“All right, let me go get him,” Kleigh said and closed the door.
A few moments later, Tron stepped into the well lit hallway with Klax. He let the door shut softly behind him and gave Klax a head nod.
“What’s good, G?”
“Shit, I just wanted to come chat with you for a moment before I go handle my last little bit of business.”
“No doubt, what’s the word? Dame said everything got taken care of. Those motherfuckas move quickly!”
“Yeah,” Klax nodded. “I only have the best on my team, and that’s why I’m here.”
“For what? Tell me I finally earned the position you want me in?”
“Yeah, something like that. I came to tell you which territory is yours,” Klax said and looked down the hallway.
“A’ight. Where you gon’ place me? The Bronx? I don’t see them Mexicans going for that, though.”
“Nah, they wouldn’t, and that’s why I’m giving you Harlem,” Klax said and looked back at Tron’s shocked face.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
“So, after all this, you gon’ just give me Harlem?”
“Yup, you can have it,” Klax said and shrugged. “Like you said, after all of this, I’ve put a lot into perspective. I haven’t had the time to really enjoy life because I’ve been so busy being two people. I just wanna be one person, and I trust you to do right by Harlem. I did what I wanted with it. Now you can rule how you see fit.”
“You trust me?” Tron asked like he didn’t believe Klax.
“I mean, not trust. You have caused quite a bit of trouble in my life in a short amount of time,” Klax said with a grin. “But I can tell by the way my sister looks at you that there must be some good in there somewhere. She’s taught me a lot, and she doesn’t even know it. She taught me that you can’t possess people. You can just enjoy life together with them. And, well, bro, let’s enjoy life.”
“I feel that,” Tron said, and the two men slapped hands, pulling each other in for a brief embrace. “But you know, since I have a direct link to the buyer, I need to be the only nigga in New York with the highest-grade product.”
“You already know,” Klax told him. “Well, I’ma get out of here. Let y’all do y’all thing and shit. I’ma hit you tomorrow.”
“A’ight, wait. Klax?”
“Yup?”
“You got another crib, don’t you? I heard about what happened to yours. You know my pop owned a complex if you need a place to lay your head. I can hook you up with a new ride too. Yours done seen the end of days.”
“Nah, I got a few spots around town, and I can always get a new whip. I have something I need to do before I turn it in for the night. Near-death experiences put you in a different state of mind, you know?”
“Nah,” Tron said with a grin. “But I’ma let you have that. I’ll fuck with you later, bro.”
Tron went back in the condo, and Klax went on his way. Handing Harlem over had been hard, but the next stop was going to be slightly more difficult. Mainly because he didn’t know what he was going to say.
He drove for thirty minutes, and the whole time he practiced in his head what would sound good coming out of his mouth, but nothing seemed right. It wasn’t until he found himself standing outside the door of a third-floor apartment with his fist raised, ready to knock, that he lost his nerve. He backed away from the door and started back toward the stairs. He was almost there when he heard a door open behind him.
“Klax?” the sweet voice of a woman said, and he turned around to face her.
“What’s up, Jas?” he said, and she gave him a confused look.
“I thought I heard somebody out here. You OK?” Jasmine said, standing there in a T-shirt and pair of shorts that hugged the figure he used to love so much.
“Yeah, yeah,” Klax cleared his throat and nodded. “I’m good. I actually came to check on you after what happened the other night.”
“Aah, yeah,” she said with a nod. “I’m good. I was a little shaken up at first, but I’ll be all right. I mean, you saved me, after all.”
“Yeah, I did, didn’t I?”
Klax didn’t know what else to say, and for a moment, the two of them stared at each other. She was beautiful, as usual. As he looked at her, he didn’t know how he had let her just exist around him for so long without making her his again.
“How did you let me just pass you up all these years?”
“What?” she asked. Her widening eyes were followed by her rapidly rosy cheeks.
“I mean, you said you loved me the other night. You ain’t never said that before. Why didn’t you ever let me know?”
“Because I showed you. But you were too busy being Klax Turner to see,” she said to him. “When you broke things off with me, I thought you didn’t want me. So I just tried to let it go, but as you can see, I can’t. But I never wanted to complicate the friendship I was able to build with you or Kleigh after that, especially since I work at the bakery.”
“I broke shit off with you back then because my life was getting too crazy. I didn’t want you to get hurt. But now . . .”
“But now what?” Jasmine said, unable to hide the hopeful tone in her voice.
“Now, I don’t think it would be so complicated,” he said and cleared his throat again. “I mean, if you want. We can go out sometime or some shit. Do something you like to do, you know? Start fresh.”
Jas burst out laughing. “Klax, when was the last time you asked a girl on a date?”
“I don’t know,” he answered truthfully with a shrug. “I never had to, to be honest.”
“Well, the wrong way to do it is to show up unannounced at her house at almost nine o’clock at night.” Jasmine put her hands on her hips as if she had an attitude.
“My bad. I ain’t mean to impose. I guess I’ll head out then.” He started down the stairs, but she called his name again. He stopped and turned back to her. There was a disappointed look in her eyes as she stared back at him.
“What’s up?”
“So that’s it then?” she said, stepping out into the hallway and walking toward him. “That’s all you came here to say to me? After all this time?”
“Girl, stop playing with me,” Klax said. “You know how I feel about you. That shit ain’t never went away. You ain’t seen me with anybody else, have you?”
“Then why is it so hard to say it?”
“That I love you? ’Cause you should already know that. But I apologize if I’ve ever done anything to make you question it.”
“Like push me away?” She took a few more steps toward him but stopped when she was directly in front of him. “Or never say it? Which one?”
“I’m here now, ain’t I?” Klax motioned his hands for effect. “And I love you, Jas. Some recent events have shown me that our time here is really borrowed. I don’t want to keep living with the thought that I have time to do certain things. I want to live every day like it’s my last. Starting with right now, with you. So, are you with it, or what?”
“Once again, it’s obvious that you never asked a girl out before. I don’t know what I ever saw in you.” Jasmine had a small smile on her lips as she stared into his face.
“Come on, man, you know I’m the smoothest nigga you’ve ever met,” Klax grinned and placed his hands on her hips.
“You might be right about that. But if we try this again, you can’t just up and leave out of my life because you’re scared, a’ight? If you’re gonna fuck with me, fuck with me. That’s all I ask.”
“I got you.”
She stared at him for a few more moments, and he noticed that the disappointment had left her eyes. They lit up like the moon, and there was a smile frozen on her lips. She was happy, and he planned to keep her that way.
“OK, then,” she said and motioned to her apartment. “I was just inside watching a movie. Do you want to join me?”
“Yeah,” Klax said a little too fast and then laughed at his eager
ness. “I mean, yeah, shorty. That sounds good.”
“I thought you’d say that,” she said, taking his hand.
She led him to her apartment, and Klax felt a multitude of emotions swarm over him. Lately, fate had been doing a lot of talking in his life, and when he began thinking about his life, his thoughts fell to Jas. His reasons for not being with her just didn’t make sense anymore. He thought about how he would never know how far they could really go unless he tried. The lifestyle he lived, Klax knew he was either going to leave the world one or two ways. Before he left, he didn’t want to have any what-ifs. He wanted happiness. And so far, on his happy list, he had crossed off almost everything. As he walked into Jas’s apartment with her, he smiled to himself knowing that she was the last thing on that list. He smiled because his sister was home safe, he smiled because he’d gained a new friend, and he smiled because his future held endless possibilities.
The End
About the Author
C. N. Phillips was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska, and harnessed her love for literature at the ripe ole age of 8. When she’s not creating worlds, some of her favorite things to do are to travel, spend time with her family, and watch her favorite television show Supernatural.
To keep up with C. N., like her on:
Facebook at C. N. Phillips
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