Page 36 of Maceo

“My lunch date is here.”

I looked back to see a tall, dark, and devilishly handsome dread head man approaching the table. The closer he got, the scarier his presence became. It didn’t help that he had this long scar along his left cheek that gave him a rugged, dangerous look. I swallowed hard as he came to stand next to her.

“Sharina, this is Blane. Blane, this is Sharina.”

He looked at me for a moment before extending his hand. “Nice to meet you,” came from a voice so deep, I felt the vibrations.

“Nice to meet you too. Well, Charity, I’ll let you get back to your date.”

“About lunch?”

I gave a tight-lipped smile. “Sure.”

“Great. I’m at The Cardinal, room 756.”

Oh, so this nigga put her up in a luxury hotel?Bet.

“Duly noted.”

I gave her and Blane a final once-over before heading back to my table. I had a feeling about this one. Somewhere in the pit of my stomach, I just knew she was up to something. I wasn’t sure if she was selling pussy or what… but it was something.

I zippedmy duffel bag and hoisted it over my shoulder to carry it downstairs. Deuce had come over to discuss the next mission we had to take. It had been a few months since we had anything pop up, so my brothers were ready for action. Of course, all of them eyed me suspiciously when asked if everybody was cool with leaving out tonight.

“You got some other shit you need to do, Maceo?” he asked, glaring at me.

“No.”

“You sure? ’Cause you and Shar love running off and shit. I’d hate to intrude on what y’all muthafuckas got going on.”

“Nigga, I said I’m good. Damn.”

“Lower yo’ fucking tone.”

“I’m not lowering a muthafucking thing. You keep forgetting that I’m a grown ass man. You not gon’ lil’ boy me.”

“Y’all need to cut this shit the fuck out,” Kerrion said, lighting a blunt. He looked at me. “Y’all do be dipping out and shit, Maceo. I’m just saying.”

“Look, what me and my lady have going on is none of y’all’s business.”

“You made it our business when you brought that shit up and never spoke on it,” Deuce snapped. “I’ma let you live though. You gon’ need us before we need you. Remember that shit.”

I’d waved him off, not feeling like arguing with his ass. This shit was gonna come back up again anyway.

Just as I hit the bottom step, the front door opened, and Shar walked in with a frown directed at me. She looked at the bag in my hand and crossed her arms. I threw my head back and sighed.

“What did I do now?” I asked.

“You put Charity up in a luxury hotel?”

I shrugged. “And? Wait, how do you even know that?”

“I saw her atCopper and Oaklooking like new money. She claims she met a guy that wanted to spend some money on her.”

“What does that have to do with me? I ain’t that nigga. I bought her a few clothes and gave her a few dollars until she started getting paid. That’s it.”

“So she didn’t tell you if there was anything she could do to repay you, to let her know?”

“Shar… baby. What do you want me to do?”

---