I turned my whole body toward him. “That’s it?”
“What?” He laughed.
“I don’t know… I was expecting something deeper.”
“There is.”
“So… what is it?”
“So…” He dragged the word out, still grinning. “Some shit just ain’t for everybody.”
I studied his face for a second. “You always lying.”
That made him laugh even harder. “I ain’t lying.”
“You not telling the whole truth either Marv.”
He pointed at me without looking away from the road. “See… that’s why I shouldn’t fool with nurses.”
I frowned. “Why?”
“Y’all think because y’all catch little stuff y’all done solved the whole case.”
“I didn’t say I solved anything.”
“You basically did.”
I smiled to myself before looking back out the windshield. “So, what does it mean?”
His smile disappeared again. “The name mean something different to Lev now than it used to. For him…” he said after a second, “Empire his real estate company.”
“And for you?”
He was quiet long enough that I thought he wasn’t going to answer. Then he shrugged. “For me…” He glanced over and smiled, “it’s family.”
I just nodded because it sounded simple, but I know it’s more. Whatever Empire had been before the real estate company Marv wasn’t about to tell me, but my mind told me it was probably some kind of gang although I couldn’t be certain, but he left it right there at, family.
That one word was supposed to satisfy my curiosity, but it did the exact opposite. The more I thought about it, the more it felt like Marv had carefully answered my question without actually answering it. I glanced over at him one more time beforeletting it go. If I kept pushing, he’d either laugh me off again or change the subject altogether, and I didn’t have the energy for either one.
The rest of the ride was silent besides the music as my fingers absentmindedly traced the zipper on my purse where Lev’s business card was and I hated that I hadn’t thrown it out. I hated even more that I couldn’t. How the fuck was I supposed to come up with this money in eleven days? That number kept repeating itself in my head rent free.
Marv slowed down as he turned into my apartment complex, rolling over the first speed bump before making another right toward my building. My stomach got super tight. Normally, I’d hate when somebody wouldn’t watch the person they were dropping off walk all the way inside, but tonight I needed him to leave as fast as possible.
He backed into a parking space and shifted the car into park before turning the music all the way down. “Aight, Nurse.” He looked over at me. “Go home and sleep that liquor off.”
“I plan on it.”
“You ain’t gotta work tomorrow?”
I nodded. “I do.”
“Damn.” He shook his head. “Well, don’t be in there taking care of folks while you still drunk.”
I laughed under my breath. “I’m pretty sure it’ll be out my system by then.”
I reached for the door handle before stopping. “Thank you… for tonight.”
He looked over at me and gave me that same laid-back smile I’d gotten used to over the last couple weeks. “You ain’t gotta thank me, I enjoyed myself.”
