by Tracy Gray
“Shit.” Brandon mumbled with a sigh. “This is a problem that I didn't need.” He cut his eyes at me, “what is it about you that sends these women smooth off? Even on the block growing up, everything would be cool until you showed up at Miss Bo’s house. Next thing you know, every chick in a fifteen mile radius would decide that it was time to act a fool, and show up at my grandmother’s house asking for X. Same thing in college. Everything would be going along smoothly, flowing. You’d come visit X and a day later, chicks would be showing up at our apartment wearing trench coats with nothing on underneath them, doing whatever they could to try to get his attention.”
I shrugged my shoulders. “Women have always wanted to make sure that I knew that he would never be all mine - that I would always have to look over my shoulder to see who he was messing with besides me.”
“Is that weird as fuck for you, or what?” Brandon seemed genuinely interested. “I mean, for two seasons, Xavier was posted up with a different woman practically everyday on the Gram. Nobody said anything. None of those chicks came for each other. Last season, he ain’t post no pictures with chicks, nobody said nothing. He’s been posting pictures of you for like, three weeks and women are showing up at my grandmother’s house, seducing the fucking contractor to get inside. For what? To get pictures to fuck with you, Reign? Shit’s crazy.”
“Yeah.” I agreed. “Women do tend to hate seeing me with Baby.”
“Why do you think that is?” He asked.
I smirked at him. “You’re so analytical, Brain.” I called him by his childhood nickname.
“I think it’s because X’s love for Reign is palpable.” River answered. “I think when X is with Reign, he gives off the vibe that he’s with the girl who has his heart. I think that makes chicks get in their feelings. They can’t understand why he would love her, but not them.”
“Did you let him know that Meeyah Donna was here?” I asked him.
“Yeah, I did. He hasn’t hit me back, but I’m assuming he doesn’t have his phone. He’s probably in a team meeting, or in the middle of a workout.”
“What are you gonna do about the pictures she took?” Trinity wanted to know, as she messed around with her phone. “Because she already posted at least one.”
“Let me see.” Brandon reached for her phone.
We all peered over his shoulder. Meeyah Donna sat posed on the granite counter top, legs crossed at the knee, dress riding up her thigh, leaning towards the camera so that her boobs were prominent, lips slightly parted, eyes big and doe-like. The caption read: @x.mayhem.mayhew - I’m dinner. He’s dessert.
“That’s not a selfie.” Trinity acknowledged. “Myron took that picture.”
“So fired.” Mumbled River.
“Shit.” Slipped from between my lips before I could catch it. “She’s trying to start an Instagram war with me. If this wasn’t my life, it would probably be funny.”
“It’s still funny.” River said. “It’s funny to me, because she’s playing herself so hard, and for what? Baby doesn’t want her.” She turned to Brandon. “Baby doesn’t want her, right?”
“What are you looking at me for?” He asked. “As far as I know, he’s never wanted anybody seriously, but your twin. I mean, he committed to her when they were like, six years old or something.”
“Having to get a new crew is gonna put the project behind.” I said softly, partly to change the subject, partly because it was true and needed to be acknowledged. “You sure you wanna replace Myron?”
“Yeah, he has to go. My grandmother lived here for over 50 years, got two grandsons in the NFL, never had a problem with groupies getting in the house. This nigga been on the job five weeks, and pictures of the inside are already on the Gram. Nah, he gotta go. We’ll push the timeline back, just get somebody trustworthy over here.”
“Myron was trustworthy. But Meeyah...she got ass.” I said with a smirk.
“She does have ass.” He conceded, matching my smirk. “But business is business. Now, he done fucked with his own livelihood, and he didn’t even get to smash. He has to go to the crib and explain to wifey why he got let go from a job.”
“Thanks for coming, Brandon. You know if it wasn’t you, we never would’ve called you with this. We would’ve just fired Myron and kept it moving. But we didn’t want pictures of Miss Vera’s house on the internet to catch you off guard.”
“Good looking, Riv.”
“We need to head back to the office and get a crew in place as fast as possible.” I said giving Brandon a quick hug.
“Meeyah does have a big ass, Twin, but she can’t touch you. You’ve got a big heart,” he whispered in my ear.
Xavier
10
I was pissed as fuck when I got Brandon’s text about Meeyah’s ass being in my grandmother’s house. It took every drop of self-control inside of me not to put in a call and have one of my rowdier female friends give Meeyah that work. Instead, I gave myself a few hours to sit with it, and try to calm down. That shit didn’t really work.
I dialed her number and waited impatiently.
“Oh, so now you wanna call me.” She said, by way of greeting in a disinterested tone.
“You’d better be glad all I’m doing is calling you Meeyah, because you came very close to catching smoke that you’re not looking to catch. What the fuck are you doing going into my grandmother’s house?”
“Do not curse at me, Xavier. I don’t know what you do with that little bitch you’re…”
“Is this how you wanna handle this?” I asked, as an eerie calm settled over me. “You really wanna flip it and make it seem like I did something wrong? Because we can do that. I’ll have my attorney go ‘head and file that trespass shit and we’ll let the judge sort it out. And let me just keep it a buck with you, Meeyah - if you end up in court, I will bleed your ass dry. I’ll file motion after motion after motion, until I dry up all your little Instagram bread. So, what’s good, Shawtie? I’ll ask you again, what the fuck were you doing inside my grandmother’s house?”
“I wanted to take some pictures.” She heaved out in annoyance, and I could imagine her arms folded across her chest and her lips pouted. “I wasn’t gonna go inside. I was gonna sit on the porch, but then dude came out and started flirting with me. I can’t help it if I’m dope.”
I ignored the last part. “How’d you get the address?”
Taking longer than necessary, she scoffed, like I was a damn fool for asking. “I’m Meeyah Donna, Nigga. I go anywhere I want in Chicago and take whatever pictures I want, anytime I want. What’s gonna stop me?”
This girl. I took a deep breath, my anger starting to subside and acceptance of what it was settling in. Meeyah didn’t see a damn thing wrong with what she’d done. She didn’t see it as a violation of my privacy, my grandmother’s privacy. She saw it as her right as Meeyah Donna.
“Don’t make me have to stop you.” I told her. “I couldn’t care less where you break into or flirt your way into to get the pictures that you want. I honestly don’t give a fuck...about anything you do. Just stay the fuck away from my grandmother’s house. If you turn up there again, it’s gonna be a misunderstanding. Like, I’m keeping it as gangster as I can with you, right now. If you show up there again, be prepared to deal with the consequences.”
“Is that a threat.”
“Baby, I have an entire legal team, I don’t have to threaten you. I just tell you what’s what.”
“Baby?” She repeated. “Is that what you call...old girl?”
“Do I ask you what you call your guy?”
“I saw her today…” She changed tactics.
I cut her off. “She’s fucking gorgeous, ain’t she? Did your nipples get hard for her?” I changed tactics, too.
What sounded like a growl came from low in her throat. “I hate you so much. Xavier!”
“And I actually don’t hate you, Meeyah, but I feel like that’s where you’re gonna end up taking it. Stop being a fucking weirdo and live your life.
You ain’t checking for me, you know it and I know it. Quit acting like you want me, when what it really is, is that you don’t want nobody else to have me.”
“You still don’t even get it, but it’s whatever.”
“Whatever, man. I don’t wanna have to have this conversation again.” I said, failing in my attempt not to laugh at myself for purposely adding that asshole comment at the end.
“Kiss my ass.” She said, ending the call.
“So, what’s going through your mind right now?” I asked, watching Reign as we connected over FaceTime that night.
“That I’m a woman, so I know how women think.”
“What does that mean?”
“You told me that one thing you liked about Meeyah was that she had a “love don’t live here” vibe. What made you think that? Was it something you felt, or something she said to you?”
“She never said that.” I admitted. “It was more like the way she operated - the way she carried herself. Dudes would be out here so thirsty for her. Like league dudes, sweating the shit outta her, and she wasn’t beat for it. She just did her. She spent time with whoever she wanted, and never seemed like she was trying to lock anybody down.”
“Not even you?”
“Not even me.” I emphasized. “While I was hanging out with other chicks, she was hanging out with other niggas. We would see each other out at the club, at events, she never blinked, never reacted at all. When I won Offensive Player of the Year, she sent me a short congratulations text. Never heard from her again, until I posted that picture of us kissing.”
“You never posted pictures of you kissing anybody else?”
“I barely kissed anybody else, and hell nah, I didn’t post it.”
“I think love didn’t live here, until you.” She said, making air quotation marks with her hands. “I think she was cool as long as she knew you weren’t serious about anybody. But when you got serious about me, it knocked her off her square. She’s probably wondering who I am, that I came out of the woodwork, and got you posting pictures of me.” She sighed. “Ugh! Why’re you always making these chicks fall in love with you? I’m so sick of this shit. Ever since high school, these delusional chicks been thinking there’s a chance for them, if they can just get rid of me.”
“Well, I’m never letting you go, so I don’t know what to tell them.”
“This. This right here, is the hardest part of being with you. It’s not you, it’s not me, it’s the fucking outside people who make it so stressful.”
“Yo, I’ve been telling you since Pop Warner that I wasn’t letting no outside people come between us.”
“You think they know that when they come for us, it only makes us closer?” Reign teased.
“Nah, they think we fight and bicker about the shit they do. They don’t know that you make me sit down and talk about how we should handle it, and I end up falling deeper in love with you, because you gotta mind for conflict resolution.”
“I wish you were in my presence right now, I would kiss the lips off your face.”
“I wish I was in your presence right now, because I would kiss the lips off your pussy.”
She laughed, like I was joking. “Say word.”
“Eight more days, Ma. I don’t know how I’m gonna make it.” I scrubbed my hand over my face. “I’m coming straight there, when I get outta training camp. Like, I’m leaving here and heading straight for the airport.”
“I can’t wait.” She assured me.
“Did you do what I asked you to do? Did you get on something?”
“Yes, Baby. I got on something, you’ll get your opportunity to shoot up the club.”
Even after we ended the call, I was still laughing.
Reign
On a Thursday morning, a shadow settled over the doorway of my office at River Reign Exclusive Design. I looked up to find my grandmother standing there. What the hell did she want, and where was River?
“Hi Granddaughter.” She said, with fake congeniality.
“Hi.” I said, not bothering to hide my displeasure. “Is River not in her office? I’ll text her and see where she is.”
“Actually,” she said, taking a seat in one of the chairs that faced my desk, “I came by to see you.”
Since I wasn’t with the shits, I cut straight to the chase. “For what? To tell me how dumb I am...book smart, but still...dumb?”
She chuckled, and I promise that I have never wanted to beat somebody’s ass more than I wanted to beat hers right then.
“I never realized how sensitive you are, little girl. All these years I’ve just been talking and everytime I open my mouth, I’ve been inadvertently stepping on your little feelings.”
“If you didn’t come by to step on my little feelings, what do you need?”
“I was hoping to come by to clear the air, Reign,” she sighed heavily. “I only have two grandchildren. It seems strange that I only have a good relationship with one of them.”
“Really? It doesn’t seem strange to me at all. You’ve never liked me. Ever since I was seven years old. I remember the exact day. You overheard me tell Trinity that Xavier was gonna be my husband, and you grabbed me by my collar and told me not to be stupid. I guess you thought my seven year old mind actually wanted Xavier as a husband. I was seven. What did I know about marriage? All I knew was that my mom had let River and me watch “The Little Mermaid,” and Ariel had a husband, I wanted one, too. I only chose Xavier because he was my friend, and he was nice to me.
I never expected to end up dating him seven years later. I never expected him to fall in love with me. I wasn’t making a prophecy. I wasn’t flowing in the spirit, Lady. I was a child, talking to another child about the things children talk about. But you judged me for being a kid, and you’ve been judging me ever since. I’m over it. I’m over you. Be happy with the one granddaughter who’s interested in having a relationship with you, and please leave me alone. Please. Stop taking your little shots at me, and stop giving the delusional grandkids of your friends the idea that they have a chance with Xavier Mayhew. He doesn’t want her. He wants me. You’ve never wanted him to. You never wanted me to end up with him, but I did.” I stood up from my desk, and walked around it, standing by the chair she sat in. “You be easy, now.” I said, dismissing her.
“Are you putting me out?”
“Were you trying to stay?” I asked her.
“I was hoping we could come to some kind of resolution, Reign.”
“That’s not happening, not today.”
“You are really hurt.”
“Girl! Listen, there was a time in my life when I was really fragile. I was broken and battered and didn’t even understand exactly what had happened to me. Back then, that’s when I needed a grandmother’s love. A grandmother’s comfort. That’s when I needed somebody to pull me into their arms and tell me that trouble don’t last always - pray over me. You’re the only grandmother I have, but you weren’t here for nurturing me. You were here for belittling me, and making fun of me and my heartbreak. Now, I’m healed in my man’s love. Run, tell that. So, nah, we aren’t kissing and making up - not today, not anytime soon, and maybe never. Now...you be easy.” This time I left the office, I didn’t care if she stayed in there or not.
Reign
Epilogue
Xavier didn’t want me to pick him up from the airport on the day he left training camp. His exact words to me were, “I’mma need you to be at the crib naked, and ready.” So, I was at my townhouse, mostly naked, and ready. I was also anxious, but mostly ready.
I barely let him ring the doorbell, before I swung it open and practically jumped into his arms.
“Four weeks is too long.” He said into my neck.
“You came back to me.” I said to myself, inside my own head.
He set me down on my feet and took in my apparel. “You do not follow directions, Twin. I told you to be naked.”
“It’s a robe, Baby. I had to answer the door.”
“Well, I’m in here now, take the damn robe off.”
I let the robe drop to the floor of my foyer.
His gaze moved over my body like a laser beam, leaving scorch marks everywhere it landed. “Upstairs.” He ordered. “Right now.”
“Damn, Bossy.” I teased, liking the way he was taking control.
“Get your ass upstairs, Raye. If I have to carry you, you’re not gonna like your punishment.”
He didn’t need to tell me twice. I quickly bounded up the stairs, with him hot on my trail. When we made it to my bedroom, he motioned for me to get on the bed, while pulling his shirt over his head.
I kneeled on the bed, watching him strip out of his shorts and boxer briefs and wondered how I let him stay away for three years. There wasn’t a lot of time for thinking, though. He pushed me back on the bed gently.
“I’ve been looking at it on my phone for four weeks, dreaming about smelling it and tasting it.”
Before I could respond, his mouth was on me, warm and wet, applying pressure to my clit while sliding a finger inside my channel. A small shriek escaped my mouth at the sensation.
“Oh my word, Xavier.” I moaned for him. “I missed you so much.”
His reply was to continue to savor me, alternating between tongue kissing my clit and my opening. My fingers found their way into his locs and gripped his scalp, holding him a virtual prisoner of love between my thighs. I pressed my pelvis towards his mouth and moaned loudly, when he hummed right on my vagina.
Delicious waves of happiness undulated in my core causing me to ride his face for my own benefit and pleasure. Xavier wasn’t put off by my behavior, he let me suffocate him without stopping or altering his mind-blowing behavior. Seconds later, an eruption was bubbling up inside of me. It started so deep, and worked its way to the surface. I fell into tumbling, unpredictable waves of pain tinged pleasure drowning me in delight, while I drowned Xavier in creamy stickiness. After several minutes, I finally removed my hands from his hair, fell back on the bed and exhaled.