Verboten Temptations: We Belong Together

Chapter 2: On the Road

[Marcus' POV]

                It was 9 in the morning and the sun was beating down on us as we loaded my things into the large SUV my mother rented for the travel. A few family members were here to see me off and gave me some money, although I had just had an open house last week. But I wasn’t going to complain since it was extra money. Dante wiped his forehead of sweat after he got the mini fridge into the trunk and smiled at me. I returned a weak smile and blushed at how sexy he looked. My mother came out the house with a checklist and started going over the items to make sure I had everything, though she planned to get me a few more items once we were down in Florida. Jasmine had a bag full of snacks for the trip and sat it in the passenger seat of the car.

“OK Marcus, is that all of your luggage?” My mother asked, not looking up from her list.

“Yes ma’am.” I replied, glancing in the trunk.

“OK good. And Jasmine, do you have our overnight bags for the hotel?” My mother asked looking up to face Jasmine.

“Yeah mom, I got them in the trunk already.” She answered annoyed.

“Girl don’t think just because you’re 21 I won’t smack the taste out your mouth.” My mother retorted, pointing the pen in her hand at Jasmine. Jasmine simply sighed.

“Sorry ma’am.” She huffed out. I knew my mother wasn’t in the best of moods since she was really nervous about me leaving. She didn’t experience this with Jasmine so she didn’t know how to handle it all. Jasmine, on the other hand, was a little irritated at how our mother was acting, since I’m the second child to have graduated and such. But all in all, she was very happy for me.

“Dante do you have your overnight bag?” My mother asked him.

“Yes, it’s in the car.” He replied smiling. She nodded and went to go talk with my uncle and his wife. My older cousin came over to me and smiled.

“Sup cuzzo?” He said, giving me dap.

“What’s up Jay?” I said smiling. I didn’t always see Jay, but me and him were pretty close. He was actually the reason I learned clarinet.

“I heard you got a pretty big band scholarship. Congrats! And you’re about to be at a HBCU. Following in my footsteps I see.” Jay said smirking. Earlier this year, Jay had graduated from Alabama State University, which of course is a HBCU. And of course, he also marched in the marching band. I scoffed at him and laughed.

“I guess but thank you! I’m pretty excited to see how Florida is.” I said. Jay nodded then looked over at Dante.

“Who’s that?” He asked. Dante looked up from his phone at me.

“Oh, this is Dante, my boyfriend.” I said shyly. Jay’s eyes went wide and Dante seemed to be surprised too.

“Oh damn cuz. I didn’t know you got down like that, but it’s cool. Nothing wrong with that.” He said smiling. I let out a breath and Dante smiled brightly.

“Nice to meet you, Dante. I’m Jay. You better be treating my little cuzzo right.” Jay had a serious tone as he shook Dante’s hand.

“Likewise. And your cousin is the greatest thing to ever happen to me, so I wouldn’t ever plan to hurt him.” Dante replied. Jay smirked and looked at me.

“Looks like you got a good dude here. Don’t fuck him over either.” He said to me. I nodded.

“I wouldn’t plan on it.” I said. Dante smiled again and we continued talking with Jay for a while. As it neared 10am, the family started disbanding and my mother was ready to hit the road.