AHEAD OF THE GAME | BXB

XVII

Despite my efforts to try and be discreet, me walking out of the mall carrying Gucci, Chanel, Fendi, a little bit of Armani—and basically any other major brand you could possibly think of, had said that I just spent a big penny.

Clutch had told me that there was no spending limit, but damn I had spent over at least four-thousand dollars.

That probably didn't seem like a lot to the two men following behind me, but to me that was a pretty fortune.

And, to spend that much in a day was crazy.

But, nonetheless, I wasn't as stressed as I had been two days ago. Kyron hadn't called me in two fucking days, and that only made me even more anxious because I didn't know anything that was going on.

I tried asking tweedle dee and tweedle dum but they weren't telling me shit. All they would do was give me vague answers and tell me stuff that I already knew.

It was starting to piss me off, so I just decided to shut my mouth and wait for the moment Kyron called me.

As we approached the car that we had been driving for the past two days, my phone began to ring. It would've been funny if it had been Kyron, but I knew it wasn't.

It was someone that I hadn't expected to hear from ever again.

"Hello?" I said, confused on why she would even be calling me.

Jayda responded swiftly. "Anthony! I need to talk to you about some serious shit. But...I can't say it over the phone. You need to hear it in person. It wouldn't feel right telling you like this."

The urgency in her voice made me anxious.

Clutch had clearly sensed my anxiety because he asked me a question that I didn't even know the answer to. "Is everything cool?"

But, I simply nodded my head and turned away from him.

"Jayda, I don't know if I can meet you—."

"—It's about Tray!"

When she said that, I immediately shut my mouth, and I could feel my body starting to grow hot. What about him, exactly? I wanted to leave that man in the past.

Why the hell was he coming back to haunt me?

"Where do you wanna meet?" I asked her steadily.

She took a moment to answer, and I guessed it was to think of a spot, but soon answered me with a question of her own.

"Where are you right now?" Her voice was a little bit above a whisper—like she was around people.

I made a mental note of this—just in case she had been trying to set me up.

"A mall...Where are you?" I countered.

She'd told me that she was staying at some hotel that wasn't too far from where I was. It had been maybe about a thirty to forty minute drive depending on traffic.

"I'm about to be on my way," I told her.

Then, I asked, "Wait, Jayda! Are you with anyone?" I figured that if she was then she wouldn't try any slick shit. At least that's what I hoped.

If she was with someone then I'd feel more comfortable if one of them was her son.

"Yeah, my son Tyshawn and my boyfriend... Why?"

"I was just curious," I added simply. Then, I changed the subject all together. "I'll be there in forty."

I hung up the phone and turned back to face the two boys who had been scrutinizing me with their very dark eyes.