The Wild Child

by Nicole Jackson

  “Yeah, okay,” I scoffed.

  Kia giggled, as she shook her head. “Jhyrah, you’re flat out deflecting. You knew damn well that we both know what’s up. You’re just in your feelings because she mentioned Jeremy.”

  “I’m definitely not in my feelings,” I denied. “I’m just making sure that yall aren’t on some funny shit. Yall know that my brother would ruin everything if he found out about me and Jeremy, so I want yall to understand that we can’t talk about Jeremy freely.”

  “Okay, sure. We know not to blab your business. We got you,” Nancy offered. “But again, I don’t think that your secret is all that big of a deal. Jeremy and Jah are as thick as thieves. I’ve seen him smash plenty of girls and I doubt that’s going to change. So, you’ll be singing the same song as us, shortly. Trust me.”

  “Yeah, whatever,” I gulped, hoping that she didn’t know what she was talking about. I was far from naïve, so my head wasn’t clouded. Still, boys were prone to switching up. Me and Jeremy had been liking each other for years, but how would things go, now that he finally has me?

  “Yeah, Jhyrah, these boys are full of shit,” Kia added. “And being your friend, I know you. You are a spoiled brat, and I just can’t see Jeremy catering to that. Last year, when you were still in middle school, we sat back and witnessed him with Lexi. He did the bare minimum for her. If it wasn’t for the fact that she constantly announced it, we wouldn’t have known that they were a couple. Jeremy was still texting other girls, sleeping with other girls, and hung with his boys most of the time. Hell, I saw him step in class with Jah one day, joking about something. Lexi walked in while he was there, and Jeremy barely acknowledged her…in her class. Those dudes are self-involved, and their girls are secondary to their crew, sports, and anything else.”

  “Kia, I think that we’re wasting our breath, but she’ll see,” Nancy chattered. “Especially, since she’s been giving it up. It won’t be long before Jeremy will just want to sneak into her room to fuck. That’s all he’ll want. Just like Jah.”

  I grimaced. “If you believe that all Jah wants is sex, then why do you still deal with him? Especially when you know that he has a girlfriend.”

  “Because I know that he’s the typical boy. My mom taught me this. Jah is young and paid. So, girls will be after him. Airy is temporary. All those girls are. And if I’m patient…when he’s ready I’ll be the first one up.”

  I twisted my lips, thinking that my friend was an absolute idiot. But deep within her mindless banter, perhaps there were some small truths.

  “Jhyrah, man, I thought that I told you to meet me in the back of the cafeteria, after you eat,” Jeremy interrupted, as he hovered over me. “But I see that you’re still over here running your mouth.”

  I smacked my lips, gazing up at him. “Boy, I was coming.”

  “Then come on,” he insisted, grabbing my hand, helping me stand.

  I glanced back at my girls. “I’ll be back.”

  He shook his head, as he glanced over at them. “No, she won’t.”

  I narrowed my eyes, as he pulled me away. “Really?”

  He waved me off. “Fuck their messy asses. You need to be kicking it with me,” he declared, as we sat at another table, filled with his boys. Thankfully, Jah wasn’t sitting there because he was preoccupied across the cafeteria with some new girl, who clearly wasn’t his girlfriend, Airy.

  Leaning in, I whispered in Jeremy’s ear, as he sat beside me. “So, let me get this right. You dragged me away from my friends to sit over here with your knuckle head crew?”

  He spoke into my ear. “I mean, we could definitely sit by ourselves, as long as you’re ready to address any questions Lil’ Jah may have.”

  I sighed. “Say no more.”

  He smirked, before discreetly kissing my cheek, while no one was watching. A chill shot up my spine, as I basked in the attention.

  For the remainder of lunch, we sat together, whispering. Every now and then Jeremy would engage with his boys, but mostly, I had his undivided attention. Then once the bell sounded, I expected us to part ways. Instead, he helped me stand again, and we headed to my next class…together. That’s when I knew that my mama had once again been right, when she told me that regardless of what anybody says, I wasn’t those other girls. I was Jhyrah and I believe that Jeremy understood exactly what that meant.

  Jeremy

  Coach Jones had worn us out, in preparation of a strong football season. My body was sore, but that was to be expected. I was the starting running back and the star of the team, therefore, the coach focused much of his energy on me.

  I needed to hop in the shower like a muthafucka, after leaving it all out on the field. So, I was cutting across the school’s grass, when I noticed the cheerleaders wrapping up their practice. I spotted my baby in some tiny shorts, and my dick instantly rocked up.

  As a freshman, Jhyrah was already co-captain, running shit. I knew that was primarily due to Auntie Raven putting her in gymnastics earlier in life, much like my mama, and now my little sister. She was a fucking natural, and I couldn’t help watching in amazement as she did a backbend for the hell of it. Wearing a little black belly shirt, I could see the abs in her stomach, as she did acrobats all over the grass.

  “Twin,” Jared placed a hand on my shoulder. “Let’s trade. I’ma pretend to be you today and see if Jhyrah buys it.”

  “Nigga, don’t play with me,” I snarled as I flung his hand off my shoulder.

  “Let me find out that she got you in ya feelings,” he chuckled, as he strolled over to Kia, wrapping his arms around her waist.

  Jhyrah was stretching, while her little friends Nancy and Regal were watching me. Ole Nancy would give me the eye, but I’d look past it, because I knew that she was fucking with Jah. But Regal, she was a short, medium brown skinned cutie with a ass on her. We’d texted a few times and I could tell that she wanted to give me the pussy.

  “Hey, Jeremy,” Regal quickly spoke.

  “What’s poppin’?” I greeted, catching Jhyrah’s attention. She paused, while looking back and forth between me and Regal.

  “I was trying to see. They’re telling me that you and Lexi broke up. If it’s true, I’m trying to see why you didn’t call me.”

  Jhyrah’s eyes lowered into slits.

  I licked my lips. “Watch out, man. I’m cool.” I stepped up to Jhyrah, grabbing her hand. “But let me talk to you for a sec.”

  “What’s up?” she asked chipperly, but I knew that it was a front. “You trying to pull me away before your little girlfriend back there spills all the beans?”

  I sucked my teeth, as we wandered underneath the bleachers. “You know it aint like that, girl.”

  “Uh-huh, that’s what you say,” she pursed her lips. “I bet her flirting with you has your dick hard. Let me see.” She vulgarly grabbed my crotch.

  I stood still, gazing down at her, as I licked my lips. “Nah, that’s all you, right there.”

  She gasped. “You really are hard. What…you wanna fuck her?”

  I calmly shook my head. “No-uh.”

  “Nah, I don’t believe you. I think you wanna fuck that lil’ bitch. You probably was looking at her big booty, wondering how she’d look riding your dick backwards.”

  I gulped. I didn’t know where Jhyrah was going with this, as there wasn’t an ounce of anger in her voice. It was seductive and that was some shit that she really shouldn’t know about at her age. Shit, most girls I knew didn’t know about it, and had I not witnessed that shit from family interacting with their spouses, I wouldn’t know about it, either.

  “You think that bitch can fuck you better than me, Jeremy?” she boldly questioned, while easing her hand into my basketball shorts.

  I grabbed her wrist. “What you doing, girl? Have you forgot that we’re on school’s grounds?”

  She slowly shook her head. “That’s irrelevant,” she claimed, as she began stroking me. “You still haven’t answered my question. Do you think tha
t she can fuck you better?”

  “Jhyrah, you crazier than a muthafucka. Why you out here playing with my sweaty dick?”

  “Cause,” she bit her lip sexily, while pulling my dick completely out of my shorts and boxers. “I need you to fuck me, right now.”

  My heart fluttered. When I’d decided to take this step with her, I’d never imagined that it would be like this. Jhyrah was the good girl, who I was supposed to be schooling, but her lil’ ass was schooling me, and blowing my fuckin’ mind.

  Throwing caution to the wind, I aggressively gripped her hips, before snatching her shorts down. As if she’d been doing this her whole life, she bent over, touching her toes. I wasted no time ramming myself inside of her. Gripping her hips, I gave it to her rough, realizing that low key, no girl on this earth was doing it better than Jhyrah Braxton, on God.

  Jhyrah

  “Girl, you got it smelling good up in here,” Auntie Paris chattered, as she switched into our kitchen with Jermany right behind her.

  No lie, Jeremy’s mama was a pure beauty with a youthfulness that could only come naturally. She was a smooth caramel brown, a nice size twelve, with the prettiest curly hair. Her facial features were soft like a little girl, coming fully equipped with little dimples. Her appearance was always so nice and welcoming, but she was really a firecracker. And I loved that about her.

  “Thank you, thank you,” my mama replied. “Welcome to the seafood extravaganza. We got stuffed shrimp, crab cakes, seafood shish kebabs, seafood baked potatoes, seafood salad, seafood pasta, lobster tails, boiled king crabs, and boiled jumbo shrimp.”

  “Yessss, bitch,” Paris snapped her fingers.

  Auntie Raquel sat at the kitchen’s island with a smirk on her face. “This bitch is such a show off. Went and bought a whole inventory of shit out the stores. Then got the nerve to try to force people to help her with all this shit.”

  My mama rolled her eyes, waving her sister off. “Yeah, yeah, just keep chopping them onions up.”

  I giggled, while chopping up the green onions. My friend Patricia sat next to me, seemingly enjoying my mama and her crew’s potty mouths. Pat was a suburban girl through and through. Her mom was a white stay at home mom, while her daddy was a black doctor. She was the definition of sheltered and was always mesmerized with my families’ ghetto chic flare.

  “Auntie, my stomach started talking as soon as I stepped in here. I can’t wait to eat,” Jeremy offered, as he strolled into the kitchen, rubbing his hard abs through his t-shirt.

  “You aint lying,” Jared co-signed.

  My mama nodded proudly. “It’ll all be ready in a few. Little Jah and the rest of them are out back in the pool, in case yall are wondering.”

  “Hey, Jared,” Pat spoke. “Hi, Jeremy.”

  I couldn’t help, frowning. All my friends knew that Jared wasn’t the one to like, because he was for everybody. So, I understood my girl not having interest in him, but I was confused as to why she was seemingly being awfully friendly with my Jeremy.

  “What’s up?” Jared gave Pat a head nod.

  Jeremy smiled. “Aye.”

  I rolled my eyes, as I noticed Patricia gawking at the twins as they headed out to the backyard.

  My mama snickered. “Pat, let me find out that you’re eyeing one of the twins.”

  Pat grinned without saying anything.

  “Oh-uh, watch out, Paris,” Auntie Raquel laughed. “You might be looking at your future daughter-in-law, right here.”

  Paris smirked. “Which one of my babies you like?”

  Jermany giggled. “She likes Jeremy Junior.”

  We all glanced over at her.

  “How do you know?” my mama questioned.

  Jermany stroked her long curly pony tail. “Cause I can tell.”

  Patricia smiled. “She’s funny.” She stood up and tapped my shoulder. “I’ll be outside, Jhyrah.”

  Everyone laughed but me, as Patricia switched outside.

  Auntie Raquel shook her head. “I keep telling yall. These little suburban girls be the fastest ones. Her little ass didn’t waste no time.”

  “Well, she’s a pretty girl,” my mama added. “I could see Jeremy going for her.”

  Auntie Paris rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”

  Auntie Raquel snickered. “You and Raven got that bad. She’s laughing about that little girl liking your son, but don’t want nobody liking hers. I can see it in them lil’ niggas’ eyes. They be on the prowl. Trust.”

  My mama pursed her lips. “Whatever, bitch. You sure have a foul mouth to be a damn lawyer. Ole ghetto ass.”

  Raquel gave her the finger. “I learned from you.”

  Chopping the last green onion, I stood up and washed my hands. Normally, I’d stick around to witness all their shit-talking, but I had something to do. So, without a word spoken, I headed outside. Just like my Auntie Raquel said, Patricia had wasted no time. Trying to be cute, she stood in front of Jeremy as he sat in a chair near the pool, with her legs crossed. I didn’t know what she was saying, but it really didn’t matter.

  Stomping over to her, I shoved her hard, sending her flailing into the pool with all her clothes on.

  “Jhyrah!” Patricia angrily belted.

  Everyone outside, including my brothers, gave me a strange look, as I stood with my hands on my hips. “What’s wrong?” I asked with a straight face.

  “You pushed me in the pool! I had my phone in my pocket!” she spat, as she climbed out of the pool.

  Little Jahrein shook his head. “That’s cold. Why you do her little cute ass like that?”

  I shrugged, as I folded my arms across my breasts. “Her hot ass needed to cool off.”

  Jared laughed uncontrollably, while Jeremy was shaking his head with a smirk on his face. He knew exactly why I’d done what I’d done, and if he didn’t want drama, he’d keep his distance from every female coming to visit today. Cause I didn’t mind scraping…even with him, if I had to. Because I wasn’t about to let him or anybody else play with me. I’d expose my entire hand before I’d let that happen. No lie.

  ***

  “Jhyrah.”

  I lied in my bed perfectly still with my eyes closed.

  “Jhyrah,” Nancy repeated again, before easing out of my king-sized bed.

  It was almost laughable the way that she thought that she was getting over. Her ass literally tip toed out of my room, and I knew exactly where she was headed. It was a few minutes before midnight, and our parents had all gone out. I mean, their whole crew was hitting up the club, from their siblings to cousins to their close friends. Therefore, the nanny was on watch for the smaller kids, while us older ones were all plotting. Undoubtedly, Nancy was headed to Little Jah’s room, which was great for me.

  Probably five minutes after Nancy crept out of my room, my door creaked open. Lifting my eyes, I could see the light pooling into my room, right before it was cut off, because the door was quietly closed shut. A few seconds later, I felt my bed move underneath the weight of someone.

  “I know your ass aint sleep,” Jeremy broke the silence.

  I sat up and giggled. “Never said that I was.”

  “Yeah, okay.”

  “Anyways. Did you pass Nancy is the hallway?”

  “Nah, I was still hanging downstairs with Little Jah. I guess she texted him, letting him know that she was in his room. That nigga was talking about playing another game of pool. I had to damn near force him to go get the pussy. Like nigga damn. You aint got all night.”

  I laughed as I shook my head. “I think he’s getting tired of her.”

  “Yeah, that nigga is complaining about her coming to spend too many nights. He said that you needed to start rotating your friends more often for sleepovers.”

  “He needs to stop it. His little girlfriend Airy comes over here damn near every day, yet he still wants to smash all my friends.”

  “Yeah, yeah, that’s their business,” Jeremy cut me off unpleasantly. Until then, I thought that h
e’d come through to play a little, but clearly, he had a chip on his shoulder.

  Thus far, being Jeremy’s secret girlfriend had been…one of the best times of my life. He was low key super-sweet and attentive. He knew me better than anyone else, and I could tell him my deepest, darkest secrets. He never judged but could also be brutally honest. He didn’t hold anything back and whenever he was feeling a way about anything I’d done…he’d let me know off the rip. Therefore, I already knew that he was he about to tear off into my ass for whatever was bothering him.

  “What’s wrong with you?” I asked him.

  “You,” he scoffed with no hesitation.

  I held my head. “Jeremy, what did I do now?”

  “Who dropped you off at home the other day, Jhyrah?”

  I took a deep breath. I don’t know why I didn’t see this coming, because knowing him…I should’ve. “Chaz.”

  Jeremy folded his ripped arms across his chest, as he licked his lips. “And you thought that I’d be cool hearing this shit, once it got back to me?”

  “I honestly didn’t think about it like that. I cheer with his sister. I’d been hanging with her and he dropped me off at home later. That’s all it was to it.”

  “Okay.” He nodded angrily. “So, I’ma go hang at Lexi’s. I fuck with her brother, so I mean, it shouldn’t be an issue, right?”

  I sucked my teeth. “Jeremy, that’s different and you know it.”

  “Nah, Ion know nothing. What I do know is that Ion like that shit. I don’t want you riding with no niggas, period. I don’t care what the situation is,” he fussed.

  “Jeremy, o-kaay,” I groaned, while staring up at the ceiling.

  “Man,” he dragged out. “Don’t be saying what you think I wanna hear. I mean this

  shit—"

  I silenced him with a kiss. He indulged for a few seconds, before shoving me back. “Jhyrah, this shit aint a game.”

  “Okay,” I sighed. “So, you came in here to argue with me?”

  “Nah,” he yawned as he reclined back. “I came to go to sleep.”