Page 3 of Falling Into Gravity

He pulled her attention to his hand that held out.

Aku handed him the phone, and he scanned the code, then passed her a small package wrapped like it came from Amazon Prime.

“Tell Zaire to rate five stars.”

Aku grinned, shaking her head. “And what if I wanna rate you?”

Playfully, he raised his brows. “Then say that.” He held his hand out again without giving her much direction.

Aku just stared at him. “Umm…” Her eyes bounced.

“Pass me your phone.”

“For what?”

Malik cocked his head to the side. “So I can download the app on your shit… you wanna rate me, right?”

Aku wanted to do more than rate him, but she wasn’t going to say that. Instead, she handed him her phone, watching his every move. Maybe she was ready to be back on the prowl if the men looked like the one in front of her.

Malik looked so laid back as he loaded the app on her phone, while leaning back slightly on the handlebars of the four wheelers. His phone beeped just as he handed her phone back. “I’ll approve you when I get a chance. I’m Malik, by the way.”

“Okay,” Aku tucked her phone back into her pocket. “Why they call you Key?”

“Don’t worry ‘bout what they call me…you call me Malik.”

Lifting his body up, he got back on his 4-wheeler and revved his ride. As if a thought popped into his head, he asked, “Cuh your nigga?”

Aku giggled, loving the way his words seemed to be spoken in a different dialect—swirly u’s and echoes of the last letter in every word he said. “No, why?”

His slim shoulders hiked. “I was just asking.” Slowly he reversed before facing the direction he came from.

She laughed. “Nice to meet you, Malik.”

“I ain’t say all that,” he smirked. “But don’t be too friendly out here with these niggas in Crescent.”

“I’m grown.” She sassed.

Malik gave her one last look before taking off down the street. “Be easy, baby.”

She could hear the kids running up to him asking for money that he must’ve been handing out ’cause their little laughs got happier.

Aku switched down the sidewalk with a satisfied smile on her face.

“Girl, who was that?” Niah asked since she’d been watching the whole exchange.

“Malik.” Aku shrugged her shoulders lackadaisical like she’d known him her whole life. The way she said his name, one would assume she did.

Niah squinted. “You know him?”

“Girl, no…”

Squinting deeper, Niah assessed her boss harder. “You like him?”

Aku huffed, still walking on air to Zaire’s trailer. “I don’t know him…why can’t a bad bitch talk to people without you assuming it’s more than that?”

“Ummm probably because you came back like you took a smoke break with glossy eyes and a carefree spirit. My bad...” Niah knew they weren’t friends. Aku made that clear when she hired her, but over the last year or so, they’d started to blur the lines on what a professional relationship should look like. However, there were always small moments like this one that reminded Niah to mind her business and keep it cute.

Aku was sweaty and tired.

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