Page 53 of E'Levyn Days
She walked over and handed the other glass to Zuri before placing one hand on her hip while talking to me. “But you knew I wasn’t going to.”
“And that’s why I called.”
A slow smile spread across her face because she knew exactly what I meant. Milan and I had dealt with each other long enough for her to understand I wasn’t about to spend the evening pretending this was more than what it was. She was beautiful, easy to be around, and didn’t call me every day asking where shit was going. Zuri was the same way, which was why I didn’t mind her coming along whenever Milan asked.
They talked for a few minutes while stripping down near the pool, and I looked up just long enough to appreciate what was in front of me before returning to the email on my screen. Milan slid the dress over her head, revealing nothing underneath, while Zuri untied her bikini and left it folded on top of the cover-up. They walked into the water without hesitation, splashing each other and laughing while I sat back with the blunt between my fingers and approved another consultation.
“You ain’t even looking,” Zuri called from the middle of the pool.
“I looked.”
“That’s it?”
I glanced over the top of the laptop and let my eyes move slowly between both of them. “What? You need applause?” I laughed.
Milan laughed so hard she dipped under the water, then came back up wiping her face. “Leave him alone. That nigga could have ten naked women in front of him and still be trying to close on a building.”
Before either of them could respond, my phone started ringing beside the laptop. Mike’s name appeared across the screen, and something told me he wasn’t calling to talk about nothing that could wait. I lowered the music, closed the laptop halfway, and answered while watching them swim toward the opposite end of the pool while rubbing each other’s titties and shit.
“What’s up?”
“I heard something about Marv,” he said in a low tone, enough to let me know he wasn’t alone.
I sat the blunt inside the ashtray and leaned forward. “What you heard?”
“Shit, Paper’s name floating around, that’s what.”
That got my attention, but I didn’t rush to react. Paper and Marv had history, but half the city had history with Marv. “Floating around from who?”
“A couple people saying Paper had been asking about him lately and wanted to know if Marv was still moving through the warehouse and what time he usually left. This shit was right before he got shot.”
I looked out across the water while going back through everything Marv told me in the hospital. “Why would Paper care where he was moving now?”
“You remember Marv robbed him years ago?”
“I remember.” Marv had taken money, a chain, and whatever dignity Paper had left after pistol-whipping him in front of half the block, but that shit was old enough that I hadn’t thought about it in years. “That don’t mean he shot him.”
“I didn’t say it did. I’m telling you what I heard.”
“Who else know?”
“Not too many people yet.”
“Keep it that way. Don’t go asking questions for Paper to hear his name traveling back to us, and don’t touch him until we know something for sure.”
Mike got quiet for a second before answering. “You think it’s deeper than that?”
“I think Marv got enough enemies for somebody to put Paper’s name out there just to take attention away from themselves. Find out where Paper was that night and who he was with and do that shit quietly.”
“I got you.”
I ended the call and stared at the phone for a few seconds before scrolling to Marv’s name. He answered after a few rings sounding tired, but at least his voice was stronger than it had been when I first heard it after surgery.
“What up, cuz?”
“You asleep?”
“I was trying to be until you called.”
