Hakeem & Tasia : A Brick City Love Story

by K. C. Mills

  “What’s wrong Tay?”

  “Nothing. I just wanted to say thank you.” I knew that Tay was likely thinking about what the consequences would be, but she knew how things worked.

  “What if I want you to talk to me?”

  Tay gave me a sexy as laugh. I could tell she was a blink away from being KO’d.

  “What if I know you have morning practice and I have an early lab, so we both need to be sleep?”

  I couldn’t help but smile. “So you know my schedule like that?”

  “Maybe, Good night Hakeem.”

  “Night Tay.”

  As soon as I ended the call, Liyah knocked on my door but didn’t wait for me to respond; she just walked in and laid down next to me, using her body to make me move over.

  When she was comfortable, she laid on her side facing me, with one arm tucked under her head.

  “You did your thing out there tonight,” she said with a goofy ass grin.

  “Yeah I did a little something,” I said, and then slid my finger down the bridge of her nose like I used to do when she was a kid.

  “Quit it Keem,” she swatted at my hand and wrinkled her nose. “Do you regret staying here for me?”

  “Hell yeah I do. You aggravate the shit out of me,” I said, playfully mugging my sister.

  “I’m serious Keem. You could have gone to just about any D-1 school in the country, but you stayed here at rinky dink Essex for me. Do you wish you would have left?”

  “Family first, Liyah. You know that. I’m good. If I had to do it all over again, wouldn't shit change because you are more important than anything else out there, so don’t start with that sappy shit, okay?” Liyah just looked at me, but didn’t say anything. “I know you hear me, Liyah.”

  “I hear you.”

  “Good, now get the fuck out my room so that I can go to sleep. I’m tired and I have a.m. practice.”

  “How is it that you don’t want me to cuss, but every other word you say to me is a cuss word? You’re so dang rude,” Liyah sat up and frowned at me.

  “Because I’m a guy and that shit is acceptable, but when women cuss like that it’s unattractive, and I just don’t like that shit. Now go to bed and shut my light off before you leave.

  “Whatever man.”

  I just shook my head and laughed as my sister left my room. Fuck ball is life. Family is life, and as long as I had air in my lungs, I was going to be here to make sure my sister was straight.

  Tasia

  It had been a few days since I actually talked to Hakeem, but tonight was Jodie’s big party and I knew for sure that I would see him there. Everybody who was anybody would be there. It was hosted by Simuel, which meant that there would be free food and free drinks, and people wouldn’t pass that up for anything. Even people that didn’t really mess with Jodie too tough would be there, even if it was only to hate from afar.

  I didn’t really do the whole club scene, but I was going. I wanted to see Hakeem and, on top of that, I had to keep an eye on Britten. Jodie’s party was a neighborhood thing, which meant that she would be able to get in. They wouldn’t be checking ID’s, and she knew it so of course, Britten was going to be there and since Keem had threatened Nell about dealing with Brit, I needed to make sure she stayed away from him. Hakeem was a man of his word and if he warned Nell about messing with Brit and Nell didn’t comply, at the very least Nell was going to wear a good ass whooping, but there was also a possibility that Nell would come up missing.

  “This or this?” Lisa said standing in front of my closet, holding up two very tiny dresses.

  “Blue one,” I replied, looking up from my notes just long enough to help her decide what the wear.

  “Yeah, I was thinking that too.” She raised the blue spandex dress higher in the air, as if further inspecting it. It was strapless and so small that it looked barely big enough to cover a ten year old, but I knew my best friend was going to make it work. She was nicely stacked at about 5’5 with a tiny waist, round ass, and thick thighs, so undoubtedly she would be spending a lot of time tonight tugging on that dress to make sure it covered all of her goodies. I knew that Lisa didn’t care. She had a banging ass body and loved to show it off.

  “What about you, mama? What are you wearing?” Again, I looked up into her caramel-colored face briefly, but only long enough to shrug and then focus on my notes again.

  Of course, Lisa didn’t like my lack of enthusiasm, so she politely laid her dresses on the foot of my bed before she leaned over, snatched my notes out of my hands, and tossed them onto my dresser.

  “Come on Lis, I need to study, especially since we’re going to be out all night.”

  “Tay, you have the highest GPA in the state of New Jersey. Let it go for one night please. Now let’s find you something to wear that will shut down Rivals tonight. I can’t have my best friend half assed, while I’m red carpet ready.” Lisa flashed me a smile before she turned her back to me and began digging through my closet.

  A few minutes later, she had four dresses in hand and began laying them out of my bed.

  “Okay, start with this one.” She held up a silver, fitted, off-the-shoulder dress. I climbed off my bed and rolled my eyes, knowing that Lisa wasn’t going to let me rest until she was satisfied with my outfit for the evening.

  “You know you are doing the most right now,” I said as I pulled my t-shirt over my head, and then peeled off my leggings. I held my hand out, waiting for Lisa to hand me the dress before I pulled it over my head, and then down my body.

  Once I had it in place, I stepped in front of my full-length mirror admiring myself. My pale vanilla skin was in desperate need of some sun, but December in Newark only offered one thing–freezing temperatures with snow. I pulled my shoulder-length straight hair back out of my face, and held it securely in a ponytail in one hand as I twisted from side to side, checking out my body. I had to smile, because I looked good as hell. My long toned legs exposed from the bottom of the dress, which clung nicely to my flat stomach and perfectly shaped ass. Now if only I had a little more up top to work with, but oh well; I guess God had a sense of humor, because I was struggling to have a handful up top but it was cool. I made it work, and no one ever seemed to complain.

  “That looks good boo, but try this one too.” Lisa was now sitting in the center of my bed holding up a black strapless dress that could have easily been mistaken for a tank top.

  “You know we’re going to freeze tonight, right?” I said, frowning at the black dress that Lisa was holding up. I pulled the silver dress over my head and tossed it on the bed before I grabbed the black one that Lisa was holding up.

  “As long as we look good, who cares and besides, the second you walk in the club you know Keem will be more than willing to offer up some body heat, so you’ll be straight.”

  I unzipped the dress and stepped into it before I reached down to zip it up.

  “I promise you, Hakeem will not be worried about me tonight, and you can bet your life he will have plenty of hoes around him taking full advantage of anything that he has to offer. Body heat included,” I said with a frown as I admired myself in the mirror again.

  “You sound salty, boo. You can’t get mad at that man for doing his thing when you won’t claim him.”

  “I’m not salty. Hakeem can do whatever he wants, which he clearly does. He’s not my man, so I don’t need to claim him.”

  Lisa laughed so randomly that it almost made me laugh. “Hoe please, that has been your man since freshman year of high school, so tell that lie to somebody else. Both of you are on that denial bullshit, but after he sees you in this, you might not have a choice because Keem will be claiming your stubborn ass.” Lisa climbed off my bed and grabbed my hands, holding them out to the sides to further check me out.

  “You can kill all that. I’m going to keep an eye on Brit, not to be all up in Hakeem’s face.”

  “Mmhmm, well I know one thing, you think Keem used to block you in high school, he’s
straight up gonna be knocking dudes out that step to you tonight once he sees you in that dress, boo. Just watch.”

  I just shook my head and laughed. My best friend was insane but I loved her crazy ass.

  “I just hope Ty’s stupid ass doesn’t show up.” I unzipped my dress, stepped out of it, and tossed it on the bed.

  “Girl you know his hoe ass will be there, Mr. Prime time doesn’t miss an opportunity to front.”

  “I really don't care whether he's there or not, just as long as he stays away from me.”

  “So are you finally ready to let his hoe ass go?” Lisa looked a little too excited about the possibility of me not messing with Ty anymore.

  She hated him, and for good reason. Ty had never really been faithful to me, and everyone knew it. When we started off he was perfect, but that lasted for all of six months before random females started fronting me about him. I had been in so many fights I literally lost count–all because he couldn’t keep his hoes in check. I was never really the type to fight over a man, but when his hoes didn’t know their place and steeped to me, it changed from being about Ty to disrespecting me, and I had no choice but to lay hands on them. Hell, females were crazy; they would bring their girls in some situations, causing me and Lisa both to have to throw blows, but she always had my back so it was cool.

  As of now, I was tired of the drama and the disrespect so as far as I was concerned, Ty could get with who he wanted as long as he stayed away from me. I’d be on my way to New York in a few months anyway, so I didn’t really care.

  “Honestly, I let go a long time ago. I’ve just been tolerating him, but it’s cool.”

  “Good, now maybe you’ll let Hakeem get up in them guts and show you what he’s working with. I hear it will have you slapping your mama two times.”

  “You’re so dumb. I swear, I can’t with you sometimes.” I just rolled my eyes at my best friend and began hanging up the dresses she took out of my closet.

  “Girl please. You know females can’t hold water, and from what I hear your boy is putting it down something major. You better hurry up and seal that deal before I mess around and find out for myself.”

  Hearing Lisa say that made me turn around with the quickness, and the second I laid eyes on her she had the biggest grin on her face.

  “And that right there is why I know you want that damn man. You were about to knock me out for acting like I was about to step to Keem,” Lisa laughed, and then picked up her phone. “Girl you know I would never go that route. That’s all you boo.”

  -----

  “Damn, did the entire city come out tonight?” Lisa looked around as we made our way to the front door. The line to enter Rivals was hella long. It was basically wrapped around the building and I definitely wasn’t in the mood to wait, but I knew that there was no way that Lisa was letting us leave.

  “You know we’re about to be out here for an hour and it’s freezing, Lis.” I scanned the line looking at all the people that were waiting to get in. Security was tight and even though it was an open invite, Jodie and Hakeem would be sure to only let in who they wanted to let in.

  “Didn’t you say that Keem said that you could chill with him in VIP? Girl, let’s go see if he’s got you on the list.”

  “Tierra, get your ass in line like everybody else,” I heard someone yell, and when I looked up I saw Jodie walk out the front door with his phone to his ear. Tierra, of course, was in his face begging, but the second he saw me he shoved her to the side and waved me over. By the time we got to him, he had finished his call and slid his phone in his pocket.

  “Come on Tay, you know you don’t have to wait in that shit,” Jodie said with a big ass grin, and then pointed to the line of pissed off people, who were not pleased about the fact that we were about to just walk in.

  “What’s up Jodie, Happy Birthday,” Lisa said before she hugged him.

  “Thanks Lis, I haven’t seen you in a minute,” Jodie said, checking her out.

  “You don’t see me cause you don’t want to see me,” Lisa said with a smirk.

  “Nah, I don’t see your ass because Trey got you on lock ma, and I respect boundaries.” Jodie winked at Lisa before he focused on me.

  “Damn Tay, you trying to make my man body a somebody tonight dressed like that. I’m trying to have a good time, but now I see I’m about to have to watch his ass to make sure he doesn't catch a bid tonight keeping dudes up off you.”

  I smiled and playfully punched Jodie in the arm. “Shut up Jodie, Keem will be just fine. I’m sure that I will be the last thing that he’ll be worried about tonight.”

  “I might not be a college boy and shit, but I know some things and trust me when I say it. You ‘bout to have my man in here acting a fool tonight. Come on.”

  Lisa and I followed Jodie inside, and of course the place was packed. Everybody from our block and surrounding neighborhoods was there, which was to be expected. Simuel’s parties were the biggest thing happening, and you better believe everyone was in attendance.

  When we reached VIP the entire block was there, so Lisa and I walked in and spoke to everyone before we took our seats.

  “What are you drinking?” Jodie leaned in close to Lisa and I as he spoke because it was so loud inside.

  “Ciroc,” Lisa said while I scanned the room for Hakeem, who was nowhere to be found.

  “What about you Tay?” Jodie asked.

  “Long island iced tea,” I said

  “Aight I’ll be right back.” Jodie turned and headed towards one of the servers. He whispered something to her and then pointed at us.

  Lisa grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the entrance of VIP, “Let’s go dance.”

  “Now? We just got here.”

  “Exactly, so come on,” Lisa said, still dragging me towards the floor.

  We made our way through the crowd and to the center of the dance floor until Lisa was satisfied with our location, and then we started going in. The music was so loud you could literally feel the bass vibrating through your body.

  My arms went in the air as I began to roll my hips to the beat of the music, and Lisa was right in front of me doing the same. Within minutes I felt hands on my hips, a hard body pressed against me, and lips against my ear.

  “You know you’re going home with me tonight?”

  I immediately pulled away and turned to face Ty.

  “I’m not going anywhere with you, so please step off. I’m sure you’ve got plenty of standbys waiting in line.”

  “Come on Tay, don’t start that shit tonight. You looking good as hell and I just want to spend some time with my girl.”

  “Your girl, she’s not your girl boo,” Lisa said now that she was focused on the fact that Ty was next to me.

  “Mind your business Lisa.”

  “Oh I am, and Tay is definitely my business, especially when it comes to your hoe ass.”

  Ty grabbed my arm. “Let’s go Tay, we need to talk.” He began pulling me off the dance floor, but stopped dead in his tracks when he ran into Hakeem.

  Hakeem stepped in between me and Ty, forcing Ty to let go of my arm before Hakeem leaned down to speak. “You good Tay?”

  “Yeah, Ty was just leaving,” I said, staring right at him.

  “Okay cool. Then we don’t have a problem right?” Hakeem had his hazel eyes locked on Ty, as if daring him to say something.

  “Nah, we’re good Keem. I’ll get with you later Tay,” Ty stared at me for a few more seconds before he retreated and disappeared in the crowd.

  I looked up at Hakeem as his eyes traced my body, but he kept his expression neutral.

  “You two look nice,” he said as his eyes darted from me to Lisa.

  “Fuck that-my bad Keem, forget that, we are hot to death tonight,” Lisa said with a grin.

  Hakeem just shook his head. “You coming back to VIP?”

  “Nah, we’re going dance for a minute and then we’ll be up there,” Lisa answered for me.

  “Aig
ht, I’m right up here if you need me,” Keem said, likely referring to the fact that he just had to check Ty.

  “We’re good for now,” I said as Lisa began dragging me back towards the dance floor.

  “What I tell you. Your man is always checking for you,” Lisa yelled as we began shutting it down on the dance floor again.

  “He’s not my man Lis,” I yelled as I turned my back to her, closed my eyes, and let the music take over. I could feel eyes on me, so every once in a while I would glance up at VIP. Sure enough each time, Hakeem had his eyes locked on me as he talked to the people around him, but best believe he followed my every move and since he was watching, I decided to give him a show. My body rolled and my hips swerved to the rhythm of every song, making sure I was well worth watching.

  “Girl I need a break, my damn feet are killing me,” Lisa said as she started moving away from the dance floor. I was glad because I was tired as hell and ready to sit down.

  “Who you telling. I need a break.”

  Lisa and I found our way back to VIP, and the second we reached the entrance the hostess that Jodie ordered our drinks from earlier stopped us.

  “Are you ladies ready for your drinks now?” she asked

  “Yeah we’re good,” Lisa said as she walked in VIP.

  VIP was full of people from the block, mostly Hakeem and Jodie’s crew, but there were a few faces I didn’t know; one of which was leaned up against Hakeem in the corner, but his back was to me so he didn’t realize I was near him.

  “Damn the world must be coming to an end. Tasia got her ass up in this joint tonight,” Talen said with a big ass grin before he pulled me into a hug. The girl he was with rolled her eyes and placed her hand on his back the second he let me go.

  “Shut up Talen, I go out, just not as much as you do.”

  “Nah Tay, you be up in them books and shit too much. You know you don’t be hitting the clubs, but you look good as fuck though,” Talen winked at me. He was a cutie with his caramel-colored skin and short spiked dreads. Talen had soft curly hair, so it took forever for his hair to lock and he kept his dreads short. They couldn't have been more than two inches long with a curly fuzzy base since his hair took so long to lock as it grew.