We reach the underground and I already feel that weight shift. Same concrete walls, same tension in the air. The moment we step in, everything stops. They greet me, with respect. I let out a breath and smile, waving back.
“Everybody Gov?” Nickoi asks, tone casual but respected.
“Wi Gov enuh, mi killa,” Gutta answers. Then the place goes back to motion. I follow Nickoi to the back where Scarface pulls out a chair for me. Nickoi sits at the desk, his focus on the screen. Gutta by his side like his second brain, both of them glued to the MacBook. I watch the others work, guns tucked, their moves calculated. These men are not just gangsters, they look businessmen.
Dangerous, white collar ones…
Anna breaks my thoughts when she walks in with a bright smile, her energy high.
“Pretty gyal Zara!” she hugs me then her attention shifts. “Nick, the yacht available Friday. Wi could do the party then.” I blink.
Party?
“Mi might busy Friday but mi o’ make it work,” he says, barely looking up.
“That mi wah hear!” she squeals, eyes twinkling. Gutta smiling too. I notice the softness in him when she talks to him. Anna clearly don’t know how him did a mess ‘round with Sash. Or maybe she know, but still trying.
“Zara, yuh affi come too,” she says, looking back at me.
“How yuh mean?” Gutta laughs. “Don cyaa leff him wife.”
I smile, eyes drifting back to Nickoi. He doesn’t even look up, but I can tell… he’s smiling too. The whole room feels lighter, and somehow… it feels like home.
44
Rendezvous
When I get back to my car after spending half an hour in the bank, I call my mother. As expected, it goes straight to voicemail. Don’t know wah she a do wid phone, enuh. I hiss and redial, phone pressed to my ear. I just want to know what kind of soup she wants. Sometimes she switches up, takes chicken instead of her usual, pork chop soup. Voicemail again.
I hiss louder and walk toward Corey, the soup man. I order the pork chop and get served in less than a minute, even though he’s surrounded. People watch, but none dare to complain.
Dem nuh mad. Dem done see seh mi a Don enuh. Anycussing gwaan, a inna dem mind.
I give him $1000. He nods, zips open his fanny pack, takes out my change, and I walk off.
“Yow, mi killa,” he calls after me.
I nod.
“Respect,” I hear him say as I get in the car. The heat hits me instantly. The car feels like an oven. I start it up and the A/C kicks in fast, cooling the car down. I pull off, Chronic Law’s Rich Law playing through the speakers. By the time I near my house, the music stops and the phone rings. I pressmy thumb to the steering wheel, answering the call.
“Yes, Nickoi.” I shake my head when I hear her voice.
“Now you a call back?” I ask as I turn into the yard. Gate already open, my securities already doing their job. I blow the horn. They wave me through.
“Mi just put yuh miserable babies to sleep, so mi never near the phone,” she says. I smile.
“Alright mi—”
Before I can finish, she cuts me off. “Yuh buy mi soup?” she asks, voice lifting with excitement. Never see a woman love soup so yet. She knew I was going to the bank today, who tell mi fi tell her? She kept reminding me, over and over again, about Corey’s soup.
“No sah, mi neva’ member,” I say, selling the lie smooth. She starts arguing, expected. I’m smiling as I get out of the car. She’s not even looking outside. Must be upstairs. She never hear the engine?
“Look how much time mi tell yuh fi buy the soup fi mi? Mi walk yuh up and down the stairs a drill it inna yuh head and yuh a tell mi yuh figet? Eeeh, Nickoi?!”
Mi nuh know why she love soup so much, especially Corey’s soup.
“Yuh nuh see how much time mi call yuh?” I ask again, walking inside. The living room spotless, Mommy definitely upstairs. I can stretch the lie a little more.
