Page 11

Adonis

"Hey, Drayko," Lola said with a bright smile.

"Who is that?" I heard Nyoka whisper again.

"You good over here," I caught myself steadily reminding Nyoka.

I could hear in her tone that my ex had gotten under her skin, but she had to know she was good with me. I made a mental note to tell her who Lola was when we made it back to the car.

"What's up?" I kept it short with my ex.

Lola's sister, sitting beside her, waved at me. I kissed Nyoka on the side of the face before the chef had started his show. He flipped the spatulas around and clinked them onto the metal surface of the grill.

"You, what's your name?" He pointed one spatula at Lola. She looked me dead in the eyes and smiled before answering.

"Sunset."

"Ahh, pretty name. Let's make one."

I felt Nyoka drop my hand, and when I looked in her direction, she was patting her thigh and clenching her teeth together. I was about to ask her what was up with her when I remembered I had the name Sunset tattooed on my ring finger. Nyoka was so observant, and I knew she knew every tattoo that covered my body, all forty-two of them. I looked down at my tatted hands and then balled my right hand into a fist. My lady was sitting beside me, uncomfortable as hell, and there was nothing I could do about it.

The chef lit a flame, and then everyone clapped before he started sectioning off food to put onto our plates. I dogged my plate, and when I looked over at Nyoka, everything was still on her plate. She must have over thought her ass into not being hungry anymore. That was one thing that I wish I could change about her. Ny was a crazy-ass overthinker, and even though the situation we were currently in was crazy, she had to know that nothing had to be happening between my ex and me. We had just made it to town, and I was attached at the hip with her ass.

"Come on, let's go," I whispered to her when my ex and her sister started laughing extremely loud at some shit.

Nyoka didn't even offer me a response. She simply pushed her chair out and started walking toward the exit.

"Bye, Drayko," Lola said with a giggle as I chased behind Nyoka.

"Ny, wait up," I finally said once I reached the parking lot.

She rushed over to the passenger side of the vehicle. It was obvious she was pissed but not pissed enough to drive her own car.

"You better fucking not," I spat when I saw her reach for her door handle once I unlocked the doors. I didn't play that shit, and she knew it.

I opened the car door for her, and then once she was seated comfortably in the seat, I closed the door. As I jogged lightly to the driver's side, I saw that Lola and her sister were exiting the restaurant. Both of their eyes were trained on me, and all it did was piss me off. When I had left the city, Lola had her a nigga, so why they both thought that they could play in me and my lady's face was beyond me.

"You wanna talk now or not?" I asked once I made it in the car.

"I'm good."

Nyoka was keeping it short with me. I pulled off, just driving around with no sense of direction, when she finally opened her mouth.

"Was that your ex?"

I hated the obvious, but considering that the situation was a sensitive matter, instead of being a sarcastic asshole, I just answered.

"Yes."

"Cool."

I couldn't read Ny, and I hated that shit. I was about to say some shit to her, but my phone started ringing.

"What's the word bitch ass nigga?" I answered.

"How the fuck you in the city and ain't check me yet?" Lee was my right-hand man in the city.

"If I were still by Joy's crib, I would have told you to push up."

"Can't. I'm on house arrest."

"Damn, aight. Well, I'll slide over there."

"You better bring a bottle. The gang's popping out, too."

It had been forever since I had kicked it with my niggas, and I was looking forward to a night of drinking with them.

"Aight I'ma slide."

"Say that," Lee ended the line.

I could hear Nyoka's mind turning in the seat beside me. Because of what had just happened with Lola, there was no way that I was going to leave Nyoka couped up in a hotel room.

"I wanna slide by my man's crib. That's cool?"

"Yeah, that's okay."

Nyoka pulled her phone out and then busied herself as I made it toward the liquor store and then Lee's crib. She was typing away on her phone beside me, and I'm sure it was to update Talia on the situation with seeing my ex. Sometimes, I hated how much she over-shared with her cousin.

∞∞∞

When we got to Lee's house, we were all sitting in the yard. Nyoka was the only female in attendance. I personally didn't mind but I could tell that my boys were a little uptight about it. I was only in the city for the weekend, but I was big on ensuring my lady didn't have any suspicions for the rest of the vacation. The shit leaving Joy's house earlier was insane. I knew tomorrow I had to face the music with my family drama, so tonight was reserved for getting drunk as fuck.

Collectively, we were into our third bottle of Reposado. Nyoka was sitting off to the side, engaged in her phone while the guys and I entertained Facebook while going live. I was back in the city, and I wanted everyone to know it. When we ended the live, I looked down and saw a pair of shoes that were so familiar. I was big on customized kicks, so when I saw the all-white Forces with a red check with drips of red coming out of the check, it caught my eye. Not to say that niggas in Lima didn't have moments when they put that shit on, but no one in the city was dripped out like me.

"Where did you get those from?" I asked Ha after I threw back my last shot for the night.

Hassan was cool with Lee, so off the arm, he was cool with me, too, or so I thought. I was looking at him sketchy because of the sneakers on his feet that I knew I had left at my ex's crib when she had put me out. Women do the weirdest shit after a breakup, like tossing a nigga's clothes out, selling them, and even fucking on a lame like the one standing next to me.

"Oh, where did I get these from?" He turned his foot to the side to show off what I knew belonged to me. "A raffle, bro."

It was the menacing smile across his face with his response that pissed me off and let me know he had been doing the ladder of all of my thoughts. He must have been the one that had bagged my ex up.

"Those heat. Lift ya foot up."

His goofy ass did as he was told, and once he did, I yoked him up by the collar. On the soles of the shoe, I had the artist draw a red Draco, and although it had started to fade I could see it clear as day.

"Get the fuck off me, bruh."

I pushed him back, and he quickly fixed his shirt when I did. His shirt looked drunk as fuck now after I had turned him loose.

"Aye, aye, what's going on?" Lee asked as he quickly stood from the table in his yard.

"Go get the gloves, Lee. Ha, get in the gloves with me and you know about what."

"Over some sneakers, bro?" Ha asked.

It was bigger than the shoes. It was the principal behind it. When nobody acted like they wanted to go into Lee's crib to get the gloves, I started walking toward the backyard door because I knew exactly where they were.

"I'm not getting in no fucking gloves. Fuck that!" Ha had pulled his pole from his waistband.

I was the biggest in the yard, so most niggas never wanted to see me in gloves, but as brothers, that's how we hashed shit out. Seeing this nigga bitch up and pull a pole on me infuriated me because this ain't how we did shit. We ain't go around fucking each other's main bitches either, though.

"You gone up a pole on me 'cause I'm tryna get in gloves? You a bitch!" I spat out my mouth as I started to walk over in his direction.

"Aye, y'all don't disrespect my momma's house!" Lee yelled as he stood in between me and Ha. "Nyoka, come get ya man and get him out of here!" Lee yelled at Ny.

I could see Nyoka stand from the table and then walk over. She had her gun inside the pocket of her jeans.

"I wanna get in the gloves with you, and you wanna shoot a nigga!" I yelled at Ha as I leaned over Lee and pushed the fuck out of him.

His locs had dropped in his face with the force of my push. He was a skinny dude, so I knew in the gloves I would dog his ass.

"Don't fucking push me!" He waved the gun in my direction as he screamed.

Even his tone was breaking. His ass was scared of me, and it was showing. I knew if he pointed that gun at me one more time that his ass was gonna have to shoot because it was gonna take everybody in the yard to get me up off of him.

"Ha, put the damn gun away! Y'all disrespecting my momma's crib!"

Lee was yelling at the top of his lungs. He was on house arrest and couldn't go no damn where so what was supposed to be our last hurrah before he had to turn himself in and before I had left town for good was turning into drama. It felt like everything since I had touched Ohio soil was drama-filled.

"You a bitch," I said as Nyoka started pulling me toward her car.

The rest of the guys started pushing Ha toward his car.

"Nah, you a bitch 'cause you letting ya bitch hold you back! Matter of fact, you a bitch because you're mad I was fucking yours!"

And there it was, the confirmation that I had needed. I reached for the gun in Nyoka's pocket because I had left mine in her car, but her hand covered mine.

"Fuck him, let's go!" Her voice was raspy because in the midst of me and Ha getting into it, I heard her yelling, trying to calm me down.

"Keep those sneakers nigga ya bum ass needed them more than I did!" I yelled out right before Nyoka forced me into the passenger side of the car. I was ready to roll down the window and then let bullets fly because who the fuck did Ha think he was talking to, anyway? The only reason I didn't is that I had love for Lee's mother like I did for Joy, and I didn't wanna make her side yard a murder scene. I sat passenger side, pissed off, as Ny backed out of the lot.

Nyoka

Adonis getting into it with his own friends over a pair of fucking sneakers was beyond me. These were the men that he called brothers. They were all snakes if you asked me. My definition of loyalty was different compared to others, which was why I kept my circle tight as fuck. It was really strict around this bitch.

"I can't believe his bitch ass clutched on me," I heard Adonis say while I was speeding away from what could have easily been a murder scene.

Throughout the entire encounter, my trigger finger was itching. I hated being in stupid ass situations like the one he had put me in. My patience didn't extend beyond those whom I loved.

"You should have shot him," I stated in the calmest tone.

I know that in the moment, I was telling him to leave it alone, but people only had one time to play with me, so when I really thought about it, his friend Ha should have been put in the dirt for the disrespect. What was supposed to be a quick vacation for the both of us was quickly turning into a nightmare. Between Adonis' family drama, ex-girlfriend pettiness, and now friend drama I didn't know how much more I could take.

"Nah, I can't backdoor him. That's gang at the end of the day."

In my mind, I didn't want to hear the nigga complain then. Family, friends or not, when I felt disrespected, I always did something about it. Even in life where I played things calm in situations like his, that was only because I knew whoever I had a problem with was going to die, and soon at that.

"Well, then stop talking about it."

"A nigga can't vent to you?"

Adonis' main thing with our relationship was communication. I put in overtime to get him to open up to me, and the moment I responded to him, I regretted it.

"Not when it comes to this."

I was placing restrictions on what he could discuss with me, and once it slipped out my mouth, I wanted to take it back.

"Bet."

He leaned back in the passenger seat and then pulled his phone out.

"Fuck," I mumbled under my breath as I drove freely with no direction in mind.

I had ended up making it back to the hotel with no help from Adonis. I had to rely on my memory because my phone was dead. I had turned the car off and then sat and waited. Usually, even if he were riding passenger, he would come around and open my door. When I realized he wasn't going to, I popped my door open.

"Leave the keys," he said lowly.

"For what? Come on…"

"I'm not coming up there right now. I need a little space."

I leaned back in the seat and then closed the door. The entire ride to the hotel the encounter was playing over in my head. Adonis was okay with getting in the gloves and fighting with Hassan, but once he brought up him fucking his bitch, he was reaching for my gun to put a hot one in him. It didn't sit well with me.

On top of seeing the girl earlier, it was just too much. Now usually, I would have kept my mouth shut, but I needed him to be transparent with any feelings toward his ex because I needed to know if I was leaving his ass in Ohio or not.

"Does your needing space have to do with your ex?"

Adonis turned his head so quickly in my direction that it made me look out the window to make sure that no one was outside. His face was twisted really badly before he responded.

"You think it's about a bitch? I need space for my mental, Nyoka. You're sitting over there worried about a fucking female. That shit has probably been on your mind since we saw her earlier."

It was several things on my mind but the last situation with his friend was the last straw.

"You seemed on edge when Hassan mentioned her."

"Lima is small as fuck. He can be talking about any bitch I blew down on. It sounds like you're trying to place feelings where they ain't. How many times do I gotta tell you I'm done over there?"

I sat quietly. Although I hadn't brought the topic up much, I had brought it up enough to where it could bother him.

"I just wanted to ask."

"Yeah, and when you're not asking, you're jokingly implying. Give me the keys, Ny and go ahead upstairs. I need a little minute."

Although I didn't want to, I handed Adonis the keys and made my exit. He got out of the car and walked to the driver's side. He didn't pull off until he saw I made it safely through the hotel's automatic doors. I was going to try my best to wait up for him. I had bigger things to worry about, like Onyx being his mother and the bounty on my head.