“Well at least you’re excited.”
Nadira exhaled and I braced myself for the bullshit I just knew she was about to throw at me.
“What’s that mean, Nadi?” I walked around the corner of the building and leaned back against the wall.
“Nothing, Asante. I want you to be happy. You know that.”
“But?”
“But, are we sure investing a good chunk of your money into a bar when you have no business owning experience under your belt is a good idea?”
“How do you get business owning experience without owning a business?” I countered. “Everyone has to start somewhere. You don’t just wake up one day and suddenly have a whole ton of experience. You start from nowhere and build it up.”
I stopped myself from mentioning that the money I threw into this business was my money to invest or lose. It was my first big purchase outside of my house and the truck I drove. I wasn’t cheap, but I definitely wasn’t someone who spent money frivolously either. I didn’t ask her or our parents for anything financially. I took care of me, all my needs and wants and some of Nadira and our parent’s too.
“Okay, Asante.”
“Okay, Nadira,” I echoed her.
We sat silent for a beat before she sighed.
“Look, I love you and if this makes you happy, I support you. I want you to be happy, alright? After everything you’ve done and everything you’ve been through, you deserve something that you love. You deservesomeonethat you love.” She emphasized the word someone and I chuckled.
“That was real subtle.”
“What?” She feigned innocence.
“You know what.”
“I’m just saying. You’re throwing all of your time and money into this project which is commendable, but you’re also not getting any younger.”
“I know that and when the time comes where I feel like I’m ready to date and commit myself to one person for the rest of my life, I’ll do that. But, I’m not about to force anything. If it happens, cool, but if it doesn’t, I’m not tripping right now.” I didn’t give her a chance to start offering more advice or tell me about all the women our parents had met that she thought would be a good match for me. “When are you going to come out here and check the club out anyway?”
“You’re changing the subject and I see that, but whenever you want me to come through, you know I’ll be there.”
We both paused as loud crying filled my phone’s speaker.
“Well, your niece is apparently in distress so I’ll talk to you later, okay?”
“Sounds good. I’ll hit you later.”
“Good luck and I’m proud of you. Love you. Bye.” Nadira threw everything out in one long breath.
“Love you too,” I said quickly and chuckled when the line died.
I shook my head but slowly made my way around the building and paused.
There were two men standing along the side of the building, one of them smoking a cigarette and just staring forward. I felt one of my fingers twitch just thinking about the nicotine.
“Hey.” I closed in on them. “Can I uh, bum a cigarette?”
The man that wasn’t smoking looked me up and down and now that I was up close, I realized that they were twins. The nonsmoker had slightly longer hair and was chewing on a pieceof gun while the one holding the cigarette had a pair of glasses on his face. They were slightly shorter than me, nothing more than an inch honestly.
“We know you?” The further twin asked..
I shook my head. “Nah.”
The one actively smoking took his own chance to look me up and down and I noticed immediately that it wasn’t in the same way that his brother had done it. It was different or at least, I thought it was different.
