That Bona Fide Hood Love

by Shvonne Latrice

I walked closer to her, backing her into the nearby wall.

  “I would feel bad if I knew that y’alls relationship was the real deal, but it ain’t. It’s some fraud shit, and you know it. You don’t love my fucking brother; you’re using his gullible ass as a way to come up.”

  “No.” Kasslyn shook her head as she glared up at me. “No, I am not.”

  “If you loved Jamal, trust when I say you wouldn’t be so willing to tell him some shit like this, knowing he could possibly leave yo’ ass. But it’s up to you.” I stepped away from her.

  I didn’t really give a fuck if she told Jamal what happened, simply because their shit was fake as a muthafucka. Plus, Jamal wouldn’t be mad at me; I’m his brother. It was her ass that would get kicked to the fucking curb.

  “I do love Jamal. You’re just mad I don’t love you.”

  I laughed.

  “Baby girl, the last thing on my mind is trying to make a bitch love me, especially one I know I can still fuck on if I want to.”

  “You’re one of the worst people I have ever met. Keep your fucking money!” She removed the check from her pocket and tossed it at me.

  “You better take that damn money, woman. I don’t give a fuck how mad you are, I don’t want no bullshit from me using ya work, because it’s definitely getting used.”

  Kasslyn stood there with her small fists balled and her chest heaving. She was cute as fuck, and I wanted to snatch her the fuck up and do more than I did the last time. I knew the pussy was good.

  “Fuck you!” she barked, snatching up the check and then storming to get her computer. “Just know that what happened between us will never happen again. Also, I’m staying at your house, nigga. You can try to make me leave if you want to, but if I stab your trash ass, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  And with that, Kasslyn stormed out, not realizing how hard she had my dick. Unable to let that nut go inside of her, I phoned Everly for a quickie in the office.

  3

  Jamal Banks

  One week later…

  “Alright, any questions?” I looked over the Bible study class I’d been teaching this evening. Everyone shook their heads, so I said, “Great. See you all next Wednesday.”

  I packed up my Bible along with some other files, into my briefcase, as everybody cleared out of the room. I was ready to go home so I could take a hot shower and then spend some time with Kasslyn.

  I’d been busy, so lately, I’d just been going straight to sleep without even checking on her until the morning. And since she seemed bothered this a.m., I wanted to make an effort to see her.

  “Hey, that was a great class.” Catharine stopped by the table I’d been sitting at.

  “Thank you.” I tossed the strap of my bag onto my shoulder. “Look, I know I’ve been pretty MIA, but I have good reason. I—”

  “It’s okay. I know you work a lot.” Catharine moved closer to me and rubbed her hands down my chest. Thankfully, it was just her and I in the room at this point.

  “Catharine, stop.” I moved her hands from my body.

  “Nobody is here, Jamal. We can stop pretending like we’re not dat—”

  “It’s not about pretending.” I took a deep breath. “I’m in another relationship now. We can’t be a thing. Aight?”

  “Relationship? When? And with who?” Catharine’s eyes bounced around my face as her nice lips stayed parted open.

  I met Catharine in the church, obviously. My parents introduced us, hoping that she would end up being my wife, but I refused. Catharine was actually perfect. She was beautiful, smart, made her own money, was a God-fearing woman, we got along great, and was a virgin. But most importantly, I loved her.

  However, my parents picked her, just like they’d picked everything else in my life, from my clothes to the damn law school I’d attended. I couldn’t fathom choosing to marry a woman that my parents had picked out for me, so Catharine wouldn’t be the one.

  Kasslyn was something I’d chosen for once. And yes, she wasn’t exactly what I’d pictured my wife to be, but she would do. She was something I’d gone out into the world and scooped up myself. That was one of the biggest things about Kaseem that I’d envied; his life was his. The last thing my parents probably decided for him was the type of diapers he shit in.

  He was blessed to not be the golden child because they expected very little from him. Any little thing he did, even small, my parents were surprised and proud. But me, I had to do a lot more for their praise because I’d set the bar so high.

  “She and I have been dating on the low for a little while now.” I finally answered Catharine.

  “A while now? How has it been a while now? We’ve been… together this whole time.”

  “No, we’re not together. I told you long ago that you and I could never be together in that way. You told me you understood.”

  “Yes, because I assumed you would get over that! So what your parents met me before you did. Don’t we have a connection?”

  “Yes, yes. But you wouldn’t want to be married to me knowing I was unhappy, right?” I grabbed her hands and looked down into her eyes, sadly.

  Catharine’s caramel skin looked smooth under the conference room lights, and her brown eyes seemed to sparkle every time I looked into them. The dress she wore hugged her meaty body, as her reddish-brown hair swept her delicate shoulders.

  “I could promise you wouldn’t be.”

  “But I would. I know myself. I was unhappy when my parents made me go to Harvard Law. I was unhappy with the car they chose to buy me for graduation. I was even unhappy with the cake they purchased for my last birthday. Anything that I know they had a hand in, I naturally despise for some reason. Not to say I despise you, baby, because I don’t, but if I do what they expect of me, I will be unfulfilled.”

  “I won’t let you marry her. You will regret it anyway.”

  Before I could say my rebuttal, Catharine was out of the room, leaving me to ponder. I sat doing that for a little while after Catharine left, before deciding to go.

  On my way home, I had a slight urge, so I took a detour to the hood. Pulling up in front of my destination twenty-five minutes later, I parked and then got out, making sure no one was outside to see me. Sending a quick text, I tread up the walkway, smiling at her opening the door as soon as I got to it.

  “You always come through so late.” Rhea rolled her eyes playfully as she allowed me inside of her place.

  “I know. I shouldn’t even be over here.” I stepped inside, closing the door behind myself. As she stood there, I admired her shapely frame in the too small silk pajama set she was in.

  “Well I was just about to go to sleep.”

  “Not yet.” I walked up closer to her before pressing my lips against hers.

  Rhea quickly tossed me onto the couch, and I unbuckled my pants as she dropped her shorts. She didn’t have on any underwear, which I appreciated. I welcomed her into my lap, and before I could even process it, I was pushing my way inside of her wet walls.

  “Shit.” Rhea grumbled as she rocked on me. We always did it this way, because I wasn’t well versed in the bedroom.

  I knew it was wrong for me to be sleeping with Rhea for more reasons than one, but ever since she took my virginity that one Thanksgiving I came home from school, I hadn’t been able to leave her alone.

  I wanted nothing to do with her outside of sex, however. She just wasn’t my type, for the same reasons Kaseem wouldn’t take her seriously. Yeah, she was my brother’s woman, but he didn’t love her, so it shouldn’t have been a problem, what I was doing.

  I knew I should be just having sex with Kasslyn, but despite the sinning I was doing, I wanted my marriage to be right. I wanted the first time my wife and I had sex to be the night of our wedding. So Kasslyn and I would have to wait.

  “Oh my gosh.” I let my head fall back as Rhea bounced in my lap, her juices trickling down my penis.

  I gripped her hips tightly as she rocked faster, while we kissed hea
vily. Moments later, I was releasing, and so was she.

  “Remember not to mention this.” Rhea fell to the side of me on the couch, breathing hard.

  Even if I did want Rhea, she didn’t want me. She was in love with Kaseem, and only did what she did that Thanksgiving break because he’d dissed her. Now, whenever he was neglectful, she blew me up and let me know I could have some anytime I wanted.

  “Why would I do that?”

  Rhea shrugged as I got up to hit the bathroom. As I cleaned myself, I felt the same guilt I always did, knowing I’d just fornicated, and with a woman like Rhea.

  Once done, I washed my hands and left out, just as Rhea was coming in to cut the shower on.

  “Until next time?” She smirked.

  I simply nodded and hurried out of the door.

  I begged God for forgiveness once I got into the car, and then took myself home.

  As soon as I got there, I went right to the back house to see Kasslyn. Using my key, I entered to see her on the living room floor, using that small laptop table to work. She had some large headphones on, so I crept over and peeled one off, making her jump.

  “I told you to stop that, Jamal!” She frowned. With every face she made, she was beautiful.

  “I know. I couldn’t help it. Scaring you is kind of funny.”

  Kasslyn rolled her eyes, before saving her project and removing the headphones completely.

  “You need to grow up,” she spat, standing and storming to the kitchen area.

  I followed after a few seconds because I was surprised by her reaction. I didn’t think I’d ever seen Kasslyn get upset or have an attitude.

  “Are you good? You’ve been a little touchy ever since you went to present the project to my brother.”

  “Maybe because I don’t like his ass. He continues to be disrespectful to me, and you don’t do or say anything about it.” She leaned against the counter, obviously furious.

  “I told you I would handle it. And he told me things were fine, that he even decided to use your logo and paid you handsomely for it.”

  Kasslyn turned away from me to stare down at the kitchen tile. She opened her mouth like she wanted to speak but changed her mind on what she was about to say at that moment.

  “That’s true, but I still do not like him, and I hate… maybe I should go back to Jane’s. You should probably get someone who won’t expect what I do from you. I can’t be a part of a family with someone who doesn’t like me and where my fiancé says nothing about it.”

  “Relax.” I moved closer to Kasslyn, bringing her into a hug. “I will get him straight. He does like you; he’s just skeptical because this is all moving so fast.”

  “Maybe he is right. This was kind of fast. I mean, we don’t know each other.”

  “We know each other enough.” I tilted her head back to look down into her face. There was no way I could allow Kasslyn to back out of this engagement. This was finally something I’d done on my own. “Plus, overtime, we will learn more.”

  “I guess I’m just not used to having family.”

  “Well you will now.”

  “Right.”

  I pecked Kasslyn on the lips and then went to the main house so I could shower and go to bed. Catharine’s words swirled my mind until I drifted off to sleep.

  Kasslyn

  A few days later… a little after 6 p.m.…

  Now that I’d agreed to give the logo I designed, to Kaseem, I’d been coming down to Opulence headquarters to work with the marketing department. Not to mention, I had to tweak the logo to fit certain things, and then design a personal font.

  This was a lot of damn work, and I was ecstatic that Kaseem forced me to take that $20,000. It seemed like I was gypping him, but now that I was knee deep in this, the price was just right. Not to mention, I couldn’t stand his rude ass, so I would take him for all he had.

  I’d never been in the presence of this much money at once, so after depositing it into my bank account, I hadn’t touched it. I didn’t know what to do with it, aside from paying for design school.

  “How is everything going?” Everly walked into the conference room I’d been working in.

  Of course, there was no office here for me, so every time I came, this was my designated workspace. It was spacious, of course, with a coffee machine, tea maker, and even a fully stocked fridge, so I didn’t mind one bit.

  “It’s going well. Thank you for asking.” I smiled up at her, taking a sip of my apple juice.

  Everly seemed to never run out of skirt suits or Chanel pins. I could only imagine how much money she made. And lately, she’d been warming up to me, or at least I thought she was.

  “Of course.” She poured herself a cup of coffee before going into the fridge for some of the non-dairy creamer. “Kasslyn, how well do you know Kaseem?” She put the creamer back and then turned to lean up against the counter to sip her coffee.

  “Not well at all, actually.”

  Everly nodded as she walked over to sit at the table with me. She was kind of far, at the head of the long table, and I was on the side. But we were close enough to speak lowly to one another if needed.

  “So you just showed up on Jamal’s arm as his fiancée, and Kaseem offered you a job? I mean, he can be sweet at times, but he’s not that nice to people he doesn’t know… unless…”

  “Unless what?” I frowned.

  “Unless it’s a woman he’s fucking.” She sat up, letting her forearms rest on the clean wooden table, as her hand cupped her coffee tightly. I could tell she was trying to remain calm, but she was angry.

  “I can assure you that I am not fucking Kaseem. I simply walked in on him one night while he was looking over some potential designs and offered to assist.”

  “Walked in? One night?”

  “Yes, in his office.”

  “Wait, please tell me you do not live in the house with him?” Everly’s shoulders began to subtly rise and fall, showing the switch in her breathing pattern.

  I wanted to ease her mind, but she was pissing me off, so I was gonna do everything but.

  “Yes, I live with him. We’re both night owls, so occasionally, we bump into one another after dark, but it’s not like what you think, Everly.”

  She laughed, sitting back and taking down some of her drink.

  “Well, Kasslyn Collins, just in case you start to want it to become more than it is, remember that Kaseem is my man.”

  “He is? I asked, and he told me that wasn’t the case. Maybe he misunderstood my question.” I blinked repeatedly, playing shocked and innocent, but I knew this was the last thing she wanted to hear.

  Before she could say anything, there was a light knock before the man of the hour entered. Kaseem looked good enough to eat, and the fact that my clit tingled every time I saw him, pissed me off. How could I be so turned on by someone I couldn’t stand?

  He was dressed in a navy-blue suit, and the shirt under it was a powder blue. On his feet were some pretty expensive looking dress shoes in brown, and his Rolex watch sparkled so much that I couldn’t stare too long. I loved the way the blue suit looked against his deep, dark skin, and how he stayed with a fresh lineup and beard. He was the most handsome man I’d ever seen.

  He and Jamal favored, but it was as if God used most of the good features for Kaseem and took whatever was left to put on Jamal.

  “Hello, ladies. Everly, can I have the room.” Kaseem moved further into the room, assaulting my nostrils with his cologne.

  Standing, Everly replied, “She lives with you?”

  “I need the room, Everly,” he repeated.

  “You told her I wasn’t your girlfriend? Since when, Kaseem!” Everly roared, and I felt bad when I saw her eyes began to water. I was just having a little petty fun with the bitch; I didn’t mean to make her cry.

  Kaseem walked even closer to Everly, towering over her and making her rather tall frame look short. He was so built it didn’t make any sense. Leaning down some, he spoke so softl
y into her ear that I only heard mumbles and nothing I could make out. Once he pulled away, he patted her shoulder, and without another word, she left the room.

  My heart began pounding because I was scared as hell of what Kaseem was about to do now that crybaby had tattled on me.

  Turning to face me as he descended into one of the chairs, he smirked sexily before licking his thick lips.

  “You think you funny or some shit?”

  “No.” I looked him over with my eyes, trying not to drool. “We got to talking, and it slipped out.”

  Kaseem laughed. This man was beautiful.

  “Did the fact that I ate yo’ pussy slip out too?” He leaned in.

  “Do you always have to bring that up? We’re in a professional setting yet you constantly speak vulgarly.”

  “I was gon’ call you a hoe, but I’m trying to show that I got some sense. However, you ain’t got room to talk about any fucking body being vulgar.”

  “Hey! Stop!” I shouted when he snatched my laptop.

  “I need to see what the fuck you got. I paid good money for this shit.” He eyed the screen, thick brows dipped between his sexy brown eyes.

  I tried to stay mad, so when I realized that my face had relaxed while admiring him, I quickly frowned.

  “Well I can assure you that you’re getting what you’ve paid for.”

  “I see.” He put the laptop back in front of me and stared.

  “What?” I snapped.

  “You need to fucking relax. I’m surprised ya blood pressure ain’t through the roof.” Again, he stared at me, but I said nothing as I tried to concentrate. “I told you, you could go home by 3 p.m.; what you doing here?”

  “It’s boring at home, and I like feeling like I have an actual job.”

  “You hungry?”

  “Why? I’m not eating anything you cook because it’s probably poisoned.”

  Chuckling, Kaseem responded, “I can’t cook, and even if I could, I wouldn’t make shit for yo’ ass.”

  “Good to know.”