Booda slammed the trunk shut after stuffing the last brick inside, then wiped his hands against his jeans before looking over at me.
I rolled my eyes from the passenger seat. “Here you go.”
“I’m serious, Ko.”
“You always serious when it comes to Giani.” I laughed softly and adjusted the vent toward me. “You just don’t like her.”
“That ain’t true.”
“Yes, it is.” I smirked. “You swear everybody wants to be me.”
Booda walked around the front of the truck, keys spinning around his finger while his eyes scanned the empty warehouse lot around us.
Rusted shipping containers were stacked near the fence line while security lights buzzed overhead, flickering everyfew seconds. Somewhere deeper inside the industrial district, metal clanged loudly, echoing through the night before silence swallowed it again.
“Nah,” he said finally. “Everybody don’t wanna be you, but that bitch do.”
I sighed dramatically as he climbed into the driver’s seat.
“Can you leave my friend alone?”
He shut the door harder than necessary before looking over at me. “I am leaving her alone. You should too.”
“She’s been my friend since before all this,” I said, motioning around the interior of the truck. “Before the money. Before the jewelry. Before the houses. And… before you.”
“Exactly.”
My forehead wrinkled. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Booda leaned back against the seat and stared at me for a second as if he was trying to figure out whether he should even continue.
“That bitch study you too hard.”
I snorted.
“I’m dead serious,” he continued. “Every time you buy something, she buy something that look just like it. Every time you switch your hair, suddenly she talking about changing hers. Every time you start saying some shit, she repeats it two days later like she came up with it.”
“She’s my friend,” I repeated. “Friends rub off on each other.”
“Nah.” He shook his head slowly. “That ain’t what this is.”
I laughed again and reached for the blunt sitting in the cupholder between us. “You sound jealous.”
“Of Giani?” He looked offended. “Man, please.”
“Then why you always worried about her?”
“Because I know women like that.”
I took a hit before pointing the blunt toward him. “You don’t know shit.”
His eyes narrowed.
“I know more than you know.” He started the truck. “I’m telling you that girl wanna live your life.”
I leaned my head back against the seat and smiled. “Well, my life is fine as hell, so I don’t blame her.”
That pulled a laugh out of him despite himself.
