Page 5 of Krist and Moanie
“Nah, you safe with me, but how she know that?”
“She don’t, but that’s on me. Lesson learned. You can’t fault people for being who they are. All you can do is change how you deal with them.”
He nodded. “You laid back, I fuck with that.”
I didn’t respond. I instead sat there smiling hard, facing the window. I couldn’t believe I was sitting in his car, being driven home by him.
When we pulled up in front of my building, I unfastened my seatbelt. “I guess this is it. It was nice to meet you.” I wanted him to ask me for my number, but he didn’t. His response was simply, “Stay up, beautiful.” Then he watched me go into the building before pulling off. He must’ve had a bitch…had to.
When I made it upstairs to my apartment, I unlocked the door kinda bummed. I didn’t know why. Shit, maybe because he didn’t ask for any of my information. He was probably used to the chicks like my cousin and that was why. I was thinking so much I didn’t realize my brother was sitting in my living room until he cleared his throat.
“The fuck you coming from at this time of morning, Mo?”
“Minding my business, Jeff. Shit, maybe you should try it instead of sitting in people’s living rooms in the freaking dark.”
He laughed. “You are my business, Moanie. You my lil sister.”
“Yeah, I know. You don’t have to remind me.” I pulled the front of my hair into a ponytail and stomped into my bedroom. I wanted to sulk in peace, but something told me Jeff was here to lecture me. Any and everything I did got back to him; shit, before I could even get done doing it.
Of course he followed me into my room, wouldn’t be Jeff if he didn’t. “Where were you this evening?”
“Being grown.” My hands found my hips while I mugged him.
“With them DP niggas. You know that ain’t a good look.” He took a seat at the foot of my bed.
“No, well, yes. But if you must know, I went to a rap battle with Alley. Then we got something to eat. Nothing more, nothing less.” Shit, I wanted it to be more. I pushed that thought to the back of my head and stared at my brother.
“Stay away from that nigga, Moanie.”
I sucked my teeth. “My life doesn’t revolve around Bedford and DP’s rivalry. I have absolutely nothing to do with any of it. No, I’m not fucking that man, before you ask. I’m grown and I will spend my time with whomever I wan?—”
“Nah. You don’t even know that nigga. You thinking he’s some rapper or whatever the fuck you seen on the internet.”
I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. “What don’t you get, Jeff? I don’t give a fuck about any of that. I met the man one time. I probably won’t even see him again, so please save the lecture.”Who was I kidding? I was hoping I saw him again.
“Aight, man. Be hard headed all you want. Just don’t do it when it comes to this. I’m forever looking out for you lil sis. I’mgoing across the hall to Mommy. I’ll let her know you made it in safe.” I hated when he made it seem like he was looking out for me. It was him bringing his gang shit into my life. He acted like I didn’t know Krist was affiliated. Shit, the DP brand seared into his skin and the tattoo on his hand was proof enough. It was in that moment that his whole being popped into my brain. Krist was about six-three, the color of caramel taffy apples without the nuts. He had a tattoo on the side of his face leading from his eyebrow and rounded near his neatly trimmed beard and goatee. His hair was lengthy but braided to the back in about ten cornrows neatly combined into two braids that stopped at his triceps. He had these deep, sense snatching eyes that pulled you in from first glance with the cheekbones of a Greek god. His purple-tinted lips, indicating he smoked a little, were soft looking, shit, so inviting.Fuck, why didn’t he ask me for my number?
The next morning when I woke up, I was in a better mood. I didn’t have to work, so that was always a plus. Today I just wanted to chill and catch up on some studying. Becoming and being a doctor wasn’t easy. Shit, it was hard considering I originally went to school to be a vet, but then decided I wanted to deal with people instead of animals. Though most medical shit was easy, it was still somewhat challenging when I had to decipher what I learned about animals from what I remembered about people. Sometimes everything melded.
Before I stepped into my studying for the day, I decided to go see about my mother. She was a stubborn older woman who didn’t like asking a soul for shit. In turn I’d look up and she walked all the way to the grocery store or doctor. She always claimed she was able bodied and didn’t want to bother us and that shit got on my last nerve. Because why have kids if you didn’t intend to bother them about something. Either way she needed watching because she was always on that independentshit when she had kids who would do whatever for her. I lived right across the hall from her, so it was easy for me to get to her if necessary.
I went to knock on her door, and as soon as I lifted my hand, the door was opening. There she stood in a house coat holding a plate.
“I was just coming to get you up.” She smiled up at me before turning to reenter her own place.
“Jeff said you were out late last night. You okay, baby?”
I rolled my eyes to the ceiling. “Yes. Wasn’t Jeff out late last night as well? While he was all in my business.”
She laughed. “He just cares about you, baby, that’s all.”
“No, he likes to be in my business when he should be in his own, but what do I know? That’s your son.” I took a seat at the table in front of the plate. My ass was starving and my mama knew it because she was on her way across the hall with a plate. She also had her keys in her hands, so she had no intention of knocking.
“So who were you out with yesterday?”
I cut my eyes from the chicken sausage on my plate to my mother. A five foot four inch petite Dominican baddie who no one could tell was fifty-six with three sons and a daughter. We all towered over her, our father was tall. I wasn’t tall at all, but I was taller than my mother.
“Alley.”
