“I’m just going to give Apricot her space. She’s an adult, and she has the right to distance herself from me if that’s what makes her happy. I’m going to miss my granddaughter, but I can’t even blame her mother for feeling the way that she does. My wife left me. Shit is crazy right now. All I ever wanted was to be able to give my family the best life possible. I made some mistakes along the way but got damn.”
“Damn I’m sorry to hear that.”
“I guess that’s what happens when you keep secrets. My granny used to always tell me that what you do in the dark will come to the light. You said when I’m done you might walk away. I think that’s a good idea. Start a business. Invest your money. Don’t do this shit forever.”
I gave a curt nod. He didn’t have to tell me twice. There was no way in hell in the next ten or twenty years, I still wanted to be engaging in shootouts and shit. Mr. Jennings went in his phone and scrolled for a bit before passing it to me.
“I want you to get a good look at those faces. Those are the men that ambushed me. If you see them out anywhere, and I do mean anywhere, I want you to call Doug. I’ll give you his number. He’s Marlo’s cousin, and he wants those nigga’s heads on a platter.”
“I got you,” I stated with my eyes still on the photo. I was studying the faces like I was going to be tested on them.
When his mother came down the stairs, he introduced us, and then we wrapped our conversation up. “Damn,” I mumbled once I was inside my car.
Out of all the times to find out he made a baby on her, Mrs. Jennings found out after her husband narrowly escaped death. He got shot three times and was all alone in that huge house with no one to take care of him but his mother. His daughter wasn’t even around. Cold ass world.
When Bri and I locked eyes at her party, I chucked my chin upwards as a form of greeting. It was her night, and she looked good as fuck. It had been more than a few months since the last time we had sex, and I wasn’t sure what she had going on. There were plenty of corny niggas in her face, and I wasn’t about to crowd her or look pressed. After saying hello to her, I stood planted firmly beside Shiloh. Bri began sauntering in our direction, and I had to admit baby was bad. I gave no fucks whether or not her coke bottle shape was real or enhanced by a surgeon. Her body was soft, the pussy was good, and she looked good in her clothes.
The black garment that she wore could barely be called a dress. It left very little to the imagination. There was no way she could have panties on. The only parts of her body that was covered were basically her nipples and her pussy. I wasn’t an insecure nigga at all but birthday or not, if she was my girl there was no way she would have left the house in that. But she wasn’t my girl, and my dick was hard.
“You weren’t going to come over and say happy birthday?” she fake pouted making me smirk.
“You had enough corny niggas in your face. Happy birthday though. You look real good.” My gaze poured over her frame.
“None of those niggas are you though. And thank you,” she returned the gesture looking me up and down seductively. “I miss you.”
Bri had game like a muhfucka. Maybe she did miss me, but I knew she had a roster of niggas. I didn’t mind getting in where I fit in. I wasn’t trying to be serious with her, so she could do what she wanted. Especially when it had been months since the last time I saw her. Bri was about her bread for sure and didn’t need a man, but she was also the type to stack her paper and spend someone else’s money.
“Is that so? I miss you too.”
Bri turned around and started twerking in front of me. I was enjoying the show, and just like I thought, she didn’t have panties on. Despite her ass flowing like water in front of me, my gaze lifted, and I locked eyes with Apricot. I might have been tipsy and tripping, but I could have sworn I saw smoke coming out of her ears. Shorty was pissed. It was days later, so she still couldn’t be that damn mad about me breaking into her house. It wasn’t like I took anything that was irreplaceable. Yes, I lied to her, but what did she expect me to do? More importantly than that though, her father wanted her to lay low, but her hardheaded ass was all out at the club.
I directed my attention back on Bri’s ass. I wasn’t about to stand in the middle of the club and have stare off’s with Apricot. I sipped my drink as Bri danced on me through two songs.
“I’m about to go back over here with my girls. I’ll talk to you before you leave.” Bri knew I always left the club at least thirty minutes before it closed if not sooner.
“Bet.”
I watched her walk away, and Shiloh nudged me. “I know you be having fun with that ass.”
Chuckling, I shook my head. Placing my cup to my mouth, I finished my drink and decided that I was done for the night. Myeyes narrowed as I saw two men with long locs standing a few feet away from Apricot. They were watching her as she talked to some dark-skinned nigga with cornrows in his hair. The club was dark, but I was almost certain that the men watching her were the Africans that Mr. Jennings showed me pictures of.
“Shit,” I hissed and moved through the crowd. When I was in front of Apricot, I ignored the guy that she was speaking to. “I need to holla at you, ASAP. It’s important.”
Apricot kissed her teeth and frowned. “Nigga, you were just dancing with a bitch. Now, you want to come over here because you see me talking to somebody?”
I leaned in so that my mouth was directly against her ear. “Get over your fuckin’ self,” I stated in a calm tone. “The African niggas that shot your father are in here, and they’re watching you. Tell shorty that you’re with to go stand by my man, Shiloh, and let’s go.” The tone I spoke in hopefully let her know that I wasn’t playing.
Apricot’s entire body tensed. A panicked look covered her face, and her breathing became labored.
“Act normal,” I gently grabbed her elbow. Since she seemed to be paralyzed by fear, I kept my grip on her arm and moved toward her homegirl. “Aye there’s an emergency, and I have to get Apricot out to my car. My homie, Shiloh is right over there in the red shirt. He’ll see to it that you get home safely.”
Shorty whipped her head in Apricot’s direction with a perplexed look on her face. “I’ll call you and tell you about it, but I really have to get out of here.”
I walked behind Apricot, but I was so close to her, her body was damn near pressed into mine. With one arm wrapped around her and my hand resting on her belly, I guided her through the crowd. My gun was in the car, and I prayed that I didn’t have to duck bullets on my way to the car. We walked ata normal pace and acted like everything was cool. I didn’t even want the guys to know that I knew who they were.
The moment we got inside my car I looked back to make sure we weren’t being followed. I pulled out of my parking space screeching tires. “I thought you didn’t know who shot my father or why,” Apricot stated her voice thick with attitude.
“You’re welcome,” I responded in a sarcastic tone. I wasn’t in the mood to deal with Apricot and her father’s bullshit. I removed my phone from my pocket and called Doug. I let him know that the guys he’d been searching for were at the club, and I described to him what they were wearing. I wasn’t sure if he’d catch them or not, but I did what I was asked to do if I saw them.
