Page 42 of Honey Sugar
“Sweetheart this shit doesn’t have anything to do with you. Why don’t you let me talk to your cousin alone?”
“No. I go wherever he goes.” My jaw was set and my stare was firm. My mind was loopy as hell due to the Xanax but the one thing that would always remain clear was Titan. I didn’t ever plan on leaving his side.
“I get it. I get it. Cousin love.” A grin stretched across Mario’s face but it wasn’t warm and cozy. It was made of ice shards. He looked up into Titan’s eyes and I saw something sinister slithering around inside of him. I didn’t like it. It made chills run down my spine. “I came to tell you that Bear got our names. He knows we were selling bumpers that night during Mardi Gras.”
“How the fuck did he find that out? The only people who knew we were out there was us. Unless you told someone at the dispensary.”
“I may have and that’s my fault, Shadow. You know I can talk too much sometimes.”
“So now Bear has our names and what else?”
“I don’t care what else. This needs to be a discussion for later on. I’m done. I want him out, Titan.” I cut the conversation off because Mario was ruining my high and reality started to edge in.
“She wants me out,Titan. You know, I feel slighted. I didn’t know your real name until I looked in the obituary. How long have we been boys?” The longer Mario was in my house, the longer my skin felt slick with grease from his energy.
“I’ll be up at the dispensary tomorrow,” Titan told Mario. You gotta go right now. You’re making her uncomfortable.”
“Her? She got a name?” Mario eyed me for a little too long because Titan shielded me from his view. His thick brows fell low on his forehead as he glared.
“Nah. She doesn’t have a name. I told you I’ll be up there tomorrow.”
“You told me that before and I never saw you.”
“Then keep your eyes peeled, motherfucker. I’ll be around.” There were no more words exchanged between them. Mario headed toward the door and the brown skin girl with him who seemed to be little more than an accessory followed but not before she looked at Titan with a glint in her brown eyes.
I knew that glint.
I had the same one when I looked at him even though I shouldn’t have. It pricked my skin and made my head throb as I tried to focus through the fog. Insults spun around in my head like a tornado threatening to take out everything in its path.
“Bye, Shadow. You sure you’re coming into town tomorrow?” She purred. She hung on to the doorknob with her fingertips. A lump thickened in my throat the longer I watched her watch him.
“Yeah, I’ll be around. I never did catch your name, darling.”
“I’m fine with you calling me darling,” she giggled. I got sick to my stomach watching her flirt with him and the fact that he flirted back made me want to shove her out of the door and scream at him.
“I know your mama named you something other than darling.” Titan flashed that suave smile that made me melt. It made her melt too. Mario got frustrated watching the exchange as well.
“My name is Shae,” she giggled and held her hand out. Titan kissed her knuckles then let her hand go. I think that was the only time in the history of the world where my feelings aligned with Mario’s. I wanted Shae to get her ass in the car and drive back to New Orleans with him and never look at Titan again.
“Okay, Shae. Nice to meet you.” He nodded his head at her and she moved closer until she was within arm’s reach of him. She touched the ends of his braids. The braids that I put in for him. The braids he sat between my thighs for an hour to get.
“Do I get to call you by your real name?” She quizzed, batting her lashes at him. I hated the angry feeling scratching deep at my insides. I couldn’t be outwardly jealous like I wanted to be because Titan was my cousin. I wasn’t supposed to be jealous because he was talking to a girl. That’s what hot guys did. They talked to pretty girls. Only Titan was mine. I’d made it up in my mind that I didn’t care about who we were supposed to be to each other and to the world. I cared about the way he made me feel. I cared about the way he loved me and protected me.
He. Was. Mine.
“Nah. That’s only reserved for special women.”
“Oh? So can I be special?” She grinned.
“Talk to your man.” He lifted his chin toward Mario who stepped back inside the house to yank Shea by her wrist.
“Get your stupid ass in the car. You really are pushing your fucking luck today, bitch!” He shoved her and glared over his shoulder at Titan. “Chill the fuck out, Shadow.”
“Don’t push her, alright? You know I don’t play that shit. I don’t stand around while motherfuckers put their hands on women.”
How was it possible to be so angry I wanted to choke him but still swoon whenever he opened his damn mouth? I was a web of confusion and emotion and I was ready for the day to be over.
“Nephew, is this one of your friends?” Daddy’s voice made me groan inwardly. I looked at him with so much disgust it could have morphed into an entirely separate entity from me. His smile was too wide and toothy. I’d never seen him like that before. He was so open and friendly. Even though I could tell it was all bullshit it was still awkward to witness.
