He paused and sighed. Cashmere noted that he looked like he would rather be anywhere but there. The feeling was mutual. She didn’t want to have the conversation about him trying to rape her sister, but here she was.
“What’s good, Cash?” he said begrudgingly.
She walked up on him and cocked her head to the side. “We need to talk.”
“I don’t really think that’s a good idea. Feel me?”
Cashmere inclined her head toward his truck. “My security seemed to have clocked out early. I need a ride home. Come on. I’ll make sure you get paid for it.”
Cashmere made a mental note to text Marcellus and tell him about his funky ass security guard. He needed to be replaced as soon as possible. A few months ago, she would have felt the most comfortable on her own. Savio had her spoiled, and now she felt naked without security around her.
Twizz looked around like he thought that was the worst idea, but he finally relented. He walked around the truck and opened the passenger door. “Come on.”
Cashmere grinned in triumph. After he closed the door, she checked inside her purse to make sure she had her gun on her. She’d be damned if a nigga tried some shit with her. The small voice in the back of her mind screamed at her that she was safe, but Ivoree’s tears took residence at the forefront of her brain.
As soon as they were on their way to Cashmere’s house, she turned toward him and stared at his profile. He was a handsomeman. He’d already proved to be charming. That small voice in the back of her mind screamed at her that he didn’t need to steal no pussy. She ignored it and asked, “What happened between you and Vee?”
Twizz’s jaw clenched. She watched as he took a moment to collect his thoughts before he said, “I’ma tell you like I told Sav. I ain’t touch that girl. I drove her home, just like I’m doin’ for you, and that’s it.”
Cashmere squinted her eyes at him. “Y’all ain’t talk? You ain’t say somethin’ that may have made her think?—”
“Nah, man. I don’t want that girl. She was cool in the beginning, but shorty is really touched in the head, bro. No offense,” he said in frustration as he glanced at her.
Cashmere’s lips turned down. “Be real careful ’bout what you say, nigga.” She pulled her gun out and set it on her lap. She didn’t threaten him, but she wanted to make her message clear. She wouldn’t tolerate disrespect.
Twizz glanced at her lap and chuckled. “Shit must run in the family.”
“You really tryin’ me.”
“I ain’t tryin’ to. You just don’t want to hear the truth.”
Why does everyone keep insinuating that?Cashmere’s nose scrunched as she tried to understand why everyone thought she was being delusional. Defiantly, she asked, “What makes you think my sister’s touched in the head? And speak with respect, my nigga.”
She tapped her gun in warning as she gazed at him, genuinely trying to open her mind up and see Ivoree the way everyone else did.
Twizz sighed as he switched lanes and glanced in all his mirrors. Cashmere noted how a lot of his mannerisms reminded her of Savio.Savio.He was the only real reason Cashmere hadn’t put a hole in Twizz.
After a moment, he finally spoke.
“I don’t really know how to explain the shit. Around you, I ain’t gonna lie. She’s normal as hell. Almost too perfect, feel me? But when you aren’t around, . . . she’s different. I thought she was just a little weird at first, and I rocked wit’ that. Who don’t love a nerdy, weird ass woman? But that shit quickly passed. It’s almost like she’s bipolar or somethin’. And shorty is super nosy. Too nosy for my liking. She asks too many questions, specifically about me and Savio. We street niggas at heart. Don’t let these new jobs fool you. Anyone digging into us like Ivoree tried to do is a red flag, for sure.
“She was especially interested in your relationship wit’ my nigga. I thought that shit was weird because y’all are close. She coulda just asked yo’ ass instead of sitting in my face and asking questions. And if I ain’t give her the response she wanted, she would throw a whole ass tantrum like a damn two-year-old. I ain’t ever seen anything like it.”
Cashmere couldn’t even picture that. Not Ivoree. Not her sister who was always so cheery and put together.
“Why didn’t you quit?”
Twizz scoffed. “Because this job means a lot to Sav. He thinks I don’t get it, but I do. I ain’t tryna hustle in the streets forever. I made a lot of money. Enough to live a decent life wit’ if I ain’t want to work. Ain’t no point in runnin’ the streets no more, ya know? I don’t want to end up dead or in prison. But I also don’t want to sit around. This job gives me somethin’ to do, and it pays a pretty penny too. I’d be stupid to quit, and Savio ain’t teach me to be stupid.”
The corner of Cashmere’s lips twitched upward. Savio definitely wasn’t the kind of man to teach anyone to move stupidly, so she believed him there.
She shook her head. “I just can’t see it. I don’t know what to believe,” she admitted.
It got harder to ignore that small voice in the back of her head that had been trying to get her attention since the incident with Harold. Something hadn’t been sitting right with her for a while now, regarding her sister, but it was really hard for her to take those rose-tinted glasses off and see her sister as anything other than her baby.
“I don’t blame you. Like I said, she acts real different around you, but I honestly think shorty needs help. She can act real crazy when she wants. But I’ll say it again, Cash, I ain’t ever do anything to that girl. I ain’t even want to take her to that party a while back. I did everything I could to be as professional as possible, but she has a way of getting what she wants. Be careful wit’ that. That’s all I’m sayin’.”
Cashmere allowed her thoughts to settle as she absorbed his words. Every fiber of her being screamed at her that he was being truthful. Slowly, she tucked her gun back in her purse as she got lost inside her head. She wasn’t sure where to go from here, but two things were certain: She needed to make things right with Savio, and she needed to have a hard conversation with Ivoree—sooner rather than later.
