“Oh…the pretty one…”
I knew exactly who he was talking about.
“It’s not like that. She made it very clear that she was simply there to help me. But that’s why I couldn’t be reached.”
“Well good. I feel better now that I know.”
Getting into the car, my phone connected to the Bluetooth, and I drove away from St. Sophia’s quickly. For some unknown reason, I drove into a section of the city I shouldn’t have.
“Liam and Val have been on me to find out more about these overdoses.”
Reaching my destination, I pulled over into a waiting spot in between two other cars. I parked across the street from Tainted Ink and waited. For what? I couldn’t tell myself why I was here. Why was I looking forSimone.
I had told her to leave.
God, I'm fucked up.
“I’m not sure where it came from…”
“You can’t remember who you bought off of?”
“No…but the blonde, she knows who the dealer is,” Gabriel stated.
“Blonde?”
“The girl you were fucking around with that night…the bottle girl or whatever… Jasmine?”
“Yasmine?”
He paused and my head started to ache.
Fucking Yasmine.
I should have figured she was always the type to insert herself in the middle of things. She would know if no one else did.
“Brother, I’ll call you back.”
Not even giving him time to say goodbye I hung up. Simone had emerged from the shop with a red scarf wrapped around her neck and no coat in sight. Her arms were bare and even from where I was sitting I could see the ink she wore on her arms like a badge of honor; the black unshaded but familiar lines seemed to call to me. I was about to hop out and ask her why she didn’t have a coat on, but I stayed put. She had to have been freezing but then some large Hispanic looking motherfucker came darting outside to her rescue.
She flashed him the largest smile I’d ever seen her give and he helped her put her coat on before she headed off.
She’s happy, what did you expect? She’s free of you.
Not bothering to follow her and my curiosity sated, I peeled away. Yasmine needed to be talked to so I could find out who was selling bad drugs on my territory.
Chapter 20- Simone
The sky was a perfect blue and not a cloud was in sight. When I’d received the call a few days ago, I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed hearing from Max. Grabbing my cup of coffee and locking up my car, I practically skipped into the park.
I saw him feeding the ducks off all things. He tried to act as though he weren’t when I approached.
“Don’t stop on my account, Old Man,” I laughed.
He tried to hold onto his stern look but it collapsed and he smiled.
“Mona Lisa,” he pulled me into a fatherly hug.
“It’s been months,” I smiled. “How is everything?”
