Page 33 of Down With the King of the South (Down With the King of the South 1)

“Hearing that I got money, did it make your pussy wet?” he asked, going right back to being an asshole.

“Nope because I have my own money,” I said and jumped up from the bed.

I walked over to my closet door and retrieved my silk robe then put it on my body and tied the strings together. Once my house shoes were on my feet, I walked out of the room and went downstairs to the kitchen. I hadn’t been home in so long, that there really wasn’t much for me to cook for Jabari.

I’ve never in my life cooked for a man. Well, I’ve cooked for Vonte, but that was my godson. I’m talking a man that I was having relations with; I’ve never done that. Looking inside my fridge, I saw that I only had food to make breakfast, so that’s what I planned to make him. I pulled out the pack of Garcia sausages and put two in the pan then placed it in the oven. That wouldn’t take long to make, so while that cooked, I started on the French toast. I made four for him, some cheesy scrambled eggs, and I even made a small pot of grits.

I wasn’t hungry, so I just made enough for him. By the time I was fixing his plate, he’d come into the kitchen and took a seat at the island. I set a plate in front of him that was big enough for a king, and he looked at me with his eyebrows raised.

“Where your plate at?” he asked.

“I’m not hungry. Only you are. What do you want to drink? I have water, ummm juice, soda, wine, what you want?” I asked.

“I don’t trust you yet, shorty. You gotta sample everything that’s on this plate, so I’ll know that you not trying to poison a nigga,” he said in all seriousness.

I checked to see if there was just a small smirk on his face that would prove that he was just fuckin’ around, but I didn’t find one. He was serious.

“Really? Why would I poison you?” I asked, standing in front of him and looking up at him like he was crazy.

“Why wouldn’t you? Taste it for me, shorty,” he said again.

I rolled my eyes and snatched the fork from his hands. I tasted the eggs, the grits, the sausages, even ate one of the French toasts that I’d cut into a triangular shape.

“Thank you. Now, let me see if your food is as good as your pussy. You can bring me two bottles of water,” he said.

I walked over to the fri

dge and retrieved the water bottles for him. When I came back, I had to hide my smile because he was tearing the food up that I’d made for him, which only meant that he liked it.

“It’s good, shorty. You did your thing. I meant to ask you how your girl doing? Jashae, how she holding up?” he sincerely asked me.

“She got out the house today to go with her grandma, so that’s some type of progress. It’s going to take time, but Shae is strong, so I know that she’s going to pull through,” I said.

“I went to the funeral, but I sat way in the back. When it was over, I wanted to say something to her, but it’s like I didn’t even have the words. Besides, I knew that it wasn’t shit that I could say to make it any less stressful on her, so I chose to just keep shorty in my prayers. I never personally met her son, but Miami would talk about him, and I saw clips of him playing. He was good. It always be the good ones that leave too early,” he said, and I nodded my head to that.

“I just feel so bad for Shae, you know? We’re talking about someone who never even got the chance to meet her mother because she died giving birth to her. Then, the one man that she loves more than anything, her only boyfriend that she ever had is in prison doing a life sentence. Then, there’s Vonte, the love of her life. I can’t imagine what that type of pain even feels like. I imagine carrying a baby for nine months, already forming a bond with that child before it even gets here, and then when they do get here, you learn to love that baby more than yourself. She only had seventeen years with Vonte. That’s nothing, Jabari.

“Last week, I had to watch my best friend as she witnessed her baby boy get lowered into the ground. I don’t ever want to have to feel nothing even close to that. I always said that I didn’t want children of my own, but that just solidified it for me,” I said, speaking the truth.

“I hear you, shorty, but everybody’s story is not going to be your story. Don’t count some shit out before you even get the chance to experience it,” he said.

“Okay, Bishop Jabari. Look at you, sounding like a motivational speaker,” I said, followed by a laugh.

“Eventually, you going to want me to take the condom off so you can feel the real thing, so quit hollering about you don’t want to have kids,” he said, and I burst out laughing right in his face.

“Nigga, was that weed laced? You’re out of your fuckin’ mind if you think I would everrrr in my life push out a baby for you. Please,” I said, shrugging him off and going back toward the sink so I could wash the dishes.

“I’m not even going to do too much back and forth with you. I’ll give you about a month before you start telling me to take the rubber off. I won’t have to ask you to push a baby out for me because I’m going to have your silly ass so fucked up in the head, that you’ll be asking me to have my baby. Fuck outta here with that shit,” he cockily said.

I could tell that he wasn’t used to a bitch denying him. I didn’t even bother to respond to him. I ignored his ass while I continued washing the dishes. By the time I was finished cleaning the kitchen, he and I were back in my room, back in my bed. I was lowkey shocked that he was still here, and I wouldn’t admit it to him, but I didn’t want him to leave.

I was on my side of the bed, and he was on his, but right before I got ready to close my eyes and go to sleep, he all but dragged my body to him, placing me directly in front of him and wrapping his arms around me, preventing me from going anywhere. My back was propped up against his front, and his dick was resting peacefully on my ass. I found myself trying to match his breathing, and in his arms, I felt so safe.

Every night I slept at my house alone, I always felt uptight because it was just me. There was a gun that I kept in my nightstand which was supposed to have been my protection, but with Jabari with me tonight, I couldn’t help but feel as if he was my protection. In no time, I drifted off to sleep, safe in his arms.

I woke up the next morning a little bit after 10:00. I no longer felt Jabari’s arms wrapped around me. I turned over, and he wasn’t in bed with me. I quickly got up from the bed and checked my bathroom, and he wasn’t there either. When I went to the window, I looked out, and his car wasn’t out front, which only meant that he left.

“Maybe he left me a text message or something,” I called out.

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