Page 1 of Suleem and Yahzi (D-Ville Projects #1)

Yahzi Coleman

I lifted my clippers and changed the guard so I could tighten up Knocks’ shadow fade. He removed his hand from under the cape and frowned at his phone. I glanced at the screen, noticed his girl’s name, and smirked.

“Don’t answer that shit while you’re in my chair. I’m not in the mood for her to come up here causing problems.”

He smiled smugly, exposing a dimpled cheek. “She only acts up like that because your pretty ass be rubbing all up on me.”

I laughed and rolled my eyes. “Is that the lie you tell her instead of being honest and saying that you like to put your hands on me and I keep knocking them shits away because I don’t get down like that?”

His smile expanded and that dimple sank deeper.

“I see what I see, you see what you see.” He didn’t answer the call and moved his hand back under the cape.

“And if I’m blocking, then you’re blocking too.

When your sorry ass nigga hits your line, you gonna tell him you’re busy so he doesn’t pull up causing problems.”

I tensed briefly because Dex had his share of times when he tried to do too much. That was part of the reason why I ended things. Well that and me finding out he called himself gang affiliated. “That’s not my man.”

“Maybe not but you’re definitely his girl so you might want to sit that nigga down and provide him with some clarity.” Knocks chuckled and glanced at his screen before he swiped his finger and answered a call.

“Yeah? I’m getting a cut. I told you where the fuck I was gon’ be.

Why you hitting my line like you have comprehension issues?

Bruh, Yah don’t want me, but trust, if she did, I would be on her ass and there wouldn’t be a damn thing you could do about it.

Now go find something safe to do before I move you out of the rotation. ”

I rolled my eyes, shaking my head at how blunt he was and knew he meant every word. The way he ran through women and they accepted his indiscretions like sister wives was insanity.

I would never…

“And don’t bring your ass up here trying to flex because you know what it is.”

He ended the call and glanced at me in the mirror.

“I have no clue why those women let you play in their faces like that.”

He smiled sexily. Knocks was a beautiful man but not my type.

Medium brown skin that competed with the flawlessness of mine, goatee, straight white teeth, and dark brown eyes that sat below thick lashes.

His brows were bushy and thick, but shiny black like his goatee so they balanced his face and gave him a rugged edge.

Well that and all the ink on his body. His arms and neck were a colorful canvas and he also had a few down the left side of his face.

That wasn’t my thing but even through all the ink you could see how handsome Knocks was. The six foot build and solid frame were also an added bonus. All things that screamed fuck boy and fuck me.

“I’ve been trying to show you why they let me play in their faces but you keep shutting me down.” His gaze trailed the length of my body and I rolled my eyes.

“I’m not a rotation kind of girl, so… hard pass.”

He chuckled. “That why you dropped Dex bitch ass?”

My eyes met his in the mirror and he arched his brow. “Bruh, don’t tell me you thought that nigga was faithful.”

Not really…

At twenty-eight, I wanted to be serious about my future and men with multiple women would never be long-term.

I also believed a part of me was in denial because deep down I sensed Dex wouldn’t be faithful.

He was just a way for me to pretend I was moving on but the reality was my heart belonged to, and would only ever belong to, one man.

“We’re just not a good fit. I don’t do bangers.”

Been there, done that. Got my heart crushed and will never recover…

“Then why you fuck with him in the first place?” Knocks frowned.

“I didn’t know he was gang.”

He grinned. “You let that square ass shit he be doing fool you.”

Dexter worked for the city. He wore suits, had an office downtown, and drove a Benz.

He had tattoos, but most of them could be covered with his suits and none of them were gang affiliated that I knew of, until recently.

I had only been in Crescent Falls for three years and was still figuring things out.

I spent the first two years cutting at a shop in an affluent area, trying my best to stay disconnected from any reminders of the man I ran from in Diamond Falls.

It hurt too much to revisit themes from my past but I was sick of being the unicorn at the shop.

The pretty, Black, hood girl who cut hair.

Rich corporate men would come in just to experience me and the shit was annoying.

When I found an opening for a full-time barber across town, I quickly pulled up and felt at ease here.

Dex was a regular in my chair for two months before he asked me out. He flirted but never crossed lines or got disrespectful. He was hood but in a refined way, which was how I didn’t know he was affiliated.

That didn’t happen until a few weeks ago when Dex and one of his boys showed up at his apartment in the middle of the night pissed about their gang getting ambushed.

His boy had been nursing a bullet wound in the arm while Dex had been grazed in the side.

What I thought was him chilling with his boys was Dex in the middle of a shootout with a rival gang.

Turned out the Dex was not only affiliated, he was pretty high up in the ranks.

It blew me because I actually liked him but refused to travel down that road again.

“People show you what they want you to see and we see what we want to believe.”

“I feel you. So that means your pretty ass is available then, right?”

“For you, no.”

He smiled sexily. “You’re missing out on a good time.”

I watched him remove his hand from under the cape and grip his dick.

“Good sex isn’t worth the headache it’s typically connected to, and if I really need to travel down that road, I can get it anywhere without strings attached.”

He chuckled. “You’re right but I’m not talking about good sex. I’m talking about the type of shit that will change your life. When you’re ready for an otherworldly experience, just let me know and I got you.”

I already had otherworldly sex that changed my life. I left the man it was attached to three years ago. He was imprinted on me and there was no competition and never would be.

“Yeah, I’ll do that.”

I definitely would not…

“You won’t but that’s cool. The offer is open if you change your mind. I’ll gladly move you to the top of the list.”

I turned, placed the clippers down and lifted the brush to remove excess hair before I unsnapped his cape.

“I know that’s supposed to feel like a privilege but the whole list thing kills the vibe.”

Knocks lifted from the chair, allowing his six foot plus frame to tower over my five foot seven height.

I wasn’t exactly short, but next to him, I looked height challenged.

Knocks bent enough to inspect his cut, turning his head from side to side like he didn’t know my hands were blessed as he grinned with a slight nod. “You’re cold as fuck, Yah.”

“I know, now come up off that.” I turned my palm up, requesting my money, and he chuckled, removing a hundred from his pocket and handing it over.

Another thing I loved about Knocks and his people.

They paid without debate and tipped well.

This was a forty dollar cut with a sixty dollar tip just because he respected the hustle but more so because he had it.

“I’ll get with you. Be easy, Yah, and I’m glad you’re not fucking with that simp anymore. You deserve better.”

“And you’re better?” I arched my brow and Knocks smiled, causing his dimple to surface.

“Shit… you already know but I get it. You need a nigga who’s on his grown man shit and I’m gonna be a player for life.”

“At least you’re honest.”

“Always.” He winked, tossed his chin, and left the shop while I waved over my next client. I had three more heads today then I would be heading home.

By eight I was pulling up at my apartment feeling like my night was going to be a hot bath, some takeout, and a bottle of wine I started and didn’t finish two days ago.

The past three days had been long with me taking on clients from Sean, one of the owners of the shop where I cut.

He was out all week because his girl demanded time with her man.

They were a cute couple and I respected that he cared enough to shut down when she felt like she needed him.

He trusted only me to take on his return customers, so he handed over a full week’s worth.

Sean was East Street like Knocks, but older, so alongside the illegal activities he engaged in, Sean kept a barbershop because he had a girl and a daughter who depended on him.

I was hesitant about working here at first because I didn’t want to be in the middle of the same stuff I walked away from but Sean assured me the shop was a neutral space. Other than his boys coming in for cuts, there was no attachment to East Street.

Sean was cool people but also had me in my feelings wondering if my life would have looked like the one he provided for his girl had I stayed in Diamond Falls.

That thought moved through my mind a few times but there was one very distinct difference.

Sean separated those worlds, Suleem didn’t, or rather, couldn’t.

DP was his world. He created it with his boy Kassir, which meant a lifetime of attachment to the things that could have killed me and almost took him from this earth.

Pushing the thoughts to the back of my mind, I exited my car and walked to my door, frowning when I heard loud music and voices on the inside.

The fuck…