“That's the thing, Jah. You don't getcaught up.You're very careful and funny about who you get caught up with. This person has to be special.”
“Your ass was gone for a whole weekend. When you got back, did I bother you? You came back with passion marks and all. Had Dream asking what bit you.”
“You know what? Yeah, let me get out of your business.”
“Yeah.” We both laughed.
The next morning, I parked on site and walked by Tatiyonna’s studio. I wondered why she never put up any signage or opened it up to the public. Though things went a different way last night, I could tell dancing was what she loved. The place had a lot of potential. As I made my way towards the back of the building where the construction site was going on, I ran into the arrogant muthafucka that I told the foreman to keep away from me until the concrete was laid.
“Good morning,” he greeted, and tried to hand me the extra cup of coffee he had in his hand.
“I don’t take drinks from strangers,” I replied.
“Look, I know we started on the wrong foot a few weeks ago, and I want to apologize for that. After speaking with a few people, I noticed I was wrong for coming at you like that. Can we start over?”
I looked this nigga up and down before extending my hand. We had business to do, and he did drop a nice check into my business account. The last thing I wanted to do was leave a bad taste in someone’s mouth. There wasn’t another concretebusiness in the state doing it like me, but all it took was for one cornball ass nigga to ruin the business relationships I formed.
“You keep the coffee. I was serious about drinking from strangers. Now, let’s walk the site and make sure the concrete is being laid correctly.”
After spending two hours with him, I found out he was married with one child. Played football all his life, but his body wouldn’t let him go in the league. He made sure that he got his degree because his now wife stayed on his ass about his schoolwork. All he talked about was his wife and how much he appreciated her for being in his life, even when he fucked up. He was a lucky man and actually seemed to be pretty cool now that he gave his life run down. Most men would love to have a family that they could spend all their hard-earned money on and spoil. Shit, that’s all I ever wanted, but this nigga sounded like he grabbed the last good woman.
It was lunch time, and I was ready to take my steel-toe boots off. I had someone call out today, so I had to end up jumping in a truck and working. I never cared about getting my hands dirty because it’s how I was able to keep my employees. They didn’t mind putting in extra time if I asked because they knew I would get out there with them. It was rare for someone not to show for a job. I walked out of the nasty ass porta-potty, and I noticed Kileen sitting in his car in a heated conversation.
I got into the bed of my truck and took a bottle of water and soap that I kept to clean my hands. Afterwards, I hopped in my truck and pulled out my lunch box to see what the hell Lonni fixed me today. She helped keep me balanced. If I had stayed home and then come to work, I would’ve been starving.
I knew your stupid ass was going to be hungry. So, enjoy the sandwiches, nigga.
~Your favorite sister
She packed me two sandwiches, fruit, and plenty of water. As I ate, I pulled my phone out and typed in Tatiyonna’s business page in hopes I would find her social media. Her picture popped up, and the first thing I noticed was the rock on her finger. I don’t know why I got jealous just knowing another nigga was able to smell her pussy before me. I browsed around the website until I landed on the address of her business. All this time, I thought she mainly worked at home. It was nice to know she had a brick-and-mortar. She was degreed twice and had so many certifications that I couldn’t help but smile. Nothing like an educated black woman. I clicked on the Instagram icon at the bottom of the page that led me to her business page.
She only had a few testimonials on there, and she did have a picture with a guy and a woman. I looked down at the caption to see that it was her birthday when they took the picture. I took a screenshot to keep that in mind. I went to her tagged pictures and found her personal Instagram page. I didn’t want to be a creep and follow her. I went through a few of her pictures and liked them. After finding what I wanted to see, I focused on finishing my food so I could get these last few hours done.
Just like Ithought she would, Tatiyonna cancelled her appointment with the twins. I hadn’t seen her in over a week. When I noticed the email, I hadn’t spotted my sister staring at me.
“Why are you standing there with your face balled up? She said in the email that she was sick and she will reschedule. Look at it this way, you didn’t have to pay for a session,” Lonni stated.
“Nah, I don’t like the fact that we cleared our day to have her ass here and she didn’t show the fuck up.”
“Nigga, you don’t have to clear anything. You did that on your own. I’ve been in sessions with them by myself several times. You good?” She stood in front of me.
“Yeah, I’ll be back. Call me if you need something while I’m out.”
“Just don’t come back with anything on you,” she yelled to my back.
I hopped in my car and headed towards the address that she had on her business page. I was trying to keep the shit on a business level, but fuck, I couldn’t shake her ass for nothing. I really just wanted to see her today. I wasn’t going to bother when she walked in the house. My gut was telling me she wasn’t going to show up because she was too scared to face me. To my surprise, her Tesla was parked along with two other cars.
“Hey, may I help you?” the guy from the picture asked.
“Is Tatiyonna here?”
“May I ask who you are? You know, just keeping her safe.”
“Yeah, I get it. Tell her Jahmir is here to speak with her about rescheduling an appointment.”
“Give me just a second.” He disappeared down the hall.
I took a seat and waited. Five minutes later, she emerged with the male and another female. This was the other person who was in the picture with her. All three of them stood there staring at me. Shit made me wonder what the fuck she told them about me.
