The Frequency Of Compulsion/GXG/ Grip The Series: Book One

TWENTY-FOUR

K E E Y A

The sound of old souls sang softly around the space of the shop as I walked to the back, still operating off the calm of the blunt I ran through this morning. Mr Gerald's eyes immediately found mine as I entered the space seeing a lot less cars inside than there was at the start of the week.

"Keys," He greeted with that natural rasp to his voice as he turned back to the car's engine he was attending to.

"Good morning, sir," I greeted back as I began making my way over to him. "How is your morning going?"

"As good as it can," He replied as I settled next to him. "You working on the car today?"

"Yeah, I am," I confirmed. "You need me to take this over?"

"No, I'm good, I'm almost done here," He raspied back, before glancing in my direction. "What you do yesterday? I heard the club got rented out,"

"You know everything that be going on huh?" I asked him and he chuckled as I pulled the old run down computer chair closer to take a seat.

"I know enough, and Compulsion the one that let me know when she stopped by with my money yesterday,"

"Money?" I asked a bit confused. "I thought you fixed her car for free,"

"I do, that's my daughter,"

"Then what the money for?"

"That right there shows you don't know enough," He said with a smile, making me chuckle as he glanced in my direction while putting down the lift support to close the hood of the car. "You eat yet?"

"Yeah, I did," I replied, watching as he wiped his hand clean of oil with the small towel that was resting on the desk next to him. "You gon be here the entire day?"

"No, I'm gonna head out soon, this car ain't gonna be picked up until five so I'll be back before then, probably at four,"

"I might leave here around three, I got some stuff to sort out at the club,"

"It's a good thing I got this," He rasped out, and I sat there confused as he dug in his pocket, but that confusion died as he handed me a key I took with a smile. "Lock up when you leave,"

"I will, sir,"

"Good," He said as he was about to walk off, but suddenly stopped as if remembering something. "How you and Compulsion doing?"

I looked at him, briefly contemplating telling him the truth because to be honest he probably knew sumn, which was why he asked, but Pulsion ain't look like the type to want somebody out here spilling her business.

Imma leave her to say sumn.

"We friends,"

"Good," He said with a smile before looking over to the car I been working on. "You look like you making sum progress,"

"I am. I think I'm falling in love with your shop," I confessed, honestly since my love for fixing things was right up there with my love for weed, and he chuckled as he looked around the place with genuine adoration and nostalgia in his eyes.

"You know, my father built this shop with his bare hands,"

"Forreal?"

"Oh yeah, this used to be a black community, just like Tulsa, but we was known for our schools and we had an amusement park right across the street from here, that's why my daddy built the shop right here," He explained and I sat there listening intently as the entire moment wrapped me in nostalgia from them days down south in the barbershop. "We wasn't allowed in them white parks so a lot of our people came here, so the shop pulled in a lot of money,"