“Hey, Marcos.”
“Sup, Ajori?”
She faced me. “When you get done, can you come to my room? We need to talk.”
“Yeah,” I replied, curious.
Ajori responded with a polite head nod, then she turned and disappeared back inside.
The second she was out of earshot, Marcos’s head snapped back to me. “Come to herroom? That’s what we on now?That,” he said, pointing toward the house, “didn’t look like no regular conversation; that looked likeafterconversation.”
I didn’t answer.
Marcos’s eyes widened. “Hold up. Bro, are you fuckin’ Ajori?”
I sucked my teeth. “Lower your damn voice.”
He stared at me like I lost mydamnmind. “You are, huh?”
“Yeah,” I confessed.
“Yo… are you serious right now? Dom, that’s the boss’sdaughter!”
“Calm down!” I hissed. “You acting like I don’t know that shit. And before you blow a gasket, Alejandro already knows.”
Marcos blinked. “Heknows?”
“Yeah. I told him myself…. right before coming to holla at you.”
“And he ain’t kill you?”
I let out a short breath. “I’m standing here, ain’t I?”
Marcos shook his head slowly. “You got some big-ass balls, my boy.”
“And a bigger dick attached to them,” I bragged. “But I also got respect. That’s his blood. I wasn’t about to let him hear it from somebody else. He gave me his blessing, though. But made it real clear. If I hurt her, he’ll kill me.”
Marcos let out a bitter laugh and rubbed the back of his neck. “That sound about right.”
“He said she’s already been hurt enough by his absence, and that she don’t need to feelusedby the one person who makes her feel safe.”
Marcos didn’t say anything for a second, then, “You gon’ be able to handle that?”
I met his eyes. “I already am.”
“You were moving differently the moment yo’ ass laid eyes on her.”
“I guess you can say that.”
“Nigga, please. You was changing routes and schedules like she was an employee with work restrictions. I guess that love at first sight shit do be real?”
“I guess so.”
“My pops always said you’ll know within the first five minutes if it could be real.”
“Sounds like a wise man.”
Marcos studied me for a long moment, then his voice dropped. “So you serious about her?”