Sucking my teeth, I looked at my scraped-up knuckles. Shit. Her teeth must’ve rubbed up against them.
“You need to chill,” Exodus said as I started to pace.
I was out of breath. My ribs hurt from him carrying me. And my knuckles. My fuckin’ knuckles. They stung like a bitch. Again, I shook it off, continuing to pace. Glancing over at him, I huffed. “What you meanI need to chill? Did you not see her walk up to me? Was I supposed to just sit there and let her get off on me? Yeah okay.”
I was pissed. Not because she approached me but because he stopped me. Kenya deserved more. She deserved worst. Whattype of… Who the fuck approaches someone after their brothers funeral? She… bro.
With a heaving chest, I looked up at the blue sky, tears wetting my eyes. Today was a horrible day. Today was… it was more than horrible. I couldn’t find the right word but… whatever was worse than horrible, that’s what today was. She was lucky I didn’t kill her.
“Let me see,” Exodus said, grabbing my hand, stopping me from pacing. “Her shit ate through for sure.”
There was blood. How hard had I hit her?
“You got Band-Aids and shit?” he asked, locking eyes with me.
I sucked my teeth. “No.” I snatched away and wrapped my shirt around my hand. Walking away, I headed for my building.
My emotions were all over the place. If Meech was here and he knew I was out fighting in the courtyard over Vellz’s ass he would go off on me. But see… what happened… it wasn’t about Vellz. It was about respect. Any other day, I would have walked away. Would have just left Kenya’s dumb ass standing there. But today was a day and what she did was super disrespectful.
I snatched the door to my building open and started up the stairs, ignoring crackhead Esha when she asked me if I had any change. When I heard her ask someone else for money, I stopped and looked over my shoulder. Exodus. He’d followed me. Instantly, I frowned because… what the hell did he want? Before Meech passed away, I only saw Exodus Christ a handful of times a year. He pitied me. That’s what this was about. He thought I was some hopeless little girl who needed support.
We locked eyes.
His glossed over with something I had never seen in them before.
It wasn’t that pity I thought about earlier. It was something else. Something that would be hard to believe if I told someoneelse. Compassion. Softness. Because I could’ve just been reading into shit, I looked away. Exodus Christ? With softness in his cold dark eyes? Never. I continued up the stairs and he followed me.
“You following me,” I pointed out.
“Trying to chop it up with you,” he said.
“I don’t want to talk.”
“You don’t need to. Actually, I would prefer if you listened.”
I glanced over my shoulder at him and continued up the stairs. By the second flight, I was out of breath. I couldn’t remember the last time the elevator worked. Considering I’d been climbing these dusty ass stairs for years, I should’ve been used to it. But I wasn’t. It was a struggle every time. Especially when I had groceries to carry up.
I stopped. Took a deep breath and put my hand on my hip, hissing at the stinging from my knuckles. Again, I shook my hand and looked up at the peeling paint on the ceiling, catching my breath. A second later, I felt his presence behind me. Not too close. Not far away. But close enough for me to smell whatever cologne he wore. Would have noticed it earlier when he picked me up if I weren’t so pissed off. He smelled good. It was smoky. But sweet too. He smelled exactly how I thought Exodus would smell.
Like a man.
Like a man with money.
“What do you want?” I asked, starting my trek up the last set of stairs. My apartment was on the third floor.
“I just told you.”
“Say what you need to say.”
He didn’t say anything. Went quiet and continued to follow me down to my apartment. It was weird. Having him follow me. I didn’t know him like that. Like I said, we hadn’t exchanged words. Not before Meech. So having him on my heels, giving me money, wanting to talk to me… it was a little odd.
I stood at the door, unlocked it and glanced over at him. “You can’t come in.”
“Why not?”
“Because… I don’t know you,” I said with a frown, as if he hadn’t stepped into the apartment that night Meech died.
Lightly, he chuckled, looked away and then back down at me.
