Chapter 10 Jahlil
Donnée never showed up. Partially because Jahlil texted her an hour after he arrived that she didn’t need to. The other reason, she was caught up in something that was going to have her tied up well into the morning.
With that, Jahlil got comfortable on the couch too short for his long body.
Sleep was off and on. The moment he fell asleep he was woken up by the noise from the college students or Emani moving around upstairs.
Six o’clock, his alarm rang out and he was already on the floor doing pushups until he could get back to the house and hit the gym.
In the middle of his last rep he caught a glimpse of pink silk fabric flowing around Emani’s small feet as she tiredly moved to the kitchen. Jahlil finished his pushups and stood, leaving the shirt he pulled off hours before and roamed into the space behind her.
Emani’s back was turned to the entrance, her head was free of the wig, replaced by a bonnet that matched her muumuu. She stood at the teapot and scrolled through her phone.
“Are you going to just stand there or tell me you’re leaving?” Emani snipped, her voice coming out in a rasp. He closed his eyes letting the sound of her in the morning tickle his senses.
“You didn’t sleep,” he said moving closer.
Emani looked over her shoulder finding him shirtless, she turned back around as if she was unbothered by the sight of him. “I don’t sleep. Too much to do. You can go now though.”
The doorbell rang making Emani put her phone down on the counter and walk past him to get the door.
The wind that floated past him smelled like jasmine, rose, creamy sandalwood and amber.
Forget tickling his senses, that scent livened him up.
It was putting his self-control to the test. If this were a perfect world and she was his, he’d snatch her up, lift that muumuu up and have her all over the kitchen because he could.
“Dammit, E,” he grumbled, leaving the kitchen to find his shirt.
“You ordered me breakfast too?” a male voice rang out happily. “Uh uh, what’s the face? You didn’t sleep?”
“Do I ever?” Emani asked, closing the door behind the man that found Jahlil’s shirtless body easily.
“Ohh, that’s why you didn’t sleep,” the man crooned, touching the pearls around his neck.
“Derrick, don’t even,” Emani said with a roll of the eyes as she walked into the kitchen with the breakfast Jahlil ordered for her. She moved to the wallet she had on the counter and pulled out three twenties to cover it. “Here.”
“I don’t want your money, E. You need to eat and sleep, but you can start there.”
Derrick bounced his eyes between the two as if he was at a tennis match and the set was close.
“Don’t tell me what to do, just take this and go away,” Emani directed, stretching her arm out further.
Jahlil tilted his head and looked down at her. “What I look like? A cheap piece of dick. You’re not going to throw sixty dollars at me and kick me out. That’s not how this shit is going to go.”
Emani yelped in laughter. “Sixty dollars for dick? I swear you always gave me back change. Take it or leave it.”
“You ain’t never got no damn change. Good dick, good sleep, and a good attitude is what you got. Looks like you need a refresher,” Jahlil challenged, moving closer.
Emani laughed bitterly. “You don’t want to go there with me. Take this, put some damn clothes on, and get out.”
“Rose,” Jahlil trilled, trying to mask how hot she had him. “Cut the bullshit.”
“Girl,” Derrick gasped. “That’s-”
“Get out, Jahlil,” Emani muttered, walking out of the kitchen the opposite way after leaving the money on the counter. As she stomped up the stairs she shouted, “Come on, Derrick!”
“Ohhh weee.” Derrick fanned himself. “Y’all always been like this?”
“Only when she don’t fuckin’ listen. Make sure she eats, she’s been up all night,” Jahlil said, irritated he couldn’t climb the stairs behind her.
“Mmm,” Derrick groaned. “To be a fly on that wall.”
Jahlil cut him a look for no other reason that when it came down to how him and Emani used to be, that wasn’t information privy to anyone else. “Don’t.”
“So I won’t ask about how long you had her up,” Derrick mused.
“For your nosey ass information, if I had her up, she’d be knocked out holding the pillow right now. Feed her. Please.”
Derrick saluted him as he walked past toward the door. “Sir, yes sir.”
Jahlil shook his head and let the quiet breeze of Los Oceania grace his face.
He’d much rather it be Emani on it, working out years of pent up aggression but he took what he could get.
University Row was a ghost town compared to what it was last night.
The remnants of partygoers were on the lawns, even some passed out on the porches from the night of partying.
The minute his head hit the pillow, he was passing out too.
He let the stillness ease him the couple houses down.
The house was quiet, but the evidence of a wild night met him at the door.
Red solo cups, empty bottles of liquor on the counters, tables and ottomans, and the faint aroma of that Azul Kush.
Yeah, a time was had while he was balled up on a couch listening to Emani try to settle herself.
He wanted to hold her, kiss away all the pain she’d experienced without him but it was too soon.
The clacking of bottles pulled him from his tired climb to the floor housing his room. Donnée tip-toed inside from the pool house Kyrie claimed on the ride here. Her pink shirt was inside out, skirt on backwards and her hair that was nicely done the night before was in a makeshift ponytail.
“You’re too damn old to be doing the walk of shame,” Jahlil said in an amused tone.
“I wouldn’t have to if she didn’t have rehearsals so damn early. How mad is she?” Donnée asked just above a whisper.
“Oh, she’s mad as hell but not with you. It’s all on me, there’s breakfast and coffee. Derrick is there.”
“He saw you?” Donnée asked, eyes bugging.
“Yeah,” Jahlil shrugged as if it were nothing.
“Fuck, let me go bribe him with something to keep him quiet,” Donnée stated, quickening to the door.
“You act like I had her spread open on the counter and he walked in,” Jahlil grumbled, taking a few more steps. “It ain’t that deep.”
“Last night’s little kickback is already causing some fire online and I can just imagine what Malik is barking about.”
Jahlil stopped. “He be talking to her crazy?”
Donnée didn’t want to lie and she didn’t want to tell Emani’s business either. She pulled in a deep breath and then pushed out a huff of air. “Let’s just say she’s abandoned a lot of herself for this to work.”
“For the fuck what?” Jahlil asked, getting irritated all over again.
“Because, my giant friend, you were no longer an option and you know like I know the girl hates being alone. Thanks for staying with her.”
“It’s nothing. Make sure at some point today she gets a break to sleep, she was up all night.”
Donnée offered him a thankful expression and left the house.
Showered and in bed, Jahlil stared at the ceiling, trying to make a play in his mind.
Yeah, he came back because he wanted to raise the two kids he had on the west coast, but the driving force was her.
He needed to get back to his roots, to the things and the people that made him. Emani was at the epicenter.
As his lids floated closed, his phone rang. No one other than Sanaa FaceTiming him. Sacrificing ten minutes of sleep for her was a no brainer. Answering the call, he took in his five year old, legs crossed, bright pink robe clutched in her hand and a tumbler in the other.
“You didn’t call me last night,” Sanaa sniped. No hi, hello, I miss you. Not even a ‘nigga, where you at’.
“Ah, damn you’re right,” Jahlil said. “My bad. Daddy got caught up.”
“Damn right, I’m right.”
“Sanaa,” he warned, as she rolled her eyes.
“I mean, yes, Daddy, I am right. I’m always right. Soooo what you do?” Sanaa asked. “Did you do the hop?”
Jahlil laughed. “Yeah, I did the hop.”
“Drewy showed me. Wanna see?” Sanaa propped the phone up and started hopping and chanted. “I say I’m a fly veta apple. Fly, fly, fly. Grrr.”
Jahlil laughed and shook his head. “Tell Andrew to never show you that again.”
“I’m going to be a fly veta too,” Sanaa assured, sitting down out of breath.
“Nah, you’ll be a fine Sigma Zeta Delta.”
“Ohh like E.Rose and Auntie D?!” Sanaa squealed.
“Yeah, just like that.”
Sanaa gasped. “I love pink!”
“I know you do, I still got that pink confetti all in my suitcase,” Jahlil pointed out.
“Oh, I put in more so you wouldn’t forget me,” Sanaa admitted.
Jahlil laughed more. “Just like a woman already. Thank you for that. But I’ll never forget you. You know that right?”
“I know because if you do I’ll have to pop your head off and put another one on. Just like Andrew does my dollies and I remember to leave him alone,” Sanaa spoke, smacking on an apple slice.
Jahlil shook his head. “You keeping a good eye on Drew?”
Sanaa stretched her eyes open as wide as she could, moved into the camera and whispered. “Two good eyes on him. Little sneak.”
“I haven’t even done nothing,” Andrew grumbled tiredly. “Tell her to get out of my bed. She has her own room.”
Jahlil watched as Sanaa wiggled closer to Andrew and held the phone up.
“Nope, your bed is better. Too bad we can’t play the game.”
Andrew groaned. “Yo, Sanaa, it’s six in the morning.”
“And Auntie said you have training so chop chop muhfuckaaaahhh!”
“Sanaa!” Jahlil and Andrew bellowed.
She offered them both an innocent look. “What? I meant muhsuckkaaaa.”
“Get out my room,” Andrew huffed, sitting up. “Say bye before I kick you out.”
The video focused on Andrew throwing Sanaa over his shoulder and walking out the room with her.
“No! I don’t wanna leave.”
Andrew grunted as he put her down and ran back in the room. “Say bye!”
“Bye, Daddy!” Sanaa shouted, running back in behind him and jumping back in his bed. The call ended and Jahlil shook his head. That was the reset he needed so his dreams wouldn’t be filled with Emani.