Tryouts #3
He hopped down, and grabbed some sausages and eggs out of her fridge before handing them to her. She shooed him out of the kitchen, and he backed up some, before turning and walking back toward us.
Still smiling.
“Let it go,” Fredo mumbled in Spanish, carefully, since he knew Peanut could speak Spanish, too.
I shook Fredo off me, and got up, walking toward her parents’ room as Ty-Ty walked out.
“Yo ass stay cheating! I hate playing with you on my mama,” Ty-Ty gritted, throwing the controller down.
“Cry baby ass,” Peanut and I both said, before dapping each other up.
Autumn and Snow had to have made most of the food in their fridge, because all of us passed out after we ate and showered. But because most of us were used to late nights and early mornings, we were up before ten.
Set declared that Sunday a day off. All our trap phones and regular phones were turned off. Turk’s granddad dropped off toiletries, since he kept hellas on account of everyone staying at his house next door. Turk brought over his game, and we set up shop right there in the Shaw sisters’ living room.
Ty-Ty joined Sean and Shad at the kitchen table, where Shad was doing something on his laptop. Autumn was behind Shad, retwisting his locs. They were finally touching his shoulders, and he didn’t look like a lame anymore with his glasses.
Reem, Set, Peanut, and Turk were blowing blunt after blunt, smoking the whole house out. Autumn fussed about opening the windows, to where Snow told her she’d just blame it on herself.
Who knew when their parents would actually show up.
I sat in between Snow’s legs, my eyes closed as she braided my hair. For once, I let my guard down, leaning into her as her fingers tugged my strands. She was so gentle, but her work was always neat.
“This who be braiding your hair?” Peanut asked, narrowing his eyes.
“You so nosy, brodie,” Fredo answered for me, making the rest of them chuckle. Peanut waved him off, blowing smoke in his face while grabbing the controller Ty-Ty abandoned.
“I ain’t taking it easy on you, cuzzo,” Set said, grinning. It never faltered, not even when he glanced at us and saw how Snow was looking at me.
I’d never seen Set this calm or this happy. Maybe I had him pegged wrong. Maybe he wasn’t feeling Snow like that, because if she’d looked at him like she looked at me, I would have aired out the whole house.
I settled back more, rubbing my fingertips on her shins as she parted another section of my hair.
“You gon’ braid me up next, right Ice Princess?” Fredo asked.
“Now why y’all gotta get all identical?” Reem asked, coughing up a lung.
“He wish he looked as cute as me,” Fredo joked.
“I got you, Fredo. I’ll give you cornrows, since I’m giving him plaits.”
“My dog.” He leaned over and dapped up Snow’s elbow, making her giggle.
“Pizza’s here!” Autumn yelled, walking to the door with Sean. Turk got up to help, and they brought in hella pizzas. Everyone followed them to the kitchen except me and Snow.
“You wanna get up?” she whispered to me.
“Nah. I’m good right here.” I looked up and did some simp ass shit. I puckered my lips.
She grinned, glancing behind her before leaning down and kissing me twice.
“This is nice,” she whispered.
Everyone came back, smacking and cackling about betting money on the next game. Set and Turk were hyping Peanut up, since Fredo was the champion and was fasho gonna beat him.
“Yeah,” I replied, watching Sean and Shad move to the living room. Autumn came and sat on the arm of the chair Wyn occupied.
“Can you braid me too?” she asked her sister.
Wyn grinned and nodded. “Yeah. You want–”
“Cornrows. I got the hair in my room. Just two, though.”
“She can braid you now,” I said, getting up, but Autumn stopped me.
“No, I still have to wash my hair. You’re good.” She smiled at me, before hugging and thanking Wyn and walking toward her room.
“Wait,” Set said, throwing an arm around her. “Since we the OG Foe Dub, ‘cause you know Peanut gon’ do some shit like this again next week–”
“Fuck you!”
Set grinned. “Nah, but foreal. Y’all the most thurl muthafuckas I know. All of y’all, including Wyn and Auty, or Haze, right?”
Autumn tried to get from under Set, but he just tightened his arm around her.
“Quit it, girl. I’m tryna say some shit. Anyways, besides like, grown niggas, like Tiny and G-Pops and my grandma and shit, y’all the only niggas in the world I give a fuck about. Y’all family, and it’s Family Over Everything. And we warriors, battle tested, thanks to Nutty.
We on some exclusive members only type shit, Dub.”
“Told y’all it was a secret club,” Ty-Ty muttered, breaking the seriousness of the moment.
“Ain’t nothing secret about how we finna take over the city, on my mama,” Peanut cackled.
“Tomorrow, though,” Fredo said, yawning. “We can start tomorrow.”
“Yup. ‘Cause today I’m dethroning yo’ weak ass.”
Set cheesed again, finally letting Autumn go before chasing her around the house.
We were all scraped up, covered in ointment and bandages. But we were all together, and for once, not worried about anything but who was next on the game.