Page 1 of Same Girl
The Smoke Hour
“This is gon’be dope, man. I like the mockup you’ve done.”
“It’ll only take us eight weeks from start to finish to complete the project, barring any unforeseen issues, like plumbing, electrical, or foundation issues.”
I rubbed my hand roughly across my beard. “There used to be a pawn shop in there. He retired and sold the business, but they moved to a new location. He claimed they didn’t have any issues.”
“Yeah, a lot of times things look good on the surface, but you don’t know what you’re dealing with or getting yourself into until you’ve dug into the walls, floors, and ceilings.”
“The initial inspection looked good.”
“Which is what I’m banking on, Chosen. But we’ll see what’s good,” my close friend, Fyve, explained.
He was relocating to Cherokee Springs. He had moved to Atlanta a few years back, but in the last year, he’d been returning to Cherokee Springs every other week for some business projects. I was hyped that he was moving back for good because I missed my dawg.
“I’ve been looking at a few properties that I might want to claim and rehab for myself. Right now, I’m still up in the air about which one I want, so I’m staying in a long-term Airbnb.”
“You know you could’ve crashed at my place.”
“I know how the honeys be flowing through. I ain’t even trying to get in the way of your shit, dawg.”
“Nah, that’s you. I ain’t never had ’em in and out like a revolving door,” I proclaimed as a third figure walked through the door.
“Smoke.” I greeted another old friend of mine as I stood and dapped him up.
“What’s up, G? I flowed by because I heard trouble rolled through my doors,” Smoke teased, grinning at Fyve as he stood from his chair and dapped him up.
I was meeting with Fyve at The Smoke Hour, the gentlemen’s and cigar lounge that Smoke owned.
“What’s up, dawg? You got a real nice place here,” Fyve stated, taking his seat again as I reclaimed mine, and Smoke pulled up another chair.
“Thanks, man. I’m trying,” Smoke responded and waved a server over.
She took our orders and promised to be right back with fresh drinks and cigars after putting in our food order.
“I heard a rumor, Smoke,” Fyve stated.
“It’s probably true,” Smoke replied, chuckling.
“Heard you settled down and got married. I said, not Smoke. Never Smoke. He’s the OG.”
Smoke laughed. “Yeah, I did, dawg.”
“If yo’ ass got married, then we’re all in trouble,” Fyve replied, chuckling.
“Trouble in this instance is a very good thing.”
“Thought you said you weren’t ever marrying again,” Fyve countered.
“I lied. If I had met Fiya the first time around, I never would’ve been sour on marriage. That woman is everything I need and more. She calms me, inspires me, and lifts me. If you ain’t ever had a good woman, you should try it,” Smoke announced as he clipped his cigar.
“I’ve got a good woman, and she’s got me ready to chill all the way out,” I admitted.
“Nigga, you’ve always been chill.” Smoke waved off my statement.
“Nah, Smoke. Y’all always underestimated Chosen. He was just as wild as me.”
“Yeah, but the difference between us, Fyve, was I kept my shit on the low. I ain’t never needed no one in my business,” I explained.
