Page 16 of Standing In The Sun
“My bad…” His voice dropped an octave, still thick with sleep. “I’m half out of it.”
That caught her offguard. He actually apologized? From the way he carried himself online, she didn’t take him for the type to have home training.
“It’s okay,” she murmured, softer now.
A few beats passed without them saying anything.
Lunar’s voice cut through again, smooth, unbothered. “So, what you got for me, Ahvi?”
She closed her eyes, biting her lip. She liked the way her name rolled off his tongue -slow, damn near intimate, making her stomach clench in a way she wasn’t ready to admit.
“Ahvi?” Lunar called out again.
“Oh, yea.” She smiled like he could see her. “I found a phone that has images of your dad when he was a kid on them…it looks like your whole family is in em’.”
“Wait, Mav?”
“Um, no…Big Lunar.”
More noise, rattled from the other end of the phone. Ahvi swallowed hard again. She could only imagine what was going through Lunar’s mind. If he loved his dad as much as she loved Ish, she knew he was on the verge of a panic attack.
“Hello?” she breathed his name. “Lunar?”
Lunar suddenly sounded wide awake and alert. “Where you at right now? I definitely want what you have.”
“Okay, I’m in Jade City but I can’t get it to you tonight. I have to go to work. I’ll call you tomorrow to meet up.” She licked her lips, her legs bouncing with anxiety about her next words. “You have to pay for it, though.”
“The fuck?!” Lunar roared. “How you gon’ charge me for something that ain’t yours? How you get it any fuckin’ way?”
“Look, nigga…I don’t feel good about it but this is how I survive.”
“How much, Ahvi?”
Even with anger in his tone, the way he pushed her name out created a yearning in her. Shaking it off, she pushed out her number hoping it wasn’t too much. “Um, ten.”
“Thousand?”
“Ye-yea,” she stuttered.
Lunar laughed. “Cool, but Ahvi?—”
“Huh?”
“You sold yourself short. Hit my line in the morning with meet up details. I’m in Jade City too.”
* * *
“What you got, boo?” a short woman slurred, swaying on her feet.
Ahvi smiled, her hustle mode in full effect. “Tonight, I got chicken or shrimp alfredo. It comes with corn on the cob, garlic bread, and your choice of water or soda.” She motioned toward her trunk which was propped open with everything packed neatly in heated bags. It was one of the most expensive things Ish bought to help support herlittle business, like he used to call it.
The woman popped her lips like she could already taste it. “Oh yea, let me get the shrimp one.”
“Got you,” Ahvi said, already grabbing a plate.
A few men lingered nearby, watching as she moved, their interest shifting from the food to her. One of them, a tall, lanky dude with golds in his mouth, nudged his friend. “Man, that’s the girl I was telling you ’bout. I caught her one night after the club and her food was good as hell.”
That was all it took. The small crowd outside the club turned into a full-on rush. People stepping up, waving cash, and calling out orders like she was running a restaurant from the trunk of her car.
