Page 246 of Not My Type
I try to move my legs, but they’ve been in the same position for too long, and now my feet are aching. Nickoi walks away with Aden, and I groan, rubbing my legs to ease the pain. Like you old already mon.
“You alright?” Janel asks. She looks even prettier in person. I nod.
“Yes mi legs just hurting,” I tell her and she helps me up.
“Thanks,” I smile as she scrolls through my IG. “Yo, you deserve way more followers. You’ve got that influencer vibe.” She laughs, and somehow, the conversation shifts. How we got here, I don’t even know, but now she’s telling me about her fight with her uncle’s wife. As she vents, she rubs my legs. “Do you feel better now?” She asks and I nod.
“Yes a lot... thank you,” I smile.
“Where you guys going... hotel with Junior and Gutta?” I feel like she likes Gutta.
“Nope at bae’s home,” I say, brushing off her little crush. She doesn’t seem to like Anna. I can see why. Gutta is handsome as hell too, stout, around bae’s height with really long plaits.
“Okay... mi a come too,” she says excitedly. “Mi already tell mommy.”
“Arite,” I say.
Nickoi comes in after a while. “Ready enuh,” we both spring up.
“Mommy gone already?” Janel asks Nickoi. “And your friends?” If I cackle, I dead in yah.
“No,” he says before walking out. We follow him. Before I get in the car, I stop for a moment to talk to Gina’s mom and Rick. I wind the windows up because it’s so cold outside—and it’s not even December yet. That mi a seh too.
Nickoi gets in, placing a bag on the armrest. “A the printed shirt dem yer,” he tells me.
“Janel you a drive with us or mommy?” Nickoi’s eyes on her.
“I want to come with Zara,” she says, and I smile. She gets in, and Nickoi honks the horn before reversing the Jaguar out of the yard.
“Yuh nuh rate yuh bredda?” he says after a while, and I laugh as he goes on. “A Zara yuh a come for?”
“Yuh still on that babe,” I tease.
“Yah,” he says, driving, and I rest my head on the window with a smile.
When I wake up, I hear Nickoi on the phone talking to Rick. “Bredda, today yuh fi stay strong enuh… just stay strong fi Aden man, cause even though him young him understand wah gwan yuh zimi?”I smile to myself.
“Yea, mi a go try man,” he says. “Dem all wah mi go talk, a dat a guh hard enuh,” he tells Nickoi.
“Just nuh pree people bruh… just dweet and get that over with,” he advises.
“Bredda mi nuh wah go look weak enuh,” Rick admits with a sigh.
“Yah cause when dem see man cry a that them seh but just wul it and if yuh really need to let it out, do that... doh do like me cause when yuh bottle it in it overwhelm yuh. Member a one family wi seh enuh suh the wul a the dawgs dem deh wul it out fi yuh,” Nickoi says.
Nickoi is so sweet. I raise out of the bed and quickly do my morning routine. When I walk into the bedroom, Nickoi throws a pair of pants on the bed. “Hope yuh ass can fit inna that,” he says with a grin making me laugh.
The door knocks. “Janel?” Nickoi says, his tone low and irritated, his eyes narrowing as he glances at the door.
I hit him. “Meanie.”
“Can you help with my hair Zara?” Janel asks sweetly. How can I even tell her no?
“When I get dressed I will,” I promise.
“Ugh. Thank Goddd. Okay,” she says, walking away. I get dressed in black jeans and a printed top with Gina on it. Aden was right—she really was beautiful. I put on my black and white LV sneakers, straighten my hair, and start doing my makeup. After that, I have breakfast with Janel, helping her with her hair while we eat pancakes and grapes. I’m already done, only a few grapes left on my plate. Ms. Craven.
Nickoi comes out of the room, and my mouth widens in surprise. I stare at him, the grape halfway in my mouth. Jeez, there’s something about Nickoi in all black that just does something to me. Wrong time miss a funeral mawning! My subconscious scolds.
