Which wasn’t to say I hadn’t run through our last words a few dozen times in my mind. It didn’t seem like our fight was a closing to our time together, but that didn’t mean I wanted the tension to stick.
Maybe it was a blessing we were in a tiff. It would let me do my duty here without causing notice. The price was damn heavy though. God, did I miss having her tight little body in my arms, even to hold in silence.
Pop went up to the podium and stilled the room.
“Well done, Rudolph, well done. You stumbled in a couple places though, especially with some of the numbers.”
“I’ll work on it,” the guy blubbered. “I swear I’ll have it down straight.”
“I know you will,” Pop said in a kindly voice. “Just keep in mind that people will be looking out for those. We can’t have them doubting a word if we want to show them the truth.”
“No, of course. The truth must come out.”
I leaned hard on the cushions, intent on the ceiling. It was better than rolling my eyes or letting the sigh heave out.
“Calix,” Pop said. “Any suggestions from you?”
The cushions swayed and my brother’s jacket crinkled forward. “Not about the content, but about presentation. I want you to really see the crowd. I know you’re looking at us in here, but there’s gonna be way more in the audience. You gotta have that voice and the look that spreads, you hear me? You gotta be talking out to the world, not just to us.”
“Uh, ok. So louder?”
“No, it’s not about volume. It’s about how you gaze out, it’s about your intent being clear.”
“Oh…ok, I’ll work on that.”
Calix eased back, but the man burbled on a bit. I resumed my lack of interest.
“Vaughn.”
I looked at Pop. “What?”
“What about you? What do you have to say?”
He still had that fatherly look to him, but there was a bit of religious fervor aimed at me.
I shrugged. “It sounded fine to me.”
“Really? You think that would win you over?”
“I think it would get the point across.” I tossed Rudolph a nod. “Keep it up man.”
“Thanks,” the guy said, looking truly grateful. As if I were a crown prince of this movement or something.
Pop shook his head. “There’s always room for improvement and room for improvisation. In fact, why don’t you give it a shot?”
I cracked my neck. “Give what a shot?”
“Come up and say a few words.” He stepped out from in front of the mic. “Show us how you would reach out.”
“I’m not the talkative type.”
Pop frowned. The audience was all peering back at me. I couldn’t disobey him like this in front of his flock, but he had invited it upon himself. I didn’t know what had gotten into his mind, calling me up.
“I’m not in the right state of mind,” I offered. “I need a smoke.”
Before more words could be issued, I stood up and picked my way out of the room. Pop probably knew I didn’t smoke anymore, but he kept his mouth shut. No need for his congregation to sense division within the leading family. I headed out the front door and breathed up the fresh night air.
The street lay still, the other houses checkered with light. There was family in those rooms too, just watching TV, talking, or maybe the kids were out and the parents were fucking. The sorts of things that normal families did.
All my family was in that place behind me, but there was no warmth to it, just a cold alliance forged by blood and fueled by hatred. The Soldiers felt more tight than the Blacks. Would I even be talking to Calix anymore if I hadn’t joined them?
I got out to the driveway and hopped up on Viper. I knew where I could find warmth, but that door had shut on me. Maybe I could swallow my pride and open it back up myself. I whipped out my phone and stared at the dead black screen, barren of messages.
The front door thumped open. I glanced up as Calix stepped out, spotted me.
Shit.
He crunched over the grass lawn and stopped in front of my bike, but he wore no frown.
“Leaving?” he asked.
“Yeah, I think I’ve paid my dues. I got nothing to add in there anyway.”
He weighed down on the handlebars. “Pop had no reason to put you on the spot there.”
“It’s fine. He’s got the right to try.”
Calix nodded. “Yeah, and it’s fine you got nothing to say. It’s not your style, I know.”
Not my style. Not my feeling, either, but ‘style’ suited this company better. “Right.”
“Anyway, I just want to let you know that I notice.”
My heart stilled, but I said nothing.
“I notice you’re staying firm to us,” he went on. “You just being there and wearing your colors tight, well, we can use all of that we can get. That’s pride enough for me.”
“Alright.”
“Just want to let you know,” Calix said. “You’re doing fine as is.”
From some light that must be true. I gave my brother a firm look that told him things were good. Maybe we’d be fine if I hadn’t been in the Soldiers after all.
My phone buzzed. We both looked at the number that popped up on screen. Good thing, I hadn’t given it a name.
I opened the text away from Calix and read: I’ve thought about it. I’m not saying I’m sorry, but I’m saying I don’t want you gone. Come over.
“That the girl?” Calix asked.
“It is a girl.”
He chuckled. That took me off guard almost as much as the text. “What?”
“Just any girl? I’ve never seen you light up like that.”
I darkened the screen before it could uncover other truths written on my face. “Yeah, she’s something.”
“I bet. Well, you go have fun. I guess I’ll see her eventually.”
I managed to keep my lips from flapping until Calix clapped my shoulder and walked off.
I tore my way down to the city. The wind stung my face, but all I thought of was the heat that awaited me.
Come over. So much said with so little.
Meagan was at the door when I rang it. She dawned as it swung open, radiant in a frilly pink top and a navy skirt that barely covered her soft dark thighs. I had intended to start off with a parlay, but those weren’t clothes meant for talking. I swept in, arm curving up inside her skirt to grab her rear.
“Easy, white boy,” she said.
“Tonight’s gonna be far from easy on that body.” I rushed my lips to her face, but was met with her palm.
“What?” I muttered, breathing in the scent of her. I could barely keep my mind awake.
“You want to apologize first, maybe?” she asked.
“No,” I said, nudging into her neck. “Not with words.”
She sighed as I sank teeth into her flesh. Lust or dismay? Didn’t know, didn’t much care.
“You know you said a bad thing.”
I kissed my way to her ear and murmured. “I’m gonna be saying a lot of bad things tonight.”
She pushed my face away from hers. Her eyes burned like coal at me. “Not that word, though,” she said. “Never that word. Or any like it.”
Fuck it, she deserved that much. “No,” I promised. “Not that word ever again. I’ll try my damn best to stick to that.”
She nodded and the strength left her hand. My wildness had dulled a bit though, and I pulled her to me instead. We just stood there tight by the door, her heart pounding a steady beat against me. It didn’t race, it didn’t skip. It was just calm, and that was amazing. It meant things were truly ok. Just like that we were back to each other.
I ticked her head up by the chin, and she granted me a peek of her smile. It was such a delicate thing I held in my hands. What a fool I would have been to let it break.
We kissed softly and that made us start kissing roughly. In a flash, the pure warmth flushed out of my mind, replaced by naked hunger. I g
rabbed firm handfuls of that supple rear and hoisted her onto me. Her arms curved behind my back and I realized that she had missed me deeply in this way too. Her mouth twisted around mine, and she tried to move her tongue in deeper and deeper, as if she wanted it to become a part of me.
I was having none of it. Instead of popping up the stairs, I went up a step, then dropped her firm onto the creaking hardwood. She mouthed surprise, but my hands were already at work hoisting her tight pink shirt up and over her arms.
She had on a satin red bra.
Like hell, she wanted to talk. I rushed it off her and took giant mouthfuls of her breasts. God were they juicy.
She squealed above me, but cut herself off. “We’re in the open.”
I stopped suckling her nipples enough to ask, “Anyone around to hear?”
“No.”
I swirled my tongue around her teats until she squealed and sank back into the stairs. I kissed my way down her flesh and swooped in under her skirt. In the warm darkness, I shoved aside her panties and got to work on her pleasure. Her juices already ran slick from her, and I lapped them up faithfully, relishing the familiar taste.
Her nails scritched uselessly against wood and she started to squirm. I flicked my tongue back and forth, determined and focused. There was no where else I would rather be. My work paid off with a glass-shattering wail that broke through her lips and covered my face in a wash of wetness.
My pants came off after that. I turned her around on her knees and entered her from behind. We bucked over and over against the steps, our bodies perfectly aligned to transfer my force to her. Watching all her dark flesh before me, I thickened inside her until every inch was perfect pleasure. I flooded her with me, and then she bucked and broke against me, too.
I took my weathered princess up to her bed. Our clothes came off in full and we lay into each other, skin on skin. After some sweet friction, our movements became more urgent and I entered her once more. The night passed with several instances of that, and by dawn we lay more tired than awake.
I stroked her rich, dark hair, and smiled as her beautiful eyes tried to stay open.
“Apology accepted?” I asked.
“Apology? I’m gonna have to call the cops on you for what you did to my body.”
“Seems fair.” I wrapped my arms around her. “Let’s get some rest, and I’ll help you out with that.”
“You better help,” she muttered, eyes already shut. “Cause you’re my man now.”
If there were a better idea to drift off to, I didn’t think I’d ever hear it.
CHAPTER THREE
Meagan
Even before it happened, I knew I’d done well. My graded paper made its way back around to me, and my eyes landed on that red ‘A.’
Nothing more than what I expect, Prof. Greene had written.
It was a small note, but it made me feel fuzzier than a lot of other praise that I’d gotten. Good things came to me. That’s just how my life was now, and I could accept that.
Faith was frowning at her paper as she walked outside, as if the grade’s mind might change at seeing her so upset.
“I thought you didn’t care about this class?” I asked. “A ‘C’ is passing.”
“I dunno,” she muttered. “Maybe you’re rubbing off on me. Maybe I’m just hoping I can follow you to Emory.”
I hugged her. “Oh come, that’s not gonna be for another few months, and we’ll still hang out after that.”
“People always say that.”
“Really? This situation has happened to you that often?”
She waggled out of my hug. “You know what I mean. We’ll drift into different lanes. You got your awesome school back. You’re with the doctor again.”
My rubber soles squealed to a stop. “What? I ain’t with Rico. Where’d you get that idea?”
She shrugged her broad shoulders. “You said you’re going back to Emory. I figured it had to do with him.”
I laughed without a single ounce of funny. “Hell, no am I going back to that guy. I told you he grabbed me right?”
“Yeah, but I…so what, how are you going back?”
“That’s what I came here to do, girl.” I play-smacked the back of her head. “That’s why I’m still here another semester.”
We started heading out again. “So Rico’s still a prick?” she asked, and I nodded solemnly. “Is he still bothering you?”
I smiled wickedly to myself. “No. I let him know that his messages were being forwarded to Vaughn and he stopped cold. I guess there were things he didn’t want my boyfriend to hear.”
“Nice.”
Aubrey met us at the waterless fountain in the plaza outside. “Bite to eat?”
I checked the time. “Sure.”
Darryl had sent me a text during class: Free to hang out after dinner if you’re looking for something to do.
We rounded out of the plaza to the streets of downtown Atlanta. As we walked along the storefronts, Aubrey and Faith yammering at each other, I texted my brother back: Shouldn’t you have a girlfriend to attend to?
The phone buzzed right away: I’m holding out for the sweetest berry of all.
Ugh. I could barely type: Don’t talk about my roommate like that.
Bzzz: You’re the one who asked about my love life. Guess that means you’re spending the night on yours?
I pocketed the phone. We’d talked yesterday. He knew the answer well enough.
“Here again?” Faith asked as Aubrey pulled into a Mexican place.
“I like my my food like I like my men,” Aubrey said. “Fiery and consistent.”
“I can tell you one thing that wasn’t consistent after my last visit.”
“Dude, you’re so gross. Just lay off the hot sauce.”
I hesitated in the doorway, but Aubrey beckoned me in. “She’s lying. It’s really good. Tell her it tasted good.”
Faith sighed to the heavens. “It’s fine.”
The food was more than fine. We ate and talked in between wiping the sweat off our brows. I finally told them about the last meeting - my final meeting - with Rico. I even told them the whole story.
“He yelled ‘spic’ out loud?” Faith asked.
The conversations around us screeched to a halt. Or maybe that was just my heart. “Sweet jesus,” I whisper-yelled at her. “Did you forget where we are?”
“Oh, sorry,” she leaned in. “He actually said ‘spic’ to Rico?”
My stomach recoiled every time I heard the word. I knew Faith didn’t mean anything by it - heck, she’d dated Latino guys - but she just could never understand the way a word like that could make you feel. Neither of them could, really.
“Yeah, he told him off,” I said. “I didn’t talk to him for days after that.”
“Seems like the sort of guy who would say that,” Faith mumbled through a mouth of refried beans. “Didn’t his jacket say SS or something?”
“SS? He’s dating Meagan. How in the world could he be a racist?”
They both looked at me and I just shuffled my shoulders apologetically. “He’s not racist,” I said. “Not that I can see anyway.”
“Well, what he said worked right?” Faith asked. “RIco knows not to mess with you with a guy like that around.”
“I guess…”
I didn’t want to press it in front of this audience. I just let them simmer the air with their own stories and we laughed our way to empty plates. The food really was good. I wondered if maybe I could bring Vaughn here as an eye-opener.
No, I’d seen him eat a burrito. What was I thinking? Why did I have the urge to keep poking a fresh wound? Things were fine between us now. The rest would heal with time.
The city glowed warm at noon when we went back out - a ray of light to break up the usual winter chill. People were out for walks, moms were pushing strollers and single girls were walking shaggy little dogs. I smiled at the sights and we took our time getting around to the student parking lots. Aubrey lived near
by on West Peachtree St, but Faith was giving her a ride anyway.
We passed by the giant student tackboard and stopped to check it out.
“You ever heard this band SpeechSwirls?” Faith asked, reading off a purple and black poster. “They’re having a free concert Saturday night.”
“What do they play?” Aubrey asked. “Actually never mind, I already hate their name.”
I drifted over ads for tutoring and placards for the new theater club production. I landed on a stark black and red sheet of paper. There was just a large cross with winged ends filling most of it. It felt familiar.
Below, a line of bold font screamed: Who will stand for white culture? Will you?
A giant white hand pointed out at the screen, with a date advertised. To be honest, the whole thing was more tacky than offensive. Was that really supposed to convince anyone?
I looked at the cross again and remembered with a dip in my stomach where I’d seen it: on Vaughn’s thick round shoulders.
“What’s that?” Aubrey asked, quickly reading. “The hell? Stand for white culture? What student group is that?”
“It’s not a student group,” I said. “It’s supremacists.”
Just supremacists, I reminded myself. Not necessarily Vaughn or his people. There must be other groups. But how many of these rallies were there around? I’d barely heard of any.
I checked the date again. It was this saturday in Centennial Park.
“Come on,” Faith said, tugging at my shirt. “What, you gonna go to that thing?”
“I might.”
“Uhh…don’t take this the wrong way, but I don’t think it’s for you.”
“The park is public space. There’s gonna be a lot of black folk around whether they want them there or not.”
Faith looked at Aubrey. “Well, I don’t think either of us would feel comfortable around some racist rally.”
I shrugged. “I didn’t ask you to come.”
This was a personal thing anyway. I wanted to see what grievances drove them to be who they were. Vaughn might not believe in the stuff, but I wanted to see what his family thought. Or at least people who were like his family.
Clear (Storm's Soldiers MC Book 3) Page 2
