“Cortez pulled a gun on me while my back was turned. Asante got the best of him.” I spoke with my eyes still planted on Asante. “He was going to kill him.” I pulled my eyes to Rook. “I want to tell him what’s up.”
“You trust him?”
“I trust him.” I nodded once.
“Then tell him and if we have to fake a vote later, cool. I’ll vote with you.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah. I trust your judgment, B. Do what you need and I’ve got you.”
“Alright.” I dapped Rook up. “If you need me, call me.”
“I won’t,” Rook said immediately. “I sent Syd and ole girl home. I’m gon take care of this and I called Bear and Ren up on my way out here so they’re expecting the call for clean up. King and Knight will find out what happened after the fact and won’t get the chance to ask where you are or what you’re up to. It’s cool on this end.”
“Alright.” I nodded. “Thanks.”
“I’ve got you.” Rook stuck his head out the window. “Have a good night, Asante!” he yelled.
Then, he threw his car in drive and peeled out.
I watched him leave the parking lot. Then, I shoved a hand in my pocket and trekked over to where Asante was. He turned to face me and I met his gaze.
“You were going to kill for me?”
He scoffed and looked off. He exhaled then looked back at me.
“Yeah. If you told me to kill him, I would have killed him.”
I nodded at that. “We uh, we need to talk.”
“Yeah. We do.” Asante glanced off again. “We’re not going to do it here,” he said simply. “Get in your car and follow me.”
I nodded at that. There was something different about Asante and I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. It wasn’t standoffish like he’d been in the gym after I’d ghosted him. It was a different form of him trying to read me and it made me feel vulnerable in ways I wasn’t sure I liked.
I got in my car and followed him out.
I chain smoked as I drove.
His house wasn’t too far away. It was a nice spot in a nice neighborhood. I hadn’t expected anything less. I parked behind him and sat in my car until he waved me over.
Once he let me inside I stood near the door and took everything in from the random little picture he had up on the mantle above his fireplace to the pictures he had on the wall.
Asante exhaled as he kicked his shoes off.
“You can sit anywhere,” he waved around and I nodded. “You want anything to drink?”
“Nah. I think I’ve done enough drinking for tonight.”
“Is it cool if I drink?”
“Yeah. Go ahead.”
“Alright.”
He pivoted around and headed out of the living room and I walked further into it. I took a seat on his couch and checked my phone. Rook hadn’t gotten home, which was expected. I checked his location and saw that he was at one of the warehouses where we occasionally took care of business. I shot him a text just checking in and he responded quickly telling me everything was going good and he’d be home a little bit after sunrise at the latest.
I thought carefully about what I wanted to tell Asante while I had the time to gather my thoughts. I was going to tell him the truth, but I wasn’t sure how much of it. I wanted to be honest with him but I also had my brother’s lives on my back and didn’t have their approval to be opening my mouth to even start off with.
