by J Peach
Blaze drove to the huge white and glass building, drove on the walkway and parked in front of a big window.
Now his ass know he ain’t supposed to park on these people sidewalk. Shrugging, I didn’t say anything, I hoped they towed his shit.
“I should slap the fuck out yo crazy ass. You busted my damn lip.” He fussed in the mirror.
I simply rolled my eyes, still not saying anything as I looked out the window.
“Man, pick my money up off the floor,” he continued to go off.
This time I did look at him. “Yo money? You pick that shit up.”
Blaze reached over the seat, grabbed and snatched me over to him, and slapped me in the mouth. “Fuck you think you talkin to, huh?”
I went to hit him back, but he grabbed my wrist, pushing me back into my seat, holding me against the door. “Blaze, I swear to God, let go,” I snapped, but that only made his grip tighten. “Blaze, let me the fuck go!” I screamed at him. In none of my years had I ever had to fight with a man as much as I had that past week.
Man, this shit ain’t even worth it, I promise.
“Blaze—”
“Fuck that, calm yo dumbass down,” he said, still holding me.
“Bitch, you just slapped me! Let me the fuck go!” Yanking one of my hands free, I started swinging with one arm.
Blaze pushed me harder into the door, his ass came over in my seat grabbing my swinging hand and pinned it to my chest as his other hand came to my neck. “Yo ass gon’ make me fuckin’ hurt you, Peaches. Boss, calm the fuck down.”
That was some fuckin’ bullshit, I swear. “Blaze, get off of me, damn!”
“Calm yo ass down.”
“Bitch, I am calm. Now get up,” I snapped at him, I just wanted to get the fuck out his truck and away from him. That was just too fuckin’ much to go through with a guy.
Blaze, still held onto me, staring. I rolled my eyes and looked away from him.
“Peaches, boss, yo ass bet not hit me,” he said, pushing into me before letting me go. As soon as he did, I punched his ass again before quickly throwing the truck door open and hopping out. I snatched my purse off the floor then slammed his door.
Angrily I searched my bag for my phone as I walked down the sidewalk.
“Peaches, get yo ass back here, man, damn.” For some strange reason this heavy urge to cry came over me. I seriously just wanted to cry and I was only a crier when it came to King.
Piss couldn’t even begin to explain how I felt. My hands were itching to start swinging on him again.
“Man, slow yo ass up,” Blaze called out.
I didn’t say anything to him, I called Kimmy.
“What’s up bitch—” Her words were cut off as my phone was snatched out of my hand and I quickly swirled around on Blaze.
“Blaze, give me my phone, damn. Why the fuck you wanna play?”
My chest rose and fell hard, my nerves were going crazy. I held my shaky hand out, God, I wanted to hit him. Blaze turned off my phone, then put it in his pocket. “Can you stop playing and give me– You know what? Keep it.” I wasn’t about to keep going back and forth with him so I started walking again, but he stopped me.
“Fo’real, Peaches, chill the fuck out man, damn. Why the fuck you so gotdamn mad? Yo ass know what I do—”
“It’s not about what you do, Blaze! I can look past all that, but the fact that you brought me in it without telling me is what I’m pissed about. Anything could’ve happened and I would’ve been stuck there looking stupid, not knowing shit. You know what? Even that I can get over, but the fact yo ass pretended— Forget it.”
“N’all, pretend what? Yo ass wanted to go to breakfast—”
“But you didn’t do it for me! You did it for you.” My hands shot out as I screamed at him.
“So what? I still brought yo ass,” he blurted out.
Shaking my head, I laughed. He simply didn’t care. God, I’m stupid. “That you did. Now can I go?” I asked, pulling my arm from him, only to have him grab it back as he started pulling me to the truck. Stopping, I jerked my arm from him.
“Yo ass gon chill with that attitude,” he said, opening the passenger side door and picking up the stacks of money. He put them back in the container, then closed and locked the door.
“Blaze, let me go, I can walk,” I snapped, snatching my arm from him, only to have him grab it right back.
“What I tell you about that attitude? Calm yo ass down.”
“Why can’t I just stay in the truck until you finish here?” I asked as I ran a hand through my hair tryna fix it.
“Bring yo ass on.” Again, he started pulling me to the door.
Sighing, I just followed behind him, not even tryna fight his dumbass. Blaze pulled opened the glass door, nodding his head, gesturing for me to go in. That had me raising a brow at him, but I didn’t say anything. I simply walked in.
“Hey Mr. Carter,” A brown skin woman around my age called, waving at Blaze as we walked in. Her cubical was right in front so she was the first to see everything.
God I hope she ain’t see us out there.
“Mr. Carter?” Blaze asked her before laughing. “Tish, has Sam been here yet?” She nodded before reaching in her bottom drawer, pulling out a metal safety deposit box.
“Yeah, he said give you this, then he left,” she said, smiling at me.
After taking the box, Blaze jerked on my hand, pulling me along. I went to hit him in the back as something finally hit me, my eyes reading the label on the wooden door.
“Carter? Blaze Carter,” I read the label out loud as he opened the door. Letting his hand go, I walked further in before going to the big black chair, sitting down, then looking at Blaze as he closed and locked the door. “I’m not big on coincidences so I’m taking with your last name and the building this is some kinda family thing?” I asked, he didn’t say anything at first as he sat the container and safety deposit box on the desk.
“N’all, this me,” he said, going to a file cabinet, pulling it from the wall then lifting up the rug and removing a tile piece from the floor.
Of course my nosy ass got up to see what he was doing. I hovered over his shoulder only to see a safe. “Get yo nosy ass back, breathing all down my neck,” Blaze said, still putting in the four digit code, causing the board to push up. He opened it, pulling out two different machines. Underneath the machines was money, a lot of money.
“You know I could be like a robber or something and you showing me this,” I told as he stood up, leaving the floor board open.
“I ain’t worried about you stealing shit. So you not mad no mo?” He asked and I rolled my eyes.
“Yes I am,” I told him, sitting back down in the big black chair. Coming around to where I was, Blaze let out a sigh before running a hand over his face as he leaned against the desk.
“I’m sorry, i’ight? I didn’t think you would’ve got mad with me meeting Mark.”
“If you’d have told me then maybe it would’ve been different, but the fact you made it seem like you were doing it for me when you wasn’t is fuck’d up.” Damn, I needed to get out my feelings.
Blaze pulled me out his seat, to him. “Yo ass becoming too damn needy and you ain’t even tryna date a nigga.”
I stood in between his legs. Slowly, his hands moved down to my ass.
“I’m not—”
“Bullshit, but I’ma let it fly. Check this, though, if you gon’ be involved with me, then you gon’ be dealing with my lifestyle. Meeting people at breakfast, lunch, or dinner is a must at times, but next time I’ll say something. What happened today can’t happen again, real talk. If you can’t handle it then this ain’t gon work,” he said, staring me in the eyes.
“Then this ain’t gon’ work.”
Every cell in my body wanted that sentence to be true, I just wanted to grab my purse and get as far away from him as possible, but I couldn’t. Even though it hadn’t been that long, I was too deep into him to just walk aw
ay. I wanted to see how things would play out, if the thing between us could work.
“Yo ass ain’t going nowhere,” he boldly stated.
Was I that predictable to the fact that I wasn’t? “Whatever, can you finish here so we can go?” I asked, about to pull away, but his grip tightened on my ass.
“You better lose that attitude. I just fuckin’ apologized, what else yo ol’ needy ass want?” He asked.
“I’m not needy and yo ass slapped me, that shit hurt.” He had slapped the fuck outda me, my damn cheek was numb.
“I ain’t apologizing for that shit, yo ass hit like a fuckin’ nigga, boss. I almost forgot who the fuck you was. You might as well suck that shit up, so we cool?”
No.
“No.”
“Make me slap yo ass,” he threatened as he slickly moved his hands to the hem of my dress.
“We cool for now, Blaze. Gone,” I said, tryna push his hands away as he lifted my dress.
“Don’t be stingy,” his head lowered to mine.
A stupid smile came to my lips and I laughed as I shook my head. “I don’t like you and I’m not having sex with you in this office. Seriously?” I asked as his hardness poked against my stomach.
“A nigga been locked up for two years, I can’t control that beast.” He called it right and that beast was not about to have me embarrassing myself again.
“Not my problem. I think I have lotion in my purse. Stop!” I laughed as he muffed my head back. “Now finish this so we can go,” I said, biting at his bottom lips before kissing him.
Groaning, Blaze squeezed my ass then pulled back. “Yo ass playing, that shit ain’t cool.” Blaze stood up and I took a step back as he walked around the desk, grabbing the two machines sitting it in front of me as well as the container. “Run all this through the counterfeit, then the bill—”
“Wait, a counterfeit detector? Really?” I asked, staring at him.
“Really, niggas be shystie and be tryna get over. Have you ever done this before?” He asked a dumb question.
“No, I didn’t even know they made counterfeit detectors,” I told him truthfully, making him laugh.
“Don’t ever tell nobody that. Just sit the money on the tray. Green light means good red light bad.”
“How the hell am I suppose too catch it before—”
“Shut up and listen, damn. It’ll go through if it’s good, if it ain’t it’ll come back out toward you. Here,” he explained before opening a drawer and handing me brown and mustard colored money strips. “It should be at least six, tens and a five whatever else sit it to the side,” he said before walking back to the safe.
This is going be a lot. Am I even ready for this?
Chapter 27
Peaches
Sixty-seven thousand, five hundred, forty dollars. Damn! Writing the number on a piece of paper, I took out two thousand, five hundred and forty dollas from the last stack I ran through, sat it to the side, then ran what I had in my hands to make five thousand even. I put a brown strip on it. Looking up at Blaze, he was on the phone so I choose to leave him alone as I got up.
“Where you going?” Blaze asked, looking up at me.
“To the bathroom, wanna come?” I asked, only joking.
“Aye, let me call you back.” With him saying that, he hung up the phone and got up.
“I was playing about the bathroom thing, you know that, right?” I asked as he came up to me.
“Shut up. Unlock the door when you come back,” he said, pressing a key into my hand.
“Oh,right. I wrote the amount down on here,” I said, walking back to the desk, grabbing the paper, then handing it to him. “I sat the rest to the side. I really have to use the bathroom,” I rushed out, heading for the door.
“Go back the way we came, it’s down the first hall on the right,” Blaze said.
“What?” I asked him, confused. My brain was not functioning right, I had use it.
“The bathroom, dumbass.”
“Oh,” I mumbled while opening the door, letting it slam behind me as I twitched my black ass to the bathroom. Once I relieved myself, I left the stall, going to wash my hands just as two girls walked in. The one from earlier and some bright skinned chick.
They just stood by the wall, neither saying anything. “Is there a problem?” They were just standing there, staring, I hoped they ain’t have some type of crush on Blaze and came in there to start some shit. I had no problem with getting down with those chicks if need be.
“I saw y’all out front, just wanna make sure you were okay?” I think Blaze called her Tish something.
“I’m cool, thanks for asking.” I knew she saw us.
“I’m Tishana by the way, and this Laquanda. So—” The moment so left Tishana mouth, I waved her off.
“If you’re coming in here to tell me he’s yo man and all that other jazz—” They suddenly started laughing, hell I ain’t find shit funny. Why would two females follow me into a bathroom just to see how I was doing? “What’s funny?” I done had two people come up to me about messing with their dude or girl, I didn’t have time to play no games.
“My brother would kill the both of us if I tried something with Blaze.” Tishana said, laughing.
Still, I found nothing funny.
“We’ll, if he ain’t have that no fuckin’ employees rule then it would’ve been different,” Laquanda said sighing. “Plus, I have a man, don’t nobody want yours,” Laquanda informed me, not seeming bothered by me taking offence.
That made me relax a bit. “He’s not my man—”
“Bullshit, I’ve been working here for six years and not once has Blaze brought a girl here, especially not in his office. Hell, him and my brother been friends since elementary and he hasn’t even been in that office,” Tishana said.
“I been here for five and I agree, I ain’t never seen no one in that man’s office either,” Laquanda co-signed her agreement.
I’d have been lying if I said hearing that didn’t have me feeling a certain giddiness. “Who’s your brother?” I asked Tishana.
“Sam—” The bathroom door suddenly opened, cutting her off. Blaze looked from them to me then back.
“What the fuck is y’all in here doing?” Blaze asked like his ass caught us doing something.
“Just introducing ourselves,” I told him.
“I can’t wait to tell my momma you got a girl,” Tishana started smiling.
“Man, get yo ass to work, both of y’all,” Blaze snapped at them before pushing Tishana out the door. Stopping at the door, she turned to look at me.
“Wait, I didn’t get yo name,” Laquanda hit her before pushing Tishana the rest of the way out.
“She just told him we were introducing ourselves and you gon’ ask her name in front of him, fah real Tish?” Like she did any better when we just heard everything she just said.
“Don’t listen to shit they said, especially Tishana black ass,” Blaze said, making me laugh.
“They didn’t say nothing, really. Ol’ girl saw us out front. Why she ain’t call the police is beyond me,” I pushed past him and opened the door only to have him close it. “Blaze, gon’, I’m not fuckin’ you in this bathroom either. So gon’, nigga, I’m on strike. Yo ass is not about to be jumping on me every fuckin’ hour,” I told him, laughing. As good as having sex was with him was, whatever thing we had was not about to be built around that.
I kind of had morals.
“If I wanted to fuck, we’d be fuckin’. I stopped yo dumb, smartass because you left the damn key on the counter,” Blaze said, holding the key in front of my face. I couldn’t do anything but laugh.
“Maybe so, but yo ass still would’ve tried if I hadn’t said nothing.” Snatching the key from him, I walked out, going back to his office. Sitting at his desk, I turned around to face him. “Am I really the first person you ever brought back here?” I asked.
Glancing at me, he grabbed the money in front of me. “You sure this number rig
ht?” He asked instead holding up the paper I wrote the amount on.
Nodding my head, I picked up the two-thousand five hundred and forty dollars then, opened the same drawer he had earlier. I grabbed a violet and red strap and put it around the right amount.
“Blaze, do you trust me?” I asked instead, seeing as he didn’t answer my first question.
“No,” he said simply, making me roll my eyes.
“Now who’s pretending?” I mumbled, but loud enough so he could hear me.
“Don’t believe shit Tishana lying ass said. She has a habit of putting her nose where it don’t belong, I’ma fire her ass,” he said and I laughed.
“She didn’t say anything—”
“Yeah, you are,” he finally answered, cutting me off.
“So, you trust me?”
“No—”
“Bullshit,” I hit the desk, making him glare at me.
“I don’t, so stop tryna make it seem like it’s more than what it is?” He wiped off the two machines then putting them into the safe.
“What is it then?”
“Peaches, I’ma slap the fuck outda you. Shut up, damn. You making me lose my concentration,” he snapped.
Holding my hands up, I sat back in my seat trying not to laugh.
Taking three of the six tens I wrapped, he put it in the safety deposit box. Then he put the rest into the floor safe. You could never tell there was a safe in the floor because the tile fit and matched the floor board perfectly. After fixing the rug, he pushed the file cabinet back.
“Wait you forgot this—”
“You got a bank account, right?” Blaze suddenly asked as he grabbed the container, putting it back in the bag. Then he picked up safety deposit box.
“I would think so,” I stated slowly, “seeing as I work.”
“Hold this for me,” he said and threw me the two thousand, five hundred. I laughed.
“Dude, I will spend yo damn money. Giving me money is like giving a geeka a free hit. So no, because I ain’t paying shit back,” I told him truthfully. “Ask King, he don’t let me hold money no more.” King gave me money to hold twice and never again. It always started off with a couple of dollars then after that I don’t know how I spent the rest. Blaze looked as if he didn’t believe me. “You ain’t gon’ be no different, especially since we’re fuckin’ now—”