All the color drained from my face. I stood there motionless, my heart beating a million miles a minute. I felt myself getting faint and began falling to the ground. Mystery man caught me.
“Whoa, you alright?”
“Get the fuck off me! Hell naw I’m not alright! Who the fuck are you?!”
I snatched my arm from his grip, and ran towards the couch for my cell phone. His hand reached around me and grabbed the phone from my hand. “I don’t think you want to do that sweetheart,” he smirked.
I dropped to the floor and began to cry hysterically. “Just take whatever you want! Please don’t hurt me!” Mystery man stood over me, breathing heavily. I slid the throw blanket down onto my half-naked body. “The safe is in the bedroom closet.”
“Adrian, I’m not here to rob you. Jay sent me. I’m Calvin.” He reached out his hand to help me off the floor. I looked up at him puzzled. “Jay…Jeremy sent you? What is going on?” Jeremy once told me that a select group of friends from his childhood neighborhood called him Jay, but he hadn’t frequented there since middle school.
I stood up, legs shaking from the whole ordeal. Calvin examined my body and licked his lips. My butterscotch colored thigh and ass peeked through the opening of the blanket. He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. “Ummm, you should probably put some real clothes on then we can talk.”
I went into the bedroom and locked the door. I paced back and forth, contemplating my next move. “Who is this nigga? Why is he here? Should I make a run for it?” I whispered to myself. After throwing on a t-shirt and leggings I attempted to call Jeremy. Straight to voicemail. Three more attempts and I left a message. “Bae, please call me back. Some dude named Calvin is here saying you sent him and I don’t know what to do….” I sat on the edge of the bed for an hour waiting on him to call back. One more attempt to reach him with no success before I decided to exit the bedroom.
Calvin sat at the kitchen island, sipping a glass of D’usse. He straightened his posture when he saw me. “Hope you don’t mind.”
I shrugged. “So tell me what’s going on. How do you know Jeremy?” I poured myself another glass of wine while I awaited an answer.
“Jay got caught up with some bullshit from around the way. He had to lay low for a while and told me to look after you. I wasn’t trying to scare you; that’s why I sent you the flowers. To introduce myself. Didn’t you read the card?” Calvin downed the rest of his glass.
I was so confused. “What type of bullshit? Jeremy isn’t caught up with people from ‘around the way.’”
Calvin stood up. “Look sweetheart, there’s a lot you don’t know about Jay. Shit was rough on the 9. You can take the nigga out the hood, but the streets always gone be callin. He was doing his best to go legit, but he owed people and they never forgot…Can I use your bathroom?”
I motioned down the hall with the wine bottle then poured another glass. What the hell was Jeremy into? What people did he owe? I didn’t even realize he still communicated with anyone from his old neighborhood. He told me stories about growing up off of 79th Street, but that his family moved up north when he got accepted to Lane Tech and he hadn’t been back since.
In the bathroom, Calvin got a phone call. “Yo…Yea I’m here…She scared bruh what you think? Yea I’ll keep an eye on her…Well when you coming back? Ugh, alright nigga.”
When Calvin opened the door I was standing on the other side. “Was that Jeremy? What he say? Why didn’t you let me speak to him?!”
He brushed past me and sighed. “He didn’t have long to talk. He just wanted to make sure I was with you. Look, Jay will be gone for a minute. He said he’d call when he can. All I have to do is make sure you get to and from wherever you go.”
“So now I have a stalker?!” I screamed exasperated. “Do you have to stay here?”
Calvin smoothed his hand over his fade. “I mean that wasn’t the agreement, but if it’ll make you feel more comfortable I can. Otherwise, I’ll just be in my car.” He put his coat on and headed for the door.
“Wait,” I rolled my eyes. “Now you know it is too cold for you to be in your car all night. You’ll freeze. We have a spare bedroom.”
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