KEYONI
I stepped outside for some fresh air. Although late, I was still going home to sleep in my bed. To my surprise, Keturah said she was going too. She asked for a minute to bond with her “grand-puppies”.
I laughed when she said that shit, because a thirteen-year-old who wanted to be a “grand” anything was wild to me.
Kaiser relieved himself by a tree. When he ventured off too far, I called his name, straining my neck to see him after he left my view. It wasn’t like Kaiser to not listen, so it was a problem when I had to raise my voice to call him again. He reappeared with the swiftness I demanded. I watched him, eyes glued and arms crossed. In doing so, I let my guard down long enough for someone to walk up behind me unnoticed. A finger boldly tapped my shoulder. I flinched slightly.
Kyree found the shit funny, laughing hysterically as I gave him my back once again.
“What do you want?” I asked with a straight face.
“How you a cop and you scary?”
I scoffed. He may have caught me slipping, but scary wasn’t in my blood. “We’ll see who’s scary,” I challenged. “How ’bout I call in a favor and get a search warrant for that cozy apartment you’re sleeping in? Matter of fact, I’ll even throw in some probable cause to check everybody in the building repping DP. Y’all all can get searched.”
“Why you gonna do all that?” He stepped to the side. “I thought we had an understanding.”
“We did…until you called me scary.”
Kyree had mastered his confused face. “Who? Not me. I didn’t say that crazy shit. You the least scary nigga I know?—”
“What do you want?” I asked, cutting him off.
“I was checking on you.” He glanced around again. “Had to make sure our most valuable player was okay. Why you out here?”
I turned away from his silly grin.
“I’m unwinding,” I said simply. “It’s been a long day.”
“Well…your ‘unwinding’ looks suspicious.”
Yeah, right.
“I’m good. You can go back where you came from.” Shifting my gaze to the front of the building, I saw Jami emerge. She stopped after a few steps and surveyed the scene for something, or someone. “She looking for you or me?”
“Probably me.” We were in an area without much lighting. We could see her just fine, but apparently she couldn’t see us as she turned and reentered the building. “She wants me to give her a ride.”
Jami enjoyed being chauffeured too much to ever learn how to drive.
“Where?”
“Out your way.” He watched a resident descend the front steps to a car parked on the street. “Shit, you wanna take her?”
“Nope.”
He sighed. “I guess I’ll wait until Cauvey gets back…see if he’ll ride with me…”
Something told me to turn my head. I saw the exact moment Sage pushed through the building’s front door, holding one of the animals in Lanique’s home zoo. She walked a few steps before putting the furry mutt on the ground, allowing her to roam as far as the leash would allow.
“Lookin’ kinda hard, ain’t you?” Kyree fucked up the moment with his call out. “I see why though,” he acknowledged, stepping forward to get a better look. “She bad.”
I had eyes. He didn’t have to tell me what I could clearly see for myself.
“Yeah, I know.”
“Jami knows too. She peeped the way you were looking at her in the apartment.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
