Chapter 17
Dos
Uno came by. This time, all pleasantries were gone. I wasn't in the mood for his shit.
"Look, nigga, we need to talk."
"Uno, I’m not in the mood."
"If I leave this up to you, you’ll never be in the mood. And for God’s sake, go shower, man. You smell like grief and bad decisions."
"Fuck you."
"Nah, fuck you. You made a promise to Nana. I’m holding you to that."
"Uno, I said not now."
"Yes. Now. Ivy and Crystal are on their way."
"Why the fuck are they coming here? Ivy, too?"
"We need to clear the air. All of us."
"Man, I don’t—"
"I don’t give a damn what you want. You’re gonna sit your ass down, and we’re gonna hash this shit out like men. No more running, Dos. No more avoiding shit. Nana didn’t raise us that way."
Uno was right. I couldn’t run and hide forever. As much as I wanted to wish this shit away, it wasn’t going to happen. I had to handle this shit. No matter what the outcome, Uno and I were good. And that was all that mattered.
"Go shower, nigga. You look like shit."
"Man, fuck you."
"Yeah, yeah. I love you, too."
I jumped in the shower, put on a nice navy-blue jogger suit, shaved, and sprayed some Mohave Ghost by BYREDO on.
Not bad, I said as I checked myself out in the mirror.
Uno smiled. "There he goes. That’s the nigga I share DNA with," he joked.
"Shut the fuck up," I laughed, holding my side.
We were joking and clowning each other when the doorbell rang. Uno answered the door. He hugged and kissed Crystal and Ivy as they entered the front room. I hadn't seen Ivy since I left the hospital. Even then, we hadn't touched or spoken more than two words to each other.
"Hello," I said as she approached me.
Ivy smiled and wrapped her arms around me, holding me tight. She melted any hardened exterior I had put up. I breathed in her perfume, and although my body was banged up, my dick was just fine as it jumped from her embrace.
"I felt that," she joked.
Uno had laid out some cold cuts, cheese, and crackers for us to snack on. After we all made a small plate of food, he broke the awkward silence.
"Alright, let’s get to it. We can’t keep going in circles with this shit."
Crystal chimed in, "Facts. It’s time to decide what we’re doing. No more guessing, no more unspoken feelings."
"Dos, are you ready to share me again? Because this arrangement doesn’t work if you won’t join." Ivy said as she looked at me.
I exhaled, rubbing my chin. "I wasn’t sure if I could… because I thought you didn’t love me the way you love Uno. I thought you chose him first, and I was just second best. When we finally got together, I thought, ‘finally she sees me and only me.’ I knew deep down you loved and needed us both. I should have just accepted that shit."
Ivy moved closer, her eyes locking onto mine. "That’s not true. I love you both, differently, but deeply. You were never second to me, Dos. Never."
"Yeah, nigga. I told you that shit was in your head. Nobody’s keeping score."
"We just need to be honest with each other, about what we want, what we need. No more secrets. Hell, y’all turned me out and I love all of you equally." Crystal joked.
Ivy rushed to me and kissed me hard, pouring every bit of her truth into me. I felt it. No hesitation, no doubt. Just love. I pulled her in, deepening the kiss, letting myself believe it this time.
"So… we good, nigga?"
I looked over at Uno, then at Crystal. Then back at Ivy, whose lips were still tingling against mine.
"Yeah… we’re good."