!
” He grins as he does some dumb ass dance.
“Aw man. You worse than Pooh Bear!” He cackles, dropping back to his ass as he folds over himself at my expense.
And words die in my mouth, because unfortunately, he’s right.
I’m way worse than Pooh.
“And then, and then! You let… the homie… take your bitch!” Ty-Ty gains a second wind laughing at me, pointing and kicking his feet in the air.
“Like… who does that?!” he guffaws. “You let that nigga swoop in and snatch her up! Oh man, he’s gonna kick yo ass! FUCK! I gotta be there.”
My face balls up so fast. That nigga can’t even ball up his fist. “Why you think that?”
“Because,” he breathes, gaining control of himself.
“Y’all basically used him. Both of you. She knew what she was doing fucking with him, just like you knew what you were doing not, at the very least, telling him you fucked with her once upon a time.
You know how Set is about loyalty–you’re the same way.
If you’d fucked a girl I was in love with–”
“Why the fuck you keep saying that?!”
His eyes stretch at my outburst. “Bro… I thought we were being real with each other. Nigga, you’re downbad.
Head gone. Nose wide open. Y’all got so much unfinished business; that shit was better than the last three book club picks!
You got me ready to hit up Autumn myself and see where the fuck Wynter at. ”
I avert my eyes, hoping he doesn’t catch on that I know exactly where my Snow is. Part of why I minced my words so heavily was I couldn’t slip out about Mars nor who has been doing most of the rearing for the better part of the year. It wasn’t the time nor place for that.
“When she turns up, you’ll get your bitch back, and then Set’s gonna kick yo ass before you start, I’on know, being a couple and shit. Damn… I gotta stop smoking. I should have known after the clinic shit.”
“Well then, why won’t Set be kicking yo ass right along with mine?” I snap.
Ty-Ty just shrugs. “I ain’t fuck Wyn. Shit, I mean, me and Reem had some convos about it, shooting the shit, but I’m telling you, my mind is blown, cuzzo. I never would have thought… I mean, y’all shit’s deep. And unfinished. I’d beat yo ass too.”
“And how is our shit so unfinished if she fucked my bro? Riddle me that, nigga.”
Ty-Ty rolls his eyes dramatically. “If you gon’ keep hiding behind that, you a loser, foreal. I mean, yeah, she’s flaw, but technically, it don’t matter. You had her first. And never like Set did. Trust me.”
I lean back on the couch. “The fuck does that mean?”
“They were never like that,” he yawns. “More like, I’on know.
She was one of the homies. They was just homies that fucked.
They would always poke fun at the other muthafuckas they were messing with, but even before Set met B, I thought they’d stopped fucking around.
Shit…” he grins at me again, “she really only was all over the bro every time you popped back up in the city. Ha! Y’all fuckin’ crazy, I swear.
But nah, if I were you, I would give up that weak ass excuse.
And I say unfinished because, shit, let you tell it, you was only mad foreal because of misunderstandings and shit.
You the one in the wrong, and you need to make it right, with everyone.
Starting with me. You beat my ass, so I’ma beat yours one of these days–”
The automatic garage door opens and we both pop up, guns drawn. When we see it’s Mekhi Young and his cousin YC, we lower them, and drop back onto the couch.
“Love and Reem got out. We gon’ get them tomorrow. I’m sleeping on the plane.”
YC grunts as he follows Mekhi up the stairs.
Ty-Ty and I share a glance before hopping up ourselves.
“Wait! We ain’t sleeping out here alone!” Ty-Ty grits, rushing over to them with me right behind.
You feel lighter, huh, brodie?
I grin, shaking my head at the ghost in my head before I clamp a hand down on my cousin’s shoulder. He throws a grin behind him, and I know our talk will stay between us–not counting Reem.
Still, I do feel lighter.
And ready to finish some shit.