Page 69 of Out of Bounds
“Sis, you ain’t dropped that nigga’s last name yet?” Deuce’s stupid ass asked, knowing good and fucking well we had this conversation already.
“No.” She giggled.
“And she ain’t gone drop it. That’s our kids’ last name too.”
“What does that have to do with her, though?” Jream probed.
“It means we a family. The fuck.”
“You let that nigga go, you might as well let the last name go too.” Jream shrugged.
“I’m more of a Dolla than I’ve ever been a Wallace. I didn’t change my name because I didn’t create a legacy for it to be broken. My kids’ house that last name, and I will be buried with it. When you have children of your own, you will understand.”
“What if you get remarried?” Koya asked.
The nigga in me wanted to say, “She ain’t getting remarried,” but I decided to let her answer that question because I was curious myself.
“IfI were to get married again, which I don’t plan on doing,” she said, making it clear. “I would hyphen it. I would be Masai Dolla hyphen whatever.”
“You out yo’ rabid-ass mind!” I based, making them laugh. “Ain’t no way you thought you was ’bout to be out here carrying my name along with another nigga’s. You done pissed me off now. Deuce, where my damn keys? That apple spritzer got Masai’s ass tripping!” I fussed.
“It’s Aperol spritzer,” Masai stated all sassy-like and shit. “And… If I were to get remarried, my last namewillbe hyphenated. You don’t like it… do something about it.”
“I’mma do something, all right.” I nodded.
If Masai knew like I knew, she had better find her something safe to do. There wasn’t any chance in hell that I was about to situp there and let her carry my last name while married to another nigga. Nope, not Kreed Delonte Dolla.
Deuce chuckled while scratching his stomach. “This banter is cute and all, but a nigga hungry. Jream, call Jrue and tell him to bring his bitch ass over here. Might as well throw some meat on the grill since it don’t look like I’m getting rid of y’all asses no time soon.”
“In that case, we need to go to the liquor store. I’m not trying to drink no apple spritzer,” I announced.
“Aperol!”the women yelled out, making me shrug.
“That shit too. And give me something to change into.”
This was right up my alley. It had been a minute since we’d been able to kick it like this. With the divorce and all, everyone was walking a thin line. I was cool with hanging out in Deuce’s crib and shooting the shit. I wasn’t ready to leave Masai’s presence anyway, so of course, my ass was down for some steaks and beer.
TheonlyreasonI ended up at Koya and Deuce’s house was because the girls and I had gone shopping. After we left Phipps, Koya wanted Jream and me to see what they’d done with their closets. Lamar and I were supposed to go on a date tonight, but that train derailed quickly. Koya was making those Aperol spritzers just a little too strong, and now my ass was drunk.
Deuce deciding to randomly throw some meat on the grill is another reason my ass is still planted in my seat. Koya knew about my date, and since it looked like I was no longer going, she insisted that I invite Lamar over. The only problem with that was that my ex was literally sitting a few feet away from me. The man had been under me since he arrived, and I didn’t see him moving anytime soon.
Everyone kept encouraging me to invite Lamar over so they could meet him. Hell, even Kreed was like,“Yeah, tell that nigga to come stop by,”knowing he was just talking shit. But since the offer had been placed on the table, I thought, “What the hell?” When I reached out to Lamar to tell him the reason I was going to have to reschedule our date, he understood. He revealed he’d had a long day and didn’t mind keeping it in the house tonight. Ithought I was off the hook until my loud-ass ex popped up over my shoulder, telling Lamar to stop by. Reluctantly, he agreed, and now I was sitting here looking crazy because he was on his way.
My friends were a littledifferentand had a tendency to do a little too much at times. With the way everyone had been drinking, I wasn’t sure what to expect. When the boys got together, they talked more shit than a little bit. If Lamar and I were to get serious, I wouldn’t necessarily expect him to always come around my friends. However, there would be instances where we would for sure end up in the same room as them. This ultimately meant he and Kreed would be in the same room too. Divorced or not, Kreed didn’t play fair at all, so I’m not sure how things were going to pan out with him and Lamar being in the same room tonight.
“You want this?” Kreed asked and held a plate out for me. “Or you waiting for yo’ nigga to get here?” He teased me.
“Do not start with me…” I frowned and took the plate out of his hand. The guys decided, since Jream, Koya, and me had been drinking all afternoon, they would cook all of the food. I was completely okay with that. With Kreed being out of the house, I went from cooking maybe two to three days a week to doing it at least five to six days a week.
“I’m just saying.” He held his hands up in surrender before swaggering off. When he returned, he had a plate of his own and two beers. Plopping back down on the sofa beside me, he set both beers on the table and slid one over to me. “Tell me if you fucking with the corn or not. I switched my recipe up.”
“Why you changing shit?”
“I’on know.” He shrugged. “Trying something different.”
“It better be good too.” I kicked his thigh.
“How far out yo’ nigga is?”
