Lighter Shade of Brown (Urban Fiction) BWHM

Chapter 3 Part 2

C's backed up off her a little, his expression guarded, while still keeping her enfolded in a loose hold. His silence made her nervous. Had she been too bold by letting him in this soon? Given out too much truth about herself, more than he actually wanted to handle. Yeah, she knew she was young, but her soul and mind was three times her physical age. Growing up trife in the Ninth with Liberty as a mother didn't allow for much of a childhood or playtime. She had to be mentally on a higher level than the sharks that swam around her on a daily basis. Predators didn't see age, all they saw was meat.

"Look baby-," C's opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by a tap on the driver's side window.

Cleo rolled her eyes, releasing a harassed sigh. Liberty stood on C's side of the car with her arms folded, while a cigarette dangled from between her brown stained fingers. Damn. Why couldn't Liberty mind her on business at least half of the time?

"You know her?" C's asked, while shoving a hand in his pants.

Cleo scrunched her face up like she smelled something foul. "Yeah. That's Liberty."

"Your moms." He pulled his hand from his windbreaker pants. Settling back into his slouch, he lowered the window. When the window was down halfway, C's plastered an innocent grin across his face. Liberty tooted her lips up in response, letting him know off rip she wasn't buying anything his, golden brown sexy self was selling. "Que pasa?"

"You tell me what's up, Ese? Where the hell you think you taking my daughter?" Liberty crouched down until she was eye level with C's.

C's laughed and held up is hands in defense. "Nowhere crazy."

"Um hmm." Liberty nodded, while her expression declared she didn't believe not even a letter of what he'd said.

"For real." He flashed another all white smile. "We were just going to bend a few corners. If that's okay with you." He added when Liberty shifted her weight to one foot and planted a hand on her hip. "I promise I'll bring her back safe and sound."

Liberty's gaze narrowed. "Get the fuck out of here. Like you did last time?" Liberty smacked her lips, while waving a hand to swat his words back at him. "My baby looked like she went ten rounds with Roy Jones Jr."

"Sorry about that." C's expression changed to one of contrition, his hand slid across the seat to cover hers in a silent apology. "I promise you that won't happen again. Not while she's with me." The muscle in his jaw twitched.

She tore her gaze from him to look at Liberty. "Can I go?"

"Wait a minute, damn." Liberty drilled her with a look that said, shut the hell up. She then returned her gaze to C's. "I'm assuming you from the Circle, huh?"

"Born and bred." He agreed, pounding his chest with a fist.

"Um hmm. I know lil' something, something about how y'all get down out there." Liberty straightened from her crouch and dropped her cigarette. After she stomped out the waning blaze her glare swung back to C's. "So who yo' peoples in case I have to come through and set shit off? Humph. With that big ass kool-aid smile, I bet you Mateo's seed."

C's sat up in his seat, all humour and charm quickly disappearing from his features. "You knew my padre?"

A slow smirk eased across Liberty's lips as she held her hand up to study her fingernails. "Didn't I just say I know a little something, something about yo' block? I ain't playin' with you, hombre. If my girl roll out with you, then yo' ass better bring her back the same way she left here. 'Cause if she come back looking all jacked like she did the last time...," she let her voice trail of for emphasis, while leveling him with a cold empty glare, that Cleo had never seen before. "I'ma come through and light that bitch up like its New Year's-fuckin'-Eve. Comprende papi? And if you still not feeling me, you better ask Bruno and Alejandro how the fuck I get down."