“What are you doing here?” he asked, never one to beat around the bush.
Gun still in his hand, he crossed his arms near his legs. In his black silk pajamas and matching robe, Max was even sharp in his sleep. Only his gold link chain hung from his neck with a diamond-encrusted ankh across his chest. Narrowing his eyes at Rose, he observed him. Rose was like another kid to him more than any other younging he’d ever taken under his wing. Before Mille was born, he didn’t think he would get that opportunity, so he filled Rose with all the game he had. Like a sponge, he absorbed that shit and applied it. Max was never been prouder to have a thorough ass nigga like him on his team.
“Damn, Max, a nigga been gone a year taking care of shit, and this how I get greeted?” Rose popped a few pieces of popcorn he had left in his hand in his mouth and shook his head at his mentor.
“How was Miami?” Max lifted himself from the chair to make a drink at his mini bar in the corner.
“Miami was cool. Beautiful city. Lots of bad bitches,” Rose said, gnawing away on the delightful snack.
Minx had good taste in shit like that. She was always getting him to try shit when they was kids and then he became addicted to it just like her ass.
“You know what I mean, Rose. Any trouble down there with the operation?” Max wondered, facing him with a fresh glass of bourbon in one hand.
“Nah, shit was smooth sailing. Marco and Revel got shit running like a well-oiled machine. Even the cartel mothafuckas don’t fuck with them. They met with them, said their piece, everybody laid out their terms, shit been good,” Rose ensured him. “They gave us access to their routes and shit. Now Lunes and his crew are looking for a mass amount of guns too. I told them I would talk to you about it when I got here.”
“I’ll hit him up, set up a meeting, see what he’s talking about. So are you back for good, or you just popping in?” Max queried, swallowing some of his drink.
Rose reclined on the sofa and kicked his feet back up.
“Shit, I’m back like I never left. Why? You got something for me?” His brows dipped above his hooded coffee-bean orbs.
“Yeah, we’ll talk more in the morning. Don’t be down here making all that noise. Mila come down here cussing y’all out, I ain’t in that shit.” With his glass in hand, Max moved toward the hallway to go about his business.
Moments later, Minx was out of the shower, coming down the steps with her hair falling in wet curls. She had on some fuzzy socks and an old, beat-up ass Eagles shirt. She’d had that damn shirt since middle school. Rose knew because it used to belong to him before she jacked him. She plopped right down beside him with the rest of her snacks. He kept one hand on his chin and stared at her out of the corner of his eye. One leg underneath herself, she snapped her head in his direction.
“So what have you been doing? I thought Miami would be the perfect town for you.” She let her head sink into the back pillow of the sofa.
Rose studied her face, taking in all the maturities that had developed in such a short amount of time.
“You remember the day we met?” Rose’s tongue ran across his lip, and his mouth curved up into the cutest simper.
Minx batted her eyes, face flushing as she tried to hide a smile. Rose did this to her every time. She couldn’t explain the automatic rush to the heart he gave her with the simplest words.
“Why do you do this?” she asked, lifting her head and holding his intense stare.
“’Cause I like thinking about simpler times,” he answered with a shrug, his voice very low.
He practically mirrored her thoughts, but that was nothing new.
“I remember that day like it was yesterday. We always knew of each other, but after that day, we knew each other.” Minx stared off and drifted into the past.
January2001
The cold airnipped around Rose, trotting down the ruined Kansas City streets through the piles of snow that accumulated over the last three days. Even then, it was still coming down as he pulled the hood to his First Down bubble coat over his head. His nose was already frozen, right along with the rest of his face. With both hands stuffed in his pockets, he watched minimal traffic pass him by on the street as he neared Barnett and the corner store. Rose passed the store by, but something caught his eyes, beside a newspaper stand out front. Squinting through the many flakes falling around him, Rose made out Minx. Knees bent, she sat rocking back and forth. He paused dead in his tracks and stared down at her.
“Hey, you okay?” he questioned, but she only rocked, barely acknowledging him. “It’s cold out here, shorty. Let me walk you home.” He stepped up and held his hand out.
She finally stopped rocking, the sound of his gentle voice pulling her from her fearful thoughts. Her big, round expressoeyes met his, and she put her hand in his. Rose gripped it and helped her onto her feet. Panic engulfed Minx, and she snapped out of her daze. Rose guided her down the sidewalk toward where he knew she lived on 5thStreet.
“Why were you sitting over there like that?” He asked, falling in stride with her, their boots crunching against the snow underneath their feet. Minx kept her eyes on the ground and gave a shrug. She’d been mute since the day her sister was killed. She walked home by herself now, and it was always hard passing that store, remembering what happened, and having the scar on her head to prove it. She brought her eyes up, watching the snow tumble around them. It seemed to be getting heavier.
“We might not have school tomorrow. I heard the teachers talking, and they said a big snowstorm is heading our way. If we have a snow day, you should come outside. I got a new sled I’m gonna be riding,” Rose told her.
Minx was interested, in more things than one. For one, Rose was very confident to be almost eleven. Everyone else kept their distance from her. Since she was shot, she’d been the most talked about kid in the school. They thought she was weird. She didn’t talk, she didn’t laugh, and she didn’t even smile anymore. Her teachers were concerned because before the shooting, Minx was the most outspoken child in the school. She answered every question and obliged to any request.
“You don’t talk a lot, huh? I watch you at school. You’re always by yourself, even at lunch or recess. What’s up with that?” Rose queried, his brows kind of pinching above his brown eyes.
She didn’t answer, but he figured shedidn’t have anything to say. Thinking of everything she’d been through, he empathized with her, and his gaze softened.
