16
Andretti
“Your hand is shaking, baby. Are you really that nervous about seeing your family?” I asked Nim as we walked up to her aunt and uncle’s driveway.
Her uncle Richard’s cancer free celebration had started an hour ago, and we had just arrived because she took her precious time getting dressed for the event. I damn near had to drag her out of my house and force her into the car because she’d been dragging her feet, acting like we didn’t have somewhere to be. Her hand had been shaking the entire time I led her up the driveway, and we were only a few feet away from the fenced backyard where all of her family and their friends were.
“I guess so?” Nim said it as more of a question than a statement. “I don’t really know how to feel, Dretti. It’s been so long since I’ve seen Richard and Traci. I feel like it’s probably going to be an awkward reunion, you know?”
Placing her small hand to my lips, I kissed it gently before I placed another kiss on her lips.
“It’ll only be awkward if you make it awkward, baby. Just be yourself, and everything else will fall in line naturally.” I smiled at Nim and kissed her lips once more. “Didn’t you say they had a daughter too?”
“I don’t even want to talk about her,” Nim said with a roll of her eyes. It was the same thing she'd said to me the first time she told me her aunt and uncle had a daughter. I wasn’t sure what happened between her and her cousin, but whatever it was clearly still bothered her, so I never pressed her for more information about it. “Let’s go get this over with, Dretti. We don’t have to stay long. I’d actually prefer if we didn’t stay more than an hour.”
“You got it, mami.”
We walked up to the wooden gate and I pulled it back for her. The second we stepped through the gate an older woman who looked exactly like Nim pranced over to us with a huge smile on her face. I assumed it was her mother and pulled her in for a hug when she attempted to shake my hand and told her it was nice to finally meet her.
“So he’s handsome and a gentleman, huh?” The older woman smiled even wider when she pulled back from our embrace and looked over at Nim. “He’s super cute, honey. Now I understand exactly why I never see you anymore.”
Nim blushed at her words and smiled too.
“Mom, this is Andretti. Andretti, this is my mom, Dedra,” she introduced us and then asked, “Where’s dad? I wanted him and Andretti to meet before I introduced him to Uncle Richard and Aunt Traci.”
“Mmmm…” her mother looked around the backyard in search for her husband. “I’m not sure, baby. He might be in the house. You know he doesn’t like to be out in the heat when he doesn’t have to be. Richard and Traci are over by the grill, though. You should go say hi to them now while I find your father. They’ve been talking about you since we got here.”
“Oh, God.” Nim sighed, and her mother hugged her tightly.
“Don’t do that, Nim. They’re actually excited to see you, honey. I promise.”
“OK…” She sighed again and squeezed my hand. “Well, we’re gonna go find them, and we’ll catch up with you and dad later.”
“Nice to meet you again, ma’am,” I said to her mother and pulled her in for another hug.
“Call me Dedra, baby. It’s nice to meet you again too,” Nim’s mother replied before she walked in the direction of the back door and disappeared into the house.
Nim and I made our way through a crowd of people and she often stopped and said hello to a few of them. When we made it over to the grill an older, frail man and a bit on the heavier side woman smiled at the both of us, and the man grabbed Nim by the hand and lightly spun her around.
“Nimmy Cole,” he said and hugged her after he twirled her. “It’s so good to see you, baby girl. It’s been too long.”
“That it has,” Nim said and smiled softly. She gave the woman who I assumed was her aunt, Traci, a hug and addressed her next. “Hey, Traci!”
“Hi, Nim,” she said casually, not as nice as Nim had said her greeting. “Richard, I’m going to let you hang out with them while I go check on the dessert.”
Traci walked away without another word said to Nim, and I had to hold my tongue still. Her ass was rude as fuck, and it wasn’t hard to see that she didn’t care too much for my woman. That shit didn’t sit well with me at all.
“So, Nim, who’s this fella here? I’m her uncle Richard.” Her uncle stuck his hand out for me to shake it and I did.
“I’m Andretti,” I answered for the both of us. “It’s nice to meet you, sir. And congratulations on beating that beast of a disease."
Richard nodded and looked Nim over again. I sensed he was either pleased with her choice to bring me as her date or her choice to date me, period.
“So what do you do, Andretti?” her uncle asked me and we talked about the basic details of my life for a cool fifteen minutes.
I told him I was a DJ, a little background about my family and who they were, and other basic things like those. He told me about his battle with prostate cancer and about the construction company he and his wife owned. As we finished up our conversation, a woman came up from behind us and I could've sworn the color from my face drained when I saw who it was.
What the fuck?
“Heyyy, Nim,” Emani gave Nim a fake ass greeting and smile. “Who’s your friend?” she asked as if she didn’t already know who I was.
Goddamn! I couldn’t seem to escape her crazy ass!
I never met Emani’s parents when we dated, and I was starting to wish I had because it would’ve saved Nim the embarrassment I knew she was going to feel once I told her about me and Emani’s history together. I would’ve never come to her uncle’s celebration had I known she was Emani’s cousin. I could tell she was Richard’s daughter because she looked like the female version of him, and I knew it was only a matter of time before she’d be on some bullshit. Her acting like she didn’t know me was only going to complicate the situation even more.
Nim gave Emani a once-over and smiled a fake smile too. I didn’t know what the bad blood between them was, but I knew there was some by the way they interacted with each other.
“Emani, this is Andretti. Andretti, this is my cousin Emani,” Nim said and rolled her eyes on the sly.
“Nice to meet you, Andretti. Had I known Nim was bringing a date, I wouldn’t have invited…”
“What the fuck, Emani?” Nim yelled in a whisper, and I had to count to ten in my head when I saw the person she had her eyes fixed on.
It was too damn obvious that muthafuckas wanted me to show the fuck out tonight…
17
Nim
“What the fuck, Emani?” I yelled in a whisper. “Why would you invite him here!”
Emani’s nose scrunched up and she tilted her head to the side, clearly attempting to feign innocence.
“Well, excuse the hell out of me, Nim. I didn’t know you’d be bringing someone tonight, and I figured you and Britton would eventually work out your differences because of how long you two were together. True love always finds its way back, doesn’t it? I was only trying to help!”
Ugh!
Emani was such a royal bitch. I was so pissed off at her I could’ve wrung her damn neck in front of her own father.
I wanted to slap the smirk off of her evil face so bad, but Andretti’s fingers rubbing comforting circles against the small of my back, coupled with the people scattered around the backyard as bystanders, helped me keep my composure. No matter how much she tried to say her intentions were good I knew they weren’t. She was purposely trying to be messy and I wasn’t sure why. If Emani wanted Britton, she could have him with no protest or complaint from me. I didn’t even know how she knew how long we dated in the first place, and since she did that let me know she had been snooping around for information about my past relationship with him. She was still too damn sneaky for my taste.
Uncle Richard cleared his throat when he noticed the deadly look I was giving Emani, and he pul
led her into his side.
“Emani, I think it’s time we go check on your mother,” he said and smiled softly at me. “Nim, thank you for coming, baby girl. We’ll see you guys again in a few. It was nice to meet you, Andretti.”
“Likewise,” Andretti said and shook my uncle’s hand.
He glared at Emani as hard as I had before she walked off, and then he fixed his stare on Britton. He looked at him with a glare so icy it had me scared and I hadn’t done anything wrong. Andretti tried to walk over to where he was standing in a faraway corner, conversing with some people I didn’t know, but I tugged him back by the hand and tried to talk him out of whatever he wanted to go do.
“Dretti, please don’t,” I pleaded with begging eyes.
“Nah,” he said it coolly and that couldn’t have been a good sign. “I told that nigga to stay away from you, Nim, and he didn’t listen. I don’t like when people go against what I say, mami.”
Andretti attempted to walk away again but I tugged his hand for the second time and continued to try and reason with him.
“I’m begging you, Dretti. Don’t go talk to him. It’s not worth it, baby. I promise he’s not worth the trouble.”
Andretti sighed heavily and looked me directly in my eyes, and I could tell it was taking every ounce of him to listen to me.
Grabbing me softly by the chin he said, “The only reason I’m not gonna go fuck his ass up is because I don’t wanna show out in front of your peoples… but you can’t stop what I do to him once we leave here. Understand?”
“Dretti, please,” I whined desperately.
Britton had no idea of the type of danger he put himself in by showing up to my family’s gathering. Andretti wasn’t to be fucked with and I knew there was nothing I could do to stop him from carrying out whatever crazy plan he had in store for Britton. There was absolutely no talking a man like him down. He was going to do whatever he felt he needed to do when someone disrespected him—whether it was illegal or not.
Softly kissing the side of my cheek, Andretti smiled at me like he hadn’t just threatened a man’s life seconds ago.
“This is not up for debate, baby. Let’s go get some food. That chicken we saw on the grill earlier looked fire as fuck.”
We were an hour into the celebration for my uncle, and I was beyond ready to go. I was thankful both Emani and Britton steered clear of Andretti and I because I was ready to beat the hell out of both of them. Andretti had calmed down since the first time we laid eyes on Britton, and for the past hour, we’d been having a casual conversation with my parents. They really seemed to take a liking to Andretti and that lightened my mood a lot. Andretti and my mother hit it off the most, and I could sense she was happy about my choice to date him. I could also sense that my father knew a little something about Andretti already by a few of the questions he asked him, but Andretti didn’t seem to know anything about him other than that he was a police sergeant, and that was only because I’d told him that information a while ago.
After we were all done eating with each other my father asked me to speak with him in private, and I immediately became a ball of nerves.
I couldn’t take any more bad news tonight, and I had a strong feeling that’s what my father was about to deliver as we walked to a small corner in the backyard.
“Do you know who Andretti is, baby girl?” my father asked as we stood under a tall tree.
“Actually…” I paused and nervously twiddled with my thumbs because of the hard stare he was giving me. “Umm… kind of?” I said honestly because I knew Andretti used to be into some illegal things, but we never really talked about them.
My father kept his intense eyes on me, and I grew incredibly worried about the information he might’ve had on Andretti… until he flashed me a low smile.
“I see you still have that hood nigga obsession.” My father chuckled and shook his head. “Andretti is actually a good kid, though, Nim. He was into some illegal shit for a very long time because of who his father is. Andre was a big-time drug dealer back in the day, and naturally, he did what most sons do and followed in his father’s footsteps. His family and their associates were always untouchable, though. Everyone knew what they did but no one could actually prove it. Andre is a very smart man, and so is Andretti. They never put themselves in a position to get caught up, so they never did, and now they’re both living extremely comfortable lifestyles because of it.”
Relief washed over me after my father spoke and my nerves relaxed. It was no secret to him and my mother that I had an addiction to bad boys. I’d tried to change that when I met Britton, but it was clear that didn’t work out in my favor.
“Are you sure you really like him, Dad? You can be honest with me,” I asked with a small smile.
“It doesn’t matter if I really like him or not, Nim, and you know it. After what happened between you and Exon, I decided to let you make your own decisions when it comes to who you date. You could make a thousand wrong choices, and I’d still support you and be there for you, you know that.”
My father pulled me into his arms and kissed the top of my head.
“I just want you to be proud of me and happy about who I’m with because…”
“And I want you to make yourself proud and happy, Nimmy,” he interrupted me, “And if that means being with Andretti, I’m all for it.”
18
Andretti
Nim had just gotten back from talking with her father and whatever conversation they had put her in a better mood and took her mind off of the bullshit Emani and Britton pulled. I was happy about that, but I still had plans to see about his ass before we left her uncle’s house. Telling Nim I wouldn’t check Britton tonight was one promise I wouldn’t be able to keep for her. She’d better just be glad I didn’t have plans to whoop his lame ass at the moment.
Rubbing Nim’s hair as she laid her head on my shoulder, I whispered in her ear and let her know I was going to go inside of the house to throw our plates away and that I’d be right back. She was in a food coma and didn’t even think twice about letting me go inside the house by myself. I kissed the side of her cheek before I stood up and made my way inside her uncle’s home.
Britton hadn’t come out of the house since he went inside, and I was hoping his scary ass hadn’t skipped out of the front door yet. I couldn’t understand what the point of him showing up to Nim’s family’s celebration was if he didn’t plan on being bold with his moves. He hadn’t tried to come and talk to her once and didn’t even look her way the entire time he’d spent in the backyard.
Weak ass nigga.
When I made it inside the house, I rounded a corner that led to the kitchen and spotted Britton throwing back a bottle of beer. His eyes widened when he saw me approaching him, and he looked around to see if anyone was near. His beer bottle shook along with his hand when he realized we were alone. I walked right up on his pussy ass, and the only thing separating us were the dirty plates in my hand.
Yeah, I was that muthafuckin’ close.
“Say, my nigga.” I looked him up and down and shook my head at his dumb ass. “What the fuck did I tell you when I rolled up on yo’ bitch ass at Dinker’s?”
For a split moment, I thought Britton was going to hold his ground and buck back at me, but he must’ve noticed the wild ass look in my eyes and decided on the latter. He cleared his throat and tried to step around me, but I pushed him back and used the same hand to grip the collar of his button-up shirt.
“Listen to me clearly when I tell you this shit, nigga.” I tightened my grip around his collar, and his eyes damn near popped out of his head. “Stay the fuck away from my woman or Ima fuck your ass up Monday through fucking Sunday for as long as I feel like it. Don’t ever in yo’ life disrespect me again, my nigga. I will real life hurt yo’ dumb ass and then Ima have to explain to my lady why your ass is missing and shit. Stop fucking playing with me, and listen to what the fuck I told you, aight?”
Britton nodded his head up
and down repeatedly, and I let go of my hold on his shirt when I felt like he seriously caught my drift. His ass would real life come up missing if he pulled another bullshit stunt to get Nim’s attention. He hurried up and got the hell out of the kitchen as soon as I let go of him, and I chuckled to myself because of how easily he could be scared off.
I headed over to the trashcan to throw me and Nim’s plates away, as I told her I would, and heard the click-clack sound of a pair of heels slowly advancing toward me. As soon as I turned back around from throwing the plates away, Emani’s scandalous ass tried to press up on me, and I lightly pushed her back from my personal space.
“Yo’, back up off me, Emani.” I mugged her like she was stupid, and shit, clearly, she had to have been. “I don’t have time for your bullshit. You’ve already started some shit by inviting that lame ass nigga here. Stop trying to add more bullshit on top of it, man.”
Emani laughed and I didn’t find any of the shit I said funny.
“I can’t believe you’re really seeing her, Andretti. My boring ass cousin.” She laughed again and shook her head. “So she’s the reason you won’t come back to me, huh?”
“Check this out, and let me make myself very clear when I say this too. You’re the reason I’d never come back to you, Emani. Me not wanting to be with you ain’t got shit to do with nobody but you and your ho’-ish ways.” I looked her dead in her eyes but of course, her wild ass didn’t falter. “Move along, Emani. I’m not about to play these silly ass games with you. Stop trying to make some shit that ain’t meant to be happen.”
Emani bit down on her lip and smiled.
“I love it when you get upset, baby. Angry looks so damn good on you.” She trailed her finger down my chest and snatched it away before I could flick it off of me. With another small laugh, she said, “You may think you’ll never come back to me, Dretti, but I know you will. You won’t be able to resist me for long.”
The One He Craves Page 13