Ain't Nothing To It, Real One Aint Nothing To It, Boss

Normani

I clapped my hand over my mouth to keep from putting that disrespectful bastard in his place. I couldn't blame Gladys for keeping her distance from anything Malone related and now I was wondering what Nicole was doing with him. For all of my offense, Gladys was the exact opposite; she shrugged off his harsh words and asked, "What the fuck do you want, Malone?"

"Urban sent me here to get some paperwork from you. He said something about a timesheet and some other stuff for the bank."

"Funny...Uriah always comes to grab any important paperwork himself. Or he sends Koi. Tell me the truth: what are you doing here?" Gladys demanded, placing her hands on her hips, making sure Malone got a glimpse of her gun.

Malone sucked his teeth. "Like I said: he sent me here to pick up some paperwork. Why the fuck else would I come here unless somebody made me? If you don't believe me, give Urban a call and let him tell you."

"That's exactly what I plan on doing..."

Gladys' house slippers slapped the floor as she retreated down the hall to call Urban. I started busying myself in the kitchen, staring at the meat in the freezer, deciding what I wanted to make for dinner. There was a shift in the hallway and saw Malone post up in the kitchen doorway, eyeing my like I was a piece of meat.

"Mmmm...Urban don went and got him a PYT. How old are you, baby girl?"

I cut my eyes at him. "Old enough to be your daughter. You know, considering that my mother is your girlfriend and everything."

"I never said I was checking for you or anything," Malone said, holding his hands up in the air. "Just wanted to make some small talk while my grandmother went to make a call. You been here a couple months, right? I would've came by and met you except me and your mother aren't on the best terms right now. She still a little mad about some shit that went down around the time you got here."

"What? You don't know how to talk to her either>"

Malone's jaw set and I could tell that he didn't like me getting on him for his behavior, but I wasn't going to kiss up to him. Never that. He rose from the doorway and took two steps towards me and when those didn't faze me he took two more, stopping a couple feet away from me.

"I don't take kindly to disrespect, little girl. Your mother can tell you as much. I don't give a fuck how much of my brother's dick you swallow—watch how you talk to me or else."

"Or else what?"

He placed his hand against the refrigerator with a slap hard enough to shake me on the inside. Leaning in close enough that our noses nearly touched, he said, "You gon find out why I got the most lethal hands in Brooklyn."

I opened my mouth to tell Malone that he could take his lethal hands and use them to stroke his prostate when his phone started ringing. With one last withering stare, he walked away, connecting the call as he arrived at his original spot.

"Talk to me...I'm out handling some business...is it that important? Aight, I'll be there in a few minutes." In a lower voice, he said, "Watch how the fuck you talk to me. That...shit don't mean nothing to a street nigga."

Malone poked his head back into the kitchen, peering at me as if to see how much I heard. I was quick on my feet, stuffing my head in the freezer and picking through the meats. I could see him advancing on me, probably to slam it repeatedly on my neck, and was saved by that familiar sound of Gladys' house shoes.

"You got lucky this time. Urban said Koi was busy handling some business so he decided to send his third in command..." She stopped at the sight of him close to the doorway and me pulling my head from the freezer. "Malone," she said, holding the files out to him without taking her eyes off of me. "Take the paperwork and get the fuck out of my house."