14. Piper #2
“No doubt,” Khalil replied before leading me to the kitchen. “You hungry?” He pulled out his cell, read whatever was on it, then began typing fast.
I shook my head. “I ate at the game.” He finished his text, then put his phone back inside his pocket. I wanted to ask who he was angry-texting, but I decided not to. I told him I’d trust him despite the outsiders trying to put doubt in my mind.
“You sure?” he asked.
“Yes. If I get hungry later, I’ll eat.”
“A’ight. You want a drink then?”
“What do they have?” He named all the liquors and chasers, and I decided on Tito’s and orange juice. I wasn’t a big drinker, but I needed something to relax me.
He mixed up my drink, then poured himself some Courvoisier straight, took my hand, and led me out of the patio doors.
In the distance, I could see the fire going and more people surrounding it.
Gennel, Robyn, and Braelyn sat around the fire, and I noticed Sabrina and her crew sitting across from them, glaring at me.
I smirked and was about to sit in the chair next to Braelyn, but Khalil pulled me onto his lap.
“Hear ye, hear ye, my niggas and niggettes! Tonight, we’re going to play a friendly game of Truth or Dare.
We all know how the rules go. If you don’t answer the question or do the dare, you gotta take a shot.
It’s only right we get some icebreakers poppin’,” Keith said, his mouth twisting into a mischievous grin.
“I’m going to sit this one out,” I voiced.
Keith’s eyes came to me while grinning. “Aw, come on. Everything will be PG—for now.”
“Yeah, let’s all play. This should be fun and interesting,” Davina said, tossing back a shot. “I’ll go first. Braelyn, truth or dare?”
“Umm, I guess I’ll go with truth.”
Davina smirked. “Is it true that you had a threesome with Xander and Paola Willis last year?”
My eyes instantly went to Braelyn, and I saw her face fall with anguish. “W-who told you that?”
“Just answer the question, nerd girl,” Jalisha, another one of Sabrina’s flunkies, urged with a smile on her face.
“N—” Braelyn cleared her throat. “No, it’s not.”
“Bullshit! I call bullshit!” Sabrina exclaimed as she and her crew laughed.
“Damnnn, nerd girl out here being a triple threat!” Amos exclaimed while everyone laughed except for me, Braelyn, Khalil, and my girls.
“Oh, piss off, herp!” Braelyn exclaimed, sticking up her middle finger at him. Khalil coughed, trying to hold in his laughter. I didn’t get the joke for about five seconds, then finally caught on. I remembered Braelyn telling me he had herpes.
Allegedly.
“Aye, you need to chill with that shit. I ain’t got no fucking herpes,” Amos seethed.
“A’ight, y’all, chill,” Jalen said, also trying not to laugh. “She said it’s not true, so let’s move on. It’s your turn, Braelyn.”
She rolled her eyes, then looked at me. A smile grew on her face.
“No,” I told her as she laughed.
“Aww, come on, bestie! Play with me. Don’t leave me hanging.”
“Fine. Dare.” I chose.
“Hmm, what’s a good one? I dare you to give Khalil a lap dance.”
I shook my head. “I absolutely will not.”
“You’re no fun.” She pouted.
“Take a shot then,” Reginald from our psych class said. I took one of the shots off the tray and tossed it back.
“Nobody wanted to see that shit anyway,” Sabrina mumbled. My eyes pinned to hers as she and her girls snickered.
So much for squashing her little beef. Okay, bitch.
“Cumbrina . . . I mean, Sabrina,” I corrected. Again, laughter erupted as her eyes turned to slits.
“I don’t want you asking me shit. Choose someone else.”
“Scared?”
“I’m not afraid of anything. It’s funny how you have all this mouth when I can easily get your ass expelled. You want to try to hold something over me, but I promise, if you’re not careful, I’ll have you transferred in a heartbeat. So, as I said, choose. Someone. Else.”
“Aye, you doing too much, Sabrina. I don’t know what y’all got going on, but all that ain’t even necessary,” Khalil spoke up.
“It’s okay, babe. I know I got her nervous, so she wants to threaten my education.
That’s all the leverage she has against me.
What I have will destroy this whole facade she’s putting up.
” I stood from his lap while staring at her.
“I don’t know what I did to you, Sabrina.
But just remember, you keep poking at me, thinking because your family owns half the school, you can keep being a mean girl and try to bully me—ain’t gon’ work.
“You can threaten to get me expelled from the school; I actually got accepted into Yale anyway but wanted to come to an HBCU instead. You only have one more time before I have you somewhere trying to commit suicide.”
“Damn,” I heard Jalen say as he shook his head. I could see everyone’s faces set in confusion and wonderment about what was happening between us. Sabrina wanted to throw rocks and hide her hands, but I was serious about this being her last time trying to bully me.
“You guys can have this. Unlike some people, I have decorum and empathy for others. You ready, babe?” I asked Khalil.
I could see the amusement resting on his face as he stood. “After you, Mi Amor.”
“Aww, don’t leave. Y’all literally just got here,” Gennel said.
“I’m not in the business of staying around people I don’t like,” I told her.
“Let her go. We were having fun until she came anyway,” Sabrina voiced.
I ignored her. “Brae, ladies, I’ll call y’all later.”
“Okay, boo. Love you!” Robyn called out.
I chuckled because I knew she was drunk.
“Love you, too, girly.”
Khalil took my hand, bidding his friends a good night, then led me back out of the house.
“You gon’ have to tell me what the real beef is with you and Sabrina when we get to our destination. And not that surface-level shit either.”
I smirked. “Just take me to my surprise, sir. And it better be the best surprise ever.”
“I wouldn’t do it no other way, baby.”