I sat in silence as he drove on the freeway. I hadn’t even bothered to ask him where we were headed. I found out when we pulled up in the infamous projects called Haverstock. They were one of the largest projects in Houston and were known for the violence and high HIV mortality rate. I had a few cousins that lived there, and they were all ghetto, welfare getting, hood rats. I mean…I loved them, but it was ridiculous how they lived. I was young and loved to have fun, but the people there took enjoying life to the next level. They did shit without the thought of consequences; so that’s why they often shitted where they lived, and had reckless, unprotected sex. So, I could only imagine what kind of broad he was picking up from that spot.
I didn’t have to wonder too much about the sister, because she was waiting right near the entrance with her bags and a face full of tears. Even in the dark I could tell that she was gorgeous. She was light skinned, with fire red hair, and she had green cat eyes. And although she had a slender build, she had an ass out of this world.
Ted pulled up right in front of her and hopped out and helped her place her bags in his trunk. They then both got in the car. She sat in the back seat directly behind him.
“Hello,” she spoke as she sniffled a little bit.
I turned to get a closer look at her and realized how battered her face was. She looked like she’d gone a couple of rounds with Mike Tyson or somebody. One of her eyes was black and her top lip was split open. All of a sudden, I felt guilty about trying to stop Ted from going to get her.
“Are you okay?” I asked her.
“No,” she sobbed.
“It’s going to be alright, Kell,” Ted glanced at her in the rearview mirror. “You got somewhere to go tonight?”
She shook her head no.
“Well, if it’s cool with my Pretty Girl you could sleep on our couch for the night,” he blurted, as he turned and looked at me. I didn’t like how he just put me on the spot like that.
I glared back at him before answering. “Yeah, it’s cool.”
“Cool,” he nodded as he turned the car around and headed back out the complex.
Everybody was quiet on the ride home. When he finally pulled back into the parking lot of our condo, I was tired as hell and it was just an hour before I had to go to work. I was pissed that my sleep had been fucked off, so I slammed the car door shut and went ahead of them as they got her things from the trunk. I waited at the front door as they struggled with all of her bags. He gave me a look as he placed a bag on the ground in order to unlock the door.
Kell quickly made herself comfortable on the couch while I went and got ready for work. I felt uneasy about leaving Ted and his sister alone, but I didn’t have much of a choice. Nothing was going to stand in the way of me getting my money.
By the time I’d made it home from work, Ted had already cooked dinner and cleaned the entire house. Kell was sitting outside talking on her cell. Ted was still his same attentive self, but there was some shit the needed to be addressed.
“How long is this girl going to be here?” I asked him as I undressed and he stood and watched.
“Honestly, I don’t know. She’s been calling around all day, but she hasn’t found anywhere to go yet.”
“So, what does that have to do with me?”
He took a deep breath. “Baby, can we just let her stay for a couple of weeks?”
“I DO NOT KNOW HER LIKE THAT!!”
“Just for a few weeks, baby,” he pleaded.
I took a few seconds to think. I was going to give him the benefit of the doubt. He deserved that much. “Okay, she can stay for two weeks, but that’s it.”
“Thank you, Pretty Girl, for being understanding,” he smiled as he hugged me. The next thing I knew, he had me bent over and was pounding deep inside me. I couldn’t help but scream for mercy although Kell was in the next room.
* * * * *
I tried my best to not have my guards up, but I just couldn’t help it. Kell seemed to be an easy going enough chick, but I just didn’t trust her. She was always smiles and hugs, but I could always read deeper into things. There she was: nineteen, just two years younger than me, and had no family to turn to. As beautiful as she was, there should’ve been some nigga willing and ready to take her in, if for nothing more than a show piece for his boys. Since I didn’t see anybody running to her rescue, I figured that she had to be secretly rotten to the core.
Ted was telling me that before his mama ever took Kell in, she was living on the streets because her mama was addicted to crack. I’m not heartless, so if what he was saying was true, then I could sympathize. But if “if” was a fifth, then we’d all be drunk.
Although, I still had my reservations about Kell, she was a fun person to be around. She was vibrant like me. I was a person that loved being on the scene and to show my face at all the happenings around the city, and she was exactly the same way. Hell, she liked to run the streets more than I did. I’d slowed down quite a bit due to my demanding job and relationships that tied me down. So, while she was around, she reminded me that I was still young and needed to get out.
After she told me about this new club for the millionth time, I finally agreed to go with her one Saturday. All that day we prepared for that night. I spent half of my day in the salon and the other half trying to find the perfect outfit. Wearing anything in my closet was out of the question because nothing seemed to fit right. I hadn’t realized how much weight I’d lost until I tried on all the dresses in my closet. So, I was in the mall on a mission to find the perfect dress. After searching high and low, I found a simple black dress that was ultra-sexy. It was an off-the-shoulders, tight, short number. Initially when I spotted the dress on the rack, I thought that I couldn’t fit it.
“Damn, I wish that they had this in my size,” I complained as I skimmed through the racks searching for a large or extra-large.
“Try on this medium,” Kell suggested as she handed me the dress.
“A medium? Girl, you can just look at this shit and know that I can’t squeeze my ass in this.”
“I think that you can. I got a friend that is thicker than you and she always comes to this store and buys her dresses in mediums. Most of this stuff stretches and is so tight that it holds everything in place. Shit…and I know the shit looks good on her. Shit…she strips from time to time,” she tugged on the dress. “See how the material is? It stretches, but it’s not that loose, stretchy shit.”
“For real?” I asked. “Okay, I’ll try it on,” I sighed knowing that I wouldn’t be able to squeeze in that small ass dress. Still, I took it into the dressing room and tried it on. I was surprised at how snug and sexy the dress looked. It revealed plenty of cleavage and thighs while showing off my curves. I was so in love with the dress that I didn’t want to take it off.
After buying the dress, I went got all-gold accessories to bring the dress out. I really was lucky when I found some all-black stilettos with gold trimmed heels. I knew that I was going to be the shit that night. I could still remember the look on Ted’s face when he saw me dressed for the night. His eyes couldn’t stop searching my body.
“Baby, you have lost a lot of weight,” he acknowledged, as I looked in the mirror making sure that everything was in place.
“I see.”
“You looking like a pin-up with that small waist and big tits,” he chuckled.
I stared in the mirror. “You must be talking a white people’s pin up cause niggas ain’t worried about no tittys,” I sighed.
“Girl, you just don’t know,” he shook his head. “But that ass looking right too,” he claimed, as he slapped my butt.
“Quit it,” I giggled as he wrapped his arms around me.
“Why don’t you just stay here with me? We can make love all night long,” he whispered into my ear as I watched us in the mirror.
“We can do that any time, baby. I just want to go out for a little while.”
“Okay, okay. You deserve it,” he kissed me on the cheek. “
Just behave,” he warned as he released me.
“I’m always on my best behavior,” I lied in my best school girl’s voice.
“Let you tell it,” he mumbled as his eyes stayed glued to my ass. “Baby, let a nigga get a quickie before you go.”
I gave him a look that said it all. “Nigga, you must be crazy. You saw how long it took me to get ready.”
“So?”
“Ted,” I sighed as I eyed him the mirror.
He laughed a bit. “I tried. But I’ma tear that ass up tonight, watch.”
“Keirah, you’re ready?” Kell asked as she stuck her head in the doorway of the bathroom.
“Yeah,” I laughed. “I’m coming.”
I turned around and wrapped my arms around Ted and gave him a long kiss.
“Y’all nasty,” I heard Kell say.
I thought that she’d walked away once I told her that I was coming. I turned and glanced and found her still standing there. I then focused on Ted again. “Let me go, baby. I love you,” I moaned against his lips.
“Love you too.”
“Alright,” I pulled away from him.
Kell put in Lil Jon’s CD while I drove to the southwest side. I had, “I’m so Horny” on repeat. I was blasting my music sky high as I floated on a natural high. I was also sitting back and peeping the scene. Kell was a broad that knew niggas everywhere we went. From the gas station, to the stop lights, she spotted a familiar face. Then new dudes were trying to get at her left and right. She had glued her own red tracks in her head, but it was decent. She was wearing blue booty shorts with a black halter. There was nothing special about her clothing, so I knew that it was her body and complexion that was capturing all of the attention; and she loved all the stares and cat calls.
By the time we made it to the club, I’d pulled over three times because some niggas had flagged us down. All three times, there was a guy trying to get at her, but two of the three were with their boys that tried to talk to me as well. One dude that she met was riding on the passenger’s side of a Benz and the driver kept asking for my number as she talked to his boy. Of course I turned him down, and it wasn’t because I wasn’t interested. I had to keep it in mind that I knew Kell through my man.
“Why didn’t you get that nigga’s number?” she wanted to know.
“Girl, I ain’t trying to do that. I got a man,” I reminded her and myself.
“So? Please believe me, that if that nigga was out with his boys, he wouldn’t give your ass a second thought.”
I didn’t doubt that for one second, but she was still his people, so I wasn’t about to let her see me in action.
As we entered the club, all eyes were on us. I always received attention while with my girls, but that night was different. I didn’t know if it was because of my weight loss or the presence of Kell. The niggas coming at us were all quality, and I was seething on the inside because I couldn’t holler at any of them. I wished that I had known about Carrington’s on my own so that I could’ve come with my friends instead of her. She flirted with everybody that gave her a little attention, which I found odd. I’m not claiming to be a beauty queen, but I definitely didn’t take every advance that came my way. Typically, an attractive chick didn’t want to holler at every dude that approached her. With looks like Kell had, you’d think that she’d be more selective.
With every passing minute, Kell became looser. The drinks were flowing from all the admirers and she was taking full advantage of those niggas’ generosity and so was I. I was just a little bit more reserved. She didn’t give a damn as she backed her ass up on any nigga that came her way. The thing is, she couldn’t dance all that well. She liked to do the booty dances, but she was all off beat. For a while, I was amused by just watching her; but then the DJ played my song.
I was singing, “Flex…time to have sex. Don’t stop right here. I’ll work my way around. I won’t stop until I hear the…Oh, Ah, sound” as I wound my hips seductively. Soon after that, I had an audience, and Kell even stopped grooving to check me out.
“Got damn,” I heard somebody say in the crowd.
I worked up a sweat as I moved my body to the beat. A few men tried to join me dancing, but I pushed them away. That was a solo act.
“I knew that your ass was fronting,” Kell laughed once I finally took a break.
“What?” I asked her.
“You like to put on this innocent act, but that ain’t you. That’s why Ted is crazy over you. You be working that thang on him.”
“Whatever,” I snickered.
We had both enjoyed ourselves, and by the time the club was closing, I was tipsy, but not quite ready to go home. I’d heard several people mention an afterhours club just down the street, and I was thinking about passing through the lot for a few minutes. Ted was an easy going man, so I knew that it wouldn’t be a major issue.
As we walked to my car, we had to get past crowds of niggas. There were several trying to holler. Ay! Come here, was coming from every direction. Parked right next to my car was a black Navigator sitting on twenty-fours. I’m not a bopper, but the ride was clean and I caught myself eye-balling the truck. I guessed the owner and his boys were the dudes leaning on the opposite side.
That truck definitely caught Kell’s attention as her bold ass walked right to the other side where the dudes were chilling.
“What y’all smoking on?” she asked. I assumed that she knew them.
“Damn, what’s your name, lil’ mama?” one of the dudes asked her.
I was half paying attention until I heard an all too familiar voice. “You always walk up to niggas that you don’t know?” the voice asked.
I walked to the other side of the Lincoln Navigator to get a better look. “What’s up, Ken?” I asked.
He stood there a few seconds before he said anything. It hadn’t been that long since he’d seen me for him to be that shocked. “What’s up, man?”
“Nothing. Kell, you ready?”
“Keirah, I’m trying to make your friend my new woman,” Woo, Ken’s best friend, said.
“How do y’all know my sister?” Kell asked with a slur.
“Your sister? Keirah, don’t have no sisters,” Ken spoke up.
“How do you know?” she asked as she moved into Ken’s space, staring up at him.
He backed up a bit. “Who is she, Keirah?”
“A friend,” I answered, as I tipped back around to the driver’s side of my car. Ken followed me.
“Why you ain’t come and see me?” he asked.
I waved my head, “What are you talking about?”
“Don’t play crazy, Diovion,” he seethed, calling me by my middle name.
“Ken, you know why I didn’t come see you. You fucked that up all by yourself,” I sighed.
“Oh, I fucked up, huh? What about you? Didn’t you cheat every time I went to jail? Didn’t you get pregnant by another nigga like twice while I was in jail?”
“So! Did I have those babies? Huh? Didn’t I visit you every weekend? But ain’t it a little boy running around named after you? Huh?” I yelled. I didn’t even feel the tears sliding down my face.
“Stop that,” he sighed as he tried to wipe my pain away.
“What’s going on, Keirah?” Kell asked as she walked over to us.
“She’s good. Let us talk in private,” Ken snarled.
She sucked her teeth. “Anyways. Keirah are you good?”
“Yeah,” I nodded.
I watched as Kell twisted back to Ken’s friends.
“Where did you meet her?” he frowned. Ken knew that I couldn’t have known her for long because we’d grown up together and he knew all of my close friends.
“It’s a long story,” I breathed.
“I ain’t trying to choose your friends for you, but hanging out with her ain’t a good look.”
“Why you say that?”
“I mean…I’ve seen her around and I think that she’s trash. I know a few niggas that have fucked wi
th her in Haverstock, and I think she be hustling. She be coming up here and leaving with all types of niggas.”
“So, if y’all know her, why is Woo trying to holla?”
“Man, you know how that nigga is. She might need to be worried about his ass,” he chuckled.
“Yeah, I know.”
“And what you been doing? You on that shit?”
“What are you talking about?” I asked him.
“You’ve lost a lot of weight.”
“No shit, that’s because of the job I do.”
“What you do?”
“I’m a mail woman,” I smiled.
“Your ass is lying,” he laughed.
“Yes, I am. I’m serious,” I giggled.
“So, what nigga you with now?” he asked me, seemingly out of nowhere but I knew better. He’d been waiting on the right time to drag that into the conversation.
“You don’t know him,” I shrugged.
“How do you know that?” he asked.
“It don’t matter anyway.”
“Yes it do.”
“Why is that?”
“Cause I want to know what nigga thinks that he got my woman.”
“I ain’t ya woman no more. You lost those privileges.”
“You don’t mean that,” he whispered as he leaned in closer.
“Move, Ken,” I whined as I pushed him away. Just then, we heard someone vomiting.
Ken looked over. “Say, nigga you need to aim that shit somewhere else. Throwing up on my shit.”
“My bad,” Derrick, Ken’s boy, apologized.
“So, that’s your truck?” I asked.
“Yeah, why? You wanna drive it?”
“Drive it? Nigga, please. You know me better than that. If you want to make me happy, you can buy me my own Navigator.”
“How can I do that with your nigga at home and all?”
“Fuck you,” I hopped in my car. “Tell that girl to come on,” I said before I closed my door in his face.
“Where you going?” he asked as he knocked on my window.
“Home,” I spoke through the glass.
“Roll down the window.”
“No,” I shook my head as I cranked up the engine.
“You ready?!” Kell shouted.
Can I Talk to You (G Street Chronicles Presents) Page 10