Page 140 of Just Listen
He looked from me to Tito. “What was y’all over here talking about?”
I smirked. “I was just asking ya boy if he was about to leave.”
Jeremy lightly chuckled. “That man just got here.”
“Oh, well, shit, he can still leave.”
Jeremy read the expression on Tito’s face, and placed a hand on his shoulder. “He’s just fucking with you, man. Go ‘head and grab some food and shit.”
Tito nodded like a child, before skedaddling off.
We both laughed, while Jeremy shook his head.
“Malice, my nigga, you know that you’re like the boogie man around here to these niggas. They’on want no parts. I promise you. So, take it easy on him.” He patted my shoulder.
I smiled. “Fuck that nigga.”
He shook his head, as he walked away laughing.
I laughed to myself, as I thought about how Jaylah’s brothers’ friends hated to see me coming, now. At first, them niggas didn’t know how to conduct themselves, but after a little straightening with one or two of ‘em, they all got the message. You didn’t hang around, trying to keke in Jaylah’s face, unless you wanted somebody waiting at your front door with a message.
“You back, huh?” Big Jahrein commented, as he approached me.
My heart was literally pounding in my chest, while I calmly nodded. Knowing how to always keep a poker face. “Yep.”
Studying me, he placed a hand on the back of my neck. “Are you ready, though?”
I nodded. “I’m ready.”
“Okay. You remember everything we talked about?”
“I remember.”
“Good. So, if you aint ready to what, then you do what?”
“If I aint ready to die for her, then leave her alone,” he recited his warning verbatim.
“My nigga.” He clasped hands with me. “I wasn’t sure at first, but I know it now. I told my baby that I wasn’t releasing her, until she had a real man that could take over, without me worrying at night. Somebody who can hold her down. And every time you was tested, you showed and proved. So, you got my full and complete blessings. She’s yours.”
I humbly nodded, appreciating that stamp, from one real nigga to another.
Jaylah
I was sitting at my parents’ dining table, with K3 aka Khamere III’s bad ass in my lap. At ten months, he was a busybody and was already walking. The problem was that there was a houseful of people, and he wanted to roam freely. That just wasn’t possible, because I knew that he’d be trampled over and then somebody would have to die. So, it was best for everybody if he remained in my lap. But K3 wasn’t having it.
“Boy, be still,” I fussed, as my baby fought to get out of my lap.
Jhyrah side eyed me, causing me to frown.
“The way that boy don’t like you, these days, you gotta be pregnant,” she accused.
I crinkled my nose in disgust. “Girl, who the fuck are you? Daddy number two? The pregnant detective or some shit? Cause you need to stop speaking that negativity over me.”
Riah sat on the opposite side of me, snickering. “No, hoe. You just need to either stay off that sausage, or get on birth control. It’s either or.”
I rolled my eyes, and gave her the finger. “Girl, fuck you.”
“Daddy!” K3 gleefully clapped his hands, causing me to lift my head.
