Chapter 3
CHRISTIAN
“Hey, Christian. Come on in.”
I glanced around the house as Aunt Aspen said, “He’s not here. He had to go to the shop. Jacob needed his help with something.”
She chuckled as I smiled slightly. “Hey, Auntie. Good thing because I don’t feel like hearing his mouth about me being ten minutes late.”
“Oh, but you gon’ hear it, nigga,” I heard from behind me.
I rolled my eyes, realizing my moment of relief was short-lived. “Good morning, Unc,” I said under my breath.
I immediately went to where their unit was inside the house to clean it. Surprisingly, he didn’t follow me. Hopefully that meant he was only home for a little while and had to leave back out. His house wasn’t getting cool because he hadn’t had his unit cleaned in years. He knew better. My pop was his A/C man for years and knew he wasn’t taking care of it like he should. Nigga would wait until the filter was damn near black before he changed it.
He was gon’ mess around and have to purchase a new unit, and I would deliver that news with a smile. “And don’t be padding that invoice! I’m gon’ check that shit when I get back!”
I started to say something, but since he was leaving, I remained quiet so that nigga could get the hell on. Had I said something, he would have been here another thirty minutes. I was tired as fuck and just wanted to get this job done so I could head to a paying customer. Jacob had called and said Kingsley was gonna help him, so I was beyond happy about that shit. King was Uncle Kenny’s son and didn’t have class today.
I didn’t fall asleep until almost six thirty. When my alarm went off at nine, my body wasn’t having that shit. Had I known Mya was gon’ say the shit she said, I would have carried my ass to sleep. Pussy came a dime a dozen. It wasn’t worth losing sleep over. I had her number. If that was all our encounter was gonna get me, I could have gotten some much-needed rest.
Once I finished cleaning the unit, I went and turned the breaker back on and cranked the unit up. Hopefully, that helped. I didn’t want to be here longer than necessary. “Aunt Aspen, I’m gonna go to my other appointment. It’s gonna take some time to cool off, even if it is working. By the time I come back, if it isn’t cooling off, then I’ll know it’s something else. It’s not leaking freon or anything, so Unc’s negligence could have cost y’all big time.”
She slightly rolled her eyes. “Okay. Thanks, Christian. I really appreciate you, baby. Don’t forget to leave the invoice for him.”
“Oh, here is the real invoice. Leave this one for him though.”
She looked at it and giggled. “Five hundred dollars for being a rude jackass? Oh, you want trouble.”
I chuckled. “Don’t I always?”
She slowly shook her head. “Between you and Jacob, I don’t know which one gives him a harder time.”
“Jacob is just like him though. Just rude for no reason at all.”
I kissed her cheek as Remy came down the stairs rubbing his eyes. I was glad I missed his bad ass. Nigga was like twelve years old now and always stayed in people’s business. Before he could even notice I was there, I got the hell out of dodge. SS was probably still asleep. That nigga partied more than we did. He was only seventeen, about to be eighteen, but looked like he was twenty-five. Old looking ass.
When I got to my truck, my phone chimed with a text. After getting inside and cranking up, I checked it to see a message from Mya. Hey. I’m not going home today. I started bleeding. SMH. I’ll be here at least until tomorrow… maybe longer.
While I almost didn’t even want to go visit her now, something was nagging at me to go anyway. She was gon’ have to tell me what was up with her though. I wanted to believe that she’d had a baby, but why wouldn’t she want to share that? She was on the labor and delivery floor. She just seemed too young for any other issues. St. Elizabeth didn’t do tubal ligations or unnecessary hysterectomies.
Who was I to question her though? I knew she was lying about why she didn’t want a relationship. A woman without trauma didn’t just one day decide she didn’t want to be with a nigga. That shit stemmed from something, whether it was her own personal hurt or having a front row seat to someone else’s. Was I willing to settle? I wanted to be in a relationship again. I supposed I was.
I texted her back. Hey. A’ight. See you later.
I took off out of the driveway and headed to China to my next customer. Before I could get there, my phone rang. When I saw Uncle Storm’s number, I chuckled and sent him to voicemail. That would piss him off more. When it chimed, letting me know he’d left a message, I clicked on it to listen to it.
“I’m gon’ fuck you up when you get back.”
That was all he said, and I couldn’t help but laugh. I was in a better mood than I thought I would be on a limited amount of sleep. Having the upper hand when I was fucking with Uncle Storm always put me in a better mood. He thrived on being a bully. When you beat him to the punch, he would be salty for days. I chuckled, thinking about it.
When I got to China, I checked the address to make sure I was turning into the right driveway. Before I could even kill my engine, my classmate walked out on the porch. I had no clue she was living here. I looked at the name on the ticket, and it said Hazel Carrier. I frowned slightly and got out of the truck. When she saw me, she smiled big. “Christian!”
I chuckled as my mind went down memory lane. We’d fucked under the bleachers in the gym once. That was some of the best pussy I’d gotten when I was in school. After that, we constantly found ways to fuck. Once she left for school, that was the end of our sexcapades. She was fucking around as much as I was, so neither of us expected anything to come out of it.
I grabbed my bag and made my way to the porch. I smiled at her, and she hugged me. “Damn. You still got it, baby,” she said as she scanned me from head to toe.
I did the same to her and said, “So do you. What’s been up, Courtney?”
“Not too much. I just moved back a couple of months ago. I’m renting this house from Ms. Carrier until I can find a house. What about you?”
“Shit. Went to school for H-VAC. Been doing this for nearly fourteen years. I’m part owner of the company now.”
“So you didn’t go into business with the family?”
“Well, somewhat. I have a contract with them to maintain everything, along with my cousin Jacob. I’m not in the office though.”
“Oh, okay. Well, come on in. It’s making a lot of noise, and it isn’t blowing cold air.”
I nodded and went to the stairs for the attic. I hated climbing stairs to get to the inside units. I was too tall for this shit. I was glad Uncle Storm’s unit was in a storage closet. It made it super easy to get to. Most of the older and smaller houses were built this way. When I set my bag on the floor, I turned the unit on, and sure enough, it was making a lot of racket.
I turned it back off then asked where the breaker box was. As I was about to walk outside, Courtney asked, “You still single?”
“Yeah. You?”
“Mm hmm.”
I already knew what that shit meant. She licked her lips, and I bit my bottom one as my dick came alive. “Let me get this unit fixed, and we can talk more about that.”
She nodded as I headed outside. It seemed I was trapped in this phase of fucking without purpose, and I didn’t know how to get out of it. A nigga had needs that my hand couldn’t meet. Jacking off was for little boys. That shit didn’t do anything to relieve my desire to feel a woman beneath me, sharing her heat with me. After turning off the breaker, I went back inside only to find Courtney lying on the sofa, fucking herself.
I closed the door and immediately grabbed my wallet from my pocket to pull a condom from it. I dropped my pants and strapped up with the quickness. When I got to her, I took that dildo from her and threw it to the floor. “That shit ain’t got nothing on me.”
“Mm. Remind me then.”
I hovered over her and pushed inside of her. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head while I just stared at her. There was no emotion behind what I was doing. It was like I was a robot when it came to sex these days. I stroked her hard and fast, doing my best to fuck up the way she walked. She was screaming out obscenities while she scratched up my back.
“Damn, Christian! Fuck! You’ve… gotten better!”
I bit my bottom lip. I hadn’t fucked Courtney since I was eighteen years old. I was hoping I would have gotten better within sixteen years. Her pussy was still good too. It was hot and sloppy wet. “Mm. Yo’ shit good too,” I said as I slammed into her.
My balls were hitting against her, and all that could be heard was our pants and our skin slapping together. That shit was a turn on in itself. I loved that clapping sound. “Oh fuck!” I yelled as her pussy gripped me.
“I’m cumming! Shit!” she yelled.
I glanced down at the creamy goodness that was all over my dick and couldn’t stop myself from erupting. I let my dick marinate for a minute or two then pulled out. I needed that shit to take the edge off. After standing and pulling my pants up, I said, “I guess I better check the A/C now.”
She giggled and went to wash up while I did what I was being paid to do.
“You better be glad this shit working now.”
“Naw, Unc. You better be glad this shit working now. A new unit was gon’ fuck your pockets without lube.”
I chuckled as he side-eyed me. Hell, I was glad it was working now. That was less work for me. “Now, you need to keep these filters changed in a reasonable amount of time so all that dirt and dust don’t get in your unit. How long it lasts depends on you. I mean… damage could already be done though. You been having this house for over twenty years now. You got insurance on your appliances and stuff?”
“Naw. I don’t need that. If I didn’t have the money to fix shit as it happened, then I would. That’s a waste of money for a nigga like me.”
I slightly rolled my eyes as I prepared to leave. Before I could get out of the door though, he asked, “So you tryna holla at the lady at the hospital?”
“Well, I was. She was upfront with me about not looking to be in a relationship right now. I might still talk to her though. She seemed cool.”
“In other words, you might still fuck her.”
“Man, she just had surgery. I can’t fuck her anyway.”
“Mm hmm. Eventually, you will. She gotta heal. My question though is, are you thinking you can change her mind? That’s a mistake if you think you can. That would be the start of some toxic shit.”
“I didn’t think about it that way. I just figured I’d get to know her and let her get to know me. Who knows? Maybe she will change her mind. I’m not going into it expecting her to, though.”
“Be sure of that. I think you ought to just leave her ass where she at.”
“Did you do that with Aunt Aspen when she told you she was engaged?”
He frowned as he stared at me. When a smirk appeared on my face, he shoved me in the head. “Who even told you about that? You were too young to be in grown folks’ business back then.”
“Don’t mean I wasn’t. I know all y’all business. Bullied that woman into being with you and now she trapped.” I said, loudly, “Aunt Aspen, if you need help, just blink three times.”
Uncle Storm shoved me in the head again. “That’s yo’ ass. Clearly, yo’ mama dropped you on your head as a baby. Between you and Jacob, I don’t know which one is worse. Y’all don’t fear for your life when y’all talking to me. That means something is mentally wrong with y’all asses. Don’t mess around and let that girl fuck yo’ mind up though. I got a feeling she gon’ twist your insides up if you fuck with her.”
“Why you got that feeling?”
“I watch people. She was hurting, but I could tell by the way she was walking that she was on a mission to get back healthy. She’s confident and knows what she wants. At the same time, her soul was hurt too. I could see that in her eyes. She was staring at a nigga when I stood up. My height catches people off guard. They aren’t familiar with greatness until they see me. That’s why they can’t hide it.”
I rolled my eyes and slowly shook my head. This nigga. “Whatever, man. I gotta go. You make sure you take care of that unit instead of everybody else’s business.”
“Man, get the fuck on. When you get fucked over, I’m gon’ be the first one to say I told yo’ ass.”
I chuckled as he extended my money. I grabbed it from him and headed out. I didn’t have shit to do other than go to the hospital. Just discussing my inner workings wasn’t on my to-do list, especially not with a nigga like Storm. That nigga would take whatever you told him and use it against your ass later, whether it was in a good way or bad way. He could miss me on that. If I needed to, I would talk to Rylan or Jakari about that… maybe even KJ. My brothers understood me better than anyone. KJ was my cousin, but he was like a brother too.
I went home and showered. Courtney’s scent was all over me. That wasn’t a bad thing, but I didn’t need to keep smelling her. That was only gonna make me want to go back. After I’d gotten the unit fixed, replacing the fan in the outside unit, I got away from there. She was trying to get fucked again, but I knew I had to get back to Uncle Storm’s house. Lord forbade if I would have had to hear any more of his mouth than normal.
After making sure I looked nice, I headed to my SUV to go to the hospital. This visit would tell me what I needed to know and if I wanted to pursue anything further with Mya.