Briefly, Nunnie thought about Ms. Gertie, Mix’s grandma. She’d made it crystal clear to her that her door was still open to her, but Nunnie couldn’t bring herself to live in the woman’s house without Mix. Hell, Ms. Gertie was nice, but she just didn’t feel comfortable enough without Mix there, and then she felt like constantly being around his family would just awaken her depression. Mix not being there with her had left a gaping hole in her heart, and she’d been coping by telling herself that they’d never happened. Yes, it was delusional in every way, but she literally had to run from thoughts of him most times. That was the only thing that kept her sane. Otherwise, they’d probably have to commit her. She didn’t think anyone really understood the heights his love had taken her. The depth of it. So, now, trying to go on without it felt nearly impossible. She didn’t want to. She was struggling to find the light at the end of the tunnel. And that within itself was scary, as she didn’t have a soul to really confide in.
“See, no smile again.”
“Huh?” Nunnie snapped out of her mental fog to find one of her regular customers standing in front of her. This was ole boy who’d left her with the change and his phone number not too long ago. She’d graciously spent his money but never bothered to call him.
“I said, you’re not smiling again,” he smirked, revealing his perfectly white teeth.
Nunnie took this time to really take him in. He was probably the exact height as Mix, which was roughly about 6’3 or something. He was dark brown with smooth rich skin. His coal black hair was thick and waved up, leaving her seasick. He had a dimple in his left cheek when he spoke. His eyes were chinky. He had an athletic, slender build, with a nice cut to it. And today he was stylishly dressed in fitted Givenchy jeans, shirt, with a Louie belt and tennis shoes. His cologne was absolutely mesmerizing.
Hell, after thinking about it, Nunnie realized that he was probably out of her league. Yes, she was a cute girl, and she knew that much, however, this man seemed to be getting to the money on a different level. It was in the way he carried himself. In the way he spoke. He wasn’t from the hood. He didn’t reek of d-boy or lick hitting/jugging type of cat. In fact, he’d usually come through and slide a credit card. The last time was one of the first times he’d ever used cash in the store. Niggas her way didn’t use cards, unless they were hot…or it belonged to their bitches. Yeah, sure, she knew everyday workers, but they didn’t look like this guy. They didn’t shop as frequent and spend so freely. So, no, this wasn’t the usual cat she’d encounter, which had her thinking that he needed to move along, because he was wasting his time, pushing up on her, while she was literally turning into a young bag lady. She couldn’t bring anything to the table but her personal woes, right then.
“Oh, don’t mind me,” Nunnie sighed. “Is there anything I can help you with?” she questioned, noting that he didn’t have anything in hand to check out with.
He licked his lips. “Uh, yeah. You can answer a question for me.”
“Okay, what’s that?”
He locked eyes with her. “Why didn’t you use the number I gave you?”
She tittered. “Oh, wow, I wasn’t expecting that.”
He kept a straight face. “I don’t know why you weren’t. Did you think that I’d come back in here, see you, and not address it? I mean, the only reason it’s taken this long is because I’ve been missing you. I came in here three other times, but you weren’t here.”
She swallowed hard. “Oh.”
“Yeah, oh. I was tempted to ask your manager to call you up. Act like you kept my I.D. or something. Anything to get you up here.”
“Wait, what?” she laughed harder.
He cracked a smile. “You heard me. It was that serious. Your little pretty ass had to see me. One way or another.”
Blushing, Nunnie rubbed the side of her neck. “Wow, okay.”
He squinted, reading her nametag. “Naveriah, is it?”
“Yeah,” she nodded.
“Okay, Naveriah, can I please take you out? Please? Just once. That’s all I’m asking for is a one chance to show you that I’m a nice guy. Will you give me that opportunity to show you?”
She took a deep breath. “Okay.”
“Now, see, that was easy. When are you free?”
She shrugged. “Whenever.”
He furrowed his brows. “Well, what are you doing when you get off?”
She bit her bottom lip. “Nothing.”
“So, can we spend some time?”
Nunnie narrowed her eyes, thinking of how much she wanted to take a nap…and how Dreka had yet to confirm where they’d be resting their heads for the night. “Yeah, but can I be honest?”
“Yeah, of course.”
“When I get off, I’m usually tired, so I don’t like to do much. So, I’m gonna wanna be low-key. Now, how can you make that work for us?”
He smirked. “You just let me worry about that. Just say that you’re willing to spend some time.”
Closing her eyes, she nodded. “I’m willing.”
***
“Let me get that for you,” ole boy offered, opening the passenger’s door, as Nunnie stepped up to his Audi SUV. Just as promised, he was parked right outside of the mall, waiting on her to get off, curbside.
Nunnie paused. Admittedly, she was thoroughly impressed with his whip, but she clearly hadn’t thought things through. “Wait. I don’t even know your name.”
He smiled enthusiastically. “It’s Levi, beautiful.”
“Levi,” she rolled off her tongue. “Okay. That fits you.”
“Is that right?”
“Yep.”
“Okay, now, do you want to sit in the truck and rest your feet?”
She tucked her lips into her mouth. “Sure.”
“Cool.” He grabbed her hand and assisted her with getting situated.
He then jogged around to the driver’s side and hopped in. “So, Ms. Naveriah…tell me. What you’d like to do…or do you want me to decide?”
Nunnie shrugged.
He squinted. “What does that mean?”
“It means that I don’t really care.”
“Well, I’m asking because you mentioned that you were tired, and I don’t want to take you somewhere outside of your comfort zone, right now. Plus, you’re still rocking your work clothes. So, you tell me what’s up. I mean…would you be offended if we grab some take-out from whatever restaurant of your choice, and we go back and play a few rounds of pool back at my place? It’s just up the street from here. Or we could catch some movies on the firestick—”
“It’s cool,” she giggled, cutting him off. “We can grab some food and go back to your spot. As long as you know that I’m not easy. I’m just trying to chill. If you’re expecting more, then you can let me out of this car now. And if you try some funny shit, then just know that I’m from that other end of the city. So, you’on wanna try me. I keep something with me, ready to handle whoever.”
He lightly chuckled. “You’re funny…but I kinda like that. But you’re in good hands, baby. I promise. No funny business. And frankly, if I have plans on being a dick, I’ll do that anywhere. My apartment or the movies. It would make no difference.”
She exhaled. “I hear you.”
His eyes swept over her. “Yeah, I bet you do. Anyway, what do you want to eat?”
“Hmmm, I can go for some seafood. Pappadeaux’s would be nice.”
Levi nodded. “Okay, that sounds like a plan.”
Nunnie reclined in her seat, knowing then that she was about to milk the hell out of this situation. If nothing else, she was going to get some fine dining and maybe a few snaps out of the deal, before he grew tired of dealing with her and her overlapping stomach.
Keeping his word, Levi stopped by Pappadeaux’s, grabbed their food, before heading to his high-rise apartment, which was right up the street from the galleria mall. Nunnie tried her best not to act brand new, as they traveled through the posh building. She’d personally never s
een anything like it. He lived up on the 15th floor, which overlooked much of the city.
“Make yourself at home,” Levi insisted, as they stepped through his enormous open floor plan apartment.
Nunnie glanced around in awe. There were so many windows and everything seemed high-tech. She was hesitant to sit on his white leather furniture, because it honestly seemed like no one ever had. She could see that his sliding doors led to a deck outside that extended along the entire length of the apartment. His fucking refrigerator had a touch screen on it!
“Naveriah,” Levi captured her attention.
“Huh?” she arched a brow.
“Have a seat.”
“Oh, yeah,” she sighed, before cautiously sitting on his couch.
Chuckling, he sat next to her, placing their bag of food on a glass coffee table in front of them. Fiddling with his phone, he caused a huge TV to lower down a few feet away from them, which was clearly somehow attached to the ceiling.
Nunnie scratched her head. “The fuck do you do for a living?”
Levi laughed.
She cut her eyes at him. “What’s so funny?”
“Your demeanor. You’re so pretty, but you have the sharpest edges. It’s taking me by surprise. It’s like everything about you contradicts itself.”
“Oh,” she poked out her bottom lip. “You trying to say that I’m ghetto?”
He furrowed his brows. “You’re not?”
Briefly Nunnie paused, as she was surprised by his candor. She then exploded with laughter. “This nigga said, ‘you’re not’. Okay, I see you. You can get with my ass. Go ‘head, home boy. Hold your own.”
Levi smirked. He was clever enough to know that she’d complimented him. It was obvious to see and hear that they came from two different places. However, she was noting that he wasn’t out of touch, or wasn’t too snooty to handle a girl such as herself. He could speak her language and understand where she was coming from. That was important because if they couldn’t laugh together, then she didn’t really see where they could go from there.
“Anyway, seriously, what do you do, Levi?” she pressed.
He licked his lips. “I have my CDL license, and drive trucks. I own my own truck, as well as two others. So, I have people who work for me. Basically, I have a small trucking company.”
“Oh, wow, that’s what’s up. How old are you?”
He smiled. “That’s a weird follow up question.”
“No, not really. You sound successful and look rather young, so I’m curious to know how old you are.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Shit, maybe I should’ve asked you that first. How old are you, Naveriah?”
“I’m 18.”
“Damn,” he breathed. “You’re a baby. Legal. But still a baby.”
“Yep. Now, how old are you?”
“I’m 32.”
“Damn, that’s old. You’re damn near twice my age,” she tittered.
“Yeah, I know.” He gripped the bridge of his nose. “So, is my age going to be a problem for you?”
Nunnie bucked her eyes. “Shouldn’t I be asking you that? I’m the liability in this situation. You know how us young girls can be. You sure you wanna bother?”
He snickered. “That fact that your mind could even have that type of reasoning tells me that you’re mature beyond your years. So, I think that we’ll be just fine.”
Hours coasted by, and Nunnie was totally at ease. Eventually, she fell asleep, lying across his king-sized bed, while they watched movies on his projector. Waking up the next morning, she was glad to see that he’d kept a safe distance on the other side of the bed, respecting her space. Checking her phone, she noticed that Dreka had sent a text message at the last minute, several hours after she’d been off work, letting her know that they’d have to spend a night at a friend’s.
Sitting up in bed, Nunnie shook her head. Slowly, she was realizing that she was responsible for herself. Throughout life, she and her sister had primarily shared friends, so Nunnie could go to any of their homes with or without Dreka. Unfortunately, most of them just weren’t in much better situations than them. Young girls still living at their parents’ homes really weren’t in the position to move their girls in, therefore Nunnie couldn’t expect much from them. Then with Dreka, it wasn’t that she was intentionally trying to leave Nunnie behind, but she still dated around, and it just wasn’t logical for Nunnie to tag along every time she’d link with a guy. Nunnie knew that it wasn’t right for her to intrude on her sister’s space like that, just because her situation had crumbled, and was quickly realizing that she needed to find somewhere to spend her time.
“You’re hungry?” Levi questioned gruffly, breaking into her thoughts.
Nunnie nodded. “I can eat.”
He sat up and yawned. “Well, let me treat you to breakfast.”
“Okay,” she sighed, as she eased out of bed, grabbing her Nike backpack, which was on the side of his bed. “Is it okay if I take a shower and whatever?”
He studied her thick frame. “Yeah, go ahead.”
“Kay,” she gave him a gentle smile, before heading off to his spacious bathroom.
Levi headed to the guest’s bathroom to get himself together, trying to make good of time. Of course, he wrapped things up before her, and found himself sitting on the edge of his bed, waiting on her to rejoin him. Eventually, she switched back into the room, donning a cute t-shirt dress. Surprisingly, her hair was neatly spruced up, he could smell toothpaste, and perfume emitting from her body. If he didn’t know any better, he would’ve sworn that she’d just stepped out of her own bathroom, because people weren’t usually this prepared. In the back of his mind, he was prepared to stop by a store and purchase anything she needed to get herself together, but obviously that wasn’t necessary.
Glancing his way, she paused. “What? Why are you looking at me like that? I have something on my face?”
“Nah, everything is perfect,” he quickly established, as he stood and took a stretch. “You ready?”
“Yeah,” she breathed, as she scanned over his attire, appreciating his swagger. Once again, he was showing her that he was a different caliber of guy, as he casually rocked Versace to go have breakfast.
“Cool, let’s roll out.”
Together they traveled down to his Audi and hopped in. Nunnie couldn’t help but feel out of place, as she noticed that Levi lived a luxurious life. Maybe a year back she would’ve been excited about this, feeling like she was merely elevating, but things were different now. Her circumstances had shifted, and she knew that they’d quickly reach a glass ceiling, so she told herself not to get comfortable. There was unquestionably only so much he could do with a girl like her.
Every few minutes Levi would steal glances, and this didn’t go unnoticed by Nunnie.
“Why do you keep peeking at me?” she finally asked him.
He smiled. “Can I ask you something without you taking offense?”
She gulped. “Try me.”
“Why did you just so happen to have everything needed to spend a night away from home with you? Is this something you do often?”
“Oh,” she slid her tongue across her teeth, as she turned to gaze out of the window. “You peeped that?”
“I did.”
“Yeah, well, it’s because I’ve been crashing at a friend’s. And that friend’s mama be tripping. Whenever she pulls a double at work, we have to find somewhere else to stay, because she doesn’t feel comfortable leaving us alone with her man. The same thing goes for her daughter. So, with the situation being the way that it is, I always keep a to-go pack in my backpack. You know. A change of clothes, some hair products, toothpaste, toothbrush, deodorant, hell, even a towel and shower gel. Basically, everything needed to get right. I got it down to a science too. Everything is in travel sizes, and it just stays in my backpack whenever I go to work. No matter if I end up going home at the end of the night.”
Levi nodded with his bottom lip poked ou
t. “That’s smart and resourceful. You stay ready to keep from getting ready. I get that. But what is your long term resolution to your problem?”
Nunnie shrugged. “All I can do is keep working and grinding it out. I hustle on the side, holding shoes. I’ve been saving that. All the while, I’ve been applying for higher paying jobs, hoping that something will fall through.”
He nodded, listening intently. The one thing he noted was that he didn’t hear an excuse. That was commendable, especially coming from someone her age. Regardless of where she’d grown up, she was forging ahead, attempting to find her way, and he couldn’t find fault in that.
From there, their conversation naturally flowed. Levi shifted gears to something lighter, wanting her to know that he wasn’t judging. Nunnie recognized that he wanted her comfortable and she appreciated the effort. He seemed like a nice guy, but the hood in her kept her skeptical. She was a little surprised when they ended up in a small mom and pop’s Mexican restaurant. It was evident that Levi was a regular at the establishment, as all the servers were familiar with him. They were quickly seated, and he knew what he wanted without glancing at a menu. He also strongly suggested some shrimp tacos for Nunnie and since she loved shrimp, she agreed to try them out.
Once the waitress placed the food in front of Nunnie, she was glad that she’d allowed him to choose the food for her. The three shrimp tacos with cilantro, sweet onions, shredded mozzarella cheese, and a sprinkle of fried cabbage smelled heavenly.
“This looks good.”
He nodded. “It is. Drizzle a little of that salsa verde and it’s popping.”
“Your enchiladas, refried beans, and rice look good too,” she acknowledged.
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