Page 20 of Through Treacherous Weather
“Life was way easier when I was an ain’t shit nigga,” he chuckled angrily before taking a long pull from the blunt.
“A lot has changed since then. You think Lauren and your kids deserve for you to go back to being that person?”
With a sigh, Justice leaned forward and grabbed his glass. After taking a large gulp of the beverage he placed the glass back on the table and finished off the blunt. “I’m going to get my shit together,” he mumbled.
“You and Lauren good?”
Justice snorted. “We cool.”
“Yeah, okay. Don’t let grief make you forget who truly has your back.” Trinity stood and decided she would leave him alone to process her words. If he even remembered them because he was so drunk and high that his eyes didn’t even look like they were open.
Trinity tried to talk some sense into hm, and she had been praying for him every night. That was all she could do, but no one could make Justice get it together. He had to want to do that on his own.
Esco looked up from his phone as Fatima placed a bottle of Azul and two shot glasses on the coffee table. “Let’s play never have I ever,” she stated with a grin.
She had cooked a delicious meal, and Esco was stuffed. A few shots would top his night off just right. The next morning, he was going to switch with his co-worker and have twenty-four hours off. He could have let someone else guard Fatima, so he could have more days off, but Wise wanted him with her. Esco had no problem running up a bag because by the time the job with Fatima ended. He’d be able to afford to take as much time off as he wanted.
“I’m on the clock, shorty,” he reminded her, and she waved the comment off.
“Esco, it’s almost midnight. What are a few shots going to hurt?”
He ran one hand over his waves. It sounded tempting, but the worst thing he could do was get caught slipping on the job. Assuming and assuming wrong could be a matter of life and death, but he really didn’t think anyone was actively trying to kill Fatima. There wasn’t a man walking the earth that Esco feared, but if he got drunk and let something happen to Fatima, he’d have to kill Wise or be killed.
“Esco,” Fatima shook her head. “We can keep it at no more than four shots. Surely, you won’t get too inebriated to function off four shots.”
With a shake of his head, he leaned forward. “I’m not a light weight. I can do four shots.”
“Bet,” she cheesed.
After pouring two shots, Fatima sat back with a smirk. “Never have I ever had a threesome.”
When she didn’t move, he groaned and grabbed one of the shot glasses making her giggle. “You not about to be cheating now,” he warned.
“I am not cheating. Your turn.”
“Um,” Esco scratched the back of his neck after taking the shot. He didn’t know what to ask but figured it out after a few seconds of pondering. “Never have I ever stolen anything.”
His brows hiked as she leaned forward and grabbed the remaining shot. With eyes cut into slits, she ogled him. “You’ve never stolen anything?”
“Damn you gon’ stereotype me like that? I’ve never stolen a thing. When I was five, my cousin stole something. I don’t even remember what it was, but my mother beat the brakes off him and when his mother got off work, she got him again. They put the fear of God in me. I’ve never stolen a thing.”
Fatima took the shot like a pro and poured two more drinks. “Okay,” she sang about to take her turn.
“Nah. We not skating past that. What did your rich ass steal?”
Fatima shook her head at the memory. “Some shades.” With a kiss of her teeth, she chuckled. “They were only about $80. I had enough money in my pocket to buy ten pairs of shades. My dumb ass was thirteen, and my cousins dared me. I was trying to prove that I was cool knowing if I had gotten caught, my father would have turned me every way but loose.”
Esco simpered as she thought of what to say next. “Never have I ever cheated.”
Neither one of them made a move and once again, Fatima’s eyes narrowed. “So, you’ve never cheated.”
“I sure haven’t,” he stated proudly. “You were thinking I was the average walking stereotype, and you were going to have me drunk in the first five minutes. Try again,” he jested.
Fatima stuck her tongue out at him. “Your turn.”
Esco stroked his chin. “Never have I ever fucked friends.”
Fatima smiled, but she didn’t move. He grabbed a shot and tossed it back while her jaw slacked. “You have to tell me the details.”
