Maniac
A cat pounced onto the windowsill outside of the restaurant, and I jumped.
“You okay?” Solei asked me.
“Shit just caught me off guard.”
“Let me find out that your big ass scared of cats.” She let out a snicker.
It was actually the opposite. I’d noticed every single cat ever since I ran into ol’ girl the other day. Every time I see one, she embeds in my mind, and I can’t seem to get her hooks out of me.
“So where are we with the party planning?” Just as quick as I lost my train of thought, I jumped right back into business. This event has to be on schedule. Everything has to be perfect.
“I have all of the décor picked out for it. The color scheme is on point. You can take a look at it if you want.” Reaching over, she grabbed her folder and flipped it open.
“I trust yo’ judgment. I just wanted to make sure that everything was going according to schedule.”
“This will be the event of the year aside from the wedding.” A smile coursed her lips.
The cat jumped down from the window. I lifted from my seat and reached into my pocket, pulling out a wad of cash. Peeling off a couple hundreds, I tossed them onto the table. “I got a stop to make right quick,” I told her and pecked her on top of the head.
“Be safe out there,” she tossed at me over her shoulder as I strolled toward the exit.
I ain’t have shit on my agenda for the day, but I did need to make a stop by the library.
I’d seen ol’ girl there the first time after hours, maybe she works there and I’d be able to see her again.
There’s never been a woman that planted in my mind the way she has.
We’ve only had two encounters, and I already felt as if I was about to go crazy.
Hitting the fob on my car, I hopped into the driver’s seat and started it up.
The library wasn’t too far from the restaurant.
It took me about ten minutes to make it there.
I ended up whipping into a handicapped space and getting out.
There were a few cars in the parking lot.
Nothing too extreme, seeing how it was around lunchtime.
Stepping through the rotating doors, I headed to the main part of the library where the books were located and there she was, standing behind the desk with her glasses in her hand, cleaning them with a piece of yellow fabric.
I slipped next to one of the shelves and observed her from afar.
She squinted at something on the computer and a woman walked up to the desk.
She flashed her a smile that went from ear to ear before engaging in a conversation with her.
With me being so far away, I couldn’t hear what was being exchanged.
The woman wrote something down on the desk and walked off.
She slipped her glasses back on her face and stepped from behind the desk, grabbing one of the carts filled with books and made her way toward the shelves.
I eased around the back and smelled her before I even made it to the aisle next to her.
Stopping, my ear perked toward the shelf.
I saw a book slide into an empty space just inches away from me.
I leaned down on the next shelf where there was an empty space and saw her standing there.
Her face couldn’t be seen—just her breasts.
She placed the book into the empty space, closing off my access to her.
I searched the shelf for the next missing book, and she made her way to it, humming a song that I couldn’t quite make out what it is.
Her hand lifted there, I stroked the back of it and she yanked away, releasing a gasp.
“Hello?” Her voice was soft, filled with worry. I wasn’t about to cause harm to her. That’s the least of her worries. “Is someone there?” She leaned down, and I moved out of the way where she couldn’t see me. “Am I tripping?”
You damn sure ain’t, babe.
She slid the book onto the shelf and then headed to the other end of the library with me close behind her.
For the next ten minutes, I followed her lil ass all over this library.
People stopped her to ask her questions.
She handled them with ease. The way she stroked the letters on some of the front of the books, I sensed that this is something she genuinely loves doing.
“Aye?” a guy called out to her, stopping her in her tracks. She shouldn’t have stopped unless he addressed her correctly. That’s some I’m gon’ have to teach her ass. Shit, fucking with me, she won’t be answering any niggas. I’on give a damn if it did have something to do with work.
“Yes?” she replied softly and offered him a smile. Nigga’s eyes wandered her frame and my ears turned hot. He know damn well he wasn’t about to ask her shit that has to do with books. He better got the fuck outta here before the coroner be coming to pick his ass up.
Her back was facing me, so she couldn’t see me. I stepped out into view, mugging him, waiting to see what bullshit left his lips. He glanced at me over her shoulder and then took his attention back to her.
“I’ve been coming in here for a while and finally got enough courage to come up to you and ask you—” His words cut short when I removed my strap from my waistline and waved it in the air.
His jaw muscles clenched, and his eyes expanded just like a deer caught in headlights.
If he didn’t get the fuck away from her, he was gon’ be caught in these bullets.
“What are you looking at?” She turned, and I jumped back behind the shelf, not wanting her to know that I was here.
“N-n-never mind,” he said. When I poked my head back around the shelf, he was long gone. That nigga hauled ass up outta here.
She went back to the desk, and I left out of the library, satisfied. The next time that I see her, I’m gon’ approach. Everything is about the right timing.
Later that night
I pulled into the parking lot of Spotless Kings Detailing and cut the engine.
My high beam lights shone through the glass door into the darkness before they turned off.
Stopping here wasn’t on my list of shit to do tonight, but once Murda called me and let me know that I needed to come pay this mufucka a visit, I headed this way.
Normally, Murda and Grim handled all this shit. They were the muscle. I came out only when necessary. This bitch was short on cash and said that he had a way to make up for it, but he’d only speak to me about it. Nigga had a lot of balls for someone who was seconds away from meeting his maker.
When I hit up Wicked about the shit, he told me since he’s been such a long and loyal customer for me to come and hear his ass out. If it wasn’t for Wicked, his ass would already have a fucking bullet in his ass.
Getting out the car, I neared the door. Peering inside, shit was dark as fuck. I couldn’t see anything. There was no sign of movements. For a second, I thought this nigga was playing me ’til I saw one of the lights switch on in the back. Gripping the doorknob, I turned it and the door opened.
Removing my strap from my waistline, I stepped over the threshold and trudge in the direction of the light down the hallway.
Stopping in front of the cracked door, I used the barrel of my gun and pushed it in.
Trayvon sat there at his desk with Tyree sitting in the chair across from him.
Both of their heads whipped in my direction once they heard the door creak.
“Maniac.” Trayvon tossed his hands up in the air. “I’m glad you could make time to come and see me.”
“You got two minutes.” Tyree looked away from me. From the bounce of his leg and the shaking of his hand, I can tell this stupid ass mufucka been taking the products and sniffing the shit right up his fucking nose. That’s probably why they were short on the cash.
“That’s more than enough. You want to take a seat? Do you want anything to drink?” He released a nervous chuckle. “I may not have anything that you’re used to, but I think I have some whiskey over there on the—”
“One minute,” I interrupted him. He knew that I wasn’t here to have no fucking drink with him. My trigger finger is itching and if he didn’t have something that’ll make up for the twenty thousand that he’s short, they’re both just as good as dead.
“Okay! Okay!” Trayvon took his eyes to a picture resting on his desk.
Tyree’s leg bounced harder. I can feel the rhythm through the floor.
“I have something that I can offer that’s greater than the money we owe.
” He turned the picture frame around and my eyes zeroed in on the woman on it.
She sat there in front of a green and red Christmas tree wearing a large green sweater that fell off her right shoulder and green knee length socks.
Her hair was pulled up in a bun on top her head, but in that photo, she didn’t have the bang.
Her glasses were black, square frame instead of clear.
I snatched the frame from the desk and took a closer look. Her smile glowed with joy. Wide, bright, and genuine.
“I can’t believe you’re doing this,” Tyree finally spoke. I smacked him in the back of the head.
“Stop interrupting grown folks,” I told him, not taking my attention off the picture. It’s insane that I didn’t even know anything about her. We’ve been working with Trayvon for years. It’s like he’d been keeping her a secret. “What are you trying to say?” I asked Trayvon.
“A man like you can use a woman like Wren.” Wren. “I promise you, having her is priceless. I’ll trade you her for our debt, and I promise that we won’t miss another payment again.” His dark eyes shifted to Tyree. “Isn’t that right, Tyree?”
“Wren isn’t gon’ go for this,” Tyree made known.
Trayvon’s eyes turned to slits. “Isn’t that right, Tyree?” he asked him again.
“Right,” he mumbled, relaxing back in the chair. He rubbed the palms of his hands against his jeans.
“Call it yo’ lucky day.” Turning on my heels, I exited the office with Wren’s picture still in my hands.