“Yeah.” A security guard approaches, I give a nod, windows winding up gradually as I drive in. She walks out the administration office just then—and immediately, mi spirit pick up something off. She looks… nervous.
“Mami, you good?” I ask as she slips into the car. She exhales sharply, the kind that tells you she’s trying to keep it together.
“Yuh good?” I press again.
“I’m okay, babe. It’s just that…” I wait, watching her close.
“Them find one a mi form student with a gun,” she says finally.
I blink. “Who? The principal find it?”
“No—police. And soldiers,” she mutters. Eeeh… that gwan?
“Mi affi check mi register to see if he was absent the time of the shooting,” she continues, digging through her bag for the book.
“Why yuh affi check it? The school cya handle that? Why dem a stress you?”
She sighs. “The detective ask me personally, Nickoi. So mi a go give it to him now. She opens the door. Just then, the man himself appears—Detective Mario. He blocks her from stepping out. Our eyes lock. Jah.
“I was just coming to meet you,” she says to him, her voice nervous. She shows him the register. He finally looks away from me. I stare at him hard. They stand outside for five whole minutes. I watch through the glass, tapping my finger against the Benz emblem until she returns.
“Sorry for holding up your time,” Mario says.
I nod once. “That good, man.” I force the tone calm, even though mi ready fi cut.Nick easy, him go wonder why yuh uncomfortable around him.
“This is the latest model, right?” he asks, eyeing my Benz. I chuckle, giving no reply. Assume fool. An officer calls him away. I watch him through the rearview mirror—he’s still looking at the car.Nickoi, him a pree yuh,my subconscious warns.
“The. Man. Is. So. Scary,” Zara finally exhales.
“Yuh nuh need fi fear no man when yuh have me or the Outlaw gang behind you,” I say. I hate that he had her nervous.
She nods. “Yeah… but he’s so confident, babe.” We drive in silence. I glance over a few times before resting my hand at the hem of her dress. It’s ridden up her thigh—smooth, soft skin tempting me.
“Yuh too thick it seem,” I tease, tugging gently at my beard.
She blushes. “You think I’m too thick?”
“Yuh mad? Mi love it,” I say, squeezing her thigh and biting my lip.
She giggles. “Okay…” I let my hand rest there, gently caressing. She tries to switch the subject. “Did you get the guy to do the drop-offs? Because mi have sooo many orders.”
I shake my head. “Not yet.”Silence again.
Then, “It a pressure you, Mami?”
“No.” Of course she’d say that.
“You want it be a physical business? ’Cause mi woulda get everything done fi yuh. Or yuh prefer it stay online?”
“Physical is too much,” she answers softly.
“Mi yaw deal wid it, just say the word,” I say, watching her face.
“Okay babe… and thank you,” she says and I nod.
“Mi feel like mi o mek it be an islandwide thing. Branches and more staff,.”
Her mouth drops. “Nickoi… it sound nice and everything but I don’t want you spending unnecessarily. I could just do it online.”
