Chapter 20 #4
Once everyone had a cup, including Glee this time, P cracked the top on the D’Ussé. Taking three strides, bringing his weed and Versace cologne with him, P was in my space before I could blink.
Shit.
“A shot or three?”
“Three?” I asked, dumbfounded.
I’d drunk before but not much. Bella had gotten us drunk once at a college party, but it was cheap punch. This was premium liquor, and I knew one shot would have me on my ass.
“I’ll take a half shot.”
“Nah, you gettin’ a full shot…” He derided and waited for me to lift my cup.
The brown liquor flowed from the neck of the bottle so fast that I had to push it away. “That’s enough!”
Everyone snickered, including P. His voice was mellow-toned but deep.
It had a ruggedness to it, and it matched his appearance to a T.
Instead of pouring everyone else’s shot, he passed the bottle to Italian, and after Italian poured Mahzeyah and Bella’s shot, the bottle was passed to Ro, who poured Blayke and Glee’s.
The bottle went through a few more hands before we all lifted our cups.
Once Italian said something I didn’t hear over the pounding of my heart, we all took the shot.
The burn in my chest made me slap at it.
I wasn’t the only one because all of us girls, except Bella, were either coughing, had sour expressions, or gagging.
“Another round!” Italian announced.
“Hell no! That shit is nasty!” I hollered.
“Right, I ain’t tryna be sick… Especially being up early with Baby Leader! Hell no,” Blayke all but shouted.
“My baby can come over here with me.” Italian poured himself another shot and took it to the head.
“When you’re not able to sleep, you’ll be knocking on the door and bringing her back. My baby likes to be up playing at three a.m.” Glee smiled.
“When he realize he don’t have a nipple for her, he’ll be knocking!” Mahzeyah chuckled, then chased her shot with her wine cooler.
Italian kissed his teeth. “Man, chill out. Glee pump… I can just make a bottle for my little baby.”
He passed the bottle back to P. I could still feel his eyes on me, but I stared at the TV, watching Usher and R. Kelly cry about the same girl. I zoned everyone out, hearing the murmurs of Mahzeyah and Italian argue while Bella and Blayke discussed celebrity gossip.
“Ohh! Let’s play a game!” Blayke shouted, and Glee and I flinched.
She had made the statement in general, but her sights were on Ro.
He was the quieter one of the bunch. Like the last time he was over, his sock-covered feet were stuffed in a pair of Nike slides, and he kept his fit simple in black joggers and a clean white tee.
However, he was just as handsome as someone dressed in designer clothes and jewels.
As he lifted his cup, he glanced at Blayke over the rim before looking away and pulling his cell phone from his pocket.
“A game? Really, Blayke?” Bella’s mean ass scoffed.
“Yeah, a game. You in college so you know how it goes. Truth or dare.”
Glee groaned. “Blayke, nooooo.”
“Truth or dare?” Mahzeyah asked.
“Yeah. So, boom… When it’s your turn, you’re asked either truth or dare. Truth, you answer a question. Dare, you have to do whatever the person asks you to do. If you don’t do the dare or answer the question, you have to take a shot.”
“Of that nasty-ass liquor?” I probed.
“We ain’t drinkin’ no Kool-Aid!” P held up the bottle that we hadn’t even put a dent in.
Sucking my teeth, I sank further back into the couch, feeling P’s eyes on me again.
“Aite, but let’s turn this shit up…” Italian reached inside his pocket and produced a dice.
“If you roll an even number, it’s a truth, and an odd number, it’s a dare.
Two shots to the person who declines, and if the opposin’ person accepts and complies, the other has to take the double shot. Gal, hand me that tray.”
Behind Gallery was a sofa table with a wooden tray that held a candle.
Gal removed the pink candle and handed Italian the tray.
We girls remained on the sectional while Italian placed the tray on the centered ottoman, and the guys surrounded it and us.
P placed the bottle in the far corner of the tray so it wouldn’t block the dice when it rolled.
“We gone go boys against girls.” Italian turned to Gal. “Keep that shit cute, nigga.”
“Fuck you, nigga!” Gal laughed.
“I’m going to sit this out, y’all.” Glee placed her cup down, and no one objected.
Italian shook the dice in his hand, and when a mischievous smile covered his face as he looked at Mahzeyah, she slapped her forehead.
“You can do the honors, ZeyZey.” He held the dice out to Mahzeyah.
“Boy, please! You roll first.”
“Say less. You gonna blow the dice?”
“Roll the damn dice, Italiano!” she hollered, and I laughed. These two never let up.
He shook them in his fist and released them onto the tray. We all sat up on the couch to see what he’d rolled. A five showed on one, and a two showed on the other.
“Sev’n.”
“Okay…” Mahzeyah pondered while gnawing her lip. “I dare you to call the last girl you contacted in your phone, and tell her you love her.”
He chuckled. “That’s it?”
Her face fell. “What you mean, that’s it? You claim you don’t have a girlfriend, so this is called stirring the pot. Oh, and it can’t be a family member.” Mahzeyah nodded, satisfied with her dare.
Italian reached into his pocket, swiping past notifications.
“And don’t cheat, boy! You doing too much typing.”
“I cleared my screen. I’m goin’ to the call log now.”
“Nope, nope. We young, we don’t really talk on the phone like that. Go to the last text thread of the last girl.”
Italian sighed but complied. “Am I sending her a text, or am I calling her?”
“You seem eager…” Mahzeyah folded her arms.
“I am. She’s pretty as fuck. And I love pretty girls.”
He and Gal slapped hands and did that stupid boy laugh.
“Whatever. Call the bitch!”
“Damn, why she gotta be all that, ZeyZey?” he asked while grinning.
“Italian, stop aggravating Mahzeyah and just call,” Bella said.
Keeping his focus on my friend, he tapped the screen.
She rolled her eyes. “Put it on speaker too.”
He tapped the screen again, and the phone rang once and went to voicemail.
You’ve reached Mahzeyah. Leave a message.
We all roared in laughter as the phone beeped to indicate the message recording had started.
“Damn, I forgot you got me blocked. But I love you, baby.” Italian ended the call and blew Mahzeyah a kiss, making her cheeks turn a deep burgundy. He lifted the bottle to pour her a shot while everyone laughed.
She snatched the bottle from him. “I can pour my own shot!”
“Make sure it’s a double shot. Rules are rules, baby. I told you, you’re the only girl I’m worried ’bout. Round two, spice shit up. You shoulda dared me to take you to the back and lift that lil’ skirt up so I can kiss it.”
“Oh, Lord! Pass the dice!” Bella blurted out.
Mahzeyah poured her shot, held her nose, and tossed it back. She then flipped Italian off as she put the bottle on the tray and passed the dice to Bella.
“How ’bout we go boy-girl, boy-girl, and then swap the next round. That way, the other person has time to come up with their truth or dare,” Blayke suggested.
Mahzeyah nodded, her face showing the double shot was just as nasty as the first one. “Yeah… Period. Go ’head, Bella.”
“That’s fine… But I’m on yo’ ass when it’s yo’ turn,” Italian whispered to Mahzeyah, but we all heard him.
Mahzeyah swallowed hard and turned her head to ignore him. Bella sat up in her seat, and I giggled because Gal looked like he was holding his breath.
He was really handsome, being the darkest one in the bunch. His skin tone resembled Shio’s a lot, although they didn’t look anything alike. He always smelled good, dressed nicely, and kept a pocketful of money. Still, Bella paid his ass dust.
She rolled the dice, and it landed on a four and a three, giving her a seven too.
She rolled her eyes and cocked her head to Gal. “Don’t be on no weird shit with yo’ young ass.”
He stood back in his spot on the wall while glaring at Bella as if her words meant nothing.
“Come on… I ain’t got all day!” she fussed while Glee and me shook our heads.
“You talk so much shit!” He snarled as he pushed off the wall.
“I shol’ do, nigga.”
“You know you white, right?”
“But you want to fuck this white girl, though.”
Everyone was silent as the two went back and forth, our heads going from Bella to Gallery.
“And I am. I’m patient, though…” He cheesed, and even I had to look away because Gal was too fine.
Bella huffed. “Anyways! I’m black. I can say nigga, nigga! So, nigga… What’s the dare?”
“Aite. When I ask you for yo’ time, you can’t say no.”
“Hunh?”
“I said,”—He straightened his shoulders—“When I ask you for your time one day, you can’t say no.”
Bella squinted. “That’s not a dare, Gallery.”
“It is. I dare you to say ‘yes’ when I ask you for yo’ time. Or take yo’ two shots.”
“When?”
“Just gone take yo’ lil’ two shots, Bellz,” Italian said.
Bella ignored Italian and waited for Gal to answer, but when he didn’t, his eyes boring into her, she clicked her tongue. “What you gonna do with my time when you ask me for it? I’m not having sex with you.”
“I asked for your time, not for your cat. And I’m prorating mine. Could be a year… Could be ten from now. But I dare you to say ‘yes’.”
“Hell, the world might not be here in ten years, so dare accepted. Shit, that was easy.” Bella sat back in her seat and pulled her phone back out with Gal still boring his eyes into her.
Bella was a tough cookie because if a boy looked at me that way, I knew I’d be scared as hell for whatever he had planned.
“Ion know now, bestie. If it’s too good to be true, it normally is. You should have took the shots!” Mahzeyah spoke up.
I smiled. “I think it’s cute. It sounds like the start of a ghetto, interracial love story. Make sure we around when you cash in on that dare.”