“I know. He got me matching bracelets the first day I met him.”
“Sounds like an Einsenberg boy.” She giggled with a shake of the head.
“I gave them back.”
“You what?”
“I gave them back after he was mean to me last night,” I shared with her.
“Was he mean to you, or did he give you the honest, hard truth?”
“That one.”
“Okay, because that doesn’t even sound like Luca. He’s brutally honest, but not mean. Not toward the people he cares about, at least. I can’t speak for the rest of Channing.”
“He told me he wanted to pursue me, and I turned him down. I told him I wasn’t ready but when I saw him entertaining a girl he met at the bar we went to last night, I couldn’t help but feel jealous. He picked up on it.”
“And tore right into your ass, huh?”
“He did,” I told her. “Imagine me offering you the world but you’d rather have crumbs because another bird has access. You really not ready.That’s what he said to me.”
“Sounds like Luca to me. Why don’t you think you’re ready? I’ve seen broken hearts, Ever, and you don’t have one. Your heart is relieved, love. It’s written all over your pretty face.”
“I don’t. I expected to feel like pieces of me were missing when I left, but I actually feel complete for once. Me telling him I wasn’t ready had nothing to with love but everything to do with me being able to stand on my own two feet before I get involved with anyone.”
“You’re standing, Ever. Trust me. If you’re looking and comparing what you have to what they have, you’ll probably never be ready. The Einsenbergs are no strangers to money. They’ve been the richest on the block since I can remember. The only reason they’re still in Channing is because they love to be surrounded by Black folk. They have long, old money. The kind the hairy white men have and hate to see Black people with. That’s whose level they’re on. They stick around us common folk because it’s us who they love and relate to most. Liam, their father, ask about him one day.”
“I haven’t met him yet. Only their mother.”
“If you’ve never seen a drug lord in the flesh, that’ll change when you meet him. The smartest criminal you’ll everencounter. The only reason I know his prior occupation is because I was screwing Laike for too many years not to. I’d overheard a conversation or two, but never had any concrete proof. No one did and the same goes for his sons. No one knows what they do, yet everyone knows what they do.”
“And that’s the other thing. I promised myself that I wouldn’t go down that path again. My ex is into the streets.”
“Your ex ain’t an Einsenberg and the nigga sure isn’t Luca. Don’t even put the two in the same sentence. Now, get out of here and go get your money, Ever.”
I stood from the comfortable bench in the waiting room of the restroom and made my way to the sink to wash up, although I hadn’t been in the stalls. I grabbed a paper towel to open the door after shaking my hands dry. Before stepping back out of the floor, I smoothed my clothes, making sure they were free of wrinkles. With my head held high, I stepped out –in route to Luca’s handsome face.
TEN
Baby,you're the finest
Pussy taste like diamonds
How'd you get so timeless?
Wanna get behind it, behind it
Remind ya, I know how to find it
Hit it how you like it
I sangto the SiR track that I’d stumbled across during my shower after getting home last night. I’d never heard of the nigga before that and now he’d replaced my entire list of go-tos. I was getting on Laike’s last nerve. I saw it on his face.
“I can’t wait until you finally hit that shit because she got you smiling and singing and shit. I don’t know who the fuck you are right now.”
“You complain a nigga the Grinch. Then when I loosen up a bit, you don’t know who I am? Pick a side.”
“I’m on the other side because I’m ’bout tired of whoever this new motherfucker is.”
