Love Is Not Just A Verb (A Kendrick Lamar Story)

Chapter 10

"You don't have to stay here, you know," Kendrick said, softly. His eyes were still closed.

"I know," I replied.

He smiled a little. I smiled back. A slow song suddenly hit the speakers.

"Hey everybody," Martin Campbell, the DJ, said into the mic. "We gon' take it a little slow. All my niggas, go find a lady to grooooove wit it."

"Hey, Yn," I heard a deep, sexy voice say behind me. Kendrick opened his eyes and looked at the nigga. He looked confused. I turned around and stood up.

"Um, hi," I said awkwardly. I didn't really know him.

"You wanna dance?" he asked, holding his hand out.

I put my hands into my back pockets and said, "I don't know."

"Please?"

I turned around and looked at Kendrick. He turned away and closed his eyes. I looked back up at the guy. He was pretty tall. Probably like 6 feet or so.

"Sure," I said. I grabbed his hand gentilly and he walked me to the dance floor. He put his strong hands around my waist and I put my arms around his shoulders. "Hey," I said into his chest. "How do you know my name?"

"I've seen you around at school," he said.

That did not answer my question, I thought. "Well, what's your name?" I asked.

"Malik (Muh-leek)," he said. I smiled. I always loved that name. "So... You seein' K Dot or something?"

"K Dot? Who's that?"

"Kendrick," Malik said, laughing.

"Oh," I said. K Dot? What the f*ck? I laughed a little bit. "No, we're not together."

"Cool," Malik said. Then he slowly started lowering his hands. I started to feel uncomfortable. I grabbed his arms and lifted them so that he wouldn't be grabbing my ass. Also, so that he'd realize that I don't play that mess. But he lowered his arms again. This time, I lifted his arms a little more aggressively. By the third time, I was done.

I backed out of his embrace and said, "Ok, we're done here."

"What's wrong?" he asked confused.

"I don't appreciate you touching on me like that," I said, folding my arms.

"Damn, b*tch. It's not like I raped you."

Honestly, I don't like arguing. Mostly because I'm terrible at it. So at that moment, I just tried to walk away. I tried.

"Hey! Get back here!" he grabbed my arm and pulled me towards him aggressively. I have to admit, I kinda liked it. Aggressive guys are a major turn on... to me, anyway. I was still mad, though. "Look, I'm sorry," he said softly. He let go and held my waist. He tried to sway me from side to side, but I got his hands off of me and walked back to where Kendrick was. Everyone watched as he stood there looking dumb as hell, not knowing what to do.

When I got to Kendrick, he smiled and said, "What happened to Malik?"

"That nigga disrespectful." I said as I kneeled down beside the sofa he was laying on and put my hand on the armrest.

He laughed and said, "I know."

I punched him in the arm. "Why the hell did you let me dance with him, then?"

He laughed some more and said, "He woulda popped one in my ass if I said anything."

"So you was scared, huh?" I asked, raising my chin like a straight up G.