Jaheim
Coming around the corner to find my woman hemmed up on a dumpster had the darkest parts of my soul begging for a body.
I was going to satisfy that shit today, and Odeal might be next if he wanted to fuck around and find out.
I was going to sleep on that, but for now, this nigga was meeting his creator.
“You violated, dawg. I hate when you niggas do that.” I was fussing as I began to calculate.
“I need that money. I wasn’t going to hurt her.”
“See, that’s the thing—you realize that fear hurts, paralyzes. I’ve worked hard to help my baby get where she is, so if you think I can let you go, you’ve probably never loved. Shit, it don’t even matter now.”
That laugh that escaped me caused him to start pleading.
“Come on, man. He said I could have ten percent if I got the money. I’m a hustler tryna make i?—”
I hit him across the head with my gun. “Nigga, do it look like I care about any of that shit? You touched the wrong woman, and you gotta let me get my due. Stand up.”
“I can’t, man, damn. Look at my knee.”
“Nigga, I said stand the fuck up,” I directed through gritted teeth. My patience was running thin, and placing the gun to his temple made him move.
He wobbled to his feet, groaning.
When he made it upright, I tucked my gun, put my hands up, and punched him in the nose. He swung back, and I ducked. He hit me again, and I let him. He was feeling cocky, after busting my lip.
“That predator shit only shows up when it’s against a woman. Hit me again, pussy.”
He charged at me, and one punch to the stomach folded his ass up.
“Don’t tell me you give up,” I taunted.
He grabbed his knife from the ground like I knew he would and waved it around wildly.
The sirens in the distance stole my attention, and he sliced my side. I groaned, but the adrenaline barely let the pain register.
Without a second thought, I grabbed my gun sending him to his final resting place with one bullet, center mass. His body dropped and hit the ground with a thud.
I stepped back, tucked my gun, and sat against the building. My wound didn’t look deep, but adrenaline had a way of lying to you.
I leaned my head back against the brick trying to reconcile how calm I was.
After a few seconds, Liana came barreling out the door. The sirens had stopped—maybe they were never coming here to begin with.
“Jaheim, baby, are you okay?” she asked, looking me over and removing her apron to cover my wound.
“Trini, I’m fine. I don’t want you out here. I got this.”
“We got this, together . I’m not afraid to see death. Fuck him—he was a boil on society’s ass anyway.”
I laughed because even in crisis, she was the realist and funniest.
“Sss.”
“Be still, Jaheim, and don’t laugh. Help is coming.”
A police cruiser pulled into the alley with no lights.
I rolled my eyes because this was the only loose part of the plan.
Didn’t matter.
I’d be less of a man if I let somebody take Trini from me when I had the ability to stop it.
Odeal wanted her afraid.
I wanted him terrified.
“Daddy,” she yelled, hugging him and leading him over to me. My eyes snapped to him in his sheriff’s uniform, and I shook my head at Beau for leaving that out. Had I known, I would’ve popped this nigga without all the extra shit.
“Son, you think you need medical treatment?”
“No, sir. I’ll manage. I want to take my lady home. Can I do that?”
“I think that’s the best idea. I’ll handle this here. Looks like a case of self-defense.”
“It was, Daddy. Odeal sent him, and Jaheim saved my life. I was so scared.”
“Oh, girl, stop laying it on thick,” he joked to Liana, who was eerily calm about all of this.
She shrugged. “Okay, fine. I don’t care what you do, but get him out of my alley by morning. I’m going to close the bar down. I ain’t in the mood for this shit no more today.”
Liana went back inside, and her father helped me to my feet.
“Do I want to know?”
“I was protecting myself and Liana. I came around the corner, and he had her hemmed up with a knife. I blacked out and went into action.”
“Good story, but it’s not needed. I’ll have this cleaned up by morning. Go take my baby home. Preferably yours, so I can ensure we don’t have any stragglers.”
He extended his hand and I met him in the middle.
“Thank you for being what my girl needs. Love ain’t easy, but if you want it bad enough and cherish it even in the hard times, you can have it for thirty-seven years like me and my lady.”
“I hope to have the same one day,” I said.
“Well, consider this my blessing.”
He nodded and turned to walk off.
“I’ll have to take you to the range.” He didn’t look back. “You a little rusty.”
“It don’t get more accurate than that,” I scoffed.
“Get your cocky ass out of here. I see why she likes you. You got that charisma.”
“Call me about the range, I’d be into that.”
We nodded again, and for a brief second, I thought about my deadbeat dad. But quickly pushed that shit behind me. I wasn’t him, and this wasn’t that.
Liana rushed to help me with the door. The bar was completely empty, leaving me, her, and Esme.
“Jaheim, do I need to take you to the hospital?”
I plopped down on the barstool and lifted my shirt.
It felt a lot worse than it looked.
“What you think, bloom?”
“I think if you wanted to tell me you loved me, you coulda just said the words and not gotten wounded.”
I stopped her hands from moving by holding them in mine.
“I love you, Liana Bloom-Harrison.”
She stopped breathing and looked into my eyes. Before kissing me.
“I love you too, Jaheim Harrison. I love you so much.”
“Let’s go home.”
We left out the bar and drove the short distance to my loft. Liana tried to protest the entire way, but I wasn’t trying to hear it. Until I figured out what the hell Odeal was thinking I needed to keep her close.
I ordered us some food when we made it in. Esme got comfortable as Liana led me to the bathroom.
The air between us had gone softer, heavier.
She undressed me slowly, pressing kisses against my neck and chest every few seconds.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Are you?”
“I asked you first, bloom. How you feeling?”
“I’m alive, and I’m with you. I’m perfect. Come, let’s shower.”
I stopped her, guilt suddenly hitting me for my role in this. “You can blame me for this. I said no harm would come to you and…”
“I could, but I’m not. I may feel different in the morning. Tonight is about taking care of you.”
I stepped inside the shower and wrapped my arms around her. The sting in my side barely registered anymore.
All I could think about was how close I’d come to losing this.
Liana. Her smell. The crinkle in her nose when she was deep in thought. How she made me feel. All of it.
“Jaheim, stop,” she said, making me look at her. “I said I love you even after this. And it never crossed my mind to blame you. Meeting you has been the best thing that’s happened to me.”
“I don’t want to bring problems to your life, though, Trini.”
“I meant what I said, I love you. I don’t want to talk about this anymore. It’s handled, let’s move forward.”
We stood there under the water holding each other longer than necessary.
Neither of us seemed ready to let go after how close things had come to going left.
Liana kissed me, and for the first time all night, the noise in my head shut the fuck up. She kissed down my chest while stroking my dick softly. My head fell back under the shower head, body relaxing with each stroke.
I released a deep sigh as her wet mouth took over. My body jerked when the tip hit the back of her throat. Liana rested her hand on my hip and went to work.
“Mmm,” she hummed as my dick popped out. She swallowed it again, hands moving up and down at a rapid speed. I was so close to losing my shit. Groans, moans, and grunts escaped, and that shit made her go harder.
I guided the back of her head fucking her mouth until I couldn’t take the shit anymore.
“I need to be inside you, baby.”
I pulled her up against the shower wall. I lined myself up with her entrance and nibbled on her chin. I lowered Liana onto me slowly and held her there.
Her body opened for me like it had been waiting.
“Baby, there, right there,” she moaned, wrapping her legs around me tighter. I held onto the wall and gave her all I had and she gave me the same back. We reached euphoria at the same damn time.
“Fuck, this pussy is so fuckin good,” I moaned into her ear as I came down.
She kissed my face over and over as I lowered her back on her feet.
We quickly showered and got dressed.
By the time we emerged from the bathroom, our food was on the porch. I fed her as she worked hard to clean my wound and get the STERIS trips perfect.
“It’s fine, Trini.”
“No, it’s not. What if it scars because I didn’t do it right?”
“Baby, don’t trip. I need this war wound to show our kids one day. Look son, this is the scar I got in a back alley because a bitch ass nigga got out of line with ya mama. How was that?”
“Perfect.” She smiled faintly before looking away again.
“What’s up, Trini? What’s on your mind?”
She hesitated, and I pulled her into my lap.
“What if I can’t have kids or carry to term? I lost my baby before. A baby I prayed for. I’m scared to go through that again.”
I kissed her temple. “I’m sorry.”
She rested her head on my shoulder. “I needed support…”
“I’m one hundred percent okay with whatever you decide,” I let her know.
“But I will say this. Times have changed, things have changed. You have me now. You have your family and friends here. What happened in the past is just that. I’ll never minimize that, but know I’ll be there for every step, every milestone, every hard day, every no, with a smile on my face. ”
Her fingers lingered against the edge of the bandage before she finally looked up at me.
“I do want to have your babies someday.”
“Well, when that time comes, you’ll have everything you need from me and more. I’m behind you every time.”
3:00 AM