Page 7

CHAPTER 6

Jourdan

Present

I sat on the couch with my laptop perched between my crossed legs. For the past three days, I’ve worked on a presentation for Hard Rock Gym. I’d gotten a call from one of the managing partners, Justin, that they were looking to rebrand. We’d scheduled a meeting for late this afternoon to go over everything. He’d told me that aside from their downtown location, they’d been having trouble attracting new members. I took a look at the website and understood why. It was basic as hell. Even more so than Stephon’s awful ass private security website.

The website had simple pictures of their gym equipment pinned on a plain white background. No one was working out or enjoying their time at the gym in any of the photos. I would’ve never gone if I hadn’t already been to one of the locations and enjoyed its amenities. The logo was the typical barbell with the name surrounding it. I groaned at the amount of work that I needed to put in.

Did they put any thought into this? Men!

I didn’t mind, though. Anything was better than sitting around thinking about how I could get Burks in my grasp again. He wasn’t entirely off my radar. I’d still been listening to the bugs I’d placed enough to know that he would attend the annual Mayoral Ball on Saturday of next week. I needed to be in attendance. However, it was an invitation-only event. That had never stopped me; I’d just have to swindle my way in.

I could call in a favor from the Havens. Nah, I love a good challenge.

As I sat and ensured my designs were top-notch, my phone rang. I looked down and groaned because it was Brice. I hadn’t spoken to him in a week, which was surprising. I was sure he would’ve popped up on me by now.

“Hey, big head,” I spoke into the phone.

“Open the door,” he demanded. I looked down at my phone, perplexed because who was he talking to like that?

“If your ass asks me nicely, I might think about it. Why are you not using your door code?”

“Don’t play with me, JoJo. Slide your ass to the door. My hands are full.” I huffed as I stood to walk to the door. Opening the door, my brother stood on the other side with his locs in his signature man bun on top of his head. I noticed his ends had turned brown, bleached from the Cali sun. A few locs always hung over one side. I jumped into Brice’s arms, knocking all his things out of his hands, which he could have easily put on the floor as he embraced me.

“Brice,” I whispered as he hugged me into his chest. Being two years older at thirty-seven, Brice swore up and down that he was now my father, but I understood. The distance I’d put between us over my father’s death was killing me. I missed my big brother.

“JoJo,” he whispered, leaning back to look at me and ensuring I was ok. He always did. Inspecting me to see if anything was scarred. Luckily, he couldn’t see my mind and heart; that’s where all the damage was. Happy with what he saw, he leaned in and kissed my forehead. In all my excitement, I hadn’t noticed Tayla standing behind him.

So that’s why he hadn’t used his code.

My door was difficult to hack because I’d installed high-end security, but Brice, like me, has trust issues. He wasn’t about to allow Tayla to see my door code, especially not now. It didn’t matter who she was to us. Brice still hid many things from her, specifically that he was one of the two. I was sure he felt more for Tay than he let on, but not even that would allow her access. I finally reached around Brice and pushed him to the side to hug Tayla.

“Tay, it’s been so long,” I said as we rocked from side to side. Although we often spoke on the phone, I hadn’t seen her since leaving California.

“That part,” she said before we squealed, knocking Brice to the side to run to my living room like two school-aged girls. Tayla plopped down on the couch while I walked through my open- concept lower level to go to the kitchen. I got three water bottles from the fridge and passed them out as I joined Tay on the couch.

“How’s your mother?” I asked.

“She’s doing good. I think she has a new boyfriend because she has been seeing someone, but keeps the details locked up. I think she’s just bored.”

“Now you know Ms. Nina doesn’t like you all in her business. What is it she always says?” I snapped my fingers as I thought it up.

“My business isn’t your business,” I said, imitating Tay's mother in my best Ms. Nina voice. We both looked at each other and laughed.

“Hell, more like her business is never mine, and mine is always hers,” she said.

“Oh, fosho!” I said as I laughed again. It was more than that because we rarely saw Tay’s mother. I thought she spent more time running the streets than actually being there for her daughter. Then, after my father died, that became even less.

“Jourdan, we miss you. When are you coming back? This chasing after the ghost of your father’s past has to stop. I told you I didn’t find any reason to believe it was anyone your father knew. Then, you bought a house over here; why? It’s beautiful, though,” she said as she looked around my home.

“If you came across the US to lecture me, you could leave. If you disagree, fine, but what I’m not going to do is keep talking to you about my reasons, Tay,” I said, exhausted from this conversation. She took my hands into hers and exhaled .

“Look, Jourdan, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. But I will always call you on your bullshit because I love you. You two are my best friends and family. I should be mad at your ass because you up and left me with Mr. Ice Cold.” He had garnered the name as a play on Brice, but was as icy as the name depicted. Good luck to anyone who tried to melt away the glacier walls he’d built to keep people out. The death of our parents had messed us up.

“I love you, too, Tay,” I said, smiling at my oldest and only friend. I wouldn’t have made it without her, and she knew me better than anyone, so thankfully, she changed the conversation.

“So, what’s the deal with you? Have you found anyone to put some glaze on that dry-ass biscuit so they can sop it up?” She asked. I laughed at her crazy ass comparison.

“Girl, my pussy is not dry. It’s just been out of commission for a while. You know how I feel about men. There is someone. I don’t know, Tay. Have you ever met someone who makes your world stand still?” I said as I stared off, thinking of the man who had done just that. I was also thinking about how I knew he’d glaze and sop my biscuit.

Damn!

“Jourdan,” she called out, waving her hand in front of my face.

“Where did you go just now? Shit, Jourdan, this man has you really about to change your stance. I thought you were Miss fuck them and leave them. Tell me more; what’s his name, and how did you meet him?”

“Remember the other day when I told you I was on a mission? Well, he was there. ”

“I’m so confused, so he’s on your list?”

“No, he was the...” I said, trailing off before I was interrupted.

“JoJo, I need to slide. I’ll be back.” I nodded in his direction. He walked over and kissed Tay on the forehead before doing the same to me. My forehead creased at what I’d just seen. Then he picked up his phone to make a call before leaving my front door. I needed to switch subjects. I didn’t want to talk about my business, so I would pull one of her mother’s acts and pry into hers.

“What’s the deal with you and Brice?” I said, figuring I could get the information I wanted since he wasn’t around like he’d been all the other times I’d asked recently. Her eyes widened as several different emotions flashed across her face. The one that stood out the most was confusion, but she quickly smiled to remove it.

“What, no girl. Brice is the homie,” she said, tilting her head to the side to confirm. I nodded my head up and down.

“Yeah, ok. You even dyed your locs like his,” I said, giving her one last chance to confess verbally. They couldn’t hide it even though they tried. I felt like they were in love with each other. They were something. I just couldn’t quite put my finger on what. It was the way he looked at her, like she was the anchor keeping his boat from floating out to sea.

“Brice is just like you, JoJo. He doesn’t trust anyone enough to open his heart. Besides, he doesn’t have time for love or even me. His hours are long, and if he’s not at work, he’s, well, you know. We spend a lot of time together, but that’s only because you’re here,” she said. I understood exactly what Brice felt. I wanted a life and love like my parents had. I just didn’t know if that was in the cards for me.

“So, what else is going on here? Have you made any friends?” Tayla asked.

“No, not really. I have a few acquaintances, but I mostly stay to myself,” I said as she sighed.

“JoJo, you and your brother have to learn how to trust people.” I waved her off.

“You know no one can replace you, Tay. That’s why you and Brice should move out here with me.”

“I would be down. I need a change of scenery. It’s not like my mother will miss me,” she said, whispering out the last part and then quickly pasting on a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“Anyways...” she trailed off and started talking about any and everything while I drifted in and out of the conversation. I couldn’t believe my mind was so caught up in Stephon's enigma that I’d forgotten Brice was there. I almost let his name slip from my lips. I hadn’t planned on ever speaking about him because I knew I’d probably never see him again. That was probably for the best.