Love Me or Miss Me

by Dream Jordan

I still couldn’t believe I had a guy like Percy checking for me. Shoot, I wondered if he would even show up. But my fears were laid to rest when Percy appeared by the front gate at four o’clock on the dot. I hurried up to the gate and slipped out real slick before Mr. King could ask me for another freaking thing.

  “Hey,” said Percy.

  “Hey,” I said, slightly out of breath.

  “You ready?”

  “For sure.” I grinned to myself. I couldn’t wait for Felicia to feast her eyes on Percy.

  “I’m parked across the street,” said Percy, gently touching my back.

  We walked halfway down the block, when suddenly a loud cherry bomb blew up. My whole body jerked in surprise. Percy laughed and put his arm around my shoulder. “Don’t worry, I got you.”

  With his arm still around my shoulder, he led me to a sparkling fire-engine red Dodge Avenger sitting on twenty-two-inch dubs. Windows tinted silver, so you couldn’t see inside. I climbed into the car, feeling like a grown woman. I was riding shotgun, like what?

  Percy gunned the engine, then he pumped some booming beats and we sped down the block in stunner style. I wanted to roll down my window to show off, but Percy had the air conditioner blasting, so I couldn’t. I wanted to sit back and enjoy the ride, but Percy was speeding like a madman, so I couldn’t. Thank goodness we made it to the festival in one piece.

  From outside of the tall silver gates, I could see red-and-white striped tents and swarms of people spread out all over a huge field.

  “What you wanna do first?” asked Percy, grabbing my hand.

  Since it was close to five o’clock, I pointed to the large stage across the field. As we snaked in and out of people I spotted Marlon and Felicia standing on the sidelines, hugged up as usual.

  Felicia was so easy to spot with her tall, brown, slim self. She wore a short green and gold African-print tank dress, and gold-studded flip-flops. Her shoulder-length hair was pushed back into the usual ponytail. Marlon, also tall, brown, but not so slim, wore an African-print green and gold short set, his hair in a simple fade. They must’ve planned to look like twins. How cute of them.

  “My friends are over there,” I told Percy, trying to hide the excitement in my voice. “Felicia!” I yelled.

  Felicia caught sight of me, broke out into a grin, and came running toward us. She took one look at me, then at Percy, and I could tell she was mad curious. Meanwhile, all I could think was: Finally, a foursome!

  “You made it,” Felicia exclaimed.

  “Hey, Kate, thanks for coming,” said Marlon, grinning wide, showing the gap between his front teeth. They both looked over at Percy, expecting me to make introductions. Oops, I forgot. I’m new at this, okay?

  Percy introduced himself, and then gave Marlon the homeboy handshake.

  “So, is the show starting soon?” I asked.

  “They’re having technical problems right now,” said Marlon. “We just have to wait a bit.”

  So we stood around small talking. Percy’s beautiful smile was on flash the whole time. He was so friendly, and I was impressed. I hoped Felicia was impressed, too.

  But then our conversation started running out. The sun was relentlessly shining down on us. We all started complaining about the heat, and the technical difficulties. We didn’t want to “stand by” much longer.

  Finally, Marlon and Felicia were summoned by an announcer on-stage. Felicia turned to me in mock exasperation. “OMG, all of this hard work for my boo!”

  “But he’s worth it,” I said, with a chuckle.

  Felicia smiled. Then she snuck a glance at Percy, opened her eyes wide, and raised her eyebrows at me. This was her secret signal that she couldn’t wait to get the full scoop on Percy. Shoot, I couldn’t wait to tell her!

  “Okay, girlie, be back in a minute,” Felicia called over her back.

  After Felicia and Marlon were out of sight, Percy turned to me and said, “Your friends are nice.”

  “True,” I replied, but suddenly thought I should’ve said “thanks” instead. Your friends are a reflection of you. So he was actually giving me a compliment, too.

  Ten minutes passed. Finally, three men in orange African costumes carried drums and chairs onstage to set things off. Then, boom, the trio started pounding the skin out of those drums. A group of small kids in similar orange African prints came running out doing flips and tricks all across the stage. The drummers were going hard. I turned to Percy, smiling. He was standing with his arms folded across his sexy chest, nodding his head to the beat. He saw me looking up at him, so he bent down to my ear and said, “This is really cool. I’m glad I came.”

  I looked up at him and smiled.

  When the drumming died down, Marlon strutted onstage, carrying a huge wooden cane. He planted it on the stage and started spittin’ poetry, contrasting Africa and the streets. “From glocks and hard knocks, I rise above it. Respect my homeland, Africa, I love it…” His flow was tight. I was surprised he could even spit like this, living in the ritzy part of Park Slope, and having absolutely no swagger.… But he treated my homegirl like gold and that’s all that really mattered.

  After Marlon’s performance, we gathered back together again.

  “My dude, you did really good,” said Percy, patting Marlon on the back.

  “That was fire,” I joined in.

  “See, Kate,” Felicia exclaimed, “I’m so glad you finally got to see Marlon do his thing!” She squeezed my arm.

  “No doubt,” I said. “So what’s next?”

  “Three more performances,” said Felicia.

  “But do you still have to help backstage?” I asked.

  “Yep, after this break, I have to go back.”

  “Oh, okay,” I said, not hiding my dissatisfaction. Shoot, instead of her helping backstage, she needed to be hearing the backstory on Percy.

  “But trust me, the next performances will be awesome,” said Felicia. “Outstanding costumes, the works! And then later on, we can head to the after party in Clinton Hill.” Felicia did a goofy dance, shaking her shoulders, trying to drop it like it’s hot. We all busted out laughing at her. She could be mad silly at times. That’s why I love her so much.

  In the middle of us cracking up, Percy grabbed my hand, gave the tip of my fingers a quick squeeze, bent down to my ear, and whispered, “I’m sorry, but the sun is really getting to me … I don’t feel up to standing in one spot to watch another show. I’d rather walk around.”

  I was disappointed, but not about to complain. Percy was the one who had brought me here, and I wanted things to jump off on the good foot. Our potential relationship was like a pair of fresh white sneakers—not to be stepped on.

  “So, are you guys staying for the show?” asked Felicia, staring at me expectantly with her big brown eyes.

  “Percy wants to walk around,” I said.

  “Oh … okay,” said Felicia, looking disappointed.

  Marlon was the first to hug me good-bye, followed by Felicia.

  Percy waved good-bye to them.

  Just as we were about to walk away, Felicia came running back up to me. “I forgot to tell you, my parents planned a last-minute trip to Martha’s Vineyard. We’re leaving tomorrow morning. I won’t be back till Friday.”

  “Oh,” I said, feeling even more let down. Now I’d have to wait a whole freaking week to express my excitement over Percy. I was really looking forward to hearing Felicia’s thoughts on him, too. Oh well.

  “But I’ll call you first thing on Saturday,” Felicia exclaimed. “I promise.”

  “Okay, cool,” I said, hoping I’d be able to use the phone in peace that day.

  After Felicia ran to catch up with Marlon, Percy turned to me. “You ready to see the sights?”

  “For sure,” I said, brightening up a bit.

  He grabbed my hand and we walked straight into the crowd. The festival was alive and popping. People, people everywhere, selling colorful African jewelry, beautiful artwork, hot wings and hot dog
s, candles and candies—everything you could imagine was in sight. I quickly got over my disappointment about not having a foursome. I was having so much fun with Percy, a romantic twosome. He held my hand firm the whole time, like he was claiming me to be his. I felt so proud to be with him. Shoot, I noticed a few girls openly drooling over him. I couldn’t blame them. I was drooling, too.

  Percy stopped short in front of a tent full of aromatic candles and bath products. “Want something from here?”

  I looked around and shrugged. Stuff looked expensive.

  “Pick anything you want,” he said, noticing my hesitation.

  Word? Just throw it in the bag?

  I wasn’t used to being treated to gifts. Most I ever got from a guy was a Twinkie. So what should I choose? Bringing candles into the group home would be a no-no. I could see crazy Tracy setting fire to my bed. And taking a bubble bath in our dingy tub would be impossible. I could hear Makeba knocking on the door every two seconds just to spite me. Finally, I chose a bottle of coconut lemongrass body lotion. Smelled fabulous!

  “That’s all you want?”

  “Yes, thanks,” I said, thinking it’s better to be grateful than greedy.

  Percy shrugged, bought the fifteen-dollar lotion, and handed me the small lavender gift bag it came in.

  After another half hour of aimless walking, and not much talking, Percy said, “I just thought of something else we can do.”

  “Okay,” I said, ready for the next chapter.

  Percy locked hands with mine and led me to his car.

  Chapter 8

  The sun was still shining high in the sky when Percy cruised into a neighborhood called DUMBO. I had never heard of the place, so I felt like a dumbo. How could I be reppin’ Brooklyn all day without knowing all its parts? I foolishly shared my ignorance with Percy.

  “You never heard of DUMBO?” he repeated with raised eyebrows.

  “No, I haven’t.”

  “You don’t get out much, do you?”

  “No, not really,” I replied with a shrug, trying to appear nonchalant instead of naïve.

  “Well … we’ll have to change all that.” Percy smiled at me.

  “So where are we going now?” I ventured to ask.

  “You’ll see,” replied Percy mysteriously.

  After a half hour of driving around, Percy finally pulled into a parking spot close to the Brooklyn Bridge’s huge caissons. He walked around to let me out of the car like a perfect gentleman. Then he grabbed my hand like he was my man. Hmm, I could get used to this, I told myself, and then I wanted to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.

  As we walked over cobblestone streets, and passed rich houses and restaurants, Percy kept quiet. I wished he would talk to me some more. I wanted to know more about him without me having to give away all my business first. For instance, back in the car, Percy had asked me how old I am. I told him straight out. But when I asked him, he chuckled, and said, “Older than you.” I didn’t let the mystery of his age bother me that much though. We weren’t in too deep … just yet.

  As we passed by a pier, a wedding photo shoot was taking place. “Wow, she’s so pretty,” I blurted, at the sight of the beautiful bride decked in a flowing white lacy dress.

  Percy finally opened his mouth again and said, “I can see you in that dress, one day. I know you’ll make a gorgeous bride.”

  Awww.

  In a flash, I pictured Percy as my handsome groom, Felicia as my maid of honor, Ted walking me down the aisle … okay, let me stop.

  “You’re a really pretty girl,” said Percy, staring down at me. “You know that, right?”

  “Thanks,” I said, beaming.

  Feeling giddy by Percy’s words and this totally surreal day, I practically floated down the block. But when Percy halted in front of a tan six-story apartment building, I descended back down to the pavement.

  “Hey, are you okay?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I’m good,” I lied. I didn’t know where Percy was taking me, didn’t know what he was expecting. If he thought he was getting sex this quick, he thought dead wrong. A girl has to take her time when it comes to the bump and grind. Rushing things be busting things, feel me?

  I could only comfort myself with the fact that I knew Percy’s mother. And Felicia knew who I was with right now. Percy couldn’t be that bold to do anything crazy to me. Besides, up until now, he had been nothing but a gentleman.

  I followed Percy inside the crystal-clean building, and we rode the elevator up to the sixth floor in silence. He pulled out a ring of keys and walked up to the first door on the right. “My dad’s spot,” he finally explained. “He’s away for the summer.”

  We stepped inside the apartment and my bottom lip hit the floor. The place was baaaddd. Plush shaggy beige carpet covered the living room floor, a glass entertainment center sparkled like a jewel, a giant flat-screen television took up a whole living room wall, and floor-to-ceiling windows provided a dazzling view of the ocean. Like I said, the place was baaaddd.

  Percy motioned for me to sit on the butter-soft beige leather couch, and he plopped down beside me. I was still looking around the room with my mouth wide open. All I could say was, “Wow, this is tight.”

  “Thanks,” Percy replied. “When I need to get away from my mom, I come here … cool getaway, right?”

  I nodded, in awe.

  “See, if it was up to my mother, my dad wouldn’t have all this. He does a lot of traveling as a business consultant, and he makes mad money doing it. My mom didn’t want him out of her sight when they were married, so of course they got divorced. Now she’s trying to pull the same mess with me. But I’m nineteen years old. A grown damn man. I go where I please, when I please.”

  Awkward.

  This sudden outpouring of info was the most Percy had shared with me the whole day, and I didn’t know how to respond. But at least I knew his age now. A bit too old for me. But then again, we weren’t sexing or anything, just getting to know each other. No harm in that.

  “My mother won’t even give my dad his last name back,” Percy continued, as if talking to himself. “She doesn’t deserve his last name.”

  He looked so frustrated. Luckily, he soon changed the subject. “You hungry?”

  I nodded.

  “Okay, I’ll order pizza … you like buffalo wings too?”

  “My favorite,” I said.

  “Then I got you!” Percy laughed.

  He jumped up from the couch, ordered our food, and then slid back beside me. He threw his arm around my shoulder and clicked on the television.

  “What you wanna watch?”

  “Oh, I think there’s a Street Ball marathon on,” I said eagerly.

  “Nah, I’m not in the mood to watch basketball,” said Percy as he clicked through the stations and landed on the nature channel.

  So why ask me what I want to watch then? I wondered. And oh my gosh: Who the heck wants to see a deer get torn to pieces right before a meal?

  “Um … I might lose my appetite watching this,” I said coyly, hoping Percy wouldn’t be offended. I wasn’t used to being in a datelike situation with a new guy. Charles was my one and only boyfriend (if you could call him that) and we were free and easy with one another most of the time. I told Charles what I wanted straight up, and he did the same for me.

  I didn’t have that same vibe with Percy; then again, we were still brand-new.

  Fortunately, Percy wasn’t offended at all. He clicked off the TV, turned to me, and stared into my eyes. All I could do was stare back. Then he lifted my chin to raise my face with his pointer finger, and lightly touched the space between my right eyelid and eyebrow. Oh brother, my scar.

  “How’d you get that?” he asked, frowning.

  I really don’t like bringing up my gangster past. But since Percy had already witnessed a part of it, I figured I might as well tell him the end of it. “Remember the gang I used to run with?”

  “How could I forget?” Percy sn
orted.

  “Well, when I got jumped out of the gang … Icy cut me.”

  “Oh man, that’s terrible,” he replied with knitted eyebrows.

  “But I’m good,” I said. “Other girls don’t get to leave so easy.”

  “I always knew you didn’t belong with those girls,” said Percy. “And I always hoped you’d get out.”

  Percy’s comment really touched me. Right then and there, I felt genuine concern for my well-being exuding from his pores. I can’t even explain it … I felt such a powerful connection between us, like there was a magnetic force drawing us closer and closer together.

  “And I promise you this,” Percy continued, lightly tracing his finger over my scar. “I would never hurt you.”

  With these words, I suddenly thought back to how I had literally hurt him back in the day. Choked by guilt, I paused, and then spoke. “Well … I’m sorry for kicking you … you know where.”

  Percy chuckled. “Baby, you don’t have to apologize to me. That was years ago. I’m fully healed. See?”

  He grabbed my hand and acted like he was guiding me “there,” but then he quickly switched it up (thank goodness) and guided my hand to his chest. “Can you feel my heart?” he asked. I nodded as I felt his heartbeat pounding rapidly through his shirt. “See? My heart’s not broken. I’m good.” He laughed at his own joke. I giggled, relieved that he didn’t try to make me touch his stuff, and that he had accepted my apology so easily.

  As nice as Percy was treating me, I couldn’t help but feel bad, thinking back to how I had treated him and his mother. Even his arrogant mother didn’t deserve the terror I used to set off in her store. Shoot, if Mrs. Thomas could give birth to a fine specimen like Percy, she couldn’t be all that bad.

  After a moment of silence, Percy’s gaze flickered over my face, then my breasts, then my whole body. He started rubbing my neck, blowing his warm breath in my ear, turning me on like hot popcorn. I quickly relaxed under his spell. He slipped his tongue inside my mouth and kissed me so hard and passionately, like he was hungry for me, starving. His tongue was so delicious, so skilled, like a grown experienced man getting it in. Percy took complete control of my mouth.