Page 12 of Dr. Bell

Just this morning, he’d made it very clear that he was attracted to me. So much so that he refused to work around me. Interrupting him was likely something no one ever did. I could tell by the set of his jaw that my response rubbed him the wrong way. Then his face relaxed, he looked up at the starlit sky, and closed his eyes. From the outside looking in, he was centering himself.

“What do you hear?” he questioned.

Aside from the sound of the gentle breeze brushing across my face, I heard nothing. Not even a cricket chirping.

“Silence.”

He smirked subtly. “That’s how silent I want ya fears to be.”

“How, when I don’t know you?”

Standing, he took my hand and brought me with him.

“We’ll get to know each other. Things will go slow. For now, my mama will show you to your room. Anything you need, just ask. More importantly, I want you to rest. Everything’s gon’ be okay.”

“I haven’t even agreed to stay here.” My brain screamed that there was no going back. However, this was crazy as hell.

“You agreed the minute you got into my car, Pretty Bell.”

I stared up into his hypnotizing eyes without a single comeback. Maybe he was right. I jumped inside his car without the slightest hesitation.

ADIR

AfterPrettywentinside,I took a deep breath and exhaled it into the muggy night air. Summer hadn’t started, and already, the weather wasn’t kind. Still, there was something in the air. It was thick, heady, and tugging at me in places buried under a lifetime of being in the trenches. Aside from my family and my boys, there wasn’t another soul who stirred that place inside of me.

Glancing back at the mansion I’d built several years ago, my eyes fell on the dimly lit room that belonged to Pretty. I’d told her to rest, knowing I wouldn’t be getting any rest for the next couple of days. At least not until everything was in stone. Once everything was in stone, Pretty and Quilo were as good as kept.

I took another deep breath and left that to the wind, too. Backtracking, I went inside the house, stopped inside the kitchen for a quick drink, then headed up the stairs to make sure Pretty was settling in without any problems. As I approachedher door, Quilo’s booming voice slowed my step. Stepping to the door, I listened.

“You not marrying that nigga, Coco! And fuck him tryna adopt me. I don’t need that nigga protecting me.”

“We don’t have a choice, Quilo. Where are we gon’ go? We’ll always be looking over our shoulders. You heard what they said. If Adir is offering us protection, we need to take it. You could be in jail right now.”

“Fuck that! You’on even know that nigga.”

“Do you understand how much trouble you’re in?”

“I don’t fuckin’ care, Coco! Them niggas wasn’t about to fuck wit’ you! I stand by what the fuck I did.”

“Quilo… I love you, okay. You’re all I have out here.”

Pretty choking up had me ready to barge into her room and snatch that lil’ nigga up. She sounded exasperated and at her wits end.

“Please,for me… I will do anything for you. I need you to trust me.”

For a second, the room fell silent.

“We need another way, Coco.”

“There is no other way.”

The finality in Pretty’s tone touched a place in me that was only reserved for the people I loved. That shit had me clutching my chest. Moving from the room door, I went down the hall to Humble’s room. He was sitting on his bed, with his books open. Although it was summer, he was knee-deep in classes. He was eager to finish his degree so that he could graduate early and enlist in the army. It was his decision, one that I didn’t dissuade him from.

“You good?”

He chuckled. “Yeah, I’m good. So, what’re you gon’ do?”

Just like Humble. Straight to the point.

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