Page 43 of Tainted

“Girl, you act like his ass was driving. Calm down!” Jewel sucked her teeth.

“Don’t hate boo!” Brandy exclaimed, strolling over to the black car that had just sped through the finish line.

8

Kenyon

Ihad been caught up in a whirlwind of favors for Javier, leaving little time for anything else. But we managed to clear the shipment, and today, I had a window of free time. Cars were the only thing Pops and I had in common. Stepping into the garage, my grandfather's old Chevy Chevelle greeted me. Kross didn’t understand why I didn’t take it to Digg’s to repair like I did all my other cars but this one was special.

I popped the hood and almost heard my father’s voice guiding me through each step. Something about repairing and restoring old cars gave me a false sense of control, something I hadn’t felt in a while.

Then Kross called, interrupting my peace.

“We have a problem. Come see me.”

“I’m not dealing with problems today.”

“Don’t start that shit.”

I loved my brother but hated the way he communicated in demands. I didn’t expect Kross to go into details on the phone, but barking orders got on my fuckin’ nerves. He knew it, but he was just too stubborn to fix it.

“I’m busy.”

“Busy doing what?” Kross inquired because he didn’t want to discuss the latter part of my statement.

“Working on the Chevelle so I can drive it the fuck away from you.”

“It’s important, so get your ass down here.” Kross hung up, pissing me off further.

Since Kross wanted to be an asshole, I moved on to the carburetor until I was satisfied with my progress on the carburetor. Then, I hopped in the shower and drove to Utopia. When I entered the club, Kross was leaning against the bar with a drink. He looked up when he saw me, giving me a nod.

“Glad you could make it,” he said, sipping his drink slowly.

“You better be lucky I came at all. You need to learn how to talk to me before I fuck you up,” I warned.

“Youdon’t know how to talk to people. Consider it reparations.” Kross mocked.

“What’s so important?”

Kross glanced around and took another sip, his expression shifting into something more serious but not urgent.

“Javier moved up the next shipment.”

I let out a breath, shaking my head. “That’s what you called me for? Kross, I thought this was an emergency.”

“It is important. He’s talking about moving the shipment up by two weeks.”

I sighed, leaning back against the bar and crossing my arms. “We’ve handled worse. Two weeks isn’t ideal, but it’s not impossible. We can work with it.”

Kross ran a “hand through his hair, still looking a little too wound up for something that wasn’t as critical as he made it seem. “Yeah, but we’re also still dealing with the heat from the last run. We’re spread thin, Keyes.”

Despite our differences, we were in this together, for better or worse. Only I didn’t know this version of my brother here. Kross was always so smooth and calculated, but today, he was rattled. Almost tortured.

“Wassup with you?” I asked, watching him signal for another drink.

“Long night. I’ll be straight. I need to get up with Megan.”

“You need to take your ass home. Let Megan handle the club. Isn’t that what you pay her for?”

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