“You want me to handle it?”
“No,” I said eyes burning into the empty pace where the pawn used to be.
“Let him think he’s up next to take over the board, he’ll think his next move is grand.” I chuckled.
“And then?”
“Then I’ll show him why the fuck I own the board in the first place.”
I traced the outline of a pawn on the table with my thumb, the wood cool and smooth, another piece waited to be moved, sacrificed, or crowned.
“Dre’s been playing checkers,” I said finally, “But as always this is chess. And every pawn dreams of crossing the board.”
Tone sighed into the phone roughly “So what’s the play?”
I flicked the pawn, watched it tumble twice before stopping at my palm.
“He’ll make noise. He wants to be seen. Let him. The more he moves, the more space he leaves behind. Smack must have offered him a fake fortune to get him to turn against me.”
A crooked grin tugged at my mouth.
“You really gonna wait him out?”
“Patience wins wars,” I replied. “Right now, I’m forced to have patience because someone very dear to me roams freely without my ownership. You stay glued to him, watch every fuckin’ move then go about your day like you would any other day. No suspicions.” I hung the phone up.
TIME TO THINK….
“Hoe is you cool?”Yvette yelled at the top of her lungs at me as she cocked her head to the side.
“You telling me a fine ass chocolate man that has owls as pets… killed Darius punk ass right in front of you…Darius been lying to you this whole time, got you out here pan handling for money and starving yourself to death while you never had to pay rent to begin with because his baby momma owned the building…”
Yvette picked up her glass cup off the bar top and drunk the rest of her cognac like it was water. She wiped her forehead dramatically as my eyes swept from left to right taking in the empty club.
Yvette rose from her barstool in one fluid motion, the curve of her hips caught the light as she paced the length of the bar. She was tall, her skin was a deep shade of red as she shook her head. I always admired how she always reeked of confidence. Thick curls spilled from her scalp, haloed around her head with the kind of beauty I’d seen in magazine covers but never in real life. Her eyes shimmered with shock as she kept looking over at me.
I was just happy to be here, relieved that Kenric actually trusted me enough to let me leave. Still, I felt his discomfort with me far away. When I closed my eyes, I not only saw his dark orbs blazing into mine but Josie’s eyes as well. I was far from normal with all of this. Here I found myself worried and thinking about Kenric, when I should’ve been planning a way to break free from him.
Truth is…I didn’t want to…
I shifted uncomfortably on the bar stool and locked back into what Yvette was saying.
“I mean you look, well rested and well fucked I must add.” She stopped pacing to offer me a crooked smile.
“Yvette please,” I sighed.
“Yvette please my ass, I can say whatever comes to mind, okay? I’ve been worried sick about you. Darius’s baby momma came up here looking for you as well?—”
“The police came?” I cut her off.
“Nah, not that I know of. I thought you was dead Mira! Oh, my goodness, I prayed hard daily for the past month, girl. I’m happy to see you, there’s so much shit that’s been happening around here.”
I tried to steady my breathing, as I blinked away memories that wanted to snare me back into old worries. Worries that I always had whenever I did come to this club to play my violin.Half the time, I came high out of my mind looking for an extra escape. I let my gaze wander, sweeping every corner of the club.
The place had changed. It wasn’t the same run-down looking strip club that had a molded smell on the inside. The bar now glimmered with polished wood; the surface was glossy and clean. The stage was no longer rectangular and worn down, it was diamond shaped with a brand-new glistening pole.
New velvet drapes hung against the walls, deep plum and navy. There were expensive gold fixtures on the tables and even the air smelled different, richer somehow, like vanilla and cedar instead of spilled beer and cheap perfume.
“What the hell happened in here?” I asked.
