Tuesday: 5:25 P. M.
-----------------------------------
LUCAS ❤️: I'm downstairs.
My heart skips a beat as I read the text.
Drowning out the conversation between Alicia, Dale, and Spencer, who've all congregated beside me, I click on reply.
They've been discussing the fire, every chance they get, since yesterday, and, to be frank, it's slowly becoming a bore.
ME: OK. I'm coming down now.
I stand, tucking my phone into my skirt pocket, picking up both my gym bag and my always-so-heavy handbag. "Guys, mi a cut now eno. So, it's tomorrow business again, if life spares."
Alicia reclines in her seat. "OK. Miself ago get ready yah now, too."
It's minutes past five so it's odd that she was still here, at this time, to begin with.
Dale stands and stretches while Spencer says, "Aite. Mek mi help carry yuh bag fi yuh yawh, browning."
After powering off my machine, I hand my handbag to him and turn on my heel, heading through the door with him and Dale chatting and laughing behind me.
When I get outside, Lucas' van is nowhere to be found.
So how him say him deh down here?
I sigh, pulling out my phone and opening his chat.
ME: Hey, where are you parked? I don't see the van.
The sound of a horn brings my attention to the crisp silver BMW parked along the curb, across the street.
"Yo, tha one deh clean eeh?" Dale says, looking at the car as well.
Spencer nods his agreement. "Money affi well tall, bredda. Gas price nuh normal pon that. Not to mention maintenance."
LUCAS ❤️: Silver Bimmer across the street from you.
My mouth forms an 'O'.
I expected the van.
"Tomorrow, guys," I say, taking my bag from Spencer and turning to walk across the street.
"Weh yah go?" he asks. "Yuh nuh drive?"
Without looking back, I shake my head telling him 'No'.
I wait for the car coming up the street to pass, before I make my way across.
"Wait, how it look like a the Bimmer a Manda ride so?" one of them, not sure which one, asks.
"A it yes," a voice I know is Spencer's says. So, it must've been Dale who'd asked. He sounded strange a while ago. "When ano Audi a Bimmer? Yo, Manda affi go teach mi her ways eno..."
"Yuh have pussy?"
"No, but mi know how fi fuck it..."
Ah boi.
Ignoring them, I walk over to the vehicle, latching onto the back door's handle when I come to a stop beside it.
A knock on the glass of the driver's window brings my attention to it.
Despite the heavy tint, I can faintly make out Lucas' hand signalling for me to go around to the passenger side.
I do.
The door opens for me from the inside and I throw my bags on the floor before sliding in.
The scent of pinewood mixed with the new car scent, and Lucas' cologne tickle my nose.
"Hey," I say, as I close the door and reach for the seat belt strap, fastening it around my body.
That's the first thing I do when I enter a car, always -- it's a habit.
"Hey," I hear Lucas mumbles lowly.
Looking over at him, I realize that his attention is focused on something through the window.
A wah him a look pon?
Leaning forward, I follow his line of sight, realising that he's staring at Spencer and Dale who're still deep in conversation.
I sigh and recline in my seat. "You OK?"
"Who dem deh?" he responds, still staring through the window.
"Really, Lucas?" I ask bewildered, taken aback by his tone. "They are my coworkers."
"A so yuh friendly with all your male coworkers?" He doesn't even spare me a glance when he says so.
Hear emphasis pon 'Male'!
Seriously?
Tell mi say a jealous this man really jealous, right now.
I frown. My mind instantly recalling what I've heard about him and Ashley. "Aren't you?"
He chuckles but it sounds dry.
A moment passes, before he peels his attention from the unassuming men outside and starts the engine. "Good Afternoon, Amanda."
Yuh know say mi convince say this man have a mental issue?
Big and serious.
"Mhm," I mutter, reclining in my seat and turning my head to look through my window as he pulls off of the curb and heads out into the late afternoon traffic, along Marcus Garvey Drive.
. . .
Traffic, in and of itself, is a nuisance.
But, right now, as it is with the tension between us, it feels as if I'm suffocating.
I shuffle in my seat again, for the umpteenth time, in the little while we've been in traffic, and sigh.
Taking covert glances at the man beside me, I can see his grip on the steering wheel tightening ever so often, but his gaze remains fixed on the road ahead.
I sigh again.
"Can you stop doing that?" his voice, low and gravelly, comes.
I look at him, feigning naivety. "What am I doing?"
"Ah, nuh worry yuh head then."
He's annoyed.
But, I don't care.
"Why did you come for me if you didn't want to then, sir?"
"So, because I asked you to stop annoying me, I didn't want to come for you?"
I adjust the seat belt. "So, I'm annoying you now?"
He chuckles. "Amanda, go easy."
"I'm not easy."
As if catching the innuendo, he shakes his head.
Clicking my tongue I say, just as sassily, "And I didn't ask you to pick me up, either."
Running a hand through his beard, he goes, "So, how yuh did plan fi reach weh yawh go?"
"Same way how I reached work this morning."
Shane had picked me up this morning since I didn't drive. My car is at the mechanic getting aligned as well as I'd asked them to check out a funny sound I heard coming from it.
He finally looks at me, quirking a brow.
Resisting the urge to smirk, I say, "Shane."
"Who?"
"Don't worry about it."
He goes silent, but I can see the cogs turning in his head. His shoulders get rigid and I can see his jaws ticking; he's grinding his teeth.
I know what that means, and it brings a smile to my lips, but I look away before he can see it.
Look how yawh set up Shane life...
"By the way, did you hear?" I ask after a while of having enough of the numbing silence.
Lucas clears his throat. "Hear what?"
"That they burned down his warehouse?"
"Whose?"
"Our same friend: Mr. Halsa."
He goes silent. "Him lucky a just the warehouse."
I sigh. "Mi kinda feel bad for him, to be honest. But, a part of me kinda glad. Mi nuh know if that sound a way."
"It's human."
I release another heavy sigh.
"Everyone has their own karma, Amanda. That's his."
"Mi know. But, mi still feel away, yuh know. Especially, since a right after the altercation wid me and him it happen." I chuckle bitterly. "Rawtid, next thing the man go feel say a me send man fi burn it dung."
Yuh know say a true!
Kacka fart, mi just a think 'bout it eno.
What if this make the man target me, now?
"Amanda, relax," Lucas says, placing his left hand on my leg to steady it. "Yuh too easy fi overthink things. How wah happen to this likkle fassy fi be your fault?"
I sigh, knowing that that's true. But, does he?
"People weird eno, Luke."
"I know. So, that's why you're going to report the situation now."
"Plus, with the heap a running up and down weh him have fi do yah now, I guarantee you're the last thing on his mind."
Hearing him say so puts my mind at ease.
Just a fraction.
I sigh, watching as he takes the right turn under the bridge, at Three Miles. "Yeah."
"Yuh good?" he asks when he comes to a park along the corridor just outside the police station.
I nod, willing my nerves to calm down.
"Yuh did get the name and thing?" he asks again.
I pull out the photocopy of Mr. Halsa's ID from the blue folder in my bag and show it to him.
"Good."
My eyes drift to the paper in my hand.
Joel Halsa.
A name fitting for a likkle drancrow like him.
"You a wait out here, right?" I ask, gathering my things.
He looks at me. "You don't want me to come?"
I shake my head. I'm already nervous. I won't be able to function properly with him beside me. "No, it's OK. I was asking my colleague about the process and he said it's not long or hard. So, you can wait here."
He nods, but I can tell he wants to say something.
Thank God he doesn't.
Before he can stop me, or protest, I exit the vehicle and walk briskly through the gates of Hunt's Bay Police Station.
. . .
The process really wasn't bad, so in no time I'm walking back to the extended parking lot with an accomplished smile playing on my lips.
As I'm almost near the gate, I spot Lucas leaning against his car, with his eyes zeroed in on the phone in his hand.
I stop and take a moment to look at him, for the first time today. I mean really look at him.
It's the first I'm seeing him in over a month, after all.
He still looks good, but I notice that he looks like he has lost a bit of weight.
Unlike mi weh just a get big so...
If mi never just come off a mi period couple days ago, mi woulda swear think mi a breed, to rawtid.
But, the dark slacks and crisp white button-down shirt he's wearing does the right thing by fitting his new build like a second skin.
My eyes drift to his face. His beard is low-cut, and his hair is cornrowed into two neatly braided rows which, together, frame his face perfectly.
My eyes trail back down to his waist.
His sleeves are rolled up to his elbow, revealing his sleeve tattoos, which, the muscles moving in his hand, as he types, gives the illusion that they're alive.
I don't know how long I've stood there staring before I finally decide to walk over to him.
***
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LUCAS P. O.V.
-----------------------------
I can feel Amanda's presence beside me without having to look.
That was quick.
I click out of KeKe's chat just as another message pops up.
My smile is replaced with a tight grimace as I click on the new message which immediately brings me back to reality.
Anthony Wiz Kid: Yo, mi inna the place again and can maths up tha thing deh fi yuh.
My heart skips a beat at the implication it holds.
Nonetheless, I click reply.
ME: Time frame?
Anthony's response is immediate.
Anthony Wiz Kid: Bout an hour.
I sigh.
ME: Ah.
Anthony Wiz Kid: Soon link yuh back. Already found the IP address.
ME: Respect.
Amanda yawns and the sound draws my attention over to her.
Tucking my phone into my pocket, I turn to face her completely and smile. "Yuh hungry?"
Her cheeks tinge red. "It's OK, yuh nuh affi worry yourself, mi ago get sum'n eat when mi reach home."
Before I can object, she walks around to the passenger door and goes into the car.
I open my door and slide in, as well. "That's not the question I asked."
As she fastens the seat belt, she goes, "Lucas, it's OK. Really."
Still so fucking stubborn.
"Amanda," I say, sending her a silent warning.
She sighs. "Fine. Can we get Popeyes?"
It still works.
Good to know.
Her submission brings a smug grin to my lips. "Of course. Which one?"
"The one in Manor Plaza is better."
I nod and start the engine.
Taking the little track under the bridge, I pull onto the roadway and speed up the street as the light changes to green.
. . .
The sound of my phone going off competes with Amanda's loud chewing.
My jaws tick as I slowly cruise up the avenue.
I'm in no hurry to go faster since I don't want her spilling her food all over my car.
Lie.
In all honesty, I simply want to prolong the time I have left with her.
It's minutes to seven and the day is slowly turning night.
My phone pings again, but I try not to focus on it so as not to fuck up my mood.
I know it's Anthony sending me the footage, as promised.
I grind my teeth.
"You OK?" the sound of Amanda's soft voice draws my attention over to her.
She's reclined slightly in her seat, with her right hand tucked into the Popeyes box on her lap, and her left hand cradling the juice cup against her stomach.
The cup holder is literally centimeters away still eno.
"Yeah man, mi gov."
I look at her as she looks at me, bringing a handful of fries to her lips and pulling about three or four into her mouth, at once.
Jah Jah.
When she swallows that set, she says, "A wah? Waan some a mi fries?"
I look away. "No."
"Stop gwaan so man and take it. Yuh know yuh want it," she commands, pointing a single fry at my face.
Chuckling softly, I turn and reluctantly open my mouth, and she takes the opportunity to stuff the fry in there.
It's actually not bad.
Much better than the shit KFC sells.
"More?"
I shake my head.
"Come," she still insists, pointing the food at me like she did earlier.
Uno hear this?
A bad up this name eno...
Smiling at the thought, I sigh and open my mouth.
Focusing on the road ahead, I silently chew, chuckling under my breath every now and then.
It continues like that for the rest of the way; with her taking turns between eating and feeding me some of her food.
I don't stop her as it's the only way to get her to leave me alone.
If I'm being completely honest though, the reason I don't stop her is because...I'm enjoying it.
But that's if I'm being completely honest.
***
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AMANDA P. O. V.
-----------------------------------
As soon as we pull through the gate of my complex, and Lucas parks, I don't waste a minute before I open the door and get out, muttering a low, "Thanks. Tomorrow."
I don't know what the hell that was back there, but I want to get as far away from it as possible.
"Oi, hold on deh man," he calls out to me, stopping me in my tracks. "A so yuh do things?"
My heart skips a beat when I see him open his door.
Lucas comes out of the vehicle, walks around it to where I am, and leans against the side of his car.
I stare at him--from where I'm standing a bit awkwardly, with my arms folded across my stomach, on the edge of the white-washed stones lining the curb-- in silence.
The tension between us is thick, but not so much that it feels uncomfortable.
Thank God.
He dons a mischievous grin when he says, "No likkle good-night hug or nuttn? A so Miss Queenie raise yuh, Ms. Smikle?"
Trying hard not to blush, I shuffle on my feet. "Maybe."
He chuckles and the sound sends a shiver to my nether region.
Nope, we're definitely not doing this, tonight.
In Jesus's name...
"Why yawh stay so far?" Lucas says coolly, outstretching his hand and pulling me in by the hem of my uniform vest. "Yuh 'fraid a mi?"
More like fraid a wah mi woulda waan do to you.
I huff as my chest meet with his belly, but I don't answer.
Not this man taking the hug, by force...
Sliding down into a slouch, he stretches his feet until they rest against the curb I was just standing on, and he's almost face-to-face with me. "Yuh good?"
Completely wrapped in his embrace now, I peer up at his handsome face and nod but keep silent for fear of sounding retarded.
He chuckles in response, and I can feel the rumbling in his chest as I rest my chin against it.
I sigh.
I missed this: The feel of his strong arms wrapped around my body; the smell of his cologne surrounding me like a cocoon; the feel of his beard rubbing against my cheek; the warmth of his body's heat keeping my own temperature in check.
Damn.
With another sigh, I allow myself to relax in his tight hold.
A long period of silence engulfs us, with neither of us breaking it.
"Why are you so quiet, Amanda?" he asks, after a while, and I can feel the rumble of his voice in his throat.
"Just thinking," I say softly.
I can imagine him quirking a brow when he says, "About what?"
So many things...
Instead, I settle with, "Everything and nothing."
"Eeh?"
"Yeah."
"Like wah?"
I shrug, and he sighs.
"Talk wah deh pon yuh mind, Amanda," he says firmly. "I can tell something is bothering you."
A lot of things are bothering me. 'Why you're parked at my house, in the middle of the night, in the parking lot, hugging me like this' is one example.
Then there's the more pressing issue that has been bothering me for days...
"So, you and Ashley, huh?" I finally speak what's on my mind.
"Then mi nuh know man," he whispers and chuckles below his breath, but, because I'm so close to him, I still hear.
The way he says it is almost like he expected me to ask.
I chuckle lowly, too. It's all I can do. Especially at the fact that he doesn't immediately denies it. That must mean it's true. "So?"
I know him admitting to it will undoubtedly hurt my feelings, but I want to hear him say it.
Maybe then I can finally move on.
Lucas sighs and the hot air fans my cheek. "There are some things happening in my life right now which will cause me to have to do some things out of character," he says after a moment's silence. "Hanging out with Ashley is one such thing. Please don't feel anyway about it, OK? I can't go in details now, for your own safety, but I promise I'll tell you everything when I'm confident everything is under control."
Of all the things I expected him to say, that was the least expected.
The way he says so, too, makes me nervous. I try to ease out of his embrace, but he holds me in place.
I sigh, trying to ignore the feel of him tracing patterns on my back long enough to ask him, "What do you mean 'Some things are happening in your life'? What kinds of things?"
I can feel him tense.
"Lucas?" I urge when a few minutes pass and he still doesn't answer.
"Don't worry about it too much, Amanda," he finally says, his tone clipped. "The least you know, the better it is...for your safety."
Then this nuh sound safe...
"Is that why we can't be together?" despite us both clearly wanting to be...
Yes, it may sound desperate, but I had to ask.
For my own peace of mind.
After all, it has been bothering me for a while now. Especially since he says we're over, yet he comes to play 'House' every single chance he gets.
Lucas, seemingly unperturbed, continues to trace small circles on my lower back when he answers with a slightly defeated-sounding, "It's safer that way..."
Then why are you here now?
Does the threat not exist tonight?
The question lingers at the tip of my tongue to ask.
Instead, I silently reflect on what he said.
'There are some things happening in my life right now that may cause me to do things out of character...'
My mind races with the possibilities of what this man might be mixed up in for him to believe it's safer, for me, for him to be without me.
Is it really that bad?
The longer I ponder, the more anxious I get.
"How?" I ask referring to his comment about it being safer for us being apart.
"It just is."
Why this seem so scary tho?
I don't know why. Maybe it's due to how vague he's being...
"I'm starting to get scared," I echo my thoughts.
Lucas tightens his arms around my waist. "Don't be. I won't let anything happen to you."
Is that supposed to make me feel more at ease?
Because, it doesn't.
A promise is a comfort to a fool, after all.
It just makes me think there's more to this --whatever this is --than he's letting on.
Then, there's the issue of who will be protecting him.
Especially since our safety is at risk.
"I'm scared for you too, Lucas," I admit, swallowing hard to push the lump down my throat. "Aren't you?"
Lucas sighs. Again. "No. I'm not afraid."
I really don't like how vague he's being.
Giving him a pointed stare, I ask, "How can you say that so casually, though? Especially when someone's out to get you, as you said. Do you even have a gun, sir?"
Having Deacon as your own personal Guardian Angel is one thing. But, what happens when he's not immediately available?
He pauses for a while, as if deciding whether or not to lie to me, then says, "Yes."
Why am I not surprised?
Better yet, why doesn't him admitting to owning a lethal weapon make me want to go running for the hills?
Truthfully, it's as if a part of me expected him to be strapped.
I think I'd be even more surprised if he weren't.
A man like him...
Easing away from him, for as much as he allows, I peer up at his face, but he keeps looking ahead; into the stillness of the night. "So how comes I've never seen it before?"
Hear yah!
He finally looks down at me and his gaze is intense. "It's not a trophy, Amanda. It's strictly for protection..."
Well, I don't know what to make of that. But, I settle with saying, "I thought that's what Deacon's for?"
I feel him shrug, before he says, "That too."
I want to ask him so many questions, but right now I doubt I'll get the answers to everything.
At least, not the full answers.
So, instead, hoping to stir the conversation in a different direction, I stick with a lame, "All now yuh nuh tell mi how uno became friends eno."
I half expected him to come with something snarky, so imagine my surprise when he says, "I will."
My heart skips a beat. "When?"
"Soon."
I hiss my teeth, and he chuckles.
"I'm not laughing, big head bwoy..."
Lucas tilts his head back and laughs. The sound is loud and haughty; the most genuine laugh I've heard from him since evening.
His reaction causes a smile of my own to spread my lips, as I playfully shove him by his shoulder. "Stop laugh afta mi."
"Yuh sound like Gabby," he tells me, when he sobers up, but I can still hear the humour in his tone. "That's why mi laugh."
"She love call yuh big head, too?" I ask, resting my ear against his chest and listening to the sound of his heartbeat.
My mind drifts to the first day I'd unknowingly met her, remembering the name she'd called him.
'Melon head.'
Tilting my head, I peer up at him.
Yuh know say it look like Melon fi true, especially if mi look pon it from a certain angle.
I cackle at the thought.
Lucas squeezes my side with the hand that's not drawing patterns on my body. "Wah sweet yuh so?"
I bury my face in his shirt, discreetly inhaling his scent. Mmm. "Nothing."
He shakes his head and his beard tickles my scalp.
"Aren't you going to bed?" He twists his wrist to look at the time. "It's late."
Yuh just know how fi bruk vibes.
I pout. "Tired of me already?"
He shakes his head again. "No, but I know you have work in the morning."
Don't remind me.
Frowning now, I straighten my stance and furrow my brows. "What time is it?"
He clicks his tongue. "Minutes to Nine."
Jeezam, a so long we stand up out yasso?
It honestly didn't feel like half hour much less two.
I sigh.
He regards me with narrowed eyes. "Yuh good?"
Nodding, I say, "Just tired."
He smirks. "That's why you should go to bed."
I gasp. "Mi love how you a run mi, Mr. Senior."
"None a that," he says being serious now. "Just nuh waan keep you up too late and then yuh cyaa wake, tomorrow, yuzeet."
"No mi nuh zeet," I tease, poking his side, repeatedly.
Lucas curls into a ball each time I touch him there. Finally able to block my jabs, he grabs onto my hand. "Easy nuh. Mind wah yawh do."
I quirk a brow, pretending not to know he's afraid of his sides. "What am I doing, Sir?"
He chuckles. "Yawh turn mi on."
The heat shoots to my cheeks, and I immediately hold my head down.
"Look at me."
Despite his firm command, I keep my head down.
Until, I feel him grasp my chin and tilt my head up to face him. "I said, look at me."
Jeezam...
"What?" is my meek response.
He stares at my face, particularly at my mouth, for a few seconds well, before he clears his throat and says, "Go to bed, Amanda."
I have a feeling that's not what he initially wanted to do. Or say.
I bite my lip. "Do you..." I trail off.
Lucas narrows his gaze. "Do I what?"
Clearing my throat, I summon the courage to say, "Do you want to stay the night?"
Catching up to myself, I quickly add, "I mean if you're too tired to drive home."
Whether or not he caught on to what I'm implying, Lucas doesn't make it known when he shakes his head and says, "Nah."
He doesn't say it to embarrass me though, for which I'm glad.
"And it's not because I don't want to," he adds as an afterthought.
Folding my arms across my body as a chilly night wind passes between us, I ask, just out of curiosity, "Then why?"
He smirks. "Because I'll end up fucking you."
Watchya!
What a way you confident.
As if his words have jolted my senses, I pick up my hand bag, gym bag, and the almost empty Popeyes bag from the top of the car where I'd set them to rest. "Good night, Lucas."
Lucas chuckles, watching me with an amused smile. "Good night, Amanda."
Before he can get the chance to say something else smug enough to get my panties wet and my pussy quaking like they are right now, I turn on my heels and make briskly my way up to my apartment building.
I can hear him chuckling behind me, but I don't turn to look.
When I'm inside, I finally turn and look through the glass door to see him enter his car, and, with one final honk of his horn, pull through the gates.
Drive safely, please...
I sigh and turn back around, heading up the stairs with a heavy heart and a throbbing clit.
Yup, it's gonna be one of those nights.
Mr. Rabbit ago deh pon overtime.