My Convict

17 - Part Two

+Brandy 

It was raining again by the time I woke up. The droplets of water tap hard against the windows in my room. The noise is enough to annoy me. There are no sunny skies, only dark grey clouds and the wind picking up speed. 

Clear signs that the hurricane was near. 

Glancing at the clock on my nightstand, it takes a lot of courage for me not to scream out loud. It was only seven in the morning, meaning I only got four hours of sleep. 

Sitting up on my bed, I turn over to my side to glance at a sleeping Yonnie. She looked so peaceful when she slept, even though she was drooling all over my pillow. She had on my other bonnet, which barely even stayed on her head but she made it work. While she was asleep, it'd be so close to coming off, but she'd always pull it up just before it had the chance to slip off.

Turning to my side, I reach into my nightstand dresser and pull out my handcuffs. I've had them ever since I started working at the strip club back at home. Shanelle had gifted it to me, claiming it was a welcoming gift. 

Taking the handcuffs, I place Yonnie's right hand into them and lock it up. Not tight enough to cut off her circulation, but tight enough so she wouldn't be able to slip out of them. I then handcuff the empty one to my metal bed frame. Grabbing my phone, I send a quick text to Niah asking her to come over. 

Niah is the first openly gay woman, working at my shop and also the first woman to... intrigue me. She's beautiful, tough, hard-working, and dedicated, which is why I know she'll be perfect at looking after Yonnie for me. She'll be hard on her, and that's exactly what Yonnie needs right now. 

Or else, she'll never get clean. 

Getting out of bed and wrapping my silk red robe around my body, I first do my morning hygiene and then afterward make my way downstairs to the kitchen. There wasn't really much edible food in the fridge, but there was plenty of hurricane food in the garage from some years back. Water included, though I should check to make sure there's still more flashlights sitting around here. 

Since there wasn't much here, I've decided to make some pancakes and eggs. 

No Bacon. 

I wasn't a fan of pork or anything related to it.

It's a disgusting thing to eat. I'm not even sure how people eat chitterlings. The origin of chitterlings is and will always be inspirational, but I could never find myself eating it. The smell is just really disturbing. My mother used to try and force me to eat it as a kid and I'd always throw it up. 

It was just something I didn't have the stomach to eat.

After a few minutes of gathering everything, I begin with making the pancakes first, since they took the longest to make. Instead of making traditional American pancakes, I'd be making African pancakes because I haven't made it in a while and I've been craving it. 

Taking three brown eggs, I cracked them and put them inside of my favorite bowl. After pouring some milk in the bowl, I begin to beat them together with a mixer until everything has been incorporated. Adding in some melted butter and some powder cinnamon, I stir it again and then let the batter rest. 

The knocking at the door pulls my attention away from the eggs that were about to get seasoned. "Who is it?" I question when I'm near the door. 

"Look in the peek hole and find out." A sarcastic voice says. Recognizing the voice, I open the door wide and smile up at Niah. The first thing that catches my attention is her mahogany skin. It was so shiny and wet due to the rain. 

It looked so healthy. 

The second thing that caught my attention was her body. 

She had a body to die for. 

One thing about Niah was that she was a health freak. She always works out and eats healthy. Nothing fake would ever make it past her. Don't get me wrong, it was a good thing that she took care of herself but, sometimes it would get annoying. For example, she's that one friend that will always criticize you to death on what you cook and how you cook it. 

"Girl, invite me in already. My hair is getting wet!" She shrieked. 

Rolling my eyes, I step aside and let her in. "Good morning to you too," I say, closing and locking the door. She closes her umbrella and sets it near the front door. "I'm surprised you came here so early." 

She takes off her red puma sneakers and puts them near the other shoes. She shrugs. "Well, you did say come as soon as I'm free. And it just so happened that I was around the neighborhood. So here I am." She crosses her arms and raises her eyebrows. "What's the favor?" 

My eyes avert to the opening of my stairs, before reverting back to her dark brown eyes. "Let's talk in the kitchen." She nods and follows me back there. She makes herself comfortable on my counter. Her legs start to dangle around and my heart pounds at the small gesture. "Yonnie is upstairs... she relapsed." 

Niah gasps. "Oh my lord really, that's so... perfect." She says, placing a hand on her chest. I looked at her confused, trying to figure out how in the world that was perfect. "It was just last night I was dreaming about the fifty dollars she stole from me, and now I can finally beat her ass and get it back." 

My head shakes. "Do you really think that a person who relapsed just yesterday is gonna have any type of money on them?" I question, turning around to add some black pepper and salt into the eggs. 

She sighs. "You have a point, but she still owes me my money and I'm still gonna whoop her ass for it." She tilts her head to the side to get a good look at the eggs. "Are you using organic brown eggs?" She questions, knowingly. "My God, it's a miracle." Her eyes widened. "Is that sea salt I see?" She asks as she stares at the things seated on my counter. "Oh, you're good. You're really good. You're trying to bribe me with organic ass breakfast so I can do you whatever this favor is." 

I smirk at her. "I knew your tall self would catch on." 

She tilts her head. "This must be one hell of a favor." 

"It is. I'm going out of town tonight, and I need you to keep an eye on Yonnie for a few days since she's detoxing. She won't be a problem, you have my word." 

Niah's face scrunches up. "Do I look like a babysitter to you?" She questions, looking at me like I've lost my mind. "I don't even watch my sister's kids, what the f**k I look like watching a grown-ass lady? And why are you leaving town?" 

My eyes roll. "Not that it's any of your business, but I've got an important meeting tomorrow with a property manager. I'm trying to open a new store down south." Lie. Well partial, lie. I do have an upcoming meeting with a property manager, just not tomorrow. "And pretty please, you know I'm good for it. I'll add a bonus to your paycheck and pay you back the money Yonnie owes you. Hell, I'll even give you more time off." 

Niah looks up at the ceiling as if in thought. "I'll do it but only if you tell me the truth on why those three bitches, including yourself, haven't been at the shop lately. Almost two weeks if you wanna be technical but ain't nobody counting. You left that b***h Tiny in charge and she's been getting on my last nerves ever since. Like this hoe really had the nerves to tell me, that I don't know how to glue on a lace front. Like b***h, I've been gluing lace fronts, ever since lace fronts became a thing." 

I chuckle. "Well, now you know how it feels when you tell someone they don't know how to cook." 

She rolls her eyes. "Girl, get out your feelings. You know damn well you don't know how to cook." She hops off the counter. "Matter of fact, move. I'll cook the eggs so you don't mess it up."

I don't argue with her. Hell, at least now I don't have to hear her criticizing me about how they turned out. "Savannah has been interning for me these couple of weeks, she's trying to get into the business field and I'm helping her with that." Lie. "Mia is going through some things that you don't need to know about." Lie, but then again not really. "And Michelle... she's doing this whole college view s**t, as far as I know." Another lie. 

I'm on a roll this week. 

At this point, I'm sure there's a bed in hell with my name on it. 

Niah stares at me with raised eyebrows as she turns on the stove. "So basically, bullshit, with a little bit of more bullshit, and then finally a load of... bullshit." She concludes, shaking her head. "Jeez, even my nephews can lie better than that." 

I place my hands on my hips, trying to look serious. "I'm for real, Niah. It's the truth." 

"Oop, there you go with the bullshit again." She says laughing. "Even though you're filling my ears with bullshit right now, I'll babysit Yonnie for you till you come back." 

I smile wide. "Oh thank goddess, I thought I was gonna have to call Tiny for a moment there," I tell her, hugging her side. My arms accidentally push up her breast and my eyes find themselves staring hard. That warm feeling was in the pit of my stomach again. 

She gives me a straight face. "Yeah, yeah. Just make sure you got my money by the end of the week." 

Playfully smacking her big butt, I placed a kiss on her cheek. "Sure thing, Pooh." I don't miss the look of yearning in her eyes as she gives me a light smile. Usually, I'd make a joke about it, saying something like, "Look at you checking me out," but I pretend not to see it. 

I'm not trying to lead her on. 

Though I'd be lying to myself if I ever did say that I wasn't curious to know what it was like to be with a woman... to be with Niah. 

From what I've heard from the ladies and customers at the shop, she's very memorable... if you know what I mean.

"What was that?" I asked her, my eyes looking away from her lips and focusing back on her dark eyes. We're so close that the sweet smell of her perfume invades my nose. I'm still hugging her side. 

"I've got this. Go check on Yonnie." Niah says, with a smirk on her face. That damn smirk. "There was a noise upstairs, she's probably awake." 

My arms unwrap themselves from her body. "Yeah, right. Sorry, totally tuned out for a moment there." I say, backing away. "I'll go check on her." 

Niah chuckles. "Well go on then, you're still here." 

I nervously chuckle. "Right." Before running up the stairs. Walking into my bedroom, my heart finally slows down. 

"What the f**k is this?!" Yonnie yells angrily. Yanking her hands from handcuffs. "What the hell Brandy!"

"Hey, calm down! It's just a precaution to make sure you stay here." She stops moving, even relaxing a little. "I know it may seem a little extra, but as of right now it's the best solution I've got. You can't get mad at this, you're the one who agreed to do it my way."

She takes a deep breath. "And what about the hurricane that's coming?"

I move forward, taking a seat near the edge of my bed. "You'll be fine. Everything that you and Niah will need is in the basement." 

Her eyebrows raise worriedly. "Niah? You mean the same Niah I owe money? The same Niah who ran after me with a whole bat? Why the heck is she here? That woman is crazy, she's gonna beat my ass and I'm gonna lose. Brandy you know I can't fight." She stresses. 

"Yonnie, girl relax. She's not gonna beat your ass... unless you give her a reason too. I'm gonna be gone for a few days because there's some stuff I've got to handle. So, Niah is gonna watch over you while I'm gone."

She pouts. "Why her though? You couldn't find anyone... nicer?" She questions. 

"No, I couldn't and in your condition, you're gonna need someone who is mean. Which is why I chose her."

"You also kinda like her," Yonnie comments loudly. "That's another reason why you chose her." 

I glare at her. "No, it's not, I don't like her... in that way." Lie. Satan's having a field day down there. "We're friends." 

Yonnie sits up on the bed. "Can't bullshit a bullshitter Brandy. It's obvious that you like her. Hell, who wouldn't. Her ass is fat. No-Homo, but if I was into girls I'd probably let her hit." 

A laugh erupts from my mouth. "I physically can't stand you sometimes. You do know that right? And people can't say No-Homo anymore. It's offensive towards the l***q community." 

Yonnie rolls her eyes. "No, it's not." 

"Girl, yes it is." 

"Okay, let's find out. Niah!" She yells out. "Niah, get up here!" 

"Why the f**k are you calling her over here?!" I whisper yell. 

Yonnie gives me an obvious look. "To ask her, duh." 

Niah's footsteps can be heard as they run up the stairs. After a couple of seconds, she finds my room. She glares down at Yonnie. "Girl, me and you are not friends for you to be calling me like that." She walks closer and takes a seat on the other side of the bed. "Almost gave me a damn heart attack." 

"My fault." Yonnie quickly says. "But is it cool if I ask you a personal question?" 

Niah nods. "It's cool, I guess. But if it's something stupid, I'm slapping you." 

Yonnie smiles. "So, as a gay black woman does it bother you when someone says No-Homo?" She questions.

Niah shakes her head. "It honestly doesn't. I've never been offended by it, nor have any of my poc friends. It's really ever white gays that have a problem with the word. Not that there's not any poc that aren't offended by it but, in general, I've only ever seen white gays get mad when the word is used." She answers unbothered. 

"What do you mean?" This time it was me who asked. I was honestly confused by this. 

"Well for starters, People of color and white people's attitudes have different roots when it comes down to being gay. Meaning only certain slurs are offensive towards people. For example, you could call me a Dyke and I wouldn't be offended. But if you called someone else in my community, who is white the same word, they would most definitely get offended."

"That kinda makes sense."

She nods. "Mmh, it's crazy how everything is so complicated in our community. Compared to White gays, People of color are economically and socially disadvantaged. Which if you remove s****l orientation out of the equation, it is pretty much how society is today with everyone who isn't white." She explains. "All communities struggle in some way with race, and with the people from my community, it's no different. l***q rights are whitewashed and so is Pride month. It's often felt like a white, gay-centered event. Because of their white gay privilege, they sometimes think that they're in charge of everything."

"How so?" 

"For instance, during 2017 Philly Pride, the attempt was made to add a black and brown stripe to the rainbow flag. But the thought was quickly shut down by angry white gay men, who felt the flag represented unity despite skin color. And there's also the "Stonewall" movie incident. They pushed aside the fact that leaders like Marsha P Johnson, Stormé DeLarverie, Miss Major and several other Black transgender and queer people were on the front line for those six nights in the summer of 1969 and substituted a masculine white gay man as the protagonist who threw the first brick." 

Yonnie blinks. "So moral of the story is, no matter what s****l orientation you go by or community you associate yourself with. If you're a poc, you will always have to deal with, Race, Racism, and injustice." 

Niah nods. "Yup, pretty much." She stands up and looks down at me. "We've got pancakes to make." 

"Go ahead and start, I'll be down in a sec." She nods, before stepping out of the room. "After breakfast, I'll be leaving. You sure you're gonna be okay?" 

"With these shits on." She shakes her risk causing the handcuffs and bed frame to collide. "And Niah being downstairs, I'll be more than fine. Promise." She smiles at me. "Make sure you tell Ej I say hi." 

"Of course." 

She nudges me with her feet. "Go on, go cook some pancakes with your little girl crush. I'm starving." 

I stand up and roll my eyes. "She isn't my girl crush." 

Yonnie sucks her teeth as I'm walking away. "Yeah right, and I'm legally blind bitch."

————

Walking into the warehouse, Elijah's loud voice echoes throughout the place. From the sound of it, they were having a meeting. 

A meeting without... me. 

I'm not sure if I should feel disrespected or just plain angry. 

Honestly, calling a whole meeting without me being here is just petty. 

Walking further inside, my eyes glance at a still sleeping Elliot. It made sense that he wasn't up yet, seeing as it was still pretty early in the morning. 

Savannah is the first to notice me in the corner. "Oh look, it's Brandy. The person that should've definitely been involved in this meeting, just like I said before this whole thing started." She says loudly. 

The room falls into an awkward silence. Elijah's cold eyes glare at me and I do the same, not backing down. "At least someone here has some type of common sense. Thanks for the backup, Savannah. I appreciate it. It's good to know that some people still have my back." 

Mia raises her hand in surrender. "Hey, I was against the meeting starting without you too. Your boyfriend here is very stubborn." 

"He's not my boyfriend!" I yell, sounding like a child. Handing Savannah the bag in my hand, I glare at Michelle. She glares right back at me. "Have some breakfast Sav, Niah helped me make them." 

Savannah quickly accepts the bag at the sound of Niah's name. "Oh hell yeah, this about to be good."

"Can we talk." Elijah's deep voice asks, making the hair on my body stand. 

"I don't know, can we?" I remark, with an attitude.

He chuckles darkly, biting down on his lips. "You really wanna make a scene right now? While Ej is asleep." 

My fistball up. "You know what, you're right. Let's go outside so I can curse you out freely." Elijah balls up his fist and storms out the back door. I look down at Savannah and hand her the other bag in my hand. "Hold this, don't eat it. It's for Ej." 

"Mmh." She mumbles, digging into her food. "Go beat his ass girl." 

Mia sighs. "Savannah, don't encourage her."

"Shut up Mia." She hisses. Ignoring their back and forth, I storm off to find Elijah. Stepping outside, the sound of thunder causes me to jump. The noise caught me off guard. 

"What the f**k was that?" Elijah questions angrily, as the back door closes. He forcefully grabs onto my wrist and pushes me against the wall, causing my head to hit it.

I push him back, anger coursing through my body. "Don't f*****g touch me you asshole!" I shout. "What the f**k is your problem?!"

"My problem?!" He shouts, getting in my face again. "My problem is that you don't know when to f*****g listen. It's f*****g irritating. Jesus, how do you have a kid and act like a f*****g toddler! Grow up, Brandy! It's not that hard." He gets closer. "Then you have the nerves to storm up in here and disrespect me in front of everyone! Do you not know who I am! I could f*****g kill him." My eyes darken at the sound of that. Lifting up my hand to smack him, he catches my wrist just inches away from his face. "Don't you f*****g dare!" 

"Have you lost your damn rabbit ass mind! Let's get one thing straight here Elijah. I don't give a f**k about who you are or what the f**k you could do to me! If you ever and I mean ever threaten me again, I'll have you wishing that you knew who the f**k I was from the start!" I shout back. "You may scare everyone here but baby your b***h ass don't scare me. I'm not the f*****g one. Let's not forget, that the only reason why you're here right now, is because I'm putting my neck on the line for you. If it wasn't for me, you'd still be hiding out trying to figure this whole s**t out." Removing my hand from his grasp, my other hand comes up and collides with his facing, making a loud echoing sound. Elijah touches his right cheek in shock, his eyes glaring into mine. "I'm many things Elijah, but your b***h isn't one of them. Come correct when talking to me!"

It was wrong on my end to put my hands on him. 

But sometimes... s**t happens. And I'm prepared to deal with it. 

Even if that means getting hit back. 

They always hit back.

Issac did, even though he hit first and Elijah will too. But in self-defense. 

Because that's how men are. 

For a moment it's like everything went completely quiet. Elijah's fingers were still touching his now redden face. And as he stands there, trying to put together what just happened, I'm wondering what his next move will be. 

He's definitely going to hit back. 

Suddenly a warm hand wraps itself around my throat, smashing my body further into the warehouse walls. His palm pressed against my throat, making my esophagus feel as if it was closing up. His blue eyes are narrowed as he stares down at me, both our chest rising and falling at the same pace. "Hit me back," I demand stupidly. But he does nothing. I gulp and then repeat myself. "I said hit me back!" 

"No." He says and it's enough to cause my body to halt. "Who the f**k hurt you so badly?" He questions tilting his head to the side. "That has you thinking I'd ever hit you back because of some baby ass slap?" 

Issac.

"Get off me." Is what I end up saying instead. 

His grip on my neck loosens, but he still keeps me in place. "I'm sorry." He apologizes. "For insulting you and saying all those shitty things. You didn't deserve that." Inhaling a deep breath, his hand leaves my neck and falls to his side. "I'm not good at this shit... explaining how I feel. Emotions are... complicated to me. Yesterday night, when you went after your friend. My heartfelt like it was sinking to the bottom of my stomach. For the first time in a very long time, you had me worried. Very, very worried." He starts pacing around the place. The rain was clearing up a little. "You mean a lot to me Brandy and last night you could've gotten hurt. It felt like you chose a stranger over me... over the family. I know your heart was in the right place, but that's how you made me feel." 

I release a breath. "I'm only sorry for hitting you, Elijah," I say truthfully. "And what part of Yonnie is family to me are you not understanding." Tears well in my eyes. "Helping people, it's what I've always done, what I'm good at and what I'll continue to always do. And if you can't live with that, then I don't know what to tell you. Because I'm not changing Elijah." 

"... I understand." He replies.

"Do you? Do you really or are you just saying that?"

"I understand Brandy." He says, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Really, I do. You've got a big heart and that's one of the things that I like about you the most. Just be careful." 

"Most definitely," I reply back. Truthfully there was so much more that I wanted to say, but I couldn't find the guts to tell him right now. For one, he needed to know about Issac and the bounty on my head as well as Elliot's. He also needed to know that Mia is currently pregnant, but then again that's not really in my place to tell him. "Anything else?" 

He shakes his head no, but it's clear that it's a lie. This man was just as bad of a liar than I was. "Nothing at all." He clears his throat. "Let's just get back to the meeting. We've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow." 

"We good?" 

Elijah shrugs, before saying, "Yeah. We're good, Brandy."

He turns his back around to leave, but I quickly stop him. "Tomorrow, after all of this is done. Can we just talk? And have a real one on one conversation, with no bullshiting." I ask. "There are some things I've got to tell you... things you need to know." 

He eyes me. "No bullshitting?" He questions.

"No bullshitting. I promise." 

He nods. "Okay then, yeah. I'm in." He walks back inside, leaving me to myself. 

I stand outside for a while, looking up at the grey clouds, hoping that tomorrow goes well. For all our sakes.