He did as I asked, and I took a few moments to calm down before I joined him in my vehicle to take him home.
17
HARLEM
MAKING AMENDS – NEXT DAY
“Stay right here in the car while I go chat with her.”
“Does she know that I’m coming?” Hollis asked nervously.
“Yeah. I’m not blindsiding her. You don’t do that to the people you care about. After I took you home last night, I drove back to her place to check on her. You left her pretty shaken up, and I didn’t like that shit. While I sat and talked with her, I told her what was gonna happen.
“She wasn’t happy about it, and it took a lot of convincing, but she finally agreed to hear you out. The only thing that gave her any measure of comfort was knowing that I know you, and you weren’t a random stranger that she couldn’t find again. On the other hand, that was the same shit that pissed her off. She couldn’t believe someone I knew would do something like that.”
Hollis dragged his hand over his head and looked into my eyes. I could see the remorse there, but it had to be more than a look to make things right again.
“Man, I screwed that up big time.”
“What the fuck were you thinking?”
“I wasn’t, H-Town. I was just desperate, man.”
“You gotta stop with the excuses, kid. Man up,” I commanded before I climbed out of the truck and headed toward her shop.
I had parked in front of her shop instead of mine. I rapped lightly on the door, and she came to open it within seconds.
“Hey, baby.” She greeted me, peering out the door.
I closed and locked it behind me before pulling her into my arms. The blinds on the windows and the door were still closed, so I gripped her ass and squeezed it.
“How’s my favorite girl doing this morning?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t get much sleep.”
“Why not?”
“I tossed and turned about this all night long.”
“Listen. We don’t have to do this if you’re uncomfortable with it. I never want to put you in a situation that creates discomfort for you.”
“No. I want to hear what he has to say for himself. I need to hear him.” She pulled free from my embrace and crossed her arms over her body.
I lifted an eyebrow in doubt. “You sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure.”
“I thought long and hard about this after I spoke with you last night.”
“What are you thinking, Harlem?”
I told her my plan to get Hollis working for me and possibly doing some things for her.
“I don’t know. That doesn’t sound like a good idea to me. I mean, I can’t trust him, I’m not comfortable around him, and what if things get hard for him again? Will he turn on me?”
“He’s not like that.”
“You know that, but I don’t. I don’t know this kid. Why are you even doing this?”
