“Nah. I’m wrapping up right about now. Why? What’s up?”
“Look, I’m gon be real with you.” I walked further inside and pushed the door behind me. “I want to take you home, Asante.”
He dropped the pen he was holding on to his desk.
“You want to take me home?” he repeated.
“That’s right.”
“But?”
“But I don’t know if I want to deal with Rook and his two overnight friends,” I admitted.
Asante nodded at that. He looked off for a beat then back at me.
“I have a house,” he said simply. “And no roommates so why don’t I bring you home this time?”
“Is that what you want to do, Asante?”
He nodded once. “Been.”
A smile crossed my face and I nodded too.
“Alright.”
“Give me five minutes to wrap this up and you can follow me out.”
“Alright. I’ll be in the parking lot. I’m going to check on some shit and smoke a cig.”
“Alright, cool.”
I let myself out of his office and to the back parking lot. I lit my cigarette up as I walked and pulled my phone out. I checked the Barron Family Estate cameras, going back and making sure all of my brothers and sister-in-laws made it home safely. Then,I checked the camera at the house me and Rook shared but he wasn’t home just yet.
I checked his location and made sure he was still in motion.
Then, I froze and my head fell forward when I felt a gun pressed to the back of my head.
Fuck.
I let my cigarette fall from my mouth.
“Put your hands on the top of the car,” the younger Cortez brother snapped.
I put my hands on the hood while my brain immediately started factoring through several different outcomes. I thought about the chance I could duck fast enough to throw him off, get to my gun and flip the safety off. I knew I had a knife tucked at the bottom of my leg. I knew if I got it in hand this nigga was done for. I was almost better with blades than guns.
I felt his hand reach down and he freed my gun from where it was tucked in the back of my pants. I shifted my leg slightly to see if I could get a feel for my knife. I gauged where our feet were planted and tried to plot how close we were.
“Look-”
He cut me off. “Shut up.”
Bingo.
I noted he was just a little bit shorter than me. I could headbutt him easily. I knew his height and how far back he was. I stood still while he searched my pockets and prepared for whatever came next.
“Hands up, gun down.” Asante’s voice had me letting out a long exhale and my head jerking up.
“Who-”
