Page 35 of Mister Fireman

Rolling her eyes, she clicked her tongue. “Whatever, however you say it. He was raving about her food, so I said I wanted to come and try it.” She turned her phone around, showing us a picture of her and Dejvi smiling as they embraced each other. “Y’all know my man?”

“Your man?” I repeated, stepping directly in front of her. Truthfully, Dejvi and I weren’t in a committed relationship. All this time, I thought it was because he was respecting my desire to not move too fast. Now, it looked like he didn’t commit to me because he was committed to her.

“Yeah, me and Dejvi have been in each other’s lives since we were kids. We’re going to start our family after his birthday in November. How do you know him?”

“I’ve been fucking him,” I answered, crossing my arms over my chest. “Apparently, that’s all it’s been if he’s with you.”

The woman chuckled. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize—”

When Malaysia laughed, I groaned. “Do you want to fight? Because I feel like you came up here to start some shit.”

“I don’t see why you’re so upset. If anyone should be upset, it’s me! I’m the one who just found out my man is cheating on me!”

“Girl, bye!” Dallas yelled, coming over to us. “I know exactly what Dejvi said on that post he shared and the one he made right after. He very clearly called Enjell his love and told his followers to support his girl. If you saw him say that, you knew what it was, and if you came up here, it was with the intent to get yo’ ass beat.”

“All of y’all need to relax,” I said, turning to my girls. I didn’t fear turning my back on her. If she wanted to try me, she’d be leaving on a stretcher. “She obviously had ill intentions in coming here, and I’m going to give her whatever she wants.”

“I just want to know what’s going on with y’all,” she said, causing me to look back at her. “Are you in a relationship with him?”

“No. We haven’t committed to each other, but that was our goal for the future. We met a little over a month ago, so we’ve been taking things slow.”

She took a step back. “Well, now that you know he’s in a relationship, I hope you do the right thing and leave him alone.”

Dallas sucked her teeth. “That’s not her responsibility. Get your man in check because he clearly don’t give a fuck about you if he’s claiming and supporting her publicly.”

I didn’t want to leave her alone with them because there was no doubt in my mind that they would beat her up, but I needed air to breathe.

“You need to go,” I told her, gently turning her toward the exit by her shoulder. “Y’all stay here.”

“I’m not letting you go outside with her by yourself,” Malay said as I grabbed my purse, phone, and keys.

“Trust me, I’m not worried about her.”

All she did was laugh as Malaysia and Dallas talked shit. When she saw me getting into the Charger, she said, “And he let you drive his car? Oh, hell no!”

For some reason, her outburst made me chuckle. I didn’t know what was going on with her and Dejvi, but it was clearly something. What Dallas said was true—Dejvi didn’t make it seem like he had a relationship to hide when he was posting about me and my business. I wouldn’t say it was impossible for him to be cheating. Quite frankly, things were still so new between us that he could be a complete fraud. I couldn’t deny, though, that the vibe and bond we’d been building were genuine, and I hoped he wasn’t yet another man to lie and cheat on me… whether our relationship was real or not.

19

Dejvi

The Third Round

Something was wrong. I’d been calling Enjell all day, and she hadn’t responded. In fact, she started sending me straight to voicemail. I told myself it was because she was busy with work and that we’d talk at the competition tonight, but it didn’t seem like that was going to be the case. She’d been avoiding my eyes, and Malaysia and Dallas were giving me the stank face every time I looked over at them.

When the third-round contestants were announced, I cleaned up my station as usual and headed over to her. Before I could even speak, Malaysia and Dallas were stepping in front of her. It was cute seeing their little asses be such fierce protectors, but I was lost as to why they felt they had to protect her from me.

“Can I talk to my love?” I asked sweetly.

“You mean her?” Malay asked, pointing toward Enjell.

“Who else would I be talking about?”

“Apparently, you got a whole girlfriend out here,” Dallas responded.

“The only woman I got is Enjell.” Enjell grunted as she gathered her things off the table. “Will y’all move before I fling your little asses?”

“It’s fine, y’all,” Enjell said, and that was the only reason they parted like the Red Sea.

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