Chapter 23 #3
Gazing down at Raven, I watched her roll her eyes. “Tutu, you messier than a muthafucka. Ion know why you’d say that shit in front of this man, knowing how he is.”
“Shit, I’m just letting it be known. Nigga needs to be on his P’s and Q’s. You shouldn’t have stepped through the door without this nigga. Don’t get caught slipping.” He locked eyes with me.
“Nigga, come on now. You know that I aint never too far behind.”
“Shit, if you know like I know, you better stay ready to keep from getting ready.”
“Already.” I agreed.
“Y’all take a picture,” Tutu’s sister, Elane urged, as she lifted her polaroid camera.
“Shit, come on.” Tutu commanded, as he turned to face the camera.
Posted up with us, Tutu posed for the camera. Never abandoning my position, I stood behind Raven, with an arm hooked around her waist, smiling, as Elane snapped away.
Not too long after, Tutu wandered off, while the deejay was pumping out that good shit.
“Raven, come walk outside with me,” Tiffany urged, grabbing her hand.
Raven paused. “For what?”
“Cause I’m trying to see what’s going on. Plus, it’s starting to get hot in here.” Tiffany fanned herself.
“Then go out there,” I spoke up. “She aint gotta come with you.”
“Really, Jahrein?” Tiffany frowned.
“Yeah, really.” I maintained.
She rolled her eyes, before pushing through the crowd. She didn’t go back and forth, because she knew that she’d be wasting her breath. She knew that I wasn’t gonna play with her. She was steep into her bopping era, and loved to have Raven around because niggas naturally flocked to her.
That was one of the many reasons I really didn’t care for Raven having friends.
I know that she genuinely wanted to hang, but those girls she ran with were all manipulative.
On one hand, they’d praise her, swearing that she’s the prettiest, and then they’d get jealous, when any nigga they’d go after wanted her, instead.
Truth be told, broads were so jealous of Raven, that some of them only wanted to fuck me, because I was her nigga.
And I hated that Raven wasn’t wise enough yet to peep game.
Raven laughed, while shaking her head. “I know she’s gonna be in her feelings, cause we came here together.”
“She’ll get over it. Daddy’s here.” I squeezed her body.
Lowering my head, I rested my chin in the crook of her neck.
“What took you so long to get here?” She lowkey questioned.
I smirked, knowing that Raven liked to act hard, but she was really butter-cookie soft.
She’d probably only come to that party, because she knew that I’d eventually pull up.
She just came through with her friend to party a lil’ bit, without me there.
Because she knew that once I was around, all that friendly shit would be shut down.
“I had to go pick my nigga up. He just got out the pen, and I went got him out the house.”
She nodded.
“Stepped in the club, after my show. You know the spot. Everybody’s on the lo-lo. That’s when I saw her. She saw me. Told me she liked Montell and Master P, occasionally…”
“That’s my shit!” Raven shouted, before rolling her hips.
With my hands still on her hips, she grinded into me, making my dick rock up instantly.
“All the niggas in the club was jealous of me. Cause I waited for it. Stayed for it. Damn near ‘bout to pay for it. Let’s ride…”
Bending over, Raven worked her ass. Watching her waist snake, I gripped her beltloop. Vulgarly, I smashed my hips into hers. Holding her ankles, she made her ass jump.
Grinning from ear to ear, I humped her, in the middle of the party.
“I’m coming over…”
“Okay!” Raven shouted, as she stood upright, and spun around to face me. “Now, that’s a muthafuckin’ deejay!”
“I’m whispering words over your shoulder. Umm, can you hear? Before you reply, the temperature rises. Then like that, you disappear. I never imagined I’d get so excited…over a rendezvous. I’ll be there in an hour. Still wet from the shower. I just go to telling you…”
“It’s on tonight. The feel is right. We don’t have to go nowhere,” Raven sang, while gazing up at me.
Wanting to play it cool, I smiled and licked my lips.
“Jahrein, tell me what’s on tonight,” she crooned cutely, while grabbing my hands.
Her dimples were anchored into her cheeks, as her smile lit up the room.
“Yeah,” TP leaned over, speaking into my ear. Funnily, as the party rocked around us, he’d never ventured off too far. “You gotta marry her lil’ ass. No bullshit, nigga.”
I nodded, while my eyes were still trained on Raven.
“Quit acting all hard,” she teased, as she gripped my chin.
“Aint nobody acting,” I claimed, before craning my neck to kiss her lips.
She hooked her arms around my neck, as I gripped her ass with both hands. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw that all eyes were on us. That’s when she buried her face in my chest, while goofily giggling.
For a moment, I stood there, while this warm feeling crept up my spine.
Raven would always make me have this euphoric feeling that I was addicted to.
And then I lifted my head, and noticed all those niggas gawking at her backside.
Several of them were my so-called homeboys that I ran with on a daily basis.
The fucked-up part about it, was that I knew that if Raven was willing, then they’d all shit on our friendship to fuck with her. And that’s where the problem lied.
The feelings that Raven gave felt good…but it also made me fearful. In ways that I couldn’t quite explain. So, I kept her closer than close, making sure that those niggas never had a chance.
>>>>>
“I need a blunt,” I mumbled, as I was back behind the wheel of the Cutlass.
Without saying a word, Raven went into the glove compartment, grabbed a bag of weed, a small knife, a Swisher-Sweet, and a random cardboard flyer. Using the flyer, she broke down the weed, before rolling up.
Now sitting in the backseat, TP chuckled. “Youngster, you know how to roll up, huh?”
“Yep.” Raven licked the blunt to seal the weed in the swisher.
I pulled away from the curb, officially leaving Tutu’s party. It was now one in the morning, and muthafuckas were still going hard.
“I was gonna tell you to go pick the baby up, but I’ma leave him with your granny til the morning,” Raven mentioned, before firing up the blunt.
She hit the blunt a couple of times, before placing it between my lips.
“You sure?” I cut my eyes at her. “You know that Ion really like for him to sleep away from home like that.”
She pursed her lips. “Boy, it’s already in the middle of the night. He’ll be alright for a few more hours. I wanna swing by Cornbread’s.”
I shook my head, as she referenced a late-night spot on the southwest side. “You stay bopping.”
“Nah, aint no bopping. I’m with you, and I’m not ready for the night to end.” She grabbed my hand.
“Well, shit, I’m riding too,” TP immediately spoke up.
I nodded. “Bet.”
About twenty minutest later, we pulled up to Cornbread’s parking lot, and that bitch was jumping.
As soon as I found a parking spot, Raven was the first to hop out of the car. Me and TP followed suit. Knowing that Raven wasn’t old enough to get in the club, we had no plans of going in. We were just there to parking lot pimp, and shoot the shit.
Eventually, I sat on the hood of my car, and she posted up between my legs. It wasn’t long before we were surrounded by familiar faces.
“Tae!” Raven shouted, as a group of girls were switching past us.
One of the girls spun around. She had a slim waist with wide hips that stood out on her slender frame. She was rocking a Chinese bang and ponytail that worked for her heart shaped face.
“Hey,” Tae sang, as she jogged over to Raven, hugging her tightly.
“What’s up?” Raven questioned, as she released ole girl.
“Nothing. Just up here with my big cousins,” Tae responded.
“Yeah?” Raven craned her neck, looking over the faces of the girls with Tae. “Where Quel at?”
“On Coke Street at Kevin’s house.”
“Oh, so, she put up tonight?”
“Yeah, that bitch is put up.”
Tae’s eyes traveled up to me. “Who is this, Raven?”
Raven glanced back at me, like she’d forgotten that I was sitting there. “Oh, this is Junior’s daddy.”
Tae arched a brow. “Your baby’s daddy?”
“Yeah.”
I cleared my throat. “Say, don’t be introducing me like that. Like that’s all I am.”
“So, how was I supposed to introduce you?” Raven questioned.
“Tell her that I’m your nigga. That’s it.”
“Ha!” Tae wagged her tongue. “Tell her again. I likes that shit. Make that known. He stamping that!”
Raven blushed. “Girl, chill out.”
“Aww, girl, don’t be trying to play it cool.
Whenever we catch up on the phone, he’s all you talk about.
Talking about you aint never coming back to stay in 5th Ward, as long as that nigga is laying next to you every night.
” Tae locked eyes with me. “Boy, you got my girl weak in the knees. She’s crazy about you.
I aint lying. But don’t play with her, though.
Cause we from 5th Ward. We jump niggas, off the muscle. Five to one.”
I chuckled heartily, believing her. I could tell by looking at Tae that she was young. Maybe like Raven’s age. But she was different. More street savvy. But cool as shit. There wasn’t a look of lust in her eyes, and I detected no malice in her voice.
“Really, bitch,” Raven gasped. “How you just gon put me out there like that?”
“Cause…it’s you. You and Quel be trying to play hard, but y’all don’t realize that y’all are different.
We know that you bitches are special. These niggas know it too.
So, sometimes y’all gotta remind them that it’s real.
It aint just a pretty face on a nice body.
Y’all all tender and shit. Make sure he knows that, so he won’t be holding on so tight, thinking that you gon slip out of his hands. ”
“Main, what?” I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Jahrein’s your name, right?”
“Yeah.” I nodded.