Chapter 16

16

E njell

I wasn't sure why Gino's mom was blowing me up. When we were together, she barely called me. We had a good time when we were in the same space, but we didn't have the kind of relationship where we talked on the phone. I figured something must have happened, so I decided I would call her when I took a break from cooking and prepping.

The good thing about the influx in my clientele was it allowed me to have a nice chunk of money upfront. Malaysia and Dallas were helping me until I got an actual staff in place, and they weren't willing to accept any money for it. I did, however, pay for their hair to be done in advance, which was around the same price that I would have paid for a week's worth of work.

I let them know I was about to take a quick break before stepping outside to return Gina's calls. At that point, I noticed she'd sent me a text with an attachment. It was a picture of Gino… badly beaten.

"Oh my God." The hurt and concern I felt was genuine, but it wasn't as deep as it would have been if we were on better terms. I felt bad that he'd been hurt, but it also seemed like karma. Lately, Gino had been making a lot of selfish choices without concern for who it affected. Had he done the same to someone who wasn't as willing to let it go as I was?

I called Gina immediately for more information on what had happened to him.

"Hello?" she answered with an attitude.

"Hey, Gina. What's going on?"

"Did you see the picture I sent to you of my son?"

"Yes, but I'm not sure why you're sending it to me. We aren't together anymore."

"I sent it to you because your thug of a boyfriend did that to Gino."

I couldn't respond to what she'd said immediately. I hadn't seen Dejvi for two days, but I was pretty sure he was in Memphis. Besides, he didn't even know where Gino was in Virginia, so there was no way he was responsible for that.

"I'm sorry that Gino got into a fight but—"

Her laughter silenced me. "It wasn't a fight; it was an attack."

"Was it, or did he just fight someone and lose?"

She breathed deeply into the phone before releasing a low, sinister laugh. "I'm not about to go back and forth with you, Enjell. I'm telling you your boyfriend attacked my son."

I didn't feel the need to tell her Dejvi wasn't my boyfriend, but I did feel the need to protect him. "Dejvi had nothing to do with what happened. If that's why you're calling me repeatedly, we can end this conversation now."

"For some reason, Gino does not want to press charges. He does, however, need to be compensated. Because of the extensive damage done to his body and face, he will not be able to work for a while. Tell your boyfriend to pay up, or I'll be pressing charges against him myself ."

She disconnected the call, and for a while, I just stood there. Clearly, Gino had said something to make her think Dejvi was responsible for this. Instead of calling him, I FaceTimed Dejvi. When he answered, I could tell he was walking somewhere.

"Hey, beautiful." He greeted me with that sexy smile of his. His locs were pulled up into a bun, just the way I liked them.

"Hey, bae. You busy?"

"Nah. Just doing a pickup at the parking lot. Wassup?"

"Gino was attacked, and his mama thinks you did it. Is there a reason why she thinks that?"

He stopped walking. His smile dropped before it formed again. I heard Aspen in the background saying, "Ooh, you finna get in trouble ."

Dejvi lowered the phone and demanded through gritted teeth, "Shut up, lil snitch," in a whisper, but I could still hear him over the wind.

If this wasn't such a serious matter, I would have laughed at their exchange.

"I ain't snitched yet, but I will if you keep fucking with me!"

There was a slight shuffle in the background before Dejvi's face returned to the camera. I shook my head and chuckled as he smiled and fixed his shirt that Aspen had probably grabbed to push him away.

"Y'all act like seven-year-olds," I said. "But now I have less faith you weren't involved in whatever happened to Gino. What did you do?"

He massaged his chin. "I got his location and went to Virginia to beat his ass."

Between his blank expression and nonchalant tone, I was at a loss. " Why , V?"

"Fuck you mean why? He did you wrong."

"I won't deny that, but do you really think violence was the answer?"

He shrugged. "Maybe not, but it made me feel better, and now he knows to never do some shit like that to a woman again. He will also be calling you to apologize when he's out of the hospital and asking how he can make amends. That part is up to you."

I massaged my temples as my head throbbed. "Is this what I have to look forward to? You beating up people that do me wrong?"

"Pretty much," Aspen said in the background. "And if he don't, I will."

Chuckling, I nibbled my bottom lip as my eyes watered. That was something I'd never ask either of them to do, but it felt good to know they had my back.

"Thank you, baby, and baby brother. She's saying you have to pay him because he can't work."

Dejvi's face morphed into a frown before they both laughed. "I ain't payin' his ass shit . If he didn't want to get beat the fuck up, he should have learned how to better defend himself and treat people right. He knows not to go to the police, and he probably ain't the one asking for money. If he can't work, that's probably her way of trying to take care of him. That's not my concern, and it isn't yours either. If he loses his job and can't pay his bills, it would serve him right for the predicament he put you in. Don't send that woman no money for him, and if she starts to harass you, let me know."

"We beat up old people too," Aspen said, making me laugh.

"You will not lay a hand on her, Aspen Meyer James!"

"I won't, but her husband ain't off limits."

Cackling, I shook my head and started toward the front door. "I can't with y'all. Get off my phone."

As they both told me goodbye, I disconnected with a smile. Those two were something else.