Page 8

Nyoka

I only visited Spartanburg once a year.

Being there for a second time felt weird.

Bombshell and I would rotate locations.

Once I placed an ad in the newspaper, she reached out and told me to meet her at Spill the Beans, a local coffee shop.

I took off my shades and then placed them on top of my head as I sat patiently.

I was on my second latte when I saw her swiftly walk through the door.

She always toted a laptop around, so there was no surprise when I saw the Louis Vuitton laptop bag in her hand.

This woman was probably the only friend that I had made over the years.

We didn't go by assassin names. There was no Bombshell and Snake Eyes. It was simply Xia and Nyoka when we linked up.

"Nyoka…" she greeted.

I stood from my chair to hug her.

"Xia… you are getting thick, girl," I voiced once we broke our embrace.

I took my seat, and she placed her bag in the booth before taking her seat.

"I blame you. Ever since you posted that pot roast recipe in the paper, I have been eating that almost every Sunday."

That is how we communicated through the paper because she preferred it that way. I smiled as I observed my friend. The weight looked good on her.

"How are you?" she asked with concern in her eyes.

I didn't even have to get to the bounty yet. I knew Xia already knew by the tone of her voice.

"I'm doing okay."

I actually was doing okay until I saw that damn chain in Adonis' bathroom. My phone ringing in my purse reminded me I didn't have the shit on silent. I forgot to let Talia know when I finished the drive to South Carolina, so although I shared my location with her, I was pretty sure it was her calling me.

Adonis.

Damn, he's gone live long, I thought to myself as I ignored the call and then placed my phone on Do Not Disturb.

I hadn't given him much response since I got his reasoning for the chain.

I didn't just come out right and ask him where he had gotten the chain from.

We had a small talk after I had fled from his house.

He had even offered to bring me some Midol and snacks because of my period.

He was so smooth that my ass almost agreed, and I didn't even have my period for real.

Our revisiting that night allowed me to bring up the fact that I didn't even wash because there was no soap in the dish but instead the chain.

I told him it was a unique piece and asked where he had got it from.

He explained that other than the investments that he had back in Lima, he would buy items from pawn shops and then resell them.

I chose to give Adonis the benefit of the doubt because the necklace was stolen from me.

I'm sure that a thief's first stop is a pawnshop.

Overall, the chain was beautiful. I reached for my neck and just played with the skin that was there. I was so used to wearing it that it felt weird not having it.

"I was just about to ask you where your chain was," Xia said.

"I decided to take it off because of everything going on." I didn't mention the robbery because, to me, it wasn't pertinent information.

The server came over, and Xia ordered herself a cappuccino.

"I need to know the price on my head, Xia."

She licked the foam from her upper lip before responding.

"Five hundred thousand dollars."

"A half of mil!" I fucking yelled in that damn coffee shop.

She nervously looked around before responding. "Yes."

Xia said the amount so casually, as if we were talking about twenty damn dollars or something. There was no way that I could offer that up because I didn't even have that much. If anything, my savings were dwindling down fast because I didn't have any income coming in.

"Why so much?" I questioned.

She looked at me like I had two heads before responding.

"Nyoka, you are the top of the top. Only five assassins in The Heart Mirage have the same chain as you. The head of the agency, Queen of Hearts, Onyx, you and a new kid."

Everyone knew who the head of the agency was. He attended everyone's graduation ceremony. We had only heard stories about Queen of Hearts because she was retired by the time our class started, but I could tell she was a badass. As far as Onyx, she was the damn face of the agency.

"What new kid?" I asked.

"I don't know. I don't get privy to info like that because I am not a Supreme."

I looked at her bare neck. She went to take another sip from her cup, and her hands were shaking like a muthafucka. Xia was the worst kind of assassin because she specialized in bombs and weaponry. It was funny as hell to me because for her to be the one you go to for bombs, her hands were shaky like a muthafucka.

"I need you to look somebody up for me."

If Adonis did belong to the Heart Mirage, his background would come back as classified, telling me everything I needed to know.

"Now that I can help you with…"

She pulled her laptop out of her bag and placed it on the table.

"Let me get a name and one city and state."

I gave her his name and Lima, Ohio. She turned the laptop my way, and I was relieved when a full report came up with Adonis' arrest record and childhood home in Clarksdale. The last known address was an apartment he shared with another woman who I'm sure was his ex. It felt good to know that what he had told me was true.

"Did you need anything else from me, friend?"

I knew we had both been sitting for too long. Every year, once a year, we would drive hours just to sit for fifteen minutes.

"No, that's all that I needed, Xia."

She quickly packed up her laptop, rose from her seat, and rushed out. This was the life and had been my life forever.

We had made it a tradition that whoever called the meet would foot the bill.

I tossed some cash on the table before making my own exit.

As I walked to my rental, I threw my shades back down on my eyes.

Although I had a price on my head, it felt good to live carelessly.

No one that I had come across in Georgia knew me.

I could sit in restaurants for longer than fifteen minutes.

I had met a man that showed that he wanted to treat me right, fuck me good, and love up on me.

Now that I knew Adonis wasn't what I thought, I would finally let him.

When I got into the car, I pulled my phone out of my purse and then shot Adonis a text before peeling off.

Adonis

Nyoka: When I get back into town, I want to see you…

I read the text from Nyoka out loud. She had ghosted my ass for two weeks after I had given her what I knew was some good-ass dick. It was a quickie but some good pipe, nonetheless.

"Aye, bruh, you ain't hear me?"

I tossed my phone onto the sofa and gave Dom my undivided attention. I sat on the loveseat in his room as I watched him toss clothes out of his closet.

"What are you wearing to this Halloween party?" he asked.

"I ain't going," I quickly said.

"Why not?"

"Because Talia invited you… I ain't going 'cause I already know Nyoka is going, and she's being weird, bruh."

Dom looked at me with his lips twisted to the side.

"Nigga you sound like a bitch. She's being weird, bruh," he mimicked me.

"I ain't acting like a bitch," I defended myself. "Fuck you going as an inmate?" I asked when I saw him pull out a white shirt, white pants, and some white vans.

"Nah, I'm thinking Mr. Clean."

I busted out laughing because his ass was bald head and light-skinned like a muthafucka.

"Yeah, bruh. I'ma be clean as fuck in this all-white. You gotta come."

"I ain't going to a party that this girl didn't personally invite me to."

"Mannnn," he dragged, "Aight, I ain't going either. We can go to a bar tonight and just kick it," he suggested.

"Aight, that's cool."

I didn't wanna kill his vibe, but the random ghosting me and then popping back up like nothing happened was not it for me. I was a nigga that knew my worth, so Nyoka wasn't about to have her way around this muthafucka just because she was pretty with a fat ass.

On top of knowing my worth, I was stingy as fuck with my time, so I had my phone tossed on Do Not Disturb. If she ain't ever have a nigga be stiff on her before, then she was going to learn today. Dom was geeked to get outside, and my ass was ready for a nap. I didn't know what was up with me, but it's like once I turned thirty, a nigga needed a bit of sleep before I went out to do anything. I loved to sleep so much that I wish I could be sleep.

"Where are you going, bruh?" Dom asked when I started to make my way out of his room.

"To take a nap."

"You old as shit, man. Well, get some rest. I will wake you when it's time to hit the road."

I walked into my room and then got straight into the bed. Nyoka had sent me a paragraph saying that she was sorry. The apology was heard, but it was not accepted. We were grown as fuck, and the ghosting without explanation was out. I locked my phone and then dozed the fuck off…

"Adonis, wake the fuck up!"

There was an urgency in Dom's voice that woke me up immediately. In one swift moment, my hand went under my pillow and grabbed hold of my gun.

"What happened?" I asked as my eyes adjusted to the light in my room.

"We gotta go to Talia and Nyoka. Some shit happened at that spot in Athens, and Nyoka's car was broken into."

I grabbed my phone and then saw that I had four missed calls from Nyoka. I also noticed that it was damn near midnight. I knew I was tired, but I didn't think that damn much. I hopped out of bed and then tossed on the basketball shorts I had hanging over a chair in my room.

I could see the anger in Dom's eyes. He really cared about Talia, and I didn't think I cared about Nyoka as much as I did until I was rushing, throwing clothes on to go to her aide. We hopped in Dom's truck and then raced to Athens. Straight drill music blared through his speakers as he switched lanes on 316.

"Now, why would they park in this dark-ass lot?" Dom complained as we turned into a parking lot.

As we pulled up, we saw Talia yelling at some dudes.

"Nah, y'all been sitting here since we went in that muthafucka! You gotta know who did this shit!"

Dom and I hopped out of the truck once we heard her loud ass. Nyoka had her driver's side window busted, and two of her tires were flat as fuck.

"Talia, fuck these niggas. Let's go," I heard Nyoka say as she tried to grab her arm and pull her away.

Her back was facing me, so she didn't see us walking up.

"Bitch, ain't nobody saw shit!" one of the men yelled at Talia.

Dom was walking over there quicker than I was. I already knew that he was about to be on buddy's ass for the disrespect.

"Who are you calling a bitch?" Talia yelled.

"You, bi—"

Before he could finish his sentence, Dom had jawed him.

"Oh shit!" Talia yelled.

The dude that he was with was about to hit Dom, but I pulled my gun and then trained it on him.

"I'm really not in the fucking mood, bruh," I warned, getting his attention instantly.

In Nyoka's absence, I was hitting the gym in our complex heavily, so my body was sore as fuck. I wasn't about to wrestle with nobody in that damn parking lot. The man made eye contact with me and lifted his hands in defense. Meanwhile, Dom was over there stomping his friend to a bloody pulp.

Because multiple cars had gotten broken into in the lot, we could hear sirens in the distance.

"Dom, let's fucking go!" Talia yelled.

When Dom got mad, he took it all the way there, and I did as well. I was surprised he and I didn't get arrested together yet because there was no voice of reason in situations like this. When two other men walked up, I trained the gun on their asses. I didn't know if they were with these two niggas or not, but if need be, I was leaving this damn parking lot, and it wasn't going to be in a body bag.

"Put the gun away! Let's go! I'm driving!" Talia yelled as she looked at me with anxiousness in her eyes.

When the police sirens got closer, I quickly tucked my gun and then yanked Dom off the nigga. Talia was already standing at the truck. We had hopped out of the muthafucka so fast that we had left the shit running. Nyoka hopped in the back seat, and so did I, as Dom jumped in the passenger side. We would have to figure out a way to get to Nyoka's car another time. The police were on their way, and I preferred not to have any police contact.

As Talia drove, I started thinking about the entire situation and became furious. I was more angry with myself because I was so quick to pull my gun for anything ever since I had killed that man at the reservoir. I guess it was true what they say once you use a gun, that fighting shit is over. I was so pissed at myself that I was shaking.

"You were going to kill those people?" Talia yelled.

"Shut up!" Dom yelled.

"Adonis, were you going to kill those people?" Talia turned around and asked me.

She was speeding down 316 yet wanted to muthafucking question me.

"You need to keep your eyes on the road," I calmly said.

The last thing that I wanted was for Dom's truck to flip the fuck over. Nyoka's hand touched my knee, and it calmed me a bit, but I still wanted to murder something. I noticed how calm she was in a heated situation, and I appreciated the shit. When I got worked up like this, I couldn't control myself, and this was the anger that Adira and Joy were talking about when it came to me.

"Just drive the car, Talia, damn. Hurry and get us to ya crib so we can drop y'all off and then go handle business," Dom instructed before shaking his head.

Dom's temper was just about the same as mine, so I knew, just like me, he was pissed the fuck off. Whooping on that nigga wasn't gonna be enough for him. He probably wanted that man in the dirt. When Talia made a right, I looked out the window in shock because the scenery we were passing was all too familiar.

"You live here?" I heard Dom ask before I could.

"Yeah, come on. Y'all ain't handling nothing, so y'all might as well stay here for the night." Talia cut the engine and then hopped out of the truck.

Nyoka opened her door and followed behind her. Dom turned around and stared at me, and in return, I was staring right back at him. We definitely looked like Diddy and that dude staring GIF. We were parked behind Talia's car, which was sitting outside the very first house we had robbed in Winder.

The world was too small if you asked me because what were the odds of that shit? Dom and I were still sitting in the truck, I'm sure both in shock. He was the first to exit.

"Aye, bae, hand me my keys so we can jet," I heard him say to Talia.

"Oh, you thought I was asking when I said that y'all are staying the night? I wasn't. Bring ya bald-headed ass in the house!" Talia walked up to the front door with Nyoka following behind her.

Dom nodded his head for me to get out.

"This shit is crazy," I whispered to him as we followed the ladies inside.

Their house was decked the fuck out like we hadn't emptied it.

If I wasn't falling for Nyoka, I woulda hit that shit for a second time.

A part of me wondered how they were able to refurnish the crib that fast.

I quickly brushed the thoughts to the side because we were in an era of social media influencers and Only Fans stars, so who knows where they got the money from.

Nyoka was pointing out where the bathrooms were located, although we already knew.

I was so pissed off at what had happened in the parking lot I didn't have the chance to check on her.

It was her car that had gotten broken into, vandalized, and shit was stolen from her, yet she seemed to be the calmest one in this situation.

"You good?" I asked her when I saw her sitting silently on a barstool that I thought about stealing a while back.

"Yeah, shit happens. It's life."

Nyoka was so damn laid back about the shit.

That was the difference between her and me.

Where she knew how to control her temper, I let my shit go. I would explode over the smallest things, and it was honestly something that I was still working on.

"I just wanna lay down, honestly," she added.

I was about to lead the way to her bedroom, but I stopped myself because, to her knowledge, this was my first time there, and I didn't know which bedroom belonged to her.

"Dom and I should be leaving. Go get yourself some rest."

Nyoka got off of the stool and then grabbed my hand. "You heard what Talia said, y'all are staying," she said as she led the way upstairs.

When Nyoka pushed the door open, I knew the chain she had seen in my bathroom belonged to her. I wonder if she suspected us of the robbery. If she did, she damn sure didn't act like it.

That could be the reason she had ghosted me as well. I pushed my thoughts to the back of my mind because she was back now, and that's all that mattered.

"Can you zip this down for me?"

Nyoka had on this yellow leather body suit. She did that Uma Thurman shit, for sure. She snatched off the blonde wig on her head and tossed it on her dresser.

"When I first came in your room, I thought Dom's ass got nasty taste like Talia, judging by the color on your wall."

I lightly chuckled as she pulled an oversized t-shirt out of her drawer.

I had gotten the idea of the color in my room from her room and didn't even know that the room belonged to her at the time.

I felt crazy being in the room with her. It didn't feel right. She tossed the shirt on, and it swallowed her small frame.

I quickly wondered if the shirt had belonged to an ex or something. I was about to ask, but I decided against it. Nyoka was in my presence now, and that's all that mattered.

"Lay with me?" she questioned more than demanded.

Since Dom and I had come straight from the crib, and I was dressed in basketball shorts, sneakers, and a hoodie, I figured it would be okay if I laid beside her.

I laid on my back, and then she laid her head on my chest.

Nyoka fit perfectly up under my armpit.

I ended up playing in her hair while we lay in silence for a minute.

Being in her room was getting to me because I kept picturing myself clearing the shit out.

Like, I even took the girl's damn hangers.

I was in beast mode back then, and I really felt bad because a girl like Nyoka didn't deserve that shit. I made a little promise to myself to splurge on her just because I felt like I had to ensure she got back everything I had taken.

Nyoka was a unique girl with weird taste, so the chain still in my possession was similar to the one my mother used to wear.

I'm sure it didn't cost much, so I just made a mental note to get her a necklace.

I could have just given her back the original one, but I had lied and told her that I had sold it on eBay.

It was something about it that I just couldn't part with.

As we lay there in silence, I wished we were laid up in my room.

I felt out of place lying in her bed.

"I can't wait to buy me a house.

We both just got rooms in somebody else shit," I randomly stated.

"I like it here…" she admitted, and I cringed about it a little.

Nyoka was four years older than me, and although I wasn't the type to put an age on goals that should be met, staying in her cousin's shit shouldn't have been the end game in my eyes.

"Do you not want your own space?" I questioned.

"I mean, I do. It's just I have to clear my name up first, then I can start back having all of my own everything."

"Damn, ya credit fucked up?"

"Something like that. I'm working on it."

My credit wasn't the best, but it wasn't all bad either. I knew there were little things that I would have to pay off to be able to obtain the goal I had of being a homeowner.

"I want a house in Buford or somewhere like that," I admitted.

"I'll let Talia know."

I didn't know how the two related.

"What, she knows some houses that are half-priced or some shit?" I questioned.

"She's a realtor."

Now that I didn't know. Don't get me wrong, Nyoka's cousin was cool people, but she didn't seem like the working of any job kind.

"Okay, cool, thank you."

When I looked down, she was looking up at me.

Her small pupils met with mine, and we just gazed at each other for a little while.

I leaned down to kiss her, and as our lips locked, I slid a little tongue and there.

She gently bit down on my bottom lip.

I was about to take her ass right to pound town.

As we kissed and Nyoka helped me undress, I looked at all the furniture pieces around her room that I had intended on having her bent over.

The first time we had sex, I had to get a feel for her.

Now that I knew she had some fire between those legs, I planned to knock the Mario coins up out of her every chance I got.