Page 14 of A Player's Prayer
The way Adrian was speeding to the short distance to my home, I wasn’t sure if I had made the right choice in choosing which one.
“I’m really diggingthe design and the material that’s going to be used on the fall release. Keep me up to date on any changes, and I will be out there in a few months to finalize.”
Wrapping up the meeting with my shoe production team in Portugal, I let out a sigh of relief. Even though today’s meeting was virtual, it didn’t make it any less hectic. I love designing my very own brand of high-end sneakers, but having the majority of my team across the world is a fucking headache.
“Knock knock, nigga.” I looked up from my laptop as my brother, Skip, entered my office. “You busy?”
“Being as though you didn’t wait for me to answer before you walked in, I would say you don’t give a fuck.” I stood and slapped hands with him before he took a seat on the sofa. “You good?”
Today I was working at Wild Kicks, located near Mills Manor. This store has been open for a little more than three years, and I love it just as much as I do Urban Sole. This brand was more upscale compared to the one in the hood, but it was still me. I chose to carry various shoe brands here that wouldn’t sell at Urban Sole due to the style and the price. Alexander McQueen, Philipp Plein, Amiri, Prada, Naked Wolfe, Gucci, A Ma Manière, Off-White; I had a bit of everything in here for men and women including my own brand.
“I checked your location and decided to come and holla at you.” He shrugged as he got comfortable in his seat. Like more times than not, he was dressed in slacks. “Noemi wanted to spend the rest of the summer over at Grove Isles, so I was in the area.” Nodding toward the newest sneaker design on the screen, he smirked. “Those are going to be tough.”
“Thank you.” I cheesed as we both stared at the patent leather sketch. “See, I’m not as nutty as you niggas think I am.”
Being the youngest of the crew, I was always the jokester and never took shit seriously. I was goofy, for sure, but I’m far from being a goofy-ass nigga. I graduated top of my class in high school and did the same at the University of Milly Grove. Designing and maintaining my businesses is one thing I don’t play about, especially when my name is attached. I may act like a stupid-ass nigga, but I’ve never been dumb.
“Oh, you’re definitely nutty.” Skip chuckled as he pulled his phone from his pocket. “I came over here to check on you and make sure you didn’t get that girl fired when you went to her job.” Frowning, I was going to ask him how he knew that, but he continued before I could, “We share locations, nigga… Remember? I can wake up out of my sleep to take a piss, and I’m going to check where you and Uno are before I lay my head back on them good-ass pillows Mi brought us.”
Leaning back in my seat, I chuckled before running down how I called myself pulling up on Dakota to get some straightening. I was not expecting to leave that damn hospital looking like I should have been a patient. I admit, the fire she had in her turned me on. Kodi was unlike any woman I’d ever met. I knew it the moment I almost beat that doctor’s ass at the café for no reason. She may not want his bald-headed ass, but he sure as hell wants her.
“Wait, you went to that girl’s job and not only got your ass beat, but you almost made her lose it?” He shook his head in disbelief. “You better be glad Chad was in-house that day. You could have gotten that girl fired, Wild.” Looking at me, a slow grin came into view. “At least I know what I’m watching with my wife for movie night. I hope she still has a copy of the tape she edited for you.”
“Anyways, nigga.” I waved him off before shutting down and packing my three laptops into my Bottega Cabin duffle bag while I placed all my sketches in my Prada backpack. I’d only come in for the meeting and to check on Janelle to make sure she didn’t need anything. She could handle the store without me, so there was no need for me to stay. “I’ve since made up for my actions. I spent a fuckin’ check on that girl.”
Handing my brother the invoice for the things I gifted Dakota, I thought about how balling out on women wasn’t my norm. When I pulled up on her, it was never my intention to get her fired—I just wanted to shake some act right into her. However, walking by and hearing Tanessa speak to her the way she did had us both fucked up. My family and I have been the highest donors to that hospital for years, and even though I’ve never been the type to use my name to my advantage, I wasn’t going to stand by and watch Kodi be fired.
Tanessa, on the other hand, had to go. Not only because of how she treated the staff, but also because of how she treatedthe patients. I stayed out of the way when it came to the logistics of what was happening in the companies and businesses that my family was attached to, so I was happy to find out after the incident that Tanessa had been an issue for a while. People had been complaining about her at the hospital for a while now, and it was past time to do something about it. I just happen to be the nigga to get that shit rolling.
“Nigga, you out here trickin’ like this?” Skip hollered as he sat on the couch, wide-eyed and flipping through the pages of invoices. “Shit… you need to compensate me for stuff you’ve done to me over the years. This stack of paper would quintuple.”
“I ain’t no fuckin’ trick, nigga. And I ain’t buying you shit!” I threw my backpack over my shoulder and grabbed my duffle before snatching the papers from him with my free hand. “I was part of the reason Kodi’s day was ruined, and I felt a little bad about it.”
“And the fifty thousand cash? That equates to alittlebad?” He stood, brows raised, as he followed me out the door. “Whew… That sure is a hell of an apology.”
Giving him the middle finger, I heard him laugh behind me as I led him to the front of the store. It was a busy Friday afternoon, but I knew the girls could handle it. Scanning the suite to make sure everything was good, I threw my hand up at Janelle, indicating I was gone. Since Wild Kicks was near all of the good shopping areas, I decided to have a quick lunch with my brother before I headed back to the inner city.
“Your birthday is coming up soon,” Skip stated the obvious as our food was placed before us. We decided to hit up the Burger Barn for lunch. A bacon cheeseburger from this place was going to send me into a two-day sleep coma, and I welcomed it. “What are you doing for it?”
With a mouth full of salty fries, I shrugged before answering. “I was thinking about a party or?—”
As I looked up, my eyes locked on shorty approaching the counter as her name was called. I knew Kodi’s body was something out of her uniform, but the way her ass jiggled with each step she took in the sundress she was wearing was insane. The white airy frock she had on was simple, but I swear I’d never seen anything that looked better than what I was seeing at this moment.
“What the fuck are you staring at?” Skip mumbled with a mouth full of fries as he turned around. Right as he did, Kodi grabbed her food tray and locked eyes with us. “Damn, she’s pretty.”
“I bet I tell Noemi how you’re out here lusting after other women if you don’t take that shit back.” I threw a balled-up napkin at him before turning my attention back to Dakota. She was about to go find her a table when I felt compelled to wave her over. “Don’t say shit when she comes over here.”
“What’s up, shorty?” His stupid ass swiftly stood from his seat and grinned as she reached the table. “You must be Kodi?”
“Uhh, Dakota.” She giggled and accepted his outstretched hand. “And you are?”
“A married man with a house full of fuckin’ kids.” I frowned and stood, slapping his hand down. “This is my brother, Skip, Kodi.” I retook my seat in the booth, sliding over so she could sit next to me. “What are you doing on this side of town?”
Staring at her as she cleaned her hands with sanitizer, I found myself enthralled with every movement she made. Hell, she even had a nigga using words like ‘enthralled.’ Everything about her was so damn sexy to me. From the way she bit into her burger to the way she licked the excess ketchup from her lips.
Catching me staring, she smirked. “You having a stroke or something? The fuck is wrong with you staring at a nigga and shit?”
“Damn, man. She sounds just like you.” Skip laughed as if Kodi was a fucking comedian. “I like her.”
