Page 74 of Anything Necessary for Her
Me: Never. <3
JUST TWO DAYS LATER . . .
I heardtires crunching the gravel outside of the warehouse, making me stand to my feet. Hitting the buzzer to unlock the door, I stepped out, keeping it propped open as Asif exited his vehicle. I could tell by how dressed down he was what he was on. I always dressed down, but for today, I made sure not to rock jeans or anything too fucking confined. I knew Asif well enough to know shit wasn’t just gon’ be a conversation.
“Sup.” I bobbed my head before walking in, holding the door for him.
“Sup,” he replied coolly, following me in. He was the only muthafucka I would allow to walk behind me.
As soon as we got to the room where we usually had discussions and talks, he removed a big ass .45 he had in his waist, setting it atop the table.
“Damn.” I commented on the size of the gun, stroking my beard.
“You already know how shit go, so let’s get it out the fucking way.” He moved from behind the table, and I did the same.
“I do.”
He wasted no time, clocking me in the jaw, and I hit his ass right back before the fight commenced. I wasn’t the same young nigga from years ago, so I was able to block a few of his hits and get him a nice amount of times. However, his stamina and power would for some reason always be greater, the result being me losing momentum as he stole off on me, before dropping me.
Before I collapsed to the floor, his arm hooked around my neck, choking me roughly as fuck.
“You done or nah?” he asked, breathing heavily just like I was.
I did a slicing motion since I couldn’t breathe nor speak, making him drop me to the concrete flooring of the warehouse. Usually, a nigga would’ve kept going, but I never wanted this shit. Same time, I wasn’t coming up off of Banks, so if I had to fight all her brothers, including the one I had the utmost respect for, then so fucking be it.
Asif helped me to my feet, brushing his other forearm across his mouth to clean away the blood. I did the same, face on fire from that last few minutes where he fucked me up. I could taste the blood in my mouth and feel it leaking from my nose, making me wipe it with the hoodie I’d taken off prior to his arrival. My eye socket was also throbbing.
As we sat down, he poured some whiskey into the two glasses I’d laid out, praying this shit didn’t go too left to where wecouldn’t still be cool after. I’d already vowed not to allow that shit to happen.
We both took sips in silence, catching our breaths while seated on opposite sides of the table.
“I know you be going easy on me in the beginning.” I smirked and sighed out of relief when he mimicked my gesture before polishing off his liquor then refilling his glass.
“That’s a lil boxing move. Tire the opponent out then knock his ass out. Make no mistake, though, I could’ve beat yo’ ass in the first couple minutes.” We chuckled before he drank more, then exhaled. “Banks is a grown woman, so I can’t control what she do, as badly as a nigga wants to. Her going behind my back is one thing, and I get her reasons, but you? That ain’t no real nigga shit, Low.”
“I agree.” I nodded. “I wanted to tell you, cuz, but she ain’t want me to, and I couldn’t betray her trust. And like you, I understood her reasons.”
“So you’d betray me before you’d betray her?” He looked at me, pausing mid sip.
“Unfortunately, Sif, I would.” Laughing at how pathetic I fucking sounded, I mumbled, “I’ll do anything she wants me to.”
I watched him snicker subtly into his glass before he replied, “That’s the right answer, as difficult as it is to hear. That’s how shit should be.”
“If it makes you feel better, I haven’t touched her in that way. I couldn’t do it, knowing the shit was a secret. Peep ain’t a woman you love on the low. I couldn’t and wouldn’t be with her in that way until I could tell the world, including y’all, that she was mine.”
“Peep?”
“Nickname. Some inside shit.”
He finished his drink and sat back in his chair like he was thinking, hand resting on his gun. “You sound serious, butI wanna know are you? Only reason you not laid out with ya fucking brains resting beside you is because she for real fuck with you. My baby sister ain’t generous with her feelings, meaning she picky as fuck when it come to dating. So the fact that she defending you, going against us, and professing her love for you to me, says a lot and is currently saving ya life.
“I know putting a bullet in you would break her fucking heart more than any knucklehead ass nigga ever could. Had that not been the case, I would’ve had this shit against ya forehead the same night I found this shit out.”
“You know me, Sif. You can answer ya own question on whether I’m serious or not.”
“I don’t wanna answer my own fucking question. I wanna hear it from you.”
“I amoverlyfucking serious, my nigga.” He chuckled, seemingly against his will. “Too serious. I think about her all fucking day. Before I make moves, I think about what she would say or if she would like it. I bought her flowers, and you know that ain’t me. The excitement I feel in my chest and whole fucking body, for that matter, knowing I’m gon’ see her is . . . otherworldly.
