Chapter 11
Arris
I shifted, took a half step back, and sent off the basketball in my hand.
I watched it sink into the net and clapped as I circled to make sure my eyes were still on the ball.
Me, Darryl, and some of the guys had been recruited to help with the annual street ball tournament, so we were really just fucking around at this point with the actual basketball players.
The street ball tournament was in Highland Park, where scouts showed up and scholarships were awarded.
Our team, the D-Ville Ballerz, was coached by Jay-Roc and honestly them niggas weren’t half bad.
Our biggest competition was probably going to be the Bedford Boys, but I was confident we were going to take the win.
Shit. As soon as betting opened, I would throw a few grand in the ring.
With Tyriq and Yaakov playing under our flag, we were damn near a fucking guaranteed win in my opinion.
I turned and tried to block Darryl but he barreled into me and I pushed him away with one hand before turning around and shooting a three. I shook my head and cursed as I missed.
“Tighten up,” Darryl teased.
“Yeah. Alright, lil nigga.” I waved him off and moved to focus as the other team pushed back toward our side of the court.
The game went on for another thirty minutes before we called it. My team just barely lost and we laughed about it as we all drank water and just chopped shit up.
When I finished, I headed straight home so I could shower and get ready for a branding we had scheduled. We didn’t have a whole bunch of niggas being branded tonight but I tried to make every one we had. I felt like it was the least I could do after everything D-Ville had done for me.
Our brands were sacred and a time of branding was a time of welcoming and understanding that couldn’t be explained to anyone else.
Getting branded was monumental and usually niggas had parties and shit the night they got their brand, but honestly, I wasn’t trying to do all that. I went with some of the D-Ville niggas to the liquor store anyway and grabbed a few bottles.
I had my head down and was looking at a text from Dyani’s fine ass when someone bumped into me. I changed the hold I had on the bottle in my hand, grabbing it by the neck while I looked a Bedford Boy up and down.
Them niggas were always trying to play on somebody’s top and the disrespect was insane and wouldn’t be tolerated.
“Ay, bitch. Watch where the fuck you going!” I barked.
“Nigga, fuck you! You need to watch where the fuck you’re going!” he yelled back.
“Oh. Word? What’s up, then? You trying to get some shit off your chest?” I took steps toward him.
“What’s up?” He held his hands up. “What’s up?”
The liquor store’s door opened and the D-Ville boys I was with stepped outside. I looked over at where two cars’ doors flew open and men filed out, flags in their hands and tucked in their pockets signifying they were Bedford Boys.
Shit was about to get real.
I adjusted the hold on my liquor bottle.
Words didn’t even need to be exchanged. As soon as dude took a step toward me, I clocked him upside his mothafuckin’ head with my bottle and punched his ass out immediately.
D-Ville and Bedford Boys both ran up to fight.
It became a brawl in seconds. I went from punching dude who had stepped to me to any nigga waving a green flag.
I damn near perfected my left hook when I’d been fighting every fucking weekend after being newly jumped in, so I was laying niggas down.
Punches flew. A few people screamed to break things up. Niggas hit the ground around me.
I gritted my teeth when I threw my punch a little bit too close to my body and felt my fist crack against the dude's jaw and teeth instead of the side of his head.
I immediately knew my hand was going to be fucked up.
That pissed me off more and I maneuvered around and elbowed him in his stomach.
When he hunched over, I clocked him behind his head.
“Ay!” A gunshot went off and several men ran.
I lifted my hands and looked over at the liquor store owner who didn’t look amused by our fighting. He had the gun pointed in the air but he lowered it slowly. He looked around at the group of us.
“I don’t want none of that dumb shit going on out here!” he yelled.
“Yeah, alright. We hear you.”
“I’m serious, Arris. Take that shit somewhere else.”
“I said alright, man.” I rubbed my thumb along my lip and looked at the blood gathered there. “Run me for another bottle though,” I added.
He looked between the two groups and shook his head.
“I’ll bring it back out to you, and when I do, there better not be any fighting going on.”
“I hear you.”
One of the Bedford Boys spit on the ground. “This shit ain’t over.”
“Never is, bitch,” I countered.
A few guys from both sides headed out.
“Them niggas always want to start some shit,” Darryl grumbled.
“You would think they’d get tired of getting their asses handed to them.” I collected my new bottle from the owner when he stuck his hand out of the door and gave a quick nod in his direction.
As soon as he headed back inside fully, I handed the bottle over to Darryl.
He looked from me to the bottle, back and forth.
“What’s up?”
“Them niggas fucked up my vibe. I’m taking my ass home. Just take the bottle to the gang and let them know I’m proud of them lil niggas.”
“You’re full of shit.” Darryl laughed.
I shrugged but couldn’t stop myself from laughing with him because he was right. I hadn’t been feeling the party shit from the beginning, but now that I had a hurt hand and a busted lip, all I wanted was to be beneath one of my women.
I wasn’t going to tell Darryl that shit though.
“Nigga, what’s up with you for real?” Darryl asked.
I shrugged and walked toward the parking lot. Darryl walked beside me.
I wanted to tell him I wanted to have my head laid on his sister’s chest in the next twenty minutes, but Dyani had made it clear she wasn’t down with telling Darryl what we had going on.
I would respect that. Shit with us was new, and with it being me, Dyani, and Jayme all figuring it out, shit was liable to be more complicated.
The last thing I wanted to do was add shit to her plate when she already had her own crazy shit going on mentally.
I admitted a half truth. “Me and Jaybird are trying shit out again.”
“For real?” Darryl looked at me and a huge grin crossed his face. He gave me two quick claps. “Congratulations, nigga. I’m fucking with that. Make that family shit work if you can.”
“We’ll see.” I nudged him lightly with my elbow. “But honestly, I just want to be up under her tonight instead of partying.”
“I respect that. Lay up with your girl and keep yo’ ignorant ass out these streets then.”
“You feel me.” I dapped Darryl up and we split up to hop in our separate cars.
I meant that shit I’d told Darryl. I’d just spoken to Jayme and Dyani a few days ago about exploring our relationships, so shit was still new for all of us. But damn, I couldn’t lie, I was serious about just wanting to be with one of them right about now.
I called Jayme immediately.
She answered after the third ring. “Hello?”
“What’s up?” I pulled out of the parking lot and headed toward her apartment. “Is Blake asleep?”
“Yeah. Why? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I just want to come sit up in your face,” I admitted.
“Oh yeah?”
“Fucking right.” I shifted in my seat, smiling.
“I’ll wait up for you then.”
“You were about to go to sleep?”
“I’ll wait up for you,” Jayme repeated. “Don’t keep me waiting please.”
“Never that, Jaybird.”
She giggled. “Bye, Arris.”
“Bye, ma.”
I drove through the city straight to her spot.
I kept clothes in my trunk in case what I was wearing ever got blood or anything else on it, so I grabbed my bag and let myself in with my key.
I didn’t bother turning on the light. I just walked straight to the far hall.
I peeked in on Blake then made my way to the main bedroom.
Jayme was laid on her side, her Kindle in hand. She looked over at me. Her eyebrows fiddled together. She sat up immediately.
“Arris—”
I cut her off. “I know.”
“Bedford Boys?” She pushed up and I nodded.
“Yeah.”
“Did you win?” she asked.
“I didn’t go down.”
She grinned. “I’m proud of you.”
I chuckled and shook my head.
“Thanks.” I exhaled. “I definitely fucked up my knuckle though.” I shook my hand again and briefly looked down at it. “You gon’ take care of it after I shower?”
“Yeah. I can do that.”
“A’ight. Cool.”
I sighed and stretched as I made my way to the bathroom. I took a short, hot shower and did a double take when I opened the shower curtain and saw Jayme seated on the toilet seat, one leg tucked beneath her body.
We didn’t even need to exchange words. I climbed out. She handed me a towel. I dried my body and wrapped it around my waist, then leaned against the counter while she patched up my lip and hand.
I grinned while I watched her dab at my knuckles.
I couldn’t count the number of times she had to patch me up when I’d first started repping D-Ville.
I’d come back with bruises and dried blood on me all the time.
She never asked questions. She always just patched me up and kept shit going as usual.
She’d always been like that, my little ride or die.
“Why are you smiling like that?” She tossed the cotton swabs she’d used in the trash and looked up at me.
“I missed this.” I put my hands on her hips and yanked her in.
“Getting your ass whooped?” she joked.
“Nah. Having a home base with you.” I looked down into her pretty ass face as a little smile crossed it.
“I missed coming home to you and having you patch me up and I don’t know.
” I shrugged. “It’s cool having somewhere soft to land after dealing with stupid shit, and after we split, I didn’t really have that anymore. ”
“Arris, you could have landed here anytime you needed to.”