Page 19 of Read the Room

It was so weird to hear him call Lucas by his alter ego that came from his middle name Jedidiah. Any task that allowed my son to show that he could be a big boy, he was down for.

“Mama, I be back. I go make popcorn with Joey. We eat ’fredo later”

“Okay, baby. Be careful,” I told him.

He gave me a big hug before he bolted out of the room with Joey. My baby told Joey that he wanted some chicken alfredo, so he told him he would make some.

Lo asked me to come into the living room. I pulled on my clothes because I was dressed casually. I had on a pair of leggings and an oversized t-shirt. Both of my feet were placed under me as I sat on the couch opposite him.

“Do I call you Lo or AK?”

“You can call me Lo or Lo’ak,” he responded.

When I asked him if the Lo and the AK meant something separately, his answer intrigued me. “My grandma calls me Lo. The streets call me AK because my full nickname is Armageddon.”

My head leaned toward my shoulder. “As in the last battle before judgment day? Oh, that’s scary.”

“It’s only scary if you have to battle me. You’re good, though. At least, I think you are,” he said with a raised brow. “I wanted to talk to you about what happened the last time you worked.”

My inner brows kissed, and my upper lip turned up. “I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about. Nothing happened the last time that I worked. Did I mess up a bar order?”

His face tightened. “Are you serious? Like, you’re really serious.”

“Yeah, what? Did something happen?” I shifted in my seat. “I didn’t hear about anything.”

Yep, I would play dumb as hell. I was not trying to go up against Armageddon. To hell with that!

He laughed. “So, you one of them, huh? You don’t know nothing. You didn’t see nothing?”

“I mean, I can’t know or see anything that didn’t happen. Or at least, I didn’t know that happened,” I said nonchalantly. “If that’s one of them, then I guess I am.”

He displayed those cute dimples. “Well, I’m sorry my people had to grab you up. I had to make sure shit was straight.”

“Oh, no problem. This was a calm nice-nap. Joey and Ethan were very accommodating, which was great. I didn’t want my Lucas to be traumatized by this experience,” I told him. He laughed at my nice-nap term. “Will I be able to go home now?”

He dropped his head then rubbed his hand across the waves in his hair. When his eyes connected to me again, I knew the answer that he had for me would not be what I wanted it to be.

“So, I got a call about the person that you don’t know that didn’t see you, and they didn’t tell their imaginary boss that they didn’t see you. Now that boss is not looking for you. I need you to stay with me until the imaginary threat is cleared.”

Is it proper to laugh at him trying to follow suit with my ‘it never happened’ parallel?

“So, I have to stay out here? For how long?”

“Nah. I think I’m gonna move you to my crib. I want to keep eyes on you to make sure you’re safe.” He stared at me for a moment. “Is that alright with you?”

I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. “Like your ho pad or something? Is your girl going to have a problem with me being there? I don’t like drama. I may be little but mighty.”

His head bucked back. “I’ll have to remember that shit, but nah. It’s not a ho pad. What makes you think I have a girl?”

“Um, your girl is Alexi,” I answered in a matter-of-fact tone. “She makes sure she mentions you every time she comes into Louie’s. I work there too. Wait. Does this mean that I can’t work? How am I supposed to pay my bills and take care of my son!” Anxiety covered me like a dark cloud. “I don’t have enough time off for this kidnapping.”

Lo glanced at me before he sat back. “First, I thought you said that you were nice-napped? Second, at this point, it’s about your protection now. Juan, who you don’t know, was taken care of, but his boss is looking for you. I can promise if he gets to you, it won’t be a nice-nap. As far as your bills, I’ll make sure they’re taken care of. I’ll also talk to Louie.”

“Why is his boss looking for me? I didn’t do anything.”

I smacked the tear that trickled down my cheek away. I didn’t get it. Why was this happening to me? I wanted to shift the subject because I felt like I would breakdown if I didn’t.

“You never said anything about Alexi.”

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