by Will Blue
"Now how about we get some Micky D's? I am hungry."
Chapter 8
"So this is what we are going to do," Braylon said bursting into Brandon's room. "You are going to get up, get dressed, and we about to go to this party."
"What party?" Brandon had managed to get twenty minutes of sleep in before the disturbance at the door. The Richmond trip had been physically and emotionally draining. Brandon ended up knocking out as soon as they walked in the door.
"I almost forgot it too, but remember that surprise party for Mike that Jesse and Dana are throwing? We gotta go."
"All I gotta do is go back to sleep." Brandon rolled back over. Braylon wasn't liking his evasiveness at all.
"Nigga, I said that WE are going. I am not going to let you stay at home and sulk like you always do. I just got a text from Dana reminding us to come through at like 9:30."
"Alright fine," Brandon said sitting up. "What time is it now?"
"Eight. You got time to get yourself together. I will be in the kitchen warming back up my plate. You want me to warm yours?"
"Didn't you just eat McDonald's?"
"Yeah, and?"
"Nothing," Brandon responded shaking his head. "Hey Braylon!"
"Wassup?"
"You know that we don't have to let the past dictate our future, right?"
"Yeah, I know."
"Do you think that he is the reason for why you don't believe in relationships? Why you don't believe in love and…"
"Whoa. Whoa, dude." Braylon was quick to cut Brandon off. "See, this is what I am talking about. Sulking and thinking about all of this shit. You don't need to be doing it."
"But don't you think that we really should be talking about it? I mean, maybe even therapy. I know that you might say that you are okay, but I think…"
"I said that I don't want to talk about it." Braylon walked out the room before Brandon could say anything else.
As much as Brandon didn't want to, his mind went right into the past. He wondered if he could think of any signs that would have told him that their father had been abusing Braylon.
Braylon and their father had always had a bond that was different from the one Brandon had. Brandon didn't like sports. Braylon was the athlete and Frank never missed a game or a meet. Their relationship got a little rocky during the teenage years. Brandon had assumed that it was just because they were butting heads. Could it have been more? Could that had something to do with the molestation?
Brandon cracked open his old journal and read a few more entries. Maybe the clues were in there. Time passed and Brandon realized that someone had entered the apartment. Braylon was in the living room talking to someone.
It was Adrian. Brandon was shocked to see him. There wasn't a tutoring session that was scheduled for that day. Brandon and Braylon hadn't even planned to be back until the next night. What was Adrian doing there?
"Hey, Brandon," Adrian said with a smile.
"Yo, guess who coming to the party with us, bro!"
Braylon, Brandon, and Adrian all managed to go their own separate ways once they had gotten to the party. Some of Adrian's frat brothers were there so he was dividing his time between chilling with them and dancing.
Both Braylon and Brandon kept an eye on how the popular Kappa was moving. They were fascinated with how he interacted with others and the confidence he was exuding. He was sexy all on his own, but there was something about how he silently commanded attention that was intoxicating. He was damn near the life of the party. Braylon knew that he had to get Adrian alone.
He went into the kitchen a poured himself some Jose Cuervo into a cup. He also got one for Adrian. Adrian's cup had a little bit more tequila in it though. Braylon hoped to see if alcohol would release some of Adrian's inhibitions.
Braylon reached Adrian as Rihanna’s new jam was going off. He had been dancing with this one girl for the past three songs. They both were looking hot. The fans in the apartment weren't doing their job with all of the people crammed in the space.
"I thought that you could use this," Braylon said handing Adrian the drink.
"Thanks man." Adrian took the cup and took a big swig. Not knowing it was straight liquor, he wasn't prepared for the strong taste. He started to cough as the tequila made its way down.
"You okay?"
"Yeah. This tequila?"
"You know it. Good, huh?"
"I am not much of a tequila drinker, but it is cool." Adrian finished off the rest of the cup in one gulp. The effects of the liquor was instant. He could already feel his buzz being strengthened.
"It is kinda hot in here. Aint it?"
"Yeah, especially now that I drank that tequila. I am about to come up out of this shirt."
"Me too," Braylon said with a smile. He unbuttoned his shirt and tossed it on the sofa. His muscles looked delicious behind his white wife beater. Without trying to, Braylon became a trendsetter. Several other brothers discarded their shirts in the same fashion. The ladies, and some of the guys, had no complaints about that.
Brandon was talking with the host, Jesse, when he noticed what was going on. He didn't like what he saw. He watched as Adrian took of his polo shirt. He and his brother were off to the side laughing. Brandon wanted to know what they were talking about.
The two men began to start walking for the door. Braylon opened the door for Adrian who exited the apartment first. Braylon had a devilish smile on his face and Brandon didn't like it one bit.
Chapter 9
Some old tomatoes, a jar of relish, leftover Chinese food, and a half eaten piece of pizza; there was nothing in the refrigerator for Brandon to eat. If only they had some bread, Brandon might have been able to fix himself a bologna sandwich, but neither he nor Braylon had been in a grocery store recently.
Brandon scanned the fridge one more time before he journeyed over to the pantry. No doubt that it would be bare as well. He finally had to settle with some Apple Jacks without milk.
Eating dry cereal as he walked, Brandon headed for the living room. The apartment was quiet. Braylon had just left to go catch a movie with some friends.
Brandon plopped down on the sofa and just enjoyed the peace of being home alone. The sun was going down and an orange glow was filling the room. Brandon admired the simple beauty of nature while munching on his snack.
The urge to do something constructive hit Brandon. He wanted to do something in this moment other than turning on a television or listening to music.
Brandon went into his room to fetch one of his new favorite books. 'The Secret' by Rhonda Byrne had become sort of a new game plan on how he wanted to live his life. He had heard about this book on Oprah one day and immediately ran to go buy it.
'The Secret' is a book that talks about the laws of attraction. Whatever energy you put out in the universe you get back. It also deals with some things that you may hear every day like believing in yourself and setting goals, but it was done in such a way that inspires its readers. It was motivational.
Brandon reached the section of the book that talked about love. The book says that one must think about and visualize the mate of their dreams as someone that they could and would have. But to do that, you have to know what exactly you want in a lover.
What did Brandon want? He put down the book and began to visualize the perfect man. HIS MAN.
He would be around 6 feet tall, nice toned body, maybe a nice chocolate man. Brandon liked all skin complexions, but there was something about chocolate that was extremely sexy to him. Maybe it was because he too was of a darker tone.
His man would have flawlessly beautiful skin and kissable soft pink lips with a goatee and mustache framing them. His eyes would be the windows to his complexity. They would be alluring, yet aloof at the same time much like Omar Epps with his bedroom eyes.
Brandon could see this man. He could imagine how it would feel to be in this man's embrace. He could have this. He WOULD have this. All he had to do was speak this man into existence an
d one day soon he would appear.
The doorbell interrupted Brandon's thoughts. He reluctantly got up to answer the door. He didn't want to. He wasn't expecting no one, but what if it was the man he was visualizing paying him a visit. Could 'The Secret' work that fast?
Brandon felt a little let down when he saw that it was Jerrell at the door. Nothing against Jerrell, but it could have been his chocolate Adonis instead.
"Hey Jerrell. Braylon is not here right now. He just left."
"That's cool. I actually came here to see you. I was wondering if we could talk. You have a minute?"
"Of course, come in." Brandon ushered Jerrell inside. As he passed by, Brandon got a whiff of his new cologne. Brandon could not place the scent, but it was nice.
"It’s quiet in here. I hope you weren't sleep."
"Naw, I was just doing some thinking. You know, just letting my mind wander."
"Well, where does it wander to?"
"A lot of places," Brandon said with a laugh. "But I would rather not get into that. I might scare you."
"Why you say that?"
"I am just joking. Actually, I was thinking a little bit about love."
"Love? What's going on? Are you in love with somebody?"
"No. But I am in love with the idea of being in love," Brandon confessed. Jerrell fully understood.
"You know I am done with your brother, right? After I last talked to you, I came to the realization that I deserve more than what he is willing to give me. I wanted to thank you."
"You are welcomed, but I think that all I really did was listen."
"You did more than that, but even just listening to me was much appreciated."
"No problem. I was just doing what I could do."
"Well, there is something else that you could do for me." Jerrell scooted closer to Brandon on the sofa. His hand landed on Brandon's thigh as their lips were pressed against each other.
Brandon did not pull away from Jerrell. He welcomed the kiss. He welcomed the feel of a hard body pressing against him. Guilt should have come and brought Brandon back to his senses, but it didn't. For once, Brandon was going to be like Braylon and live in the moment. He was going to be a man and get something that he wanted.
No guilt. No shame. No regrets.
Chapter 10
The lights came on in the theatre and revealed Adrian's smiling face. Braylon had to admit that the movie really made him think. It may not have been a movie that he would have chosen to see on his own, but it was good.
Adrian and Braylon were the last two people to leave. Adrian wanted to read some of the credits for some reason. Braylon didn't mind. He was finishing off the large Dr. Pepper that he had bought at the concession stand.
"Are you hungry?" Braylon asked his date.
"I could eat."
"You want to hit up Cheddar’s or maybe Applebee's?"
"Well, if we go to the Applebee's by Coliseum Mall we can sit at the bar. I know a couple of the bartenders so we might get a couple of free drinks."
"Alright then, Applebee's it is."
Braylon did not know how he ended up on this date. He didn't really do the whole dinner and movie thing. He liked to get straight to it and do it.
Seeing how Adrian worked the crowd at the party made Braylon really take notice. And then when Braylon had a moment to talk to Adrian outside, he became further intrigued. The next thing he knew was he was asking the dude out.
As they made the way to the car, Braylon walked half a step behind Adrian. He was talking about the movie both with his mouth and with his hands. Sometimes over usage of hand gestures can come off as kinda gay, but in Adrian's case, it was a sign of how passionate he felt about what they had just watched.
Braylon was surprised to see how busy Applebee's bar was. The two bartenders there were working hard to service all of the patrons. Adrian and Braylon lucked up and got the last two stools available when a young couple left.
"Yo wassup DJ?" Adrian said to the male bartender when they took their seat. The female bartender was looking at the two of them like they were a feast.
"Oh, you ain't going to say nothing to me, huh Adrian?"
"My bad Tiff, but you were busy."
"You want your Bonecrusher?"
"Yeah, give me two."
"What is a Bonecrusher?" Braylon asked.
"It’s like a Long Island meets a Mai tai and then topped off with beer."
"Damn! Beer?"
"Yeah, it’s good. Trust me. I get them all the time. We can start off with them and then get a Call a Cab. Those are off the chain too."
"Damn, you must come here a lot."
"Kinda," he replied with a smile.
"Hey Adrian," three pretty brown skin girls said in unison.
"Where were you at Monday? You are normally in here," one of the girls said.
"Oh, I went straight to sleep when I got home. I ain't feel like going out nowhere."
"Well, we were looking for you," another one of the said. "And who is your friend here?"
"My bad. Ladies, this is my boy Braylon. Braylon, this is Persia, Taylor, and Cynthia."
"Braylon, I don't think I have seen you before. Do you go to Hampton?" Cynthia asked while getting a little closer to him.
"Naw, I got to NSU."
"Oh boo," Persia teased. "Why would you want to go there?"
"Scholarship. But my twin brother goes to Hampton."
"There are two of you? Damn! What's your twins' name?"
"I ain't telling. You might try to find him and molest him." Everyone laughed.
"You damn right if yall are identical," Taylor said giving her girls a high five."
"Well, we over there in that booth in the corner. Drop by before yall leave."
"Cool. Aight." The girls made their exit as the Bonecrushers were finally put in front of them.
The first drink was good. Damn good. Braylon asked for another before moving on to a Call a Cab. Adrian warned him that the second drink was sweet yet lethal. Braylon didn't believe him until he went to stand up after he downed it in two long gulps.
The tipsier Braylon got, the hornier he became. Everything about Adrian was turning him on like his juicy pink lips. He licked them so smoothly. Braylon imagined what else could be done with that tongue.
Braylon had to drop Adrian off back at his apartment. He was hoping that he would be able to come in and get more 'intimately' acquainted with Adrian. However, that was not the case.
"I had a good time tonight," Adrian said as he stood in his doorway.
"I did too. So what you about to do now?"
"This buzz is telling me to go to bed. I'm about to have a good sleep."
"Oh, I feel you."
"Call me tomorrow. Actually, let me know when you get home. I don't want to worry about if those Bonecrushers started kicking your ass half way back."
"Naw, I'm good. I’ll call you though."
"Aight dude." Adrian extended his hand out. That was not the kind of parting that Braylon had imagined. A long kiss followed by hot passionate sex was more along the lines of what he had been expecting.
Feeling a mix of disappointment and contentment, Braylon walked back to his car ready to go home. He hoped that Brandon had gone to sleep by the time that he had gotten to the apartment.
It had been quite a night. Braylon sat in his car and reflected on his date. He wished that it wasn't over, but there he was sitting in his driveway alone.
He had driven home with the radio off. He had not felt like listening to the bass and thunder of rap nor did he want to be swept away in the heartfelt sentiments of R & B.
Before he exited the car, Braylon pulled out his cell phone. He had told Adrian that he would give him a call when he got home.
"Dude probably passed out by now," Braylon said to himself. Perhaps it would be better to send him a text message. Besides, due to his drowsiness, any phone conversation that would have would be short.
Braylon could see that all the li
ghts in the apartment were off. Brandon must have gone to bed already. That was a relief to him. Braylon almost felt guilty about going out with someone that he knew that his brother liked; again, almost. But, Braylon always tried to tell his brother, you have to go for what you want. You can't be scared and timid all the time.
Walking into the dark apartment, Braylon could hear noises. He could hear moaning. Braylon cracked a smile. Brandon was finally getting him some! The living room floor was littered with clothing that was discarded in the heat of passion. Braylon could tell that the sexual feast had started by the sofa before moving to the bed.