Page 1 of Awakening
Prologue
24 Years Earlier
“Ja, that’s just the way it is,” my father would respond as I asked for the millionth time why every other student in my class had their mommy there for parents’ day, but I just had my dad and my aunt. It hardly seemed fair, and Dro never gave me a good reason.
From as far back as I could remember, I never had a mother; I only had women who resembled mother figures. But that was no replacement for having a mother I could hug and tell about school, or run to when Dro was being strict and unreasonable. I deserved to feel a mother’s love, but sadly, it would never be part of my story, and I’d come to terms with it, or whatever my idea of acceptance was.
I sat reminiscing as I packed my bags, preparing to leave for basic training, reminding me of why I wanted to fly the coup that is Winston Hills. This was a place that held a lot of pain in my life. Dro did the best he could as a single parent, but he spent a lot of time in the streets providing the comfortable lifestyle I’d been afforded and giving me the game so that men wouldn’t think I was easy prey. Emotionally, I was closed off to most people and things because pain lived deep in my spirit, and while one day I would have to face it, today wasn’t that day. I know girls my age dreamed of going to college and enjoying the young, carefree life of a college student, like my best friend Layanna. Still, I dreamed of joining the Air Force and becoming the highest-ranking Airwoman possible, seeing the world.
“Ja, you sure you wanna do this?” Dro’s voice vibrating through the room before his presence actually made it there.
“For the last time, Dro, I am,” I chortled.
I’d called my father Dro for as long as I could remember, only calling him dad when he pissed me off.
“Aight, killa, don’t bite my head off,” he responded, raising his hands in surrender, “But not a hair on your head better be out of place when you make it back home, or I’ll become public enemy number one in this country after I wreak havoc behind you.”
I chuckled as Dro kissed the top of my head and let me know he was heading out to handle some business with my Uncle Ant, his best friend.
As Dro was leaving, Yanna was walking in. The only person I ever let my guard down with was Layanna Graves. We’d been best friends for as long as I could remember. In addition to our fathers being best friends, we both had mommy issues. While I’d never met my own mother, Yanna’s mother suffered from mental health issues that she refused to get help for. After parking her car on train tracks with Yanna and herself in the car, Uncle Ant got full custody of Yanna and never looked back. As best friends, our bond became unbreakable as we were forced to navigate and figure out certain aspects of womanhood together.
“JaJaaaaaa,” Yanna whined, “You sure you have to leave me for seven whole ass weeks?” A pout on her gorgeous face.
“I’ll be finished with basic training before you know it, but you know there are going to be times where I’m gone for years at a time, YaYa,” I responded as she sat behind me and wrapped her thick thighs around me, making my body squirm.
I’m one of the few people who knew my best friend was bi-curious; she knew that I was as well, but she didn’t think I wanted her to be my first girl-on-girl experience. I could feel the heat radiating from her center on my lower back, and it wascausing my pussy to cream at the thought of us scissoring, shaking the thoughts from my mind as she continued trying to talk me out of going to the military.
“If I keep you like this and you can’t leave, then what?” She asked as we both burst out laughing.
“Ya Ya, you are so dramatic. I’ll miss you, too, but I need you to be as excited for me to chase my dreams as I am for you to chase your future, Dr. Graves,” I reminded her.
“I’m beyond excited for you soon-to-be General Jeffries, but I’m going to miss you so much,” the pout in her voice evident as she laid her head on my back. “Don’t forget about me as you go make new military friends.”
“Never,” and I meant it. Nobody could ever take her place.
“JEFFRIES, FRONT AND CENTER NOW!” My MTI yelled.
I scrambled to the front, standing at attention, waiting to hear why I’d been called out. When Dro and I visited the recruiting office at the start of my senior year, they mentioned that, prior to basic training, I would need to lose some weight to meet the medical standards for enlistment. I needed to be no more than 136 lbs. I almost let that deter me from enlisting, seeing as how I was 175 lbs. and losing 40 lbs. in less than a year seemed impossible, especially when I wasn’t one who gave the gym a second glance, let alone a first one, while eating what I wanted when I wanted. Dro reminded me that being in the Air Force had been a long-held goal of mine, and allowing something that I had control over to derail me was unacceptable. So I went to work. Igot with a nutritionist to change my diet, and a trainer to help me get fit. By the time I arrived at basic training, I weighed 130 pounds, was toned, and even had an ab definition. I was in the best shape of my life and had even gotten Yanna in shape because we had become workout and eating accountability partners.
“There’s no way that Jeffries is in better shape than 85% of the men in this here squadron, but according to these fitness test results, she whooped ass and took names,” the MTI finally said as I stared ahead.
“Jeffries, you will lead our morning runs from here forward. Now fall in line.”
“SIR, YES SIR!” I yelled as I headed back to my original position.
“Sir, yes, sir. Fucking kiss ass,” I heard Colson Hawke say lowly but loud enough so that I and the others around us heard it as they snickered like fucking kids.
“Your fat ass should put that energy into slimming down those hips, and maybe you wouldn’t be part of that 85%,” I made sure to rebut, causing those around us to laugh.
Nothing about Colson was fat or out of shape, but I’d be damned if he thought I was going to become his verbal punching bag.
Colson was the kind of man who turned heads without trying and held your gaze without saying a word. His confidence was effortless. He was tall, standing at 6’2” with a lean, muscular frame defined beneath the subtle cling of the standard-issued uniforms we wore day in, day out. Sunlight glints off his brown taper fade with deep waves, making his model handsome face the star of the show. The same mouth that managed to talk shit to me every chance it could looked both soft and sensual—lips that seem to know secrets worth whispering in the dark.
His deep brown eyes were unreadable at times, but when weverbally sparred, there was always a glint of humor, but something darker and more sensual lived behind the laughs. There was an intensity to him that pulled me in, a man who moved through the world at his own pace and made his own rules, so a place like the military challenged who he was. While he was used to doing as he pleased, here he was at the mercy of our superiors like everyone else. Colson didn’t need to chase attention, but somehow he always wanted mine, commanding it with his childish verbal love taps. I won’t lie, there had been a time or two when I imagined what it would be like when he touched me, especially with a graze of his fingers across my thigh or the press of his lips against my neck. Needless to say, I was experiencing a schoolgirl crush.
The dorm was dim and still, filled with the sound of regulated breathing and distant night noises. In basic training, quiet moments like this only happened at night. The air hung heavy with sweat, detergent, and the unspoken weight of exhaustion. My fellow airwomen slept in their tightly made bunks, boots lined in perfect formation at the edge of each bed, yet I lay awake staring at the ceiling, my body still humming from the day's drills. Muscles sore. Heart unsettled. The loneliness I kept pressed down during daylight hours was starting to creep in again like it always did when night fell and my body settled. Hearing light taps on the window next to my bed, I turned to look.
“Colson,” his name fell from my lips as a whisper.
