Bodies

trente-cinq

Milan looked around and noticed the boys were making a quite a scene in the lobby because of their dress. She let her surprise wane a little.

"Can y'all at least take y'all ski masks off in the building?" She asked the two boys who were busy stabilizing the big bouquet so it wouldn't fall over. One of them shook their head without even saying anything first.

"Sorry, ma. Can't e'en do that for you. We know the opps be fucking wit' you crazy." The same one who spoke before piped up. Milan shrugged and nodded.

Given where she just came from, she couldn't deny the opps do indeed be fucking with her. 

Milan stepped closer to her bouquet and softly touched the roses. They were as soft as feathers and smelled very fresh. She knew the bouquet was expensive for sure. "But yeah, these from Pharoah. He heard about yo' brother."

The kid made sure to speaker lowly as he mentioned Devon. Milan nodded her head that she'd heard him. "Thank you guys so much for bringing these. Y'all okay getting home?" Milan asked the boys, glancing outside and seeing it was almost dusk.

They looked to be about 16, so Milan knew they were able to handle themselves, but seeing them all decked out in ski masks meant they were in business they probably shouldn't be.

 Especially if they were at Ramses's beck and call. 

The one who hadn't spoke yet cracked a smile. She saw he had braces underneath mask. "Yeah, we good, ma. Don't have us tell Pharaoh you be out here flirting wit' the kids."

And for the first time today, Milan cracked a true smile. She shook her head at the playful warning, bringing her bouquet closer to her. "I could be yo' mama. Get on away from me!" She returned the joking admonishment. 

This caused both boys to scoff in some way. They shared a mischievous glance between the two. 

"Yeah a'ight." The boy who did most of the talking before closed the conversation. Just by the glint in his eye Milan knew he was just a nasty boy like the rest of them. However she thanked them again, giving them both 20 dollars she had on her as a tip. They looked more than grateful for it.

They said their goodbyes to her and left the hotel lobby just as quickly as they came in.

Milan then moved to sit back down in her seat, but she saw a concierge quickly approaching her.

"This must be the part where they evict me for being a danger to the hotel." Milan dryly commented under her breath as the man approached.

She still took the liberty of sitting, because who was gonna stop her? The concierge stood in front of her and appraised the big bouquet she was just given. 

"Someone is quite lucky to have you, aren't they?" He spoke, trying to make light conversation with him. Milan looked at his name tag briefly and saw that his name was Semaj. Milan only nodded at his question, not feeling the needs to feed into his pleasantries. 

Semaj cleared his throat and folded his hands in front of him. "Well, I've approached you tonight because management has noticed you have had quite the few dangerous run-ins at our establishment and we fear for your safety honestly. We want to offer you your same stay, at a different hotel. Transportation there is available right now if you choose to accept our offer."

An eviction consolation prize? I can work with that.

Milan quickly thought in her head.

And suddenly, she had no problem with doing small talk with the man.