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“Well I’m here now, Armias,” she sighed as she walked up the porch steps.
“Be careful,” I advised. “And I’m getting a moving company to move all your shit up out of that house sometime this week.”
She stopped dead in her tracks. “We don’t need a moving company to get my clothes and stuff out here. Plus, I already have all my winter stuff at your house. I’m in no rush to get my spring and summer clothes. I’ll just bring clothes bit by bit over time.”
“Man, no,” I grumbled. “I want you to be all the way settled in before Alouri gets here. And we might as well get the furniture and everything out of that house.”
“And where’s it going, Sir?”
“In a storage unit,” I replied easily while heading for the door. I was about to go meet up with her ass and I was going to Granny’s house with her, too. I was sure Granny wanted to see me, too.
“Why would I pay for a storage unit when the furniture can just sit in the house until I can get around to selling it or something?”
“Cause we gon’ break that lease. And you not paying for no storage unit. I am.”
She burst into laughter. “I don’t have the brain capacity for this right now.”
“It’s cool. I have all the brain capacity to think for both of us, cause you ain’t really making no sense. I guess I gotta be the smart one.”
“Boy, fuck you,” she laughed so hard her shoulders shook. “You gon’ have to pay up if you want me to break this lease.”
“I ain’t paying shit,” I responded just to fuck with her.
“Then I ain’t breaking shit. I don’t care who you hire to move what. I bet they won’t get in my house.”
“I bet they will. I’ll break in that bitch if I have to. I got experience in that department.”
“Aht-Aht,” she giggled. “Not you used to be a robberrrr.”
“A robber?” I scoffed. I was in the midst of checking that the double sided doors to the barbershop were closed and locked. There wasn’t an entrance from the outside on Lourdes’ side yet, but I was going to have one installed. I didn’t want her or her clients having to walk through my barbershop to get to her salon. I was also going to ensure that her salon was sound proof because her clients liked to compete to see who could scream, cry, and holler the loudest.
“You the one who said you got experience breaking in houses,” she giggled, as she started walking again.
“Baby, I was kicking in doors for other reasons. Not breaking into people's houses to steal.”
“Oh, that’s so much better,” she tittered as she neared the front door. All of a sudden her smile vanished. Her face shifted in a way that showed she was spooked and unnerved.
“What’s wrong, baby?” I was already getting in my truck and ready to rush to her.
“My front door is cracked open.”
“Go back to your car. Now,” I ordered. Asking questions and investigating whatever was going on could happen once I arrived. The only thing I was concerned with at that very second was her safety.
“O-o-kay,” she replied shakily.
I was glad she had enough sense to not give me any push back. She never got a chance to comply though. I heard the moment her front door opened along with male voices before I saw her freeze in her tracks. She was spooked out like she saw the boogeyman. I had already pulled off and was rushing to her, but I couldn’t get there in seconds. That’s all it took for a new fear of mine to be unlocked; losing Lourdes. I’d learned how to handle death early on with my dad being murdered, so I’d accepted that everybody had to go at some point. But I would never accept or get over something happening to Lourdes. The shit I heard and saw had me thinking that my new fear was coming true.
“AHHHHHHHH!” Lourdes let out a loud, piercing scream and then her body hit the porch.
“LOURDES?! LOURDES?!”
Her camera was facing the sky and the silence was loud. Thinking the worst, I put the pedal to the metal and ended the Facetime with her to call the police.
Chapter 21
Lourdes
“Fuck,” Armias held his head back so he wouldn’t keep crying.
