Charmed by a Roughneck 2

by J Peach

  “That’s the thing, he doesn’t be around them. Kae’s school had a trip to the gym, and I guess Kaeden recognized Jerome, then the pair started talking. Neither of them wanted to tell me what their conversation was about, but ever since then, which was literally a couple days ago, Kaeden wants to get into boxing. Kierra don’t know him, so she hasn’t put in her two cents.”

  Kaeden’s reaction was a surprise to me. I didn’t know what the hell those two talked about, but it really seemed to have an impact on my son.

  “Wow, now I’m curious to know what that talk was like if Kaeden wants to get into boxing, and he likes him,” she voiced. “For what it’s worth, I really do think Jerome cares for you. He was ready to yoke my ass up the other day when I wouldn’t tell him where you lived or give him any info about you. I knew all that came from him being worried about you—wait… Nessa, if you didn’t tell him where you were, and I didn’t… who did?” Rochelle asked.

  I hadn’t thought about that before, but now that I had, things started to fall into place. “You think Kaeden told him?” I found it crazy that the exact same day those two met, Jerome showed up at the hotel.

  Rochelle broke out laughing. “Sounds like it to me. What are the odds, though, Nessa?”

  “What’s funny?” Jerome asked from the door.

  Rochelle pointed to him. “You.” She got off my desk and grabbed her backpack. “I’ll catch you later, girl. Well, we’re doing lunch, so we can finish this talk then.” She looked pointily at Jerome, making me laugh. She wanted him to know that we had been talking about him.

  “Later, Rochelle.” I waved to her, and she walked out of the room.

  Jerome walked over to my desk and sat on the edge of it. “Why y’all asses talking about me?”

  “Rochelle was just being nosy. She wanted to know what happened between us when you came over the other day, that’s all.”

  A smirk came to his face at that. “What you tell her?”

  My eyes rolled before I laughed at him. “Definitely not what you’re thinking.”

  Turning my chair around, his hands came to the armrests, and he leaned down onto them, bringing his face closer to mine. “How you know what I’m thinking?” My eyes left his and went to his lips. He licked them, and his smirk widened. “If you want a kiss, all you have to do is ask, sweetheart.” He licked his lips again. “What you want, Janessa?”

  My lips twisted, and I chuckled at him. “You get off on this, don’t you?” He simply shrugged at my question. My hands went to the side of his face, and I started to pull him down.

  Jerome pulled back completely. “Nah, that’s not how it works. You got to ask for what you want.” He stood up and leaned against the desk once again. When I got up from my chair, he took my hand in his and pulled me to him, encircling his arms around my waist. “What you want?” He tilted my head back, staring into my eyes.

  “Can I get a kiss?” My teeth gripped my bottom lip as I smiled.

  He pulled me between his legs as he nodded. “Yeah, you can kiss me.”

  Laughing, my hands went to the sides of his face, and I lowered his head, bringing his lips to mine. Jerome’s arms tightened around my waist as our tongues twisted together. His hands soon moved down to my ass, and he squeezed tightly, causing me to moan. Thoughts of us in my room the other day filled my mind, making me crave his touch.

  “Jerome—”

  Groaning, he pulled back. “Don’t go moaning my damn name like that. You trying to get yo’ ass into some shit this morning, and that’s not why I came in here.”

  My thumb traced over his wet bottom lip. I started to move back, but he stopped me by tightening his arms around my waist. “Okay, so why did you come in here this early if it wasn’t to kiss me?”

  “Why you got to say the shit like that? You making it seem like whenever I come early, it’s just to kiss on yo’ ass or some shit.” His tone of voice was serious as hell.

  My mouth opened then closed at his words. I was sure my confusion showed on my face. I just stared at him, trying to see a sign that he was playing or something. He showed none. “I mean… that’s what happens, though.” I spoke slowly. Did he not realize that?

  Jerome’s lips twisted into a smirk. “I’m just fuckin’ with you, Janessa. I didn’t come in here just to feel on yo’ ass this morning, though.” Jerome laughed then shrugged off his bookbag.

  “Don’t say feel on… that sounds so… I don’t know… inappropriate,” I mumbled as I stared at his back. It was taking everything in me not to wrap my arms around him. I didn’t know why, but for the life of me, I just wanted to touch and rub on him.

  He stopped looking through his bag and glanced over at me. “What the fuck is you saying? We be inappropriate as fuck in this bitch. I done played all in yo’ pussy on this desk—”

  “Oh, my God.” My hands covered my heated face, trying to hide the blush. “Do you not think before you speak, Jerome?”

  He laughed. “No, I don’t. Shid, am I lying, though?”

  “Why did you come in here again?” I chuckled, wanting to change the subject. My face was so damn hot.

  I moved my hands from my face, only to have an iPhone placed in it.

  “This why I came early, to give you this. I need mine back. Did you bring your phone with you?” He questioned while taking the plastic off the iPhone box.

  “You didn’t have to buy me a new phone. I was just going to get my screen fixed,” I told him while looking at the phone. I knew Jerome said he would get me one, but I didn’t take him seriously. Plus, I had planned to go after work and get my screen fixed.

  “Well, I got it, and I’m not taking it back. Do you have yo’ phone?” His tone said it all; he was done talking about it. He got the phone, and I was going to use it whether I wanted to or not.

  “You could’ve just asked me nicely to take the phone. Lord, we have to work on your communication skills next,” I told him as I grabbed my purse. I glanced back at Jerome and saw him grinning.

  “Shid, I’m always down for a tutoring session.” His eyes raked over me, and his fingers ran alongside my hip as he bit his bottom lip. “We can teach each other some shit.” His hand stopped right at the side of my booty, and his eyes came back to mine. “Give me your phone,” he said with a knowing grin as if he knew exactly what he did to me.

  I found it irritating how well he could read me. I didn’t like that at all about myself. Looking away from him, I handed him my phone. “Jerome, what did you and Kae talk about at the gym? He keeps asking me to sign him up for boxing.”

  Jerome shrugged while messing around with my phone. “Nothing, really, and shid, boxing would be good for him. Here, you can sign in and do all that other shit.” He handed me my phone. “Little dude really loves you, though. So, if he wanna take up boxing, he’s doing it for you.” He shrugged and got quiet as if he was thinking about something.

  Now, I was really curious to know what they were talking about. I needed to know if Kae spoke on the fight he witnessed between Trell and me. “Did he tell you that he wanted to do it for me? If so, why?”

  Jerome’s eyes met mine, and they roamed over my face. “Janessa, you ain’t no dumb mothafucka. I don’t need to tell you why yo’ son wanna take up boxing. The little nigga ain’t stupid either, and he seems to speak his mind about shit. Don’t try to pick my fuckin’ brain when yo’ ass already knows yo’ own fuckin’ answer.”

  From the look on his face, I knew my question had irritated the hell out of him.

  I looked away from him and set up the iPhone. “You didn’t have to say it like that. I was asking because I wanted to know what y’all talked about. And given how you speak to folks, I can only imagine how you talked to my son. Kaeden is too sweet of a kid and doesn’t need to be talked to any kind of way.” I glared at him.

  Even with Trell, he never yelled at my kids or cussed at them, for that matter. That was just something I didn’t tolerate, and regardless of how much I was attracted to Jer
ome, he wasn’t exempt from that.”

  “Sweet? You called that little dude sweet?” Jerome looked genuinely confused before his head shook. “Did you not hear me say that little nigga hit me twice with a ball? All because he wanted my attention. Any regular ass kid would’ve just tapped me on the shoulder or some shit. Not Kae’s ass, though. Homie got a slick ass mouth too. Ain’t shit sweet about that little boy. He’s like a little ass adult or some shit. Bad ass…” He mumbled the last bit while rubbing the back of his head.

  At that moment, I was even more curious about their encounter. “First off, Kaeden, don’t get smart with adults. I don’t know the reason why he hit you with the ball, but I’m pretty sure he didn’t mean to do it, whether it was once or twice.”

  Jerome laughed at that and shook his head. “Of course, yo’ ass gonna say that because you his damn momma. Real shit, though, Janessa, I just talked to him. Little dude done seen you hurt, and he’s angry as fuck about that shit. I mean, it’s expected, especially because he’s a boy. Don’t ask me what we talked about because I ain’t saying shit. Go ask him, and if he wanna tell you, then, cool.” He shrugged then pointed to the phone in my hands. “Is it good?”

  I glanced at the phone blindly, putting in my old passcode then completed the sign in. My mind had drifted off to Kaeden. What Jerome said made me believe that Kaeden had confided in him. If that was the case, how come he didn’t talk to me? What could Jerome have said to him that I wouldn’t have?

  Jerome’s face suddenly came into my line of vision. “I didn’t send yo’ son off. I told him some real shit, something no one ever told me. Like I said, the kid seems expressive, which you know. If he wanted to tell you something, then he would, but don’t go pushing him and trying to force some shit out of him.”

  I nodded at what he said because he was right. My kids and I had an open relationship where we could talk about any and everything. I really didn’t want to force him to talk to me. I wanted him to do it on his time.

  “I like the little dude, though. Nigga funny as shit for real. Look, if he wanna get into boxing, and if you want, I’ll teach him something. Bet?” His thumb went to my chin, and he pushed it up, so I was looking at him. “If you don’t want me around yo’ kid, I’ll step the fuck off—”

  My hand grabbed his, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “No, it’s not that. I’m just thinking about what you told me about Kae is all. He just felt okay talking to you, even though he didn’t know who you were.” I just didn’t understand why Kaeden would talk to him, to begin with.

  Jerome chuckled and shook his head. “He knew who I was. He remembered me from the hotel when his bad ass knocked on shorty’s door and ran. He knew I was yo student and…” His hand ran over his head, and a groan left his mouth. “Don’t say shit to the little dude about this. Like I said, if he wants you to know what we talked about, let him tell you. Bet?” He glared at me, and I could see that he was serious.

  I had already decided not to pressure Kaeden and to let him come to me on his own. “I promise you, I’ll let him come to me. I know Kaeden, and if you had threatened him or talked to him wrongly, he would’ve told me. That’s just the type of kid he is.”

  Jerome nodded at that as if assuring himself of what I said. “Kaeden overheard yo’ old nigga say that me and my brother jumped him. That’s why when he saw me at the gym, he talked to me. He feels it’s his job to protect you because you don’t have nobody else to do it. That’s all I’m telling you. Kids are not dumb, Janessa. They see more than you may know.”

  I knew just how right he was on that ending bit. I had been blind for years to what my kids knew. I could only imagine the real rage Kaeden had inside of him for Montrell. The phone in my hand started to ping with text notifications and voicemail messages. The two numbers I noticed immediately caused me to groan. Montrell and his mother, Moniece.

  “Are you still willing to teach me how to box?”

  Rome glanced down at the phone and nodded. “Of course. We can start back up tonight if you want.” He leaned into me and bit my bottom lip.

  Why I smiled at that action? I couldn’t begin to explain it, but my body had just gotten so excited. “We can do that…” My words trailed off as my phone started to ring again.

  Jerome’s eyes glanced at the phone. “You gonna get that? It’s been going off since you turned that bitch on.”

  Shrugging, I turned the ringer off. “I really don’t feel like it,” I told him as the phone stopped vibrating before it started back again.

  I didn’t know what Trell had told his momma. However, I didn’t feel like dealing with the outcome just yet.

  The room door opened, and Jonell walked in. “Look, I ain’t about to keep being y’all damn lookout. Your pet is on the way in,” he said, then nodded to the desk for Jerome to follow him.

  “I don’t have a pet, and you don’t look out for us. We don’t be doing anything—”

  “Shorty, stop, yo’ damn face done turned fifty shades of red. But, look, Saturday, don’t make plans. I’ll be there to pick you up around eight. Bet?” He grabbed his phone off the desk just as Dion walked in. “Bet?” he repeated, knocking on the desk to get my attention back to him.

  “Um, yeah, okay.” I nodded as I waved to Dion, who was smiling at me.

  “Good morning—ahem…” Dion tried to cover his groan with a cough as Jerome bumped shoulders with him. I shot Jerome’s back a hard glare. “As I was saying, good morning, Janessa. It’s good to see you’re back. Are you alright?” He asked, staring into my face hard as if he was looking for something.

  With the makeup I caked on my face, I knew the fading bruises couldn’t be seen. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just had a little bug, that’s all.”

  He set his backpack on my desk, then grabbed a folder. “Here, this is the homework.” As he balanced the folder while trying to keep his bookbag steady, a binder and a notebook fell out, causing the notebook to open. On the page was a beautifully drawn picture of the sun setting over the ocean.

  Without thinking, I grabbed the notebook. “Oh, wow, this is beautiful. Did you draw this?”

  He shyly rubbed the back of his neck before clearing his throat as if he was getting himself together. “Yeah, it’s just something I do when I’m bored or need to clear my head. Nothing special.” He grabbed the notebook from me and quickly closed it.

  “No, it’s really good, Dion. You should probably take that up and enroll in some type of art course.” My hand covered his as he seemed to be embarrassed. “Hey, don’t sell yourself short. That drawing is really dope as hell.” I gave him a small smile, which he returned.

  At that moment, my phone started to vibrate, causing me to mentally groan. My eyes closed for a second. I grabbed my phone and saw that the message was from Jerome instead of Trell like I thought. With furrowed brows, I opened the message and laughed.

  Jerome: Yo’ ass getting too friendly with yo’ damn pet. Do you want us to give y’all some privacy?

  Me: Are you jealous? And stop calling him that. He’s not a pet, he’s just sweet.

  Jerome: He a bitch that’s trying to be all in yo ass.

  Me: Hmm… what’s the difference with you then? You’re trying to be all in my ass too…

  I pressed send, and a few seconds later, Jerome barked out a laugh.

  “Yo, fuck you,” Jerome stated out loud while laughing. I looked up at him, surprised as hell by his outburst. Everyone else was staring at him, too, but he wasn’t paying anyone any attention as he stared at his phone, texting. Once he was done, my phone went off, and he looked up. A glare immediately covered his face. “What the fuck is y’all looking at? Damn.”

  I didn’t bother to look at the message as the desks filled in. Getting up, I walked to the room door and locked it. “For those of you who completed the homework last night, it should already be on my desk. If you’ve already done that, take out your Algebra book and turn to page…”

  My hand rubbed my forehead as I started to get
frustrated with everything she was saying. “Moniece, all that yelling you’re doing is really uncalled for. If you’re going to talk to me, then we’re going to do it as two fuckin’ adults. I don’t know what the hell Trell told you about why I left—”

  “I don’t want to hear that shit! I can talk to yo’ ass how ever the hell I want to. I can’t fuckin’ believe you’d do him like that, Janessa, and us. Those kids have been a part of our lives for the past five, six, seven years, and you’re going to take them away from us? I love them like they’re my own grandkids, and you’re going to do us like this? You’re going to do Trell like this? You’re a low down, dirty bitch!” Moniece yelled at me; she was pissed off. “Now, when yo’ ass was down and didn’t have a gotdamn thing, not even a fuckin’ pot to piss in, Trell was there for you and those kids. You just gonna say fuck everything he’s done for your low down, triflin’ ass—”

  I couldn’t believe she would take such a low blow by bringing up the past like that. The fact that she was trying to make it seem like I did Montrell wrong surprised the hell out of me as well as pissed me the fuck off.

  “Shut the fuck up, Moniece!” I snapped, pissed off. “I didn’t do Trell wrong, he did us wrong. He kicked us out of our house, had our shit out on the fuckin’ porch. I had to move my kids and me into a hotel, a fuckin’ hotel, Moniece!” I yelled at her. I was boiling with anger. “Trell threw us out damn near three fuckin’ months ago, and not once did yo’ ass or Jessica call at any time during that fuckin’ period to see if Kaeden or Kierra was alright or needed anything. So, don’t call me trying to play that damn caring role now. As a matter of fact, fuck you, Jessica, and Trell. The three of y’all can kiss my ass. Moniece, please don’t come calling, yelling, and trying to cuss me out about shit regarding my gotdamn kids.” I was beyond pissed that she even had the audacity to try to turn everything around on me.