Page 21 of Touch of Smoke
“If you invest, she’s also looking for a reputable supplier to some of the medicinal cannabis she’s going to offer. The provider she’s speaking to about coming to work there has a list of what items she’d prefer to administer and in what forms. You know they shy away from straight smoking, due to the other ailments possibly deriving from that,” Ro said.
“Right. You know my guy is good. I think there’s about six or seven strains that are top tier for a range of medical conditions. Probably the ones on her provider’s list. But I’m sure my supplier can get a hold of them for her,” MJ said. “But I like how this sounds so far. You know I need to see some things on paper, so send me that when you get a chance. But on the strength of her being the lady that’s caught your eye, I’m inclined to just write her a check.”
Ro grinned, his chest full of appreciation toward MJ and excitement for the moment he would be able to share this news with Sariya.
“I appreciate that, man. I owe you bigtime for this,” Ro told him.
“Man, kill all that, you know better. Whenever you need something and I’ve got it or can get it, it’s yours. You wanna make your lady happy, get her business started on a good foot, I’m down with it. Just send me some info in writing and I’ll let my lawyers look it over. But I’m definitely on board.”
Ro didn’t thank him again. MJ would get pissed if he kept repeating himself, so instead he shifted the conversation to checking in on MJ’s kids, his parents who still lived in Jacksonand stuff like that. It was a good conversation and when it ended, Ro felt a lot better about the plans for Sariya’s business.
sariya
It had been almost two weeks since she’d seen her mother. Since the day of the Pop Up Shop where her and Uncle Larry had been more than a little rude to Ro. And in that time things between her and Ro had been a little strained. Not that she’d stopped seeing him. Ro definitely wasn’t going to allow that and she hadn’t wanted to stop seeing him. But there was tension between them that she knew stemmed from this unresolved situation.
In the past weeks she’d had to be really honest with herself about why she’d pushed Ro away before, why she’d denied herself the happiness she was feeling with him now. As she pulled into the parking spot in front of her mother’s house, she’d smiled at the knowledge that her brakes were no longer squeaking. That was because Ro had taken her car to work with him on Monday and left her the keys to his truck if she needed to go somewhere. He’d had the brakes fixed and the annual servicing that she’d been putting off until it was absolutely necessary for her to spend the money on them, completed.
And she’d purchased a wall mirror for that space in his foyer just before you entered the living room. In his ensuite bathroom she’d added clear plastic drawer organizers mostly because she hated to pull open a drawer and have all her stuff floating around in it. So, she’d put them in all the drawers and added her personal items to the ones on the side of the vanity that he’d said belonged to her. She’d also bought new sheets because the oneshe had weren’t as high a thread count as she preferred and since she’d been sleeping there at least four out of the seven nights a week she’d wanted to be comfortable.
It had seemed odd how quickly they’d fallen into this relationship mode where he called her midday to see what their dinner plans were and she showed up at his office, not only for business purposes but just to surprise him with lunch. It seemed fast, yet, natural at the same time. Like this was where they were always meant to be.
But as she got out of her car and walked up the front steps to her mother’s row house, she knew there would be push back on that declaration. Just as her mother had seemed to push back on everything where the Simmons family was concerned.
“Hey, Mama,” she said when she used her key to enter the house.
She’d done like Kim had instructed and had called to let her know she was coming by today. So, she really shouldn’t have had to walk all through the house to find her mother in the basement, ironing clothes.
“Hey,” Kim said when Sariya came down the stairs. “You just getting here? I thought you were coming by earlier.”
What was earlier? Sariya had literally called her mother half an hour ago because she’d already been close to her house after meeting the real estate agent at the building, she had just settled on for the wellness center.
“Yeah,” she said in reply because she really didn’t want to argue. At least she didn’t want their argument to be about how long it did or did not take her to get here.
Sariya walked across the room and took a seat on the couch. Her mother’s back was facing her as she stood at the ironing board. For the next few moments Kim went on about her business as if her only child wasn’t even in the room. They’d been through this before, this was just how her mother was andto an extent Sariya had accepted that. None of which meant it didn’t work her nerves.
“I’m going to open a wellness center,” she said and when her mother didn’t immediately respond, she continued. “I found a place down at the corner of Irvington. It used to be a part of the school’s property, so there’s a building with a lot of extra space around it. I’m going to do some minor renovations to the building first, just enough to get us up and running and then I’ll work on plans of expansion.”
Kim finished with the one shirt she’d been ironing. She put it neatly onto a hanger and then hung that on the doorknob. She bent down and pulled another shirt out of the basket and put that one on the ironing board.
“The center will focus on providing for those patients that were displaced when the clinic I was working at was shut down. We’ll provide medicinal cannabis treatments and therapy, stuff like that.” At this point she was certain Kim didn’t give a damn about the details. She probably didn’t actually care about anything Sariya had said since she hadn’t bothered to respond. But the one thing she wasn’t going to allow her mother to do was tell her she hadn’t shared her employment plans with her.
“I’m trying to have it open next month and I know that’s ambitious but it’s also on a day that holds some sentiment, Four20.” She didn’t know if her mother knew what that meant or not, so she just kept talking. “I have to hire people, which means managing medical staff which is part of what I went to school for. But I also think I’ll need an assistant. I might ask Donyell to help me out in that area just until things get off the ground and I can hire someone to permanently fill the position.”
“You just love that family, don’t you?” Kim asked, ire dripping from every word.
The tone and the question shocked her so much, Sariya didn’t have an immediate response. But that was fine since apparently, now Kim had lots more to say.
Her mother set the iron down and turned to face Sariya. She planted one hand on her hip and pursed her lips before speaking. “Ever since we moved into this house you’ve preferred being down there with those people. Trying to act like you’re part of their family. Now, you’re even sleeping with that boy who you know tried to kill your uncle.”
Sariya flinched at that last comment and was shaking her head before she could find the words to speak. “Killed? What in the world are you talking about? Ro never touched Uncle Larry.”
“That’s what you think, but he was in that car with Larry and then he somehow got off on all the charges but Larry had to go to jail. I know his parents set it up that way. They’ve always thought they were better than us,” Kim spat. “Always judging me just because you ain’t have no daddy.”
“Nobody cared about the fact that I didn’t have a daddy but you,” Sariya said. Which was only half true, for a long time she had cared that she didn’t have a father in the house with her, but after a while she realized that she couldn’t miss what she’d never had. Until they’d moved here and she’d met Mr. Ralph. Then, she could envy Donyell for the father she had been blessed with. But Donyell had been more than willing to share Mr. Ralph with Sariya and Mr. Ralph had been happy to fill in wherever he was needed in Sariya’s life. None of that had ever made Kim happy.
“Don’t you get smart with me,” Kim shot back. “I bet you don’t talk to the Simmons’ like that.”
“The Simmons’ don’t talk to me like you do.” Extremely tired now, Sariya stood. “Look, I only stopped by to tell you my plans so you won’t worry about me having a job anymore.”
