Chapter 5 #2
I chuckled as she continued to send me messages about her experience. It might have been wrong, but I was glad to know she had such a bad experience. Maybe it would be easier than I thought to get her away from Issac.
Cocoa Puffs: Are you coming over tonight? I miss my friend. It feels like I haven’t seen you in forever, even though it’s only been a few days.
Me: I can come if you want me to.
Cocoa Puffs: You don’t miss me?
My face frowned in confusion as I replied to her.
Me: Why would you say that?
Cocoa Puffs: You said if I want you to. Do you not want to spend time with me or something?
Me: I’ll meet you at the house.
Texting wasn’t really my thing, and it was clear we weren’t understanding each other.
I needed to make a couple of stops before I headed to her house so it would give me time to think about what I would say.
Lyric sent me a text to let me know that she was spending the night with one of her friends and would be home in the morning.
She asked for some money so they could get a pizza and some wings, so I told her I would drop it off before I headed to Cocoa’s house.
“I see your ass is over there grinnin’ again. You must have talked to your girl.”
“Bruh, fuck you. I’m about to head out of here. Naiari wants me to slide through, and Lyric needs some money. I’ll get up with you tomorrow.” We slapped hands, doing our personal handshake.
“Look at you. Happy as hell to go see your woman. I ain’t mad at you. Just make sure you do what I said. Don’t wait too long and get your heart snatched from under you.”
“That ain’t gon’ happen. I’m gonna lock her down. No more games.”
“Real shit. Make sure you hit me up tomorrow ’cause I need to know what happened.
” I flipped the bird to him as I headed up the stairs of his basement.
Logic lived with his momma, grandma, and a few other family members.
Since there were so many people in the house, he slept in the basement on a pull-out bed.
I asked if he planned to move out once he got his money up, but Logic wasn’t ready yet.
I guess I couldn’t blame him, because his family was much closer than mine.
They had cookouts and random Sunday dinners whenever they were in the mood.
His momma loved to party and kick it with her friends, but she made sure to keep food in the house and pay the bills.
Jamilla had Logic when she was thirteen, so the two of them were basically raised together.
My nerves were starting to get the best of me, and I had to laugh because I had never been this way before. There was no question as to whether or not Naiari loved me, but I still couldn’t predict how things would go. Either way, I planned to lay it all on the table tonight.
A part of me felt bad because I hadn’t planned this out. There was no candlelight dinner or rose petals on the floor. All I had was my heart and my words. I prayed it would be enough for her as I took a deep breath and knocked on the door.
“Umm, when did you start knocking? Are you sick or something?” Naiari stood back to let me in, but her beauty distracted me.
My Cocoa. Damn, she was perfect. Loose curls framed her face, and I couldn’t take my eyes off her perfect smile.
She had small dimples in her cheeks, but you could only see them when she smiled.
“You’re starting to scare me. Why are you staring at me like this? You’re acting like I’ve been gone for months.” Naiari giggled, stepping into my space. When her hands rested on my chest, I wrapped my hands around her wrist before bringing them to my lips.
My eyes were locked on her, taking notice of the way she squirmed from my touch. I took a deep breath before I broke our connection. My dick was reacting, and that wasn’t what this was about.
“You wore that to church?” I asked, examining her outfit. She looked cute in her pink and green maxi dress, and her cleavage was covered.
“Why did you say it like that? You don’t like it?” Cocoa twirled in a circle, allowing me to see her from every angle. Her booty bounced as she turned, and I instantly got upset.
“It’s cute, but your booty fat as fuck. I’m sure a couple of those deacons were staring when you gave your offering.” I teased her. Truthfully, she looked amazing, and it made me jealous to see her dressed up for someone else.
“You get on my nerves. Bring your butt in this house.” I followed behind, enjoying the view from back there.
Damn. My flesh took over as I began to think about the way her ass would look when I hit it from the back.
I shook my head to clear it of those thoughts, but nothing changed.
I didn’t know if it was because I missed her or because it had been a while since I had sex.
Either way, I needed to get my mind right.
“Come sit next to me. I feel like I haven’t seen you in so long.
What have you been up to? I noticed you’ve been running the streets a lot more than normal.
You barely have time for me because you’re out all night selling dope and robbin’ niggas.
Is this really what you want to do with your life?
” Her pretty face was furrowed as her eyes pierced through mine.
“Damn, I just walked through the door, and you’re already giving me the third degree,” I joked, but she barely cracked a smile.
“I apologize for my absence, but I’m tryna get my shit together.
The money has been coming in quicker than I can keep up.
It’s the first week of the month, which means all the fiends are cashing their SSI and disability checks.
I can’t pass up on this kind of money right now.
” Naiari glared at me with disappointment, which was something I wasn’t used to.
“I don’t like this. I’ve been holding my tongue because I understand what you have going on. You’re doing the best you can to provide for you and Lyric, and I would never want to get in the way of that.”
“But?”
“But this can’t be your endgame. The goal has always been for us to get our education and then plan out the rest of our lives.
If you’re going to do this, then you are going to have to find a way to balance it all.
I know you don’t want to go to college, but your music is still an option.
There are people with less talent than you making it in the rap game.
I know for a fact, if you were to take your music seriously, you could be signed to a major label within a year. ”
I grinned, seeing her boss up on me. Usually, I was the one on her ass about the future, but I appreciated the fact that she cared so much about me to check me about it.
“I promise I will. I’ve already been putting my plan in motion.”
“Good. Now, tell me what you’ve been up to. Catch me up on your world.” She moved closer to me so that her head rested on my shoulder.
“There really isn’t much to tell. I’ve been hustlin’ and tryna get stuff together for when I move.
Now that I have my own whip, I can move how I want and make more money.
I went to the studio a few times to make some beats and record a couple of songs.
The dude who owns the studio is an up-and-coming rapper, and he told me that my sound was raw and unique.
He was fucking with the songs I recorded and even asked me to do a feature on his new album.
Those are the only things I’m worried about right now. ”
“I’m proud of you, best friend. You may be young, but it doesn’t stop you from taking care of business.
I can’t wait until you finally stop playing and start taking your music seriously.
There’s no doubt in my mind that you’re gonna become someone great in life, and I’ll be right there cheering you on. ”
Her confidence in me made me love her even more because she could see greatness in me while I only saw struggle. She made me want to be better for her and myself.
“Tell me about your day with the youth pastor,” I said with a smirk. Naiari rolled her eyes, taking a deep breath before she answered my question.
“Issac told me the service was split up into two parts, but he never mentioned that they would last so long. I feel kind of bad because I yawned a few times during the service, and he noticed. I think that’s the end of our little romance,” she replied solemnly.
“I doubt he would end things because you yawned a few times. You aren’t used to being in church. You’ll get adjusted once the two of you start spending more time together.” My response was to test the waters concerning her feelings. I needed to know where her head was at.
“That’s just it. I don’t want to get used to it.
Don’t get me wrong, I love that Issac is strong in his faith, but it’s too much for me.
They go to church three to four times a week and sometimes twice on Sundays.
He barely has any time to spend with me because if he isn’t at the church, he has to do some type of work in the church.
I wouldn’t mind if it were only on Sundays, but it’s a bit excessive.
The only reason he invited me to the service was that we haven’t been able to spend much time together. ”
“You don’t want to be with him because he goes to church too much?” I tried to contain my laughter, but it was harder than I thought it would be.
“It’s not funny, Keys,” she whined, hitting me in the chest.
“Yes, it is. I thought all women wanted a church-going man, and now you’re telling me it’s too much for you. Damn shame. It sounds to me like you need to be sprinkled with some holy water.” My body shook with laughter, which pissed her off even more.
“I need a new best friend. I’m trying to open up to you, and you’re making jokes.” Cocoa folded her arms with her lips poked out. My eyes locked on how juicy they looked, covered in the pink lip gloss she wore.