SugarCOAT

87. Take the Wheel 🛺

"Don't you have a driver?" I asked with my mouth full.

Deonte sat in the driver's seat of his Land Rover. "I do, but that's only for special occasions. Tell me this. How are you wanting me to feed you when you over there eating nachos?"

I took another bite of the beef enchilada nachos that Bridgette made me for lunch. I held my bowl out to him. "You want some?"

"As good as they look and smell, I have a taste for something else."

"Like what?" I looked out the passenger's window.

"A homecooked meal."

I shook my head. "This is a homecooked meal, made by Zeke's chef. Her and my mama's home cooking is the absolute best. If it ain't their food, I'm not interested."

Deonte chuckled, "When I say home cooking, I'm referring to my family. My sister is a chef."

I leaned backwards. "You have a sister?"

"Two."

"Two sisters? I thought you were an only child."

"I have an older brother and two younger sisters."

You learn something new every day. I asked him, "Do they live in L.A., too?"

Deonte turned on his signal. "We stay in the same building. Our mom lives there, too."

"Aww that sounds like a lot of fun." I immediately thought of my family. How would it be if we all lived in one building or the same big house? I shook my head as I thought about Monica. She would need a separate house.

"It is, honestly. I'll have to introduce you to them one day." Deonte made a left turn and continued to drive.

Then, I noticed that he passed the street to the Rivers' house.

Deonte said, "We're not lost. I've been to Zeke's house too many times in the past."

"You know a back way?" I asked him.

"I know the shortcut," Deonte turned down what looked like an alley, but it wasn't. 

There were brick walls on both sides. Then, there was a gate in front of us. Deonte rolled down his window and put in a gate code. The gate opened. He drove through it to get to a large greenery wall which I now know is fake. He drove around it to come upon several empty parking spaces. Ahead you could see a set of stairs that led up to Zeke's house. Deonte parked his car.

"Is this what the back of Zeke's house looks like?" I quickly finished my nachos before getting out of the car.

Deonte got out as well. "You've never been back here before?"

"No, and I see why. Who is gonna walk up all those stairs?" I pointed at the hill of steps ahead of us.

Deonte walked around his car, laughing. "The CRU, me, and Zeke used to take this way all the time."

I shook my head as I looked down at the ground. "Count me out." I leaned against his car.

Deonte gently grabbed my arm. "I'm not as young as I used to be, so we're not taking the stairs. We're taking the basement."

"The basement?" I questioned.

On either side of the The NeverEnding Story staircase  were concrete walls. Apparently, one was real and the other was fake. Deonte pushed on the left concrete wall and it swung open. We entered a dark underground room with lights along the pathway. There were car parts, lawn equipment, four golf carts, and two motorcycles.

"Want to drive?" Deonte asked me.

I looked at him like he was already crazy for taking me in here. 

He jumped behind the wheel of one of the golf carts. "Hop in." 

I got in the golf cart. Before I could think of how long it would take for us to make it to the house, Deonte stepped on the gas and we were flying through the basement.

"What kinda golf cart is this?" I nearly screamed.

"Not the turtle kind," Deonte replied. He shouted with excitement as he followed the path of a tunnel.

With my eyes partially closed, I felt like I was on an haunted, indoor rollercoaster. The ride was so bumpy, I almost dropped my lunchbox. 

Deonte shouted, "We're almost there!"

"Almost doesn't count!" I screamed.

Nearing complete darkness, light appeared before us like a curtain revealing a window. Deonte drove through the light and we were driving around another wall of greenery. Finally, he parked the golf cart in front of the patio. "Woo! Now that was fun," he exclaimed.

"I'm convinced you took that way just so you could drive this thing." I got out the golf cart.

Deonte admitted, "You caught me."

"I need a break after that." I stepped onto the patio and sat on the checkered furniture, putting my lunchbox on top of the wicker table.

"Jae A.B., it was my pleasure taking you home. I'll see you tomorrow."

I stood up. "Hold on, sir! You still owe me a meal."

"I didn't forget," Deonte continued, "I'll pay up tomorrow. See you in a few hours."

"Bye, Deonte!" I waved at him.

He winked at me before starting up the golf cart and circling around the greenery. I quickly got chased after him to see another faux greenery wall open. Deonte went through it. It was the same one we had came through to get here. The longer I stay in this house, the more eager I am to leave. What is up with all these secret doors and passages? He's gonna owe me more than one meal for that scary ride.

I turned around to go back to the house. I grabbed the lunchbox and went through the back door to the short corridor. My phone vibrated in my pocket. I glanced at it to see that I had two texts from Colby.

Colby: Next week on Tuesday, you have a meeting with Ricky. 

Colby: It'll be after your team meeting. 

Me: Is this a end-of-year meeting?

Colby: Yes and no

I rolled my eyes as I went to the kitchen to leave the lunchbox. I slowly walked to my bedroom, took a shower, and got ready for bed. Although it was early, I had to be up extra early for tomorrow's live TV performance.

Before closing my eyes, I thought about Deonte Way and how different he was from other celebrities. Ever since I met him, I haven't seen him not smile. Being around him is infectious. You can't help but to have a good mood. I wonder if he's always been like that. It probably helps that his family is around, too. I sighed as I tried not to think about my family for the umpteenth time today. Suddenly, I couldn't tell if I was actually sleeping or dreaming of sleeping.