“Please stay calm when I tell you this shit, Zyro,” he begged with his hands stretched out, palms facing the ground.
I swiped my nose with the pad of my thumb. “It depends on what the fuck it is, Conrad.”
He sighed. “Zyleek got in a fight and his eye is swollen.”
“With whom? An inmate? A CO?”
“Another inmate, so they tryin’ to stick more charges on him, Zyro.”
“Fuck no! he had no business being in there in the first place, Conrad. Get him out of there, for I turn this whole county upside down,” I gritted through clenched teeth and walked away from his ass. How the fuck did Zyleek get in a damn fight already? That sounds like a fuckin’ setup ‘cause he wouldn’t have done shit to fuck up his chance to get out today over a fuckin’ gram of weed.
I could hear Conrad walking behind me. My head was pounding. My phone rang, and when I saw that it was Pops, I groaned. I stopped in my tracks to answer.
“Aye.”
“Any word?” he asked right off.
I cleared my throat. Conrad dipped his head and entered the building.
“I just got word Leek was in a fight and they’re trying to slap more charges on ‘em,” I told him.
“Maaaan, if I gotta bring my ass up to that county jail, I’ma show them folks some,” he barked. I could hear him moving around. “Is Conrad there?”
“He here,” I uttered, rubbing a hand down my waves.
“Well, he’d better work fuckin’ magic! Leek’s baby mamas been calling and textin’ Zena like crazy. You would think he was still screwin’ all of ‘em!”
“I had to snicker at that. “He probably is.”
“Well, he’s a damn foo’! Let me know what they say, Zyro.”
“I will, Pops. I’ll have to wait out here ‘cause I think the lawyers are the only ones that can go in,” I let him know.
I hung up with my Pops, dragging my hand down my face. My temples were still throbbing. My fists flexed and unflexed. It was quiet outside, except for the doors opening and shutting as people came and went. My phone vibrated in my back pocket. I slid it out, thinking it was one of my people, and saw it was Eriss instead. She wasn’t saved in my phone, but I remembered the last four numbers—4656.
I cursed under my breath. This wasn’t even the time to talk about her damn car, but seeing that she was impatient because I was supposed to be calling her and not the other way around, I answered.
“This Zyro.”
“Oh, hey. This is Eriss. Any news about my car? I know it’s early in the morning, but—” Her voice trailed off.
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Yeah, my boy got a chance to take a look at it right when he got in. Um…it ain’t good news though.”
She groaned. “I knew it.”
When I reached my truck, I pulled down the bed and hopped on it, taking a seat. I didn’t know how long it would take Conrad to come back out, but I was sitting my ass right here until he did.
“I’m not at the shop right now. I kinda got some family shit going…”
“Oh yeah, your brother. Um, Mahlia told me, and I hope everything is okay. I’m sorry to be bothering you.”
“You ain’t botherin’ me,” I was quick to say. “When I was leaving, I was told it was a few issues wit’ your car. We can fix it, but it’ll be costly, or you can think about trading it in and gettin’ some else.” Silence hung for more than a second. That was some she didn’t want to hear, so I was sure she was processing that shit. “The alternator’s gone along wit’ the battery. Let’s talk ‘bout those bald ass tires. That car shouldn’t even be on the road wit’ you and lil’ man in it.”
Eriss inhaled sharply. “I figured it was bad, but not that damn bad.”
“Yeah, I’ma always keep it real wit’ my customers.”
“I appreciate that.” She sighed softly. “I don’t know anything about trading in a car.”
