by A'zayler
“I hope you know your secret is as good as told, you lying bastard.”
“And your bitch is on her way to jail.” Summer told him before grabbing Rain’s hand and pulling her away.
“I’ll catch you slipping again, hoe,” Iesha yelled, but those words were slapped right out of her mouth.
Damien pounced on her as soon as she started talking. Fallon wanted to follow Rain and Love, but somebody needed to get Damien off of Iesha. He was beating her ass the way he should have been beating Love’s a minute ago, and people were starting to watch. A small crowd of individuals had gathered around and were observing the chaos, shamelessly.
Rain and Summer ran behind the men and met them at Love’s truck. When Love saw Rain approaching he walked to the other side so that he was away from her. Rain called his name, but he ignored her. Summer hated to see her sister going through so much, so she grabbed Rain’s hand and stopped her from running after him.
“I know Alex is our friend, and you don’t want to disappoint him, but this is one loss you can’t take, Rain. You’ve lost enough behind this shit, and it doesn’t even concern you. Don’t lose your husband too. I know you feel like you’re betraying Alex if you tell, but he will be all right. Tell that boy the truth or I will. I’m not about to watch you take the fall for this.” She looked Rain in the eye to make sure she understood. “It’s been enough shit floating around you to last a lifetime. Tell Love the truth. You’re sweet and I understand how you feel, but Damien knew what he was getting himself into when he started this shit with Alex. Not to mention how he dogged your ass just now.”
Rain nodded. She had already come to terms with telling the real truth. Summer’s pep talk just made it a little bit easier. Summer grabbed her hand again and pulled her around the truck so that she was in front of Love. He was leaning over with his hands on his knees and the neck of his shirt pulled up over his face. Jacorey looked at Rain and shook his head before tapping his hand lightly on the side of her face.
Summer took the keys from Rain and pushed her toward Love before popping the locks and opening the back door to his truck.
“Come on, give them a minute, bae.” Summer grabbed Jacorey’s hand before climbing into Love’s backseat with him stepping in behind her.
Once they closed the door, Rain stood next to Love and rubbed his back. He sidestepped so that she wouldn’t be touching him anymore. When she tried to touch him again, he began walking away.
“Leave me alone, Rain.”
“Dakota, no. I can’t leave you alone. All of this is a lie and you need to believe me.”
“Look at the shit, Rain. What you want me to believe? That you’ve been kicking it with one of my niggas?”
Rain shook her head. It was clear that he had some serious trust issues because he would believe anything he was told. As bad as she wanted to get angry and blow him off, right then wasn’t the time. She would have to worry about that later. Right now, she had to do her best to make him believe her.
“Dakota, stop walking and just let me talk to you for a second.” Rain grabbed his arm and stopped him from moving. He stood in place but looked everywhere but at her. “If I tell you this, you have to promise not to do anything crazy.”
When he didn’t say anything, she pulled him around so that he was forced to look at her. “Promise me, babe.”
Love didn’t say anything, but the fact that he was looking at her was enough for now. Rain took a deep breath and rubbed her sweaty palms on her romper.
“Damien is lying on me. It’s not me that he’s been sleeping with, it’s Alex.”
The silence hung largely between them, Rain waiting for his response while Love’s face frowned and unfrowned.
“Shut the hell up, Rain.”
“I’m serious.”
Love looked back over his shoulder toward where Damien and Iesha were still standing and shook his head.
“Your friend that we’ve been talking about all of this time is Damien. He probably showed his baby mama my picture to cover up for it being a nigga. I promise I’ve never dealt with Damien outside of the times he’s been with you.”
“You fucking with me, ain’t you?” Love looked at Rain.
“No. I didn’t want to say anything, but after the stunt he just pulled in front of you, I had to say something.” Rain fidgeted some and pushed her hair from her face. “I just can’t believe it’s been that girl that’s been harassing me all of this time.”
Rain watched as Love’s face frowned up again. “She’s taking her ass to jail. She can play crazy up in there.”
Rain stood still and watched him. He ranted about her going to jail and what he was going to do to her for a good minute before he calmed down and gave her his attention.
“You knew about that nigga all this time?”
Rain nodded. “Yeah. It just wasn’t my business to tell, at least not until now. I just found out the other day that she was Fallon’s sister in law. Alex beat her up at the grocery store when I told him that it was her who had been doing all of this. I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to go off until I knew for sure.”
Dakota sighed and pulled Rain to him. “I’m sorry, baby doll.” He kissed her forehead.
Rain wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head against his chest. “It’s okay.”
“No, it ain’t. I should have believed you. That was fucked up on my part.”
“It was, but it’s okay. This is one big mess.”
“Why you ain’t tell me you saw her the other day?”
“I didn’t tell you because I wanted to make sure it was her first.” Rain held her head back and looked at him.
He kissed her nose before hugging her back to his chest. “We’re pressing charges against that bitch.”
“Okay,” Rain spoke quietly.
She felt so bad about telling Alex’ secret, but hopefully he would understand. It was either him or her, and this time she had to choose her.
After leaving the park, Love took Summer and Jacorey to their homes before he and Rain went to the police station. They explained everything to the detective that had been in charge of her case. They gave everything that they knew about Iesha and Damien, with the help of Fallon. He told them that he would look into it, and if it proved to be true, then she would be charged.
Now, back in their house, Love kneeled on the side of the bathtub rubbing water over Rain’s body. He had washed her hair and was now giving her a bath. Rain knew it was because of how quickly he had reacted earlier, but she really wasn’t mad. It was a messed up situation and she couldn’t fault him for his premature actions.
“I can’t believe that nigga is gay.”
“Well, believe it,” Rain said and looked at him.
“And how long you say it’s been since they been kicking it?”
Rain shrugged. “I don’t really know. It had been going on for a while before Summer and I found out, and we’ve known for months now.”
“So that nigga is a real live punk?”
“If that’s what you want to call it.” Rain spoke lazily because she was tired. “Then yeah…”
On top of not really getting any rest after her flight, she had come home to an even longer day. She was so exhausted, and the bath Love was giving her was making it much worse. Her body was relaxed and she was fighting to keep her eyes open.
“Rain, I’m sorry, baby. I shouldn’t have acted like that with you today.”
Rain grabbed his hand. “It’s okay, Dakota. I promise I’m not mad, babe. I understand.”
Love nodded before leaning over and kissing her face. He kissed her a few more times until he helped her from the tub. He wrapped her in the big yellow towel and walked her into their bedroom. Before dressing her in her pajamas, he massaged lotion all over her body and tied her headscarf on her head the best he could. Once she was all settled in bed, he took a quick shower himself and joined her. The both dozed off, ready for a new day.
Chapter 7:
Foundation Building
Summer lay back on the plastic beach chair near the pool with her shades on. The plush cushion from the bright pink chair she was sitting in gave her more than enough comfort while she sat near the side of the pool watching Jacorey swim. He had called her after Love had dropped them off and asked her to come back to his apartment complex and take a swim.
It was now ten minutes after eleven p.m. and she was in her bikini and sitting poolside with her man. She had been thinking about this from the moment he’d called and asked her. After the day they’d, had she wanted nothing more than a few hours to relax, even if it meant her being tired tomorrow at work. She loved spending time with Jacorey, so in her mind he was worth it, especially since they’d recently become an official couple.
“I don’t know what you got those big ass sunglasses on your face for. They cover almost you whole damn head.” Jacorey swam to the side of the pool and leaned over it to talk to her. “It ain’t even no sun out.”
“Just like I don’t understand why you keep bothering me about them.”
“Because they’re ugly as shit.” He laughed when she shot him a bird. “Come get in with me, and I’ll be more than happy to.”
Summer pushed her glasses down on her face. “Leave it to you to turn me shooting you a bird into you fucking me.”
“You started it. I’m just trying to finish it.”
“How I start it? I’ve been sitting over here minding my business. That’s you swimming over here every other second and bothering me.”
“You see that lil red bathing suit you got on?”
Summer looked down at her bikini and nodded.
“Putting that lil shit right there on is what started this.”
Summer blushed as he licked his tongue out at her real fast. “Come on and get in this water with me.”
Though she really didn’t want to, Summer pulled her glasses off of her face and set them on the chair. She walked slowly around the pool lights until she was in the three feet. Jacorey met her at the stairs and pulled her in with him. Summer walked slowly with him until her feet could no longer touch the bottom.
“This water is cold, Jacorey. How are you in here like this?”
“Wrap your legs around me. I’ll warm you up.” Summer did as she was told and Jacorey peddled back with his feet until they were in the deeper end.
When they got to the center of the pool, Jacorey began pushing her away from him like he was going to leave her in the water.
“Jacorey, no. Stop playing!” she screamed.
“Bae, you too old not to know how to swim.” He laughed as she nearly squeezed him to death with her thighs.
“I can swim. I just don’t want to get my hair wet.”
Jacorey shook his head. “That’s even worse.”
“How? I don’t have time to be up all night trying to do it before school tomorrow.”
Voices were heard behind them, making them both turn their heads. There was a small group of girls who had just come in the gate. Summer turned around and rolled her eyes. She already didn’t like bitches, but she really didn’t like bitches that intruded on her time with her man. As soon as her eyes stopped rolling, she made eye contact with Jacorey.
Realizing she’d been caught, she couldn’t do anything else but laugh. He laughed with her as he peddled them over to the corner of the pool. The other girls had just got in and were already splashing water and making too much noise.
“You need to be ashamed of yourself. Those girls ain’t did nothing to you.”
“I don’t care. They need to go back where they just came from. It’s late, anyway. They need to be somewhere in the bed.”
“Why you care?”
“Because I like it better when it’s just me and you.”
“Aww.”
Summer laughed and playfully mushed his head. “Don’t try to be funny.”
Jacorey pressed Summer’s back against the wall and floated out in front of her. Summer stretched her arms out along the sides of the pool wall to maintain balance. She smiled at Jacorey as he held onto her waist and floated in the water. He only teased her for a little bit longer before she stuck one of her hands out to him and pulled him to her.
“Come over here by me.”
“You must miss me or something?”
“Nah, not really. I’m just glad you’re my boyfriend now.”
He kissed her nose. “Me too… I don’t know how good I’ma be at being your boyfriend, so you probably should tell me what you want me to do.”
“What you mean?”
“Exactly what I said. What you want me to do? What kind of stuff you like, what you expect out of me, shit like that.”
“Oooh. Well,” Summer patted her lip with her index finger as she thought about what she wanted to tell him. “I want you to be honest and trustworthy. Please be faithful so I don’t have to kill you.” Summer winked at him before continuing. “I can’t think of nothing else right now other than making sure you want me. I don’t like to feel neglected or like someone else has your attention more than me.”
“I don’t even see how that would be possible. You’ve had my attention since the night I talked to you at Connie’s house.”
“I can’t tell. You play so many games.”
Jacorey shook his head. “I wasn’t playing games, I was trying to avoid hurting you. I know what kind of nigga I am, and I wasn’t ready. You’re a good woman, so I already knew you wasn’t going to accept no bullshit, so I tried to keep my distance as long as I could.”
“As much as I appreciated that, you didn’t have to do it. I wanted you so bad and you were playing. I’m a big girl, I would have taken my chances.”
“So you mean to tell me you would have taken me any kind of way back then, versus waiting until I was ready?”
Summer nodded.
“That doesn’t make any sense, Summer. You should never settle for less than you deserve. You’re a good girl. You have the power to choose. You don’t have to just take anything a nigga give you.”
Summer kissed his lips long and hard before pulling away. “I wasn’t settling Jacorey. I saw potential in you. It’s a difference. I wasn’t going to just accept anything, I was going to train you and mold you into the man I wanted, and into the man I knew you could be.”
His face mirrored that of a man in deep thought. “You for real?”
“As a heart attack. A woman can tell when they have a good man. Even if he’s still wilding in the streets and fucking off with groupies.”
Jacorey smiled and the lights from the ground shined against his skin. “I wasn’t fucking off with no groupies. I’ve been busy chasing your ass around.”
“Lies people tell.” Summer wiped the water from his face. “Well, now that you’ve caught me, what’s next?”
Jacorey swam closer to her and snuggled his face into her neck. “Make you happy.”
When he tried to swim away, Summer wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled him back to her. She kissed his lips as soon as his face got close to hers. Totally disregarding the girls at the other end of the pool, Jacorey wrapped his hand around Summer’s neck while holding onto the side of the pool with the other hand. He captured her bottom lip between his teeth and bit it lightly.
“You fucking with me, friend?”
Summer nodded her head as he squeezed her neck a little tighter.
“You like this rough shit, don’t you?”
Again, Summer nodded.
“How long you gon fuck with me?”
“As long as you’re acting right.”
“Wrap your legs around me a little tighter.”
Summer squeezed her thighs tighter around his waist and released the side of the pool. He nibbled on her jaw as she circled her arms around his neck.
“You always telling me to squeeze you tighter and stuff. What’s wrong with you?”
He bit her jaw playfully. “I just like how warm and comfortable it feels between your legs, th
at’s all. Ain’t nothing wrong with me.”
Summer squealed and held her head down against his chest. “You are too much.”
“I keep it real, and you don’t know how to handle it.”
“Excuse me, is this your stuff?” One of the girls was now standing near Summer and Jacorey, holding Summer’s orange towel and her sunglasses.
Summer looked her up and down. “Yeah it is. Why do you have it?”
“Because there’s only two chairs and we wanted to sit down. I was going to ask you did you mind if we sat it on the ground.”
“If you were going to ask, why did you pick it up first? Suppose I say no, then what?”
The girl’s nose twitched as it turned up in the corner. “Then I’ll just put it back.”
Summer smiled. “Then please do, if you don’t mind.”
The girl sucked her teeth and turned to walk away. She threw Summer’s things back on the chair and walked over to where her friends were sitting. It was obvious by the way they were whispering and looking at Summer that they were talking about her, but she didn’t care about stuff like that. They were young hoes; nothing about them intimidated her.
“Now why you had to be like that?”
Summer looked at Jacorey. “Like what?”
“You could have let them use that chair.”
“Had she not brought it over here like she just knew I was going say yes, then I probably would have.”
“You’re a mean girl, Summer.”
Summer shrugged as Jacorey released his body from her hold and swam towards the shallow end of the pool. Summer watched the girls swoon over him as he stood to his full height and walked over to the chair to grab Summer’s things.
“Y’all can go ahead.” He walked away, carrying Summer’s things down to where they were.
“Thank you.”
All of them smiled a little too hard for Summer’s liking as they moved to the chairs. Even shooting her a few glances as they moved their things to the chair she had been occupying earlier.
Jacorey set her things on the diving board before jumping back into the pool. Summer shrieked as water splashed all over her face and head.
“Baeeee!” She wiped water from her eyes “Why you do that?”