He nodded, like he’d been waitin’ to hear that. “Alright. I’ll start pullin’ options. You gon’ have to walk away from some money.”
“I’d rather walk away from money than have somebody I care about dyin’ behind my name again,” I said.
He went quiet at that.
“Understood,” he said finally. “I’ll be in touch.”
Later that week, I was at the main 4 Play spot, not in the office like usual but on the floor, really watchin’ things.
My younger manager, Reek, came up to me wit’ a clipboard.
“We good on staffin’ for the weekend,” he said. “You still want security doubled at the doors?”
“Always,” I said. “We relax when I’m dead. Not before.”
He chuckled. “Bet.”
I walked the perimeter, checkin’ exits, watchin’ how my guards moved, makin’ mental notes.
For once, my eyes weren’t searchin’ for Melissa in the crowd.
It felt weird, and I ain’t like that.
My phone buzzed in my pocket.
I pulled it out, heart jumpin’ before I even saw the name.
It wasn’t her.
It was Royce.
Royce: Nana said dinner Sunday. You comin’?
Me: Yeah.
Royce: Good. She got that tone like she got somethin’ to say.
Me: When don’t she.
I slid the phone back in my pocket and kept movin’.
Sunday dinner at Nana’s was loud as usual.
Royce and April came in bickerin’ over somethin’ small and laughin’ about it. Truce and Charlee showed up late with food and attitude. Trend and Fee waddled in together, Fee lookin’ like she was smuggling two baby pitbulls under her shirt.
Melissa wasn’t there.
I told myself I was cool.
Nana gave me a look over the dinner table.
“Been behavin’?” she asked soft while everybody else argued about somethin’ on TV.
“I ain’t sat outside nobody house,” I said. “That count?”
She smiled. “It’s a start.”
After we ate, I helped her clear the dishes. She bumped me with her hip.
