'Til Death (23 page)

              "Stop talking like that. Ain’t shit going to happen to you. Come on let’s go." I grabbed her hand, and we walked downstairs. Heaven was filling Ciara in on the scene I made, and I just laughed. We were going to the African Festival in downtown Detroit at the Hart Plaza. It was evening, so it wouldn’t be too hot, but I knew there would be a lot of people there. I looked at Ciara, who was looking like an angel, sitting in the front seat.

              "What would I do without you?" I asked her.

              "Hopefully you won’t have to find out."

Avery

              I was at home, bored as hell. I wanted to smoke, but I didn't want to smoke by myself. I wanted to chill and call somebody over. I picked up my phone and scrolled down my contact list. I smiled and dialed the number.

              "What you want?" Ava said picking up her phone.

              "Damn, your big brother can't call and check up on you?"

              "Av, you called me a couple of days ago. Ain't shit change." I laughed at my sixteen year old sister who was back in New York staying with my mom. I knew she wasn't at home, because she was never at home. She and my mom were like two bulls in a china shop: they just didn't get along.

              "Just tell me what you doing?"

              "On the subway with Shanti, heading to her house."

              "Ok." I knew Shanti was my mother's friend’s daughter. Shanti and Ava were the same age and practically grew up together.

              "Don't you have some hoes for you to call?"

              "Not hoes, but I did meet someone." I thought about Tosh. I couldn't stop thinking about her.

              "Call her." Ava said forcefully.

              "I don't have her number."

              "Well damn Av, call somebody that does. Talk to you later, love you." Then she hung up. I texted Boan and asked him to send me Tosh’s number. Within minutes he texted her number to me. I dialed it and waited for her to answer. I hoped she wasn't like those people that didn't pick up their phone because they didn't recognize the number.

              "Hello?" she answered.

              "It's Avery." There was a pause, and I wasn't sure if she had hung up the phone.

              "How did you get my number?" I could hear the hesitancy in her voice.

              "Tosh do it matter? I have it now."

              "Obviously."

I smiled. "Come over."

              "Excuse me?" she squeaked.

I laughed. "Come over here."

              "And where is ‘here’?"

              "My home." Another pause.

              "Why?"

              "I want your company, and you're asking a lot of questions. So I'm going to text you my address, and if you decide to come, just text back that you’re on your way. Don't worry about food, I got some food here I can whip up. Alright?"

              "Yee . . ." I hung up and sent her the address. I sat the phone down and immediately started cleaning up. I was nervous; I was not going to lie about that. I needed something to distract me from checking my phone to see if she texted or not. I ran into the kitchen and loaded the dishwasher, then I looked in the ‘fridge and to see what I had. I saw steak and potatoes, a real nigga meal. I took that out. After I had the steaks on, I checked my phone. She texted back that she was on her way. I hurried up to my room and cleaned it up. I had on basketball shorts and a beater. Fuck it, we just chilling. I vacuumed my rug, and around my wrap-around couch. I grabbed my phone and went back into the kitchen. I started cutting up the potatoes. I heard my buzzer go off. I walked to the front door and touched the speaker button.

              "It's me," Tosh said.

              "Alright, I'm on the fifth floor. Left, and two doors down. I'll have my door cracked open. You'll see the lift as soon as you walk in."

              "Ok." I buzzed her in and cracked my door open. I went back to the kitchen. I took the steaks out of the frying pan, then put them in the oven. I tossed the potatoes in the skillet. I heard my door open. I walked out of the kitchen to meet her. She was closing the door and didn't see me. When she turned around, she jumped, and I smiled at her.

              "Scared you?"

              "You think? I bought drinks," she said holding up the bag. She had on leggings and a flowing tank. The leggings showed how plump her ass was. I had to admire her long legs.

              "Follow me into the kitchen," I turned around and I heard her shuffling behind me.

              "It smells good in here." Tosh inhaled the air.

              I started moving the potatoes around in the pan. I took the steaks out to let them cool down on the stove. I turned around to face her. "What you get?"

She opened up the bag and pulled out a bottle of Merlot and a bottle of Hennessey.

              "Who is that Henny for?" I nodded towards the small bottle

              "I like wine and I figured you would want something more manly," Tosh answered while smiling. I nodded my head and couldn’t help admire her smile.

              "You figured right." I pulled a sack of weed out of my pockets and some backwoods to roll it up in.

              "You smoke?" I asked her.

              "Yes."

              "Would you do the honors and roll them up while I finish preparing the food?" I handed her the drugs and backwoods.

She nodded her head. I pulled out plates and steak sauce. The potatoes were almost done and she was almost done rolling up. I pulled out a cup for me and a wine glass for her. I poured both of our drinks. By the time she was done rolling, I was putting potatoes on her plate.

              "That smells good. I didn't know you could cook," Tosh said.

              "That’s because you don't ask me questions. I'm always asking you something."

              "Whatever." She rolled her eyes but had a slight smile on her face.

              "For real. You only asked me questions when we were just on the phone and that's about it."

              "You talking to much Avery. Come on, let's eat," She placed the blunt between her lips and followed me into the living room. I sat the food on the wooden table and placed down coasters, and she sat down our drinks. We sat down on the couch and she placed the weed on the table. I turned on Netflix.

              "What do you like watching on here?''

              "It don't matter," Tosh replied. We settled in a comfortable silence while I put on a suspense movie. After we were done eating, we fired up the blunt and began to drink. I stopped paying attention to the movie and started watching her.

              "Are you mixed?" I asked her.

She looked down at me. "No. I'm black. Are you?"

              "I'm black. Black people make every color." I said. She burst out laughing, and I knew she was high.

              "Why are you single?" I asked her. I took a drink of my liquor and felt the warmth spread in my stomach. I looked at her body while she took a sip of her wine.

              "I don't rush into relationships." Tosh ran her fingers through her hair. I wondered if she was nervous.

              "Have you ever been in a serious relationship?"

              She started laughing. "Damn, why, Avery?"

              "It's called getting to know each other. Have a man never tried to get to know you, or have you never found a real man?" I asked her, while sitting my drink down. I paused the movie and turned towards her, giving her my undivided attention. Her hazel eyes looked at me and there was a smirk on her face.

              "Yes, I have had men try to get to know me."

              "Then it's you." I pointed out.

              "Meaning?" Her eyes narrowed at me.

              "What's up with the wall Tosh?" I was curious.

She sat her wine down and cocked her head to the side and her hair moved with it. I reached out to touch it and felt how soft it was.

              "Why do you care?" Tosh asked.

I leaned closer to her, looking at her soft lips. "Maybe I want to break it down. I like you."

              "Avery  . . ." Before she could finish her sentence, I captured her mouth, kissing her. She kissed me and pulled me closer to her. She leaned back on the couch, only my torso was over her. I broke the kiss and looked at her.

              "Why didn't you want me to kiss you?"

              "What?"

              "The first time we had sex, you told me not to kiss you." I reminded her.

              "Because . . . "

I leaned, and sucked on her bottom lip gently.

              "It's too intimate," she whispered. She kissed me and stroked her tongue in my mouth. I groaned and pulled her closer. My erection had my basketball shorts looking like a tent.

              "So be with me," I said, kissing her.

              "Don't ruin it. Be quiet."

              I pulled away from her. "How is that going to ruin it?"

Tosh huffed, and sat up. I leaned up, giving her room. "Because I don't want to."

              "You seem to have commitment phobia," I said.

This look passed over Tosh’s face for a split second, then she just went blank. "I'm gonna go," Tosh said. She sat up so quickly our heads almost connected.

              "Damn, for real, Shorty?"

              "Yes, for real."

              "The fuck happened that quick?" I asked looking at her face to see signs of anger.

              "You don't know me, and you made a judgment based off what facts?"

              "I don't know; maybe the fact you're storming out of here like a child."

              "Because you're judgmental." Tosh threw out.

              "Tosh, if you really feel that way then it must be true." That statement was bullshit and she knew it.

Instead of saying something, she stormed out of my apartment. Damn, she was going to be a challenge.

Ciara

              I was tired of fucking walking. Boan and Heaven were a couple of booths down, looking at some books. I was standing off to the side, eating. Somebody sat down next to me and I froze.

              "So that’s her huh?" Tez asked me. He moved, and I felt the barrel of a gun on my side.

"Sit the food down, and let’s go Ciara." Tez demanded.

              "No." I wanted to test him to see how far he would take this.

              Tez huffed. "Why you always got to make shit difficult?"

              "Fuck you." I remarked.

              "Ok. You see that red dot on our lovely daughter’s back?" I looked and there was a red dot on Heaven’s shirt; somebody was aiming a gun at her. My heart started beating fast.

              "Are you ready to go now?" He asked in a much lighter tone. He knew he won.

              "Yes, just don’t hurt our daughter please." I begged. I wouldn't put it past him to hurt Heaven and I felt tears spring to my eyes.

Tez grabbed my elbow and pulled me up. I walked with him and we exited the plaza. I got into his black Tahoe. I looked to see who was driving. It was this young soldier that I had practically raised, named Donovan. Donovan didn’t look at me at all.

              Tez put a blindfold over me. "Give me your phone," he ordered.

              "Drive." I felt us move forward, and I was heading to Destination Nowhere.

Boan

              I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket and when I looked at the display, I saw that it was Ciara. I looked over to where we had left her, at and she wasn't sitting there anymore.

              "Yo where did you go?" I asked.

              "Well she isn’t sitting down anymore," Tez said into the phone. My heart started beating fast. I grabbed Heaven’s hand and we slowly began to walk. Heaven looked at me, confused.

              "Tez."

              "Yes, hold on."

              Tez moved the phone to Ciara."Boan," she said, concerned.

              I tried to talk low so Heaven couldn’t hear me. "Baby don’t worry, alright?"

              "Take care of her Boan," I heard Ciara say.

              "Awww the happy fucking family," Tez responded getting back on the phone.