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What?
“Mmmhmm.” Lex smiled then took a sip of her wine.
“Everything around that day was a blur,” Josie giggled, embarrassed. “I couldn’t see anything but thatfine—” She shook her head, then leaned into Lex. “Let’s just say, ‘God is good!’”
Did she really just say that? Why was she so comfortable speaking about Jas in front of me? And why hadn’t I yanked the short, jet-black curls out of her pretty head?
Fuck my life!
I needed to go.
They wildin’…
It was official. Jonathan’s little ass brought his shit here. I’d been outside mostly since Chivon left, so I didn’t know, for sure, if he used my kitchen as a lab or imported his shit underneath my nose. But by the sight of him and the rest of my cousins and peoples from Harlem: Snoop, Deedot, B-Sure, Sheema, Myron, Tanya, Asia, and a few more, they were extra turnt. Rowdy. Their little cypher was getting a little too loose, pushing, shoving, threatening, and laughing too hard for this neighborhood, amongst other shit.
I leaned down to whisper into Josie’s ear. “Time to get you on the road.”
She checked her phone for the time. “It’s only eleven-ten.”
“Your sitter,” I reminded her. “And you gotta be up early for church.”
“Ah, man!” She pouted, not wanting to look away from the jumbo screen playing music videos over the pool. “This issooocool. I’ve never seen anything like it. How did you think to put this big ol’ thing out here? It’s like the perfect size and all. Look at how the sides light up according to the bass.”
“It’s a projector. Was a gift.” From Ashira last year for Father’s Day. “C’mon.”
I put my arm around her tiny waist, and Josie fell in line, walking along the side of the house to get to the circular driveway. “Hey,” her voice was syrupy. “You think Shi-Shi likes me?” She giggled. “Not like best friends or anything, but do you think she finds me cool enough to respect?”
“Does it matter?”
She nodded. “At least for Chivon, I guess. I have a child, too, remember? As a mother, you want, at minimum, to have a safe dynamic with the woman its father has around your child. Does that make sense?”
I couldn’t process her question or point. My head was spinning, adrenaline racing throughout my tensing body. When we made it to her ride, I waited for Josie to unlock it and opened the door for her. Slowly, she moved, passing around me to get into my chest. Then she reached up and kissed me. Without thought, I kissed her back. This wasn’t our first time. In fact, I liked kissing her and hated it at the same damn time. Almost every time we’d done it behind closed doors, my weakness as a man flared and flesh took over. Her body was nice: soft, generous, and responsive.
But tonight, I couldn’t be sidetracked by it. I pulled away first. With tight eyes, Josie wiped her mouth.
“Text me as soon as you get in,” I managed respectfully.
She saw I didn’t have much more energy for her, and I was too preoccupied to be regretful. I just needed her to get home safely. I watched her get inside, and when Josie pulled off, I started my way to the back of the house, feeling my jaw clench uncontrollably.
Man was the first person I saw leaning against the house. He’d been waiting for me. I didn’t speak, just kept it moving.
Chelsea was next, walking toward me. “I think it’s time to wrap this party up. This shit is getting too wild. Too many of them are drunk beyond, beyond.”
Above her head, I could see Tyreek bending over Ashira’s chair with his phone in her face before it flashed a few times. I couldn’t see her face because of the angle of his hand and arm, but her body language was off. Her legs were awkwardly crossed and the water bottle she held looked to be crushed.
“Peach!” I shouted loud enough to be heard over the music from the speaker. Ignoring Chels, I met Peach by the girls. Predictably, she was the most sober. They had used my crib for pool parties before, so it wasn’t awkward for me to tell her, “Ashira’s drunk. She ain’t leaving. You guys’re more than welcome to stay. You know Chivon’s room got a full-sized mattress, and the other bedrooms are available to y’all. Chelsea and them may stay, too. I’ll let y’all work out the logistics.”
Looking back at her girls, she fingered her scalp through her long hair. “Yea—uhhhh… Y’all, I think we should crash here, too. Thank God I ain’t gotta speak in the morning.” Her face turned hard.
Ashira wouldn’t look our way, her slanted eyes ahead. Shizu yawned hard, not even covering her mouth.
“Yeah.” Corinne stood, trying to stretch. “I’ll sleep on the damn floor for just a couple of hours. After that, I’m good. I have to open the store in the morning.”
When Peach looked at me again, I tossed my chin to Ashira. “Go ‘head up. Sleep that shit off.” She nodded then walked right over to her girl and whispered close to her face.
The group’s volume shot up again, Myron tripping onto the pool covering. I could feel my heart racing, even more, my scalp loosening on my skull like I was high. My damn heels lifted from the ground, and I struggled not to bounce on my toes, anxious tension running through me. My right eye twitched as my fingers flexed and loosened, and my left shoulder rolled. When I heard the door to the house close, I counted down from sixty before a switch was flipped in my brain, and I charged the group.
I nudged B-Sure away with my left arm while my right elbow cocked back, and I fired off my fist, catching Tyreek in the chin just as he turned around.
