“I thought that was just something teenage boys did,” Marissa giggled.
“Hell nah. She acts like she’s starving when she gets out of school and needs a full course meal.”
“My boys,” she shook her head.
After going through all of the pans and filling both cartons, Marissa passed them to me and smiled up at me. “You sure you have to leave?”
“I do. But I can always come back out after I get Amill home.
“That’ll be perfect because I’ll have the house to myself after they leave.”
“Hit me,” I stated, leaning in for a kiss.
Marissa’s phone vibrated and she pulled it out while I still hovered over her. She lifted her phone from the counter. “Why the hell is he sending me his location?” Marissa thought aloud.
My eyes flicked to the preview of her screen, catching a glimpse of the location pin. It wasn’t intentional, just a habit that came with being meticulous. Lil Q wasn’t far, maybe five minutes away. Marissa initiated a FaceTime call as she walked me to the door, holding the phone up as it rang.
“You good?” I pried after he didn’t answer.
“I don’t know. Lil Q was supposed to be picking Jameera up from her uncle’s house not too far from here because her dad is out of town. He travels for work a lot and doesn’t necessarily prioritize her. I told him we should’ve had Jameera get dressed here and her uncle could have ate with us. Or we could’ve gone over there to take pictures before they left,” she vented.
“Maybe he’s just sending you his location to be safe.”
“Nah, he ain’t that type,” she snickered.
“I can ride over there with you.”
“Ummm, let me try to call him again, and if he doesn’t answer, we can go over there,” she faltered, placing another call.
When it went to voicemail again, I gently nudged her waist, guiding her toward the truck without a word. We were the last ones to pull up, so my truck was parked against the curb. I opened the rear passenger door, and Amill’s bright smile greeted us.
“You coming home with us?” Amill chirped.
“Nah, we have to take a ride somewhere real quick. Can you wait here for me?”
“You sure you want to leave me alone with them? I might run off with Quincy if you don’t watch me close enough,” Amill taunted.
My jaw clenched as she slipped her smart ass out the truck.
“You got your hands full with Amill,” Marissa laughed.
I silently helped her into the truck and turned to make sure Amill made it in the house before climbing in behind her.
“Wayne, can you drive up two streets and make a left?” Marissa requested. Wayne pulled away from the curb and followed Marissa’s directions until we pulled up in front of a massive home with three cars in the driveway.
“That’s my car that he’s driving tonight,” Marissa pointed.
Wayne pulled into the driveway behind the car Marissa pointed out. The moment I opened the door of the truck, loud voices spilled from the house. I could make out female and male shouting, but the door muffled their words. Marissa took off toward the house before I could help her out of the truck and I was right behind her. She banged on the door and waited for someone to answer, but I reached over her and turned the doorknob to let myself in.
All eyes shot to us. “What’s going on?” Marissa inquired.
Lil Q and Jameera were on one side of the hallway, looking dapper as fuck in their matching fits, and an older nigga with a salt and pepper beard stood across from them.
“Man, when I got here the nigga did the whole pull a gun out and scare me from fucking his niece and returning to him by the curfew type shit,” he vented, eyes focused on the man across from him.
“Motha fucka…” Marissa lunged at him, and I scooped her up by her waist.
“Chill out, man,” I whispered in her ear. “You good?” I asked Lil Q.
