Page 2 of Suleem and Yahzi
Dex was a regular in my chair for two months before he asked me out. He flirted but never crossed lines or got disrespectful. He was hood but in a refined way, which was how I didn’t know he was affiliated.
That didn’t happen until a few weeks ago when Dex and one of his boys showed up at his apartment in the middle of the night pissed about their gang getting ambushed. His boy had been nursing a bullet wound in the arm while Dex had been grazed in the side. What I thought was him chilling with his boys was Dex in the middle of a shootout with a rival gang. Turned out the Dex was not only affiliated, he was pretty high up in the ranks. It blew me because I actually liked him but refused to travel down that road again.
“People show you what they want you to see and we see what we want to believe.”
“I feel you. So that means your pretty ass is available then, right?”
“For you, no.”
He smiled sexily. “You’re missing out on a good time.”
I watched him remove his hand from under the cape and grip his dick.
“Good sex isn’t worth the headache it’s typically connected to, and if I really need to travel down that road, I can get it anywhere without strings attached.”
He chuckled. “You’re right but I’m not talking about good sex. I’m talking about the type of shit that will change your life. When you’re ready for an otherworldly experience, just let me know and I got you.”
I already had otherworldly sex that changed my life. I left the man it was attached to three years ago. He was imprinted on me and there was no competition and never would be.
“Yeah, I’ll do that.”
I definitely would not…
“You won’t but that’s cool. The offer is open if you change your mind. I’ll gladly move you to the top of the list.”
I turned, placed the clippers down and lifted the brush to remove excess hair before I unsnapped his cape.
“I know that’s supposed to feel like a privilege but the whole list thing kills the vibe.”
Knocks lifted from the chair, allowing his six foot plus frame to tower over my five foot seven height. I wasn’t exactly short, but next to him, I looked height challenged. Knocks bent enough to inspect his cut, turning his head from side to side like he didn’t know my hands were blessed as he grinned with a slight nod. “You’re cold as fuck, Yah.”
“I know, now come up off that.” I turned my palm up, requesting my money, and he chuckled, removing a hundred from his pocket and handing it over. Another thing I loved about Knocks and his people. They paid without debate and tipped well. This was a forty dollar cut with a sixty dollar tip just because he respected the hustle but more so because he had it.
“I’ll get with you. Be easy, Yah, and I’m glad you’re not fucking with that simp anymore. You deserve better.”
“And you’re better?” I arched my brow and Knocks smiled, causing his dimple to surface.
“Shit… you already know but I get it. You need a nigga who’s on his grown man shit and I’m gonna be a player for life.”
“At least you’re honest.”
“Always.” He winked, tossed his chin, and left the shop while I waved over my next client. I had three more heads today then I would be heading home.
By eight Iwas pulling up at my apartment feeling like my night was going to be a hot bath, some takeout, and a bottle of wine I started and didn’t finish two days ago. The past three days had been long with me taking on clients from Sean, one of the owners of the shop where I cut. He was out all week because his girl demanded time with her man.
They were a cute couple and I respected that he cared enough to shut down when she felt like she needed him. He trusted only me to take on his return customers, so he handed over a full week’s worth. Sean was East Street like Knocks, but older, so alongside the illegal activities he engaged in, Sean kept a barbershop because he had a girl and a daughter who depended on him.
I was hesitant about working here at first because I didn’t want to be in the middle of the same stuff I walked away from but Sean assured me the shop was a neutral space. Other than his boys coming in for cuts, there was no attachment to East Street.
Sean was cool people but also had me in my feelings wondering if my life would have looked like the one he provided for his girl had I stayed in Diamond Falls. That thought moved through my mind a few times but there was one very distinct difference. Sean separated those worlds, Suleem didn’t, or rather, couldn’t. DP was his world. He created it with his boy Kassir, which meant a lifetime of attachment to the things that could have killed me and almost took him from this earth.
Pushing the thoughts to the back of my mind, I exited my car and walked to my door, frowning when I heard loud music and voices on the inside.
The fuck…
I lived alone and there damn sure shouldn’t have been anyone in my apartment. When I moved closer to the door and leaned in to listen, I heard a voice that explained what was going on. Heat pushed through my veins as I keyed the code to let myself in and almost spazzed when I noticed the heavy smell of something blazing, guns and bottles of alcohol spread around my living room, and the bodies of six men I wasn’t familiar with. My eyes went straight to the seventh person, slouched low on my sofa. A person I was very familiar with but who had no business in my crib.
“What’s up, babe?” He smiled lazily and heat pushed through me again.
