Page 12 of Vaughn & Cori (D-Ville Projects #7)
Cori
The first night I let Vaughn inside my home leads to many more.
Winter becomes spring and our relationship blooms. It’s hard to believe his inappropriate offer has turned into something so warm, vibrant, and addictive.
Because of Vaughn, I’m always out experiencing the areas beyond Highland Park in a whole new light with him as my guide.
Just me, him, and my camera ready to strike the moment inspiration hits.
When I see that the park will have a food truck operating out of the parking lot today, I take advantage of my work from home privileges.
I head to Highland Park, pick a comfortable spot, and a bite to eat while I work on my next article for The Daily .
Because of the food truck and the D-Ville Ballerz practicing, the park is more crowded than on most days, but still just as peaceful and definitely better than wherever Vaughn is working today.
Normally, he has a more hands off position as a general contractor, working out of the downtown area and more upscale neighborhoods.
But on days like today, he’s on the south side of town doing jobs for people in the community on the low.
His “something like a builder” comment on our first date turned out to mean that he was an actual general contractor full time.
But on the side, he stockpiled and stored excess building materials from his jobs in the more affluent areas and brought them to the south side of town to do jobs for people in his community.
Because his more affluent and commercial jobs were on such a large scale, it wasn’t nothing for them to have an extra hundred square feet of special-ordered material he’d have to dispose of when the job was done.
Instead of throwing it away, he held it in a local storage unit and installed the free material to anyone who paid for his labor.
In Vaughn’s mind, he was using his talent and resources to help build his community, and because he had no official gang affiliation, it allowed him to move freely in areas near Bedford Homes and offer those residents the same services as well.
“You know he’s not coming.”
The wind shifts and I smell the man who sits next to me before I see him.
“Excuse me?” I ask, engaging with him against my better judgement as I turn to see a man with long locs and hooded honey brown eyes solely focused on me.
“Vaughn’s not coming,” he says more specifically and I find myself trying to figure out where I’ve seen this man before and why the hell he’s approaching me about Vaughn.
“I wasn’t expecting him, but thanks anyway.”
I give him a forced smile, then turn back to my computer, watching him out of the corner of my eye, hoping he leaves soon.
But he does the exact opposite instead, pulling out a blunt wedged behind his ear and lighting it before making himself more comfortable on the bench beside me.
When he takes a pull from it, I start to pack up and he laughs.
“My bad,” he chuckles, then falls into a fit of coughs. “Didn’t know my brother-in-law was such a touchy subject.”
I’m about to stand, but when I process his words, my curiosity has me staying seated.
I turn to look at him and still can’t figure out where I’ve seen him before, but his eyes, I now realize, are the same as Toya’s.
Vaughn has never formally shown me a picture of her, but the times I’ve been to his mother’s house, I’ve seen a few and they were all stunning.
The man beside me has the same features, but there’s something else in his stare that makes his appearance more startling than stunning.
“Who are you?” I ask, knowing this has to be the Petey I’ve heard Vaughn mention or his mother grumble about in passing.
“I’m Petey. He ain’t tell you about me?” he asks, taking another pull from his blunt while letting his eyes travel down my body before coming back up to meet my eyes.
Then he shakes his head in fake disappointment.
“That nigga stay trying to keep me out of the picture. One minute he’s pushing me out of Jay’s life and the next he’s replacing my sister like her life ain’t mean shit.
” He points the blunt at me with his last statement, and for some reason, I keep entertaining the man.
“I don’t think that’s the case,” I say, instead of minding my damn business. Because from where I sit, no one will ever replace Toya in Vaughn’s eyes and I can’t help saying that quiet part out loud.
“Shiiiid.” He laughs. “You don’t know that nigga too well then. Any day now he’ll be ready to replace your ass too.”
To prove his point, he pulls out his phone and scrolls through picture after picture of him, Vaughn, and Toya, some dating back before Jaylen was born on the same block where the Douglasville Projects sit.
The only difference is the building and landscaping looks more rundown in the pictures than it is now.
I don’t know what the point of this conversation is, but his whole vibe is giving everything I’ve heard about him, so I decide to leave for real this time just as I see a police cruiser slow rolling through the parking lot.
When Petey follows my gaze, he snuffs out the blunt, then stands, telling me he’ll see me around before stuffing the half smoked blunt in his pocket and walking back to wherever he came from.