“Thanks,” Harmonie said, waving for me to walk out ahead of her.
Once we were on the porch and the breeze hit us, I raised my head to the sky and inhaled. It smelled like rain, but that wasn’t going to stop shit I had planned tonight. I had been busting my ass in school for the last three years, and I was starting to get sick of the routine of my life. That was literally all I ever did—go to class and study on repeat for months at a time. I told myself this year I was going to find the fun in life. Since my sister and I had our own dorm room on campus that we shared, she was encouraging me every other weekend to go out with her.
Harmonie was the life of the party. She thrived off attention and having a good time. She was actually more like our mother than my father cared to admit. The difference with me and her was that she hid her dirt a hell of a lot better than anyone else I knew. I was content reading the latest financial news and software upgrades. I guess the technical bug from our father spilled over onto me because I, too, was pretty useful when it came to programming, among other things. I used my powers for good, unlike some hackers in the world. It was easy to get sucked in. The sense of power it gave, infiltrating a secret world and obtaining top secret and critical information, provided me a high I never knew I could enjoy.
“Let’s get out of here before one of them pops out with something else to say.” Harmonie urged me down the steps and onto the sidewalk.
She couldn’t wait to get away from the house. Harmonie didn’t not like Chaya. She just thought she was always trying too hard to be our friend. We didn’t care one way or another. Our mother was gone. Chaya had only been around for five years, and neither of us needed a replacement nurturer. It was what it was. She had been trying too hard the entire time she was with our father. The more we brushed her off, the closer she tried to get to us. Once outside, we walked over to Harmonie’s BMW parked in the driveway, and she hit her fob to unlock it.
“And you are not supposed to be working. It’s spring break.” She shamed me.
“Money talks, and I got some demanding clientele coming in this time of year,” I told her with big grin. “Matter of fact, this year, your birthday is on me.”
“Oh, so you doing it like that, baller?” Harmonie teased, chuckling as we neared her whip.
“Let’s just say my skills are very much sought out. With the way things are going, I won’t ever be broke.” I snickered.
My daddy wasn’t the only one that knew how to hack into highly secured systems and databases. I credited everything I knew to him, although I taught myself a few other things along the way that helped me advance in my field. I thought about being a computer engineer, but I had interests in various fields as well, so I wasn’t limiting myself to sitting behind a desk for eighty-plus hours per week. Dance was a passion of mine. When I was absorbed in that world, nothing else mattered. When I was sneaking out and getting yelled at by my parents, it was worth it just to get into the old dance gym in the hood at night. It was my own little special place, and it was actually how I met my now boyfriend.
“Yeah, well, all work and no play turns you into… Daddy,” she joked. “Are you ready to get lit, Harbor? I know you’ve never partied with me before, but things can get a little wild. Just… stick close and don’t set your drink down,” she warned, yanking her car door open. “Did you talk to Lock?” she asked, referring to my boyfriend since high school.
“Yeah. He said he would just meet me there. I asked him to pick up Alba too,” I told her as we each climbed into her car.
She immediately turned the air on and went into her ashtray for a blunt she had waiting to be sparked up. Harmonie cranked up her speakers, and Mulatto floated through with that fire,making me twerk in my seat. I sang along, snapping my fingers, and bobbing to the beat.
He want me to send him the nudes, but I don’t do teasers
Nah yeen fooling me, shawty be popping that pussy for features
It ain’t a Chanel bag big enough for me to stay with a cheater
My sister lit the tip of her cigar, backed out of the driveway, and maneuvered her way down our ghost-town street. We were middle class, just between the hood and the upper class. Our father made enough money to where we didn’t know struggle, but my sister and I were always drawn to the other side of the tracks. My girl, Alba Granger, lived in the projects with her large family in a small ass apartment. Lock had been hustling, selling weed and pills, since he was just thirteen. They actually grew up together too, which was always kind of intimidating. Lock always insisted that he and Alba were just friends. From the time I met them in middle school, it was obvious that they were tight. Alba was outspoken, and so was Lock. Both of their strong opinions never meshed well, though. They fought like brother and sister sometimes, but it never lasted long. When one was mad at the other, it affected their mood with everyone else they dealt with. They came from the same world though, and sometimes, I just didn’t feel like I fit.
Neither of them had the kind of restrictions that I had growing up, so they could come and go as they pleased. I, on the other hand, had to do a lot of creeping and sneaking while coming up, even though I was a great student and always kept myself out of trouble. It wasn’t until I met Lock that things switched up. He was actually out on the block when we came across each other. He had seen me around but didn’t know where I was from or where I was going so late at night. The dance studio was easy to get into, and I could stay there all night if Iwanted to. It usually only lasted a few hours, but it brought life back into me. My daddy thought the idea of dance was mediocre. I was smarter than that, despite it being what I wanted to do more than anything.
Thirty minutes later, we were pulling up in front of the frat house where the party was going down. The street was so packed with cars, my sister had to circle the block a couple of times before finding somewhere to squeeze in. There were people in the street already dancing and playing drinking games. Harmonie parked about two blocks over, which meant I was going to be trekking in some damn three-inch heels, and I wasn’t feeling that shit. We had just finished facing the blunt, so I was high as a giraffe’s pussy.
With wide eyes, I stared around at all the people that had gathered. There was a step show going on right on the front lawn. Girls were shaking ass, and dudes were stepping and keeping in stride while people from the porch cheered them on. I was awestruck. I’d definitely been locked up too damn long.How have I been in college almost four damn years and never been to one of these parties?
“Come on. Let’s get a drink,” Harmonie urged me as she hopped out of the car.
I was right behind her when someone came rushing me from behind, scooping me off my feet and onto their shoulder.
“Agh!” I squealed as Lock spun me around like I was his teammate on the football field. Alba was giggling behind him, a faint smile on her lips, as she shook her head. She was such a pretty girl with smooth skin like a piece of toffee candy and big brown eyes with full lashes.
“Lock! Put me down!” I shrieked, shielding my ass so that nobody would see my exposed cheeks.
I could feel the warm air on them, so I knew that they were hanging out. Lock brought his hand up and slapped the shit out of my bare skin.
“Damn,” he said, biting into his bottom lip as he stopped to lower me to the ground.
His arms snaked behind my back, and he drew my body into his. He was so damn fine, reminding me of a rugged Columbus Short, a little taller though, with hooded eyes that always focused on me like I was the only woman in the room.
“That ass got a little more jiggle to it.” He bumped his pelvis into mine and knelt over, kissing me.
“Mmm,” I moaned into his mouth as his tongue slithered into mine. My arms fell around his neck, and he palmed both sides of my ass.
“Ahem. Yeah, the rest of us are still here,” Alba joked from behind.
