Page 8 of Search My Soul
“What do you mean?”
“You heard me. What are you getting dressed for?” I turned to face him because I didn’t understand the issue.
“Is this not the part where you tell me to be safe and call me an Uber? Isn’t that your thing?”
“Who told you that?” His brows furrowed, making me giggle again.
“Your reputation precedes you, Mr. Taylor. The girls say you fuck ’em and then send them on their way. I was just trying to avoid the awkwardness of you having to kick me out. I’m not the type to overstay my welcome. Besides, I’m not the cuddling type.” I raised my shirt over my head, but he snatched it out of my hand.
“I don’t give a fuck about any of that shit. Lay yo’ ass back down. Talking about you don’t cuddle. You gon’ learn today.” He tossed my shirt across the room, then picked me up and carried me to the bathroom. Soul placed me down on the counter and then turned the water on in the sink. Once he filled it up to where he wanted it, he walked away to grab two towels from the linen closet. My eyes focused on his muscles as he moved around the room. I noticed him grab a bar of soap from the closet as well. Helathered the towel, then proceeded to wash me up for the second time.
For obvious reasons, he didn’t take me for the aftercare type, but I guess I needed to stop judging him. After we were both clean, we lay in bed, watching TV. His fingers ran through my hair, and the feeling slowly lulled me to sleep. Everything about this man was so different from what I originally thought, and it scared me. I would enjoy tonight, but in the morning, I would be out of here before the sun came up.
Several WeeksLater
“Why the hell are you over there looking like you lost your best friend?” Duke teased. It was collection day, and there were a few people who hadn’t paid their dues for last month. I played with a lot of things, but my money was never one of them. Niggas would try your hand to see how much they could get away with, and to be honest, I liked to see just how far a mothafucka was willing to go.
“There goes Denzel right there.” From what Huncho told me, this fool went and bought himself a Benz and had the nerve to park it in the driveway of the trap house. How the hell can he afford a new Benz when he owes us fifty racks? Shit like that pissed me off because these mothafuckas took my kindness forweakness. What they failed to realize was that I allowed them enough rope to hang themselves. That way, when it came time for punishment, I made sure it fit the offense.
“I see what you did there. We can table this conversation for later, but don’t think I’ll forget.” I waved his ass off. We were here to do business, not discuss my personal life. Besides, my people knew that I hated all that soft shit. The only person I discussed my issues with was my therapist, and that’s only because she legally couldn’t disclose my business.
I tucked my gun in the waistband of my pants before we crossed the street. I prayed this visit would go smoothly, but I was cool with whatever. I jogged up the stairs to the trap house and instantly caught an attitude. These dumb ass fools had the door cracked open with music blaring through the whole house. All it would take was one noise complaint from one of these neighbors, and the police would carry everyone off to prison. Dummies.
“These cats are tripping.” Duke scoffed. When he lifted his foot and kicked the door open with his gun drawn, I realized this wouldn’t be a smooth visit after all.
“Surprise, surprise, bitches!” Duke sang as he stepped into the front room. I shook my head as I observed the place. Beer bottles, empty fast food bags, and old pizza boxes littered the coffee table, accompanied by half-smoked blunts and what looked to be cocaine residue. I texted the clean-up crew to be on standby because things were about to get interesting.
“Where the fuck is Lik and Denzel?” Duke asked the idiots that were supposed to be working instead of fucking off. There were four half naked bitches passed out on the couches and two workers at the table counting money. They jumped out of their seats when they saw us. This whole scene pissed me off, and I realized that we needed to start doing more pop ups on these folks. Normally, on collection day, the crew would pull up andload the duffel bags into the trunks. When we worked in the trap house, we always kept our shit neat, so if anyone were to walk in, they would assume it was nothing more than a family home. I guess since they weren’t paying for shit, they didn’t have the same pride in it as we did.
“Y’all are some nasty bitches. It smells like bounce dat ass, corn chips, and tilapia in this bitch. Get the fuck out!” I demanded. The girls glanced back at Oso and Trek as if they were waiting for their approval.
“Oh, so you’re slow too? I said get the fuck out unless you would like to be carried out in a body bag. I’m cool with whatever.” I shrugged nonchalantly. I hated repeating myself, but I was trying to spare them. They must have realized how serious I was because they finally got their shit and bounced.
“H-Hey. I thought Duke was coming later on?” Malik, aka Lik, huffed as he jogged down the stairs with his pants unbuttoned. A pretty redbone followed behind him with her wig looking like it had seen better days.
“I’m not here for any small talk. Where the fuck is our money?” Duke asked. I kept my eyes on the rest of the crew while Duke dealt with the leader of this house. This was his job anyway. I only came along because I figured I would get a chance to shoot somebody today.
“Umm, let me go get Den?—”
“Don’t you fucking move. Look, I’m not about to play these childish ass games with you today. Either you tell me where my fucking bread is, or your family will be hosting a fish fry to raise money for your funeral. I let y’all get some extra time to get your money up, but you must have taken my grace as me being a fool.” Duke drew his gun, aiming it at Lik’s head.
“Now, I’m gonna ask you one more time, and I pray you have the right answers for me. Where is the fucking money?” Even though Duke had threatened his life, he did so in a calm tone.Duke wasn’t one to yell, even when he was upset. We were a lot alike in that way. I would much rather let my gun do the talking than exert all that extra energy.
“Bro, I swear we aren’t trying to get over on you or anything like that. We have most of the money in the back, but Denzel came up short on his end, so he needed a little more time to come up with his part.” Lik seemed like a solid individual, but his best friend was a different story.
“Where is his bitch ass at? Isn’t he supposed to be here with y’all?” Duke’s question caused me to turn my head, and when I did, I noticed motion coming from outside. Immediately, I sprang into action. With my gun drawn, I raced out of the front door to catch up with a fleeing Denzel. He almost made it to his car, but he was no match for me. I dominated on the track and field team as a youngster and could smoke these young cats on any given day.
My fist crashed against the side of Denzel’s face as he fell to the ground. I pistol whipped his ass as he screamed for mercy. This fat mothafucka thought he could bite the hands that fed him, and unfortunately for him, he would be taught a valuable lesson today.
“Ahh! Wait! Give me a chance to explain!” His silly ass pleaded as blood leaked from his nose.
“There isn’t a damn thing you can explain to me. You’ve got to be the dumbest thief I’ve ever met. How the hell do you steal from someone and then post pics of the car you purchased with money that doesn’t belong to you?” The thought alone irritated me as I reared back and then kicked him in the stomach.
“I-I’m sorry!” Blood spurted from his mouth, splattering all over my new J’s. That shit pissed me off more than anything because this was the second pair of sneakers that had been ruined by somebody else.
“Don’t be sorry, ho. Be careful. Where the fuck is the money? I don’t even want to hear any excuses or pleas. I need that cash in my hand before I have to tell the clean-up crew to make this their next stop.”
“I-I don’t have it all, but I’m gonna get it. All I need is a little more time.”
