“A’ight, be safe.” He bit into his bottom lip and watched her walk back over to join her group.
Minx needed some fresh air. She didn’t want to argue tonight. Gannon was finally getting away from this club, but Cretia kept trying to suck him back in. It seemed like every nigga wanted to be a club owner now. Niggas wasn’t slick, they just like having access to plenty of bitches any time they felt like it. Her father purchased the club for her to run, yet she was always insisting that Gannon had to be there. Minx was growing tired of the shit, but Gannon was good to her. She didn’t want to waste a good nigga, because other bitches were plotting on her spot. She trusted Gannon until he gave her a reason not to. He had to be one dumb ass nigga to cheat on the boss’s daughter. Max would put a bullet in him and dig a grave.
About twenty minutes later, Minx, Luna, Rose and Finn rolled up on Slim’s. It was a drive-up food place on the outskirts of town. It was Luna and Minx’s spot after the club. Not a lotof people knew about it, and they never spread the word. It was nothing for them to take that drive in the middle of the night. The place was roadside, twenty-four hours, and the food was on point and perfect for a bunch of drunks from the club. Finn wheeled his Dodge Challenger up and parked.
“Shit, what y’all want? We’ll go order.” Minx perked up in the back seat.
“Just get us what y’all get. Here.” Finn handed her fifty dollars.
“Thanks, baller.” Luna happily snatched the cash from his palm.
Rose hopped out and let Minx climb from the back with Luna right behind her. Kicking off their heels, looking country as fuck and laughing the whole way to the window, Rose watched them. With his door open, he sparked a cigarette and kept one leg on the pavement outside the car with the other propped in the door. He made no attempt to get out, staring off pensively. Although Finn was faded, he sensed the tension from his boy watching Luna and Minx at the window. Finn knew better than anyone how linked Minx and Rose were. This particular bond formed right before his eyes, and he always thought one day they would end up together. Things hadn’t worked out like that. Timing was everything, and theirs always seemed to be off. Minx was too scared of risking the friendship, and Rose was too scared of what Max would do to him.
“Shit, you keep looking at her like that and Gannon’s ass gon’ be ready to put a hot one in you, my nigga,” Finn teased, laughing at his own pettiness.
“The fuck you talking about?” Rose exhaled smoke and glanced at his drunk ass partner.
“He got her ass on lock. Plays no games about her, at all,” Finn relayed.
“Ain’t nobody trippin’ about that nigga.” Rose sucked his teeth.
He nodded toward where Minx stood, laughing at something Luna said with her hysterically.
“Minx know what it is. What’s understood don’t need to be explained,” Rose spoke confidently.
“A’ight, be careful. That nigga will put up with some shit from Minx, but I don’t think her relationship with you is going to be one of them,” Finn pointed out, shaking his head.
“He ain’t got no fucking choice. He don’t control me, and I doubt Minx let him boss her around like he’s her fucking daddy. Besides all that, that’s my fucking ace.”
“Shit, you right about that though. Nigga think he got her in check, but you know Minx.” Finn chuckled and watched the girls make their way back over to the car. Each holding two bags with drinks when they approached, Luna smiled with Finn opened his car door. Minx went around to Rose’s side of the car. She handed him his food and propped herself against the side. Setting her drink on top of the whip, she dug into her fries first. Rose went right for his burger and took a big ass bite. Minx ordered his shit just how he liked it. Bun toasted, cheese melted to perfection with everything on it.
“So tell me… what brings you back? Did you miss me?” Minx said, chewing and awaiting his answer.
Luna climbed into the back seat and attacked her food while Finn angled himself in front so he could talk to her.
“Shit, you know better than to ask that. How’s the family?” Rose questioned, bringing his eyes up to hers.
“Oh, you know, same ol’, same ol’.” She flashed her cute, almost innocent smile. Rose’s heart swelled a little bit at the sight of it. He missed her. His other half, the human side of him. She made him forget about the ugly parts of himself.
“Mama and Max fight every other night, except now it’s about what’s for dinner, the shrubs outside, and a bunch of other domesticated shit. Mille is… a damn terror. I swear I don’t know how my parents started over with him.” She laughed and shook her head thinking about her baby brother.
He was her heart. He was born during a really tough time, and somehow, he brought light back into their dreary family. Rose chuckled with her. Mille was eleven years old, but he was a handful and had been since the day he busted into the world. He skipped right over that kid shit and came out a little man though.
“I can tell Max misses you. Finn is… Finn, and Gannon is great at what he does. But… you… are kind of irreplaceable.” She bit into her burger, and Rose studied her.
Her bare feet donned toes that were painted with white polish, and she swept some of her long, dark-brown hair over to one side of her shoulders. Nails and makeup on point, he liked how she always had her own style. She’d damn sure stepped her shit up. Rose admired that underneath all that she was still that same little country girl though. She was turning into everything he always knew she would be. A confident, intelligent, and unpredictable woman.
“What are you thinking about?” She tilted her head and continue to chew her food.
Rose always got this far-off gaze when something was on his mind. His mannerisms were imprinted on Minx. She knew his reaction to things just by the look in his eye or the twitch in his jawline. What people didn’t know about Rose was he was always thinking. Because he was a young black man and he was the stereotype: slanging dope, toting a pistol like so many others in so many hoods across the country, folks thought he was just another banger. Rose didn’t have a choice. Once he was in, he was in, and there was no looking back. The day after finding Minx and her sister in that store, his entire life went in adifferent direction. He was grateful as hell though. Max and the rest of the family was his family, embracing him as if he was one of them.
“Nothing.” Rose shook his head and bowed it, focusing on his food, or at least pretending too.
“Hey, since when you don’t talk to me?” Minx pressed, grabbing her drink off the top of the car and taking a sip.
It was a strawberry shake, and it was delicious. The greasy ass food was already starting to sober her up.
“It ain’t no thing.” Rose shook his head.
