After I was in, he got into the front seat and pulled off. “It’s alright, Cy. You can make up for it with a good-ass wedding gift. Only for me, though. Ahk don’t matter too much.”
He laughed. Yeah… that nigga was showing a lot more emotion now. Almost like he was fucking human. “I got you, Mrs. Hendrix.”
“Uh uh! Don’t start with that shit.” I nudged his shoulder from the back seat. “You call me Jazzy like you always have.”
“I don’t work for your brother no more. I work for your husband now,” he stated as if I needed a reminder.
“You like Ahk? Be honest.”
Another laugh drifted out of him as he leaned back in his seat with one hand on the wheel. “Don’t matter what I say. You already married him, Jazzy.” He shrugged his broad shoulders
“C’mon, Cyro. Just let me know.”
“He’s solid. You and your brother made the right choice trusting him.”
Not that I needed validation about my husband, but I just really wanted everyone around me to see what I saw in Ahk. I was used to making the wrong decisions most of the time. Being with Ahk was one of the first things I did right.
“He wants a baby, Cyro.”
He whistled as if I dropped a heavy load on him. If he felt like that, imagine how I felt. “You ready for that?”
“Not now. Kids are a big deal. Not to mention my mother was horrible. What if I suck at it?”
“You won’t be. Look at who you have around you. Britain, Jadey, Aja, Tasha, and your cousin Nia are great mothers. You’re gonna wanna live up to that. Pray on it.”
I let what Cyro said to me linger in my mind long enough that I got lost in my thoughts. It wasn’t until he shifted the gear into Park that I was able to snap back into reality. Glancing out of the window, I realized we were in the projects Priest and I grew up in. “Nymir stayed here?” I mumbled more to myself; however, Cyro overheard me.
“Yeah. This the address Ahk sent me.”
I wasn’t like my brother. I never liked visiting my past because it was just too many heavy-ass memories to navigate through. I made sure to never step foot back in these projects once we got put out of them when I was a kid. I avoided it at all costs, not because I thought I was better, but because it was just too much of a fucking reminder of my parents.
“You good? You don’t have to go in there if you don’t want to.” He looked at me through the mirror.
What did I look like telling my husband I didn’t fall through because I couldn’t face my trauma that should have been resolved years ago when my parents died? I took a deep breath and grabbed my purse. “Let’s go.”
Cyro didn’t object and got out to open the door for me. He walked behind me, guarding me with his tall and built frame as we crossed the courtyard that all of our things were tossed onto when we got kicked out. It was still run down, littered with trash and needles from motherfuckas who shot up dope. I could feel everyone’s eyes sear into me as they tried to piece together why the fuck I was in their hood walking around with security.
We made it inside the building, and a rat scurried past me, and I damn near jumped into Cyro’s arms. “You got soft on me? You letting rats scare you now?” he chuckled.
“That shit was big as fuck.”
We took the stairs ‘cause the elevator was out of order. I was thankful that I worked out ‘cause hitting six flights of stairs would have had old Jazzy winded. We found the door, and I knocked.
“Who is it?!” we heard from the other side of the door. It was a young voice, clearly not Nymir’s grandmother.
“Jazzlyn, a friend of Nymir.”
The locks interchanged, and I was faced with a young girl who couldn’t have been no older than nine. She reminded me a bit of myself when I was younger. Her hair was slicked back just like mine, and she had a striking pair of hazel eyes that she used to look me up and down.
“I never seen you before. How you my brother’s friend?” She set her hand on her hip. Clearly, she was running a strict program, and I had no choice but to fall in line.
“He was friends with my husband. I was hoping to talk to his grandmother, Mae.”
She ran her eyes over me again before looking over her shoulder. “Mimi, this rich lady at the door for you! Do I let her in?!”
“What damn rich lady, Tacarra?!” I heard Mae shout back.
“Come see!”
