Page 32 of Another Constant

For a while we just talked back and forth. I was enjoying her company more than I had ever enjoyed anybody’s company. She didn’t want shit from me and she wasn’t trying to be slick. Shit, she didn’t know of any of my street shit. She was getting to know me for what I told and showed her, not a reputation I built in my younger years. Hell yeah I maintained that motherfucker, but she didn’t see me like that, and that much I could tell from the way she looked at me.

“So you’re coming over tonight?”

“I got my niece. Are you good with her coming through?”

She nodded. “That’s fine. What does she like?”

“The fuck you mean what she like? What about what I like?”

She cackled. “Everything ain’t about you, handsome.”

“Fuck outta here.”

She giggled some more upon seeing I wasn’t fucking smiling. “Get over it. You’ve had my cooking three times. I doubt you’ll dislike what I cook tonight.”

She left the shop about an hour later, leaving me to work on my old school and a few other things I needed to take care of. I threw myself so far into work that I didn’t realize time had flown by the way it had. By the time I looked up at the clock, it was dark and I was hungry as shit, like Harlem hadn’t fed me hours prior. I was getting cleaned up to leave when a familiar voice up front in the shop caught my attention.

“You just said he was out back and you just said he’s gone. Which one is it?” Jewlz asked. I had been told everybody up front not to ever tell anybody I was here. I didn’t like nobody thinking they could just walk up on me.

“Either way I need to talk to him and it’s serious and none of your business.”

I shook my head. “Let her back.” I was loud enough for them to hear.

“Thank you. And don’t be looking at my ass.” She said that shit loud as fuck as her heeled sandals clacked against the concrete in my direction. When I looked up, shorty looked good as fuck but in that too much type of way. I hadn’t ever paid any attention to the fact that she did too much until now.

She wore a short skirt and an even shorter shirt. Shit looked good, but it was tight as fuck. She wanted the attention… my attention.

“What’s up, Jewlz?” I asked, pulling my hoodie over my head. I was waiting on Sora to drop Aja off then we were going by the crib to grab some shit before we went to Harlem’s.

“I haven’t seen you around. Was just trying to see if you had some time to catch up.” She leaned back in my car.

“Whoa, watch out,” I called out, reminding her not to touch my shit. I didn’t like people leaning on my cars. Too many textures could fuck up a good paintjob and the last thing I needed was to be hitting Rud to paint me up before the new season.

“My bad. So, are you free?”

“Nah I ain’t.” I eased out of the shop suit, thoughts of my lil fine shit filled my mind. I couldn’t understand how it had only been a few weeks, but she was on my mind like this.

“What about later?”

“I’on know. I gotta see about later. Is that all you came by for?” I had no intention of seeing about later seeing as how I intended to be knee deep in Harlem all night.

She looked uncomfortable, definitely not used to me turning her down. “Nah, I was also coming by to let you know Antwan and Kyro are planning on moving into your territory.”

I laughed at the thought. “How you find that out?”

She popped her gum. “I was near when they had the conversation.”

More laughter expelled from my lips. Her saying she was near meant she was partying with them. Breaking bread and drinking with folks who wanted my motion was wicked work. It irked me that lil dudes like the ones hugging the blocks thought they could be any match for me. The blocks they wanted to move in on were just drops in a bucket for me and I still wasn’t letting them go. My name was attached to a lot of motion in this city, from the three liquor stores that didn’t only sell liquor to the bar my name had absolutely no visible attachment to up north. Neither of those even scratched the surface of that warehouse up in Rogers Park housing enough ammunition to start a war within city parameters on any given day.

“What’s funny? I’m loyal to you and I can’t even get a moment of your time.”

“Loyal to me? Yeah, you keep telling yourself that. Who is their big homie?”

She sucked her teeth, eyes moving everywhere.

“Maj. You know that.”

I nodded. “You party with him too?”

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