by Onyxx Black
“Sevyn, you can’t be flirting with my girl, now. This is Ashanti. Ashanti this is my little cousin, Sevyn.” My girl? I was flattered. I waved at her this time.
“What’s up Ashanti?” Kenyon stepped out of the car and came around to my side and let me out. I guess he could be a gentleman when he wanted to.
“So, this is our first date?” I know, I was going to get on his nerves asking the same question over and over again.
“I don’t think so. I need to go shower and change clothes.” I followed him up the steps of the front porch and through the door, into the large foyer.
“Damn. You’re doing it big, huh?” There were two big leather sectionals facing the mounted plasma screen TV. The crystal chandeliers hung in both rooms that were separated by only a short wall. African sculptures decorated the full walls along with paintings in nudes, brown and black. I was impressed. He couldn’t have been the one to put all of that together. His home had a feminine touch.
“This isn’t nothing. I’m never even here. I stay at my other spot most of the time. My cousin and her moms live here.” So, that’s who set it up. I made a mental note to explore the rest of the house. “I’m about to go take a shower, you can wait down here on the couch or you can come upstairs with me and wait in my room.” He licked his lips when he said it. I felt a thump between my thighs and instantly declined. I don’t know why he made me so nervous.
“I’ll wait down here.”
He brushed past me and grabbed the remote control off the glass coffee table saying, “Cool. I’ll leave it on cartoons for you, since you’re being childish.”
I mugged him. “I’m not being childish, just careful.”
His laugh was just as deep as his voice. “I should be being careful of you. Playing twenty-one questions investigator and shit. How do I know you’re not working with the feds?” He was clearly playing, but something told me he had his suspicions about me too. I knew he was feeling me, but I knew what it was like to have a wall up. I rolled my eyes and flopped down on the couch. “I’ll be right back.” He took two steps at a time, loudly stomping up the stairs.
***
Kenyon
When I finally checked my phone, I realized I had hella missed calls and text messages. All of them were from Geno. His texts said to call him as soon as I woke up. Shit, it was 5:30 pm already and my phone had been on the charger all day. The burner or ‘Obama phone’ I had with me stayed buzzing the whole time. Most of the calls were from customers. I had no missed calls or unread messages on that one besides from Tae, asking to re-up. I had been ignoring his bipolar ass lately and I was on the verge of replying to his messages and cussing him out for not handling his business. I tried calling Geno back one last time before I hopped in the shower, but I got his voicemail again. Maybe he and his girlfriend were back together, but I doubt that’s what he wanted to talk about. Whatever it was sounded important, so I sent him a text and told him to get back at me when he had the time. Walking back to the bathroom, I listened for Ashanti and when I didn’t hear anything, I assumed she was sleep. She would’ve looked better lying in my bed, but she was still acting scary. When she told me in so many words that she couldn’t trust me, I knew why. Shauna had already put me up on game and told me that Ashanti knew about TaNeeka. Apparently, she had overheard me and Carter talking about getting rid of her. By bringing her up to me, she was trying to get me to say something. I wanted to talk to her and tell her all about it, but I needed her undivided attention.
***
Ashanti
I watched the cartoon on TV for about five minutes before I fell into a restless sleep.
“Aye, wake up, wake up.” Kenyon’s cousin, Sevyn shook me. I opened my eyes in a dazed confusion.
“Huh? Where am I? What happened?” I didn’t remember anything that I had just been dreaming about.
“You said something about TaNeeka. You knew her?” Sevyn looked at me wide eyed. She was too close for one and for two, she still had her hand on my shoulder.
“Who?” I played dumb.
“Kenyon’s ex-girlfriend. They broke up about three weeks ago and a few weeks ago they found her on 38th and Georgetown with two bullets in her head. She was a sneaky bitch and I really didn’t like her, but I didn’t want to see her dead. Know what I mean?” I knew exactly what she meant because that’s exactly how I felt about Lexi, but I wasn’t going to tell her that.
“Damn, that’s messed up.” I heard someone running down the stairs and when I looked up, Kenyon was standing there with a big towel wrapped around his waist. “What’s up Sev? You good Ashanti? What was all that? Who was in here?” He walked to the door and opened it, looking out.
“Nobody was here, Ken, you’re being paranoid again. Ever since T did you dirty you been buggin’.”
Kenyon locked the door back, “Ashanti, come upstairs with me. You can sit in my room. Sevyn, Aunt Lynn called, she wants you to come help her close.” Sevyn squinted like she was confused, then a light bulb must’ve went off in her head. “Aw, alright. I’ll be back in a little bit.” She got up form where she was sitting next to me. “You want something to drink, Shanti?” Before I could answer she came back with a bottle of water.
“We’ll be gone when you get home,” Kenyon said to Sevyn’s back as she walked out the side door. “Come on.” He motioned for me to follow him.
Chapter Ten
Ashanti
The upstairs was just as plush as the downstairs and even more comfortable. “Last bedroom on the left.” I watched him walk back into the bathroom. His tattooed muscular shoulders glared under the light in the hallway. Got damn, he was sexy. I wanted to let my guard down just for one night with him. I wanted the first part of my dream to come true and I still wanted to know what he was going to tell me about TaNeeka. I’d ask when he got out the shower. The bedroom was bigger than the Rec room at the home and his bed was twice the size of mine. A giant duffle bag sat on the table in the corner and his clothes sat on the head of the bed, along with his phone. I wanted to answer it the first time it went off but I couldn’t help but to glance at it. The name Carter’s Bitch displayed across the screen and I couldn’t help but laugh. He was so disrespectful. I wondered what the hell she could’ve been calling him for this late. The water stopped but he didn’t come out of the bathroom and the annoying ringtone went off again. This time I answered it. “Hello?” I questioned Shauna with more than enough attitude. “Hey, bitch. I see you finally with your man. He let you answer his phone?” I don’t know what I was thinking, mentally accusing my best friend of sneaking behind my back. I guess all her references to what she could do with Kenyon finally got to me, along with the fact that she was blowing his phone up.
“No. He’s in the bathroom and I saw your name pop up on the screen, so I figured you thought we were together.”
Shauna busted out laughing. “Bitch, you thought I was texting him on the low didn’t you?” I had to admit, it was silly, but not impossible. Bitches you called your friends always came back around and made a fool out of you in the end. “I just wanted to make sure you were there with him and not at home burning at the stake. He’s about to bust you up for answering his phone though. Hold on, Ti-ti.” Just then Kenyon walked in the room wearing only one towel around his waist. “Yo. Who is it?” My mouth hung open in embarrassment and in awe as I watched the droplets of water that dripped in slow motion down his rippled chest and abs. Damn. His entire torso was covered in tattoos. “Can I have my phone?” He gave me a look that asked what the fuck I thought I was doing. I handed him the phone and watched him stare me down. “Yeah, what’s up, C. Naw, I didn’t tell her sneaky ass shit, yet.” He squinted at me like I was his natural born enemy. “Yeah, I’ll hit you up in a little bit. Aight. Be safe, bro.” Hanging up the phone he sat on the edge of the bed. “Why are you answering my calls and shit?”
“Why is it such a big deal? I saw Shauna’s name pop up so I answered. If you’re not fucking her, why does it m
atter?”
He jumped up off the bed so quick and stood toe to toe with me. “It matters because it’s my mothafuckin’ phone. Is your name Kenyon De’Mon Tunde? I didn’t fuckin’ think so.” With his body so close to mine, I felt my body responding to his warmth. The Irish Spring soap smelled so good it was hard staying mad. I watched his jaw clench as if he was a split second away from hitting me.
“Like, I said. If you not fucking her, it shouldn’t matter! You’re introducing me as your girl, but I can’t answer your phone when my mothafuckin’ best friend hitting you up at seven o'clock at night all the way from Colorado?” I pointed my finger in his face.
He didn’t even blink. “No, like I said, none of that shit matters! If you had charged your phone, she wouldn’t be needing to call me to see where your ass was at. You answering my shit like you really giving me the time of day. I don’t know shit about you, but you know all about me. I ask you questions about yourself and you give me half ass answers. You’re not even letting me pick your ass up in my car, let alone drive you anywhere. But you want to answer my phone? You couldn’t even tell me why you were walking on my side of town at five o’clock at night. You here to rob me too? You want me to let you in to know me, spend my money, act like you give a fuck about me and then bounce? Huh? I learned my lesson with these snake ass bitches and I’m not going through the shit again.” I was speechless.
“It’s 5:30 in Colorado too, smart ass.” I flopped down on the bed and crossed my arms thinking about how right he was. I knew I had no business answering his phone, but I was jealous.
“Now you want to throw a tantrum like a got damn two- year old? I don’t know why I fuck with all the crazy, sneaky ass bitches anyway. I need to start thinking with my second brain.” He slammed the door behind him on his way downstairs.
***
Kenyon
I took my phone with me downstairs to the kitchen, so I could call C.J.
“What’s up?” Shauna answered my boy’s phone.
“Now I see where your girl get that shit from. Where is C.J. at?”
She laughed real loud in my ear. “Boy bye. She just don’t trust nobody, but she likes you so cut her some slack. You better not have yelled at her either. She already thinks you a damn killer.” Hearing her best friend say that shit fucked me up inside. I knew what it was like not to trust mothafuckas and the more I thought about it, the less I gave a fuck about what happened to TaNeeka.
“Oh yeah?” I couldn’t say anything else.
“Yeah, well Carter said that he needed to talk to you, but he’s outside on his other phone talking to somebody named Geno. I’ll have him call you back as soon as he comes inside.” She hung up before I could ask any questions. Why the fuck was Geno calling Carter when he couldn’t even get back in touch with me? Shit wasn’t making any sense. I grabbed a bottle of water and sat down at the long black mini bar that doubled as a breakfast counter. My phone vibrated across the table. “Man, I have been trying to call your ass all day. What’s good? Where are you at?” Tae sounded more relaxed than he had all week.
“I’m at the crib, but I got my girl with me.” I made sure I threw that last part in there so he wouldn’t be doing any drive-by-drop-off’s.
“Aight.” I didn’t get a chance to ask him where Geno was at before he hung up on me. Yeah, some shit was definitely up. I tried calling Carter one last time and when I got sent to voicemail, I hung up and walked back up to my room.
***
Ashanti
I knew Kenyon was going to be shocked, but I also knew he wanted this as bad as I did. I needed to apologize for answering his phone and tell him everything that was going on. He needed and deserved to know why I act the way I do. If he was going to be open with me, I needed to be honest as well. Stepping out of the warm shower, I wrapped his towel around myself and looked at the bags under my eyes in the mirror. If he had left me at his house, I figured he wouldn’t mind me washing my ass. My hair dripped down my back as I walked quietly back to his bedroom. I hoped I wasn’t leaving a mess down the long hallway to his bedroom. Back inside his room, I rubbed the cocoa butter lotion all over my wet brown skin, scared he’d catch me sitting naked on his bed, and excited at the same time. I heard footsteps coming up the stairs and continued doing what I was doing. Yeah, I was nervous, but I was going to do what Shauna suggested. Throw it at him and see if he could catch.
“Got damn, what you doing, girl?” He stood in the doorway watching me take my time to rub the lotion up my leg and thigh. His mouth was hanging open and the basketball shorts he had on, were tented at the crotch. “I need to talk to you real quick.” He started talking, still staring and trying not to touch the print in his pants that grew as I rubbed the lotion onto my breasts. I walked over to him and sat him on the bed, climbing on top of him. “Talk later.” I put my hand down his shorts before he could resist and grabbed the long heavy snake-like appendage between his legs.
“Oh, shit.” His rough hands trailed up my thick, smooth, brown thighs and settled on my plump ass. “C’mere.” He grabbed the back of my head, roughly pulling my lips to his and kissing me. I pulled his soft bottom lip into my mouth, sucking and nibbling on it while his hands wandered across my entire body, settling on my breasts. He sat up, and pulled me close enough to his body that I could feel his throbbing dick against my ass. His lips closed around my hard nipple as he roughly sucked and pulled it into his mouth, swirling his tongue around the areola. “Mmmm,” I moaned holding the back of his head with one hand and rubbing my nipple around his lips with the other. Moving on to the other one I felt him slide his shorts down. As he flipped me over on my back.
“Open them legs!” He demanded, spreading my thighs and placing them on his muscular shoulders. My stomach fluttered in anticipation as his tongue made a beeline for my neatly trimmed mound. Kenyon kissed the outer lips softly at first and then with more force, sticking his tongue between the inner lips, making soft smacking sounds. My clit throbbed, begging him to taste.
“Mmm,” I moaned grabbing his head and pushing his face deeper into my pussy. I felt a tingling feeling build up before I erupted all over his neatly trimmed goatee. Feeling flushed and embarrassed, my thighs closed tightly around his face. Prying himself from between my legs, he leaned in.
“So sweet,” Kenyon mumbled, kissing my lips, forcing me to taste myself. I felt a puddle forming under me, thinking about how good he would feel deep off inside of me. He leaned over my naked body analyzing me. “So fucking sexy.” I was ready for him to stroke my body to sleep, but he took his time positioning himself above me and spreading my thighs as far as they would go. I was anxious as he entered me with one fluid motion. Kenyon’s stroke game was unlike anything I ever felt before. I don’t know why, but every stroke made me feel like I was in a movie and violins were playing. He touched the rumored bottom and had me gushing all over the bed sheets. My breasts bounced up and down in slow circles as he beat away in my sugary walls. He slowed down and suckled them softly, nibbling carefully before I felt him tense up, “Ughhhhhh.” I groaned out loud at the same time he did. My pussy muscles contracted around his shaft, squeezing him dry.
***
Kenyon
Normally, I would’ve worn a condom, but everything happened so fast, catching me off guard and fucking up my train of thought.
“So, where were you walking from when I saw you earlier?” I hoped she was telling me the truth.
“The precinct.” I jumped up and looked at her.
“What were you doing there? Did they ask you anything about me?” She scooted closer to me.
“No. They basically accused me of killing one of my roommates.” Roommates? I knew she wasn’t in college yet, even though she did graduate early. “Yeah, Lexi. We had always fought, but that didn’t mean I wanted her to die. Just like TaNeeka.” There was an awkward silence at the mention of her name.
“Are you scared of me?” I had to ask. Ashanti lifted her head up from my chest and
stared me deep in my eyes.
“Not anymore.”
I rubbed my fingers through her hair with nothing else to say.
“Did you do it?” She sat up and looked at me with her legs crossed Indian-style. My eyes roamed all over her body. I knew she was talking about TaNeeka, but I had put her so far back in my mind, the only thing that meant anything to me right now was the chocolate dipped goddess in front of me, and my money. I needed to know who she was though. I needed her to open up more than her legs for me.
“No, I found out two days ago.”
“Oh.” She laid her head back on my chest. “I had a dream about her. TaNeeka, I mean.” Why would she be having dreams about a female whose ass she’d kicked a few hours before she was found dead? I didn’t know what a dream had to do with anything but I was listening.
“What happened? In your dream, what did you see?” She fiddled with the drawstring on my basketball shorts.
“I don’t remember, but she was dead and I knew it had nothing to do with you.” I sat up and looked at her. I knew it was a silly ass question to ask, but I couldn’t help it.
“Did you see her get killed in your dream or was she already dead?”
“She was already dead, but she was holding her phone. I didn’t see the number, but I saw your picture.” I don’t know what kind of shit she was pulling, but it wasn’t funny.
“Wow.” I jumped up and checked my phone and scrolled down my call log for three minutes until I saw TaNeeka’s name. When I pressed the button for details, I couldn’t believe it. There was a missed call from her on March 21st at 2:35am.
Chapter Eleven
Ashanti
Kenyon sat up in bed, talking on the phone to Carter while I went to sleep and drifted into a fuzzy dream.
“Put this on.” Kenyon handed me a big dry cleaners bag and a wash cloth. “Go take your shower so we can go.” I watched him pick up the duffle bag and check it. Once he was satisfied, he brushed past me to wash himself off at the sink. My cell phone went off this time signaling a call from Shauna, but before I could answer, Kenyon snatched it up and threw it in the toilet.
