Chapter 8
I w o k e u p without an alarm, already knowing what day it was. After doing QuickieDrop deliveries until four in the morning, I carried my tired ass home and knocked out. Reaching for my phone, I saw it was a little after two in the afternoon, and a text from Taelyn was on my screen.
I stared at the message for a second and smirked.
She had no idea how bad my dick was fiending for her pussy, too.
I got up and stretched, rubbing the sleep from my face as I walked straight to the bathroom in nothing but my boxer briefs.
I took a piss and brushed my teeth before jumping back in the bed to wake and bake.
I pulled out a mason jar, rolled a fresh blunt, and sparked it while leaning back against the pillows.
I didn’t even try to fight where my mind was going.
Every pull just made it worse as I pictured Taelyn’s pretty ass.
I knew she was going to have some shit on for me later.
I could feel it. That shit had me grinning to myself like a simp.
I ended up scrolling to our text thread and hitting her up.
While I waited for her to hit me back, I opened the food delivery app and ordered up some French toast, scrambled eggs with cheese, bacon, and a smoothie. I needed to eat and chill before I started spiraling and pulling up to her place hours early.
The food came about twenty minutes later. I tossed on some sweats and grabbed it from the downstairs lobby. Then I sat at the table, eating while scrolling through my phone. Finally, Taelyn hit me back.
Licking syrup off my fingers, I quickly text her.
After I finished eating, I cleaned up, showered, and then threw on something quick.
I chose a sweatsuit and Timbs. I had to go check my ol’ lady for a minute.
I needed to hit up the ATM and slide by the florist before anything else.
It was tradition. Every Valentine’s Day since I was in high school, I always brought my mama flowers and slid her some money.
She never asked, never expected it, but she always lit up when I showed up.
I hopped in the car, rolled down the window to let some of that morning chill slap me awake, then made my first stop at the credit union. I grabbed a few hundred and tucked them in the funny card I already had in the glovebox.
Next stop was the little flower shop off Eastview. It was Black-owned and had been holding it down for years. I walked in, dapped up the old man behind the counter, and told him exactly what I wanted. A full bouquet of red, pink, and white roses.
“I love how you do this every year for your mom,” he said, nodding with a smile as he started arranging. “Good man.”
“Always. I’m all she got left in this world.” I thanked him, slid him a tip along with the fee, and carried the flowers out.
Thirty minutes later, I was pulling up to my mama’s house, stabbing out the blunt in the ashtray.
She lived in the same house I grew up in.
I sprayed some YSL cologne and stepped out, taking the stairs two at a time.
When I knocked, she opened the door with her bonnet still on and one hand on her hip.
“Boy, it’s too early to be smellin’ like cologne and weed,” she said, giving me that look.
I grinned as I leaned in to kiss her cheek. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Ma.”
She closed the door behind me, and we walked into the living room where she had something ratchet on the TV. My mama and I were only fifteen years apart. She looked and acted a little younger than some forty-one.
After handing her the flowers and envelope, I plopped down on the couch. She read the card and started cracking up. “‘Mad, you silly as hell. And this is too much money. I know you’re tryna get that house and…”
“Ma, you deserve it,” I told her. “Get yo’ nails done, book a massage, pay a couple bills, do whatever you want.”
“You been workin’ a lot lately.”
“That’s why I’m good. Everything’s smooth.”
She nodded, then looked at me sideways. “You still on bullshit wit’ Vee? What y’all got planned this year?”
“Me and Vee done.”
“Oh?” I didn’t answer right away. I just smiled and tilted my head. She caught it immediately. “Mhm. I see it in your face. You got somebody new.”
I chuckled and shook my head. “I’ll tell you ‘bout her one day if shit goes anywhere. Right now, we just kickin’ it.”
“I bet. Be safe, son.”
“Always, Ma. Love you.” We hugged, I kissed her cheek again, and then I headed out. As much as I loved seeing my mama, I couldn’t lie. I was ready for the evening to hurry up and get here.
Hours later, I sat on the couch bumping Duffle Bag Trappy’s Talk About It while I rolled up a couple of blunts to take with me.
I had on some Black Amiri jeans, a white tee, and red and black Jordan 1s.
I threw on a black varsity jacket, spritzed on some cologne, then grabbed the bottle of Patrón I bought for her and slid it in a red gift bag with the red and pink tissue paper.
Before I walked out, I sent her a text letting her know I was on the way.
I stared at the screen for a second before shaking my head with a smirk.
“She really don’t know what she in for,” I muttered to myself.
I tossed the phone in my pocket and walked out the door like a man on a mission because I was.