Hakeem & Tasia : A Brick City Love Story

by K. C. Mills

  “No smart ass,” I said, and then turned to leave.

  “What I tell you bout that mouth, Tay.” Just as I was almost out the door, he tossed the t-shirt he had been wearing at me but I caught it, closed the door, and climbed back in my bed.

  Twenty minutes later, Hakeem was in my room again dressed in just the boxers I had given him, with the t-shirt over his shoulder. I watched as he emptied his pockets, placing his phone, keys, and a roll of money on my dresser, and then laid his jeans across the back of my computer chair. I had always known that Hakeem was fine but damn, seeing him like this confirmed it for me. Chest, shoulders, and back were chiseled to perfection, thanks to years of basketball. His abs were nicely carved, forming a v that led to a huge imprint below his waist.

  He was so confident and cocky that he moved around my room like he was fully dressed before he finally pulled my covers back and slid in next to me. He grabbed me around my waist, pulling me into his side before I let my hand rest on his abs; I rested my head on his chest while he lay on his back, with the other arm folded behind his head.

  “You playing with my manhood, you know that right?” Hakeem said, and I could hear the smile in his voice.

  “What do you mean?” I asked

  “Got me smelling like fruit and shit.”

  I busted out laughing thinking about the fact that my coconut mango body wash was the only thing in bathroom that he could have used.

  “The fuck you laughing for, Tay. I’m serious. That shit is suspect as hell.”

  “You smell like me.”

  “Exactly, and that shit isn’t cool. No grown ass man needs to smell like coconut and mangos.”

  “I thought you liked it.”

  “Hell yeah, on you. Not on me,” he laughed, and then we both got quiet again. After a while, I could hear his breathing slowing down, and knew that he was drifting but I didn’t want him to go to sleep.

  “Keem?”

  “What’s up?” I could tell from his voice that he was almost gone.

  “Why did you tear up that note from Ty junior year?”

  “You know why, I told you he isn’t shit and I don’t like his ass. You never should have fucked with him.”

  “Is that the only reason?” I asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Nevermind.”

  “Come on Tay, don’t do that shit. Say what you mean,” Hakeem used his arm to pull me closer to him.

  “It’s nothing.”

  “If you’re asking me if I ever felt any type of way about you, then you already know that answer to that. You always have, but shit just never worked out for us so I just played it back and let you do your thing, but we both know it’s there.”

  “What’s there?” I asked, even though I knew what he meant.

  Hakeem moved his arm from around my waist, lifted his body, and then positioned himself between my legs, balancing his weight on his forearms.

  “This,” he said right before he leaned down and let his lips touch mine. He didn't exactly kiss me, but his lips were on mine as he stared in my eyes for what seemed like forever before he backed away and rolled over onto his back.

  “Come on, let’s go to sleep,” he said, pulling me into his side again, but I resisted and sat up.

  “What if I don’t want to?”

  Hakeem didn’t move; he just inhaled deeply before he let it go. “Tay it’s late, I’m tired as fuck, and I want to go to sleep.”

  He looked up at me, and I pulled my t-shirt over my head and dropped it on the bed. Hakeem’s eyes went to my breasts, and then down the rest of my body before he picked up my shirt and handed it to me.

  “Put this back on,” he said, looking serious as hell, but I snatched it from him and tossed it on the floor.

  “I’m a patient man, but that’s only going to get me so far. You’re not thinking straight right now, so please Tay, just put your shirt back on.” Hakeem looked me dead in my eyes, and I could see the seriousness in his request. I was breaking him down. He wanted me, but I knew that he didn’t know if it was the right thing to do.

  “I know exactly what I’m doing. When I close my eyes at night, I hear his voice, I feel his hands on me, I feel his mouth on by body and him inside me. I hate it because that’s the only thing I remember, and I don’t want that to be the last thing I remember. So I’m asking you to change that for me. I want my memories to be of you, about you.”

  Hakeem was quiet and he didn't move, but I could tell that he was thinking. I could literally see him processing and when he finally spoke, he was so serious and sincere.

  “This shit is deeper to me than just erasing memories for you and trust me, if that’s what you need then I’ll be that for you but, you gotta understand something Tay. It’s more than that for me, and I don't really wanna cross that line if that’s all it is for you.”

  “It’s more than just that,” I admitted truthfully.

  Hakeem grabbed me around my waist and lowered me onto my back, with his body positioned between my legs again, but this time he actually kissed me so deeply that it sucked the life right out of me. When he pulled away, a smile spread across his face, and he just stared at me for a second before he spoke again.

  “You sure bout this?” I simply bit my bottom lip and nodded.

  “I don’t have protection,” he said, looking frustrated when the reality hit.

  I nudged him so that I could move from under him and then slid off my bed. I opened my dresser and grabbed two condoms from the stash I used to keep for Ty. I stepped out of my thong and handed them to Hakeem, and I could see his jaw tighten because he knew why I had them. I knew he was thinking about me having been with Ty.

  “Maybe we should wait,” he said, and then sat up.

  “Keem really?” I stood between his legs and he couldn’t help but to admire my naked body. His hands glided up my thighs to my waist before he moved me out of the way, stood, and stepped out of his boxers. Once they hit the floor, my eyes went right to his manhood, making me rethink my decision.

  Keem was so arrogant, he just smiled as he opened the condom and put it on. “Chill, you’ll be fine,” he said, and then climbed in between my legs again.

  He kissed me as his fingers found my opening, and I could feel my body tense up a little as the memories of that night tried to creep into my head, but Hakeem wasn’t going to let me slip away. I felt his lips against my ear as he pressed against my opening, gently inching inside me.

  “It’s me Tay, I got you.” I closed my eyes and focused on his voice, allowing him to enter me and before long, he was all I could see. I could see his face in my head, feel his hands on my body, and feel him moving inside me, so I relaxed as our bodies began to move together. Hakeem made sure he wiped away every horrible memory of that night, and I loved him for that.

  “You alright?” I could tell Hakeem was half-asleep, but he asked me for the third time if I was alright.

  I laughed. “I’m perfect, now go to sleep and stop asking me that.”

  He kissed me on my shoulder and pulled me in closer to his body. I smiled as my body folded into his. It was like it was made just for me.

  “Tay?”

  “Yeah?”

  “If I find out you’ve been with him again, I’m fucking him up, and I’ll probably never speak to you again.” I knew he was talking about Ty, and I could tell that he was serious.

  “What about you?” I asked. Hell, it was no secret how Hakeem got down. The streets talked, and they talked a lot.

  “You don’t have to worry about me. Just stay away from him, and I mean that.”

  I just closed my eyes and didn’t say anything, because there was no point. There wasn't an argument to be had. We hadn't had the first conversation about us, but Hakeem was making it clear that he was claiming me, so I just let it go and went to sleep.

  Hakeem

  It had been a little over a month since Tay and I had slept together, and things were about the same. We hung out whe
n I wasn’t busy on the block or taking care of Liyah, but for the most part we were still in the same place. I wanted to have a conversation about us because honestly I wanted more, but I had to be sure that it was what she wanted.

  Tay had been talking about moving to New York again and I didn’t want to be the reason why she stayed, so we never really talked about us. I was a street nigga and that’s all I was ever gonna be, but Tay had plans. I never wanted her to feel torn about going after what she wanted or staying with me, so I just left things like they were. Even though New York was only a twenty-minute ride on the train or a forty-five minute drive, with my life the way it was right now, I knew that if Tay did move it wasn’t likely that we could make things work, and that shit was really messing with my head so I just left it alone.

  Me and my crew were at the elementary school on the courtyard balling, and of course ever female in the neighborhood was there watching. Tasia was there sitting in the corner with Brit and Lisa. She was keeping her distance from everyone else because she didn't really mess with any other females too tough. Even though we weren’t official, it was kind of unspoken that we were together, especially after I made sure it was clear that Tay and Brit were under my protection. Everyone knew not to fuck with ether one of them, and knowing that kind of let it be known what Tay meant to me, because I had never done anything like that before.

  Of course, it pissed a lot of people off, mostly Tierra’s hating ass, but I didn’t really give a fuck. I was never one to be concerned with what others thought because I always did what the fuck I wanted, and now wasn’t the time to change that.

  “That’s game, let me that green!” Jodie yelled with a big ass grin as finished our game. We had been playing some guys from a few blocks over and literally embarrassed the shit out of them.

  “Man fuck that. One more game and then we’ll pay up,” one of them said, turning his back to Jodie and walking off.

  “Nah, fuck that. Pay up bitch, you lost,” Jodie said, causing dude to turn and face him, but one of his homeboys spoke up.

  “It’s cool, we got you,” he said, pulling a roll out of his pocket and then pulling off five bills. “Five hundred a game, right?” he said, handing Jodie the money.

  I could tell Jodie wasn’t ready to let it go, so I stepped up and took the money, and dapped old boy.

  “Yo, we’re up!” another dude yelled as two other teams took the court.

  Jodie and old boy had a standoff before dude finally let it go and walked away.

  “People always gotta show their asses,” Jodie said as we watched old boy leave the court, get into his vehicle, and leave. The rest of his team stayed and posted up waiting for the next game.

  “Dudes don’t know how to take an L, you know how that shit goes,” I said.

  “Jodie, come talk to me,” Mona yelled from outside the court in her thick Spanish Harlem accent.

  “Ah hell, here we go,” Jodie said as his hand went across his head. “I hope she don’t start that shit.”

  I just laughed, “Good luck bruh.”

  Mona and Jodie had been kicking it since high school, and they had a five-year-old daughter together, Angel. Jodie and Mona weren’t really together, but they weren't really apart either, so it got complicated because Jodie didn’t hide the fact that he had more women than a little bit.

  I watched Jodie as I made my way over to Tay, Lisa, and Brit, and the second Jodie was near Mona she started going in on him. I couldn’t help but laugh.

  “What’s up baller?” Lisa said when I sat down on the ground next to Tay, and she handed me a bottle of water.

  “Sup Lis? I haven’t seen you in a minute. Trey must have had your ass on lock.”

  “I’ve been working, thank you very much,” Lisa said, and rolled her eyes.

  “Why you so quiet, Brit?” She was focused on her phone, but looked up at me when I said her name.

  “Why you worried about it? You always say I talk too much, and now you say I’m too quiet,” Brit snapped, but then smiled.

  “You do talk too damn much, so when you're quiet that shit is extremely noticeable.” I shook my water bottle so that a little spilled on her legs.

  “Stop Keem, you play to damn much,” Brit yelled.

  “So did she tell you the good news?” Lisa said, grinning at Tay and then me, but Tay looked like she wanted to strangle Lisa

  “Nah what’s up?”

  “Tay got an offer to go work for styling models for Ford Modeling Company’s Manhattan office. That’s one step closer to me being on the red carpet,” Lisa said.

  “Word, that’s what’s up,” I said, looking at Tay, “and how the fuck you make this shit bout you, Lis?”

  “Because my girl loves me so when she blows up, I blow up. Isn't that right Tay?”

  “I’ll have to think about that,” Tay said.

  “Yo, Keem, we’re up,” Talen yelled as he waved his hand in the air, signaling for me to hit the court again.

  I popped Tay on the leg and then stood up before I called Jodie over, but I was stuck in my thoughts. I knew this shit was going to eventually happen, but hearing it out loud had me a little pissed. I didn't want Tay to leave, but I wasn’t going to make her stay. I knew that we were about to have a conversation that wasn’t going to end well for either of us.

  After we finished our last game, Tay and Brit were standing outside the courtyard gate. Lisa had left with Trey earlier, so I was heading over to holla at Tay before I left to go handle business. Just before I could leave the courtyard, Tierra walked up and snatched my shirt off my shoulder from behind me.

  “So that’s you now?” she asked as her eyes fell on Tay, and then back to me.

  I snatched my shirt out of her hands and then narrowed my eyes at Tierra.

  “What that is, is my business and not for you to worry about.” I made sure she understood that I wasn’t playing with her, and when I looked up I saw Tay watching me just before she started down the block with Brit.

  “Tay hold up,” I yelled before I turned to walk away, but Tierra’s dumb ass opened her mouth talking stupid.

  “That bitch isn’t any better than me, so I don’t know why you’ve got your head stuck up her ass.”

  I grabbed Tierra by the arm tight as hell and pulled her close to me. “You’re so fucking pathetic. You're jealous because she cares about her image and you don’t. Honestly, if you had a little more respect for yourself, you might have had a chance but you’re too dumb to understand that. Don’t get it twisted though, you will never be Tay, not even on your best day but if you spent more time worrying about yourself instead of sucking dicks, then you might actually find somebody worth something.”

  I let her go and she looked like she was on the verge of tears, but fuck it. I meant what I said; she would either figure that shit out or she wouldn’t, but it wasn’t my problem.

  “You got plans later?” I asked Tay as soon as I was next to her, but she had her eyes on Tierra as she left the court.

  “No why?” she said, finally looking at me.

  “I’ve got some shit to do but I’ll swing through later, we need to talk.” I knew that we had to have a conversation.

  “Fine.” I could tell she had a little attitude because of me talking to Tierra, which made me laugh so I pulled her into a hug, and then kissed her on the forehead.

  “You heading home?” I asked.

  “Yeah why?”

  “I’ll take you.”

  “Nah, I’m good. We can walk.”

  I wasn’t in the mood to argue with her, so I just left it alone.

  “Aight I’ll call you later.”

  “Yeah.” She turned to walk away, followed by Brit so I made my way to my truck to wait for Jodie, and when Mona finished laying into him, he joined me looking mad as hell.

  “She’s crazy as hell.”

  “Why is she crazy, Jodie?”

  “She’s forever on that bullshit. You know how Mona is?”

  “What I
know is your hoe ass keeps fucking around on her all out in the open, but then you're all up in her shit when she tries to move on.”

  “Man, fuck that. I can do what I want, she just better not have another dude up in my shit.”

  “And that right there is why she’s crazy. Mona is gonna fuck you up, bruh. You better watch yourself.” I shook my head and laughed.

  “I can handle Mona.”

  “Aight keep thinking that.”

  Jodie just laughed. “You heading home?”

  “Yeah, I’m bout to shower and then we can meet up with everybody before we have to meet Roman and Marcell.” We had a big shipment coming in tonight.

  “Aight bet, just hit me up when you’re heading this way.”

  “No doubt.” I dapped Jodie and then he walked over to his bike, which was parked on the side walk next to me. Once I was in my truck, I waited for Jodie to pull off and then took off towards home.

  After I finished my shower and got dressed, I heard my sister in the living room; she was either on the phone or someone was with her, so I decided to go check her out. We hadn’t really seen much of each other lately since I was so heavy in the streets, and I actually missed my little sister. Shit was gonna get rough in a few months when she left for school, but I was proud of her. She had a full ride to Rutgers, and I knew that my parents couldn’t have been happier. I just wished they were here to see how she turned out.

  When walked in the living room, Liyah was sitting Indian-style in the center of the room surrounded by bags, which meant that she had been shopping all day, but it looked like stuff for her dorm room so I couldn’t help but smile. It was bittersweet because I was so proud of her, but wasn’t ready for her to leave. It was hard to believe that she was actually about to be out on her own. Even though she was only going to be an hour away, I was still not ready for it.

  “Mel, let me call you back. I’m about to holla and Keem real quick. Chill` that is not cute. I told you about that.” Liyah looked at me and frowned, so Mel must have said something about me. I just sat down on the sofa and waited, and when Liyah ended her call, she plopped down next to me and laid her head on my shoulder.