Montrell made sure his door was locked as he waited for Saquan to arrive. He hadn't gotten any new text messages from Jacory or Demetrius, so he turned off his phone and set it down on his nightstand. He then picked up his remote and opened the Netflix app on his TV. Just as he was opening a pack of spearmint breath mints, Saquan softly tapped on his window from out on the fire escape. After quickly popping a couple of mints into his mouth, he hurried to the window and unlocked it. He pushed it up and then helped Saquan climb in.
"It's cold as fuck out there," said Saquan while rubbing his hands together.
Montrell put his finger to his lips and whispered, "Shh, my momma is home."
Saquan unzipped and removed his jacket, whispering back, "My bad."
Montrell placed the jacket on the coat hook attached to the back of his bedroom door. He then sat down on the bed as Saquan took off his Nikes. He moved over so that Saquan could sit down on the bed. Saquan then moved closer and rested his back on Montrell's headboard. He looked at Montrell and they both smiled and became shy.
"I ain't never did this before," Saquan admitted quietly.
"Boy, what? I'm sure you've watched movies with plenty of girls and guys before you...did it with them."
"Not really. I mean, they'd start a movie but we'd end up fuckin' before the credits were done. I've never been in somebody's bed without it gettin' to that. I can still kiss you, right?"
"Yeah."
"Well, I'm cool then." He turned his phone off and put it in the pocket of his sweatpants before saying, "It's Halloween, so let's watch a movie or two or three."
"Three? Oh, no. I likes my sleep and it's already late."
"You go to bed early on a Saturday night?"
"When I'm home, yeah. Shoot, I put on a face cream mask and watch a movie or two with some popcorn and then wash my face, brush my teeth, and put together a bedtime playlist on my phone."
Saquan laughed a little and said, "Shoot, I don't blame you. If my room was like this I'd be at peace, too. Your bed is way more comfortable than mine and your room smells a million times better."
"Ew, please tell me your room doesn't smell like feet and ass?"
"It ain't that bad but it ain't nice like this. You would have a cute room with yo cute self."
"So, did you have any plans for Halloween that had to be cancelled so you could come over here tonight?"
"I had to take my lil' brother Noah and my lil' sister Nylah trick-or-treating but that was earlier before it even got dark."
"How old are they?"
"Five. They're twins."
"Aw, that's so adorable. I bet they liked having their big brother take them around the neighborhood to get candy."
"They did but I didn't. I mean, they're cute and everything but they're a handful. To be honest, I thought about you all day. It's like I can't ever get you to myself. How am I gonna be your boyfriend if I can't spend time with you?"
Montrell gave him a look and asked, "Be my boyfriend? Who said I wanted you to be my boyfriend?"
"Don't even try that. You kissed me first that night at the rec center, remember? Grabbed all on me and shit."
"That doesn't mean I want you to be my boyfriend. I've never even had one."
"Me neither. That makes both of us."
Montrell looked away from him and smirked as he picked up the remote and asked, "What movie do you wanna watch?"
"I haven't seen the first Halloween in a minute."
"Okay, I love that movie. But only if we can watch the sequel right after."
"Shoot, I'm game." He put his arm around Montrell and said, "Go ahead and queue up them bad boys."
Montrell laughed as he began searching for the movies.
Meanwhile at the twins' Halloween party, Jacory set down his cup on a nearby counter and said to Nate, "I don't know who told you that, but now is not the time to discuss it. You are drunk."
"I ain't that drunk," said Nate. "All I had was a few shots of that green stuff Zayvon just had."
"Don't you mean Tayvon?"
"Whichever the fuck one it was! That ain't what this is about! You were gonna run away with that nigga? You were just gonna up and leave me?"
"What? Nate, I wasn't with you then. I barely knew you."
"Yeah, but you know me now and you never told me some shit like that before. You were gonna run away with him and you didn't think to even tell me that that happened?"
"I didn't think you needed to know something like that. It has nothing to do with you and me, baby. Yes, I almost ran away with Rod once but it was only because I thought I'd never see him again. His social worker was threatening to move him to the Baltimore foster care system because he kept running away from the group home he'd been living at. So, I suggested that we run away together."
"Wow. That's just the fucking icing on the cake, isn't it? You were the one who suggested it? Wow!"
"Nate, you've been drinking and you're not putting this into context. That was when I was with Rod. I'm not with him now. I haven't been with him in over a year. Baby, you have to stop this." He tried to touch Nate but Nate backed away from him.
"Nah, I don't want you touching me right now."
"I can't believe you're acting like this over something so pointless."
"You never told me! That's why I'm upset! I don't like finding out shit about my boyfriend from other people."
"That's it, give me your keys. I'm going to find someone to take us to your house."
"No."
"Nate, I—"
"I said, no! I'll find somebody to drive my car for me. I don't give a fuck how you get home. Fuck you, bitch!"
When he said those words to Jacory, Jacory became enraged and slapped him hard. Nate instantly began choking Jacory while pushing him against the refrigerator. Jacory tried to pry Nate's hand from the grasp Nate had on his throat but couldn't. As he began to feel like he would pass out, he kneed Nate in the testicles as hard as he could and Nate finally let go. However, he backhand slapped Jacory before backing away in pain. Jacory ran out of the kitchen as fast as he could and looked for Demetrius.
Upstairs in Zayvon's bedroom, Demetrius kicked off his shoes and pulled down his tights while Zayvon grabbed two condoms from the drawer of his nightstand. Just as Demetrius was about to remove his underwear, Jacory barged into the bedroom crying.
"Demetrius, let's go," he said through sobs.
"Yo, what the fuck," said Zayvon while grabbing one of his pillows and hiding his erection with it.
"Mookie, what happened?" Demetrius asked.
Jacory wiped his tears with the back of his hand and replied, "I want to go home, Demetrius. Can you drive?"
"Yeah, I only had half a drink. I can drive. Just let me get dressed." When Jacory stepped back out into the hall, Demetrius looked at Zayvon and offered, "I'm sorry, baby."
"Nah, it's cool. That's your best friend and he's upset. I don't mind. We might be rushing things anyway."
"What are you doing tomorrow?"
"Shit, nothin'. Why?"
"I was hoping we could go on another one of those Sunday dates. It could be my treat this time."
"Okay, I'm down with that."
Demetrius finished putting his clothes back on and stepped over to Zayvon to kiss him. After the kiss, he stared into Zayvon's eyes and told him, "Goodnight."
"Goodnight." After Demetrius was gone, Zayvon sat down on the bed and said to himself, "Damn, I should've locked the door."
Jacory hurried downstairs and out of the house with Demetrius following behind him. When they made it to Demetrius's car, Demetrius asked, "What happened?"
"Somebody told Nate about the time I almost ran away with Rod and Nate fucking blew up at me! I know it's because he's been drinking and he wasn't even supposed to be drinking tonight because he drove us here!"
"Damn, that's messed up." He unlocked the car doors and after they both climbed inside, he started the car up and turned on the heat. He then looked at Jacory and noticed the bruise on his left cheek, asking him, "Did Nate hit you?"
"Yes, after I slapped him first."
"Mookie, he can't be putting his hands on you like that."
"Demetrius, I hit him first! It's not like he just hit me out of the blue."
"He is bigger than you and he works out at a boxing club where he regularly spars with trained boxers. I wasn't going to say anything but I noticed earlier this week you had a bruise on your wrist. Did Nate do that, too?"
"I'm not having this discussion with you. Please, just take me home."
"Fine, I'll take you home. But you need to dump that nigga if he's been hitting you. You don't have to put up with that shit!" He started his car and began driving away from the house. While driving, he said to Jacory, "I know you love him but maybe you two need a break."
"What?"
"I'm not saying it has to be over. Like, you can just tell him you need a break from the relationship to think about things and to—"
"No."
"Jacory—"
"No, Demetrius. I just need to talk to him once he's sober and not so upset about the whole me almost running away with Rod thing. He'll be good once I talk to him about it."
"I really don't like that he put his hands on you. I don't care that you hit him first. It doesn't sit right with me that he got that angry over something that happened so long ago. That was back in the tenth grade. And it was like in the beginning of that school year because it was way before Rod got arrested for having the coke in his car. Hell, he didn't even have the car yet when y'all were thinking about running away. Nate needs to let it the fuck go."
"He will. I know he will. He just gets in his feelings and then he was drinking with Tayvon." He paused and thought about it before saying, "That piece of shit!"
"Huh? Who?"
"Tayvon. He's the one who told Nate about me almost running away with Rod. And he had that bottle of Chartreuse with him. He did this. I know he did."
Demetrius noticed Roderick stumbling with an unconscious Reece in his arms and shouted, "Oh my God!"
"What?" Jacory asked before noticing them himself. "Pull over, Demetrius!"
Demetrius pulled the car over and placed the gearshift in park before jumping out of the car with Jacory. They helped Roderick get Reece onto the backseat of the car and wasted no time driving towards the nearest hospital.
Back in Montrell's bedroom, Saquan kept his arm around Montrell as they watched Halloween. Suddenly, he began to get horny. Slowly, he slid his hand down the side of Montrell's body and rested it on Montrell's thigh.
"What are you doing?" Montrell asked.
"Oh, my bad," said Saquan while moving his hand back up. "My hand slipped."
"Yeah, right."
"It did."
Montrell put his focus back on the movie and Saquan tried to do the same but couldn't stop his dick from growing harder and harder. Luckily, it wasn't shifted upward or else it would have tented his sweatpants. Instead, it ran alongside his right inner thigh. He didn't want to disrespect Montrell but had no control over it. However, he could control his way of handling it.
"Can you put one of your pillows in between us?" he asked Montrell.
"Why?"
"I pulled somethin' on my side yesterday liftin' weights and it's still kinda sore."
"Aw, I'm sorry. And here I am leaning on you like a rude bitch; meanwhile, you're in pain." He moved up a little and placed one of his pillows in between their bodies. He then asked, "Is that better?"
"Perfect."
They put their attention back on the movie and now with the pillow somewhat blocking Montrell's view of his crotch area, Saquan moved his right leg so that his hard-on wouldn't be so constricted against his thigh by the fitted leg of his sweatpants. The constriction had been assisting in keeping him erect. He let out a silent sigh of relief as he finally began to go soft again.
"This movie never gets old," said Montrell while cuddling up closer to Saquan.
"True," Saquan agreed.
"You know, you don't have to be so shy. I know your side is hurting but we can cuddle a little more even with the pillow between us."
"Nah, I'm good."
He looked away awkwardly and said, "Oh, okay."
"Montrell, I'm really tryin' to be respectful but you gotta know this is hard for me, literally."
"What do you mean?"
"I keep gettin' hard. I can't help it. I'm sorry."
"Saquan, you don't have to apologize for that. It's natural. Well, it would be weird if we were out somewhere and it happened but that'll never happen because you're DL. So, we're good."
"It won't make you feel some type of way if you brushed up against it by accident?"
"No."
"My side ain't really hurt. I just didn't wanna make you feel uncomfortable."
Montrell laughed a little and said, "Boy, give me my pillow." He snatched the pillow and put it back behind his body. He then moved even closer to Saquan and let Saquan's hand rest on his thigh. He smiled and said, "Now, this is actually perfect."
"Definitely."
Meanwhile, at Calhoun Memorial Hospital, Jacory asked Roderick, "What happened?"
"Some niggas rolled up on us," Roderick explained as a nurse stitched a wound on the side of his head in the emergency room. "I swear to God if Reece don't make it—"
"He's going to be fine," said Jacory. "Don't even let your mind go there."
"Were y'all attacked for being gay?" Demetrius asked. "Was this a gay bashing?"
"Nah, this was"—he noticed the way Jacory was looking at him—"somethin' different."
"So, you know them?" Jacory asked. When Roderick didn't answer him, he turned to Demetrius and asked, "Can you give us a minute, D?"
"Sure," said Demetrius. "I'm gonna go get some coffee in the waiting room."
Jacory waited until Demetrius and the nurse were gone before asking Roderick, "You're selling again, aren't you?"
"Jacory, no disrespect, but—"
"The car makes sense now. And here I was thinking that you'd changed."
"Yeah, go ahead and judge me. That's all you know how to do when it comes to me."
"Don't give me that bullshit, Rod! So, all that talk about college and being better was a lie? You lied to me when we were together and now you're lying to me while we're not? You say all I know how to do is judge you; well, all you know how to do is lie to me. You're no different than Nate."
"Hold the fuck up. I'm not gonna let you stand there and compare me to a nigga that smacks you around. You think I ain't notice the bruise on your left cheek? What happened this time? Huh? You forgot to order his hamburger with cheese or some shit?"
Tears filled Jacory's eyes as he said, "Fuck you!" He then quickly turned to leave.
Roderick hopped down from the examination gurney and called out, "Jacory, wait. I didn't mean that. Can you just look at me for a second?"
After wiping his tears and exhaling, he turned back around to face Roderick and asked, "What?"
"I am working for Escobar again and I did lie to you. But I'm not gonna lie to you about the reason why. Escobar found me at my brother's place a few weeks ago and he told me that if I didn't pay him back for them keys I lost when I got arrested, he was gonna kill you. I had to do what I had to do to keep Escobar from hurting you. That's the truth. If I had gone to the cops, he still would have gotten to you. You know that I know the streets. I got back in the game because I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I let anything happen to you."
Speechless, Jacory stood in place, frozen from what Roderick had just told him. Finally, he unfroze and said to Roderick, "Thank you."
"You believe me?"
"I believe every single part of what you just said. I thought nothing of it until just now when you mentioned his name, but I saw him your first day back here."
"Who? Escobar?"
"Yes. Demetrius drove us to school that morning and I saw him in his Escalade driving away from the curb outside of the student parking lot as I was about to walk into the building. That lowdown trash threatened me?"
"Jacory, don't even worry about it. I'm not gonna let him do anything to you. You have my word."
"I do? What about Reece? How in the hell did this happen?"
"That's because of somethin' different. Escobar had nothin' to do with that."
"Then who did?"
"Don't worry about it. I'm gonna handle it."
"Rod—"
"I'm gonna handle it, Jacory. Just make sure from here on out that you pay attention to your surroundings. Okay?"
He nodded and said, "Okay."
"You and Demetrius can go home. I'm good. If the cops ask you anything on the way out, just tell them that me and Reece were mugged and jumped."
"Alright, but Roderick?"
"Yeah?"
"Please, be careful. Just like you don't want anything to happen to me, I don't want anything to happen to you."
"Okay, I'll keep that in mind." He stood in place and watched as Jacory walked away. He then pulled out his phone and called JD.
"Yeah," JD answered on the other end.
"Tell them other niggas I wanna meet tomorrow at the trap."
"On a Sunday?"
"Yes! Shit just got real, nigga. We're gonna have to get down with that 187, you feel me?"
"I feel you, big dawg. I feel you."
"A'ight." He ended the call and then found the nurse that had stitched his head wound, asking her, "Do you know where Reece Carter is?"
The nurse took him to the room Reece was in and explained, "He's going to be okay. He has a concussion but his CT scan showed no skull fractures or any brain bleeding."
"Thank you." He waited until the nurse was gone before going over to Reece and asking, "Reece, are you up?"
Reece opened his eyes and looked at him and asked, "Why? Why did them niggas fuck with us?"
"I just"—he looked away from Reece—"don't know. I don't know, baby. None of them niggas looked familiar to me."
"They were stomping you. I had to do something."
"You fucked some of them niggas up. I seen that before I blacked out. You my ride or die for real, huh?"
"You know it, baby."
"Still, you should've ran, Reece. I told you to run."
"I wasn't gonna let them kill you. Fuck them niggas!"
"Baby, calm down. You got a concussion." He softly caressed Reece's head and asked, "What's your momma's number? I'm gonna call her and tell her about this."
"Save your time. She's probably blacked out on the sofa by now. She scored some blow earlier so I know she's blacked out by now."
"Well, I guess I'm stayin' here with you."
"Rod, go home. Your brother is gonna—"
"Dev is gonna have to understand. I'm not goin' anywhere." He pulled a nearby chair over to the bed and sat down in it before holding Reece's hand and asking, "Are you in any pain?"
"No." He laughed before adding, "They got me on some good shit. How about you?"
"I'm good."
"Rod, you limped in here and you keep holding your side."
"Reece, I'm good. They gave me a scan and all that shit, too. Don't worry about me."
"I was expecting us to go to my place and get it in; but here we are, at the hospital in pain. Some Halloween, huh?"
"I'm sorry this happened, baby. I really am."
"It's not your fault. This could've happened to anybody."
Roderick looked away from him and agreed, "Yeah, it could've."
Back at the twins' party, Kelvin found Tayvon and asked, "Yo, you seen Rod around here?"
"I'm pretty sure him and Reece left a while ago," replied Tayvon. He spotted Nate heading to the front door and said to Kelvin, "I'll talk to you later, bruh." He hurried over to the front door and caught Nate before he could leave, saying to him, "You can't drive like this."
"Nah, I was gonna get an Uber or something," said Nate. "I don't feel like partying anymore."
"I saw Jacory leave with Demetrius earlier. What happened?"
"I don't wanna talk about it, man."
"Well, how about we take some more shots?"
"Nah, I'm good."
Tayvon moved closer to him and asked, "How about we go up to my room then? We can talk or"—he placed his hand on Nate's crotch and fondled him through the toga he was wearing—"we can get into some other shit."
Nate immediately became aroused and asked, "Will it stay between me and you?"
"You have my word."
Together, they ascended the stairs and headed to the last door on the right side of the upper-level hallway, which was Tayvon's bedroom. As Tayvon was closing the door, Zayvon was coming out of his bedroom and caught a glimpse of Nate from his doorway across the hall. Not thinking anything of it, he headed back downstairs to join the party. Meanwhile, Tayvon locked his door and turned around to see Nate had already taken off his toga and the metal leaf crown that had been on his head. His erection was tenting his Calvin Klein boxer briefs.
"Damn," said Tayvon. "I knew you were fine, but shit!" He began taking off his costume and asked, "You sure you're cool with this?"
"Man, I really don't give a fuck," Nate replied. "What are you into?"
"I'm nasty as fuck, bruh. I do it all." He got completely naked and stepped over to Nate and licked from Nate's neck up to his nose.
While Tayvon began sucking on his neck, he tilted his head back and moaned, "Ah, fuck!"
"What all you wanna do? Because I got lube."
"You vers?"
"Hell yeah, I'm vers. And I planned on hookin' up with somebody so I'm more than prepared."
"Shit, that's all I need to hear." He turned around and pulled down his boxer briefs, showing off his toned ass to Tayvon.
"Fuck, nigga. That ass sittin' right." He smacked Nate's ass before squeezing on it.
Nate climbed onto Tayvon's bed and arched his back as Tayvon got down on his knees and began rimming Nate from behind. He instantly became addicted to the scent and tightness of Nate's asshole. He'd seen Nate performing in track and field events before and always wondered what it would have been like to see his ass without the compression athletic clothing covering it up. Now that he was experiencing the reality, his mind was blown.
"Spit on that hole, bruh," Nate moaned as he reached underneath himself to play with his hard dick.
Tayvon let some saliva drip from his tongue onto Nate's puckering asshole and then slurped it up, making Nate shake and moan louder. He then moved his head back a little so that he could spit on it and proceeded to lick it up. After tasting Nate for a good while, he eased his index finger inside of Nate and then guided Nate's dick back as much as he could so that he could suck on it, which drove Nate deeper into another world.
While Nate was being pleasured into another universe, his cell phone vibrated on the kitchen counter downstairs where he'd accidentally left it. The photo of Jacory smiling that Nate used as a caller ID photo for Jacory's number and the nickname Boo he had stored for Jacory's number flashed on the phone's screen.