by King, Deja
“I will,” my dad said before turning to me. “Amir, can I see you in my office for a minute.” I followed behind my dad already knowing what he was about to say. “Close the door.”
“Dad, listen…”
“No, you listen. Don’t put me in the middle of something without discussing it with me first.”
“I had no idea Mrs. Mills was going to show up. Aaliyah didn’t even warn me.”
“That’s not the point. You should’ve told me you planned on going to the concert with Aaliyah. That is the truth isn’t it?”
“Of course, we just didn’t think we were going to have a chaperone.”
“Well now you are. I’ll have Dice take you.”
“That’s not necessary. You always let me go places by myself or with my friends.”’
“I told Precious that you will be supervised and that’s that. Understand something, Amir. Aaliyah is the daughter of my business partner and close friend. I’m also fond of her mother so I don’t want any problems. What I might let you do can’t always apply when others are involved. Are you following me?”
“Yes. So can I ask you a question?”
“Of course.”
“Why did you invite Precious to dinner? I mean Lorenzo strikes me as the type of man that is all about business who wouldn’t want that to be put aside because you felt the need to invite your son’s best friend’s mother to join you.”
“I always make sure business is in order so Lorenzo will be fine.”
“That’s cool but you still didn’t tell me why you invited Precious.”
“Because although Precious is a strong woman and she appears to have everything together she’s vulnerable and needs a friend right now.”
“How can you tell?’
“Because I’ve been there before.”
“Like after my mother died?”
“That was no doubt the lowest point in my life. If it wasn’t for you I wouldn’t have gotten
“Ok, dad, talk to you later.” I left my dad’s office regretting that I mentioned my mother. It never failed, every time I brought her name up, the life seemed to drain from his face. Nothing hurt more than seeing my father, a man to me that represented the epitome of power and strength become weak right before my eyes.
“Ok girl, we’ll see you soon. I’ll tell you how it was tomorrow.”
“Who was that?” I asked Aaliyah when I came out my dad’s office and heard her on the phone.
“Justina, she’ll be here tomorrow.”
“Cool.”
“She’s mad disappointed that she’s missing the concert tonight but I told her they’ll be a ton of fun things we’ll do when she gets in town.”
“For sure.”
“You sound real enthusiastic…not.”
“Sorry, I just have some things on my mind.”
“Things like what?”
“I don’t want to talk about it right now. Let’s just go have a good time.”
“Okay but you know I’m always here for you.”
“I know big head,” I laughed putting Aaliyah in a playful head lock.
“Joke if you want, Amir, but you’ve been acting mad different for the past few weeks. Something is up with you and I wish you would tell me what it is.”
“Maybe later. But we need to go. As usual we’re already running late.”
“We’ll be fine. I ain’t that pressed anyway. It’s not like it’s a Sway Stone concert which is coming up in a few months. That sure would be a great eighteenth birthday present…hint, hint.”
“Your birthday is in two weeks and Sway’s concert here isn’t for several months.”
“I know but I still want to go. It can be a late birthday present. I’ll still be celebrating anyway.”
“I’m sure you will. Now let’s go.”
***
“That concert was so good! It’s like the performers always bring their best game to that show.”
“Yeah, that’s because they know New Yorkers will blast they ass. They ain’t got no choice but to come correct.”
“Amir, you ain’t neva lied. It’s like they be looking for a reason to start booing. So what you wanna do now, ‘cause I ain’t ready to call it a night, are you?”
“No. I wish my dad would’ve let me drive. Then we could hit a couple of parties. But I’m not trying to be chaperoned by one of my dad’s workers anywhere.”
“I feel you. Wait, I have an idea.”
“What?”
“My dad is out of town. We can get in the hot tub, listen to some music and chill out.”
“Now that sounds like a good idea,” I said before we got in the car.
“Where would you like me to take you now, Amir?” Dice asked being the perfect driver.
“To Aaliyah’s house. Her mom is going to meet us there.”
“Are you sure, I can take you back to your father’s place.”
“I’m positive.”
“Yes, Dice he’s sure. There are some things I want to do for my dad before he gets home. He loves surprises.”
“Then to Mr. Carter’s house we go.”
“Once we get to my dad’s place, I’ll text my mom and let her know we’re there,” Aaliyah whispered to me.
“Cool, I’ll do the same with my dad.”
During the ride to Alpine I remained pretty quiet. It felt good to be in the moment and enjoying time with Aaliyah.
“Hey, we’re here,” I heard Aaliyah say. I was in such a mellow place that I didn’t even realize we made it. “Dice roll down the window so I can put the code in.”
A few seconds later the gate opened and Dice drove along the curved driveway before pulling up in front of the mansion. “Amir, would you like for me to wait here for you?”
“No you can go ‘head, Dice. I’ll get back home.”
“Are you sure? I have no problem waiting.”
“Positive, I’ll work it out.”
“Ok, but call me if you need me.”
“Will do,” I said shutting the door.
“I can always take you home. You know my dad keeps a car here for me to drive.”
“Yeah, like I said we’ll work it out. I was just ready to get rid of Dice. He’s good people but having him up under me like this makes me feel like I’m twelve again.”
“That’s how my mom is making me feel. She wants to keep me under her thumb and I’m like relax. That’s why I was happy when your dad invited her to have dinner with him and his friend, who is fine by the way. What was his name again?”
“Lorenzo.”
“Yeah, that dude looks good. I’ve never seen him before. How long has he been friends with your dad?”
“I think for a while. But he only recently came back on the scene. So dudes like Lorenzo is what you like?” I tried to ask the question without sounding as if I really cared but I wasn’t sure if it came off that way.
“I prefer my men a little older and Lorenzo is sexy but he’s a little too much older for me.”
“I see. Could you imagine the fit both your dad’s would have if you started dating a man Lorenzo’s age?”
“Forget them, shit my mother would be the one I would need to hide from,” Aaliyah laughed. “Speaking of my mother, let me call her before she tries to put out an Amber Alert on me.”
“Yeah, let me call my dad too,” I said taking my phone out my pocket. When I called my dad it went straight to voicemail so I left him a message. I found it strange my dad’s phone went straight to voicemail as he made it a point to keep it charged for business purposes. “Did you talk to your mom?” I asked Aaliyah wanting to know if she was able to make contact since I wasn’t.
“No, it went straight to voicemail so I left her a message.”
“That happened with my dad too. I guess that’s a good thing. Maybe they’re having so much fun that they won’t bother us.”
“Yeah, that would be nice but I think my mother has forgotten what the definition of fun is so that’s highly do
ubtful. She probably has it on vibrate and didn’t realize I was calling. Trust me she’ll be blowing me up in a few minutes.”
“Then I guess we better start having some fun asap.” As we made our way to the back I looked up at the multiple levels with artistic murals adorning the walls. No matter how many times I came to Nico’s house I never grew tired of admiring them. It gave you the vibe like you were visiting a mansion in Rome or something.
“You know where the swim trunks are,” Aaliyah commented when we walked past the swimming pool with flowing fountains towards the Jacuzzi.
“Of course.” There were two pool houses in the back, one for men and the other for women. The shit was so sick, it was crazy. Each had a ton of swimming trunks and bathing suits that people could borrow if they forgot to bring their own. When Aaliyah came out in her light pink bikini she reminded me of cotton candy. I didn’t want to get turned on by her but I couldn’t help myself. Her skin looked like caramel and it didn’t help that her breast and ass were popping out just right.
“What are you staring at?” she questioned.
“Oh, I didn’t know you had a diamond earring in your belly button,” I replied trying to play off the fact that I was foaming at the mouth over her body. But that was a mild distraction compared to all the curves that had my thi>
“Oh, I forgot to tell you. I got it a few weeks ago as an early birthday present to myself. My mom doesn’t even know yet. She’s going to flip the fuck out when she finds out. I figure I’d tell her on my eighteenth birthday. I mean at that point what can she really do.”
“I feel you,” I said getting into the Jacuzzi. “Damn, this water feels good. It’s not too hot, just right.”
“I can’t wait to get in.”
“What you waiting for?”
“I’m about to get this bottle of champagne so we can have an early birthday toast.”
“Make sure you get the good shit.”
“Excuse me, that’s all my daddy got! He don’t even fuck around with the mid-level shit. You know how he do. It’s first class all the way.
When Aaliyah got in the Jacuzzi and handed me my glass for the first time I was looking at her as not being my best friend but a girl that I wanted to get with. It was fucking my head up a little because we were supposed to be like brother and sister. But my body was telling me something different.
“Let’s make a toast.”
“Okay.”
“I feel like maybe we should wait until Justina gets here tomorrow. Nah, we can do one now and do another one when she comes.”
“Works for me.”
“Cool, so like I was saying,” Aaliyah smiled. “Let’s make a toast that eighteen will be the best year of our lives.”
“Cheers,” we both said as our glasses clinked together.
“This some good champagne right here,” I said guzzling it down like it was water.
“I told you,” here have some more,” Aaliyah offered, filling my glass back up. “Can you believe I’m about to be eighteen and in a couple months you will be too. It seems like yesterday we were celebrating my eighth birthday. Now look at us ten years later.”
“I know. Remember after the party was over we decided to keep it going.”
“Oh gosh, how can I forget!”
“You and Justina thought it would be a great idea to play doctor and let me be your patient. Precious walked in on us and I was lying across your bed with only my underwear on.”
“And in two seconds those were about to come off. My mom was livid.”
“Livid is an understatement. She took away all your birthday presents.”
“And I was pissed because my grandfather had gotten me this special collector’s edition Barbie doll that I had been begging for. It took weeks for my dad to convince her to give it back to me.”
“Wow, those were the good days.”
“I think these days are still pretty good and this one might only get better.”
“How’s that?”
“I think we should play doctor again except for this time I’ll be the patient.”
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”
“Why not? It’s not like I’m eight anymore.” Before I could answer, Aaliyah’s lips were touching mine. Then my tongue somehow ended up down her throat and my hand was easing down the crack of her ass. It all felt so right and wrong at the same time.”
“Aaliyah, we shouldn’t be doing this,” I managed to say between sensuous kisses.
“Yes we should.” I pulled away so I could read the words her eyes were speaking to me. “I’ve known you it seems like my entire life and I think it would only be right that I lost my virginity to you, tonight.”
“Aaliyah, you’re a virgin?”
“Yes. Why do you say that like it’s so hard to believe?”
“You always seemed so advanced, you know mature. I figured you lost your virginity a long time ago.”
“Nope! But you’re right I am advanced and mature. I just didn’t think anybody was worthy enough to have me, that is besides you.”
“But I thought you told me you were seeing somebody.”
“I am. Listen, I’m not a saint and I have messed around. You know heavy foreplay but I’ve never taken it all the way. But I want to tonight with you.”
“Aaliyah, I’m flattered I really am.”
“I’m not interested in you being flattered. I want you to tell me that you’re checking for me the same way I’m checking for you.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Excuse me!”
“You’re gorgeous, there’s no denying that. And I know you have a ton of guys checking for you but I’m seeing Justina.”
“What!” Aaliyah screamed that out so loud I knew she had to wake up the whole neighborhood. “You’re seeing Justina?” I nodded my head yes. “How long has that been going on and why didn’t she tell me?”
“For a few months. We were going to tell you together when she got here.”
“I can’t believe this,” Aaliyah said, picking up her glass and pouring herself some more champagne. I was tempted to re-up but was afraid I wouldn’t be able to maintain self-control if I got anymore liquor in my system. It was already taking every ounce of strength I had in me not to oblige Aaliyah’s request and take her virginity.
“I hope this doesn’t change things between us. You truly are my best friend and I wouldn’t want anything to mess that up.”
“It makes sense now. When Justina told me she was interested in somebody I couldn’t figure out who the hell she was talking about and I could tell she didn’t want t me to know. Now I understand why. But can you just answer something for me?”
“Sure, what is it?”
“Why Justina and not me? I mean I love Justina, she’s like a sister to me but we are so much more alike than the two of you.”
“Yeah, we’re too much alike.”
“Huh?”
“Aaliyah, I don’t want to date somebody like me. With you, I’ll always be wondering if you’re seeing somebody else or if you’re lying to me. I know how much you scheme. I’ve been a witness to it.”
“But I wouldn’t do that with you.”
“That’s the thing. I’m not sure about that. And one thing my father always told me is you can’t be with a woman who doesn’t make you feel confident that she can be trusted.”
“Oh, so now you’re calling me untrustworthy?”
“All I’m saying is that I don’t feel confident that I can trust you a hundred percent.”
“But Justina makes you feel a hundred percent confident.”
“Yes, she does.”
“Why because she’s timid and quiet?”
“Now you’re being petty, Aaliyah.”
“No, I’m being real. You’ve put Justina on this pedestal like she’s some sort of saint and I’m walking around with a scarlet letter on my chest. It’s not fair. No I’m not all meek like Justina but I’m no harlot either.”
&
nbsp; “I didn’t say that.”
“Maybe not in those exact words but that’s exactly what you’re alluding to. It’s cool though.”
“Aaliyah, don’t do this,” I said touching the side of her cheek. The way the moonlight hit her face it made it appear as if she was glowing. There was this strong urge for me to give into the lust I was feeling towards her but I knew it was wrong so I made myself resist.
“I wish you would’ve given us a chance. I know I could’ve made you happy.”
“Maybe, but I’m with Justina so it doesn’t matter.”
“You’re right and I have to respect that. Both of you mean so much to me and I’m not going to ruin our friendships because you chose her over me.”
“Thank you. You really have matured, Aaliyah. Because not too long ago you couldn’t even comprehend the word ‘no’ and not getting your way. I think you’re right. Eighteen will be your best year yet.”
I laid back in the Jacuzzi and closed my eyes. I was relieved that I let Aaliyah know the status of my relationship with Justina and I was proud that I didn’t let my body overpower my mind. But it was crazy that I had two girls in my life and I had real love for both of them.
Aaliyah
When It All Comes Falling Down
The longer I sat in my jail cell the more hopeless my situation seemed to become. I started visualizing myself forever trapped in an orange jumpsuit with nothing but an inmate number to identify me. It was puzzling me how I went from magnificent to miserable in less than twenty four hours. I began recalling how only a few short months ago I had dodged a major blow but this time around it appeared I wouldn’t be as fortunate.
***
“I’ll be at your crib in about twenty minutes,” I told D’Mario as I zipped up my jeans.
“You said that an hour ago.”
“I know but I got held up. But I really am about to walk out the door. I’ll see you in a few.” I let out a sigh of relief and regret when I finally buttoned up my jeans because I knew damn well they were too fuckin’ tight. My ass and hips seemed to be spreading rapidly and I figured it was because I had recently started taking the pill. I wasn’t fucking just yet but I planned on to and I wanted to be prepared. Yeah, when the time was right, I would definitely make D’Mario strap up but I wanted back up protection too because getting pregnant was something I didn’t even want to have to worry about.
