by Desirée
There was something Olivia was giving off. I wasn’t sure what it was, but I needed her approval if I was going to fit in with her brothers.
“Well, I just went over to his house one night, wanting his friends to turn down the music. That’s when I first saw him. Of course, he didn’t say much, but once we saw each other in a club, he came over to me, asking if he could stay by my side that night. The rest is pretty much history.” I shrugged as they all “wooed.”
“I can’t even imagine Shiloh liking someone,” Olivia said, looking at me with a particular gaze and a simple smile. “You have to be special to him. He was nervous about everyone meeting you.”
“Shiloh? Nervous?” I questioned as we laughed. Shocking.
“Ohhhh! Nigga, I told you he was going to drop the ball!” Elijah yelled out as the boys started all talking at once. “Fuck-ass Falcons!”
“Do you see yourself marrying him?” Toni asked, hand on her pregnant belly.
“Yeah.” I smiled.
“Oooooh, I’ve always wanted another sister-in-law! Toni can’t be the only one, and Anthony’s baby mamas are crazy as fuck,” Olivia said, and they laughed.
We continued to talk, moving food around as it grew closer to the time to eat. I baked macaroni and cheese, green beans, black-eyed peas, collard greens, brown rice, and baked chicken, with Toni making steaks for some of the serious eaters. Then we had garlic bread and dressing. It was almost like a pre-Thanksgiving dinner.
Olivia baked brownies while Taylor got the plates ready. It definitely felt like everyone was a tight-knit group with a lot of respect for the elders and a lot of playfulness from the younger siblings. Talin would occasionally come in to check on his wife, Toni, while Trent and Taylor would be kissing each other in a loving way. Tyree’s boyfriend, Ontrell, looked like he was trying to cover up his sadness, but I could see right through it. And with Tyree texting me, wanting me to take pictures, asking me what he had on, what was he doing or saying, I decided to cut all of this short and call him. I changed out of my hot jeans, throwing on some shorts and a tank top, with my hair bouncing in a small ponytail.
“Bitch, what are you doing?” Tyree answered with a hiss as I rolled my eyes. “I don’t want him knowing you talking to me.”
“Both of y’all need to talk to each other—without your friends rallying behind you. Just you and him need to talk. He looks so sad, Ty,” I cooed, looking at Trell, who had his head dropped down, staring at the carpet. Everyone was so in tune with the game, but he kept quiet, to himself.
“So, what? You want me to fly back down to Atlanta and talk to that nigga?” he snapped as I walked over to the couch, tapping Ontrell on the shoulder. He had no idea I knew his ex-boyfriend, but he was about to find out. He turned to look at me, confused, but I just put the phone up to his ear.
“Hello?” he answered hesitantly.
I could hear Tyree going off just as Trell’s face scrunched up in pain. He quickly got up to step outside.
“Baby, please don’t hang up on me,” he said, closing the front door behind him.
“Y’all, the food is almost ready,” Olivia called out from the kitchen as the boys looked back.
“She talking like she made that shit,” Elijah joked, and they laughed. “Olivia, yo’ non-cooking ass know you ain’t did shit but watch this girl do it all.”
“Hey! I can make some good-ass brownies,” she snapped.
“Yo, even I can make some food,” Trent said as Taylor sat down on his lap and he wrapped his arms around her waist.
“Who can cook, and who can’t cook in this family?” I asked, and they all started talking at once.
“Well, I can grill anything, shawty,” Jahiem boasted. “Shiloh is the type of nigga who will show up with a plate in hand looking for food. He like a mothafucking stray dog, my nigga.”
“Tell me about it,” I mumbled, seeing Shiloh smile.
“Why I gotta know how to cook when I got family to do that shit?” he argued as I sat down next to him.
“I can throw down in the kitchen,” Anthony said as I looked at him, smiling. He was the heavyset one of the bunch, so I knew he wasn’t lying.
“My girl got me into eating salads lately,” Elijah admitted, and they started clowning him immediately. “Aye! Aye! Ain’t nothing wrong with being healthy, bruh!”
“Ahh, shut yo’ ol’ vegan ass up.” Trent laughed while playfully hitting his brother.
Taylor looked at me with a roll of her eyes as I laughed.
“How long have you guys been dating?” I asked curiously, and the room went deadly silent. I quickly looked at Shiloh, who looked away, trying to hold a smile in as he took a swig of his drink. “Did I ask the wrong thing?”
“Nah, you good. Ain’t that right, Trent? Tell her how long y’all been dating.”
“Elijah, shut the fuck up,” Taylor snapped.
“Yooo, we didn’t even tell you yo’ girl came to the video shoot last night. We met Jade last night, nigga,” Jahiem said as Trent’s mouth dropped. “Yeah, she’s cool as fuck. I don’t know what I thought of her before, but she wasn’t what I expected.”
“Yeah,” Elijah agreed.
I was more confused than ever, but I decided to let it go as I walked back to the kitchen with Olivia smirking at me.
“Do you know if I asked something out—”
“Girl, you’re fine. That’s not his girlfriend. They’ve known each other since they were kids, but he’s been cheating on his girlfriend with her,” Olivia whispered as we looked back.
Oh, wow! None of my business, though. I checked the oven, seeing the chicken was just perfect.
“Tell the guys to come get it,” I told Olivia, who called out to her brothers. They were almost like a herd of hungry bulls rushing to the kitchen.
“Back up!” Shiloh snapped. “My girl, her house, I’m first. Fuck is wrong with y’all?”
“Nigga, quit being greedy. This is for all of us,” Anthony retorted.
Toni pushed her pregnant self in the front. “Okay, first off, y’all niggas sat on y’all asses all damn day. The women are getting their plates first, because we cooked this shit, so move,” she snapped, and they all backed up.
“Talin, yo’ wife mean as fuck, bruh,” Jahiem complained as Toni cut her eyes at him.
“We got a problem, mothafucka?” she snapped, and Jahiem dropped his head.
I loved her. She was so quick tempered, but she could switch it up and be so nice all in one sentence.
“Nah, Mama,” he mumbled, and they laughed. Talin just shrugged with a Kool-aid grin.
“Noelle, get your plate,” Taylor said. I glanced at Shiloh, who looked like he was about to die at the sight of the food.
“Yo, save me a steak, Toni,” Talin called out.
“Nigga, you eating. Don’t worry,” she said as we picked over what we wanted. “These niggas here act like they be starving, making all that money and starving.”
I ended up making Shiloh’s plate anyway, just as Toni made her husband’s plate.
“I don’t know why,” Taylor chimed in as we looked back at the boys, all anxiously waiting to get in the kitchen. Like little boys, they were already eyeing what they wanted.
“Where is Ontrell at?” Olivia asked. “Can y’all go see about him?”
I watched Toni pause before dropping the empty plate, which crashed hard to the floor. She gripped her stomach, wincing in pain. Everyone immediately came to her aid, with Talin supporting her to keep her off the floor.
“Call the—”
“Nah, I’m good,” she breathed, struggling to stand up as she looked at her husband with a weak smile. “Baby kicked me for the first time.”
Everyone rejoiced in excitement as she let Talin feel the movement, looking like a proud daddy.
“You need to sit down and stay off yo’ feet for the rest of the day,” Trent suggested.
“Nah, she’s good. You already know she don’t want to hear no shit like that.�
�� Talin laughed, picking up the broken pieces from the plate. “You good, Mama,” he said, kissing her affectionately on the head.
I smiled. I couldn’t wait to be married and pregnant.
As we continued fixing plates, with the men merging into the kitchen with us, Shiloh kept close behind me, holding his plate that I fixed for him. “Where the drinks at?” he asked.
Olivia pulled out this huge punch bowl with this red liquid that she had mixed together, infusing different fruit juices with a small dose of alcohol in it. Once everyone settled down with their plates, everyone kind of sat together but separately. Toni and Talin sat at the dining room table together, with her feet propped on his lap. Trent and Taylor sat on the opposite side of the table together. Anthony, Jahiem, and Elijah sat in front of the TV, watching the game, while Shiloh and I sat on the small couch together, with Olivia grabbing a chair to sit on the side. Ontrell had left with my phone. Lord knows what he was doing, but I wasn’t concerned at this point. I actually enjoyed myself with his family.
“When you throwing this graduation party, Trent? And where?” Jahiem asked, checking his phone as I looked back at Trent.
“Oh, shit, bruh. This is the semester you graduating? Why nobody told me?” Anthony asked, and they all started talking at once.
“I reserved the Spring Lounge on a Saturday night. My frat brothers and I already started promoting that shit. It’s going to be fucking wild.”
“College educated. What’s next after that?”
“Nigga probably ain’t gon’ do shit with the degree,” Elijah mumbled, and everyone turned to him. Jealousy was laced in every word.
“Bruh, you hating?” Trent teased. “If you wasn’t so focused on running after Shiloh all the time, you could be getting like me and Olivia.”
“Nigga, I’m still going to make more in a day than you will in a fucking lifetime! Just because you got a fancy-ass degree don’t mean shit at the end of the day,” Elijah snapped.
“Here we go.” Jahiem sighed, continuing to eat.
I looked at Shiloh, who shook his head, still eating.
“Why is it always a competition between y’all two?” Taylor pressed.
“Because that nigga stay trying to compete with someone!” Trent argued. “I’m in a league of my own. You will never be on the level that—”
“You’ll never be on the level,” Elijah mocked, trying to talk proper as a few of the brothers laughed. “Man, shut yo’ white ass up, bruh. Fuck outta here with that bullshit. A degree ain’t nothing but a piece of paper, my nigga!”
“Whatever. That’s why I never fucked with you like that—you or Shiloh—because y’all stay on that street mentality bullshit,” Trent mumbled as Shiloh’s head popped up.
“Fuck you keep putting my name in yo’ mouth for, bruh? I didn’t say shit—”
“You never say shit! That’s the fucking problem! You stay taking his side! When were you ever there for me, or Olivia? Let Elijah call, you drop everything for that nigga, but if it was me—”
“Aye, aye, everybody chill out!” Anthony said. “Trent, we proud of you. Elijah, why you knocking yo’ own brother’s accomplishments down?”
“Because he stay throwing that college shit in my face! Him and Mama always tell me I’m running behind Shiloh. I get sick of hearing that shit!”
“Y’all act like some fucking kids,” Jahiem mumbled. “Talin, you ain’t got no problem with me, right?”
“Nah, we cool,” Talin said as they laughed.
Just like that, the conversation shifted into something else. I eyed Shiloh, who kept quiet as usual, blank expression on his face telling nothing. I remembered him telling me that he was the one that felt like he had to raise his younger siblings when his dad wasn’t around. Well, now I believed it, because they fought for his attention and approval as if he was their dad. But as quickly as the fight started, it was already over, with Elijah getting up quietly to go hug Trent, slapping hands. I don’t think anyone noticed but me. Interesting family.
“So, when you putting a ring on her finger, Shiloh? I like Noelle for you,” Olivia said, giving me the stamp of approval as the sister of the bunch.
“Hell yeah, let me find out it’s another girl like you, shawty. I would settle my ass down so quick,” Anthony said as I laughed.
“If she wanna marry a nigga, I’m down with it one day soon,” Shiloh said. I smiled from ear to ear.
“Ahhh, shit! Big brother talking about taking that next step!” Elijah flipped.
“Do I hear wedding bells coming soon, Noelle?” Olivia cooed. I looked at her, almost looking identical to Elijah and his excited expression.
“I’m down with it.” I shrugged shyly, looking up at Shiloh. “One day soon.”
Everyone started freaking out in excitement at the thought of us marrying each other, but Shiloh kept his eyes on me.
“I love you,” he mouthed, and I smiled back. It was the first time he’d said it to me.
“Love you too,” I mouthed in response, with no one knowing about our love exchange as they continued to celebrate the possibility of a marriage. It was still way too soon to say, but it could happen.
Suddenly, we heard a car door close. Elijah stood up to look out the window.
“Aye, Ontrell went and got that nigga.” He laughed, and my eyes lit up.
So, I was right. Tyree never even left Atlanta.
Tyree
“Okay and what, Trell? Nigga, you stay talking about you’re gonna do this, you’re gonna do that,” I snapped into the phone as I stood at the airport, waiting with my duffle bag in tow. I was on the phone with my ex because Noelle had forced me to talk to this fuck nigga. I just wanted to go back home for a minute, be with my family, and forget about the shit that had happened to me in Atlanta. It was definitely time to relocate. I was ready for a change of scenery, a change of dick, and a change of wardrobe.
“Where you at, Tyree?”
“I’m not telling you—”
“I know you at the airport. I can hear that shit in the background, but where? Because I’m on the way to get you.”
“Nigga, no you not!” I shrieked, causing people to turn their attention to me. “Ontrell, you got me out here looking stupid, yelling on this phone at yo’ ass. Nigga, stay the fuck where you are, and leave me alone. We don’t have nothing—”
“Where are you?” he pressed again as I rolled my eyes, smacking my teeth. “Nigga, don’t do that, smacking yo’ teeth at me. Tell me where you are. I’m not gonna do this shit over the phone with you. I haven’t seen you in over a fucking week—”
“You’ve been longer without me when you be fucking those broads, nigga. Don’t play me, boo. Not today,” I went in before sitting down on the bench, telling him where I was like a fool.
We all have that one nigga that will drive you crazy in one minute, but you still want him around you to drive you crazy. Hanging up the phone, I sat with my legs crossed, leg bouncing over the other, with my black riding boots, black skinny jeans, and hoodie with a black skull cap on. I had on a black leather motorcycle jacket like I was about that life as I waited for that phone call. I debated on whether to leave, but as soon as he called me, I met him outside where the pickups were and got in the car.
I stayed quiet, face fixed on attitude as I crossed my arms over my chest. Just being near him made my heart flutter as he smiled at me. I saw where he shaved the sides and back of his head, just leaving the dreads at the top in a ponytail. His face was still perfect with that brown complexion smooth as ice, perfect pearly white smile, and smelling good too. He was dressed like a man with money and style.
“I missed you,” he started.
I rolled my eyes, snorting in the process.
He just smiled, tucking in that lower lip. “I can’t get a hug or nothing?”
“Nigga, we not together no more. We will never be anything other than exes, because I’m not going to let you put me through this bullshit again. Go ahead. Say you sor
ry. Say you won’t do it again. Tell me you love me. Lie to me that you love me, because you don’t.”
“I do.”
“No! You don’t, nigga! Because if you did, you wouldn’t have even thought about half the shit you did to me!” I screamed.
He dropped his head, starting the car before pulling off. I wasn’t finished, though. He didn’t want to hear it over the phone, but he was going to hear it to his face.
“Oooh, you ain’t shit, nigga, I swear!” I spat. “Two years of my life that I gave to you, and you disrespected everything we stood for. Fucking broads because they throwing that shit at you, and you act like you can’t turn it down! Boo boo, news flash! These bitches don’t think you cute. They don’t want you or love you! They trying to see what the fuck it’s like to fuck with a gay man! You’re a fucking fetish to these nasty broads out here! Same hoes you fucking with are the same hoes that bash men like you and me!”
He stayed quiet as he got on the highway, jaw clenching because he knew I was right.
“Then! If that wasn’t enough, you go and fuck niggas too! Because my dick ain’t good enough for you?”
“It’s not like that—”
“Oh! Did—did I say speak, nigga?” I snapped, hitting him hard upside the head as he silently cursed me out, clenching the steering wheel hard with his face tightening up. “I am so sick of you, Ontrell. I’m not . . . you not about to have me lose my voice over you. Yelling at you because you fucked up, not me. You’re the reason we’re not together anymore,” I snapped before officially going silent.
“Can I talk, Tyree?” he asked hesitantly.
I said nothing, just stared out the window, sitting comfortably in his truck as he drove.
“I did some growing up—”
“Over a week, nigga? You grew up that fast, nigga?” I retorted. “Only thing that should have grown was that li’l-ass dick you got,” I mumbled. Okay, while y’all reading this, know that my ex’s dick wasn’t little, never that, but you sometimes got to hit ’em where it hurts.
“Man, chill the fuck out on that and let me finish talking!” he snapped. “I did some growing, and I learned a lot about myself when you wasn’t around. I don’t—”
