“I don’t know.” He shrugged, keeping one hand on the wheel. “I ain’t figured that part out. I just know I’m not letting you leave me. You can try to run Nay, and every time I’ma find you.”
I sarcastically laughed. “You beat on me, stole my money, and got another woman talking about she pregnant, and even more blowing your phone up through lunch. How much talking you expect me to do? What exactly am I supposed to act like?”
He stroked his beard with the palm of his hand and exhaled. “I told you that ain’t what you think.”
I looked back out the window again. “Yeah I know.” I mumbled.
He frowned. “You know what?”
“Nothing.”
“So, you don’t wanna know who was calling?”
I shrugged. “If you wanted me to know, you would have told me.”
The truck got quiet again until Rome finally cleared his throat, adjusted the gun on his waist, lit his joint and turned the music up. Meanwhile, all I cared about was getting out this truck. When we finally turned onto Big Mama Lulu’s street, I spotted her before we even made it to the house. She was standing outside on the front porch with her hands on her hips wearing one of her flowered house dresses and a pair of bedroom slippers like she’d been waiting on me all afternoon. When she saw the truck; she started waving both hands in the air.
“There she go,” I mumbled muffling my laugher.
Rome looked over. “She look alright to me.”
I smiled to myself cause Lulu rode for her grandkids. By the time he pulled into the driveway, she was already marching toward the truck before either one of us could even get out.
“Navy!” she hollered, throwing her hands in the air. “Girl, hurry up! I’ve been calling you all damn day.”
I climbed out before Rome had a chance to say anything. “What happened?”
Big Mama Lulu dramatically grabbed both my hands. “I’ll tell you inside.” She said and then she finally looked over at Rome. “Oh… hey, Rome.”
The way she said it let me know she hadn’t forgotten a damn thing I’d told her yesterday about all the shit he did, and yet and still I wasn’t coming to stay with Big Mama Lulu either because I didn’t want my damn burdens on her. Rome spoke back and told me to call him when I was ready right before he turned the music all the way up again and pulled off. Lulu and I wanted until he disappeared down the street. I had to make sure his ass was really gone before we went inside, and I took a deep breath knowing he was out of my damn hairs for a few hours.
CHAPTER 6
Jerome ‘Rome’ Jackson
Ilooked back one time through the rearview mirror and watched Navy and Lulu watching me. Lulu had her arm wrapped around her as they walked toward the front door when I got closer to the end of the street and only God knows what they were talking about. I watched until they disappeared inside before shaking my head and pressing harder on the gas. Something about the last couple of days didn’t sit right with me because Navy had been too calm and agreeing to whatever I said and if anybody knew Navy they knew my wife always had a mouth on her. If she was mad, you knew it and if she was happy you knew that too but Lately she’d been smiling when she should’ve been cussing my stupid ass out. She was playing nice when I knew damn well she wanted to tell me to go to hell and that wasn’t like Navy, that was somebody plotting, and I couldn’t put my finger on what the fuck she was plotting.
I reached over and turned the volume up until BossMan Dlow started blasting through the speakers as the bass rumbled through the truck while I cracked the window just enough to letthe smoke out after taking another pull from my joint. The new Escalades looked like Bently trucks, just straight pressure and I enjoyed every bit of this one although I had quite a few toys. Miami was always a sight to see while riding through it with good weed and loud music.
About twenty minutes later I turned onto 15thavenue in Liberty City where my people were already outside. The block looked like it always did with the old heads sitting outside the corner store arguing over dominoes while the kids weaved in and out of the street on bikes. The music blasted through the streets from different directions, but when my truck pulled up a couple of the younger teenage dudes threw their hands up when they saw me.
Before I even cut the engine off, Bill was already making his way across the street with a black backpack hanging off one shoulder while Dre and Lil Cee followed behind him. I climbed out and shut the door. Bill was the oldest out the bunch, damn near pushing forty with dark skin and grey hairs starting to show up in his beard. Meanwhile Dre was built like he lived in the fucking gym with that thick ass neck and Lil Cee was the youngest and still had that hunger in his eyes that reminded me too much of myself before prison taught me patience although I was only a few years older than him.
“What it do?” Bill asked, reaching his fist out.
I used my own fist and bumped it. “Y’all making me money today or wasting my damn time man?”
Lil Cee laughed showing a mouth full of gold teeth. “We already know how you coming.”
“Hell, you should.” I replied waiting for them to show me the money but deep down inside Navy was still in the back of my mind. I didn’t mean to keep putting my hands on her, she just had a way of testing my patience. We’d been together sinceforever so how the fuck was I supposed to let her just leave? No other female knew me like she did.
Bill unzipped the backpack just enough for me to see the stacks inside before zipping it back up. He never stood there flashing money around like a rookie that’s why I trusted him like an older uncle.
“We had a good week,” he said, handing me the bag.
I took it from him, walked over to the front of my truck, and placed it on the hood before I opened it back up. My eyes roamed over the stacks held up in rubberbands while I separated a few of them. Of course, I wasn’t counting every dollar but after enough expertise in this shit you could tell when money looked right and when somebody had been dipping their hand where it didn’t belong.
“You short,” I said calmly without looking up.
