Chapter 8
Three Weeks Later . . .
I stayed holed up in our new home for the first two weeks after the photo scandal.
I was embarrassed and humiliated and just wanted to disappear.
I never thought I’d be a victim of such a thing, but lo and behold, I was one of ninety-nine other women who had gotten their body parts exposed on the internet.
The first week after it happened, I kept getting tags, mentions, and compliments that I didn’t give a damn about.
The photos were sexy, my body was in top shape, and it did look like a spread in a Playboy magazine, but none of that shit mattered to me. I wasn’t that kind of girl who could overlook shit like this, but unfortunately, there was nothing I could do about it.
Since I had blocked Akeem from every social site and even my phone, Jessie and Junie came over the next day after it happened and showed me the live video he’d made to apologize to me, with Rueben Studdard playing in the background.
I was disgusted just from looking at his pitiful ass, and I could tell by his lip that he had gotten punched in it.
I knew it was Zion who did it.
I also knew he wasn’t going to let what Akeem did go, so I was sure he did it or had Rahmeek or Kasey do it.
Either way, it had Zion’s name all over it.
When Zion came home that day, he handed me some papers and told me I had nothing else to worry about.
From what he knew, the photos had been deleted, but he couldn’t guarantee that people didn’t save the photos on their phones.
I appreciated my baby for what he made happen for me.
I submitted the contract to my lawyer and made sure he kept up with Akeem’s shenanigans.
I was happy to be free of that stupid contract and hoped Akeem would never speak my name again.
For the past three weeks, Zion had been spoiling me and trying to distract me from thinking about what happened. It worked, for the most part, but I was reminded of it by a few people on the streets, with their long stares and stupid smiles.
We were currently in his dispensary, The Reef, in the back room, trying out a new strain he had just come in with. I was skeptical because, who wanted to smoke something called Airhead?
His manager, Finesse, had brought it out a few minutes ago, and Zion rolled it up, and I sat next to him, debating if I wanted to take part in the act.
“It’s only right that you do it with me. You used to smoke with me back in the day,” he said, smiling that cute-ass smile.
I shook my head. “Barely. And the weed back then was regular. This new stuff will have you trippin’ out.”
“This is a sativa. The most it will do is give you lots of energy,” Finesse said. Zion shrugged and lit the tip of the blunt. He puffed it a few times before handing it over to me.
I giggled. “Not you peer pressuring me.”
“Just want you to loosen up and try out our product. I don’t want to put shit on the shelf that’s gon’ fuck people up in a bad way.”
“So what about us? What if it messes us up in a bad way?”
“Then we’ll come haunt this nigga in the afterlife,” he said, pointing to Finesse as we laughed. I took a deep breath, then puffed it twice and handed it to Finesse. We only passed it around twice before Zion put it out.
“What do you think?” Finesse asked.
Zion nodded. “It’s good. Since it’s new, we’ll price it at five for samples, just to see if it moves. If people like it, then we can price it by the gram.”
Finesse nodded. “A’ight, cool.” The bell chimed in the front, and Finesse stood to take care of the customers.
My eyes closed, and I was bobbing my head to Lil’ Kim's verse in my head.
“You good, baby?” Zion asked. My eyes slowly opened, and I smiled at him.
Damn, my man was fine.
I rapped the lyrics to Lil’ Kim’s verse on “All About the Benjamins”, twisting some of the words while Zion laughed.
“Yeah, you on one. When you start rapping Lil’ Kim, I know you feeling yourself.”
I smiled and stared at him for a moment, still not believing he was here with me. “Can I lick you?” I asked.
He laughed. “Yooo, bae, what?”
I could tell I caught him off guard and straddled his lap. “You’re just so chocolate. I want to lick you.” I licked his lips, and he grabbed my hips as I humped him.
He bit his bottom lip as his eyes lowered. “I’m about to take you home.”
“You gon’ let me Chris Brown you?”
He frowned. “Chris Brown me?”
“Yeah, take you down,” I sang the lyrics as he laughed again.
“Yeah, it’s time to go.” He lifted me in his arms, and I wrapped my legs around his waist.
“Yes, daddy, take me home.”
His phone rang in his pocket, and he reached to grab it. I slid my tongue across his neck and sucked.
“Yo?” he answered. “For real? Yeah, we're there. What time? Cool, we about to leave the dispensary now. A’ight, peace.” He hung up. “Dinny, you gotta chill, mama,” he said, squeezing my ass cheeks.
“If you’re not trying to take me somewhere to have sex, then I’m not going anywhere else.”
He chuckled. “That was your sister. They're barbecuing at your people’s crib and told me we need to come right now.”
“I don’t wannaaaa,” I sang, imitating the late Aaliyah.
“Okay, I see what the effect of that weed does to you. No more smoking unless we’re at home, with your freaky ass.” He slid his tongue in my mouth, and he stood, holding me while I kissed him deeply.
“I missed you holding me like this,” I confessed.
“You don’t have to miss it no more, baby. I’m gonna hold you for life.” He attempted to sing his own rendition of the Jodeci record as I laughed.
“I love you so much, Ziggy Zi,” I jested, calling him by the rap name he made up in eighth grade.
“Oh, hell nah! It’s really time to go.”
I laughed out loud as he placed me on my feet. “What was that rap you made up again?”
“I’ll never repeat that shit. Grab ya bag, and let’s go.”
I laughed and picked up my purse. He took me by the hand, leading me out of the back room. Zion spoke with Finesse and a few other employees, then escorted me out of the building to his truck.
The weed had me feeling nice—too nice. I surely didn’t want to go around my parents like this.
But I knew if we didn’t go, my mom would blow the screen off my phone.
I didn’t know why today was so important, but when I spoke to her earlier, she said she had something to tell us.
I hoped it wasn’t anything serious, because now that the weed was settling in, I could feel myself getting a little paranoid.
“Baby, I shouldn’t have smoked that weed. What if something’s wrong with my mama and daddy?” I asked once he got in the driver’s seat.
Zion looked at me, amused. “Calm down, babe. Nothing is wrong with your people; trust me. Here, drink this.” He handed me a water bottle, and I gulped it down like a fish.
I could feel Zion’s eyes on me, and I looked over to see concern in his stare.
“I’m fine. I promise,” I told him. “Just so you know, that strain will have you hot and ready, then paranoid. The paranoia is probably just me, but it definitely makes me want to freak on you.” I giggled.
“I wouldn’t know if it makes me horny. Every time I look at you, I be ready.”
I laughed. “I’m not above some backseat action.” I ran my hand over his bulge.
“You want me to call ya moms and tell her we ain’t gon’ make it?”
“Okay, okay! Let’s get this over with before I take advantage of you.”
He chuckled and pulled out of the parking lot, heading to my parents' house.
We arrived at my parents' home in Oak Park around four-thirty. I could smell the barbecue in the air as we pulled into the driveway. Jessie and Junie’s cars were in the driveway as well, and even my grandparents were in attendance.
Zion got out, came around to my side, and opened the door for me. I stepped out, and he took my hand, leading me to the back of the house. The backyard was decorated in light-blue and white, with tables set up with cute flower centerpieces and white silk tablecloths with light-blue chair covers.
There was a deejay over in the corner, playing soft R&B classics, giving off an intimate vibe.
The first people I spotted were my best friends, Aniya and Lauren. They hurried over to us and hugged me tightly like we hadn’t talked in months.
“Hey, boo, we've been missing you!” Aniya exclaimed, pulling me into a hug.
“I know. I’m sorry,” I replied, releasing her and then hugging and kissing Lauren’s cheek.
“We know why you've been MIA. We’re here for the reunion, though. Hello, Zion,” Lauren spoke.
“What’s up, sis? You been alright?”
“You know it. I would tell you to let my friend breathe, but I understand it’s been a minute,” she jested.
He smirked. “You’ll have her back real soon. Just give me a little bit more time.”
“We got you, brother-in-law,” Aniya said, smiling.
“I’ma go talk to my people. I’ll meet back up with you in a minute, baby,” Zion told me.
“Okay. Don’t stray too far.” I winked at him as he kissed me and walked away.
“Friend, you are glowiiing!” Aniya dragged. “You look so happy.”
“You do,” Lauren agreed.
“You guys are right. It’s partly because I'm five percent high right now, but the other ninety-five percent is because of that man. I’m still in complete awe that he’s here, and we’re together again.”
“I know, right? Girl, when he walked in the house at your bachelorette party, I almost fainted, seeing him! I was like the king is back!” Lauren exclaimed.
“Girl. Imagine opening the door for his ass. Nigga gave me an ultimatum that required either force or allowance. I ain’t have no choice, sis. I’m sorry about that,” Aniya said, laughing.
I waved her off. “It’s fine. I’m glad you did. I was really about to make the biggest mistake of my life.”
“But you seemed happy with Akeem,” Aniya noted.