“Someone besides the bitches he’s fucking?” I asked sharply.
Mekhi didn’t have a girl, according to my research, but he had started to entertain one bitch more than any other.
“Is it that Samaria chick?”
Again, he shook his head. The fact that he might have information that I didn’t, didn’t sit right with me. I’d been studying Mekhi for a while, waiting to make my move. It took time, because he was careful. I had to hang back, watch him where I could, listen to whispers from the shadows. That little Samaria bragged through the hood. And the women he scorned? That saying was right about them. It helped that a man didn’t get as rich as he was without creating enemies. Still, I felt like I didn’t know enough, so this nigga better speak. I didn’t have time for surprises.
“Talk,” I ordered.
“There was a girl out there during the drive by. He ran to her, pulled her out of danger, covered her body.”
I shrugged.
“So? He might’ve been being a hero in the heat of the moment.”
I’d seen it happen. Some men acted on pure adrenaline and reflex. The girl could’ve been anybody.
“He went to see her afterwards, too. I had my guy do a little research...”
He paused as he pulled out his phone. Seconds later, he handed it to me, a picture of a bad ass broad on the screen. I couldn’t lie; I had to give her a second look. She was just my type—all woman with her curvy body and beautiful features. I wouldn’t mind…
“Who is this?” I asked, not even realizing I spoke out loud.
“Her name is Farrah.”
I frowned. If I had ever seen her around Mekhi, I would remember. Maybe he had just started fucking her. For some reason, that shit bothered me. In any case, if the nigga was risking his life and checking in on her, that was more interest than I’d seen him show in anybody. Ms. Farrah was definitely worth investigating.
“What you know about her?”
“Not much—I can have?—”
I shook my head, vetoing that idea immediately. I wanted the pleasure of finding out all about her.
“Nah, I’ll check it out,” I said. “I’ma reach out to her, see how that nigga reacts.”
“So, we even?” he asked hopefully.
I chuckled. “I’ll let you know when we even. Right now, we just getting started.”
Ramóncleared his throat before staring at me. “I’m going to be out of town a few weeks?—”
“You mean ya weak ass gon’ run. If I need you, I’ll find you. Understand?” I met his eyes, refusing to look away.
He looked down first, swallowing hard. “Yeah. Yeah, I understand.”
I smiled. “Good.”
Stay out the hood,Farrah. You don’t belong there.
I hated how Mekhi’s voice stayed in my head, like he paid rent in there or something. A whole week later and I could still hear him saying it all low, like a warning. I woke up hearing it. Heard it again brushing my teeth. Heard it when I was driving or eating or studying. Yep, Mekhi’s deep ass voice would slide across my thoughts like he had the right to be there. He’d talked to me like I was some little girl who didn’t know the world. Like I hadn’t grown up in and around the hood my whole damn life. Like I didn’t know how to move.
I sighed and kept finger-combing my curls, trying to get them big and fluffy the way I liked. I knew what I wanted to feel today—light, bright, normal. I hadn’t felt that in a week. Kera hadgiven me the perfect opportunity. Her women’s league softball team had a game today. So, I was about to go watch my best friend crack home runs in a dusty park right in the middle of the hood. I wasn’t going to worry about school or my internship or Mekhi Venzant. I was going to be the regular old Farrah, not the woman who still felt the fear instilled by ducking behind a car a week ago to avoid bullets.
Stay out the hood, Farrah. You don’t belong there.
Ugh! My mind kept circling back to his annoying ass. His tone. His eyes that night. I couldn’t figure out if he was insulting me or complimenting me, and I didn’t know which part bothered me more. And then there was the part that I didn’t want to admit, the part that didn’t feel complimented or insulted by his words. Some little bit of me felt protected when he warned me away. Almost like his mean self might care.
He can’t stand you, Farrah, my common sense asserted itself. Like, right? What the hell was I thinking? Either way, one rude, bossy nigga wasn’t about to dictate my life. My people were still in the part of town he considered his—my best friend, my grandparents, my cousin. No way in hell I was staying away.
