Swift wanted to say the color was close to Starlah's hazel eyes. He couldn't help that she ran around in his head all day long. He thought she would have returned to the mechanic shop, but she still said she wasn't ready. He figured, most days, she was asleep because she'd be in her bedroom whenever he made it back home.
"Be safe, fam. Creed getting killed wasn't something I was expecting. I can't lose you."
"Pfft, nigga, you won't.
"Any news on who did that shit?"
Swift looked around, then lowered his head. He was smart enough not to speak about anything that could land him on someone's radar, especially in Pellum. There was nothing but land and swamps where bodies could be dumped. The last he heard, the person of interest had an alibi that placed him over fifty miles away at the time of the shootings.
"Naw," was all he offered. What he didn't say, Money read between the lines.
"Alright then, family. Stay strapped."
"For sure. Always. Love you, nigga."
Swift may have struggled to commit to a woman like Starlah, given how he felt, but never his blood. Money was more than his cousin. He was his best friend. In fact, besides the family business, Money was the only reason he hesitated to stay a little longer.
If asked, Swift actually enjoyed being in Pellum. It was slower. The people were nicer, spoke to you, even if you were a complete stranger, and the community, overall, had a family-like vibe. Too bad Lucky and Creed, along with their friends, were the victims of gun violence.
"Sir, your order is ready. Want to drive around back?"
"Uh, sure. The name's Swift."
"Oh, I thought it was… " She looked at his order. "Cairo Brighton." She flashed a smile. It was the kind of smile that was warm, matching her reddish-brown hair and caramel skin, and complemented her full, peach lips.
"It is, but my family calls me Swift."
"Oh, what about friends?" She lifted one brown, angling her head. The lust laced in her voice didn't go unnoticed either.
Swift was so familiar with it, having heard it most of his life, once he discovered girls… or they'd discovered him.He grinned, examining her features from her breasts, the size of cantaloupes, to her wide hips housed in jeans that appeared to be painted on. She was tall too, easily five-foot-ten.
As he approached the counter, she giggled.
"Friends, huh?" He tapped the counter, then slid his cellphone toward her. "Put your contact information in there. I don't mind making a few friends while I'm in town."
"I can do that, and welcome to Pellum."
Swift was close to telling her his family had roots in Pellum, but it was best he kept it to a minimum because it was hard shaking a woman after he laid the dick down. It also frustrated him because the only woman he wanted to be inside of was emotionally unavailable, wrapped up instead in grief.
As she busily pecked away, he glanced outside when someone he noticed caught his attention. He frowned before walking to the door.
"Damn. That's that nigga Colt," Swift whispered to himself.
He learned his name after he'd visited a few times after the funeral. Starlah wouldn't come out for him, but something told him they had a heavy history. The petty side of Swift wanted to flaunt the fact that Starlah wasn't fucking with him, but the more mature side of him, the side that cared about Starlah, began to wonder if he was hiding something, especially because he wasn'talone. He was with a dark-skinned beauty, one who appeared to be pregnant, in the midst of a heated exchange.
"Get the fuck out of here," he whispered.
"Hey, here you go. Good thing you didn't take off," the store associate said, her eyes then traveling in the direction Swift was looking.
"Hey? Uh, is everything okay?"
"Huh?"
Swift looked back at the associate who smiled, dangling his cellphone in the air.
"Oh, yeah. I'm good. I thought I saw someone I knew."
"Small town." She giggled, hiking her shoulders. "Everyone knows everyone, and if you don't, you will after a while. It happens all the time."
