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Mecca called me, pulling me out of my thoughts. I answered the call, letting his voice permeate my Challenger through the Bluetooth.
“Have you heard from him yet?” Mecca asked.
“Nah. He’s still not answering.”
“Shit.”
“Why don’t you go home, Mec? I’ll call you as soon as I hear something.”
“Nah. I probably shouldn’t, but I feel responsible for Tony in a way. He’s not sober enough to help you look, so I’m going to.”
“I appreciate that. What part of town are you in now?”
“I’m back by his house. I was hoping the liquor wouldn’t have kicked in immediately and he would have made it closer to home.”
“That’s a good idea. I’m about to head back toward the club. I got a feeling if he didn’t make it close to home, he’s still out that way.”
“A’ight. Keep me posted.”
I agreed, then disconnected the call. I prayed and tried not to think the worst. It was frustrating because I was the youngest brother, yet somehow, I was always the one taking care of them and Mama. The only person who ever saw to my needs was Milli. That truth made me want to get back home to her even more.
It took me about fifteen minutes to make it back out that way. I checked the club parking lot again and he wasn’t there. After checking all the gas stations on that block, something told me to stop by the abandoned Backyard Burger parking lot. Relief filled me at the sight of his girlfriend’s car parked by the drive-thru menu. He wasn’t moving, and I thought the worst.
I threw my car in park and rushed over to his girl’s. The doors were locked and he wasn’t moving no matter how hard I knocked. I grabbed a nearby brick and smashed the back window. Once I had the backdoor unlocked, I leaned forward to check for his pulse and unlocked the driver’s side door.
“Amir!” I yelled, shaking him. “Mir!” Slapping his face, I shook him again. “Amir!”
His face scrunched up as he groaned. “Wha—” His eyes slowly opened, and they were bloodshot red. “What’s going on?” Amir asked as I released him.
“What the fuck are you doing, man? We’ve been worried sick about you.”
He looked around, discombobulated. “I stopped here to get some food before going home.”
“Amir, this Backyard Burger has been closed for months.”
Amir chuckled. “Damn. I guess that’s why it took them so long to take my order. I must have fallen asleep waiting for them to say something.”
I just stared at his dumb ass to keep from hitting him in his mouth. This shit was serious as hell and his nonchalant attitude was irritating the fuck out of me.
“Get the fuck out of the car, mane,” I told him, tugging on his arm in the process. “And get the key.”
He grabbed the key and handed it to me as he got out of the car. “I’m not finna leave my shit here.”
“You got Uriah sitting at home worried sick about you because you’re not answering the phone. Mama thinking the worst. And we out here searching the city for you while you sleeping. It’s best if you don’t say shit to me right now, bruh. For real.”
Once we were in my car, I texted everyone to let them know I had him. I was going to drop him off and bring Uriah here to get her car, but she said she didn’t mind Ubering. While we waited for her to get here, Amir fell back asleep. Mama was still on edge and wanted him to come home, but he opted to go to Uriah’s place instead. When she saw the window she was pissed, but she was more grateful that Amir was okay. I offered to pay for it, but she insisted on making him pay since this was his fault, and I agreed with that.
I followed them out of the lot and headed in the opposite direction to go home. It seemed like now that I’d finally gotten through to Adam, Amir was on an even darker path. I loved my brothers, and I would do all I could for them, but enough was enough. I couldn’t watch Amir destroy his life because of his drinking. Something was going to have to change.
* * *
The Next Night
I couldn’t take my eyes off Amelia. She looked beautiful as hell. Even though I knew her pretty well, I was wise enough to accept the girlfriend and wife version of her would be different from my best friend. Before I planned our date, I wanted to talk to her and see what she liked when it came down to romance. She loved plays, movies, shopping, traveling, and restaurant hopping on our friendly level. I wanted to be sure those things would be a good idea to incorporate into our special evening.
To talk, I took her to a wine bar, and she looked so stunning I wanted to take her right back home the moment we arrived. Watching her get dressed only made it worse. Underneath her pencil skirt were black sheer high-waisted stockings that I wanted desperately to rip off. She had on a black lace bustier under her blazer, and my eyes kept going down to her breasts almost every time she breathed. And she smelled so damn good—like vanilla and brown sugar.
When I finally looked up and into her eyes, she was looking at me with a smile. “You like what you see?”
