“Nah. I ain’t gon’ lecture you today. Just bringing it to your attention.”
“That’s what big cousins are for, right?” she asked, smirking.
Saleem smirked right back. “Exactly. You want a juice?”
Her eyes traveled to the beautifully decorated chalkboard on the wall. There was a plethora of juices, smoothies, and appetizers to choose from. Knowing she’d need a bit of energy to make it through the rest of the day, she settled on one that’d provide just that and tasted just as good.
“Yes. I’ll take a medium Pineapple Pearadise.”
“A’ight,” he said, walking away, but then stopped. Facing her, he said, “I knew there was something I was supposed to tell you.”
“What?” Orielle questioned, hating the unreadable expression on his face. That quickly, she got nervous thinking something was wrong.
“Najee invited you to his party.”
A line etched between her brows. “What?”
“His welcome home party. He told me to personally invite you.”
“You sure he meantme?”
Saleem chuckled. “Yeah, Ori. That man ain’t tripping about the past. I thought we talked about this.”
They had. She even spoke to Najee as well, but attending his welcome home party was a bit much. They were acting as if he were home from a war and not jail. The place he would’ve never been had he not dropped them off that night. Everything was so coincidental.
“You’re overthinking again. It’s just family and folks he rocks with. Nothing too serious.”
Orielle blinked slowly, mumbling, “Okay.”
Clearly, her response was good enough. She was trying to make sense of what he just said, and Saleem just casually walked off like he hadn’t just thrown a bomb at her. Her stomach fluttered with an onset of nerves like it did every time his name was mentioned. She didn’t even know he was a free man, yet here he was requesting her presence.
Orielle smiled. Her guilt for what happened that night had slowly faded away, and until she saw him in person, it’d remain.Maybe going to support his release wouldn’t be so bad,she thought, just as Saleem walked back over with her drink. She thanked him, stuck her straw inside, and took a generous swig.
“This issogood,” she praised.
“Thank you. It’s one of our top sellers.”
Orielle nodded. “I see why. Now, back to this party. You don’t think it’s weird for him to invite me? I mean, everyone kinda knows why he was in there.”
“And now that nigga is out. You either gon’ fuck with my dog and show up or not. Stopping by for a few minutes ain’t gon’ hurt you. He ain’t ask for you for no reason.”
Saleem could’ve told her much more that Najee said, but that conversation wasn’t meant to be shared. He wasn’t going to try to keep convincing her to show her face either.
Orielle sighed, toying with her straw. “Okay. I’ll come by but I’m not staying all night. Do I need to bring a gift?”
Saleem laughed loudly, showing his perfect white teeth. Orielle giggled as he got himself together.
“What?” she asked innocently.
“Nah. You don’t have to bring a gift. It ain’t that nigga’s birthday.”
She shrugged. “Oh. Well, I just figured people would.”
“I mean... you can bring one since you were the reason?—”
Orielle punched him in the chest and hurriedly shook her hand from the impact. “See! Just for that, I’m not coming.”
Saleem chuckled. “I’m just playing, man. You are the gift, for real. Having you there gon’ make his night.”
