What Da Lick Read? The Triple Cross

by McCray, Sevyn

  He was outside blowing the horn before she knew it. She ran down the steps and told her mom that she was leaving with Killian and that she would be back to get Kaydence so that he could spend the night with her at Killian’s place. Her mom came through the kitchen and walked her to the door. She gave Leigh a kiss on the cheek and she waved at Killian sitting in the car.

  As always she looked perfect to him. He thought of what his sister said. He should tell her he loved her, because he did. He loved her and Kaydence. He smiled, yup he had been bitten by the love bug. The door opened and she climbed into the car. “Hey Bae.” He leaned over and kissed her.

  “Hello to you too sir, I missed you.” Leigh murmured as she snuggled up against him as he pulled out of her complex.

  They drove through the streets of Atlanta enjoying each other’s company. The car was silent, that was one of the special things about them, and words did not need to be exchanged. Killa drove north, it still early enough to catch a matinee. He headed toward Fork and Spoon so that they could see a chick flick, then head over to the mall so that he could buy her something

  Leigh started singing and broke up the silence. She had a nice voice but she always said that she was too shy to sing in front of people. “I don’t care where we go, I don’t care what we do. I don’t care pretty baby, just take me with you.”

  He looked over at her and she burst into laughter as he joined in singing the classic Prince song. “I don’t care if we spend the night at your mansion. I don’t care if we spend the night on the town.”

  Leigh finished up the verse in perfect harmony. “All I want to do is spend the night together. All I want to do is spend the night in your arms.”

  It was the small things like this that let him know without a doubt that he was in love with her. After their outing, he wanted to take her to meet his dad. They parked in the parking deck at Tower Walk and headed into the movie theater. She grabbed his hand in hers and he left it there. There was only one movie that was about to start and they decided to go ahead and see it. The Rise of the Planet of the Apes had gotten good reviews. Killian pulled out a big wad of money and paid for their tickets and then he grabbed her hand and they walked into the theater. It was only four other people in the theater. They sat down at the table; Killian grabbed the remote that summoned the waitress. He had planned on taking her to dinner so he told her to order something light. Leigh ordered a cheese quesadilla and a large peach mango milkshake for them to share.

  The movie was better than they thought it would be. The food and the service were good. Lenox and Phipps were both right around the corner so he decided to go to Lenox and they would finish up with dinner at Maggiannos. They headed to Lenox Square in their own world oblivious to the car that was following them.

  Lenox was one place that seemed to be crowded no matter what time of day it was. Killian pulled up and got the car valet parked. He went around to Leigh’s side of the car as the valet opened the door for her. Her beauty was so effortless and her style was all her own. She stepped out of the GXP as if she was stepping out of a Maybach. “Okay, so what are we doing here mister?” Leigh asked him as she looped her arm through his as they went through the front entrance to the mall.

  “I just came to pick up a few things. I know that you don’t wear anything out of the mall.” He replied to her smartly as he walked into the True Religion store. He picked up stuff in his size and she walked around and browsed. He then started picking stuff in Kaydence’s size. He went to the register with both of his arms loaded down with shirts and jeans. She walked up beside him and saw the smaller clothes he had obviously picked out for her son. She wrapped her arm around his waist and laid her head on his shoulder as he got out the wad of money again and counted out over two thousand dollars to pay for his purchases. Everything was bagged up and they left and walked through the mall. Leigh stopped at the Starbucks kiosk and Killian looked at her sideways. “Girl you just had a milkshake. I’m gonna feed you. Just wait a minute.”

  He was actually hungry himself. He couldn’t wait to dive into the lobster ravioli that the restaurant served. But his main goal right now was to buy her something. It was hard to get something for someone who had everything. He had bought her bags, and shoes and she made all her clothes. It was time for a nice piece of jewelry. They walked into Mayors Jewelry store and Leigh let go of his hand and walked around and looked at the jewelry in the cases. She wasn’t really big on jewelry, but every girl liked diamonds. Killian crept up behind her as the salesman walked over to where they were standing.

  “Can I help you two with anything?” He looked them over, everything in this case was $5000.00 and up

  Leigh just knew Killian was coming into the store to get something for himself. She would work her magic before they left out the mall and get her a handbag. But after all the money that he had just spent on Kaydence, he really didn’t have to get her anything.

  “Yeah, let me see that ring right there.” Killian pointed to a ring that he thought that she was looking at. He really couldn’t tell because it was another ring sitting right beside it.

  Leigh face lit up as she saw the salesmen get the key and open up the jewelry case and pick out the ring that she was just lusting over. She turned around and looked at Killian and he smiled at her. Leigh held her hand out as the salesman slipped it on her ring finger. It was a perfect fit. She turned around and grabbed Killian and started jumping up and down. Then she stopped. “Are you playing some sick joke?”

  “Nawl ma, I ain’t playing. This ring is just a lil’ token of my affection.” He told the salesman to ring it up.

  “Sir, I didn’t even tell you the price. But it is on sale with twenty percent off the ticketed price.”

  Leigh turned the ring around and looked at the price tag on it. The ring was over fifty-six hundred dollars. She began to take it off because she knew he wasn’t going to spend that much on a ring even if it was on sale.

  “I don’t need to know the price. Just ring it up. And I will be paying for it with this.” Killian took his wallet out of his back pocket and put his American Express charge card on the counter.

  “I will need to see your identification sir and would you like that gift wrapped.” The salesmen silently prayed that the card would be accepted because he needed the commission.

  “She will keep the ring on; just put the gift box that comes with it in a bag with the receipt.” Killian turned and faced Leigh who had tears running down her face. He brushed them away with his fingertips.

  “I love you so much. Not only are you good for me, you are good to me and my son as well. Thank you baby.” Leigh kissed Killian deeply while the salesman tried to hand the bag and the card back to them.

  Killian broke the kiss with her and held her face in his hands. “I love y’all too lil’ mama.”

  He put his license and credit card back into his wallet and slipped it back into his pocket. They walked out the store both of them floating on cloud nine. Leigh walked with Killian, looking down at her ring and all she kept hearing replaying in her mind was him saying I love y’all too. Things couldn’t get any better.

  They went into Maggianos; the lunch hour had passed so they were seated immediately. Killian’s stomach was growling. He was going to order an appetizer, a meal and dessert, he was past hungry. The waitress approached their table and he didn’t hesitate to order his appetizer and his meal. The waitress turned to Leigh who looked up from glancing at her ring and ordered the same thing. “Baby, order something different so that we can share our food.” Killian asked her.

  Leigh looked over the menu and since they both loved seafood she ordered the lump crab cakes for her appetizer and the crab and shrimp manicotti. The waitress took their order and left them alone.

  Killian reached across the table and grabbed Leigh’s hand. “What do you think about you and lil’ man moving in with me? You are there all the time anyway and when you are not there, I want you there. Most of the time it’s just y
ou and me and he is with your mom and I do not want him to think that I want you and don’t want him cause that couldn’t be farther from the truth.”

  If Leigh wasn’t already speechless, she was now. He really did love her as much as she loved him. She couldn’t stop smiling. The waitress bought their appetizer and their meal at the same time. The table was filled with food. They went around the table literally tasting everything until they both were full. Killian was full as he looked at the table that still had a lot of food on it. He decided to get it to go; he knew that after he smoked a blunt, he would be hungry again. He was ready for her to meet his dad. The waitress brought the take out containers and assisted them in cleaning their plates. Killian got up from the table, paid for the meal and left the waitress a twenty dollar tip, because he was in a good mood.

  The valet bought the car to them and they headed north up 400 to Pop-Pop’s house. Killian had texted him five minutes ago to make sure he was at home. He knew his dad is going to have a fit. He had never brought a girl home in his entire life. But after his talk with his sister, he knew that he couldn’t let her get away; Leigh was indeed a catch.

  “Wow, you grew up here?” Leigh asked in awe as they pulled through the gate and parked in front of the house in the circular driveway.

  “Kinda sorta, we moved here when I was finishing middle school. My dad had it designed and built from the ground up.” He said as he got out and went around to open the car door for her.

  Leigh was amazed at how beautiful the house was. If Killian lived like this why did he continue to hustle in the streets? It was obvious that his dad was wealthy and he was about to graduate with his bachelors. He needed do something that utilized his education. He left her standing in the foyer as she looked up at the ceiling, admiring the beautiful architecture.

  “Pop, Pop-Pop where are you at?” Killian called as he started walking into the living room.

  “Boy quit hollering in this house like that. You haven’t been trying to holler at me, I heard about what happened. I should have been the first one that you called.” Khalil descended the steps, still upset with his son because he had yet to tell him about the robbery and the shoot-out.

  Leigh was standing quietly and filled with nerves. She watched Killian’s dad as he walked in front of her toward him. They embraced. He was his spitting image.

  “Pop-Pop, there is someone that I want you to meet. Leigh, this is my father Khalil Rasheed. Dad, this is my girl Leigh.” Killian reached out his hand for Leigh to join him from behind his father.

  Khalil didn’t even notice the young lady standing there. She walked over and stood beside his son and his son was smiling. He knew that smile. The boy was in love. “It is very nice to meet you Leigh. Welcome to my home.” He walked into the den and they followed. They sat down on the sofa and he saw his son grab her hand and start to rub it.

  “Your home is simply gorgeous, the architectural detail is unbelievable. Killian said that you helped design it. Have you studied architecture?” Leigh gripped Killian’s hand tight and she felt his hand sweating. He was nervous.

  “No ma’am, I just have always loved to sketch and I had an idea about how I wanted the house to look so I drew it for him and the actual architect went from there.”

  “So this really is your dream house. Amazing!” She looked around the sunken den.

  “Leigh is an artist, she sketches and designs clothes. She is gonna start her own clothing line. She makes all of her clothes.” Killian told his dad proudly.

  Khalil saw Leigh looking at the house and he knew that she was some type of artist because she paid more attention to the structural detail. “Why don’t you take Leigh and give her a tour of the house.”

  Killian got up and grabbed Leigh’s hand so he could take her on a tour of the house.

  “Leigh I might have to leave before the end of your tour. It has been a pleasure meeting you and I look forward to seeing you again. You are the first girl that he has ever bought home so I guess this means welcome to the family. Killian don’t have sex in your bedroom please.” Khalil laughed knowing this was exactly what this son was probably going to do. He couldn’t believe it. His son was settling down.

  Killian and Leigh walked around the entire house inside and out. She had been in some big houses but it was safe to say that this was indeed a mansion. “Your dad seems really cool and he looks young too.”

  “Yeah, that’s my dude. He is my hero” Killian said as he pushed her into his bedroom.

  She laughed at him as they went into the room. “I take it this is your old bedroom that your dad said do not have sex in”

  “We are not gonna have sex. I’m gonna lay on the bed and take off your clothes and kiss you from head to toe.” He kissed her lips parting them and sticking his tongue in her mouth.

  As their tongues touched she let out a moan. It was like an electric current went through her when their tongues touched. She wanted him to stop because she couldn’t control herself when they were together. He was not going to get away with just kissing on her. “Baby stop, we can do this when we get home, you know how I am once you get me crunk. Let’s go get Kaydence and take it on in early. I got something real special for you.”

  Killian stopped because she was right; once they got started they were not going to want to stop. They walked down the steps and he headed to the keypad to set the alarm, got his keys out, locked the door and they got in the car.

  Leigh looked down at her ring and then looked at him. “Baby this has been one of the best days of my life. Thank you so much for all that you do. I loved the movie and lunch and the ring. But even if we did nothing I would have still been ecstatic because we have been together all day and that happens so few and far between because of our schedules.”

  “You’re welcome Bae.” Killian said as he answered his cell phone. It was his dad. “Yeah she is a real winner. I know you’re mad because I didn’t talk to you about what happened the other day at the spot, but I had everything under control. Honesty’s straight, she got everything back, no one got hurt and Poke is gonna get what’s coming to him, so you just relax. Got ya, yeah we need to do dinner or something so they can meet her and lil’ man. Aight then Pop.” He hung up the phone and eased onto the highway.

  “Damn look at all this traffic, it should get better once we get to two eighty-five.” Leigh reached over and turned the iPod up. Lil Wayne blasted out of the speakers.

  A tractor trailer braked in front of them and Killian pressed the brakes, they were going all the way to the floor. He continued pumping them and the car wasn’t stopping. Leigh looked over at him and he could see the panic on her face. As he got closer to the back of the truck and couldn’t stop, he swerved to prevent them from slamming into the back of the tractor trailer. He didn’t notice the car coming onto the highway from the onramp. It slammed forcefully into the passenger side as he swerved into the lane. Killian was in shock and the last thing he remembered before blacking out was Leigh’s torso twisted and the upper half of her body slumped over onto his side as the airbags deployed. Another car pushed his car back over into the flow of traffic and it was hit again on his side.

  Chapter 23: Now I’m missing you

  Honesty was nervous when she got to the club. She didn’t know how Gigi was going to react to her. She hadn't talked to her in almost a week. Honesty had been so worried about what Gigi was gonna say when she found out that she had been robbed and shot at. She doubted herself, so the last thing she wanted to hear was someone lecturing her about how she wasn’t cut out for this business. The club had a nice crowd for it to be just after six p.m. It was made up of mostly working professionals that came to enjoy happy hour. T.I. pumped through the speakers as the girls walked around giving dances to guys in business suits and button downs and ties. Honesty stopped at the bar and ordered a shot of Patron. It burned like hell as she threw the clear liquid down her throat and set the shot back on the bar. She didn’t really drink but she felt that she w
as going to need some liquid courage to face Gigi. One of the guards walked by and she got his attention and asked was Gigi here. He told her that she was upstairs in her office. She looked in the direction of one of the cameras. Honesty knew that Gigi had seen her soon as she hit the door. As she sat at the bar tempted to order another shot of Patron, Concrete walked up behind her and scared her as he tapped her on the shoulder and told her that Gigi wanted her upstairs.

  They got on the elevator and she didn’t say anything to Concrete but she hardly ever said anything to him anyway. He broke the silence, “How have you been doing?”

  Honesty looked at him and smiled. “I’m doing a lot better now.”

  “That’s good, you have been missed.” The elevator opened and Concrete followed Honesty to Gigi’s office.

  Honesty took a deep breath and knocked on the door lightly.

  “Come in.” Gigi said from behind her desk. She had been missing Honesty so much, but she wasn’t going to show it. After calling and texting her for three days straight, she got the idea and laid off.