Page 24

“Nigga, why you so damn happy?”

“Cus it’s good to see you, Stink.” There she went again. I rolled my eyes and kept walking. I really needed her to stop doing that shit. She needed to remember why we were here. Anton’s eyes trailed down to my hands. “Where my food?”

“I ain’t DoorDash. The fuck!” I wasn’t purposely starving him, but I did disregard his food request. I was hoping this shit would be over today. Once his people agreed to the deal, he could get his own food. I pulled my phone out and dialed the number from yesterday. After a few rings, his boss answered.

“Yeah.” He answered like we were friends.

“So, what’s up?”

“What you mean?” My heartbeat began to race.

“What you mean, what I mean? Did you think about what I said?”

“I’m analyzing the situation.” My heart sank. This was not what I was hoping for.

“It’s nothing to analyze. You want-…” He cut me off.

“I’m not sure getting Anton back benefits me.”

“This your nigga, though.” Anton dropped his head, and I shot him a look. I couldn’t tell if he was laughing or what the fuck he was doing, but nothing about this shit was funny. You would think his ass would be trying to plead with him as well.

“I’m aware of who he is.” I fought back the tears that were threatening to fall.

“So what is there to think about?” My voice cracked, but I couldn’t let him hear me break.

“Whether what you’re asking for is worth what I’m getting in return.” I looked to Anton hoping he would speak up, but this nigga just looked back at me. His people were acting like they needed to check the return policy, but he didn’t see anything wrong with that.

“I’m not asking for anything crazy. I just need you to make sure they leave him alone. You get Anton back, and we all get what we want.”

“And my bread?” Now, it was my turn to go silent. “I’ll be in touch.” Before I could say anything else, he hung up. It was probably for the best because I had no answer to his money question. I needed him to accept my terms strictly off the importance of Anton’s value. They could be stalling. Taffy’s words invaded my thoughts. Yesterday, I thought she was being paranoid. Today, I wasn’t so sure.

“Soooo, about that food.” This nigga. I sucked my teeth as I turned around and headed for the stairs. “Where you going, Stink?”

“Shut the fuck up!” I climbed the stairs and I could hear him laughing as I slammed the door. I had no idea what I was going to do, but thinking on an empty stomach wasn’t going to help. Pulling up to a chicken spot fifteen minutes away, I got out and walked inside. Opening my phone, I checked my bank account. I stared at my balance for a few seconds before locking my phone. I had enough, but with my funds being low, I wasn’t trying to spend my money on his ass. Me and Taffy were going to have to talk about hitting another lick. This last one was supposed to set us up for a while. Instead, it put us further in debt. I was about to leave when they called a name.

“Danielle.” Nobody moved, so the girl sat the bag on the counter and walked away. Thanking God for my ghetto blessing, I grabbed the bag and walked out the door. As soon as I made it outside, I took off running toward my car. Jumping inside, I pulled off quickly. Danielle should have had her ass in there waiting. When I made it back to the basement, Anton was lying on the bed watching TV comfortable as fuck. He sat up as soon as he saw the bag.

“I knew you wasn’t gone let your nigga starve.” I ignored his lil remark and walked the food over to him. When I passed him the bag, I turned to leave but he grabbed me.

“What?” I didn’t mean to snap, so I changed my tone. It wasn’t his fault his people didn’t want his ass back. “Gone and eat your food.”

“You not gone sit down and eat with me?”

“I’m not hungry and this is not a lunch date.” He raised his brow as if he was about to challenge that when my stomach growled.

“Come eat, Stink.” My pussy jumped and my legs somehow walked me to the bed.

“Move over,” I said surprising myself. The words left my lips before I could think about what I was saying. His smile widened as he made room for me. Setting the bag down between us, I grabbed the containers out and spread them on the bed. It was a lot of food in there too. Whoever Danielle was, she ate good. Anton grabbed a container and opened it.

“What the fuck is this?” Leaning over, I looked to see what it was. When I saw it was gizzards, I had to press my lips together to keep from laughing. He picked one up and looked at it like somebody had dropped a fried roach in his shit. “Who the hell eats this shit?”

“Me.” I lied. There was no way I was about to tell him I stole somebody else’s food.

“You eat gizzards?” I nodded, continuing my lie.

“All the time.” His ass passed me the container.

“Good, this yours then.” Attempting to commit to my lie, I picked one up and bit into it. Ughhh! That shit was nasty as fuck. I had to force myself to swallow it. Anton was watching me, so I grabbed a fry and ate it, hoping he would stop looking at me. I should go find Danielle and beat her ass.