Page 60 of A Hood Wife And A Rich Goon

“What’s up, bro?” Bull chucked his chin at him as he stopped at the table.

“You trying to smoke? I got plenty rolled,” Eazy offered.

“Nah. We heading out. Rhema gotta get up early for a Saturday class she has in the morning,” Jewel informed them. “Happy birthday, though, Bull. I’m glad we could celebrate. Shit felt like old times around here tonight.” Jewel dapped his boy up, and Bull bobbed his head in agreement.

“No doubt. I invited Oracle, too, but I guess he decided not to come.”

“He been shut the world out. I check on him every now and then, but he’s in a different head space since everything. On top of not knowing who we dealing with, I think the nigga still paranoid as hell too,” Eazy studied the blunt between his fingers and spoke up.

“I’m taking the girls to the park Saturday. You should bring your kids, and we can shoot some hoops for old time’s sake,” Jewel suggested.

“I been telling this nigga. I’m still nice.” Eazy taunted.

“Aight, man, let me know what time.” Bull stood and embraced Jewel.

“You talk to him about that thing?” Jewel checked with Eazy, who sat forward in his chair, eyes on Bull before shaking his head.

“What thing?” Bull’s focus gamboled from Eazy to Jewel.

“Feel free to say no.” Eazy held up a hand. “We kind of need your expertise, though.”

“What’s the score?” Bull asked, unbuttoning the jacket to his suit.

“A million three ways,” Jewel acknowledged.

“What’s the set up?” was his next question.

Bull was the kind to have a plan A-C in place when he took a job. He planned for things to go right but learned from experience that they could always go left. Knowing what he was dealing with and possible hiccups was what helped him determine whether he was down for some shit. The less risk the better. Shit was different now. He had even more to lose if anything went wrong.

“Should be in and out. Just need somebody to bypass the state-of-the-art security system,” Eazy noted.

“When?”

“Sunday night,” Jewel announced. “Around eleven p.m.”

Sighing, Bull stroked his beard before giving them a nod.

“Count me in. Send me the specs so I know what I’m dealing with.”

“No doubt,” Eazy agreed, happy to have his man back.

“Lotus? Are you okay?” Toni pressed her ear against the door of the bathroom and listened to the girl emptying her stomach.

“What’s wrong?” Rhema questioned, coming from the kitchen where she and Jewel had grabbed to-go plates.

“I don’t know. We were talking. It’s obvious she’s had a lot to drink and eat tonight.” Toni took a step back with worry in her face.

“I’ll check on her.” Rhema moved closer, and Toni backed up to let her pass into the bathroom.

She was a nursing student, so she was more than willing to assist. Lo was like a little sister to her as well. When Rhema shut the door behind her, she caught Lotus hanging off the side of the toilet, lifting her head. She paused and rested a hand next to the sink before looking down at her with empathy.

“You okay, Lo?”

“I just threw up my esophagus.” Lotus closed her eyes and pressed her back against the wall.

Rhema reached out to flush the toilet before washing her hands and drying them with the thickly quilted paper towels strategically placed on the counter. Lotus groaned painfully with sweat beads gathering at her forehead. When Rhema pressed a hand to her wrist to check her pulse and looked at the simple gold Cartier watch on her wrist, she found her heart racing. After checking her pupils, she nodded.

“Have you been feeling okay?” Rhema questioned.