Page 47 of His Noble Heart
“Whatever you get is fine.”
He went back to the yard while I got us some drinks. When I got back to the table, he was being grilled by my people.
“Did Lani say you weren’t from around here?” Shyne asked.
“I’m from Savannah.”
“You got people here?”
“Just my uncle.”
“How long you been here? You look familiar as hell,” Shyne continued.
“I thought the same thing,” Breeze added.
“I’ve been here a few months and that’s not the first time I’ve heard that. Maybe you’ve seen me around.”
Breeze shook his head while Shyne responded. “Nah, I don’t think so, but you know they say everyone has a twin out there somewhere. Maybe yours is in Onyx City.”
“Anything is possible, I guess.”
“Can y’all let my man eat in peace, please?” I asked.
“Hell nah. I’m interrogating him just like you and your sisters did Raine.”
“We didn’t interrogate you, did we, Raine?”
She pretended to be giving my question a lot of thought before saying, “It was low-key an interrogation, but I didn’t mind it.”
“It’s cool, baby, because I’m gon’ give every lil nigga who steps to Mina hell,” Rowdy said.
I shrugged and let them do their thing. Rowdy handled everyone, especially the men in my family, well. When my father joined in, I got nervous, but Rowdy held his own. Even though I wasn’t ready to introduce him to my family, I thought he’d fit right into our crew if our relationship continued to move in the right direction.
“I’ve neverin my life saw myself doing anything like this,” I said.
It was the Saturday after Noelani invited me and my family over for Sunday dinner. After I dropped my mother and Ramina off at home that night, I went back to Noelani’s place and had her for dessert. The more time I spent with her, the more time I wanted to spend with her.
The time we spent apart, all I could think about was when I’d see her again, and all the things I wanted to do to her the next time that time came. This past week, she had some after-school events she’d signed up for, so we spent more time apart than I preferred.
Instead of sitting around missing her, I made the most of it and checked a few things off my to-do list. Today was thefirst time we’d seen each other since I’d left her house Monday morning.
“Stop complaining. It’ll be fun.”
“You’re probably right. I’d rather do this than the one where we have to do an actual painting.”
Noelani planned our date, and we were at a place calledKustomize Your Kicks. It was a combination shoe store and art studio where you could purchase and paint a pair of sneakers. While I thought it was a cool idea, I wasn’t the most artistic or creative person, so I was concerned with what my finished product would look like.
“Will you stop rubbing my ass in front of these people?” she whispered.
I looked around, and not a soul was paying us any attention.
“Baby, nobody’s looking at us. I can’t help it if this muthafucka is like a magnet. You been doing squats, or is it that good?—”
“Rowdy, we’re in public.”
“All right, I’ll chill.”
The person helping us tried to stifle her giggles as she told us how the process worked. After we chose and purchased our shoes, we put on a painting smock, chose the paint colors we wanted to use, and sat at a table in the back corner of the room. Someone came over and gave us directions, and left us to customize our shoes, promising to check on us periodically.
