“I’m glad that you trust my skills that much.”
She grabbed my arm and pulled me over to the concierge. I started to protest but she started speaking before I could get anything out.
“Excuse me. I have the event on the rooftop and was wondering if I could get some matches or a lighter or something. Some of the flames on our lanterns have gone out.”
The concierge nodded and walked away. I liked Blaze. I’d been working with her on different events, big and small, for about three years. She was a dependable client who was always at meetings on time, paid on time, and didn’t give me a headache with constant changes or differences of opinion. She gave me an idea and let me run with it, only giving her input when necessary; and that was the best kind of client. Blaze was also just a cool chick in general, and I never minded hooking her up when she needed something last minute.
“I know you probably just came to check on the event, but you should stay for the auction! I have some fine ass men that are going to be coming to the stage and, even if you aren’t in the market to buy, you can damn sure window shop!” she laughed.
Before I could respond to her, I felt my phone buzz. It was Blu. I contemplated whether or not to answer. We hadn’t spoken since the day that we argued, and I still had no desire to speak to her, especially not while I was on a mission. I sent her ass to voicemail.
“Sounds interesting.” I raised my eyebrow and eased my phone into my back pocket.
“It is, girl. I have my eye on one of them, so I’m going to get my check book, honey. The auction starts in twenty minutes, so please grab a drink and come sit at my booth.” The concierge came back with a few books of matches and handed them to Blaze.
“Ok. I’ll do that.”
Blaze strutted away, and I walked over to the main desk with a lot on my mind. I felt like Grey was slipping through my fingers. He was my soul mate; I could feel it in my bones that he was the man for me, but I felt like things were slowly starting to change. I was doing everything right. I was keeping him fed, fucked, and fly, and I still felt like that wasn’t enough for him. The fact that I bust it wide open and this nigga decided he’d rather be running the streets than hitting back shots on the baddest bitch in the city blew my mind. I just didn’t understand. And Blu had the nerve to tell me that it was because I was crazy. First of all, this nigga hadn’t seen crazy yet! I had been popping my Xanax like Altoids since we’d started dating in order to control my mood. So if niggas thought I was one flew over the cuckoo’s nest now, let me run out of my meds.
After attempting to find out if Grey had made reservations at the hotel and coming up empty handed, I decided to go check out the party. I needed to make sure that my work was impeccable even in my absence. When I arrived at the rooftop, I was pleased to see that, although Tristan was the human version of a migraine, she actually had a natural gift for event planning and had managed to pull the event together the way that I wanted.
The rooftop pool area of the W was a sea of coastal colors like sand, ocean blue, muted coral and off white and strings of colored glass lights hung above the open air space creating a starry night. There were printed ottomans scattered around and tall wood lanterns serving as extra mood lighting. There was a catered buffet along the wall serving gourmet Hawaiian barbeque and seafood and two full bars on either side of the venue. There was a small stage towards the front of the venue that my client was using for an auction. Her turn out was nice, as it had been the last two years I had planned it. After checking in with Tristan and doing a walk-through, I walked up to the bar. I didn’t know how to find Grey, but I’d be damned if I had followed him all the way here and didn’t find him.
“What can I get you to drink?” The handsome bartender flashed me a wide smile.
“Crown Royal on the rocks with a splash of apple juice.”
As the bartender went to tend to my order, the announcement of the beginning of the auction caused me to turn around. Blaze was on the stage with a mic in her hand, dressed in a completely different outfit. For as curvaceous as she was, her style and fit of her clothes were immaculate. Dressed in a pair of silver sequined joggers, a black lace bustier that cinched her waist, and a pair of bad ass Casadei studded sandals, homegirl looked bomb. I’m not a hater; I give credit when it is due, and Blaze was definitely a bad chick.
“Here you go, miss.”
I turned around briefly to grab my drink and slip the bartender a tip. Turning my attention back to the stage, I watched as Blaze excitedly introduced the first auction.
“Now, ladies, I have to let you in on a little secret. There was another fine gentleman who was going to gift you all with his presence, but I bid on him behind closed doors and let’s just say my $5,000 donation will be more than just a tax write-off,” Blaze laughed.
I walked over to her booth, which lent itself a clear view of the stage.
“Ok, so let’s start with the men…my favorite, as you can tell,” Blaze giggled. “Ladies, get out your check book or your credit card, because this man is definitely going to make you want to spend it all. Coming to the stage is one of the sexiest models I’ve ever seen, Kimani Summers!”
My eyes nearly popped out of my socket when I saw Kimani stroll onto the stage. What the fuck?
He winked at Blaze and went to greet the growing group of women that had settled at the base of the stage.
“Kimani is a world renowned male model who has graced the pages of numerous magazine and billboards. He’s currently branching out into the acting world. Kimani is twenty-six, with no kids, no girlfriend, and he has a banging ass body!”
Kimani lifted his shirt up and stuck his tongue out, revealing his chiseled chest and abs. The women went wild. I rolled my eyes as women started calling out numbers before Blaze could get her next sentence out. I was not only pissed that this nigga was out here playing my homegirl like this, but I knew that Grey’s ass was around here somewhere. He’d better not have been sniffing up and behind none of these ratchet hoes or thinking that he was going to get his ass up on that stage to get sold to the thirstiest bidder. Fuck that.
I slammed my glass down on the table adjacent to the booth and was about walk out to find Grey when I bumped right into him. He looked too damn good to be around all these thirsty bitches and my attitude flared immediately.
“Grey, what the fu—“
He placed a kiss on my lips and silenced me. I looked at him quizzically, and he returned the look. “What you doing here, babe?” he asked.
“Fuck you mean, Grey?”
He laughed, “I mean when I left the house, you were gone and all of a sudden you pop up where I’m at? I never told you where I was going.”
“I’m here because this is my job. I planned the damn event. Why would you be here? You running behind your thot of a brother, huh?” I shoved him in his shoulder.
Grey grabbed my hand and pulled me away from the group of people inside the booth that were beginning to stare.
“I’m going to tell you this one time and one time only. That ratchet shit; you twisting your neck and flinging your finger in my face like you really about to do some shit, you better dead it. I don’t put my hands on females, but you really need to stop acting like you don’t know who the fuck I am in these streets. “
His words came out like a sheet of ice, and his eyes glazed over looking like cold, shiny steel. I could see the muscles in his jaw flexing, so I knew he was beyond mad. But for what? He had some damn nerve.
I snatched away from his grasp. “What the fuck ever, Grey. I’m going home. And I suggest that you don’t be too far behind me, unless you forgot who you’re fucking with. One wrong move, and you’re done in this game. I can guarantee it. So play with me if you want to, nigga.”
Angrily, I marched away from him and out of the door that led back to the hotel. I was steaming. How dare he try and front on me like my father don’t hold his life and livelihood in his hands? I didn’t want to threaten him like that, but I had had
about enough of him trying to play me for stupid. He better wise the fuck up, or he really was going to be assed out.
Blu
March 2015
I wanted to take a shot of Remy so bad. Fuck a shot; I needed to throw back the whole damn bottle. Instead, I sat on my couch draped in blankets, holding a tub of Haggen-Dazs Rum Raisin ice cream, watching it turn into flavored milk. I couldn’t even bring myself to eat it; that’s how in my feelings I was. Tears had been leaking from my eyes for hours. I was surprised that there was anything left, but they kept falling; dripping down my face, and soaking the blanket on my lap.
Two Months; that’s how far along I was. The one thing I swore I never would be was a baby momma, and here I was about to bring a baby into the world by myself. And the fucked up part is that I had a feeling that if I hadn’t walked out on Kimani that night, he would have been overjoyed at my news. I’m so stupid! What was my problem? As I sat their wallowing, my brain forced me to think back to New Year’s Eve night.
“You’re giving me that look,” I giggled. I took a sip of my champagne and looked over the glass at him. He moved from the kitchen to the bar to fix himself a drink while the TV showed Nicki Minaj tearing down the stage at Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve special in New York. Grey and Nakami had invited us to the lavish party Grey was throwing at South Beach, but we had decided to avoid the madness and the drama that followed them and just kick it at Kimani’s place. I was content with that. I watched him make his drink and silently drooled over his shirtless back, memorizing the muscles and tattoos.
“What look, girl?” he took a sip of what I was sure was D’usse and set his glass back on the bar.
“That look that means that you want to fuck me right here and right now.”
Kimani walked over from the bar and pulled me off the couch. I sat my wine glass on the coffee table and wrapped my arms around his neck. We swayed back and forth like there was a smooth R&B classic on, even though Nicki was rapping her heart out to a hip hop beat.
“Don’t be trying to act like you know me,” he whispered in my ear before he took a quick nibble. I squealed and tried to pull away, but Kimani held firm. I twisted around so that my back was to him, and his arms were holding me tightly around my waist.
“I don’t want to fuck you, though.”
I smiled, turning my head to the side so that I could see his face a little. “Oh, no?”
“Naw, I want to make love to you.” The words rolled off his tongue so smooth that I laughed.
“Oh what? You love me now?” I laughed. I just knew that the buzz from the wine had hit me.
“I do.”
Now that shit stopped that giggle before it could get all the way out. I whipped around to face Kimani. He stared back at me with a straight face. I tried to pull away again, and he held me closer.
“Stop trying to run away from me …from this. You do this every time I try to tell you how I feel. What are you scared of?”
“Kimani, you can’t love me. We haven’t known each other that long and I-”
“What does that have to do with anything? If I’m standing here telling you that I love you, then I do. You know me well enough to know that I don’t say things I don’t mean.”
My whole body started to shake. This couldn’t be happening. I wasn’t ready! I opened my mouth to speak, but Kimani’s lips covered mine before I could utter a word. Passion transferred from his body to mine, sparking flames that I never knew existed. This unexplainable feeling swept over me, leaving me breathless and caused me to break the kiss. Kimani didn’t seem to mind as he zeroed in on my neck and ears. Once I began to feel hot all over, he pulled back. My eyes shot open.
“Your head might be holding you back from loving me, but your body and your heart is already there,” he breathed.
I started to dispute his claim. But before I could, he swept me off my feet, wrapped my legs around his waist, and carried me up the stairs. He planted soft kisses all over my face and neck until we reached his bedroom. He let me down, and I started to take my shirt off until he stopped me.
“Let me do all the work.”
Slowly easing his hands underneath my cotton tank top, he lightly grazed my nipples with his thumbs. That simple action caused shivers to bolt up my spine and for me to let out an involuntary moan. He continued pushing his way up and removed my shirt by pulling it over my head. Kneeling, Kimani unbuckled my jeans and eased them over my hips, down my thighs, and past my legs, kissing each place as he passed it. In one swift move, Kimani yanked my boyshorts off, ripping them from the seams and eliciting a shriek from me.
“Lie down,” he commanded.
I obeyed him and lay across his California king sized bed, feeling nervous about sex for the first time ever. I don’t even remember feeling like this before I got my cherry popped. But for reasons unknown to me, this man had my emotions doing all kinds of crazy things. The sound of Tank’s Can I filled the room, and the recess lights dimmed. I felt Kimani’s presence near me, but I didn’t see him.
“Sit up real quick.”
I sat up and turned to his voice. He kneeled onto the bed and slipped a satin eye mask over my head.
“Kimani, what the hell? I’m not into that 50 Shades of Grey shit.”
“Just trust me.”
As soon as the words escaped his lips, I felt my body being yanked towards the edge of the bed. My legs went up in the air and were then pushed out to the side. It was killing me that I couldn’t see him and that I couldn’t determine what was coming next. I lay there listening to Tank serenade me as the anticipation of what was to come lingered. Then I felt him.
His lips covered my second set, and he tongued me down like my core was a well in the middle of a desert. His tongue explored every dip and curve, every crease and crevice. He was expertly skilled in oral acrobatics. I knew this from previous sex sessions, but this time felt different. It felt like he was trying to send me a message through the movement of his tongue without using words. He grabbed ahold of my hips and pulled me closer to his mouth, and he feasted. He licked and sucked on my clit like it was the last meal he would ever have. I writhed and bucked against his tongue like I was riding a mechanical bull, and he never lost rhythm.
Ecstasy was something that I thought was made up. Just an imaginary word used to describe the unexplainable or the mythical. Gottdamn if this man ain’t prove me right. There weren’t any other words accurate enough to describe the feeling that was coursing through my body. I rolled my head back involuntarily, taking in all the pleasure that Kimani gave me. Without warning, he stopped, and a few seconds later I felt him enter me.
Even behind the veil of darkness, I saw stars. His strong hands gripped my waist and pulled me towards his body, allowing him to drive deeper inside me. I couldn’t hold back the moans that tumbled out my mouth, as he slowly piped me down. I was used to that back breaking-hair-pulling-sweat dripping-sore bodied fuck, but Kimani was now giving me a new experience. He was taking care of my needs and paying attention to every sensory point that existed in my body, leaving no part of me untouched. With every stroke, he explained his feelings for me. I didn’t have to look at his face or hear his voice to know what he was trying to say. I felt it all.
The tears started falling down in sheets as I reminisced. I remembered every sight, sound, smell, and taste from that night. I wished I could go back and change the way things ended. That night after we made love, I lay in the bed trembling. I was so scared. Emotions were hitting me from the left and the right and I was just…scared, man. So when I was sure that Kimani was in a deep sleep, I tip-toed out his house and fled the scene. He’d done the unthinkable and the impossible, and it fucked me up. And here I was two months later, looking at a sonogram of our love child, and I had no clue what to do. When I found out about the pregnancy, I tried to reach out to Nakami. But being the stubborn bitch she is, she sent me to voicemail. I had tried to visit Kimani, to feel him out, but he wasn’t feeling me. He want
ed something that I didn’t know if I could give him. As much as I wanted to let him know that he was going to be a father, I wasn’t ready for a second dose of rejection. Everything was so messed up, and I didn’t know how to fix it.
The next morning I woke up in the same spot on the couch, still holding onto the carton of warm, melted ice cream. I forced myself off the couch, dumped the carton in the trash, and walked into the bathroom. I looked a hot mess. My hair was all over my head, the bags under my eyes could have held a month’s worth of groceries, and my lips were chapped and peeling. I didn’t feel like doing anything about it either. But I realized that I only had one move left, and I had to act on it fast. So I hopped in the shower and got myself together.
It was almost noon by the time I exited my condo. Dressed in pair of drop crotch sweatpants, a black, cropped Civil crewneck sweatshirt, and a pair of liquid metal Nike Dunk Sky Hi’s, I felt refreshed and optimistic about my next option. I hopped in my Land Rover and drove over to South Beach, hoping that I would be able to catch Grey at work.
Grey
March 2015
I rolled my eyes as I watched the screen of my iPhone 6 light up. This was the third message that I’d received from Nakami in the last twenty seconds. I hit the ignore button and went back to looking over the numbers from last night. By no means did I think that my club would be anything less than popping, but it had far exceeded my expectations. In the last couple months, South Beach had hosted three fashion shows, forty celeb birthdays, twelve after parties, and six album release parties. South Beach had become the hot spot in LA, and I was bringing in so much money that I had to come in on my days off to sort through it.
Hustling for Hero, although stressful as fuck, was also lucrative. The amount of drugs I had floating around Cali, as well as Arizona and Nevada, had my pockets overflowing. We’d taken over the universities and the block, and we’d even busted up in the corporate world. But I was still having the same damn problems with Hero and his crazy ass daughter. I was at my wit’s end. The plan was already in motion, but it was a slow burn and I was starting to lose patience. I wanted them gone! The fact that Nakami had the nerve to fucking threaten me like some hard-headed child made me want to lay hands on her on her last night for real. She had no clue how close she had come to being a victim on the First 48. She was just lucky that the drive home was able to calm me down and that she was knocked out when I got home. Because if she hadn’t been, I would’ve been more than happy to rock her ass to sleep. My annoyance with her started to resurface when I heard my phone going off for the fourth time.
Long As You Know Who You Belong To Page 9