Page 8 of The Road to You
“No, they close at eight. My neighbors in the RV park that I park in pick him up when I have to work late. Casper loves them, so it works out,” I told him.
He didn’t say anything. I could tell that he took in my information. I thought he would ask a question, but he didn’t. That was great because I had a question for him. “A little birdy told me that you’re the owner of Westin Sustainable Energy Company. That kind of makes sense why you were so interested in my solar panels.”
Chapter 3
Euri
Earlier Mid-Morning…
“Damn, you’re really feeling her like that, Bro?” Derrick’s brow lifted after he asked the question. “Baby is sexy, I’ll admit that shit. Her ass lives in a van though.”
I had nothing to say to his comment about her living situation. Yeah, she lived in a van, but she appeared to have her shit together more than most of the bitches that had whole apartments or houses. Her van was nice as fuck, and the inside was the shit that could be seen on social media. That shit had a bed that looked like it was a king, a seating area with a little table, a sink, and storage space. Hell, the only thing it didn’t have was a damn shower. I wasn’t mad at her ass or her situation.
“Yeah, I am really feeling her ass. She’s interesting, and I want to know more before I make her my woman,” I told him. “Shit, y’all gonna be calling her sis in a short minute.”
Aaron almost fell out of his seat with his overzealous laughter. “Bruh, here you go with your fall in love ass. You don’t even know that girl, talking about you want her to be your woman. What? You’re going to sleep in her van or some shit? It looked like she was comfortable in there and had no plans to leave any time soon.”
“Nigga, shut the fuck up. I know you just heard me say that I was going to get to know her ass. Plus, if we get to the point where we are together, and she doesn’t want to leave her home, then she’s gonna park that shit in my fuckin’ driveway. What y’all thought?” They had me fucked up. We’d be between that fucking van and my house.
Derrick leaned on the kitchen island. We were at his house, which wasn’t saying much since we all lived next door to each other a few streets away from our dad. I always appreciated that he went out of his way to make sure we were tight. When our sister was born, we did the same with her.
“Look, I’m gonna let you have that because I’ve never seen you really want to know a female outside of fucking,” Derrick said. “My boy told me that she’s the best cook at Gilbert’s. He said when she works, the lines be hella long during lunch. I think she works today.”
My face felt hot. “Why the fuck your boy knows so much about my girl? I’on like that shit.”
“Whoa, calm down, crazy ass nigga,” Derrick said with a chuckle. “I mentioned her living in her van and shit. He said he knew her from the gym and the grocery store. She works out at Leota Fitness and Fight.”
Oh, that was information that I could use. “Bet. Do me a favor. Don’t mention to niggas that she lives in her van. Niggas be on other shit, and I’ll lay a nigga down.”
Aaron and Derrick lifted their hands with mock surrender written across their faces. “Down, killer,” Aaron said. “Let me tell Karla that she got a new sis.”
“You don’t need to tell her shit until I make Bruqlyn mine. Her ass is going to be on my line with a thousand questions that have nothing to do with work. Y’all already know how Karla gets,” I told them.
Our sister was extra as fuck. She asked us every other week why we hadn’t found anyone to settle down with. She whined about nieces and nephews.
My brothers and I talked for a little longer before I left to handle some business. I spoke to a few of my old professors that morning, and they were all too agreeable to allow students to get class credit to work on my project. I also planned to pay them since I would have them go through the temp agency. That would be a nice surprise. Then I needed to speak with the temp agency to let them know that I would send them the names of the people who needed to be screened. I only needed them to clear their criminal background. After I finished there, I’d head over to Bruqlyn’s job to see what she was up to.
Back To The Present…
“A little birdy told me that you’re the owner of Westin Sustainable Energy Company. That kind of makes sense why you were so interested in my solar panels.” Bruqlyn wore the cutest, most cheeky smile. I wondered what little birdy she spoke to.
I was surprised that she really didn’t know who I was. A lot of people in our community knew me from news coverage, community service, or my past connection to the streets. Her accent was country as fuck. That told me that she wasn’t from there, so that could’ve been the reason that she wasn’t familiar.
“I guess your little birdy knows what they’re talking about. Yes, that is my company,” I told her. “That is partially why I was interested in your solar panels. I respect people who care about the environment enough to use clean energy. Most people wouldn’t have thought to use solar panels.”
We finally were next to her van. She used her key fob to unlock her doors, then pulled the side door open. She didn’t respond until she put her crossbody bag inside. “It just made sense. I needed lights, and I lived in a mobile unit.”
“Did you know that the panels you have are from my company?” My company’s branding was on our panels. That was one of the first things that I peeped after I saw them.
“I mean, I didn’t know last night, because I didn’t know you owned a solar company. Now that I know that, yes, my panels are from Westin.” Her cheeks rose. “Westin has extremely competitive pricing, even on the installation. Other companies that I checked out wanted more for the installation than the actual panels. I wasn’t about to do that shit.”
I chuckled because she was right. Other companies set prices that excluded most of the people from my community. I never liked that shit. Every year, our company sponsored ten homes with solar panels. The cost savings of solar panels were big, and it also taught families how to conserve energy to send some of the power back to the grid. That was important for them to receive those credits on their electric bills for the power they used at night.
“I’m happy that our panels were a match for your needs.” I wanted to shift the conversation. “Damn, you not going to invite a nigga in?”
She shook her head, then asked, “Is this going to be a thing, Euri?” She climbed into her van. “I don’t mind if it is. You can sit at the table, so you can eat.”
Your boy is in there!When I climbed in, I paused for a moment. “Yep, van life ain’t for tall niggas, I see.” When I sat down, it was much better, but damn.
