Page 22 of The Key To His Soul
“Fucks the spades table up,” she said matter-of-factly.
“Bet. I need a partner.”
“You have two,” she countered, grinning.
“A spades partner,” I corrected.
“Refer to my last response.”
“Mannn.”
Laughing, she swatted my arm. “I’m just playin’. When we playing?”
“This Saturday at two. My boy hosts an annual spades tournament up in Harlem.”
“Ohhhh. They must suck at spades.”
I sipped my water again, smiling. It was true, but I wouldn’t confirm verbally.
“So, you down?”
“I’m not sure yet.” Running her tongue across her bottom lip, she bit it. “What do I get when we win?”
Closing the small space between us, I looked down at her. “It’s $500 a hand. You take the winnings, and I take you out to dinner.”
Grinning, she nodded. “So long as you do your part, the pot will be split evenly. I’m all for being fair. But yes, you can pay for dinner.”
“Aight. I’ll text you the details.”
“You do that. Good day, Mehki.”
This time, there was no physical contact on departure, and that was cool with me. Her presence still lingered long after she sped off.
CHAPTER 5
The Better Invitation
KYIRIS
Ipulled into the parking lot of Sullivan Distillery and spotted Baby Jay’s mother, India, sitting in her car amongst a few others. Of Jay’s kids’ mothers, I didn’t like this young ho. And I was very vocal about it. She was mixxy and wasn’t fit to be anyone’s mother, especially to an autistic child who required her patience and understanding. I looked straight into her car and could tell she was prepped and ready to start some shit.
Turning off the engine, I glanced down at my feet, glad that I had decided to keep my sneakers on. Not that it mattered forreal. Whether in sneakers, heels, socks, or barefoot, if I needed to slide a bitch then she was getting slid. I knew it, my people knew it, and India knew it. Grabbing my phone, I climbed out of my car and walked around to the front of it. Leaning against the hood, I glanced over and caught her mid eye roll.
“I can swole them bitches shut if you don’t know how to play nice wit ‘em, Ms. India,” I said loud enough for her to hear with a car between us.
She did what was best and turned her head in the opposite direction. India knew how far to go with me without a crowd or Jay around to keep me off her ass.
A few feet away, the guys who worked security for the distillery stood posted up outside with their eyes sharp and on point. Their job was to protect the business and those with the last name Sullivan. Anyone else was handled accordingly. I sent a wave their way that they both returned. King and Artez took their jobs seriously. Lately, I found that King paid extra attention when I was around. It wasn’t hard to figure out he was feeling me, but this wasn’t elementary school. I wasn’t about to force no grown man to act on what he was feeling. If he could bust his gun without hesitation, surely he could tell a bitch he liked what he saw and wanted some time.
My phone rang in my hand, and Jay’s name came up on the screen. I answered, pressing the phone to my ear.
“Yes, Jamison,”I greeted, calling him by his first name.
“Yeah. You there? I’m five minutes out, and the truck pulling up in thirty.”
“Yep. I’m here, like I said I would be. Ya baby mama here too, itching to start some shit.”
He sucked his teeth.“Man, don’t worry ‘bout her. I ain’t stuntin’ India. I been callin’ her ass for the last hour, and she ain’t been answering the phone. She lucky I don’t yoke her the fuck up.”
