by Nikki Rashan
“Ha! Tyre, she still be on that after all these years. She got me when I was dating Shayla and she wouldn’t put out one night. Got you too didn’t she?” another guy responded, patting the taller one on the back before nudging a smaller guy wearing a baseball cap.
“Yeah. Just so happens . . .” the smaller guy had begun to respond.
Air whooshed out of my lungs and I lurched up onto my feet, completely forgetting the fact that I was even lying on a rooftop.
“Carlos!” His name flew out from in between my lips in an accusatory shriek.
The entire squad of seven guys all let out various sounds of surprise and alarm as they jumped in unison at the sound of my voice. I must have looked like a complete fright with the moon silhouetting me, and my hair sticking out of my ponytail in all directions. The fact that I just popped up on a damn rooftop probably didn’t help either. The tall one they called Tyre yelped. Yes, he actually yelped, or maybe it was a squeal. I wasn’t sure because it all happened in an instant. Before the sound was completely out of his mouth, his half-empty forty-ounce Olde English bottle was hurling towards my head. I tried dodging it, but I have a hard enough time getting out of the way of those bright as day red rubber beacons of embarrassment in gym class. On Friday’s they make all of the classes play dodge ball, at the same time, in one group. It always winds up looking like a massacre and I’m always on the end of the playing field that believes the words “made in hell” has to be stamped somewhere on those balls. So, you can imagine my success dodging a glass bottle in the dark.
“Bae? What the hell are you doing up there?” Carlos called up to me.
His voice hit me at the exact moment that the bottle nipped my shoulder, and my foot went crashing through the shabby tilling on the roof.
“Shit. I was waiting for you remember?” I shouted down at him angrily, struggling to tug my foot free I winced at the pain in my shoulder.
“Aww damn, baby, I forgot. Do you need some help?”
Now that the surprise had worn off I could hear them all snickering and chuckling, “damn homie I ain’t know you liked ’em thiiiick,” Tyre whispered at Carlos which only made me angrier. Carlos had never mentioned Shayla in his list of exploits and he damn sure hadn’t mentioned her mother. My foot jerked free and I almost fell off but quickly caught my balance. Shakily I made my way to the ground. He met me at the bottom. Shooing away his hands I turned and glared up at him.
“Baby, I have a meeting to go to at the library—” he began to explain.
Poking him in his chest with my finger, I cut him off. “You have a meeting? At the library, at this time of night, with all of your homeboys?” I tried to glare at him through the sweat that was stinging my eyes and failed miserably. He used the bottom of his T-shirt to wipe my forehead, taking some of my anger away along with the grime as he gently wiped my face.
“Look, go home and I’ll meet you as soon as I’m done, I promise. I can’t tell you anything more. You have to trust me on this.” His voice was unsteady. He looked nervously over at his friends before giving me a weak smile. The smell of alcohol was faint in the air; he’d been drinking and he never drank. He was obviously nervous and lying about something.
I glared at him through narrowed eyes. “Yeah, all right. I’ll see you later then.”
Satisfied, he gave me a kiss that I didn’t return, and jogged over to rejoin his friends. They all shot me huge grins and waved, saying, “Bye,” in unison. I gave a huge fake grin that I didn’t feel and waited until they were out of sight.
There was no need to follow closely behind them; the library was only a street over. If that’s where they were all really headed I’d just wait a few minutes and tromp my little butt on over there. If he wasn’t there I’d know for a fact that he was lying.
The library sat on the edge of our neighborhood, off a side street, surrounded by overgrown hedges. At first glance it appeared closed and my blood instantly boiled. Not only had I allowed myself to look like a complete idiot, believing such a stupid lie in front of all those guys, but I’d also come all the way over here in this heat for nothing. Angry at myself for not immediately following them, I blinked back a few tears that were threatening to spill onto my cheeks. It was then that I noticed lights in the windows of the library’s basement.
Maybe he was telling the truth after all.
Glancing around quickly, I made sure there was no one around to see me before I scurried over and got down on the ground beside one of the windows. Oh please, little critters and creepy crawlies, please don’t come out. The last thing I need is for one of y’all to climb up in my shirt or some foolishness. The shrubs did an excellent job at hiding me from any onlookers as I looked into the basement. I guessed I was expecting to see strippers or an illegal card game. What I saw looked boring to say the least. All of the guys, including Carlos, were seated at a rectangular table as if they were in class or something. The table and chairs were the only things in the dimly lit room, unless you want to count the dull cement floor. A lanky-looking older white guy stood in front of them, talking. The beat-up Van sneakers and oversized JNCO hoodie he wore gave me the impression that he was one of those skateboarder weedheads. There was a snake tattoo barely visible along the top of his calf-high black socks that appeared to runup his leg, disappearing just beneath the top of his knee-length shorts. That snake gave me a completely different, more menacing impression of him.
He handed something to Carlos but I couldn’t make it out because he was sitting with his back was to me. Then the guy clapped his hands together and the guys all nodded and began to leave. I stayed absolutely still, afraid to get caught snooping twice in one night. After a few minutes of waiting I climbed out from the bushes and crossed the street to head home and wait for Carlos.
What was he doing for that guy? What in the world had I just seen?
Taking the long way home around the neighborhood I let my thoughts distract me from worrying about being in trouble for breaking curfew. I was so preoccupied I almost walked right up Carlos’s back before I realized it was him.
“Girl, what the hell?” he asked, spinning around his eyes wide in surprise.
“Oh shoot hey boo, I didn’t even see you.” I replied nonchalantly.
“What are you doing over here? I thought I told you to go home and I’d meet you.” His eyes narrowed as he began eyeing me suspiciously.
“Hell, you know how my mama is. I figured I’m already late,” I shrugged dramatically and rolled my eyes to emphasize my point. “I might as well enjoy my freedom, so I’m taking the long way home.”
He sighed and ran his hand across his forehead in frustration. “Bae, you can’t be walking around out here by yourself. I, um, I need to get something out of my homeboy’s car at the bowling alley and then we’ll walk home together. Come on.”
We walked in silence. The little neighborhood bowling alley was just across the four-lane highway that ran between the neighborhood and all the local businesses. Most of the teens hung out there on the weekends because it was within walking distance from home. That became the main reason any of the teens with a car hung out someplace else.
I watched from the side of the highway as Carlos ran over to a red Camry. He climbed into the driver’s seat and all I could see at that point was his silhouette. It wasn’t long before he was crossing back over and smiling at me.
“Ready to go home?” he asked me, sweat running profusely down his face.
“Yes, did you get what you were looking for?”
“That dumb ass must have forgotten to leave it. Nothing was in there.”
“So do you have a key or he just leaves his car unlocked?”
“Girl, you are asking way too many questions. I have what’s called a master-man key; it’ll unlock you eventually. Let’s go home, baby.”
Chapter 1
Win Won, Lost One
They all wanted to know how I did it. How my sweet little quiet self ended up with the finest and most
wanted senior as my boyfriend. He was Mr. Beautiful, baby face model fantastic and I was always referred to as “who?” because that’s what they’d say when they’d see us together. No one could believe he was with “the average faced” nobody. Hoes had been trying to snag him since day one and he was hitting and quitting their thirsty butts left and right. All they did was make it easy as hell for me. Yes, so I kind of stole him from his last girlfriend but that was her own fault. Ladies, never let your man run off and vent to another female when y’all are having problems. All you’re doing is allowing him to tell another woman what cards to play against the one’s you’re already holding. She’ll use that information to be the bestest–yes bestest listener and friend he’s ever had and then she’ll use it to become his woman.
“Good morning, beautiful. I thought you were still ’sleep.” Carlos raised himself up on one elbow and began tracing my eyebrows with his finger.
“No. I’m thinking about next year. What am I supposed do when you leave for college?”
“Who says I’m leaving? You know the boys want me to go into the business and I’ve really been considering it. Plus, I’d get to stay with you.”
He nestled his head on my shoulder and my stomach filled with dreadful butterflies at his words. Was that what I’d seen last night, a meeting of some sort? Carlos was too smart and too kindhearted for that kind of life. Yet, the only real options open to get ahead in Norfolk, Virginia were to join the military, work at the shipyard, be a dope boy, or link up with the coterie.
They were a strictly male organization, more secretive than Masons, and in Virginia they wielded more power than the Illuminati. Carlos had no idea that I knew about their existence or his potential initiation.
The coterie, officially called themselves the Law of Talion, and just knowing that, by their standards, I knew too much. My grandfather was a seventh-tier imperial chief, the second highest title. When he got sick a few years back my daddy refused to take over, claiming their mission was no longer empowering people. He should have been killed, but instead he was cut off from the family, its power, and his inheritance. He’d told me enough about their symbols, their name, and their actions, making me promise to never deal with anyone affiliated.
“You know you’re my God particle, baby; nothing could even exist in my world without you.”
I couldn’t help smiling at his choice of words; he always knew what to say to make me smile. His mouth was so close to my skin, I could feel each word as he spoke them. They struck me like miniature earthquakes that started at my ankles, fluttered up through my chest, and ended at the tip of my eyelashes, forcing my eyes to close. Even now with my eyes closed I could see his warm bamboo-hued skin and soft, toffee brown eyes.
I’d been waiting for the right moment. Most girls messed up by giving it up too soon, and his ex, Porsha’s, biggest mistake was comparing him to everyone else. He used to tell me how he felt like he was always in competition to keep her. He couldn’t stand feeling like he was constantly on some kind of game show. “If this is really really real.” That’s what we decided to call it when he first told me about Porsha and all her, “If this is really really real, you’d punch that nigga for askin’ for my number. If this is really really real, you betta’ say something to that dude over there for looking at me while I’m holdin’ your hand”
Compared to all the other idiots in school my boo was a complete sweetheart and I was beyond in love with him. We were almost six months in and we still hadn’t had sex yet. Oh, did he try though. At the moment I was a wild mixture of nervousness and excitement, the fear of us getting caught in my bedroom making me anxious. He teased me, sliding his body on top, nudging my legs open so he could nestle in between them, pressing his heat and hardness tight up against me. He sucked on my earlobe before kissing my neck. Sighing and biting my lower lip, I tensed as he dug his hips into me. For all I knew my panties and his boxers might as well have been gone. I gasped at the sparks of sensation that one motion caused.
“I’m still kinda mad at you for that shit you pulled at the park last night. Did you do all this with Mrs. Tuttle’s old mean ass?”
“Damn girl, I didn’t know you like that back then and yeah because I was failing the hell out of her class and they woulda kicked me off the track team. Every man needs a crash test dummy. We practice, crash and burn, run ’em into walls, “he began accenting each word with kisses, “just—to—be—able—to—do—this.”
The heat from his lips seared my skin evaporating any further argument I may have had. He kissed and sucked his way toward my breast. My neck gave way, causing my head to fall back as I let out a whisper of a moan. Small pulses of pleasure radiated from his lips, into my skin. They traveled like tiny ripples coursing around my calves and up my thighs, rolling like waves and crashing into the junction between my legs. Every brush of his lips painted a portrait on my skin that ended in bright bursts of orange and brilliant white sparkles behind my eyelids.
My hips wound in slow motion, dancing on their own accord to whatever song he was singing to my body. He slid himself down my body in a trail of kisses, sliding my panties off as he went with the ease of a magician. I needed him to sing that shit to the part of me that was now so alive with feverish energy it was almost unbearable. Pulling his head closer in between my thighs I shuddered, arching my back. The sensation was like hot water on frostbitten fingers as his tongue lashed out against my bare skin. Entangling my fingers into his thick hair, I draped my thighs over his shoulders, drawing the heat from his tongue deeper. I moaned out loud and then I literally told myself to shush.
My heart was doing some kind of crazy staccato rhythm in my chest as he made circles and swirls around my clit. He sucked it between his lips over and over, hard and fast. Shit. He’d never done that before. It was like I was running a race blindfolded. My body knew it wanted to get to a finish line somewhere out there, but just didn’t know where or how.
“Okay, I’m ready. Please. Baby, I want you.” I couldn’t take it anymore. If he had a magical master-man keynis between his legs and it needed to guide me across the damn finish line, well then I needed him to whip that bad boy out pronto.
He pulled back and looked up at me shocked and concerned. “You sure? I can do this all day, sugar lips.” He grinned, licking his lips for effect.
“Yes. I’m sure. Hurry up. Please tell me you got a condom.”
He was gone and back so fast I didn’t even have time to get cold. I undid my bra while he put the condom on, wondering if I was making the right decision. Hell, I was gonna marry this nigga, right? Any other doubts I might have had went out the window as he cupped my full double-D breasts. Oh yeah, that’s another thing that pissed off all those Barbie heffas at school. My behind was not small by any means. I’d always been “stocky” as Momma put it. Yet, Carlos loved it. He said a woman was supposed to be soft, full, and curvy—that he couldn’t stand a skinny, bony chick. He began massaging both my breasts in his large hands and alternated between licking and sucking my nipples.
That shit felt so good I didn’t even mind the fact that his fingers smelled all the hell like latex from the condom. I could feel him slick, hot, and hard in between my legs and there was a moment of doubt, maybe even panic on my part. There was no way this would work.
The expression on his face was hard to read as he raised himself up over me. It was a cross between pain, pleasure, and extreme concentration.
“You okay, Carlos? What are you thinking about?”
He frowned even harder at me and my nerves frazzled. Maybe I was doing something wrong or there was something else I was supposed to be doing.
“I’m thinking about what every man thinks about, baseball and doughnuts. You’re fine woman. Stop talking,” he replied in a soft whisper.
We locked eyes briefly before he lowered his head and flicked his tongue across my nipple. My head rolled back into my pillow and then he bit down hard, pressing forward at the same time.
&nbs
p; Flashes of pain hit me in two different places at the same time and I wasn’t sure which one was worse. It was like having a serious burning, tearing cramp and getting my nipple pierced all over again. Tears burned my eyes and I tried bucking him off, and then I tried scooting away but he wouldn’t budge.
“What the hell, Carlos?”
“I’m sorry, baby. I was trying to distract you. I saw it in a movie. Stop movin’, girl. It’s . . .” He sounded all out of breath, and I was just pissed, squirming, trying to get away and get him out of me, mad because all the feel good was gone.
“God. You’ve gotta stop moving. Oh shit. Oh shit.”
His head fell onto the pillow beside mine and I was pinned under his weight as he wrapped his arm around me. I could feel him moving inside me faster and deeper. His breath pounded against my ear in short, hot bursts, like a bull just before it charges.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I began grinding my teeth, trying to block out the raw soreness between my legs. Realizing that I was starting to get a charley horse in my damn calf muscle, I flexed and tried straightening it out.
That slightest adjustment made a hellafied difference.
“Oooh,” was about all I could manage to get out. Clutching at Carlos’s back, I held on like my life depended on it and buried my face into his shoulder. I could feel him contracting inside me as his entire body tensed.
And then I felt warmth. There was a rush of heat inside me.
My eyes flew open as he stopped moving and completely collapsed on top of me. “Oh God,” I whispered in agony. It was more to myself than to Carlos.
