Roderick was as nervous as he'd ever been while getting ready for graduation. He must have tied and loosened and retied his necktie multiple times. He looked at the recent prom photo of him and Jacory that he'd affixed to his full-length mirror and finally felt some relief. After settling on a half-Windsor knot, the kind of necktie knot that Mr. Washington always used, he grabbed his cap, gown, and magna cum laude honors stole and headed out of his bedroom.
"Say cheese," Deven said as he snapped a few pictures of Roderick descending the stairs.
"Come on, Dev," Roderick said with a laugh. "I don't even have the cap and gown on."
"Boy, I am taking every picture that I can so I will have plenty of examples to show your nephew when he gets older."
"When he gets older? He ain't even born yet."
"He will be in a little over two months."
"Speaking of the baby, where's Jazmine?"
"She's gonna meet us at the school. She had some errands to run. I already ran my errands for the day." He looked at his watch and said, "We better get going."
"Before we go, I just wanna tell you thanks for everything, Dev. You know, you didn't have to pick me up from that detention center last October. You didn't even have to reply when my lawyer and social services reached out to you while they were puttin' my deal together. You put up with my lies and the fact that I went back to work for Escobar. I wouldn't be about to graduate today without you."
Deven nodded while saying, "And thank you for letting me help you, man. I admit, my guilt was crippling me but having you here and seeing you about to graduate high school, it was all worth it. We got through therapy together, man. We're finally connecting again and I'm about to be a dad. I feel like everything happened the way it was supposed to." He immediately became choked up as he said, "I just wish momma and dad were here to see this. Man, they would be proud."
"Well, one of them can. You said you're gonna take pictures, right? How about we mail a few copies to dad? He should be able to receive mail at the prison. Hell, after the breakthroughs we had with therapy, I think we should start visiting him."
"It's been a long time since I've seen him. I last saw him the day he killed Bobby. I was getting ready to walk to school and he told me to make sure I picked you up from Miss Josephine's apartment after school."
"The last time I saw him was when he walked me to my bus stop and helped me get on the bus that day to go to kindergarten. When I came home with you, he wasn't there and he never showed up. The next day, you told me he got into it with some nigga out in the streets and he killed him."
"Damn, neither of us have been to see him since he's been locked up." He looked down at the floor as he asked, "How often do you visit momma's gravesite?"
Roderick shrugged his shoulders and replied, "I've never been back to it since the day she was buried there."
"You haven't?"
"Nah, I just...I couldn't do it. I know she's at Higher Hill Cemetery."
Deven wiped a tear that managed to fall from his left eye and revealed, "I visit her gravesite twice a year. I go on Mother's Day and on August 16th, her birthday. She loved white roses so I take a dozen of them and place them against the gravestone each time I visit."
"It'll be a challenge for me, but I think I'll go with you on her next birthday since I already missed Mother's Day."
"I should've asked if you wanted to come with me when I went earlier this month. I'm just so used to going by myself."
"It's okay. I need to prepare myself mentally anyway."
"Yeah." He looked at his watch again and said, "Whoa, we really better get going now." He put his Nikon digital camera in its case and picked up his keys before saying, "I hope I don't have to get a balcony seat. I wanna at least get a few closeup shots of you getting your diploma and shaking your principal's hand."
Roderick laughed a little and shook his head as he followed Deven down the second set of stairs to the entry level of the townhouse so they could leave.
Meanwhile, Jacory stepped out of his bedroom with his graduation regalia—minus the mortarboard cap—already on. When he entered the living room, his mother took multiple photos of him. The moment she stopped taking photos, Marcus hugged him.
"Okay, y'all are being so extra right now," Jacory told them while laughing.
"We're just so proud of you, son," said Reginald as he hugged him. "My son is the salutatorian of his class. I've been bringing it up to my coworkers all week."
"Congratulations, Jacory," said Angelique as she stepped over to hug him. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed his cheek.
"There will be plenty of time for all of this later," Jacory told them.
"Mookie's right," said Evelyn. "We better get going."
"Hold up," said Marcus as he grabbed Angelique's hand. "Angelique and I got some news to share with y'all."
"Boy, we already know you and Angelique are dating," said Evelyn.
"Ma, that's not what I'm talkin' about. Dang." He shook his head and revealed, "I'm enrolling at Calhoun Heights Community College. I'm gonna get my associate's degree in electrical engineering."
"And I'm enrolling at Calhoun University," Angelique added. "I'm gonna get my bachelor's degree in nursing."
"Wow," said Jacory while putting his hands up to his mouth in shock. "I'm so happy for y'all."
"I am, too," said Evelyn as she stepped over to them to hug them individually. "Oh, you two are gonna make me cry and have to reapply this mascara!"
"We have so much to celebrate today," said Reginald as he picked Jacory's baby sister Raven up. "But first things first, let's get on over to the school so Mookie can deliver the salutatory address and graduate."
As everyone was heading out of the house, Angelique walked alongside Jacory and told him, "You were right."
He looked at her and asked, "About what?"
"You told me that you believe people come and go into and out of each other's lives for a reason and that; sometimes, we may never know why. I believe you came into my life at the moment you did because you're the bridge that got me to this side of happiness and acceptance. Thank you so much, Jacory. I feel like I've been in this fairytale lately and it's the best feeling I've ever experienced."
Hearing her mention the word fairytale brought tears to Jacory's eyes because it was one of the last words he'd said to Don Don before his death. He remembered how Don Don cried upon hearing him say that transwomen often didn't get to experience a fairytale ending. It was the one time he'd gotten through to Don Don and he almost convinced Don Don to let it all go. Jacory hadn't told Angelique about him using the word fairytale during that situation with Don Don, so it reaffirmed his beliefs when she mentioned fairytale in that moment. For him, everything happened the way it was supposed to happen.
While fighting back his tears, he smiled and told her, "I hope that feeling lasts an eternity."
As guests were arriving at the Braxton-Jacobs High School auditorium for the Class of 2016 commencement ceremony, the graduating students lined up along the walkway that led to the auditorium building. Roderick found Kelvin, Tayvon, and Zayvon in the line and approached them.
"Y'all seen Jacory yet?" he asked them.
"Nah," the three of them answered at the same time.
"Damn, I wanted to see him before we started walking in."
"We still got a lil' while," said Kelvin. "Man, can y'all believe this is it? This is the last time we're probably ever gonna be at this school."
"I still remember the first day of ninth grade," said Tayvon with a laugh. "Everything was different back then. We were all virgins and didn't know shit about anything."
"Bruh, speak for yourself," Kelvin said while laughing. "I gots mine, even back then."
"Anyway," Zayvon interjected. "Everybody goin' to the Strip tonight? Because it would be cool to kick it at Motherboard like old times."
"Me and Jacory are definitely gonna be there," said Roderick. "But I'm going out to eat with his family at Red Lobster before that. I'm finally gonna introduce my brother and his girlfriend to Jacory's folks."
"My parents are havin' a cookout for me," said Kelvin. "They got a bunch of family members in town for this. A big chunk of the people who are gonna be in the balcony seats is my family."
"Sounds like your cookout is gonna be lit then, bruh," said Roderick.
"Me and Nate will be at the Strip tonight," said Tayvon. "But we will be kickin' it by ourselves. I know y'all still don't want him around."
"Sure don't," said Roderick. He was about to say something else but got a tap on his back from someone. He turned around to see Reece standing there and asked, "Reece, what's up?"
"I just wanted to come over and tell you congratulations," said Reece while looking into his eyes. "You're graduating with honors, you're going to college, and you got the so-called love of your life back."
"Reece, listen—"
"No, it's really okay. I have made my peace with everything and I'm actually pretty happy. Antonio has been very good to me. He's more my type."
"Why?" asked Zayvon while trying not to laugh. "He licks chocolate syrup off your toes?" He began laughing with Tayvon and Kelvin.
"Don't mind them, Reece," said Roderick. "I'm happy for you. I wish you nothin' but luck and happiness."
"I wish the same for you. See you inside." He gave Roderick one last look and then made his way toward the front of the line.
"Be honest," Tayvon said to Roderick once Reece was gone. "You miss him a little, don't you?"
"Nah," Roderick replied. "I mean, we had our fun but that could only last so long. I know who I wanna be with and who I belong to. Shit, you might as well call me Roderick Hamilton, bruh."
"You'd change your last name to his?" Kelvin asked.
"If he asked me to, yes. Anything my Mookie wants, he's gonna get. He's my everything, dawg."
"Well, speaking of your everything," said Zayvon while pointing in the other direction.
Roderick looked back and smiled as he saw Jacory walking towards them. He stepped away from his friends to meet Jacory halfway and they hugged and kissed. After sharing a few kisses, Roderick pulled back and asked, "Where's your speech?"
"It's just the salutatory introductory speech," Jacory replied. "I have it memorized. It's not like I'll be giving the valedictorian speech, which is fine. I'm a little nervous but I know I can do it."
"I'm proud of you, baby. My boyfriend is number two of our class. You're amazing."
"So are you, Rod. You're in the top fifteen percent of our class. I'm proud of you, too."
"I missed out on bein' summa cum laude though. Had I not gotten caught up and didn't have to spend one school year locked up—"
"Baby, you're still graduating with honors. You have a lot to be proud of, mister 1450 on his SAT." He laughed a little and added, "I told you that you're smart and that you didn't need the streets; the streets needed you. I love you so much, Roderick. It has taken us a lot to get here, but here we are. Top of the world, baby."
"You get up on that stage and you fly, Mookie. Sky's the limit, baby. And I love you." He softly put his forehead to Jacory's and stared into his eyes before kissing him one more time. He then pulled back and let Jacory go so that he could take his place in line. When he turned back around to see all three of his friends had tears in their eyes, he asked, "What are y'all about to cry for?"
"Not only was that beautiful," said Kelvin, "I'm gonna miss y'all, man. You're goin' to Washington, D.C. with Jacory and the twins are goin' down to Atlanta. I'm stayin' here to go to CHCC. You've been my best friend since third grade and we've kicked it with the twins since sixth grade. Soon, we're not gonna see each other regularly anymore."
"Even when we do visit," said Tayvon, "it'll probably be at different times which means we probably won't ever get to kick it like we used to."
When the reality hit Roderick, tears began to form in his eyes, too. He shook his head and said, "Damn, y'all are right. And I missed out on so much time to hang with y'all because my dumbass was in the streets again. This really is it, man."
The four of them shed a few tears as they shook hands and hugged one another. Not long after they stopped hugging, the ceremony began and the students began making their way into the auditorium to take their alphabetically assigned seats in the front near the big stage. Jacory and Kelsey Cooper, the class valedictorian, took their seats onstage in between the school principal and the city's school superintendent. After hearing from a guest speaker, Jacory took to the podium to deliver the salutatory address. He was slightly nervous until he spotted Roderick out in the seats and locked eyes with him.
With a big smile on his face, he began, "Congratulations, Class of 2016, and welcome to our final gathering as a class. While today might be bittersweet, we should all be proud of ourselves for making it here. My mother once told me, it's not always about the journey but about the destination. As a class, our destination has always been today and not only have we arrived here, we arrived here together. So, without further ado, I am proud to present to you, the Class of 2016, our valedictorian, Kelsey Cooper."
He stepped away from the podium and clapped as the class valedictorian stood from her seat on the stage and made her way to the podium. Jacory sat back down in his seat and listened with everyone else as Kelsey delivered the valedictorian speech. When she finished her speech, both her and Jacory stepped down from the stage so that they could take their seats with their class as the principal began calling the names of the graduates as they came up to the stage to get their diplomas.
After calling out the final name and handing out the final diploma, he said to the audience, "It is my honor to present to you all the Class of 2016! Congratulations!"
The students cheered and began making their way around to their friends and significant others to share hugs and celebrate together. Roderick made his way through the crowd to find Jacory. They immediately embraced and shared a passionate kiss. Nate hugged and kissed Tayvon while Zayvon wrapped his arms around Demetrius. Montrell looked around and finally made eyes with Saquan. Saquan mouthed, "I love you," and blew a kiss, and Montrell did the same back to him.
Everyone began making their way out of the auditorium through the multiple side doors that led to the building's parking lot. As Montrell and Jacory were joining their family outside, Eileen got close to Montrell and whispered in his ear, "Which one is your Saquan?"
Montrell carefully pointed towards the direction where Saquan was talking and laughing with some of his basketball teammates who had also graduated. He then whispered back in Eileen's ear, "He's the dark-skinned one with his gown unzipped halfway and has both ears pierced."
Her eyes widened as she whispered, "Oh, my baby has good taste."
"Y'all ready to go to Red Lobster?" asked Marcus. "Them cheddar bay biscuits callin' my name."
"Wait, where's Mookie?" asked Evelyn. "He was just beside Montrell like a second ago."
"There he is," said Montrell with a smirk; pointing to Jacory, who was busy hugging and kissing Roderick.
Angelique grabbed Marcus's hand and said, "Aw, they're so adorable."
"Mookie," Evelyn called out in an attempt to get Jacory's attention. "Jacory!"
"Baby, just let him enjoy the moment," said Reginald with a smile. He put an arm around her and said, "They look like us on our wedding day. I couldn't keep my hands off of you."
She laughed a little and said, "I couldn't keep mine off of you, either."
"Listen," Eileen interjected, "we're all happy that Jacory's got a man like Chanté Moore sang about; but damnit, I'm hungry and my mind is already fixated on garlic shrimp skewers and some lobster linguini!" They all turned and gave her a look and she asked, "What? While y'all standing around watching Jacory get his groove back, all of the tables that can accommodate us are getting taken up by other families."
"I gotta agree with Auntie Eileen," said Marcus. "I'd rather be dunkin' some lobster tail meat in garlic butter than watch Mookie kiss Rod all damn day."
When Jacory and Roderick finally stopped kissing, Jacory noticed the way his family was looking and asked, "Why are y'all looking like that?"
Eileen folded her arms and replied, "Because we're waiting to see if you two are done giving each other mouth to mouth so we can finally go eat."
Roderick and Jacory looked at each other and laughed before holding hands and following everyone to where the cars were parked.
Deven and Jazmine entered the townhouse and went upstairs to the kitchen. While pouring herself a glass of water, Jazmine said, "Jacory has a nice family. They seemed very comfortable with Rod."
"Yeah," agreed Deven. "I guess it's because he and Jacory were together for a long time. Those two make more sense the more time you spend with them. Like, I fully get why they're together."
"True."
"Seeing them together today at their graduation and then again at Red Lobster made me think about a few things. Baby, I know we talked about it before but maybe it's time to plan out our near and distant future."
She took a prenatal vitamin and then chased it down with water before asking, "What do you mean?"
"Well, I took a drive through Garnett Estates after work yesterday and saw this beautiful house out there. So, I came here and looked it up on Zillow and...let's just say it's in my range."
"Your range?" Her eyes grew wide as she asked, "Baby, are you being serious right now?"
"I'm gonna speak to my real estate agent and see what she can do but first I want you to see the house. I can't make a decision without you being involved."
"Boy, I don't care where the house is or how it looks! You're buying me a house? Oh, baby." She hurried over to him and hugged him.
"Jaz, nothing is set in stone yet. And uh...speaking of stones, I have a gemstone somewhere in my pocket." He began jokingly reaching in the pocket of his suit's jacket.
"Deven, you better not be playing with me! What gemstone?"
He laughed as he pulled a small black velvet box from his pocket and replied, "This one." He stared into her eyes as he got down on one knee.
"No, wait. I look a mess! It can't be like this, baby!"
"Jazmine, ain't nobody here but me and you. Besides, you look beautiful. Your skin is glowing and the beautician hooked your hair up. You thought I didn't notice you changed your hairstyle, didn't you?"
Tears began to build in her eyes as she joked, "I can't believe you are doing this to my fat ass right now knowing I'm highly emotional already!"
"You are not fat. You're carrying our prince and you look fine as hell. Now, let me do this, baby." He opened the velvet ring box and said, "Jazmine Shantel Vaughan, you have been the light in my life ever since the moment we met. You've been the source of all my good dreams and the only savior in all my bad ones. I know when we met, I didn't bring much to the table but you gave me a chance and saw the potential I had and you stuck with me through everything."
He became choked up as he continued, "You helped me get my brother back and I can never repay you for that. But I promise you I am going to spend every single day of my life showing you my gratitude. I love and appreciate you to the fullest, baby. 'You are everything, and everything is you,' baby. I know how much you love that Mary J. Blige song and when she sings that part, I think about you because you truly are my everything, Jazmine. You're already my woman, the love of my life, the mother of my child, and my best friend. Now, I want you to be my wife. Will you marry me, Jazmine?"
Jazmine wiped her tears and told him, "Yes, baby. Now put that ring on my finger and get your sexy ass up here and hug me."
He quickly put the beautiful diamond engagement ring on her finger and then stood up to hug and kiss her. While they were hugging with his abdomen gently pressed to her pregnant belly, he felt the baby kick. He pulled back and put his hand on her stomach and said, "Whoa, I think he's happy for us."
"He usually doesn't start kicking until I lay down to go to sleep. Hmm, maybe he does know what's going on." She smiled and then pinched Deven's arm.
"Ouch, what was that for?"
"For asking me to marry you while I'm big as hell! I can't fit in a wedding dress."
"Baby, I was thinking we have a small wedding or get married at the courthouse first and then after the baby is born, we have a big wedding."
"Oh, okay. That makes sense. Ooh, you know I come from a long line of snapbackers."
"What you mean?"
"Let's just say about a month after I have the baby, you won't even be able to tell I was ever pregnant. I will be nice and tight"—she leaned in closer towards his ear—"in all the right places."
He reached down to grab himself and asked, "Oh, word?"
Meanwhile, Marcus pulled up to Angelique's building and parallel parked his Jeep on the street. He turned the car off and asked Angelique, "You want me to come up and check everything out for you? I know you love when I make sure you're safe."
"You don't have to do that tonight, baby," she said. "Besides, I know you're probably ready to go home since I ate a full meal and can't get into anything tonight."
He laughed and said, "You make it sound like I'm only with you for the sex. Baby, I've spent quality time with you back when we were just friends and now that we're more than friends, I still spend time with you doin' other things than just sex. Don't do me like that."
"I'm sorry. Do you wanna come up?"
"Nah, I better get home."
"See!"
"Baby, I'm just playin'. I do wanna go up with you. I wanna spend the night. You got that big comfortable bed and expensive sheets. I sleep like a baby in that bed. And you cook the best breakfast; well, besides my momma's breakfast."
Angelique laughed as they climbed out of the Jeep and headed up to the main door of the building. She pressed in the code to unlock the door and as they entered, she asked him, "How comfortable are you with me sexually? And be honest."
"Woman, do you ever stop and look at yourself in the mirror? You're the sexiest woman I've ever been with, no cap."
"I believe you but I'm talking about when we're actually having sex. Do I ever make you feel uncomfortable?"
"No. I like every part of you and when I say every part, I mean every part." As they began ascending the stairwell, he asked her, "Why do you think I'd be uncomfortable? I told you I've been sexually active with transwomen before."
"I just thought maybe you were a little uncomfortable because we've only done it the one way since we've been doing it."
"The one way?" He thought about what she'd said for a second and then said, "Oh, I see what you mean. You're into that?"
"I was in a previous relationship. I mean, if you're not comfortable with it then I understand and it's okay."
"I've never really thought about it to be honest. I've had freaky women lick on my ass before but it's never gone past that."
"It's not for everybody. However, if you ever find yourself curious about it then know I do have toys to help you experiment."
"Toys? You use them on yourself?"
She giggled and replied, "Yes. I've only used them on myself. They're fairly new."
"Damn, that's sexy. I kinda like the idea of using somethin' you've used on yourself. You got me thinkin' about it now. I know we can't get into anything tonight but I am open to learnin' more. I kinda would like to know exactly how you get yourself so clean back there."
"Oh, I can break all of that down to you." They made it to her apartment and she used her key to unlock the door. After they were inside, she locked the door and said to him, "Before we get into all of that, I just have to say it is so sexy that you are open to trying new things."
"See, there you go tryin' to get my dick hard. Woman, you're gonna get me hard and then you're gonna get hard and the urges—"
She interrupted him by grabbing him by his unbuttoned dress shirt and kissing his lips. He wrapped his arms around her and passionately kissed her back.
At the Strip, Jacory walked around with Demetrius and Montrell. They walked into Citi Trends just as Reece and Antonio were heading out with their purchased items. Jacory rolled his eyes and sucked his teeth, which was enough to get under Reece's skin.
"You need to get used to seein' me, bitch," Reece said angrily. "The world does not revolve around your bougie ass!"
"Bougie?" Jacory asked with a laugh. "How am I bougie?"
"Oh, please! This whole thing between us started because you wrongfully accused me of stealing your money in gym class back in sixth grade. You've always thought you were better than me. You looked down on poor kids like me."
"Bitch, I grew up poor! I wore thrift store clothes back then. I just knew how to accessorize. I never looked down on you."
"Yes, you did! You even told our gym teacher I stole your damn money and I didn't."
"You were the last one to leave the locker room. It made sense."
"Why? Because you saw me as ghetto, right?"
"Ghetto, yes. Lower than me, no. Reece, I don't look down on people like that. I didn't start seeing you as trash until you had sex with my boyfriend."
"Whoa, you need to chill," said Antonio.
"I don't know what bullshit you're on," Jacory said to Reece, "but I apologized to you that day when I accused you."
"No, you didn't."
"Yes, I did." He looked back at Demetrius and asked, "Did I or did I not apologize to him that day?"
Demetrius scratched his head and said, "Boo-boo, that was so long ago. I don't even remember."
"Well, I do," said Montrell. "And no, Jacory, you didn't apologize. Reece said he was gonna beat your ass and y'all almost fought while we were waiting for the buses to take us home that day. And you two have been at each other's throats ever since. It got worse after your love triangle with Rod once we got to high school."
"Trell, you're supposed to be my cousin," said Jacory.
"I am and you know I always got your back, but you didn't apologize to Reece for falsely accusing him of stealing your lunch money. I know it might seem small to you but I honestly think your feud with Reece would've never gone this far had you just apologized for the damn mistake!"
"Thank you," Reece said to Montrell.
"Oh my God!" Jacory exclaimed before calming down and saying, "I'm sorry for accusing you of stealing my lunch money in sixth grade."
"See, was that so hard to do?" Reece asked him.
Jacory folded his arms and said, "Now, I want you to apologize to me."
"For what?"
"For a lot, actually. But I'm willing to let all of this go if you will apologize to me for having sex with Rod while he was with me."
"I don't have to apologize for that. Roderick came to me. He wanted me."
"Yeah, after you pretty much told him you were willing to be his personal cum dumpster. Oh wait, he probably only nutted in your mouth because I know he never gave you the real deal like he's done me over and over and over—"
"See, you always have to go there!"
"And over and over again, bitch!"
"Jacory apologized for something that happened in middle school," Montrell said to Reece. "The least you could do is apologize for having sex with Jacory's boyfriend. I don't care if Rod came to you, you could've said no. Anybody with an ounce of self-respect would've said no if they knew he was already in a relationship."
"Tell it like it is, Trell," Jacory said with a smirk.
Reece exhaled loudly and said through clenched teeth, "I'm sorry."
"Nope, I can't hear you. Open that mouth and enunciate."
"I said I'm sorry."
"Sorry for what?"
"A'ight, that's enough," said Antonio.
"Benji, go outside and scratch yourself or piss on a fire hydrant," Jacory snapped at him. "Your bitch, Fido, needs to make a full apology for me to even consider forgiving her ass. The door, Benji, the door!" He pointed to the door.
"Whew, you better be glad I got a record," Antonio said to Jacory as he took Reece's bags from Reece. "Because if I didn't, you'd be laid out on that floor right now."
"Nigga please," said Jacory. "You lay a hand on me and I will fuck you up my damn self. You better ask about me. Community dick havin' ass fuck boy. Get gone!" He waited until Antonio was out of the store before turning his attention back to Reece and requesting, "Come on with the come on, now. I'm ready to see if they got any cute jeans in my size tonight. Ain't nobody gonna jump you, Reece. I just want a sincere apology."
Reece took a deep breath and exhaled loudly again before looking into Jacory's eyes and saying, "I apologize for having sex with Roderick while he was with you."
"There you go, I knew you could do it. Alright, you've apologized and I've apologized. I wish you nothing but the best."
"You're a piece of work. I should make you apologize to my man for sayin' all that shit."
"Had he kept his mouth closed he wouldn't have gotten read. Closed mouths don't get read for filth. Remember that." He watched as Reece exited the store and then turned around to see both Montrell and Demetrius were laughing. "What?"
"That shit you said about Antonio was hilarious," said Demetrius.
"We were trying to hold our laughs in," added Montrell while still laughing.
Jacory laughed and admitted, "They cute together or whatever. I can see them having a nice litter of puppies. Now, let's see what they got up in this store. I'm going to see a movie with Rod tomorrow night and I wanna look extra cute because I want some dick tomorrow night since I'm not getting any tonight."
"I see things really are back to normal between you two," said Demetrius. "Humping like rabbits."
"You know it. I'm sprung and I'm not even ashamed."
In Motherboard, the arcade, Roderick played Mortal Kombat with Zayvon and said to him, "Man, I don't know if it's because we went so long apart or what, but I can't seem to last long when I'm with Jacory."
"Last long?" Zayvon asked before realizing what Roderick meant. "Oh, damn. That ain't good."
"I know. It just be feelin' so good, dawg. I know condoms help me last longer but it wasn't like this before when I was with him and we didn't use condoms then either."
"You change positions?"
"Yeah."
"Shit, I don't know what to tell you then, bruh. I don't have that problem with Demetrius, probably because we're vers. I know you ain't gonna try that though."
"Nah, that's partly why I'm so good with Jacory. We're on the same page when it comes to that. I just gotta find a way to last longer because he's gonna get fed up with them lil' ten-minute sessions eventually. I definitely gotta stop lettin' him ride so much. That shit makes me bust too quick."
"What y'all up in here talkin' about?" Kelvin asked as he approached them with some nachos and a large soda. "I heard somethin' about bust."
"I was talkin' about the game," Roderick lied, causing Zayvon to laugh.
"So," said Zayvon. "Have you and Montrell been kickin' it since prom?"
"Nah, he told me he's with somebody. Besides, I wouldn't want to put him through no bullshit, man. I ain't gay. I ain't got my shit together and he honestly too cute for me."
"Damn, don't be so hard on yourself, bruh," Roderick told him.
"It's the truth though. But yo, I met this fine girl while I was downstairs gettin' these nachos. She told me what her Twitter and Instagram names are and I followed her. She seemed to be nicer towards me when she learned I was goin' to CHCC this fall. She's goin' there, too."
"Uh-oh, my boy might have just found the one," said Roderick. "I hope it works out for you, dawg."
"I don't know about all that. But if she does turn out to be; shit, I won't mind. I know she'd have some pretty babies for me."
"That's good and everything," said Zayvon, "but you need to get on this game so I can win because I can't beat Rod for shit. He keeps picking Liu Kang and you know it's hard to beat that mothafucka."
Roderick sucked his teeth and bragged, "Bruh, I can pick anybody and still beat you." He got a text message from Jacory asking him to come outside and told Kelvin, "Zay is right, it's your turn. I gotta go see what Jacory wants." He headed downstairs and found Jacory waiting for him at a set of tables by a food truck. He sat down beside him and asked, "What's good, baby?"
Jacory smiled and asked, "Where do you want to go after this?"
"Shoot, I don't know. You're drivin' so I guess I'll go wherever you want to go."
"Tonight feels surreal, doesn't it? Can you believe we're no longer in high school?"
Roderick put his arm around him and agreed, "It does feel surreal. I can't lie; baby, I'm anxious about what comes next. College is gonna be a whole other world for us."
"Yes, it is. But we will be there together. It's me and you from here on out, baby."
"You know I'm with that. Remember when we almost ran away together?"
"Ugh, Tay caused so much shit when he told Nate about that. But yeah, I do remember it. I would've gone anywhere with you, baby. I still would."
"Well, you're gettin' your wish. Baby, we both took a gamble in this life and we won." Together, they looked up at the clear night sky to see the moon and stars. Roderick then kissed Jacory and happily declared, "We win."