Page 23

CHAPTER 23

MCCOY

“Baby, I’ll be ready in about an hour.” I finished closing out the files I’d been looking through and turned to the phone. Earth stared at the phone with a mug on his face before cutting his eyes back to the road. “What’s with the attitude?”

“An hour is a long ass time, Coy,” he fussed, and I had to hold back my laugh. Earth was spoiled, probably worse than I initially thought. He didn’t like me being out of sight for long periods, and if I were, he would call to check up on me. “Why can't you be done now?”

“Because I’m working.” I laughed. “You know, the same thing you’re doing right now? Or have you forgotten?”

“Man, I’ll drop all this shit and come straight to you. Fuck all that,” he replied with a grunt. “All you gotta do is say the word, and it’ll happen.”

“What’s the word, Earth?” I questioned as I got up from my desk. I grabbed the phone and headed out of my office. None of my employees were here, and the office was quiet. I enjoyed the stillness of the office because it allowed me to get work done without being interrupted.

“Earth, take me home,” he answered. “Shit, come get some pussy will get me there faster though.”

I heard his smirk through the phone, and I rolled my eyes.

“Shut up.” I laughed as I pushed the door to the breakroom open.

I gave a slight wave to two DBBs sitting there, waiting for me to tell them I was ready to go. Since the incident at the store the other day, Earth insisted I always have someone with me. He gave me two options: he could be there or hire security. I agreed to the security.

“I’m serious as fuck.” He laughed. “Say that shit and see how fast my ass gets to you.”

“I’ll be home in an hour. Earth, there’s no reason to rush it,” I replied, leaving the breakroom.

“But them folks gonna be at the house,” he fake whined, making me laugh harder.

“Them folks, as you affectionately called them, are your family.” I sat at my desk and positioned my phone to lean against my computer screen. Earth grunted in response, and I smirked. “And you invited them over.”

“Nah, they invited themselves,” he replied, and I sat back in my seat. “Shaka sent a text to all her bald-headed friends, and the next thing I knew, she called me, saying they were coming over.”

“They aren’t bald-headed.” I laughed.

“How the hell you know?” He smirked. “Have you seen them before?”

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “But the two I met weren’t.”

“Paxton loves saying she got Indian in her family; that’s why her hair is long. Mahogany owns a million-dollar company, and her nigga a rapper so she gonna have a thirty-two-inch bust down if nobody is.”

“Whatever, Earth,” I said, getting myself together. Whenever we talked, I ended up laughing at something he said. How I got any work done was beyond me, but I felt freer than ever. The security alert flashed on my computer screen, and I sat up.

“The fuck you looking like that for?” Earth asked. My fingers flew over my keyboard as I tried to figure out what caused my security system to alert me.

“My alarm system sent me a message?—”

“Ay, where the fuck is Carl and Mel?” Earth interrupted me. I shrugged my shoulders and continued to look through the different alerts. I hated this system because it wasn’t as advanced as I needed. Instead of telling me exactly where the problem was, I had to go through each camera POV to find the issue.

“What do you mean, you don’t know?” Earth roared. “I pay them niggas to be there because I can't be!”

“They are in the breakroom,” I said as I switched the camera view to outside my office. Nothing seemed out of place, so I moved on to the condo.

“The breakroom?” he yelled. “If you aren’t in there, they don’t need to be.”

“I asked them to step out while I was on the phone with a client,” I said. I switched to the camera in the bedroom in the condo and saw Jamel’s cousin sitting in the bed with a woman standing in front of him. “This nigga.”

“What?” Earth growled. “He there?”

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “His cousin Leon is at the condo.”

“Doing what?”

“Entertaining some woman.” I picked up the phone and flipped the camera so he could see.

“That nigga ever did that while you were there?” Earth questioned.

I switched the camera back to face me and sighed. “No, but he doesn’t know I have cameras in there, but I know he’s done it before.”

“In your bedroom?” he asked with a twisted expression. “That nigga has had bitches in your bed?”

“I haven’t slept there in months,” I replied. “Not since Jamel poured scalding hot water on me.”

“That’s how you got them burns on you?” Earth questioned, and I nodded. “What else that nigga do?”

“A lot,” I answered, running my hands over my face. “More than I ever want to admit.”

“Alright,” Earth said, nodding. His eyes were on the road, but I saw the vein in the middle of his head start to throb. “I ain’t gonna ask you to go into details ’cause I can tell you ain’t ready to go there yet, but understand, when you’re ready, I’ll be here to listen.”

My phone buzzed, indicating I had a text.

Shaka: Leave your office now! It’s time to have some fun!

“Your cousin is texting me,” I said, trying to change the subject. “She’s ready to have some fun.” I switched out the text thread to see Earth still driving. His jaw was clenched, and he kept rubbing his hands over his goatee. “Baby?”

“Yeah?” he mumbled without looking at me.

“I’m okay,” I said, trying to reassure Earth. Whenever I needed him, whether or not I felt like I needed it, he reminded me he had my back, and I was safe. Now, it was my turn to tell him. “You hear me, Earth?”

“Yeah.”

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “Tell me what you heard me say, Earth.”

“You safe,” he said.

“And why am I safe, Earth?” I questioned. “Huh?”

“Because you got me.”

“Right.” I nodded. “I have you. So stop stressing over something you can't change. It’s in the past. He can't hurt me.” I tapped the screen as if it was him. “Look at me, Earth.”

“What’s up, baby?” he said, looking at the phone.

“Tell me again.”

Even though he didn’t want to, I could tell he was fighting a smile. Earth realized I was doing to him what he always did to me. I was reassuring him I was good. I lifted my brow and waited.

He let out a small laugh and finally smiled. “You safe.”

“And why is that?” I questioned.

“Because you got me,” he answered, and I nodded. “Fall in love with a nigga already, Coy, so I can marry your ass.”

“I’m getting there, Earth,” I said, and he nodded. “And you’ll be the first person to know when I do.”

“Cool.” He nodded. “When you leave the office, go straight home. No bullshitting around. Shaka knows the code to the security system, so you ain’t gotta let her in.”

“Okay,” I said, nodding.

“I love you, Coy,” he said, then hung up.