Texas
^^^^^
Friday Night.
"You look nice," Lavan told me as he stood next to me.
I was wearing a burgundy tight dress that stopped at my mid-thigh and I matched it with black heels.
"Thank ya, thank ya." I pulled my locs up into a messy bun.
Vanny was wearing a black hoodie with the words 'EARTH BEINGS' in maroon. I assumed he designed that himself since he usually did stuff like that. He was the creative one of the family.
I put on my black jean jacket and I was ready. I walked into the living room, seeing Mel and Nelly.
"Ooh, y'all look nice." I complimented them both. I still haven't talked to Nelly yet but I could compliment my sister, regardless.
"So do you, boo." Mel smiled. Lavan and Melby left, leaving Nelly and I.
We were both waiting for our dates to come pick us up.
"You look nice, Lopie." She muttered. I laughed at the fact that she called me by one of my middle names. She always called me that when she was little.
"You too, Celise." I called her by hers and we both started laughing. Our middle names were weird.
"Texas, I'm sorry." She blurted out. I was about to say something but knocks from the door interrupted me. Before I opened the door, I hugged Nelly tightly, telling her we were good. I opened the door to see Koffi and Ten.
"Hey, guys." I smiled, seeing how nice Koffi looked. I let them in and Ten went over to Nelly. I'm not sure where their young asses were going but it definitely wasn't to the club. I hugged Koffi and took in the nice cologne that complimented him.
"You look nice," He whispered in my ear lowly.
"Thank you." I blushed hard.
"You ready?" He asked me as he held out his hand. I nodded and took his hand. He led me out the door and took me into his car that I've grown to love. It had a nice black interior with a red accent, and he kept it clean.
He opened the passenger door for me and I grinned to myself. The whole date thing was Zani's idea but Koffi seemed to be taking it seriously.
Koffi got into the driver's seat and started up the car. I took the time to admire his outfit. He was wearing all black. Black collared shirt that was opened up, exposing his chest. He put on a gold chain and his hair was freshly braided in the cornrows I did. I noticed the black checkered belt that sat on his waist.
"You clean up nice." I spoke up.
"Thank ya." He placed his hand on my thigh as he drove.
We sat in comfortable silence until he turned up the radio. Ari Lennox's Shea Butter Baby played and we both sang along to her words. Koffi knew the J.Cole part word for word. Once the song was over, Koffi turned down the radio.
"So, guess what?" He started. I turned to him slowly.
"What?"
"I'm gonna open another Kaffeine." He smiled and I got excited myself.
"Really? I'm so happy for you, Koffi." I squeezed his hand tightly.
"Thanks, mama. My plan was to add a nail salon in that one but I did the math and Ash and I don't have enough money for that."
"Soooooooo," I dragged. "What are you saying?"
"I want you to be our third partner."
"Huh? I mean, I'd be happy to, but we've known each other for like 2 months?" I furrowed my eyebrows. I was trying to figure out why he would want me to be his third partner.
"You can sleep on it, or think about it. But, if you don't wanna do it, I'll just cut out the nail salon." He ignored my question. I didn't respond to him, I just sat in silence.
I wanted to do it but something was always telling me that it would go wrong. Every time I have an opportunity, I turn it down because something tells me that it's a bad idea. I wouldn't want to miss out on this opportunity because of that. Plus, I'd been looking to expand my business.
Koffi parallel parked across the street from the club. There was a long line but we were here for the birthday party. Luckily, we wouldn't have to wait.
We spotted Zani And Dezi as we got at the car.
"Tizani!" I called out , making her turn back to see who was calling her name.
"Hey, boo!" She came over to us.
"You look nice! Happy birthday, Zan!" I exclaimed.
"Thanks." She shifted her attention to a Koffi who was leaning against his car. "Burgundy? Maroon?" She frowned.
"I didn't have any clothes of that color. Happy birthday, though." He gave her a smile and she rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, whatever." She waved him off and grabbed my hand, pulling me towards the club. Before we could get any closer, Koffi grabbed me by my arm, making the both of us stop in our tracks. I turned back to look at him.
"Don't get drunk, Texas. Zani, don't let her have more than two drinks." He told us seriously. But, his speech went through one ear and out the other.
"Okay." We agreed.
He wasn't gonna mess up my plans. Tizani and I planned to take as many shots as we could. I didn't care how drunk I got tonight. Koffi couldn't possibly think I'd listen to his request.
Oh well.
Tizani continued to pull me to the club until we were stopped by the bouncer.
"Hello, ladies. You here for a birthday party?" He asked knowingly.
"Yeah, Tizani is the name. Do you need our IDs?" Zani voiced and he nodded, opening his hand. We handed him our IDs and he inspected them for a minute before letting us in.
"Wait, Zan. Where's Dezi?" I asked her.
"Out there with Koffi. They'll be fine." She waved me off before dragging me to the bar. She ordered 10 shots for us and when they came, we downed them easily. My throat burned after every shot but I loved it.
Soon enough, Mel and Vanny joined us. Ash and her boyfriend, Latrell, met us at the bar as well.
"Hey, Texas." Ash smiled at me.
"Hey, girl." I downed another shot.
"Better not let my brother catch you. He specifically told me to come check on you and make sure you weren't getting drunk." She chuckled little and I laughed with her.
"I'm a grown ass woman, Koffi can not tell me shit." I ordered two more shots.
Only Mel took shots because Vanny wanted to make sure one of them could drive home. Zani and I talked about everything under the sun. She was egging me on about Koffi and me. I was starting to lie when I said I had no feelings for him. At some point, we saw Koffi and Dezi enter but they went straight to the area that was reserved for us. I'm not sure if he noticed us but I downed about 6 more shots before Koffi came over to us. I was damn near gone by this point.
"What did I tell you?" He looked down at me and I smiled innocently. The bartender passed us more shots and I tried to take one but Koffi stopped me.
"Yeah, no more." He pushed the shots away from me.
"Koffi," I whined. He shook his head, still standing behind me. I checked the time and it was now 1:30 in the morning. We'd been here for almost 3 hours.
I turned my stool around to get up. Koffi raised his eyebrows at me and I frowned a little.
"I need to pee, Kof." I told him and he moved out my way. I tried to walk properly but I was losing my balance. I finally made it to the bathroom and squatted over the toilet and released all liquid I had drank in the last 3 hours.
I walked out of the bathroom and tried to push through the crowd. I looked for Koffi but I couldn't see him. It felt like my eyes were getting blurry and I didn't see anyone I knew. I started to feel overwhelmed and I just wanted to find Koffi.
I bumped into someone's hard chest and I looked up to see Koffi. I let out a sigh of relief and he looked at me worried.
"You good?" He pulled me to him.
"Now, I am." I looked up at him and he flashed me a smile.
Maybe I did like him...just a little bit.
"You was in there for a while."
Time seemed to be moving in slow motion for me. I checked the time on my phone, it was now 1:48.
"Let me get you home."
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HAPPY THANKSGIVING 🦃