Page 84 of Weddings on the West: Vol. I Brick & Destiny

“Eden, slow down and tell me what the fuck is wrong,” I demanded.

“I’m about to hop on a flight home, but y’all got the wrong niggas!” Her voice boomed through the phone.

“What?” The smile fell off my face as I stepped away from the counter.

“The people who were hitting your business partners weren’t the same niggas that shot up your car that night!”

“Wait, what?” I asked, catching myself as I swayed on my feet a bit.

“It took me a while, but I was able to hack the street cams and pull a plate on the car. It’s registered to some chick named Katarina Simmons.” My mouth went completely dry as my face went blank. I gripped the phone so hard that I felt like it would slice into my palm.

“Brick?” she called out again.

“Ka-Kat!” I yelled out. “Katarina Simmons is fuckin’ Kat!”

“Kat as in… Kitty? The stripper?” she asked in disbelief.

“Yes!” I shouted. “Eden, Destiny is with her now!”

“Fuck! I’m sending the address, and I’m on my way, I’ll be there as soon as I touch down! Go get my fuckin’ sister, nigga!”

We quickly hung up and I called Destiny as I stumbled out of the shop. It rang three times before going to voicemail. I damn near threw my phone when it went straight to voicemail the next two times. I hopped in my truck and sped off in the direction of the address that Eden gave me.

Twenty-Two

As Good as Dead

DESTINY

AFew Hours Earlier

“Girl, thanks for coming out with me! I’m just so glad all this is behind us now. I never knew how much I would miss being outside!” Eden was out of town and as much as I loved being up under that man, I needed time away from the house, especially now, when proof of the worst part of his lifestyle was popping up on the TV every few hours.

“Anytime, friend! Let’s run by the house and stash these bags, then go get something to eat!” she said, giving me a smile that lingered long after her words.

“Oh… okay,” I said, going silent as we rode the rest of the way to her house. Until that second, I had completely forgotten about the weird moment we shared in my living room. I didn’t have the stomach to ask her about it, so I pushed it down so we could continue our day of fun.

“Come on,” she said when we pulled up to her house. Something in my gut was screaming at me to keep my ass in the car.

“I’ll just wait,” I said softly.

“Des! Girl, come on!” she said. Reluctantly, I grabbed my things and drug myself out of the car. I was dangerously close to saying fuck the whole thing, ordering a ride-share, and going back home to my man. The only thing that stopped me was that emptiness I felt when I was forced out of church that day. I couldn’t let my whole life revolve around Brick. If something happened to him, or he decided he didn’t want this anymore, I would be okay financially. I was in school, so I could make my own way, but I would still need friends.

I followed her up the stairs and into the house, still ignoring the sinking feeling I had. When we walked into her front door, I saw a man sitting on the couch completely engrossed in his phone.

“Des, boo, this is my man Que!” She beamed as she spoke. We had always talked about her boyfriend, but I’d never officially met him. I looked over at the man with starter locs and a bored expression on his face.

“Hi, how are you?” I asked cheerfully. Honestly, I was just glad that someone was there so Kat and I could avoid any awkward situations. Surely, she wouldn’t offer me another threesome with her man sitting there.

“Good,” he murmured, eyes not leaving the TV. I bit my lip and tried again.

“So, Kat tells me you’re kind of new to the city… You liking it here so far?” She told me that he moved here from down south about a year ago.

“Shit, it’s just a city like any other one, same buildings, same people, same bullshit,” he replied curtly. I took that as my cue to shut up.

“Okay,” I chirped. For the first time, he turned his face in my direction, angry eyes aimed at mine.

“Yeah, I came up here to get into business with my cousin Donte. That shit ain’t really work out, though,” he said, studying my face like he expected a reaction out of me. I just backed up towards the door.