Page 175 of Vega

31

SONNET ELLISON

Now that Roman was dead, Vega and I checked out of the suite and returned to his home. Except it wasn’t only his house anymore. The moment I told him I was pregnant, there had been no question for him that we would live together. He’d already scheduled movers to pack everything in my condo the following week and bring it to what he kept calling our home.

Dior met us there. Now that I could leave the house without worrying about being followed, I wanted to spend as much time with my best friend as possible. I had missed him and having him stretched across our couch with a drink in his hand made my life feel familiar again.

The three of us sat in the living room laughing while music played from the television. Dior and Vega drank, but I had to settle for juice. Nobody said we were celebrating Roman’s death, but that relief was all over Vega and me. I was free, and he no longer had to protect me from a man determined to silence me.

Vega had a different reason to celebrate, though.

Dior leaned across me and stared at him. “You couldn’t let her put a few miles on that coochie before you knocked her up?”

Vega slowly lowered his glass. “Why you worried about the mileage on my woman?”

“Because she barely got that pussy off the lot!”

I covered my mouth, laughing.

Vega reached across me and grabbed Dior by the back of his shirt.

Dior screeched. “Get your big ass hands off me!”

“Keep her coochie out yo’ mouth.”

Vega pulled him halfway across the couch while Dior kicked his feet and tried to slap his arm away.

“Sonnet, get your nigga!” he screeched.

Vega hooked an arm around Dior and rubbed his knuckles across the top of his head.

“My hair!” Dior yelled. “You dusty street niggas don’t respect maintenance!”

“Apologize.”

“For what?”

“Talking about my baby mama.”

“I’m sorry your possessive ass can’t take a joke!”

Vega released him, and Dior sat up, fixing his clothes and glaring.

“I hate him,” he told me.

“No, you don’t.”

Vega handed him his drink. “You’ll be all right.”

I smiled while watching them.

Vega was rough, street, and fully capable of killing somebody, but he never treated Dior as less of a person. He accepted everything about Dior and was very comfortable around him. Vega was secure enough in himself to let Dior be Dior.

That meant more to me than he knew.

Vega checked the time, then stood. “All right. Wrap this up.”

Dior frowned. “Excuse me?”