Page 63 of Free Agent

Only preparations.

Once I had that in hand, I’d take a shower, but for the moment, my goal was still to be ready for whatever Monty might try to pull. I was almost there when my phone started buzzing on the nightstand.

Once I moved over to where it was, I frowned at the name and face on the screen.

“Tammy-Rae, what’s up?” I asked, noting the time.

My sister was a night owl, and as such, wasn’t even usually awake at this time of morning.

“Hey Tate,” she yawned. “I’m just trying to get to you before one of your brothers does,” she said, a comment that made me frown, confused.

“One of my….” A moment later, though, it clicked. “Ay, there’s not too many more times that nigga’s gonna mess with you without me just coming to handle it. As a matter of fact, no more times. I’m getting on a plane.”

“That is not what I called you for.”

“What is Tim saying? Trey?” I asked.

She sucked her teeth. “You know what they’re saying. And what I’m saying is that Joshua’s ass is not worth the bullshit. You’re in the freaking pro league, and I’m not gonna have you getting in trouble over him.”

“So what the fuck did you call me for?”

“Like I said, getting to you before Tim and Trey hype you into violence with them. I’m hoping you can help me talk some sense into them.”

“They wouldn’t need any sense talked into them if Joshua’s bitch ass would leave you alone. You haven’t even been around, you were up here with me until yesterday morning. What did he do?”

“It’s not even that serious.”

“Tam…”

“Ughhh! I was at Idlewild late, closing up?—”

Immediately, my shoulders went tense. “You were at the bar late by yourself?”

“No, Kerry and Mai were there too.”

Good.

Kerry was security, big as fuck and kept a gun on his hip. Nobody fucked with him.

“Can I finish telling the story?” Tam asked, and I sighed.

“Go ahead.”

“When we were leaving, I came outside to some bitch tearing up my car.”

“What do you mean, tearing up your car?”

“Slashing tires, keys… The usual shit.”

“And how is this related to Joshua?”

She huffed. “Well, like I said, I caught her. Beat her ass, because I don’t even fucking know this trick, so it’s not like I did something to her.”

“So you were fighting, but I can’t?!”

“It was my car.”

“You could’ve let Kerry handle it.”

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