Page 38 of Cove City: Vol. I

I stopped him before he went inside the house. “Your cousin gives me bad vibes.”

“Fuck is you saying?”

“Exactly what I said. I don’t want to be around if he is.” With that, I hurried inside and up the steps.

I didn’t know what their relationship was like, but his cousin had a bad aura, and I wanted no part of it. My life was already all over the place, and if I had to remove myself from Pierre’s life because of his cousin, so be it no matter how good the dick was.

“Ok, this is the last of it,” I whispered to Zaria as she helped a customer.

I stepped right outside and took in the ambiance. The block was filled with people. I couldn’t believe they were able to pull this off. The entire Cove community showed up. The block was adorned with orange, brown, and black decorations, featuring a huge "Zoo Day" sign at the street entrance. Different vendors and food trucks occupied the block. They had a DJ spinning the oldies. A wide smile appeared because it had been years since I’d seen something so beautiful. Chevy made each Zoo member contribute to the block party. Mali and Peanut worked at the popcorn stand. Monfua taught the kids how to Haka, Streets managed the Dunk or Sink booth, and I helped at Zaria’s place. Preach had his own stand, handing out flyers to his church.

Diamond and Yana worked the cotton candy machine, while Foe and Harvey did face painting. Zeus and Chevy movedaround, making sure everything was in order. Chevy's ability to bring the community out and make this about the youth blew my mind. Once the customer left, I turned to Zaria, “Girl, yo man did that.”

She smiled brightly. “He was determined to bring people together.”

I nodded slowly. “Yeah, I haven’t seen this in years. Did you guys invite—”

“We invited everybody. Indigo should be arriving soon. She said she wanted to give flyers for her gallery, she’s going to have classes.”

“It’s nice to see you two getting along.”

I could see a concerned stare on her face and a deep sigh. “Yeah, but June. I know he’s playing it off, but he really doesn’t like Bishop. Hopefully, this event will bring them together.”

She didn’t know the Cove men like I did, and I highly doubted they would even show up. Seven to Da Cove were the faces of the city, and I wasn’t sure how having new people come in would work. Thinking about it made me nervous. I knew at any minute they would come storming down the street, causing chaos.

I moved away from the door when I heard bells go off signaling someone was coming in. “Welcome to Zaria’s Place,” Zaria greeted the person.

My eyes traveled toward the door, and they widened. “This is a beautiful place you have.”

His lips slowly stretched into a smile that made my skin crawl. He was clean as always. From his clean, crisp pants to his expensive jewelry. “Sasha.” He nodded.

“Avery,” I snarled.

“Don’t be like that, I came to enjoy the fun like everyone else.”

Zaria moved around the counter, coming closer to me. “How can I help you?”

Naheem’s head turned slightly, “You are the Mercier boy—”

“I’m Mrs. Calloway, and if you’re not here to buy anything, your best option would be to leave.”

Naheem stepped closer. He fiddled with one of the plants. “Plants, dealerships, churches, clubs, you guys think you can come—”

“We don’t think nigga we know. If you’re not coming to grab you one of these peace plants get the fuck out,” Chevy gritted coming from the back.

Naheem smiled. “Clark Mercier.”

“No nigga June Calloway.”

He pointed at Chevy. “My son’s enemy, Bishop will be seeing you soon.”

“I don’t give a fuck about you or your son. Tell the nigga to come holla at me.” Chevy winked.

I knew Naheeem was only trying to get Chevy riled up so he could start some shit. Chevy didn’t know the history behind what Naheem was on, and I knew very little, but I was about to tell what I did see. Naheem had finally left. I quickly turned toward Chevy and Zaria.

“Naheem is not a good person. He has a history in this place. Bishop’s mother and Grace—”

“What about my mother?” I heard a voice behind me.

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