That hit harder than any slap.
Juelz straightened up slowly, eyes glassy. “Y’all done?”
Nobody said a word.
The silence answered for them.
Juelz shoved past, digging in his pocket for his keys.
“Nah, gimme them,” Mar said, snatching them away from him. “You not drivin’ like this, nigga.”
“I said,” Juelz growled, stumbling forward, “Gimme. My. Muthafuckin’ keys. Bitch tass nigga.”
Kane held his hand out, separating the two. “Nigga! You drunk as hell. You can barely stand. Slurring your words and shit. We’ll take you home. You been off yo shit since Tasha left, nigga. You need to chill. Getcha some new pussy or somethin’.”
“Iamchill, muthapuckaaa,” Juelz slurred again, as he stumbled forward. He tried to take a swing at Kane, but the punch didn’t land. He spun himself off balance and hit thepavement hard, groaning, one arm still stretched like he was reaching for pride.
“Dumbass nigga,” Kane uttered, crouching down. “C’mon, man.”
They picked Juelz up off the ground, dragging his heavy, half-conscious body like dead weight.
“Ain’t nobody got time for this shit,” Sintonio said, shaking his head. “I can be at home with my wife and fuckin’ kids, nigga.”
Juelz mumbled something that sounded likepussiesandfuck y’allbefore passing out cold in the backseat of Sintonio’s car.
“Where we taking him?” Sintonio asked before he climbed into the driver's seat.
Mar rubbed his head for a beat. “Home. I’ll follow you in Jue’s car. Guess I’ll have to babysit his drunk ass.”
“Better you than me, nigga,” Kane added. “Cause next time he try to swing on me? His drunk ass gon’ stay laid out on the damn pavement. I started to yolk his li’l ass up, too.”
“TT,can I grab some chips and cheese dip, please?” asked Tasha’s niece, Miracle.
Tasha was still pushing the cart forward as she glanced over the items on the shelf. “Yeah, Miracle. Only one bag. Your mama not about to grill me for bringing all that junk food into her house.”
Miracle turned around, racing back to the selection of chips, as she yelled back. “Thanks, TT.”
She was shopping at Whole Foods Market, and her niece, Miracle, decided to come along because she wanted to get out of the house for a bit.
Tasha made her way over to the produce section, weighing an eggplant in her palm, when, all of a sudden, she felt someone whispering in her ear.
“I got one even bigger.”
She jumped immediately, placing the eggplant back on the shelf, turning around with her palm over her heart. “Oh, my God!”
Kenji laughed out loud, grabbing her arms. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist it.” He dropped her arms. “You honestly set yourself up for that one.”
Tasha pushed his shoulder lightly, laughing. “You almost gave me a heart attack.” She tilted her head to the side, pointing at him. “You know how to do CPR?”
He laughed even louder. “Yeah, the bootleg version. I gotcha.” The laughter died down, and he folded his arms. “Well, I guess it’s meant to be,” he said with a voice smooth as whiskey.
A slow grin spread across her face as she looked him up and down. She let her gaze linger a little longer, taking in the way he wore his fitted hat to the side, that black muscle shirt revealing his toned arms, while he stood with that casual confidence in his stance.
“I guess you right. But you better stop sneaking up on women in the produce section, before you get that eggplant upside your head.”
“Noted! So Are you gonna keep your end of the deal and let me get your num?—”
“TT, who this man?” Miracle asked, as she placed the chips in the cart. “He don’t look like Uncle Jue, to me.”
