“I felt like I needed to.”
“Yea, and what about Onyx?”
“Oh, that nigga can’t stand you,” Kas replied candidly, standing and stretching his body. “I’ll try and work on him, though.
Nouri stood with Kas, giving him a subtle smile as they stood uneasily.
“I’m going to be sticking around for a while, so keep in touch,” Nouri informed before reaching his arms out to Kas in an attempt to hug him. Except Kas extended his arm to hold him away.
“Nah, nigga. We ain’t there yet,” Kas rejected, turning on his heels and heading toward the door. “And keep yo ass away from my mumma!”
Letting the door close behind him, Kas hopped on the elevator and rode down to the parking lot. His phone began to ring in his pocket just as he reached his truck and climbed in. Glancing at the caller id, he saw it was Kalil calling.
“What’s up?”
“Shit, where the hell you at?”
“Richmond, about to head back down the road. Why, what you got going on?”
“I’m about to check out that new club in downtown Petersburg. They supposed to have a nice outdoor bar.”
“Alright, give me like thirty and I’ll meet you there,” Kas confirmed, disconnecting the call.
Turning up his car stereo, he allowed the sounds of JID to carry him down I-95 south. After twenty-five minutes, he arrived in Petersburg at a club named Club Link. Parking at the curb, he exited his car and hit the lock. It had been so long since Kas had to worry about going through security checks at the club. Most people, especially in the Tri-Cities area, knew Kas by face. He was through the gate, in the section with Kalil and complimentary bottles within minutes.
“Nigga think he a superstar now,” Kalil jested, standing to give Kas dap.
“I been a superstar, fuck you talking ‘bout?”
“Yea, yea, where the hell you coming from in Richmond? Yanna’s house?”
“Nah, actually, I went to see Nouri.”
“Dead ass?”
“Dead ass.”
“Did y’all talk?”
“Yea, I talked to that nigga. I can’t even front, he ain’t that bad.”
“The crazy part about the shit is that I’ve known Maya and them for years. I’m sure she knew my last name, but she never mentioned her father being a Zaman.”
“It is weird. He gave me her number.”
“You gone call her?”
“I will eventually.”
Kalil reached forward and poured himself of shot from one of the tequila bottles. As he tossed the shot back, an unpleasant thought flooded his mind. “Hold on, so Maya is my cousin, and she’s married to Logan. Doesn’t that make Londyn my cousin-in-law or some shit like that?”
“What does it matter? Ain’t like she ever gone give yo ass the time of day anyway. Thick ass eyebrows.”
“You don’t know what the fuck she’ll give me. And why the hell you and Nyx always coming for my eyebrows?”
“Because you need to tweeze them muh’fuckas or something. You real close to having a unibrow.” Kas cracked up laughing at his cousin’s expense as he pulled a pre-rolled blunt from his pocket. Kalil’s eyebrows were undeniably thick, but the ladies never seemed to mind. Nevertheless, Kalil didn’t appreciate his cousins constantly ragging on the facial feature he was most insecure about. Catching someone walking their way, a smilespread across his face. Instant karma. “Go ahead and laugh it up, bitch. Watch this.” Raising his hand, Kalil waved it to motion someone over.
When Kas turned around, his smile faded when he spotted Zahra walking their way. She was smiling so hard it looked like it hurt. Two other girls with her looked just as thirsty as she always did. Kas wanted to send her on her way but could imagine how badly Onyx would curse him out if he was rude. So, he tossed his head to invite them into the section.
