Page 24 of Only if You Catch Me
“What do you need, Toya?” I asked in a gentle tone. It was her that was upset with me, and I was giving her space. I didn’t have any beef with her.
“I’ve used up all my PTO at work, and I still have a few more days to be out. I’ve been using my savings, and it’s dwindling kind of fast. Would you be able to help me pay my rent next month? If not, I understand.”
“How much is your rent?”
“It’s $1,700.”
Removing the phone from my ear, I sent her $3,500 via Cash app. When she received the notification, I could hear her sigh of relief through the phone. “Thank you so much, Kastian. I really appreciate it.”
“No problem. You can always hit me up if you need something, Toya. You’re still my people.”
“Thank you, Kastian.”
I was starting to think that maybe a child wasn’t in the cards for me just yet. I didn’t think Xena was a good prospect, and I was damn near tired of looking. It wasn’t something that Iwanted to force. When it was meant for me to have kids, I would have them. I lived in a gated community, in a 8,600 square foot home, with four bedrooms, and seven bathrooms. One of my favorite things about the house was the sauna. I hustled for four years and had more than $700,000 saved when I got my real estate license. I did real estate for a year, so it would look good on paper, and then I dropped $520,000 on my home. I had been living in my house for four years, and every month, I doubled up on my mortgage payments, so the house would be paid off very soon.
The money I earned from real estate was great, but dope money was plentiful. If I didn’t want smoke with the IRS my home could have already been paid off. I was using drug money to help fund my retirement but as I had discussed with Ryder, the shit was getting old. I wanted to be comfortable, but there was a fine line between securing my future and being greedy.
I got out of my car, and Persia climbed out of hers. “This is the second time you got out of your car without letting me come open the door. Don’t let it happen again,” I stated as I grabbed the shopping bags out of the back.
“My bad, boss. I just thought it would be a little weird to just sit there. Because what if you wouldn’t have come open the door?”
“You’re too used to lame niggas.” I shook my head.
“I hear you, Kastian.” She rolled her eyes. “I’ve sold a few houses in this area. Your home is beautiful, and I haven’t even seen the inside.”
“Thank you. I hustled my ass off for this shit, but I’ve been hustling even harder since I got it. Not sure if I’m going to sell it in a few years or keep it and rent it out, but this house doesn’t have shit on my next one. I’m going to probably start the process of having it built in a year or so. I’m pretty sure that it’ll take at least a year to complete.”
“It feels weird to be a real estate broker, but I’m about to be renting. Not sure I want the hassle that comes with owning a home right now. I’m just a girl,” she joked.
“There isn’t anything wrong with renting even if you are a broker.” I entered the code into my lock pad and pushed the door open letting Persia walk past me and enter the house first. My house was spacious as hell.
I had never been a dirty nigga, so between me cleaning up behind myself and a cleaning service coming in once a week, the place pretty much stayed spotless. I had three ladies that came every Friday. It took them five hours to clean the house, and they did everything from clean the fridge and the stove to taking out the trash and emptying the dishwasher. I could cook certain things like oxtails, rice, fried fish, and spaghetti, but I couldn’t straight throw down in the kitchen. I also tried to watch how much I ate out. So, a few nights a week, I cooked for myself and twice a week, my chef came through.
“I was thinking about gumbo, crab cakes, maybe some salmon and rice for dinner. If you want something else, I can text my chef and let him know.”
“That sounds fine. I’m not too picky.”
I texted Carlos while leading Persia into the den.
“It might be crazy because I live alone but if I do buy, it has to be something like this,” Persia marveled as she looked around.
“It doesn’t sound crazy. I live alone too. I utilize all this space. And I’m going to need something bigger if I succeed in having kids.”
“How many kids do you want?” she sat down on the couch.
“Two for sure. Maybe three. I wouldn’t even mind four.”
“You want them all to have the same mother, or you going to be on some Nick Cannon type shit?”
Chuckling, I sat down. “Nah. I’m not trying to be like Nick Cannon. Even if I’m not in a relationship with the mother,I don’t want multiple broken homes. There’s no way you can give all those kids in different households adequate time and attention. My kids are going to have rooms at my house and be with me often, but I mean it when I say me and the mother have to be cool as shit. No beef and no animosity. Shit, I’m going to need a room at her house for when I want to see my kid and fall asleep with him or her.”
Persia nodded. “Sounds like you know exactly what you want. It also sounds like you’ll be a good father.”
“What do you want?” I looked over at her.
“I really don’t even know. Shoot, a month ago, I didn’t even know that I’d be single again. I just want to excel in my career. Get a place to live. Get to know myself again. I’m not in a rush to date, but I’m not opposed to it either. I just want to have fun. No relationships for a minute. Just casual dating.”
My gaze poured over her. “And could you see yourself casually dating me?”
