I parked my car in the garage along with Kaseem’s five others, and then went into the house to quickly change into something more comfortable. Once done, I rushed down the stairs of the house but heard voices in the den that sounded like Kaseem and Kasslyn. I followed the sound, and when I peered in, I saw them watching a movie or something, laughing and talking.
“Damn, did my invite get lost in the mail?” I chuckled, despite being peeved by this.
“Nah, nigga. You was at work. You handle that shit?” Kaseem looked to me, putting the glass of dark liquor to his mouth. I felt like he knew why I was here and was laughing at me on the inside.
“I did, and I should be completely finished with a report of feedback in a couple days,” I replied. “But umm, Kasslyn, baby, let’s go so we can spend some quality time together.”
“We’re right in the middle of this movie. Why don’t you join us, and then once it’s off—”
“No, I don’t want to do that. Let’s go.” I cut her off. I’d already explained to Kasslyn that I would run things and she would have no say-so; that was the way God wanted things.
“Uh…” She glanced at Kaseem as if he was supposed to step in, which pissed me off.
“The movie has like twenty minutes left, Mal. Let us finish. Chill out.”
“I don’t care, Seem. I want to go right now.” I started over, and right when I was about to grab Kasslyn’s arm, Kaseem stood up to block me from her.
“The movie is over in twenty minutes. Either sit yo’ ass down and enjoy it, or come back when it’s done.” Kaseem spoke sternly, looking down at me a little bit since he was a few inches taller than me.
For an hour it seemed, I just glared at him, before taking a seat on the couch next to the one they were on. I’d be damned if I left my woman alone with Kaseem with the way he was acting.
About half an hour later, the shit was off, and I felt Kasslyn looking at me.
“I’ll meet you at the back house, baby. I wanna talk to my brother,” I told her, and she promptly rose up to leave. I caught the eye contact she and Kaseem made before she left. “Aye, bro, you gotta chill.”
“Chill? I ain’t doing shit.” His demeanor was nonchalant, pissing me off. He glanced my way momentarily, giving me a smug look, or what looked like one.
“You’re getting all cozy with my fiancée.”
“Ain’t nobody getting cozy, muthafucka. Wasn’t you the one begging me to get to know her? Telling me how she was gon’ be my sister and I needed to be nice? So now when I’m being nice, it’s a fucking problem.”
“It’s a problem because you ain’t being nice in the right way! I said a brother, and you acting like her boyfriend!”
“What have I done that comes off as being like a boyfriend?” Kaseem turned his body toward me a bit, tossing his arm across the back of the couch he was on.
“Standing up when I came over here to grab her, and then spending hours upon hours with her at the office.”
Kaseem chuckled, scooting to the edge of the couch before refilling his glass with more of Jack Daniel’s whiskey.
“If me standing up to block a whole ass man from putting his hands on her, and spending time with her at work because she works for me, is acting like a boyfriend, it’s a no fucking brainer as to why yo’ ass is so worried that somebody is gon’ steal her. You ain’t even got the slightest clue on how to be a boyfriend, let alone a muthafuckin fiancé.”
I rose up because I was done with the conversation. I was tired of Kaseem always acting like he knew every fucking thing just because he was my older brother and just because he had more experience. Shit, I was the one who went to fucking college, twice, and got a damn law degree. He didn’t have shit.
On my way out, I paused at the archway of the den and said, “You know, Kaseem, you may be a couple years older than me and may have more experience with women, but remember, none of that really means anything at the end of the day. I’m the one with papers. I can walk out to any place right now and get any job I want to, because I busted my ass and walked across that stage. You ain’t never done shit but go about life the illegal and easy way.”
Giving me a closed mouth smile, Kaseem nodded and responded, “Yet you still work for me, you still stay up in my house, and you still think I have the ability to fuck yo’ fiancée.” Setting his glass back down onto the coffee table, he added, “Sounds like you went about life the wrong way, little brother.”
Over the conversation, I turned to leave and headed to the back house where I knew Kasslyn was. By the time I got there and she answered the door, she was in her silk robe, smelling like brown sugar and flowers. A towel was on her head, and some blue stuff was daubed all over her pretty face.
“Sorry about earlier, Kass. I don’t want you to think I was going to hit you.” I stepped in, looking down into her eyes as she shut the door.
“I know.” The way she closed her robe by the chest area let me know she was uncomfortable. That look was nowhere to be found when she was chilling with Kaseem moments ago.
We both sat down, an awkward silence taking over the somewhat dark living room. The TV was on, but the sound was too low to assist with the weird environment. This was going to be my wife soon, yet I felt like we were so damn distant.
I knew I had to do something, so against my better judgment, I moved closer to her and pressed my lips to hers. She moved back very subtly, but not enough for our lips to separate completely, so I got more into her space. Her mask had hardened, so thankfully it wasn’t transferring to my face.
“It’s okay.” I mumbled, pulling on the belt to her robe, but she put her hand on mine. “Kasslyn, we don’t have to wait.” I kept trying to move her hands while kissing her.
“Jamal, stop. Really, move.” She shoved my face rather roughly, making me halt my movements and stare her down. Again, she bore that uncomfortable expression while fixing her robe.
“Oh, so now you don’t want to have sex.”
“We agreed to wait until marriage, so I’m just holding up my end of the bargain.”
“I just said it’s okay and that we can do it!”
“So what! Everything isn’t always on your time! And why do you all of a sudden want to fuck me? You barely spend time with me, and now you randomly want to throw your morals out of the window to fuck?”
“You know what?” I tittered, rising to my feet. “I know why you don’t want to, because of Kaseem.”
“Are you serious? Did you not hear anything I just said to you?”
“Don’t worry. I’m gonna fix it though.” I made an about face and headed for the door.
“Jamal!” Kasslyn called after me.
Turning to get in her face, I clenched my teeth and said, “I better not find out anything has happened between you two, or I swear upon the Lord up in heaven that you will regret the day you agreed to be my wife, Kasslyn Collins.”
The fearful look in her eyes told me my suspicions were right, but I couldn’t be too sure. For now, I would keep an eye on them both.
5
Kaseem
It was a little after midnight, and I was still up. That was nothing new considering a nigga never went to sleep before 2 a.m., but the fact that I was sitting up here thinking about Kasslyn, threw me.
Usually, I couldn’t wait to get some peace away from these females, but Kasslyn was different. She didn’t nag me the whole time I was with her, forcing me to stick my dick in her mouth just to shut her the fuck up. Shit was always smooth, natural, and her pussy was great too. I wouldn’t go as far as to say I wanted to be with her, but I was surely feeling her more than my other bitches.
Peeling the covers off, I climbed from the bed and snatched some sweats from the chair. Slipping them on, I pulled a t-shirt and hoodie over my head, before putting my feet into some socks then Givenchy slides. I pocketed my keys and only my personal iPhone, before leaving my bedroom, jogging downstairs, and heading out to the back guesthouse.
I was sure Kas
slyn was asleep, so I used my key to enter the home instead of waking her up by using the doorbell.
As expected, the house was dark and quiet. I found Kasslyn in the master bedroom, knocked the fuck out. She was on her side, looking peaceful as ever as her body slowly rose and fell, signaling that she was breathing. I got onto the bed behind her and began kissing all over her neck, while assaulting her frame with my hands until she began to squirm.
Looking over her shoulder, she asked, “Kaseem, what are you doing?”
“Kissing you.” I pecked her lips a couple times before sliding my tongue into her mouth.
Her body was so fucking warm, and her skin was so damn soft. She was looking and feeling like a chocolate pound cake at the moment.
“Kaseem, I’m not really in the mood,” Kasslyn stated in a serious tone as I got in between her legs.
Pausing, I hovered over her to study her eyes for a second then quizzed, “What you in the mood for?”
Shrugging, she replied, “Sleep, I guess.” She turned to look off, pressing the side of her face into the pillow.
“What’s wrong?”
I made her face me, using her chin to make her head turn to look up at me.
“Jamal knows. I don’t care what you say, and he’s going to handle me if he catches us. So you shouldn’t be here at the moment.”
“You think I’m gon’ let him handle you?”
A half smile appeared on Kasslyn’s face, before she shook her head ‘no’.
“You two seemed close until I came, and I don’t want to ruin that. I promise I’m not worth it.”
I fell to the side of her, and she turned to face me, resting her head on her hands.
“You ain’t ruining shit. We brothers, and we gon’ get over whatever the fuck is happening. And you’re worth a lot of shit.” I kissed her quickly, making her blush. “You hungry?”
“I could eat. I shouldn’t though because it’s late.”
“What that got to do with anything?”
“When you eat late at night, you gain weight.”
“A myth, baby girl. Get dressed so we can go get some food. You need to get out this fucking house.”
“Okay.” Kasslyn climbed from the bed slowly.
She was dressed in about fifteen minutes, skipping the makeup shit. I did notice that she put on a little perfume or something, but the scent was soft and nice as fuck, so I wasn’t tripping. Everly stayed wearing strong ass unisex shit, and Rhea drowned herself in them mists from them female stores in the mall like Victoria’s Secret. I loved a woman that smelled good, but I ain’t wanna get light headed off the shit.
“What kind of food you want?” I quizzed Kasslyn once we were both in my Mercedes truck.
“Doesn’t matter. Why does one person need so many cars?” She ran her small hand across the glove compartment.
“I love cars, and since I got the bread to buy ’em, I do so.”
“I guess it’s a part of being rich. Rich folk buy shit when they’re bored.”
Laughing, I shook my head.
“Nah, I don’t do all that, but I do know people who do. Making too much muthafuckin money and can’t stand to just watch it sit in the bank, so they spend it.”
I pondered on my statement as I dipped through the streets. I’d decided I would take Kasslyn to this one spot about twenty minutes away that had the bombest damn pizza. The chef and owner were from Chicago, where the best pizza was in my opinion, so I was grateful that he’d brought that shit here.
“True.”
Her phone rang before I could say anything else, making me glance over. She quickly hit the red end button before turning it faced down.
“Who was that?” I questioned. I was never the type of nigga to not say how I felt or ask some shit I wanted to know.
“Nobody.”
“Who was that, Kasslyn? I don’t like liars. The question is real fucking simple.” I exited the freeway.
“Just Jane. I’ll call her back soon.”
“Fuck she want? And this late.”
“Just to talk.” I was quiet, and I guess Kasslyn had caught onto my personality that fast because she added, “She wants me to come back. She called a while back saying she had someone who really wanted to take me out, and I told her I’d get back to her but never did.”
“Why you ain’t just tell her to fuck off?” I parked in the back of the pizza parlor.
“Because I didn’t know if I wanted to go back or not. What she told me sounded really good, and as I explained to you prior, my life with Jamal is not like I thought it would be.”
The whole time Kasslyn spoke, she was staring out of the window. When done, she turned to make eye contact with me.
“So you wanna go back to working for Jane instead of staying here with me?” I squinted my eyes, observing her demeanor.
“No, but the problem is that I’m not here for you. If I could freely be around you, that would be fine, but I am supposed to marry Jamal, and I’m supposed to be with Jamal. I don’t want to get married to your brother and be fucking you behind closed doors. And I don’t want to leave Jamal for his brother.” Shaking her head, she said, “I’m not even this type of girl.”
“Well you don’ already left Jamal for his brother.” I pushed my door open.
I went around to let her out, and when I opened the door, I saw she bore that sad ass look she’d always sported. Running my hands up her thighs, I groped them while turning her to face me. We were eye level since she was still seated inside of my truck.
“What?” She smirked at me lusting over her with my eyes.
“You ain’t going back to Jane, because I like yo’ ass.” I kissed her supple jawline. Wrapping my arms around her body, I pulled her into me. She locked hers around my neck, before we pecked. “If anybody knows my brother, it’s me, and once all this shit is over and done with, he’ll be aight.”
I knew Jamal, and I knew he was using Kasslyn as a way to show my parents he could do shit on his own. I didn’t realize it until his stupid ass stunt of bringing her to meet them in surprise. He did the shit for shock factor; this whole engagement was for shock factor.
I fucked with Kasslyn, and I loved fucking her, so I wasn’t about to let her dip out to protect Jamal, when I knew for a fact, he ain’t give a fuck about her. But I was sure if I came right out and said that shit, it would hurt her fucking feelings.
“He seemed mad the other night though.”
“Has nothing to do with his feelings for you. You trust me?” I raised a brow, and she nodded before we kissed again.
“Are you seriously about to walk in there holding me like this?” Kasslyn laughed at me, carrying her with her legs wrapped around my waist.
“Yep.” I used one hand to shut the door, then headed toward the entrance of the pizza place. It was nice seeing her grin and shit, being actually happy.
I finally placed her down so I could show her all the good types of pizza, and eventually, she settled on the Chicago style like me. I paid, and then we took our slices and water bottles to one of the booths toward the back. It wasn’t a soul in this muthafucka due to the time, but the back of the place still seemed more appealing.
“This is bomb!” Kasslyn’s eyes bucked as she covered her mouth.
“Fuck you so surprised for? I told you this shit was good as fuck.”
“I know, but it’s so thick I didn’t think I’d be into it.”
I chuckled subtly, watching her take another bite while her expression still showed amazement.
“You so damn pretty, even with sauce all around yo’ mouth and shit.” I handed her a napkin.
“Thank you.” She giggled, wiping it. “When do you find time for your second job?”
“I figure it out. I schedule it all.” I sat back since I was now done with my two pieces, and she was still in the middle of her one.
“You don’t want to quit?”
“I will eventually. I want my savings to look a certain way, and then I
will. If I do have a family, I want shit to be sweet.”
Nodding, she replied, “I see. But Opulence surely makes enough cash.”
“It does, just not as much nor as quickly as my side hustle.”
“You should let me come with you one night.” She bit down into her pizza.
“Fuck out of here.” I laughed.
“What? I just wanna see.”
“This shit is serious. It ain’t no muthafuckin museum or something.”
“I know that, and I know how to act around those types of people.”
“Let me guess, because you’ve seen a few seasons of Power, you got it all down, huh?”
“Fuck you.” She grinned, so I knew I had her ass.
“Exactly.” My eyes bounced around her for a moment. “So you don’t think it’s stupid for me to have two jobs in a sense?”
“No. It’s kind of scary, the second one, but I get the reason why. Money makes the world go ’round.”
As Kasslyn dug back into her pizza, my mind went into overdrive a little bit. I was used to having Everly, who disapproved of my other hustle, or Rhea, who didn’t give a fuck either way, as long as her name was mentioned in the same sentence as mine. Kasslyn was right there in the middle though; that sweet spot.
The more time I spent with her ass, the more I was into her, so I wanted to nip this outing in the bud. I had too much going on to be thinking about a fucking relationship.
“You almost finished?” I inquired, and she nodded, shoving the last piece into her mouth with a smile.
We went back to the crib, and before going to the guesthouse, I grabbed something to smoke.
“I’ve never done this.” Kasslyn frowned as I put the lighter to it. We were in her bed with the TV on and the lights off.
“Just inhale.” I blew out smoke. “And hold it in for a tiny bit before blowing it out.”
I snickered at the face she was making, as she stuck her neck out to allow her lips to meet the blunt. She did as I’d instructed and two seconds later, was coughing her lungs up.
That Bona Fide Hood Love Page 11
