hey babies!
Luvie squeezed the bottle of lotion into the palm of her hand, as she sat on the edge of her bed. She was currently getting ready to go out and grab breakfast with her friends. It was currently Friday and her brothers would be leaving to return to Atlanta on Sunday.
After dinner with Asanté, her brothers along with her father apologized to her for their behavior. The only person who hadn't given an apology yet was Nazim. However, Luvie wasn't too bothered by it, given that she was still highly upset with him and wasn't looking to speak to him any time soon.
Her rest of brothers put their pride aside and was able to admit that Asanté seemed like he had good intentions. They still had no desire to be cordial with the young man, but for the sake of their sister's happiness, they decided to leave the situation alone.
As for Marc, he was highly impressed that Asanté didn't let the brothers punk him and was willing to stand up for his relationship with Luvie by any means.
A knock appeared on Luvie's door, as she started to rub the lotion on her arms and her legs. "Come in!" She shouted for them to enter. Luvie watched as Nazim entered, prompting her to roll her eyes at the sight of her brother. "What do you want?"
"We need to talk," Nazim told her, shutting the door behind him. He walked over to the chair at her desk and pulled it out before he sat down. He leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees as he profoundly sighed. "Sioni, please understand that I never meant for any of this to go as far as it did,"
"You're the reason why it did go that far," Luvie cocked her head to the side, rubbing in the leftover lotion on her hand.
"I know, and I'm sorry. I was out of line for what I said to you, I shouldn't have said it in the first place,"
"You said it to hurt me. You threw something personal to me back into my face—something I used as a coping mechanism. You said it because you didn't like the fact I was talking to Dante's brother—someone who never uttered a word to you. Never did anything to you—and I know this is ironic coming from someone who disliked him at one point but at least I was able to put my pride aside," Luvie closed the top of her bottle of lotion and got up from the bed to place it back onto the dresser.
"For you to be the oldest sibling, for you to be a grown ass man, you acted like a child. Whatever bullshit ass apology you're trying to spew out, I don't accept it. You have genuinely hurt me—the last person I would ever think hurt me. You disrespected me, and all over what? Your hatred for a man who doesn't even give a fuck about your existence?" Luvie bitterly laughed, gesturing her hand towards him.
Nazim let out another sigh, running his hands down his face. "I understand, but I am deeply sorry, Nani. You have every right to not accept my apology because I didn't listen. I never once stopped and asked questions, I didn't try to understand from your perspective—I just snapped. I yelled at you, I cussed at you and never in my life have I ever done that, even when we have been at odds. I'm ashamed to admit that I didn't act like the big brother you love," he said.
"I acted selfish—childish, like you said. I'm sorry I hurt you, I'll never do this again. I still may not be able to accept this relationship, but I don't want my sister hating me because I tried to stand in the way of the happiness this boy gives her—whether that be temporarily or long term."
Luvie shook her head, her vision blurred by tears that were threatening to spill any second. "I don't believe that, Nazim. You have ruined that version of yourself for me, I don't look at you and see the brother that I love—I look at you and see the brother who would turn on me again if he doesn't agree wit' my choices," Luvie started to cry, pointing at herself.
"Naheim, Sameer and Majin have hurt me, but they didn't hurt me as bad as you did. The person who encouraged me to go to therapy, to give it a try—went out and bought me that very journal you told me to go write in. I would never throw any personal shit in your face, especially something that had to do wit' the grieving of our uncle,"
"Your misplaced anger revealed your true colors, I do not forgive you, Nazim. And if you have a problem wit' that, go put in a letter and send it off to Dante—tell him because you have directed your anger towards the wrong person, that you have now ruined your relationship wit' your li'l sister,"
Luvie picked up her phone from the bed and looked at the screen as it vibrated. She wiped her eyes and reached over to grab her purse. "I'm done talking about this, I want to put this behind me. As long as mom and dad like him, that's all that matters to me," she said, opening her door and gesturing for him to get up.
Nazim got up without uttering another word, passing by her out of the room. Before he could make it any further though, he paused to look at her. "I really am sorry, Sioni. And you not forgiving me won't stop me from being your brother," he lastly told her before continuing on down the hall.
Luvie shut the door behind her and followed him down the hall, passing by her brothers. She didn't bother to tell them bye as they already knew where she was going. Despite the tension, Luvie wanted them to know where she was so they wouldn't have another situation like the last.
She walked out of the house, shutting and locking the door behind her. She made sure her eyes were dry as she made it to the car.
"Hey," Luvie spoke as she got into the back seat, placing her purse in her lap.
"Hey pooh!" Tyra turned around with a wide smile, however, her smile instantly dropped. "You okay, mamas?"
"What's the matter, pooh bear?" Faven grimaced as she also turned around to face her.
"Nazim and I had a talk," Luvie sighed, putting on her seatbelt. "He finally apologized and I just got upset all over again,"
"It took him this long to apologize?" Faven rolled her eyes, turning around in the seat. She shifted the gears and drove off onto the road. "It took the rest of your brothers two days after the incident to apologize, your brothers go home Sunday, it took him almost a week to put his pride aside and apologize for being an asshole,"
"For real, was he even sincere about it?" Tyra agreed, directing her attention from Faven back onto Luvie.
"He seemed like he was but I told him I didn't forgive him nor did I accept his apology," Luvie shrugged.
"That's your right, your brothers treated you as if you were a bitch on the street. They were out of line, they don't deserve your forgiveness that easily," Tyra said, reaching into the middle console to find her lip gloss.
"I know, and I still love my brother but I just can't forgive him right now, you know?"
"We definitely understand pooh," Faven replied, sneaking a glance at her through the rearview mirror.
A twenty minute drive later, the girls arrived at the familiar restaurant. Esi's.
Faven pulled into an empty parking space, the parking lot was filled up with other cars, indicating that the business was busy.
The girls got out, Faven locking the doors as they approached the entrance. They walked in to see that the restaurant was indeed packed, families and friends sat together at different booths and tables.
Children's laughter and excitement drowned out the old school music that flowed through the speakers.
"Hey y'all," Anaïca greeted them, as she passed by them carrying drinks on a tray. "Tay and them over there," she nodded her head in a different direction.
They looked and saw that the guys—Antoine included sitting at a table near the window. They walked over to them, beginning to greet them.
Luvie sat next to Asanté while Faven sat next to her and Mali sat at the end. On the other side of the table, Antoine and Easton sat at each end while Tyra sat in the middle, facing Luvie.
Luvie felt her phone vibrate, making her look at the screen. She saw a text message from Sameer.
Meerkat
ik we already had this conversation but if u want to blame anyone for what happened blame me. had I kept the secret u told me this whole thing would've never happened.
No shit, Sherlock. Luvie thought to herself as she scoffed and pressed the power button to turn off her screen, shaking her head.
It was evident that Nazim had told them what happened, but she didn't care. She wasn't going to let anyone guilt her or try to talk her into forgiving him, especially when she wasn't ready to.
She held her brothers on a pedestal mainly because of how protective and respectful they were towards her. If she had a problem, she would go to her brothers before she went to her parents, simply because they didn't ask questions and would handle it without hesitation.
However, due to the circumstances of their feud, Luvie no longer could place her brothers on that pedestal. Not after their disrespect towards her, and humiliating her.
"You straight?" Asanté asked her as he looked down at her. He peeped the bothered expression she held on her face, as she roughly stuffed her phone back into the pocket of her purse.
Luvie didn't respond, prompting Asanté to reach for her hand. She looked up at him as she was finally pulled out of her thoughts. "Yo, you good?" Asanté questioned her again, his thumb rubbing over her index finger.
She shook her head, not wanting to speak about the issue at the moment. Asanté simply nodded, taking the hint. He continued to hold her hand, their fingers lazily caressing against each other.
"Sioni," She heard Antoine call her, she ripped her attention away from Asanté, focusing it on Antoine.
She lowered her eyebrows, slightly frowning up her face. "We're not friends, don't call me that," she intensely stared at him with a hardened look.
"Listen, I never got to tell you that I didn't know you were friends wit' those girls. I was just as surprised as you when they showed up—" Antoine tried pleading his case, only for Luvie to scoff and roll her eyes.
"I don't give a fuck what you didn't know. That was almost a month ago, I've moved on—do the same,"
"Dang, you just gone shoot me down, Luv? No chance at redemption at all?" Antoine placed a hand on his heart, pretending to be hurt.
Asanté let out a heavy, annoyed sigh, his grip on Luvie's hand getting a bit tighter. Luvie side eyed him, Tyra tucking her lips to keep herself from laughing as she took notice of Asanté's annoyance.
"What do you need redemption for? You didn't do anything, right?" Luvie rolled her neck, raising her eyebrows.
Antoine nodded in agreement, licking his lips. "Right, but I'm saying though, the way you coming off right now, it feels like you're still mad at me. I'm just tryin' to make sure we on good terms like before," he said, half-shrugging.
"I don't even know you to be mad at you or even be on any type of terms wit' you. You may be friends wit' everyone at this table, but we're not,"
"I mean, shit, we could be—"
"Yo, Ant," Asanté spoke up, interrupting him. The table fixed their attention onto Asanté, the tone of his voice dripping with irritation. "Quit bugging her...a'ight?"
The two guys stared at one another, Asanté's gaze cold and stern. Antoine then darted his eyes between Luvie and Asanté, beginning to piece two and two together.
"My fault," Antoine dryly replied, redirecting his attention onto his phone.
Asanté relaxed back in the chair, his deathly stare still fixed on his friend before something else caught his attention. He let go of Luvie's hand, beginning to adjust the dad cap on his head.
Luvie looked up at him, ready to mug him for letting go of her hand until she saw him clenching his jaw, his eyes following someone behind their friends. She followed his gaze and saw that Esi was chatting with someone.
She couldn't help but to roll her eyes at the sight of her. Between the way that she acted towards her and her kicking Asanté out of the house, Luvie was not very fond of the woman.
"Hey aunty," Anaïca spoke, holding the tray under one arm and reaching in to hug her with the other. "Is uncle Donnie coming too? Tay over there wit' his friends," she told her, pointing to their table.
Esi turned around and laid eyes on her son, along with Luvie sitting next to him. She was whispering something in his ear, as he looked in her direction.
"Esi," she heard her mother call to her, prompting her to turn around. Esther was approaching her with her arms extended, and a warm smile to greet her.
Esi smiled and leaned in to give her mother an embrace, "Hey mama, how you doing?" She asked her, taking a look over her.
"I'm alright, been wondering when you were gone come this way. Where's Donnie? Is he coming?" Esther inquired, peeking around her to see if Donald was perhaps still outside.
"Um," Esi cleared her throat, briefly glancing down at her feet. "No, he had some business to attend to,"
Esther narrowed her eyes, studying Esi's behavior closely. "Hm, okay. Well, where is my grandson?" She asked her.
"Behind you, grandma," Anaïca told her before walking off to tend to a customer that was trying to get her attention.
"O'ji!" Esther called to him, waving him over. Asanté took his time getting up from the table, whispering something back in Luvie's ear. "That must be his girlfriend?"
Esther turned to look at Esi for an answer. "I guess, I don't know," she scoffed, eyeing the girl.
"He brought her here a few weeks ago. He introduced her as his friend, but they seemed to be flirting wit' each other when they were alone." Esther said, beckoning Asanté to her as he approached the two of them.
"I know you haven't been here the whole time and didn't bother to come speak to me," Esther cut her eyes at him, placing a hand on her hip. Asanté smirked, reaching in to give her a hug.
"You were busy, I didn't want to bother you. I was planning to once you were free," he replied, ignoring Esi's presence. "You running a special or some? It ain't been this packed since Memorial Day,"
"No," Esther chuckled, glancing around at the packed restaurant. "I guess people just hungry today—it is payday,"
"True,"
"You're not going to acknowledge your mom?" Esi finally spoke up. Asanté passed her a funny look but remained quiet. Esther instantly furrowed her eyebrows, looking between the two.
"If you need me, let me know," Asanté kissed his grandmother's cheek before turning around to walk back to his table. He was trying to refrain himself from cussing out Esi.
"Tell your girlfriend I said hello," Esther teased him, grinning. Asanté looked over his shoulder with a subtle smirk and nodded. She waited until he was far away before she turned to Esi with a frown.
"Don't start mama," Esi warned her, throwing up her hand.
"You know, you have a real bad habit of pissing off my grandson," Esther shook her head, causing Esi to slump her shoulders. She started to open her mouth to speak until Esther threw her hand up to stop her. "Don't even, because I know it's something that you did. We all know O'ji doesn't hold a grudge against someone unless they have really pushed him to his limit,"
"Okay, well, O'ji pushed me to mine, mama. That li'l girlfriend of his had her people show up to my house causing a damn commotion. He's upset because I called him out on it," Esi defended herself, shooting Luvie a dirty look.
"But didn't call out the other son that—"
"I am so sick of y'all bringing up that situation!" Esi raised her voice, earning a few looks from people. Esther raised her brows, leaning back as she stared at Esi with a look. "I'm sorry," Esi quickly fixed her tone.
"We'll talk about this another time," Esther pointed at her before walking around her to greet one of her good friends.
"My grandma said hey, by the way," Asanté told Luvie, watching her take pictures of herself on her phone.
Luvie snuck a glance over at him, trying to hold back a smile. "I'll make sure to speak to her before we leave," she said.
As the group of friends ate their food and carried conversations about what their plans were for the rest of the summer, Asanté could feel Luvie's mood shifting by the minute.
Although she responded whenever someone asked her something and even shared a few laughs, Asanté could tell that it was all for show.
However, he couldn't blame her as he was still upset about the small interaction with his mom. Esi only acknowledged him because of Esther being present. The fact that she tried to throw the mom card in the mix to get him to speak to her had irritated him beyond means.
Much like Asanté and Donald, Esther couldn't quite understand Esi's strange devotion for Dante. She loved her grandson and prayed that he'd get the help he needed but she would rather do it from a distance.
She understood a mother's love, but she always preached to Esi that she didn't distribute that love equally between her children.
Of course Esther wasn't fond of how her daughter treated Asanté, and the many times she tried having a talk with her about straining her own relationship with her son, it simply went in one ear and out the other.
Esther gave up entirely trying to lecture Esi about the mistreatment towards Asanté—it was like beating a dead horse with a stick.
❦❦❦
Asanté shifted the gears as he parked in front of Luvie's house. He killed the engine and got out along with Luvie, who was holding a big bag of white cheddar popcorn.
He opened the back door and pulled out the oversized Teddy bear that he had gotten for her. After the friends were done eating at Esther's, they went to an arcade downtown.
With the tickets that he won, he decided to spend half on getting Luvie a teddy bear. Asantè found it cute, yet humorous that from the moment it was handed to her, it didn't leave her grasp until they got to his car.
Luvie on the other hand, thought the gesture was sweet, given that it cost half of his tickets.
"Where are you going to put this big ass shit?" Asanté asked her, tossing the stuffed animal over his shoulder.
"Be gentle wit' it," Luvie glared at him, as she pulled out her house key. Asanté scoffed a laugh, shaking his head. "And I'm going to put it on my lounge chair,"
"So, you not going to toss this shit in the closet?"
Luvie ignored him as she opened the door, stepping inside. He followed behind her, locking the door after himself.
"That's you, buttercup?" Candice shouted from the kitchen.
"Yes!"
As they passed through the living room, her brothers and her dad were lounging around with popcorn and other snacks.
"Good, we were waiting for you so we can start mov—oh?" Candice paused, coming out of the kitchen. "Hello, nice to see you again. Where y'all just coming from?" She eyed the teddy bear in Asanté's arm.
"Downtown," Luvie told her.
"Hey," Asanté spoke to them, not wanting to be rude.
Luvie gently grabbed his arm and led him towards her room, the awkward tension beginning to make her cringe. The pair walked into the room, Luvie leaving the door ajar.
Asantè stood by the door, looking around the nicely decorated room. The queen sized bed was neatly made up, the decorative pillows complimenting the black and brown comforter set. Hanging over her bed was a personalized heart shaped LED mirror light, her nickname spelled out in cursive.
A few feet next to her bed was a light brown chaise lounge chair with a throw blanket.
Her TV was mounted to the wall on a swivel, LED lights tucked behind the TV, giving off a white backdrop.
Straight across from her bed on the other side was her closet, a clothing rack on each side of the door along with a few shelves that her purses were resting comfortably on.
A couple of pictures placed meticulously across the wall. Some ranging from when she was a child up until now. Asanté smirked, one picture in particular capturing his attention.
In the photo, a two year old Luvie was running towards the camera with a pair of overalls on. Her hair was done in two pigtails decorated with barrettes and knockers.
In another photo, Luvie stood next to a little boy who Asanté assumed to be Sameer by the familiar features. They were in school uniform, Sameer had his arm wrapped around his sister, huge smiles gracing their faces.
Asantè's smirk slowly dropped as his eyes laid on the oversized hello kitty backpack on Luvie.
He cleared his throat and turned around, seeing that Luvie was disappearing into her walk-in closet, cracking the door behind her. Asanté sat the bear down on the lounge chair and took a seat beside it, waiting for her to be done.
"Your room is nice," Asanté said, continuing to look around her room. "Better than mine,"
Luvie came out of the closet, changed from out of her outside clothes and into a pair of sweats along with a graphic tee. "Thank you," she replied, shutting the closet door.
Asanté got up and followed her out of the room as she beckoned him. He checked the time on his phone, it was no later than seven.
"You're leaving already?" Candice asked Asanté, watching the pair walk towards the front door. "You want to join us for movie night?"
"Oh, nah—I don't want to intrude," Asanté declined the offer, rubbing his hands.
Candice waved him off, breaking a single Kit Kat bar from the rest. "You're not," she assured him.
Asantè turned to Luvie, "Tired of me yet?" he questioned. Luvie nodded, causing him to sport a slight shocked expression. "Dang, rip my heart out then, I guess,"
Luvie playfully rolled her eyes and grabbed his hand, pulling him into the living room.
"What are we watching?" Luvie asked her family.
"Queen and Slim,"
"Who picked the movie?"
"I did," Majin answered, popping a few milk duds in his mouth. "We asked you in the groupchat if you were straight wit' that option,"
"It's cool, I heard it was a good movie anyway," Luvie tucked her legs under her, getting comfortable beside Asanté. He had one arm resting on top of the couch, his legs stretched out in front of him.
While they waited for the movie to start, Luvie went through the pictures Tyra and Faven took of her today, picking out her favorite ones.
As she scrolled and tapped on different photos, one in particular caught Asantè's attention. He scrolled back up on her screen, tapping on the picture.
The picture itself was an off guard of her, she was blushing—he could tell it was captured moments after he teased her about not smiling in her pictures.
He clicked on the share options, sending the picture to himself. As he did, his phone dinged with a notification. Luvie looked down at his phone in his lap, peeping her contact name.
Green Eyes 🧸💚
Attachment: 1 Image
A slow smile grew across her face as she looked up at him, "Green eyes?" she raised a brow, pointing down at his phone.
"My favorite thing about you,"
"Mhm," Luvie hummed, fighting to keep herself from smiling so hard. "That's cute,"
"You remind me of a song,"
"Let me guess, green eyes by Erykah Badu?"
Candice smirked, biting into another Kit Kat bar. She glanced over at Marc who was also secretly listening to their conversation.
"No, green eyes by Coldplay," Asanté unlocked his phone and went to their text messages. He saved the picture, making it her contact photo.
Luvie snapped her neck in his direction, raising her eyebrows in surprise. "You listen to them?" she asked.
"Yeah,"
Luvie rested her head against him, picking at her nail. "Interesting," she mumbled. A few seconds after she felt Asantè place his hand on her back, beginning to slowly rub it.
The next half hour, everyone had their attention focused on the movie. Occasionally blurting out their commentary at certain parts.
Asanté could feel as Luvie's head started to fall, indicating that she was falling asleep. She quickly picked her head up, shifting around a bit to keep herself awake.
However, a few minutes later, she started to do the same thing again, prompting Asantè to shake his head.
He firmly wrapped his arm around her back, his other hand sliding under her legs. He got up from the sofa, lifting her up as well.
Luvie wrapped her arms around his neck, snuggling closer to him. That gesture alone made his stomach flutter.
He made it to her room, placing her down on her feet. He switched on the light, before walking over to her bed and removing the decorative pillows.
Luvie got into the bed, after he finally flipped the blanket for her. "Where's your charger?" Asanté searched around the room, holding her phone.
Luvie pointed to the other side of the bed where the lounge chair was. Asantè walked around the bed to plug her phone up and then placed it down.
He walked towards the door, ready to walk out of the room until she spoke up. "Where's my kiss, nigga?" he heard her soft voice aggressively ask him. A laugh slipped from his lips as he quickly turned around to walk back over to her bed.
He leaned down to kiss her a few times. "I'm sorry," he said in between kisses. "Goodnight green eyes,"
"Night-night," she contentedly replied, getting comfortable under the blanket. Asanté continued to lowly laugh as he walked out of her room, shutting the door behind him.
His phone started to ring in his pocket, he reached for it, seeing that it was his cousin calling him. "I'll see y'all later," Asanté told Luvie's family, sliding his finger across the screen to answer the phone. "Yo,"
"Tay?" Anaïca's frantic voice appeared on the other line. Asantè lowered his eyebrows, the tone of her voice instantly putting him on alert.
"What's wrong?"
Asantè put a little more pep in his step on his way toward his car.
"They shot up granny's restaurant!"
❦❦❦
🤭 shit hit the fan.
I hope y'all had a good Christmas or Kwanza for those who celebrate it!
I'll be updating soon!
Also, if you haven't seen my announcement on my message board.
Read 'His First Valentine' by TheGheauxstWriter (promise you won't be disappointed, plus that's my boo! 🧡)
Lastly,
Body Language has been taken down. I am not sure if this is permanent but I've been having major writers block with the story and it's crazy because I haven't had this problem since the beginning of the book.
I REALLY do not want to discontinue it because Soleil and Siraj are my babies, and I truly enjoy writing about them.
However, I won't and can't force myself to enjoy writing it right now.
I've talked to a few friends about this and I've decided to give it until the end of January to decide whether I want to discontinue it for good or continue writing it but with VERY slow updates.
If I choose to discontinue it, I promise I will not leave y'all high and dry, wondering what was supposed to happen with them.
Let's hope it won't come to that. I just refuse to keep you guys waiting for an update—I don't want to be like other authors that go MONTHS—even a year without updating.
I try to always be consistent, if not, you guys know I will always try to give you an update on what's going on.
That is all for now. Sorry to anyone that this may upset.
Love you guys! 🫶🏽☺️