Page 46 of Only if You Catch Me
“I’ll get in touch with her and ask her how much the rent is. I’ll pay it up for a couple of months.”
“I love Ryder like a brother, and I know he loves me too. But I’ve seen niggas turn on their blood when they get hit with those double digits. You think he’s gon’ remain solid?”
I didn’t put anything past anybody, but if Lox got in that interrogation room and dropped me and Ryder’s name it would hurt. “I hope so,” I mumbled.
I didn’t want to see my dog in prison, but that was a consequence of the game. Which was the reason I decided to get out of it. I was tired of looking over my shoulder. All the runners that used to hustle for me and the clientele that I sold to all started dealing with Lox. Niggas would have to find a new connect. Some hustler out there was going to get all that new business, and he would be the next one on top. It was the circle of life when it came to the streets. Running a hand over my waves, I pushed out a sigh.
“I guess now we just wait for him to call,” I rested my head on the seat.
“I’m about to get on that lawyer situation right now. Be easy my G.”
“You do the same.”
Ryder got out of the car. I started it and pulled off.
“Damn!” I hit the steering wheel while sitting idle at a red light. All kinds of things ran through my mind.
Did he have any drugs on him when they got him? Large amounts of money? What did they have on him? My hands tightened around the steering wheel. I should have let niggas kill Ray Ray. I hadn’t seen or heard from him in a minute but if I ever ran into him, he just might die. His death wouldn’t matter though. Not in Lox’s case. If they had him on a wiretap or in photos selling drugs, that was all they needed from Ray Ray. Anigga couldn’t even try and do a good deed by putting broke cats on.
A lot of people came to us broke and begging to be put on. Never in my life had I attempted to force anyone to sell drugs. Begging to be put in the game and then snitching was nasty work, but they didn’t care. All they cared about was getting sentenced to the least amount of time possible. It wasn’t just me and Ryder that I hoped Lox kept his mouth shut about. My old connect was straight from the trenches of Colombia. He could get Lox touched faster than I could blink. If Lox got in that room and started talking too much there was no doubt in my mind that Guevo would find out. And if that happened, Lox wouldn’t have to worry about getting a long sentence because he’d be dead. Shit, I might end up dead too simply for introducing Lox to Guevo. The perils of being a hustler.
CHAPTER 19
PERSIA
Tesha was havinga small get together at her house. She wanted to have a housewarming, but she didn’t want to have it until she was settled, and the house was fully furnished. That took some time, but she had finally gotten around to it. I got her a bunch of her favorite candles which were as expensive as heck. I didn’t mind too much because Tesha was bougie like me. I also got her a Ninja and a gift card. When she invited me to the gathering my stomach churned because she said it would be coed. Tesha didn’t tell me if she’d invited Kastian, and I didn’t ask.
Honestly, I didn’t want to see him. It had been one month since the Miami trip, and I was still sad but trying to get over him. After thinking long and hard and going back and forth with myself I decided to stand on business. I missed him like crazy, but all I could do was hope that I’d get over it sooner rather than later. Since blocking Omar, I wasn’t talking to anyone. In fact, when a man tried me, it didn’t matter how fine he was or how paid he appeared to be, the answer was always no. I didn’t have the energy to keep dealing with various people.
I didn’t possess the mental capacity to date. And I was okay with that. Tesha asked if I could show up a little early to help her, and I said of course.
“I have good news,” she sang as I arranged deviled eggs onto a platter.
“I’d love to hear it. Good news is the only kind I want to hear these days.”
“I got flowers delivered this morning from Qua. You didn’t see them since you came in through the garage. They’re in the living room. But he remembered the date of the housewarming and when I called to thank him, I invited him, and he said yes.”
“I told you he’d come around. I love that for you, boo. Now, don’t mess it up again.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice. I just knew it was over for me. I’m not taking that risk again. Ryder wasn’t even worth it,” she frowned. I could tell that whether she had slept with him or not, Tesha was over Ryder. I was glad that Qua decided to stop holding what she did against her.
“You think you two are going to make it official anytime soon. Or do you think he’s going to come back in taking it slow?”
“Honestly, there’s no way to tell. I’m just going to go with the flow. I can’t expect him to come back in acting the same way he was before I slept with Ryder. It might take him some time to fully trust me again, and I get it. If his guard is up, I’m just going to be patient and wait for it to come down.”
Using my hip, I playfully bumped her. “That man done scared you straight,” I laughed.
“And did!”
“Okay the deviled eggs are done, what should I do next?”
Tesha grabbed two glasses and a bottle of tequila. “I’m about to go get dressed. I already showered, so it won’t take me long. Everything is done except the brownies. They just need to be cut.”
“I can handle that for sure.”
I took the glass that Tesha extended toward me and took a sip. While she went to get dressed, I removed the foil from the pan of brownies on the stove and began to cut them into perfectly even squares. I took sips in between and by the time I was done cutting the brownies, I was feeling warm and fuzzy. Tesha’s house was huge, and her uncle was going to cook on the grill. If Kastian did show up, it wouldn’t be hard to avoid him. I didn’t want to make Tesha’s gathering weird. She knew Kastian before she knew me, and I didn’t want him to be the reason I didn’t show up for her. I also didn’t want her to feel like she had to choose between inviting me or him.
Just as I was about to refill my cup, the doorbell rang. I rushed to answer it, and it was an older gentleman with a salt and pepper beard. Homie was fine as hell and since he had a bag of charcoal and grocery bags containing meat, I assumed he was Tesha’s uncle.
