“Yeah, I see it.”
“Well, there’s a guy in there named Scooby. You know Scooby?”
“Yeah, I know, Scooby. He’s been sniping for us for a long time.”
“I’ve heard, but there's him, there’s another guy named Neil watching who is coming down this block, and a few other people that work for you guys that Hov has been rotating in and out. He said he only used the people he truly trusts with these jobs.”
“Damn, y’all secure as hell over here.”
“Yeah. You know Hov is not playing any games about our safety.”
“And I don’t blame him. That’s why I wanted Pernell’s ass over here too, at least until I can get us a spot with security.”
“Yeah, I know. I tried to tell her not to go. Hov even tried to talk to her, but as I said, she’s stubborn, so she has to calm down first.”
“Damn, man. Why the fuck does she have to act like that?”
“Or maybe you should ask yourself why you have to be the way you are, too, Crew.”
“How am I?”
“Listen, no matter if you two are together or not, you could’ve come back last night. She knows y’all aren’t together, but I think right now, she wants to feel like a family more than anything, and she even said that you make her feel safe when you are around. Pernelle never had a dad in the house, so you being there for Amira means a lot to her.”
Ciara broke it down in a way I actually understood.
“Yeah, I guess you are right and I see now that I fucked up.”
I shook my head and went to sit on the steps nearby, dropping my head as Ciara went back to her garden stuff. I just needed a minute to think with no distractions clouding my head and right now, I actually felt that peace on these steps right now.
I low-key see why Ciara be out here with nature, because this shit was peaceful as hell. No television running, no noise clouding your mind, no feeling boxed in with your thoughts. I remember when I was younger, going outside and playing basketball at the parks at night used to make me feel like this too. The world always seemed to spin a little slower on the court and that's how my love for basketball first started.
“Crew.”
Ciara got my attention.
“Do you mind grabbing that mulch from by the steps and bringing it over here for me, please?”
“Yeah, I got you.”
I got up from the steps, grabbed the mulch, and brought it back to Ciara.
“Can you open it up and pour it right there. Under the white Snowdrop flowers, please,” she directed.
I opened the bag up with the knife in my pocket and then shook the mulch out of the bag where she wanted it, spreading it around the cold ground that she’d managed to grow some flowers out of. Ciara was a beast at this shit.
I heard the front door open and then shut above us.
“So, you found a new job nigga.” Hov said, jokingly, as he put a cigar up to his lips and blew smoke out.
“Babe, I told you not to come smoke out here by my plants. That tobacco smoke is going to suffocate them.”
“Yeah, the plants can’t breathe, Babe,” I joked, making fun of their back-and-forth.
Hov shot the middle finger up at me.
“I’m sorry, mama.” He put the cigar out on the steps.
“But what up, nigga?”
