Page 30 of Dope Boys: Most Wanted
Reign cut him a look before fixing her face as if Markus would say something about it.
“You get on my damn nerves. Get off of them, please,” Nia huffed. “Reign, he’s more bark than he is bite. At least in here. If you nick his ass, I won’t say shit about it.”
With that, Nia turned on the balls of her feet and went back to handling her clients. Reign schooled her features and went over to the booth, inspected the clippers and look down at the skully atop his head.
“Cap,” Reign spoke.
Markus looked at her through the mirror. Bruises lighter today, the small cut above her top lip slightly smaller too. Niggas who put their hands on women deserved to be pushing up daisies. It was evident that light had been stolen from her. Maybe it was his own brokenness that was drawn to her. That alone was dangerous. He didn’t need a trauma bond. He’d had several. More than enough to last him and leave him with nothing meaningful behind.
“Nia gets full sentences and I get one word, again?” he posed, poking at her just to see if he could chip away at her walls. If not for nothing else, something to do.
Reign shot him an undercut of her eyes. “Cap.”
Markus chuckled and pulled it off. Upon seeing the ringlets of neglected hair he could hear her buzz. “I wash it with body wash. All in one shit.”
Reign squinted and started her work on his hair. Her touch, though minimal, felt like he needed it. Comforting. Thirty minutes later, a haircut and trim of his beard and mustache, Reign dusted the cape off and stepped away. Markus stood, not bothering to look at himself but at her. She didn’t look up at him, but around.
He peeled a few crisp hundred dollar bills off the knot of cash and handed to her. Reign refused to take it, leaving him to nod and place it on her workstation. One final glance of her and a lopsided smirk, he proceeded toward the back of the salon, thesame way he entered in. In his car, he pulled down the mirror and smirked at his reflection, then cursed.
“Gotdamn, we don’t have time for this shit.”
“Reign,thank you for helping me out today. I really wouldn’t have made it through the day without you,” Nia blew, dropping into an empty seat.
“It’s nothing. I love doing hair. I hate that I can’t anymore but,” Reign shrugged as she swept the floor.
“You mind if I ask why?” Nia posed, looking at her. “You’re really good at it. I’ve watched you with the clients today and youhave a gift. Even one to shut Markus the hell up and no one can seem to do that.”
Reign waved the thought of Markus away. It was more annoying that it was warming. She pushed her dry hair out of her face. “I’ve learned quickly that men give and men take away.”
She stopped sweeping to dig into her pocket to hand Nia the money she was handed throughout the day. “Here you go, that’s everything.”
Nia gently pushed her hand back. “Keep it.”
“No, you’ve already have done too much for me. I appreciate the clothes and everything but it’s too much. I don’t want to be someone’s charity case,” Reign replied.
Nia offered her a soft expression and then some of her own truth. “Our mother was beat to death by our father. I was small when it happened. But I still remember the bruises on her face and body. And that smile. That barely there smile. The one you had all day. This isn’t charity Reign. It’s what no one did for my mother. It’s protection. It’s sisterhood.”
Reign dropped her eyes to the floor, hoping the tears would vanish. “I’ve never had that. My mother…” Reign stopped to bitterly laugh. “Put me out on my sixteenth birthday. Said I needed to figure out what it was to be on my own and make my own money. I had some friends who let me crash on their floors or couches. But you know that only goes on for so long until they’re tired of you. I could always do hair, so I started doing it for the strippers. Slept in my car until I had enough to get my own place. In hindsight, that was better than the last few years of my life.”
Reign hadn’t realized Nia moved from her seat to being in her space. She took the broom from her, swept up the rest of the hair. When she was done, she motioned Reign to the seat.
“We all got stories. Things that broke us. Things that are actively breaking us. I know I’m hard all the time and I’m loudbut I see you. You’re a mirror. I also know that those years are behind you and you have all the control now. First, we’re going to start with all this pretty hair you have. And if you’re up to it, a girls’ dinner at my house tonight?”
Reign gave her that barely there smile.
“Have you even had a hot meal?”
“No. Eating really hasn’t been at the top of my list,” Reign admitted.
Nia buzzed, pulling Reign’s long tresses out of the low bun. “We’re going to fix that. You need a trim and deep condition.”
Reign lifted her eyes. “Thank you. Really.”
“Don’t mention it. Whether you know it or not, you’re lowkey family now.”
Reign chuckled and rolled her eyes. “Let’s just start like friends or something.”
Nia laughed. “I got you.”
