Page 247 of Not My Type
I bite my lip. “Watch him,” I roll my eyes playfully as he walks over to us, and his sister smiles, giving me a knowing nod.
“You look fresh bro,” she smiles.
“Unuh a gwan so?” He grins, sliding into the chair at the island with that effortless swag. Black jeans hug him just right, paired with black desert Clarks, and a printed shirt that only accentuates the build beneath it. It’s a simple look, but damn, the way he moves? Got me melting. His presence alone makes the room shift. You ever see someone so fine it’s like the air gets thicker? Yeah, that’s him. Every inch of him screams confidence, nahhh lie the bwoy look goodddd! With a ‘t’ at the end.
After a while of staring I look away. “Nickoi you want pancakes?”
“No, mi have salad already,” he says.
“Okay Mr. Healthy,” I say sarcastically.
When we get in the car, Nickoi looks at me as I put on my seatbelt. “A Flanka we deh enuh? Yuh see say it nuh that bad?” he asks, and I nod. Yea yea.
“Bro it doesn’t change the fact that it’s one of the most dangerous places in Jamaica... the Government lowkey warn tourist about here,” Janel chimes in.
“Yah but the place cool yah now right?” he drives off.
Nickoi’s house isn’t the only mansion here, but there are a few smaller houses that looks the way I imagined Flanka. When we get to the cemetery, we can hardly drive through because of the line of cars. There are vehicles on both sides of the road, blocking the middle, causing a major traffic jam.
Nickoi leans on the steering wheel, his jaw tight with impatience. Mi feel the same way! His phone starts ringing, and he connects it to the car. “Don yuh get through the traffic?” Gutta asks on the other end.
I’m convinced he’s the bodyguard enuh. Nickoi’s eyes ahead. “No enuh... like we affi go wait a likkle.”
Gutta hisses. “And the thing start... a wah do dem idiot people yah?”
“Everybody a try push through one time like idiot yes,” Nickoi breathes out.
“Ah, mi a go see wah mi can do,” he hangs up.
“We are gonna miss the ceremony,” Janel joins in. Her cheeks flushed.
I smile, noticing the cars start moving faster. Gutta, snd another guy who has a scar across his face, standing on the edge of the road, directing the traffic. “Wah see the man a bad up everybody,” Scar tells Nickoi and he chuckles.
Gutta is now at Nickoi’s window. “Dem need me,” he says, and we both laugh.
“Gutta the hero,” Janel says from the back. Gutta pokes his head in, at eye level.
“Wah’m Janel?” he bumps his fist with her. She just smiles. Gutta’s gaze lands on me. “Kno’ mi never a look. Good morning Zara,” his tone apologetic.
“That’s okay,” I laugh.
“Arite, park your car, G,” he says, moving away from the car. Nickoi drives off, parks, and we all get out.
Janel walks over to her mother, and as I walk, Nickoi holds my hand. The way how everybody a look pan you and everybody basically wearing the same thing... I guess it’s because of Nickoi.
Yuh look good too wah yuh mean? My subconscious ask.
Nickoi strides over to his Outlawz, his steps steady, eyes cold. I catch their gazes, a quick nod, nothing more. They return it, some smirks, here and there, others unreadable. Silence hangs heavy. The pastor’s voice fades. Nickoi and his crew sits on a high wall, ski masks pulled low, their presence sharp. I stand between his legs, hand in his, feeling the weight of every eye.
“Zara,” it’s Juaqína, I just smile, looking back at the pastor. She slaps Nickoi’s leg and I move her hand.
“Mi nuh wah you beat him up,” my voice flat.
“Yo?” Nickoi’s gaze drops to us.
“Mi just a call to him Miss Zara,” Juaqína laughs and I hiss, turning around. If she never sure if mi nuh like her she sure now. She sure sure! Shen Yeng’s voice I hide my smile.
“Mi a go stand over there,” she says to Nickoi, her voice steady, before walking off. Nickoi mutters an ‘Ah’, barely looking up. I roll my eyes at him, watching her fade into the crowd.
