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“Good.” He looks around the courtyard.
We are the only people in the small garden area.
Despite being alone, Pedro lowers his voice and leans toward me. “I wanted to make sure I honored my promise to you so I haven’t brought up anything related to Liquid Obsession, but your sister hasn’t returned my last phone calls and I need to finalize the surprise.”
“What surprise?” I think back to my conversations with Khadijah where she mentioned something about the mayor and a surprise.
“The surprise concert I hired Liquid Obsession to perform.”
“Woah, this is the first I’m hearing about a performance.” My heart begins to beat faster, and my skin flushes. What has my sister been up to and why hasn’t she told me about it?
Pedro closes his eyes while doing breathing exercises. When he opens them again, he is the cold professional I glimpsed when he put Cheryl Lee in her place. “The day we prepared Kenya’s house for the storm, I put the request to her and she agreed. I thought she was waiting on me to finalize plans on my end, but with her going dark I have to wonder.”
The picture he unveils puts my back up. I’m sure Khadijah’s recent unresponsiveness is due to what she’s been helping me with. Maybe she feels remorse for agreeing to the gig and now realizes I’m not up to the task. Whatever her reason for keeping me in the dark, Pedro isn’t at fault.
“I’ll talk to Khadijah and get back to you.”
Pedro stares me down.
“Or I can call her now.”
“Good choice,” he grunts.
“Before I do, does this surprise have anything to do with one Onyx Richardson? I recall Liquid Obsession is one of her favorite bands.”
At my mention of Onyx, Pedro reddens and clenches his jaw.
“So things are progressing between you.” I clap him on the back.
He rises but freezes without taking a step. A debate wages on his face. After a few moments, he collapses beside me with a defeated breath. “Things are… complicated.” He glances sideways at me. “The mini-concert is kind of my last straw and an ultimatum in one.”
“Dude are you sure about this? Forcing an issue rarely works.” My advice to him is one I try to follow with Kenya. From my short acquaintance with Onyx, I can’t help but think she would appreciate the additional patience.
While Pedro stares at the folded hands, he says, “Onyx is a very desirable woman. She can bag any man she wants, but her relationships never last. I can’t be another interval in her life until the next man catches her attention. So even if it’s a bad idea, I need her to make a choice. I know I’ve already confused her by flipping the script and wresting some power out of our dynamic.” At my curious glance, he laughs and leans his head to face the sky. “I’m showing her the benefits of being pursued instead of her always pursuing me. I thought nothing flustered her, but I keep her off-balance as much as she does to me.”
“You realize what you’re saying?”
“Yeah, I’m crystal clear on what I want. And I want it forever. I think she’s afraid I’ll be giving up too much by choosing her, but I have no other options. She’s it for me.”
I shake my head at our similar situations. “I bet Kenya has no idea how similar she and Onyx are. They both know how to bring us to our knees.”
“Speaking of Kenya, have you told her about your band?”
It’s my turn to stand. I walk to the fountain and stare as the water arcs in the air.
“I take your lack of response as a no. You are playing with fire. If you prolong telling her, there’s no way for her to see things any other way than you lying to her. She can be unforgiving to people who lie to her. Although, that was a long time ago, I have a feeling she hasn’t changed in that respect.”
“I’ll take your advice to heart.” I pull out my phone and dial Khadijah’s number.
“Hey Cam,” she answers. “I’m on my way to the house now.”
“You’ll get there before me. I’m with Mayor Salas who told me something very interesting.”
“Oh?” Her voice trembles over the phone waves.
“He’d like a word.”
“I can explain…”
