Page 4 of Giving Him Something He Can Feel

I sat at my desk for a while longer keeping my temper at bay before I was back on my feet again. I was about to go work the table when my door was opened and Linny was stepping through it.

He had this expression on his face that let me know he was about to beg. The same expression that let me know he didn’t think what he did was wrong.

“I really nee?—”

“No, what you need is to get out. I should’ve known you’d do something like this.”

“Look, I’m desperate. Mama can’t take out any more loans on the house and they will kill me.”

“No.Now leave.”

“What do you mean? I’m your blood brother and you can’t help me out?” He was pissed off like he had a right to be when he didn’t. He didn’t have a right to feel shit, especially when he just ambushed me thinking he could force my hand in front of those niggas. “I bet if I was that nigga Fari you’d help.”

I laughed. “I damn sure would because he wouldn’t be putting me nor my child in anything like this. But you, I met you less than a year ago and here you are. You’ve graduated from asking me for two hundred dollars here and there to the profit from my business to pay your debt. Does something with that equation sound off to you or am I the crazy one here?”

“No but I..” he started.

“No, I don’t want to hear it anymore. Please leave and don’t come back.” I held my hand up, over whatever was about to come out of his mouth.

He looked me over before he defeatedly walked out of my office. He wasn’t done with this, I knew that for sure.

A few minutes after he left I found myself still standing in the same place irritated about the whole thing. I wish I could be one of those people who didn’t care about much, but I couldn’t, I cared about everything. Unlike most I carried things too deeply for way too damn long. Carrying shit always ended me in foul spaces, because anger always introduced itself to the mix. That’s where my temper always showed up, too many feelings in one body and mind caused that type of shit. Before coming into the city I told my father I’d watch my temper and especially watch out, but this shit was pushing it. Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I dialed my older brother. He and I shared the same father, but Amelia was his mother. In so many words my father was with Amelia, then he got with my mother, before doubling back and ultimately ending up with Amelia.

Tafari and I were close, as opposed to Linny. Fari lived closer to our parents, which sometimes made me want to move home, but I liked it here. I liked the hustle and bustle.

“Yeah, baby girl?” he answered on the first ring.

“Needed to hear your voice. I got frustrated aboutsomething.”

“Bout what?”

“Linny shit. He cornered me in front of these niggas who he owes money to and tried to tell me he needed me to give them a percentage of my business income because he owed them and they’d ki?—”

“What the fuck? You for real?” I could hear his expression through the phone. He already didn’t like Linny, so this probably made it worse. “Did any of those niggas say anything to you?”

“No, it was all him. I handled it, but I hate that for some reason him and Eva think me being here is for their use.”

“Cut they asses off. Matter of fact I’ll handle it.”

“No, I got it, Fari.”

“You sure? Because it’s nothing for me to pay the both of them a fucking visit.”

“I know. I know. Probably shouldn’t even be calling you with this. Considering you already don’t like neither one of their asses.”

He chuckled but didn’t deny it. “You good, short fry.”

He and I talked for a while longer and even planned to have dinner this weekend before he had to go, and I had to do my last check of the floor before I went to pick up my baby from the sitter.

I walked out the back fully expecting the guys that he had meet him here to be gone, but they weren’t. From the looks of their table they had ordered and were now watching the game while eating. I hoped to God they hadn’t stuck around because of Linny, because if so that was a dead mission. I was in no way changing my mind.

After walking the floor and keeping my eyes on the one guy whose eyes stayed on me, I found my way to the back to pack up. He was handsome, jaw dropping, panties on the floor, amusement park pussy type of fine. But it was something about him, something cold about his eyes that made me shudder every time our eyes locked.

When I had my things together, I looped mylaptop in my arms and walked out calling myself going straight to my car. What I didn’t expect was to see my brother leaned against my car puffing on a cigarette. I knew what it was because of the smell.

“I need that money, Virtue.”

“And I told you no.”

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