A smile tugged at Genn’s lips as she made her way to the bathroom and emptied her bladder. She got up and brushed her teeth. As she rinsed out her mouth she looked up into the mirror and saw King standing at the door. She continued to brush her teeth, floss and gurgled the mouth wash.

She dug under the sink and pulled out a new tooth brush and threw it at him. He caught it with a light smile and passed by her as she walked passed him out of the bathroom. She closed the door behind her making him roll his eyes.

She made her way to the lounge and checked if her papers were still there and found that the letters she printed were gone. She frowned but left it and sat down on the couch with her legs under her. She was in the mood for coffee but too lazy to make it for herself.

King walked in and sat down beside Genn who was now busy scrolling through her emails and answering them. He grew curious and wanted to see what she was doing so he pulled her to his side and hugged her to himself.

He heard a chuckle coming from her and after a moment of silence he asked, “Do you always wake up this early?”

She hummed, “Yes, it’s a routine since I was young.”

“Well it’s pretty early though, not tired?” he asked her out of concern.

She shook her head and moved closer to him while resting her head on his shoulder, “Na, I slept real comfortable last night and the tension in my body is gone… thanks.” She thanked him.

“Don’t thank me, I slept well last night and I haven’t slept well in years,” he answered her. They sat in silence for some time until Genn got up and left for the kitchen to make coffee. She walked in to the lounge with two cups handing him one and when she was about to sit down beside him, he pulled her to sit on his lap.

After she sat down she turned to look at him with wide eyes, “W-What are you doing?”

He placed his mug down and took hers out of her hands and placed it beside his on the table beside his chair. He forced her to straddle him and under the dim light coming through the window, he said as he looked up into her eyes, “I know we just met but let’s be together.”

She placed her hands on his shoulders trying to get off him but the grip he hand on her waist was powerful, “No! Why? We just met, you’re being ridiculous!” she stated.

“Because I fucking don’t know. I hate every fucking one and when I saw you I thought I was going to hate you too but no. The smell of your home is soothing. Staring at you relaxes and intrigues me and that’s coming from someone who fucking kills people and doesn’t have a heart. My stomach is literally feeling tingles and shit with you sitting on me… look, let’s just try this out because I know you can feel a connection between us,” he said helplessly and placed his head on her braless chest.

He hugged her as he rested his head on her chest. Genn felt uncomfortable; her eyes burned as she tried her best not to cry. Calming herself she asked him, “You do understand that I’m fat right?”

King frowned against her and raised his head to look at her but she was looking elsewhere. “What?” he questioned.

She turned to look at him, “You don’t look like the type who likes big women.”

“Yeah I don’t but there’s just something about you that’s attracting me,” he answered annoyed.

She looked down at him and smiled at him mockingly, “Well, I’m not interested.”

His eyes constricted and darkened. He raised his hand and spanked her hard on her right butt cheek. She hissed in pain and glared at him with wide eyes.

“You better fucking listen to me. I don’t give a shit if your ass is big. I picked you up didn’t I and I hand no problem with that! You better get it wrapped around your head that I’m your man from today, you hear me?” he demanded.

Genn stared at him oddly which made him frown. She got off him and turned around reaching for her cup of coffee. She sat down beside him with her legs between them and drank her coffee while staring at him. 

He raised a brow at her but received no reaction from her. He picked up his mug and drank the now cooled down coffee. “What are you doing today?” King asked breaking the silence.

Genn stared at him for a moment before answering, “I need to go into town and I was planning to make Travis drive me around. I need to buy stuff before Monday.”

“What stuff?” he asked looking at her while taking a sip off the coffee.

“Posters, the stuff is damaged and the classrooms look boring,” she answered.

“Do you need money?” he asked her and she nodded. “How much?” he asked her.

“Don’t know but I think three hundred will do,” she said mostly to herself while thinking and wasn’t particularly talking to King.

He stared at her and noticed that she drifted off again. He looked at the time and remembered that it was Saturday today. Tonight he had to be at the trap house to count his stock and deal with a few things but the rest of today until then he was free, mostly.

He got up and leaned over placing a coffee tasting kiss on Genn’s lips grabbing her attention. He dug his tongue into her mouth making her moan and pulled away. He grinned down at her and pecked her lips then walked off to the kitchen pouring himself another cup of coffee.

He came back in finding his woman on the floor tapping away at her laptop writing up a schedule for the upcoming week. He frowned at her empty cup and refilled it for her without her knowing. She completely ignored him for the next two hours as she continued working.

During this time, Travis and Jason returned. Travis handed King the stack of money and pull Genn’s ears to get her attention.

“What the fuck?” she complained while rubbing her ears. Travis rolled his eyes and plopped himself down onto the beanbag.

“Not what the fuck, why you up so early? Your ass slept well last night right?” he asked with a grin as he looked at King.

“Yo you better shut up!” King grunted.

Travis chuckled, “Man, you know you liked her from the moment you saw her, when are you making me an uncle?”

Genn looked at Travis from the corner of her eye and drank her coffee. She got up ignoring the two and went to the toilet and emptied her bladder. Her mind was racing and King wasn’t a part of her thoughts.

She needed so much shit but didn’t have the money and she couldn’t keep using her savings. She got into the shower then got out and wrapped herself in a towel. She went to her bedroom to get dressed then made up her bed.

Walking into the lounge with her bag, she had on a long red dress that hugged her body well with flip flops on and her hair hanging loose with a red Alice band holding it out of her face. She looked at the time on her laptop counting the hours that’s left before she needed to head to the day care then to the stores.

King stared dumbfounded at his woman who just continued to walk around as if he didn’t exist. He grabbed her by the hands and pulled her down on his lap. Biting her cheeks she squealed and looked at him in shock.

Travis chuckled to the side while watching the two. He knew instantly when he met her that she’d be perfect for King but didn’t know if King would be a good choice for her since he was rough around the edges.

“Where are you going dressed like that?” he asked her while hugging her.

“Well, Travis and I are going shopping and I can’t go out with sweats and a sleeping shirt on,” she answered while she slowly got used to being in his arms.

King grumbled then pulled out the money and handed it to her, “Here and I don’t want no bullshit about it not being your money. I’m giving it to you so you can fix up that place and when things are up and running well you can find a way to pay me.”

Genn looked at the stack of money she was handed and couldn’t believe it. She slowly nodded her head and got up. After a moment she said, “I’m not giving you a cent back, since you are my man,” she grinned looking at him. 

King wanted to say something but just ended up smiling when he saw her put the money in her bag. She paused momentarily and turned to him, “What’s your name?”

He raised a brow looking at her. He didn’t want to answer her question and hesitated. His eyes drifted to Travis who was reading something so he looked back at Genn and answered, “Da’vonte Royal.”

She nodded her head and shrugged on her handbag. Leaning down, she kissed King’s lips and smiled while looking into his eyes, “Thanks.”

Da’vonte got into the car with Jason after saying goodbye to Genn. She and Travis made their way to the daycare where the three women and the men from yesterday were waiting. When she arrived she saw that there were boxes in the yard.

She went through them finding, fabrics, plastic bottles, clothing and more… she thinned her lips remembering the letters she printed that were missing and I guess this was why… she turned to look at Travis and the others who started carrying the boxes and plastics inside who said nothing in complaint.

She instructed them to continue cleaning and remove all posters and pictures from the walls and doors and asked them to wash the walls. She also asked them to sort out all the stationary, papers and toys into piles which indicate what can be used, what must be thrown away and what can be fixed; she planned to sort that out when she returned after shopping.

She and Travis went to the copy shop to get her ink cartridges refilled and buy reams of computer paper. They made their way to China Town where she was able to get educational posters, art supplies, paint and many other things the school needed in bulk for a good price making sure that she wasn’t over spending Da’vonte’s money.

She planned on spending less than a thousand dollars. Colouring books, brushes, koki’s and more were purchased, leaving Travis to carry many bags back and forth from the car. 

Genn was feeling hungry after her stomach started growling leading them to stop at Starbucks for a light snack and drinks. While walking behind her Travis asked, “So what do you think about King?”

She turned to look at him and smiled, “I don’t know him well so I can’t really say.”

“But you agreed to be his woman,” he said matter of factly.

She shrugged her shoulders, “Not that I have a choice but I could use him while I can… maybe during this time, I’ll fall for him,” she said as she thought of the possibilities of being with him.

“Don’t mess with his feelings, it’ll end up bad for you,” he warned earning himself a frown from her.

“Well, did you tell him to not mess with my feelings?” she asked him instead.

Travis kept his silence. “If he respects me, I’ll do the same. He’ll be treated the way he treats me,” she said as she looked at playdough.

“He distrusts people and not many woman have had the chance to be with him, this is actually the first time in years that he has taken interest in a woman,” he said. She shrugged not really caring for the details.

She got up after taking twenty sets of the playdough and chucking them in the trolley. Travis gazed at her with curiosity. He wanted to know more about her but was afraid to ask.

She suddenly turned to look at him and smiled, “What about you? Any luck lady that stole Ruthless’s heart?”

There was a momentarily pause and tense look in his eyes before he looked away, “No, I’m not really interested…” he trailed. Genn stared at him for a while as he looked the other way and after she couldn’t take it anymore she asked him, “Then boyfriend?”

He almost tripped as he pushed the trolley. Genn stifled her laugh but her snicker was caught by him. He turned and glared at her which she stepped back and held her hands up in surrender. He turned around gripping tightly at the handle of the trolley leaving Genn behind.

They paid for the items she added to her trolley and drove over to the paint shop. Genn couldn’t stand the tense silence between them and spoke, “Don’t feel ashamed, there’s nothing wrong with being gay.”

“What do you know?” he grumbled.

“I have many gay friends, I know what I’m talking about,” she rolled her eyes at him.

“You can’t be gay in the hood,” he stated.

She rolled her eyes at him and scoffed, “And a gay man that knows and can beat the shit out of whoever is afraid?”

“I’m not afraid!” he scoffed.

“Then why don’t you embrace it?” she asked him.

“I don’t know if you know this but there is many gangs trying to get rid of King. The mockery it would bring on to him, I can’t,” he trailed as he watched the roads.

“Does King know?” she asked and saw him nod.

“Yeah, he and Jason know everything about me just as I know everything about them,” he answered.

“Ever have sex with a guy?” she asked curiously.

He nodded his head and swallowed nervously, “Only once though, when I was younger.”

“I’ll hook you up with a friend of mine that stays nearby… he’s been wanting a steady relationship since who knows how long and he’s tired of getting his heart broken and I’m sure if you want to, your dick game will be off the charts,” she said with a smirk.

Travis wanted to protest but felt his energy leave his body. He was also curious to find out who she was talking about.