by Xyla Turner
“I’ll take you home. I’m not getting tossed tonight, just haven’t been out with the guys lately, so I was swinging by. But, you have fun, drink away, I can carry you.” He smirked.
“Oh, no. That’s not necessary,” I immediately put in. “Not going to put you out your way any more than I already have. If worse comes to worse, I can get Uno to take me home.”
Shiz leaned forward and repeated what he said, “I wasn’t asking, babe. Drink and I’m taking you home.”
Uh, now this Shiz I was not used to. He had been silly, upset, irate, and angry but never serious. He didn’t even seem like the type of guy to get serious. Yet, there he was with that intense look and telling me what he was going to do.
Hmm, he didn’t know me very well, but okay. For shits and giggles, I’d play along.
“You wanted to talk about what exactly?” I slightly changed the subject.
“I got a place that’s not rented yet. You mentioned something about your rent. My place is real cheap and it damn sure don’t have any mice. That’s just fucked up,” he said with a shake of his head.
“What’s real cheap?” I asked with no real intentions of having him be my landlord.
“Four hundred,” he said with a shrug.
My gasp was louder than I expected. What kind of place was that low in rent?
“How is it possible the rent is that low?” I blurted out. “What’s wrong with it. That’s the rental of a room or a trailer or something.”
His classic smirk was in place. God, he was so cocky it made me sick. Well, not really. It made me other things, but I was ignoring those parts.
“I own the building outright, so I’m not paying the mortgage or shit like that. Okay, I do all repairs and serve as the landlord, therefore, I have no overhead, other folks to pay, and everything is in the Guardian network. We don’t price gouge and we keep shit simple.” He shrugged again. “You interested?”
“Uh, yeah,” I answered sarcastically. “I’d want to see it first, but yes.”
“Good,” he nodded. “How about I swing by tomorrow and take you by the place?”
“Sure, um. Wait, no. Uno and I have a thing to do tomorrow,” I shared. “What about Sunday?”
A darkness ran over his face, then he said with less grace, “What do y’all have to do?”
I blinked at him and then shared, “Well, if you need to know, he’s taking me to see my brother. Then we’ll probably get some food and I have some things to show him. Why?”
“What’s the deal with you and him?” Shiz asked and no interpreter was needed to decipher what he meant.
“You should ask Uno,” I answered.
“I’m asking you,” he retorted.
I stood up from my chair and said, “Maybe this isn’t such a good idea.”
Then I turned my back and when my name was called, I realized serious Shiz was back.
“Avery.”
“Yes,” I kept my back towards him but did not move any further.
“Don’t cut off your nose to spite your face. Think about this before walking away from this opportunity,” he said, like he was my camp counselor.
Granted, I could be quite impulsive but his tone. That command. His way. I wasn’t ready for that from him. We weren’t there, and he was taking liberties that he had no rights too.
“I have thought about it and I don’t want to be in debt to an egotistical jerk or have to live in a place with an asshole as my landlord. I got enough shit to eat and I don’t need more bullshit from outside sources.”
Then I made my way back to the ladies. Now my goal was to get sloshed and just call Uno. One hour later, two more Bloody Mary’s in, I was feeling nice. Well, we all were, except Dessy who was working that night and Shay who was prego. We continued to laugh as they shared their stories, on how they met their men and the sheer shenanigans they had to go through or put those men through. At one point, the hottie Apollo came over and whispered something in Lori’s ear. She grinned, disappeared and came back with sex hair.
“Sorry, I’m ovulating,” she shared as the gang of us were already laughing.
Right after this, Shiz decided to grace us with his presence again and just like before, the ladies sarcastically greeted him. I, for the part, ignored him but apparently the man was on a mission.
“Ladies, I need your help here,” he announced loud enough over the music playing.
“Shoot,” Shay asked.
“Can someone please inform Avery that I’m an upstanding citizen, a model member of the Guardians, a great landlord and she can trust me? I’m trying to rent her my place but she doesn’t like my personality,” he said, causing my head to snap in his direction.
No he did not.
“Really,” I snapped at him.
“Left me no choice, babe.” He shrugged. “l figured there were some character witnesses.”
“Well,” Kylie spoke. “Can’t really speak about the upstanding citizen part, but I know that Shiz’s homes are top notch and he’s a good landlord. Dessy’s future sister-in-law was staying there for a bit and said it was, and I quote, “better than a hotel”.”
At that notion, Dessy groaned and rolled her eyes.
“Bad blood there,” Shay interjected.
“Also, his personality is annoying as hell,” Lori added.
“Yeah,” Dessy chimed in.
“I concur,” Kylie agreed as Shay nodded her head with them.
“Thank you.” I waved my hand at them with the palm up. “There you have it.”
Shiz rolled his eyes.
“That, uh, wouldn’t stop me from getting a good place to stay,” Shay shared. “I’m just saying.”
“See,” Shiz mimicked me, but I merely frowned. “At least check it out. Plus, I barely see my tenants unless something is broken. You can even pay the rent online. Very little interaction.”
My head finally swiveled to him to see the dark coffee colored eyes on me. Then I said in a low voice, “Why are you pushing this?”
“You need an affordable place. I have an affordable place. Just come with me and see it, then if you don’t like it, then no harm done.” He shrugged.
“Fine, I’ll see it tomorrow,” I conceded. “After seeing my brother.”
“You ready to go or you want to stay a little longer?” he asked me.
I turned to see if he was joking or not but realized this was serious Shiz. He meant to bring me home because he said so. If I went home with him, then I could get sauced, but I wanted to keep my wits about me when dealing with the bossy man.
“I’m about to call it a night, I see Bronx headed this way. It’s been real,” Shay chimed in. “Avery, it was really great meeting you and I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other soon.”
Ah, ambushed.
“Guess I’m leaving then,” I looked to Shiz. “Shay’s my ride.”
He raised an eyebrow at me with a challenge, as if to say, ‘oh really’.
“Bronx, brother. Avery is coming with me. Right Shay?” he asked with his eyes on them as her head nodded with nothing but mischief in her features.
Traded by a fellow sister.
The tall, African-American man, looked down at Shay with adoring eyes, pulled her into his hard body and said, “Don’t give a fuck. Long as my woman’s coming with me.”
From the corner of my eye, I saw Shiz’s head turn towards me. “Well, let’s go.”
There would be no argument from the brothers and the sisters, specifically the pretty, long-haired one named Shay was googly-eyed for the specimen of a man. There would be no fight out of her or any of the guys, so I huffed, grabbed my purse and said, “Lead the way, bossy.”
“Certainly,” he said with an equal amount of sarcasm.
I followed him out to a modern dark-colored RAM truck with wheels almost as big as my head. The car alarm beeped on the vehicle, Shiz opened the passenger door and held out a hand to help me inside. Once he was in, the engine roared to life and he asked, “Wher
e do you live?”
“Outside of Manor, in Tenley, near the train tracks,” I shared.
“Fuck, that’s pretty far.” He nodded his head.
Strapping on my seatbelt, I didn’t say anything and ignored the tension in the air. Could cut it with a nice was the understatement of the year. I was feeling nice but also feeling feisty enough to be flippant with my mouth. This never worked out well for me, so for the fact that I’d be in the man’s car for forty minutes, I decided to shut my trap. Well, unless he asked me a question, then I would answer.
Right on cue, he turned off the radio with the country music and said, “Avery West of the Westonians that are no kin of Kanye West, tell me about yourself.”
I openly stared at him and his gall before I burst out in laughter.
“Westonians?” I mocked.
“Yeah, so, tell me,” he asked. “I know you have a brother who’s in college. Did you go? Where are you from? What do you do?”
“I went to community college and graduated a few years ago. I’m from Tenley, born and raised there. I am an artist, so I am not really working in my career since I have a job as a Customer Service Representative. It doesn’t pay well, but I can manage to get by. Plus, my little difficulty with my temper, well, let’s just say it’s easier to hang up on people before I do something I will regret.” I laughed at myself. “Not sure how long I’ll have that job, really.”
It was too dark to see the expression on his face but I was sure there was a roll of the eyes or a nod in agreement in there somewhere.
“What do you want to do?” he asked.
I sighed because I knew what I wanted but had no idea how I was going to get there. The idea of my dream job working with the art galleries in the county and eventually for the state of Pennsylvania seemed so far away. Having my work displayed would be my ultimate but it just seemed like a pipe dream. One that I didn’t even want to share but what the hell.
“Like I said, I’m an artist and I want my art displayed. You know, in galleries around the county, state and hell, the world. It’s far from being a customer service representative and of course it doesn’t pay the bills, steadily, but it’s what I want,” I noted, then turned my head to face outside.
“Then, that’s what you should aim for, artist,” Shiz said, then we grew quiet through the rest of the ride.
Once we arrived outside of my apartment building, he took one look around and asked, “You live alone?”
“Yeah,” I answered reluctantly as he took in the old neighborhood, that had been run down, including the building we were idling in front of.
“Okay, I’ll wait for you to get inside.” He nodded towards my door. “Oh, I need your number, so I can contact you.”
Running off the number for him to copy in his phone, Shiz nodded and said, “See you tomorrow, firecracker.”
“Yeah,” I answered. “Tomorrow.”
“Night.”
Chapter Four
Shiz
Instead of going home after I dropped Avery off, I went to the rental property to spruce it up a bit more. Repainting the areas that were spotty again, installing a new garbage disposal, replacing the toilet seats, switching out the light fixtures and nobs for the cabinets. Checking and double checking the water pressure, the temperature and clipping the lawn, since I couldn’t run the mower at three in the morning. I didn’t make it home until four and I slept until eleven.
With way too much anticipation, I showered, picked out some clean clothes and texted Avery to let her know I was on the way. She should have been back from seeing her brother by then. When I arrived, she came outside in a burnt orange flare dress with strappy sandals and a denim fitted jacket. My cock started to stir, and that fucker needed to simmer down. She wasn’t for me.
Sure, she was pretty and fucking sexy, but not for me.
“Morning,” she greeted me with a smile.
“Morning,” I said with a nod, as I held the truck door open for her. “Ready?”
“Yup, sure am,” she replied. “I need a damn cat because I was asleep and I swear to you a mouse was walking across my headboard. Him and his friends, like they were playing follow the leader. Scared me shitless as I blinked to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. Nope. Need a cat. Damn mice.”
I tried not to laugh but there was no stopping the crazy shit that came out of her mouth.
“Well, maybe those days are over,” I slammed her door. “Let’s go.”
When we arrived outside of the two-story house, her mouth opened and didn’t close.
“Is this it?” she asked with the hint of awe in her voice.
The same awe that was there when Razor gave her that folder. There was a twinge in me that wanted to keep that expression on her face. Keep her in awe of what she could have. It was a foreign feeling, but I couldn’t deny it was still there.
“Yes, this is it,” I answered and walked towards the door to let us in.
Only when I turned back around, Avery was still near the truck taking the entire place in. It almost looked as if she was taking in every single green blade of grass. Her eyes hit the porch, the awning, the gravel driveway, the shed, the shrubs in front of the porch, the banister that led her up the six steps and finally the door when she reached me. It was almost as if she were in a trance.
“You alright?” I asked when she finally passed the threshold.
“Yeah, I just don’t want to forget this.” Avery turned to me and said, “I haven’t even seen the entire house but Shiz this is amazing.”
A small chuckle escaped me, but I closed the door and said, “Look at the entire house, then we talk. Okay?”
“Mm, hmm,” she said with a slight twirl.
Nobody could have told me she wasn’t about to do the twirl, like the nanny did on The Sound of Music. Avery lightly touched every surface, a piece of furniture, the marble countertops, the chrome handles, the new faucet, the bathroom curtains, the walls, the carpet, and whatever else was in her reach. The woman seemed to float as she took in everything. When she went outside to the backyard, she gasped.
“Wow,” she breathed. “Wow.”
It wasn’t a large patch of land, but it was enough to have a small garden, that I paid someone to tend. Apollo also demonstrated his landscaping skills, making it a nice place to have a gathering, that included tents, a brick grill and raised level stage that had lights around the entire yard.
Avery walked what felt like every inch of the yard and then she returned to me and exclaimed, “WOW!”
I laughed and almost cupped her face to bring it to mine. That look, it was killing me.
Blinking away, I turned and said, “I take it you like it.”
“Like it,” she scoffed. “I’m in love, Shiz.”
“Come on in the kitchen, let’s sit and talk logistics.” I opened the back door, that led to the modern kitchen with the center island, that housed a stove, grill and storage.
“Before you start,” Avery said with her hands raised as if warding me off. “I know you owe me no favors. Like none. I’m the one that is in debt to you and I swear it Shiz, I’m going to make it right. But if you’re dangling this carrot in front of me as some type of cruel joke, that really wouldn’t be funny.”
Placing the folder down on the table, I cupped her face with both my hands and said, “I would never do that.”
We stayed there for what felt like an hour but she did not tear away from me. She remained, almost daring me to make that move. I wouldn’t since I was forcing my body not to reach down and take one quick sip of her sweetness. It didn’t take a genius to know that once you’ve had a taste, a man would be hooked.
I knew.
She was Razor’s Kylie.
Bronx’s Shay.
Apollo’s Lori, and Bear’s Dessy.
One sip and my brothers were hooked, and all hope was gone. Now they’re latched and seemingly happy. However, I know that there aren’t happy endings. This is not a story that will end well. It nev
er does.
It never will.
Dropping my hands like they were burned by her very skin, I grabbed the rental lease and said, “As I said yesterday, the rent is four hundred a month. You can pay it online. All utilities will be paid, the grass, garden and manicuring of the lawn is already included and will be done on a bi-weekly basis.”
“Shiz,” she called as if I was far away, but I avoided her eyes and moved around the counter.
It was a punk move but I was hanging by a thread.
“Yeah, Avery,” I answered.
“Are you sure. I pay almost triple this where I’m at. This house is beautiful and it’s everything I want. There’s no way you had this out there and no one picked it up. No way. What’s the catch?” she asked.
“Avery, there’s no fucking catch. Read the contract, there is no fine print. It is what it is. Something breaks, call me and I’ll come to fix it, or send someone who can. The place wasn’t on the market, I didn’t have the time but I’m a Guardian. Someone in need and in this case, it happens to be you, so this is what we do. Plus, I don’t like your neighborhood and the faster you get out of there, the better I will feel. Honestly.”
“It’s not so bad,” she defended.
“Oh, is that before or after you were singing, the ants go marching one by one with the mice on your headboard?” I sarcastically replied.
Avery laughed and said through a smile, “Touché.”
“Good, so do I have a new tenant?” I asked her.
“Hell yeah,” she said with one of those blinding smiles. “So, once I fill out the application, do the credit check and go from there, what’s the turnaround time.”
My head was already shaking before she finished her statement. “We don’t go through all of that. Your background has already been run when you came through the Guardian doors. Here’s the lease. You tell me when you’re planning to move, and I’ll get the trucks to your place and they move you. Simple as that.”
“I’ll have movers?” she asked. “Wait, there is already furniture in here. Is it okay if I use it, get it clean or upholstered? Can I paint?”