Brianna shook her head from left to right. “I’m not going to let you blame me for this, Herman. We should be blaming whoever the knucklehead is that shot him!”
“What ’chu mean you’re not going to let me?” he laughed. “I already have! You’re letting your brother die, just like you’re letting me die! You think I don’t know what the fuck is going on? I’m fucking dying and you won’t let Charrise give us a penny! Now here Jonathan is lying in a hospital bed, and I KNOW this has something to do with you! I can trace back every negative thing that’s happened to our family, right to you!”
Finally, Lorraine touched Herman’s hand and quietly said, “Not now Herman… not now.”
Herman quickly jerked his body away. He stood up and walked towards Brianna. “Don’t tell me what to do!”
As he got closer to Brianna, she could smell the liquor seeping from his skin. “Charrise is grown. She can do whatever the hell she wants to do with her money. But I don’t blame her for not giving it to you. I can smell the alcohol on you now. Your ass can’t stay sober even when you’re dying from the very thing that you refuse to stay away from. You’re a fucking joke! When I was a kid, I’d let all the negative stuff you said get into my head. But seriously Herman, I couldn’t care less about the drunken gibberish you let fall out of your mouth!”
By the time Brianna uttered her last word, Herman was towering over her so close that their bodies almost touched. He looked down at her with his signature grimace. “You think I’m a joke? Well, you’re going to see how much of a joke I am when I head down to CMPD and tell them all of your little secrets.”
Brianna stepped backwards into the hallway. “You’ll probably die of alcohol poisoning or cirrhosis of the liver before you can make it there.” she said, shaking her head. “You don’t scare me old man.” Brianna said before turning and walking away.
She simply refused to let him see her rattled. She couldn’t help but question if Jonathan’s shooting was in some way related to her. And after her meeting with the Feds, she considered the potential damage Herman could do if he actually did make it down to the Police Department to tell them anything. She was sure that Herman didn’t really know what she and Charrise did for a living, but she also didn’t need any additional attention to be brought her way.
Back inside the elevator, Brianna couldn’t hold her tears in any longer. They poured from her eyes like Niagara Falls.
Brianna pulled up to her home and got out of the car, looking and feeling defeated. As she approached her door, she heard the thump of running footsteps behind her. She turned around and noticed that Brandon was running up the block. He was wearing dark gray Nike gym shorts and a white tee shirt. He hadn’t spotted Brianna, but she still instinctively smoothed down her hair and brushed the wrinkles out of her clothes just before their eyes met.
Brianna had almost expected him to ignore her and turn the other way after the way she’d rushed away from him earlier, with no explanation. Instead, he smiled, slowed his pace and came towards her.
“Well hello,” he said as he stopped short at the edge of her driveway.
Brianna walked to him and said, “Hello.” Her eyes darted to the ground, embarrassed that she was still wearing the same clothes from their date.
“Is everything alright?”
Brianna looked up at him and shook her head no. She could see his surprise as he noticed her bloodshot red eyes.
“I’m so sorry I rushed away,” she started.
Brandon interrupted. “It’s ok, you don’t have to explain.”
“My brother got in a horrible accident.” she continued, ignoring his comment.
She needed to get it out by talking to someone about what she’d just gone through. Brandon wasn’t her first choice, but he was definitely her first option. With Charrise still at the hospital and Selena on the prowl with Kasy trying to identify suspects, the last thing Brianna wanted to be, was home alone.
Brandon intuitively wrapped his arms around Brianna, and she didn’t hesitate to collapse into his sweaty embrace. “On top of that, I just got into a huge fight with my stepdad.” Brianna began to cry all over again.
Brandon rubbed her back gently. “Do you want to go inside and talk?”
Brianna nodded and led the way inside her home. She collapsed on the sofa, finally realizing how exhausted she was. All night, she’d allowed all of her emotions to take her body into autopilot. Brianna told Brandon about her night, changing a few not-so-minor details. Rather than revealing that her brother had been shot, she said he got into a car accident. She told him that she’d been stopped for speeding, and since she’d been going nearly 30 miles over the speed limit, they took her in. She explained that after having her attorney meet her at the jail, she was released and went directly to the hospital where she’d argued with Herman.
“Damn,” he mumbled. “That’s a lot to go through in a night. You must be physically and emotionally exhausted.”
“You have no idea.” Brianna said.
“If you want, I’ll stay here with you while you sleep,” he said, noticing the bags under Brianna’s eyes.
“Will you lay with me?” she asked in a childlike voice.
“I’d love to, but I’m all sweaty from running.”
“Please. I need someone to hold me. You can take a shower here. My brother probably has some clothes here that you can change into.”
Even though Brandon only lived a block away, he was hesitant to leave Brianna in such a fragile state, so he agreed to stay. In the master suite, he helped Brianna undress and helped her into the shower. Just as he turned to leave, she grabbed him by the arm and began to lift his shirt off, and then removed his shorts and boxers, until nothing was left.
Brianna pulled him into the shower with her and handed him her sponge and body wash. “Do you mind?” she asked.
“Not at all,” Brandon said smoothly, attempting to hide his delight.
The walk in shower was tiled with small mosaic tile in varying shades of turquoise with a bench mounted in the corner. As the warm water sprayed over the pair, Brandon busied himself with adding body wash to the sponge and creating a foaming lather. Meanwhile, Brianna bit her bottom lip as she gazed intently at his muscular body. Each muscle protrusion glistened as the water trickled over him. She was starting to feel a little better already.
He began at her neck and washed her body all the way to her toes, paying close attention to her breasts and between her thighs. Brianna’s body burned with wanting as he grazed her nipples and clitoris. Brandon took the showerhead down from its perch and rinsed away all of the suds.
“Your turn,” Brianna said, taking the sponge into her hand.
Brandon turned around and allowed Brianna to scrub his back and shoulders. When he turned back around, his penis stood at attention. Without hesitation, he effortlessly lifted her up onto his shoulders and took her clitoris into his mouth. He sucked and licked rapidly, making Brianna moan and squeal with delight. Brianna braced herself by wrapping her legs tightly around his neck and holding on to the back of his head. She grinded her torso in a circular motion against his face, needing to feel every swipe of his tongue. Her body had missed this feeling of euphoria, and exploded with orgasm in a matter of seconds.
Once Brandon put her back down, she sat him down on the shower seat and straddled him backwards, slowly inserting his penis into her warm wet pussy. She bounced up and down to the beat of the African drum that played in her mind. Pulsating to the rhythmic beat, first fast, then slow and then over and over again, until they came in unison.
Brianna and Brandon panted heavily as they did their best to catch their breath. Minutes later, the pair was dried off and drifting off to sleep in bed, spooning like old time lovers.
__________
Charrise had finally given up her perch at the side of Jonathan’s hospital bed. She had been determined not to leave his side until he woke up for the first time. She wanted her face to be one of the first, if n
ot the very first face that he saw. Their parents had left shortly after Herman’s argument with Brianna. As soon as she’d left, Herman began to pace the floor spewing comments about his hatred for the stepdaughter he never wanted. He seemed angry about everything, and his focus and concern about Jonathan had completely vanished.
The more Lorraine asked him to calm down, the more riled up he became. Charrise sat there, refusing to speak to either one of them. She could not put into words how ridiculous her father had become. Herman had once been the man that she looked up to and loved unconditionally. But as the years passed and he continued to sour, she could barely stand to be around him. After several minutes of her parent’s non-stop quarreling, Lorraine announced that they were leaving. That had been the first thing Herman didn’t object to. He bustled out of the door, continuing to mumble and murmur unintelligible sentences.
When Charrise’s back couldn’t take any more of her curved stance, one the nurses was kind enough to pull out the extra blankets and pillows so she could lie down on the day bed next to the window. Charrise quickly fell into a deep sleep.
Hours later, Charrise woke up to her brother’s whispering voice.
“Sis,” he said.
Charrise stirred a bit on the day bed before opening her eyes. As soon as she did, and noticed that her brother was finally awake, she hopped up with a massive smile.
“Oh my God! I was sooooo worried about you!” she said while rushing to his bedside. “How do you feel?”
“Terrible,” he said. “I did get shot ya know,” he said with a grin.
Charrise balled up her fist to deliver a playful punch, but stopped short of his shoulder. “Ooops, I guess I shouldn’t be doing that.”
“No, you shouldn’t,” he said, “you can’t beat me up like you used to.”
Charrise gave Jonathan the side eye, “Not yet. I have faith that you’ll make a full recovery, and when you do…”
“When I do what?”
“It’ll be business as usual, little bro.” she said with a smile.
Nurses came to the room to check on Jonathan’s pain level, and once Jonathan was fed and comfortable, Charrise resumed her perch at the side of his bed.
“Where is everybody?” Jonathan asked, finally noticing that the rest of his family was absent.
Charrise sighed. “Everyone was here at one point or another. Butttttt, you know how it goes when we’re all together. Daddy was drunk, he went off on Brianna, telling her this was all her fault and…”
“Her fault?” Jonathan asked with confusion coating his face, “How would this be her fault?”
Charrise shrugged. “Let Daddy tell it, Brianna is the source of every negative thing that has ever happened to this family.”
“He said that to her?”
“Yup,” Charrise responded.
“Well I know for a fact this wasn’t her fault. I was just in the wrong place, at the wrong time, with the wrong crowd.”
“Why you say that?”
“Cause we had to use fake IDs and pay off the bouncer to get in the club at all. That should have been my first sign to turn around and leave.”
“What the hell happened?’
“I guess the dude was just looking for a fight. The club was crowded and we bumped into each other. Dude got all out of his skin about it, and the next thing I know, we were on the floor brawling.”
“So where’d the gun come into play?”
“Even though I didn’t start the fight, the bouncers still threw me out cause we weren’t really supposed to be in there. On the way out, I just remember somebody screaming, then feeling this sharp pain in my shoulder and my arm. When I looked down and saw all that blood, I just blacked out.”
Charrise’s eyes welled up with tears as she envisioned her little brother being shot.
Jonathan placed his hand on Charrise’s shoulder. “Don’t cry sis. I’ma be alright.”
“Did you even know the guy?”
“Naw. Had never even seen him before.” Jonathan shrugged and quickly winced with pain.
“Do you at least remember what he looked like?”
“He was short, dark skinned, and had long dreads.”
Charrise froze, envisioning Hakeem in her mind. Sure, the physical description matched, but what matched even more was the reckless way the shooter had aimed and fired through a crowd of people. Jonathan had never met Hakeem directly, but they’d certainly crossed paths once or twice because of their connections to Brianna. Enough times for Hakeem to be able to identify him as Brianna’s brother.
Before Charrise could respond, Jonathan’s friends, A.J. and Kevin, appeared in the doorway. The pair looked almost afraid to enter. They looked younger than Charrise had remembered. She couldn’t help but wonder what type of security guard would let these guys into a club. It was one of those instances in life where everyone thought about the what ifs and maybes. What if the security guard had turned them around at the door? Maybe her brother wouldn’t lying here in a hospital bed. After all, it was his job to make sure the club was secure, and letting three knuckleheads in, certainly should have been against his better judgment. Charrise’s mind was locked in a circle of thoughts when Jonathan snapped her out of it.
“Sup niggas!” Jonathan yelled from the bed. “Y’all coming in or not?”
Their eyes simultaneously darted towards Charrise, who nodded her approval. She didn’t blame them. Instead, a steady rage was building up in her for Hakeem. Blaming the security guard was pointless. There was no way he could have predicted how the night would end. The blame lay solely on Hakeem. Tracing everything back to the beginning, he had been the true source of negativity.
One could attempt to blame Brianna for this because she’d been the one to get Hakeem caught up and arrested. But she would have never even known Hakeem, if it wasn’t for Tre. And Tre certainly couldn’t be blamed, considering the fact that Hakeem had murdered him. Putting him behind bars had only stopped him temporarily. In that moment, Charrise fully understood the need to get rid of Hakeem.
With Jonathan’s friends visiting, Charrise felt comfortable heading home. She walked over to kiss him on the forehead before heading out. “Aiight, I’m leaving. I’ll let Mom and Dad know that you’re up, so they’ll probably be by pretty soon. I can come back and spend the night here with you again, if you want.”
“Ok, I’ll let you know.” Jonathan replied.
Charrise waved goodbye to Jonathan and his friends as she exited the hospital room.
__________
Charrise dropped her keys on the console in the front hallway as she walked in the house. Ahead of her, she could see directly into the living room where the TV had been mounted above the fireplace. Selena lay curled up on the sofa with her cellphone positioned between her shoulder and ear. She had a smile on her face that was wider and shining more than any Charrise had ever witnessed on Selena’s face. Charrise stood, unnoticed, hovering over Selena for a few minutes before Selena broke out into laughter and turned on her back. Her mouth gaped open with surprise when she finally noticed that she was being watched.
“Hold on a minute, babe.” Selena said into the receiver.
“Babe?” Charrise asked in shock.
Selena narrowed her eyes and cupped her hand over the phone. “Don’t be a hater,” she said with a grin. “Now what’s up?”
“Where’s B? I need to have a word with both of ya’ll.”
Selena simply pointed upstairs and returned to her conversation. Charrise rolled her eyes and headed in the direction of Brianna’s room. When Charrise opened the bedroom door, she counted four bare feet peeking from underneath the covers on the bed. Charrise rubbed her eyes, figuring that her lack of sleep was making her see doubles. But she looked again, and there was no denying that there was an extra pair of feet hanging from her sister’s bed.
Her lips morphed into a jealous scowl. It was not lost on her that while she was up all night watching over her brother, Selena and Brianna had
been up all night with men that were not blood relations. Charrise’s mind quickly drifted to some of her better memories of her relationship with Dre.
She stood in Brianna’s doorway in a reflective daze, remembering what it felt like to be wrapped in the warm arms of a man. Charrise had been on a constant hunt to find a male companion, but every time she got close, she’d have flash backs of getting beaten. Those memories constantly stopped her in her tracks. She’d wracked her brain trying to figure out what signs Dre had exhibited that she’d simply ignored. But she couldn’t put her finger on anything specific. She’d chalked up his possessive and jealous ways to manhood. After all, she’d dated guys in the past that had those qualities, but none that ever dared to put their hands on her. As much as Charrise wanted a man, she knew that she’d never let anyone get that close to her until she uncovered the mystery that kept plaguing her thoughts.
When the covers on Brianna’s bed began to move, Charrise snapped out of her deep thoughts and loudly cleared her throat.
Brianna and Brandon’s heads quickly and simultaneously popped up from underneath the sheets. They looked at Charrise and then at each other. Grins crept onto their faces as they remembered the actions that had brought them to this very moment.
“Uuuuhhhhh… you remember…” Brianna started.
Charrise interrupted her swiftly. “Yeah, I remember. No introduction needed. Sorry to break up the party, but I need to see you once your company leaves.”
Brianna’s grin quickly turned into a worried grimace as she wondered what Charrise had to tell her.
She abruptly turned around and slammed the door behind her. Charrise entered the living room just as Selena was hanging up the phone with her new boo. That familiar jealous scowl reappeared on Charrise’s face as she plopped down in the middle of the sofa.
“What’s that face for?” Selena asked. “Let me find out somebody’s jealous!”
Charrise ignored the statement and snatched the remote control from Selena’s hand. She busied herself flipping through channels while she anxiously waited for Brianna to emerge from her room.
Trapstar Double book (Parts 1 & 2 Boxed Set) Page 19
