6. Izael & Talia
IZAEL & TALIA
IZAEL:
“Put a little sugar in there to cut back on the acidity of the tomato paste,” Talia instructed.
I smirked. “You think because your little ass went to cooking school you know more than a nigga, huh?”
“That didn’t start with cooking school,” she teased.
I grabbed the dish towel, popped it, and hit her on her ass.
“Zae!” she shrieked, running to the other side of the kitchen.
“You’d better watch that fly-ass tongue.”
“And if I don’t?” she sassed with her hands on her hips.
I bit my bottom lip to prevent myself from saying what I wanted to say. I was about to tell her I was gonna put something in it to shut her ass up, but I didn’t want them problems.
“Don’t make me call your mama.”
“Really, Zae? I’m a grown-ass woman.”
“A’ight, grown-ass woman. I see how y’all get when Mama Callaway speaks.”
“You too. Don’t front like she don’t have you scared.”
“A nigga ain’t ever denied that shit. Mama C gets mad respect from me.”
“How’s business coming along?” Talia asked.
“Business is business. I mean, one of my restaurants is facing challenges, but I’m not trying to focus on that shit right now. I just need to get in a good head space.”
“I hear you,” she stated and took her place beside me.
“Here, just a little more sugar.”
“You tryna give a nigga diabetes and shit.”
“No. I’m trying to help your old ass not have heartburn tonight. You know that you suffer from that shit.”
“Has nothing to do with age, baby girl. It’s always been a problem for me.”
“And old age surely can’t help.”
“You act like you’re twenty years younger than me or something.”
“Six years is light years from the retirement home, which is where you’re heading,” Talia stated, laughing.
I popped her on the thigh again with the dish towel. She ran to the sink, scooped some dishwater out, and flung it at me.
“Oh, that’s what we’re on now?”
I scooped a handful of sugar and flung it at her.
“Izael!” She shrieked, ran into the pantry, and grabbed a soda. As she shook it up, I shook my head.
“Ya li’l ass had better not do that shit, Chè,” I warned.
She lifted an eyebrow and twisted her lips as she shook the soda harder.
I grabbed the leftover tomato sauce in the large can, and the minute she sprayed me with that soda, I flung the tomato sauce at her. Tomato sauce went everywhere, including on her.
“I’m gonna kill you!” she screamed as she chased me around the island.
I grabbed the sprayer from the sink and turned it on her. I laughed as her little ass sputtered and threw her hands up as she tried to ward off the water.
“Uncle! Uncle! Uncle!” she shouted repeatedly.
I turned the water off and proceeded to clean the kitchen as she headed to the refrigerator. I had just finished soaping up the dishcloth when she pulled my shorts and underwear away from my ass and dropped a handful of ice cubes down them.
“Shit! Talia, I’m ’bout to fuck ya li’l ass up!” I threatened as I hopped around the kitchen like a frog from one lily pad to the next, trying to shake that shit out of my underwear. By the time I finished, she made a mad dash from the kitchen and headed for her bedroom.
I pushed the door open just as she attempted to close it, and Talia shrieked and ran for the bathroom. I grabbed her little ass up and threw her on the bed.
“Izael!”
I realized too late that I was lying on top of her. Her body went still, and her eyes widened. The loud beat of our hearts punctuated the intense moment as we attempted to calm down from the adrenaline and the passion that soared through us.
I held her wrists pinned to the bed over her head. I was vaguely aware of our chests heaving up and down, and I was positioned between her legs. My dick was nestled between her thighs. Our lips were mere inches apart, and she huffed out a breath.
“Izael.” There was a soft plea in her voice.
It was just enough to bring me back to my senses. Talia must have realized I was about to fuck up, and she didn’t want that. She didn’t see me the way that I saw her. It was all good. I didn’t expect the feelings to be reciprocated anyway.
“Quit playing so damn much, li’l hardheaded ass girl.” I pushed up off her body. Talia sat up and turned away from me. “Go get in the shower while I clean the kitchen, a’ight?”
She nodded, and I rushed out of her room. What the fuck was I about to do just then? I busied myself with cleaning the kitchen and setting the pasta sauce aside. I was glad we had it on simmer so it didn’t burn.
When I finished, I headed to my room to shower. I had managed to avoid her the last week thanks to managing my three restaurants and checking on the four I invested in along with my four Airbnbs. It was just easier to stay away from her place than to tempt myself the way that I had been these last couple of weeks that I had been staying here.
It was hard as hell not to touch her the way that I wanted to. It was really difficult not to kiss her when I had to sit still and inhale her brown sugar and maple scent.
When Talia fell her ass asleep with only a quarter of the movie left to watch, my ass had to pray to will my dick down because she had fallen asleep with her face in my lap. A man could only be tempted so much before he gave in, and I knew that fucking around with my best friend’s little sister was bad news for us both.
I wasn’t scared of Tahj, but I had no doubt that he would try to fuck me up over her, and I couldn’t blame him. Talia had always been a good girl. Sweet, smart, funny, and sassy as hell. She was innocent and needed the protection of the men in her life. Not because she couldn’t protect herself. She was definitely an independent businesswoman who ran some sort of online journal, but she was na?ve when it came to the vultures in the world.
When I stepped out of my bedroom after I finished showering, I could hear her singing in her shower, and I wanted nothing more than to join her. I headed back into the kitchen to finish our dinner.
I turned on the sound system and put on a playlist that Talia had been listening to as I finished cooking. Giveon’s “Make You Mine” played, and I sang along until the doorbell rang.
I was curious about who it could be as I walked to the door. Talia hadn’t had any visitors since I had been here aside from Eve, her best friend, and Anneka, her PA and childhood friend.
I looked out the peephole and smirked. I shot off a text on my phone.
ME:
This nigga showed up again.
His response was immediate.
TC:
Who?
ME:
That fuck nigga for your sister.
TC:
Where she at?
ME:
In the shower.
TC:
Otw.
ME:
Bet! Meet me in the basement.
“One second,” I called out before I headed to my room.
I pulled the box from the closet, removed the heat, and tucked it away before I headed back to the door. Talia was still singing her ass off. That shit worked in my favor. I realized she hadn’t jumped in the shower immediately like I had when I left her room. That was all good. I knew her ass took long showers, but I doubted if I had much time to get rid of this nigga before she finished. I returned to the living room, unlocked the door, and slipped out into the hallway before I closed the door behind me.
“Where’s Talia?”
“You worried about the wrong damn thang. I thought I told ya simp ass when you called the last time to stay the fuck away.”
“Listen, you don’t know me like that. So don’t come at me like that.”
“Nigga, you fucking around with my girl. The fuck you mean don’t come at you like that?” I asked, stepping up to him.
He stood firm and tried to mug the shit out of me. I eyed him up and down and chuckled.
“I ain’t out here to play bitch games with you. I’m out here to tell ya punk ass one final time to stop fucking around with my girl, or I’ma fuck around and catch a case.”
“Do what you gotta do, nigga!” He challenged, squaring off and putting his fists up.
I chuckled again, removed my piece from the back of my sweats, and shoved it under his chin.
“Nigga, do I look like I play fuck boy games? You think I’m muthafuckin’ playing with ya bitch ass?”
His nostrils flared, and his chest heaved up and down as he curled his lips inward.
“You better plan on using that shit,” he declared with a trembling voice.
Something went cold inside of me. I didn’t go around bragging or telling folks my business, but this wasn’t the first time I had used a gun, and it damn sure wouldn’t be the last time. I’d had to silence a couple of muthafuckas in the past who tried me.
The first nigga I silenced was six years ago. I was working late one night when someone broke into my office at the restaurant. I hadn’t been to the bank and made my deposits. When he pulled his gun on me, I made sure I pulled my trigger first before he had a chance. I dropped his ass right there, and my attorney claimed self-defense. I never spent a night in jail, and charges were never pressed against me.
The second time I killed a nigga, I made sure to have that shit cleaned up, and the law never had to get involved. So, while I didn’t relish doing the shit, I would do whatever I needed to do. I wasn’t afraid, and I wasn’t worried about bodying this nigga and getting that shit cleaned up.
But the reality was it was too messy to do it right in front of her door. Talia or her neighbors could walk out at any moment. I wasn’t trying to bring that type of heat down on her.
“I ain’t got no problem using this shit on you. I also don’t doubt that once I do, your body will disappear, and nothing will come back to me. You think I’m playing, nigga? Fuck around and find out.
“I’m giving your ass to the count of five to walk your monkey ass up out of here and head back to the stairs and out of this building. I swear the next time I catch you up in here or anywhere else she is, you might as well get ready to be getting casket fresh because your mama gonna be buying a suit.”
“Only reason I’m here is because she invited me over. She said we needed to talk about some things.”
I stared at him for several seconds. A part of me knew his ass was lying, but I also knew that she refused to change her number. Why was she still accepting his calls? Had she told him to come by? After all, she hadn’t expected me home as early as I had been.
It hadn’t been too long since I returned from the office. By the time I got here, Talia was already in her room talking on the phone to somebody. But I was gonna call this nigga’s bluff rather than believe that she would do some stupid shit like that.
“Lying ass nigga. You think I believe that shit?”
“Don’t matter what you believe. You can ask her for yourself.”
“Walk down these muthafuckin’ steps,” I ordered through clenched teeth.
He walked down the steps, but just before we cleared the exit, I made him turn left to go to the basement level. Every apartment came with a washer and dryer hookup, but they also had a laundry room for those who didn’t have a washer and dryer.
The laundry room in this building was seldom used. We stopped just outside of the laundry room door where I knew there were no cameras.
“You wanna pop that shit you was talking again, nigga?”
He thrust his chin out. “You can run me up outta here, but that ain’t gone stop her from missing my tongue in her pussy and my dick in her ass. Remember that when you’re fucking her. It’s me she’s thinking about.”
I laughed and turned to walk away from him. Just as his ass got confident, I turned back around and busted him in his shit with my gun. He staggered backward, and I beat that nigga like he stole something. I felt a pair of hands pull me back.
“Aye, nigga. Chill. You ’bout to murk this nigga,” Tahj stated in a serious tone.
“I’on give a fuck!” I roared.
“Aye. Chill ya ass out. This my sister’s shit we up in,” Tahj reminded, mugging me.
His words brought me back to reality like a cold glass of iced water tossed on me. I had let that nigga’s taunts get to me, and I knew better than that shit. Being around Talia was fucking me up, and I was quickly losing my cool. There was no way I would ever be able to explain that shit to Tahj. I glanced at Ricky’s ass lying on the floor again.
“Tired of that nigga’s disrespect. I don’t want him to fuck around and do some shit to her. He’s on that old stalker shit, T,” I lied.
“Yeah, nigga. I know.” He put his phone to his ear.
“Who you calling?”
“Them boys to come out here and clean this shit up. Send his ass home where he belongs,” he informed as he stepped away.
TALIA:
I toweled my body off and applied lotion and oil as I sang Snoh Aalegra’s “I Want You Around.”
Izael had been MIA lately, working longer days and then heading off to house hunt. I hadn’t seen him as often as I would have liked because he was usually gone when I dragged myself out of bed at eight or nine to get my morning coffee before I sat down at my laptop and plugged away with my writing.
My blog, T’s Tasty Temptations , was getting more hits than usual lately as the nominations for the James Beard award had been listed. People wanted to know what I had to say about several of the nominees, and I was using it to my advantage.
As a former sous chef at the Atlanta restaurant Pearls & Swine, I leveraged that knowledge in my side hustle as a professional foodie and restaurant critic. When I left Atlanta after I learned about Ricky and Roshanda, I left with minimal regret.
I enjoyed my career, but I had been at the restaurant since I’d done my six-week externship at the end of my academic career at Archambeau Culinary Institute. I loved the staff, but it was time for a change anyway.
I hadn’t wanted to leave Chef Caesar in a bind, so although I had left right after seeing Roshanda and Ricky together, I had driven back up there three days later for my next scheduled shift. I stayed in a hotel for the two weeks it took for him and me to train my replacement.
After I showered, I called Eve to chat with her for a while. I wanted to space things out between Izael and me after that heated moment on my bed.
We started with a playful food fight in the kitchen, but in my bedroom, it turned into something more. I wanted Izael to kiss me, and I could feel his erection between my thighs. But I knew men got horny off anything, and I didn’t want to be Izael’s anything.
An hour had passed before I was ready to go back out and face him. I was ready to talk about what was going on between us. I couldn’t keep running from it. I had just pulled on the cornflower blue crop top of my loungewear when I heard angry voices coming from my living room.
I frowned, wondering what was going on as I quickly grabbed the high-waisted drawstring pants and slid into them. If it was only Izael out there, I might have walked out as I was, but considering there was another voice, I grabbed the long cardigan and pulled it over myself to cover up. After slipping my feet into my shoes, I pulled my bedroom door open, stepped into the hallway, and made it quickly to the living room.
“…have to put a bullet in that ass,” Izael was saying when I walked into the living room.
I was shocked to see Tahj.
“Aye, Chè, wassup with you and that bitch ass nigga Ricky?”
“First of all, good evening, Tahj. How are you? I’m fine, or at least I was before my rude ass brother busted up into my apartment talking crazy out the side of his neck.”
Tahj rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. He and Izael were standing side by side, and Izael was two inches taller than Tahj. My brother had that same bushy hair that I did that was hard to tame, but he’d long ago loc’d his up. He wore them pulled into a low ponytail, and they hung to the middle of his back. Diamond earrings sparkled in his ears, and they matched the bling in his mouth whenever he chose to smile, which was rare.
Tahj lifted one thick, bushy eyebrow that looked like mine did before I started waxing. My brother was thick like I’d been growing up, but his body was mostly muscled now with the exception of a little bit of a gut.
“I ain’t here to play with you, Chè.”
“I’m not here to play with you either, Tahj. What the hell is going on?”
“Ya ex popped up over here again, that’s what’s going on. Zae said he’d had a phone conversation with him before, but now, he’s back at your door, and he claims you called him over here for a little talk.”
I frowned. “I didn’t invite him over here! I haven’t even spoken with him since Zae answered my phone that day.”
“Then why does he feel so comfortable coming over here, Chè?” Tahj asked.
“I don’t know! I guess he was probably trying to…”
My gaze met Izael’s, and my words trailed off. I was about to say he was probably trying to fuck with Izael and get underneath his skin, but that wouldn’t be good. Izael had pretended to be my boyfriend when he answered my phone the last time he told Ricky to stay away. He hadn’t called me since, but I guess it was too much for him to take.
With the chemistry that was popping off between Izael and me at every turn, the last thing I needed was to draw attention to that. Even if I told my brother we just said that for Ricky’s benefit, he would have his eyes on us from that moment on.
“He was just what?” Tahj questioned.
I shrugged. “Trying to get back with me, I guess. He’s been trying since I left.”
“What kinda retarded nigga you fucking with? Why he don’t understand shit, Chè?” Tahj snapped at me.
“I don’t know, Tahj. I guess it’s the same reason my big brother doesn’t understand that I can’t control other folks’ actions!” I yelled back. He sighed and sucked his teeth. “Where is he now?”
“I got rid of that nigga. What you mean where he at? Why you worried about it?” Izael questioned me, mugging the shit out of me.
I knew that he was probably wondering if I had really called Ricky over, but I hadn’t. I had no interest in conversing with him or seeing him again.
“What happened?” I asked for clarity.
“He came over here demanding to speak with you. I let him know that I wasn’t on that shit, and I gave his ass some act right,” Izael stated.
“What does that mean?”
“Don’t worry about that shit. We’re not about to let shit happen to our little sister. Ain’t that right, Zae?” my brother asked, holding his fist out to Izael to bump.
Discomfort weaved its way throughout my body because there was nothing about Izael that felt like a big brother. The slight sexual innuendos he’d been making lately and our bedroom encounter weren’t brotherly at all.
But he bumped Tahj’s fist, bobbed his head, and replied, “Ain’t shit happening to you on my watch, Chè. That nigga might as well get it through his thick skull. If he don’t, I got something for his ass.”
“What? Are you gonna beat him?” I asked.
A sneer crossed over Izael’s face as he replied. “Nah. I’ma light that nigga’s ass up.”
Izael and Tahj headed into the kitchen, grabbed a couple of beers, some chips, and nachos, and returned to the living room, where I stood, still outraged.
I widened my eyes. “Y’all can’t be going around shooting people.”
“Sometimes that’s the only language niggas understand,” Tahj replied. “Family is everything. Ain’t that right, Zae?”
Izael’s response was to lift his beer in the air, and I watched as my brother clinked his bottle against the man’s bottle whom I loved.
I watched as they plopped down on the couch and turned up the volume on a basketball game. My heart dropped as I realized there would be no conversation between Izael and me tonight. I disappeared into my bedroom to make another phone call to Eve.