Page 53 of Suleem and Yahzi
She looked up at me and smiled, all starry eyed before she reached for the bag and brought it over. “Here you go.”
“’Preciate that.”
I turned to Mr. Dave who was double checking a payout for the person standing in front of him. “Kassir got his or you need me to take it?”
“He got it right before the game ended.”
“Aight.” I tossed my chin. Each coach handled the payout for their players so we were good on that. They got ten stacks per game and an extra ten for whoever took home the trophy. Jay-Roc had been our coach since the team was formed seven years ago and was a solid dude so he would be handling the payout for the Ballerz. He did a short run with the Royals before getting injured and ended up coaching at the high school. It bothered him that he wasn’t in a jersey anymore but his talent and skills were respected in the community and very necessary.
“You ready?” I dropped my arm around Yahzi’s shoulder and kissed her temple.
“Yeah, I’m tired. This was fun but it’s hot as hell and loud.”
When we made it to my car, I laughed arrogantly under my breath when I noticed Jessica parked next to me. She was leaned against the side of her car, mugging the fuck out of Yahzi as we approached. She wanted my attention so gotdamn bad it was laughable. After I tossed the duffle in the trunk, I rounded the car to the driver’s side and pulled Yahzi into me so I had space to open her door. Before I released her to get inside, I tongued her ass down.
When I let her go, she brushed her thumb over my lips, removing the gloss she left behind then turned to Jessica. “Damn, girl. You’re all up in our grills. Maybe stop chasing dicks that aren’t attached to your husband and he might show you some love.” She smiled smugly at Jessica before she eased into the passenger seat. I wasn’t surprised that Yahzi knew who she was.
When I got in and started the car, I turned to her. “You cool?”
“You fucked her since I been back?”
I chuckled and shook my head, not even entertaining that dumb ass question with a response.
“You know who that is?” I asked instead.
“Yep. She’s Niecy’s cousin. There’s a whole group chat about me.”
I knew they were family, and was hoping it didn’t come out, but also didn’t care. I fucked Jessica twice at my shop and she gave me head once in the parking lot of my building when she pulled up thinking she was about to chill at my crib. That was a no fucking go…
“Fuck you mean by group chat?”
“It’s not a big deal.”
“Niecy was talking shit about you?”
“No, she pretty much told your little friend to find something safe to do and you didn’t answer my question.”
“Do I need to? I’m pretty sure it was understood that after I put my dick in you again that nobody else was gonna hold my attention. There’s no point in wasting my time or theirs.”
The corner of her mouth curved when she removed her phone from her purse and unlocked the screen. “Yeah I know but I just needed you to speak the words out loud so you could hear them in real time. Sometimes, when you think shit or say it in your head, it’s not as profound and doesn’t hold as much weight.”
I chuckled and shook my head but left the conversation there. We pulled up at Pancake House to get some food before heading to the crib. After we showered and ate, we sat on the floor in the living room. Yahzi was between my legs with hers crossed at the ankle. I unzipped the duffle from the tournament and dumped the money on the floor in front of us to separate and count.
Twenty percent off the top and the four to one odds I bet on with the Ballerz meant a nice ass payout. This was that vibe I would never have with anyone else. I would never trust another woman with my money like this and I damn sure would never let one be all up in my personal space.
“This is a lot of money. We have to count all of it?”
“I know you’re not complaining about putting in a little work.” I kissed her neck and she threw her head back against my shoulder, handing me a narrowed glare before she leaned forward and began organizing the bills.
“I’m not complaining, because the rule is I get half of what I count, and this looks like about fifty grand.”
When I was heavy in the streets, pushing weed and pills a couple years ago, Yahzi spent late nights getting me right when I wasn’t getting money. I always let her keep what she wanted. She could get that though, with no complaints on my part.
I smirked and pushed my hand under her shirt, placing my palm flat against her stomach. “Aight, you can have that.”
Back in the day, that was our deal. Whenever she helped me count and band my stacks, Yahzi kept half of what she worked through. I moved faster than she did which meant she only ever touched a third of what needed to be organized. That really wasn’t shit back then because it was before we started selling in bulk. That nickel and dime shit wasn’t anything compared to the keys we pushed now.
“This is more than fifty grand because you gave in too easily.”
