Confused was an understatement.
He didn’t recognize the phone. For a split second, he thought it might have been Nivéa’s and that Boe had dropped it. But Maino’s memory was sharp; hers was an iPhone. This was an Android. The phone vibrated again, and this time he caught part of a text preview across the locked screen.
Several notifications were stacked underneath from earlier. All threats. He couldn’t get into the phone because it was locked. But he saw enough. He sat there for twenty minutes squinting, trying to piece together what was going on. His cousin hadn’t been completely real with him.
Maino cursed under his breath when he realized what was happening. Just as he did, headlights swept across the porch. Boe pulled into the driveway in the car he had loaned him, music blasting, head bobbing like life was good.
“Sup, cuz?” He said, hopping out, decked out in designer.
Maino just shook his head, realizing he had recently gone shopping. The nigga looked fresh and carefree, like he wasn’t supposed to be stacking cash and lying low.
“Sup,” he replied, seething beneath the surface as he slipped the phone into his pocket.
“You straight?” Boe asked, studying the scowl on Maino’s face.
Maino blew out a slow breath as he walked over to him. “Nah, nigga. I’m not straight. You been gone all day again and ain’t helped me move no work. Where you been?”
Boe raised a brow and cocked his head back slightly. “I been where I been. Damn, what’s good with you? You on my ass like you my bitch or somethin’.” He chuckled as he walked up the steps. “Chill out, cuzzo. I got you tomorrow.”
Deepening his scowl, Maino stepped in front of him just as he reached for the door.
“I’m not laughing with you, and you right, I ain’t yo’ bitch. Which means you don’t run shit here, and you gon’ answer me before you walk into my crib. What you mean you got me tomorrow? No,I got you. I’m tryna help you, or did you forget how this shit goes?”
Boe squinted, stepping back. “Yo, who you raising your voice at like that? Helping me doesn’t mean you get to disrespect me, nigga.”
“Nigga, fuck you. What the fuck is this?” Maino pulled the phone from his pocket and held it up.
The moment Boe saw it, the blood drained from his face for half a second, but he caught himself. He must’ve dropped it somewhere around there. Still, it had a lock on it. There was no way Maino could’ve seen anything, or so he told himself. Instead of coming clean, he shrugged and lied.
“Shit, I don’t know. You tell me. It ain’t mine.”
Maino chuckled low to keep from snapping as he flicked his nostrils.
“It’s only been two people in and out of my crib. You and me. And this damn sho’ ain’t mine. Plus, I saw the texts on the screen. It’s definitely yours.”
Silence stretched between them.
“Yeah, you so fuckin’ careless that you didn’t even realize you dropped it. You know what they do with these? They issue ‘em GPS on.”
Boe swallowed hard and licked his lips, glancing around nervously as he realized his dirt was out. His tone quickly switched up.
“Cuz, listen—”
“Nah, I just gave you a chance to keep it real with me, and you still lied. I don’t wanna hear shit now. I’ve seen all I needed to see. You moving flawed as fuck. If Preach finds out you snitchin’ and you here, we both dead.”
“Hold on, cuz. I get why you heated, I do. But we straight. I ain’t tell nobody I was coming here. As far as the phone, I been responding just enough to keep him cool, buying time. I ain’t given him a reason to start digging or tracking. You not on nobody radar. I promise.”
“Fuck outta here.” Maino’s voice went cold as he snatched the car keys out of Boe’s hand.
“When that detective realizes you been feeding him bullshit, the first thing he gon’ do is look at where that phone last showed life. Last tower it hit. Last place it was active. You should’ve destroyed it and left it in the Hills. Instead, you brought it here.”
There was a long pause between them. Maino could see in Boe’s eyes that he was now worried, and it disgusted him that he was stupid enough to let it get this far.
“I want you out of my shit by morning. Figure out another plan and figure it out fast. And that’s me being generous. If it wasn’t for our history, you wouldn’t even get that courtesy from me. I loved you like a brother, my nigga. Thought that shit ran both ways. But if it did, you wouldn’t have brought this hoe-ass shit to my doorstep. You ain’t just gamble with your life, you put two targets on my back.”
Chapter Eleven
When Crown made it home, just one look at Nivéa confirmed everything for him. She stood behind the island, Nyla tucked against her chest, swirling a bottle to cool the milk evenly. As she turned to him, her smile lit up his entire world.
