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Giovanni rolled his neck until he heard the familiar pop. It had been too long since he’d had a day like this. Sun on his back. Respect in the air. His name carried weight without him needing to open his mouth. He planned to soak it up the only way a man like him knew how. By showing up and showing out.

Every car he rolled out was a piece of his vision made real. Every build was precise. Every detail meant something. When Giovanni Dowlen pulled up, people paid attention. Not because he could flex, but because every head that turned and every hand that reached out meant more money flowing back into his community.

He slid into his baby, a cherry red Monte Carlo. The leather creaked under him, recognizing its owner. One hand gripped the custom gold chain wheel while the other adjusted the mirror. He leaned back, let out a slow breath. Something was coming. He couldn’t name it, but he could feel it in his chest. It felt like peace and opportunity, soft and sweet at the same time.

The Monte came alive with a roar, then dropped into a dangerous purr. Giovanni leaned back and put the car in drive, rolling slowly through the fairgrounds. It was his final lap. The crowd parted as he cruised by, but something in his peripheral vision made him brake gently. His foot eased on the brake. Hisposture shifted. Then came the grin—the kind a man wears when the whole night just got better.

Chapter 5

After listening to both her parents tell her to live a little, something had shifted inside Paige. She’d spent the drive home with her windows down, letting the wind whip through her hair, thinking about her daddy’s words.

‘Go let some young fool look at you like the miracle you are.’

Paige stood naked in her bedroom, staring at her reflection. Kamaiyah bumped through her speakers, the beat rolling thick through the air as she lit an incense, then the end of a leftover blunt. The smoke laced itself into the air, her hips already moving to the rhythm. The car shows tickets her mother had gifted her sat on her dresser. It was time to be somebody other than everybody’s rock, for one night.

“Alright, bitch.” She spoke to her reflection, voice full of quiet conviction. Trouble was in the air and on her mind. She had one night. Paige laughed at herself for treating this like a fairytale. When the clock struck twelve, she’d go back to exhausted Paige. “Let’s see if you still got it.”

At the vanity, she flipped on her mirror lights and got to work. She pulled her hair into a tight, high ponytail, curling pieces and giving the ends a ’90s flip. Her bangs framed her face; edges laid with a smooth hand. She was giving soft, hot girl chaos only a real one could pull off. She misted her crown with spray and leaned back to look at herself.

Still pressure.

Kamaiyah kept rapping encouraging her and boosting her confidence as she sashayed around the room.

“I got a nigga goin’ down like I paid him for it,

and I shine so hard that you can’t ignore it...”

Paige sang along, ass rolling lazy, body loose as she moved through the room.

Anytime she’d catch her reflection she’d stop and smile. Paige was gorgeous with cinnamon toasted brown skin, large doe eyes, and pouty lips to match.

On the bed, she had faded cutoff shorts, frayed enough to show a little ass but not too much. She stepped into them slowly, dragging denim over thighs that had grown too used to staying closed. The shorts clung to her curves, brushing the tattoos on her thighs.

Next, a tiny white halter top stretched across her chest and tied behind her neck. The open back left no room for misunderstandings. The cropped shirt left her belly bare only showing the gold belly chains that adorned her midsection.

She layered gold bangles onto her wrists, slipped on her rings, toe rings flashing against fresh white sandals, a slim gold anklet glinting low. She slicked on lip gloss in two slow, perfect passes. With a click, she slid in her bottom row of open-faced golds. She admired herself in the mirror.

“A bitch still got it.” And she wasn’t lying. She had gotten herself together for her own satisfaction. She wasn't looking for validation from anyone. But she was sure to catch somebodies eye today. She was slowly emerging, hoping the night would bring nothing but good vibes, laughter, and who knew what else.

There would be no second-guessing. No turning back. Wherever the night took her, is where she’d land. She wouldn’t complain, grumble, she’d go with the flow. The sun kissed her shoulders when she stepped outside, causing the body oil to gleam like crushed gold dust. Pedro, her neighbor, caught aglimpse and snapped his fingers so hard it echoed down the block.

“I know that ain’t who I think it is!” he hollered.

Paige laughed, one hand on her hip and the other playfully pointed at him.

“Pedro don’t play. You know how I come when I come with it.”

“I love this Adina Howard vibe! Girl, I might sneak through your window tuhhnight.”

She cocked her head. “So, you like cat now?”

They both burst out laughing, loud and carefree.

“Bring us back a treat, friend!” Pedro called after her. “Light skinned, faded, muscle-bound, and tatted. You got options tonight, make me proud!”

“I ain’t bringin’ back nothing but leftovers for me!” she hollered over her shoulder. “And he better be trickin’, too.”

“Rule #1!” Pedro shouted, blowing kisses as she slid into her car. Paige opened her sunroof, turned the music up and slipped on her shades before taking off.

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