Simon Minsk
My heart feels like it's about to pound out of my chest, my palms are sweaty, and I'm desperately trying to look as calm and normal as possible. Isaiah shoots me a side eye, obviously silently telling me how terrible of a job I was doing right now. It's not my fault he's a fucking criminal. I can't help but feel like a criminal too with the gun hidden beneath the fabric of my shirt.
Isaiah rolls the window down as the officer, a young, attractive man with chocolate colored skin taps on the glass.
"Good evening, officer." Isaiah says with a smile. "What seems to be the problem?"
"You didn't signal back there before you turned." The cop says, and I briefly make out his shiny name badge: Sawyer.
"I'm sorry, I promise you it just slipped my mind." Isaiah says.
The officer looks in the car and over at me. I try my best to offer him a smile, but all the whole I keep thinking that he might know that I'm concealing an unlicensed weapon.
"Can I see your license and registration?" Officer Sawyer asks Isaiah.
Isaiah looks at him. "Officer, are we sure that's necessary? I mean, I only—"
"License and registration." Officer Sawyer says agin, this time his tone indicating that he doesn't want to take anymore of Isaiah's shit.
At this point, I don't want to take anymore of Isaiah's shit either.
Isaiah reaches into his back pocket, pulling out his wallet, taking out his driver's license, and handing it to Officer Sawyer. Officer Sawyer shines his light on the license as Isaiah reaches over me and into the glove compartment.
"You look like you're about to shit on yourself." He says, his voice so low I almost can't hear it. "Get yourself together, Simon."
I look up at Officer Sawyer, who's watching intently as Isaiah grabs the insurance and registration, and then passes it to him. Officer Sawyer scans these documents as well.
"See, everything lined up right?" Isaiah asks, and then Officer Sawyer shines the light in on us. I hold my breath, trying to remain calm under his scrutinizing gaze, but I feel like he knows I'm guilty of something.
"There's just one more thing." Officer Sawyer says. "Your tags are expired."
"I just haven't been by to get the new ones." Isaiah says. "I'm getting ready to move in a few days anyway, so I just thought that maybe—"
"If you're going to drive your tags have to be up to date." Officer Sawyer says, taking out his ticket book and starting to write Isaiah a ticket.
"Come on, man." Isaiah groans. "Can't you just help a brother out just this once?"
Office Sawyer ignores him, continuing to scribble on the ticket.
"Aiden?" I hear a familiar voice, and I turn to look out the window and see Diggy walking up towards us. Great, where did he come from and what does he want now?
Officer Sawyer, or Aiden, looks up as Diggy approaches him. He smiles early and gives Diggy a friendly handshake. How does he know him?
"I didn't think you would become a cop." Diggy says. "When did this happen? Last I checked you were majoring in political science."
"I was." Aiden says. "I have my degree, but you know, we just follow in our father's footsteps most of the time."
Diggy nods, but something about him seems a little wary of that statement. "You're right."
Diggy looks into the car and his eyes fall on me. I shift uncomfortably in my seat the freeze, the last thing I need to do is accidentally blow a hole in my stomach.
"Simon?" He says, pretending to be surprised to see me, though I know he knows I was in this car. "I didn't even realize that was you in there."
"It's me." I say, and my voice is audibly shaky, a side effect of my nerves.
"You know him?" Aiden asks, pointing to Isaiah with his pen.
"No, I don't know him." Diggy says. "I know he passenger though, a friend of mine."
Aiden nods. "Well, any friend of a friend of Diggy's is my friend. I'll let you off this time, but make sure you get new tags and please signal before you turn."
"Will do, Officer." Isaiah says, nodding his head and smiling.
"You two be safe." He says. "It was great seeing you again, Diggy."
"Great seeing you, too." Diggy smiles as Aiden walks away as gets back into his car.
Isaiah sticks his hand out of the window for Diggy to shake. He does. Diggy is pretty good at pretending that he's not bothered by it.
"Thanks for that." Isaiah says.
"No problem." Diggy says. "Any friend of Simon's is a friend of mine."
"I'm actually his boyfriend." Isaiah clarifies, and it almost sounds territorial.
Oh God. I mentally face palm.
"Oh?" Diggy says. "Cool. I'll see you around, Simon." With that, he turns and walks away, and Isaiah rolls the window back up.
"How do you know him?" Isaiah asks, pulling of to get back onto the road.
"Oh no." I say, carefully pulling the gun out from under my shirt and holding it up. "You don't get to ask any questions until you explain to me what the fuck you're doing with a gun."
As soon as I say this my phone buzzes in my lap. I carefully put the gun back in the glove compartment, waiting on Isaiah to say something, but he remains silent.
I roll my eyes, looking down to see a message from Diggy.
When you're done
with you're little
boyfriend we need
to talk.
Damn right we need to talk.
«•»
Isaiah parks his car in the parking lot of my apartment. I sit there, seat belt still on, and arms still crossed. I decide to undo my seat belt, just in case he tries to pop off at the mouth again.
I went from scared to pissed the fuck off once we started driving again. How dare he put me in a situation like that? I'm not some ride or die side bitch.
"You gone talk?" He asks, looking at me.
That shit set me off.
"What the fuck I'm gonna talk for?!" I ask. "You the one that has all this mysterious shit going on around you, so you're the one who needs to be talking right now and explaining to me what the fuck is going on."
Isaiah just stares at me, then he looks away. Like he's mad. What the fuck does he have to be made about?
"You should feel bad for putting me in a situation. Telling me to conceal your illegal weapon. What? You got drugs in here too?" I ask. "You could've gotten me fucking arrested, Isaiah. Then who was I gonna call? I can't call my momma that would give her a heart attack."
"You could've called that nigga you know." Isaiah says, turning to look at me. "You still never told me how you know him. Why you all on my case let's get on yours."
I stare at him dumbfounded, and then I start to laugh.
"What the fuck you laughing for?" He asks.
"Because you're a clown ass nigga." I say, not feeling like my usual self. I've never been more pissed off in my life. It's a pity too, Fiona always said she wanted to see me when I finally got set off, and now she's missing it.
"What the fuck you just call me?" He asks, bowing up as much as he could in the seat.
"You heard me. A clown ass nigga." I repeat. "What? You gonna hit me?"
I honestly didn't know if he would or not, but I was mad to care. If he had hit me I don't know what I would've done, I don't think I would've been able to fight him, but I could've at least gotten a few licks in.
Isaiah stares at me for a moment then relaxes with a sigh. "You know I love your ass."
I don't say anything, I just sit there still fuming, and I know he's trying to distract me, to play games and beat around the bush and not give me a straight answer.
"What are you doing, Isaiah?" I ask, the anger still in my voice, though my tone is even now, less accusing.
Isaiah sighs and rubs his face. "I'm not doing anything."
"Lies."
"I'm not. I have the gun because it used to belong to my father, and then his father before him. He gave it to me right before he died. I carry it around because it makes me feel like he's right there protecting me. There aren't even any bullets in it." Isaiah explains. "I lost my father and now I might lose my mother, too. My father was a busy man so I never saw much of him, and I regret that every day of my life. That's why I want to go back to Virginia, to be with my mother and wait for the inevitable. I want to be there with her and cherish these last moments with her."
I look over at him as he wipes a tear from his cheek. I sigh, grabbing his hand and giving it a squeeze.
"I'm sorry." I say. He looks me and smiles. "I'll just ask you next time instead of getting mad and accusing you of anything."
"Okay, baby." Isaiah says, kissing my knuckles. "And I might get mad sometimes, but I'll never hurt you, I'll never hit you."
"You better not." I say. "Fiona is really good at castration."
Isaiah chuckles. "Can I get a kiss goodnight?"
I lean over and kiss him on the lips. When I pull away, he's smiling at me, and I smile back.
"Promise me you'll think about coming to Virginia with me." Isaiah says.
"Okay," I reply. "I'll think about it."
I get out of the car and walk into my building. He seemed genuine about the gun, but he still never denied being wrapped up in Hakeem's stuff. So, I don't know if I truly believe Isaiah or not, as badly as I want to, I'm too smart to be played like this.
I'm going to get down to the bottom of this once and for all, and if Isaiah is lying to me, what he saw just now in the car will only be a fraction of what he has coming for him.
Daniel "Diggy" Simmons
Almost an hour and a half after my reunion dinner with Alana, I walk down the familiar hallway of Simon's apartment, stop outside of his apartment, and knock on the door.
I can't deny that seeing him in the car with Isaiah pissed me off, but what pissed me off even more was the fact that he hasn't gotten pulled over while carrying that precious cargo. How could he be so careless? What if that traffic stop had gone bad and something had happened to Simon? Isaiah would've had another thing coming for him.
Just as I'm starting to get mad thinking about all the bad things that could've happened to Simon in that scenario, he opens the door, and his smile makes all of that anger fade away, and once again I'm filled with happiness.
I step inside, and as soon as the door closes he's in my arms, and I wrap my arms around him. He nuzzles my chest, and I bury my noise in his curly hair, breathing in his delicious scent. Damn this boy was doing things to me.
"You know I'm still pretty pissed at you right?" Simon asks, though his actions don't show it, he's clinging to me like he never wants to let go.
"Pissed at me for what?" I ask. "You were the one who got pulled over by the cops."
"I didn't get pulled over. Isaiah got pulled over." He clarifies.
"Well that nigga needs to stop being so reckless when he got my lil baby in the car with him." I reply, kissing the crown of his head, walking over to sit on the couch and then pulling him down to sit in my lap.
"Your lil baby, huh?" Simon asks, wrapping his arms around my neck and looking at me with a smile, a smile that makes my heart skip a few beats.
"That's what I said." I reply, wrapping my arms around his waist. "I already told you straight up how I felt, I'm just waiting on you to ditch that lightweight and come to where you belong."
I really don't know why it's so hard for Simon to see that I'm the one for him, maybe it's because he does have true feelings for Isaiah, but I like to think that he doesn't.
"You told me straight up how you felt. True." He says, eyes dropping from mine as he chews on his bottom lips. "But who was that girl you were with at the restaurant? You told her how you felt, too?"
"Yes." I say, and I immediately see the hurt and disappointment cross his fingers. "But it wasn't what I told you. I told her that I didn't want to be with her, that we need to just be friends, and nothing more."
"Friends with benefits?" Simon asks.
I chuckle. "No. There is no benefits with that girl. With her you gotta be all in or nothing."
"How do you know that?" He asks me.
I sigh. "Because I dated her for two years."
Simon looks surprised that I was in a committed relationship for that long. It's not like it's some strange thing, or I guess it is for him.
"Yeah, I know." I say. "Strange right? Well, Alana was the first girl I truly loved, I had been in plenty of other committed relationships before her, but then all of sudden she just decided she didn't want to be with me anymore. We were seniors in college. She got a job t Miami, I told her I wanted to go with her and start a life together, and she basically told me that she didn't want that with me."
Simon looks at me. I can tell he feels bad for me. Usually I hate when people show me sympathy, but from him I kind of like it, it makes me feel better.
"I was pretty messed up for a while after that, you know I had never truly had my heart broken like that. It was awful. I laid around and didn't do anything for months. After that I said I'd never allow myself to fall in love again." I finish.
"Diggy, I'm sorry." He says. "I didn't realize that you'd been hurt like that before."
"Yeah, but it's okay." I say. "I also found out just recently that that last part wasn't exactly true."
"What?"
"About me never allowing myself to fall in love again." I say. "I want more than what I had with Alana with you Simon, and even though we're not together, I think we're on the right track. Now, I'm not saying that I love you he, but I like you a lot."
Simon smiles and then kisses me, moving to straddle my lap as the kiss deepens.
"I'm sorry that I can't give myself to you just yet."
Simon whispers against my lips, leaning his forehead against mine. "I just have to figure out some things with Isaiah first."
"It's okay, baby boy." I say, pecking his lips again. "You take all the time that you need. Like I said, I'll be right here."
Simon bites his bottom lip, nodding his head.
"I know that you have needs, Diggy, needs that I don't think I'm quite ready to satisfy yet." Simon says. "I mean, the word sex is literally in your job title." He says with a breathy chuckle.
"Don't worry about that." I say, rubbing his sides.
"No, but I am worrying about it." Simon says. "If you want to have sex with other people, that's totally okay with me, I mean I doubt you stopped though."
I'm a little hurt that he thinks I'm still sleeping around. "I actually did stop. But like I said I don't want to."
"But I want you to." He says, pulling back to look me in the eyes. "I don't want you to be walking around with blue balls the size of icebergs. I also don't want to feel like I'm holding you back because I'm so indecisive. So just tell me that you'll continue to have sex with other people."
This boy is literally the most confusing person I've ever met in my life, but if it makes him feel any better, I'll lie and say that I'll do it, even though I plan on practicing abstinence until Simon is ready to give it up.
"Okay." I say. "I won't like it, but I'll do it."
"Good." Simon says. "Now just kiss me."
"You're gonna have to ask much nicer than that." I playfully scold him. "Can I get a 'Please Daddy can I get a kiss?'"
Simon shoots me a look and then gets out of my lap. "It's okay, I'll just go kiss myself in the mirror."
He starts to walk away and I grab his arm, pulling him back into my lap, and we smile at each other before our lips connect, melding together perfectly, and we get lost in each other.
«•»
It was a particularly long session today with Oliver, who, much like Simon, is still painfully a virgin. The only difference is that Oliver is annoying as hell, sixty years old, and not as cute as Simon. Actually, Oliver is pretty ugly.
We've been meeting for a little of two years now, and all he does is come to me and cry. Oh well, I can take crying if I'm getting paid for it, and Oliver pays me a pretty penny.
I walk out of my office with a sigh and then a groan. Usually, Marvin will crack some joke about Oliver, but today he just stares at me with red rimmed eyes and a wobbling chin. He's been crying, and he's about to start again.
"Marvin?" I say, walking out and over to his desk. "What's wrong?"
Marvin burst into tears. "James left me last night."
"Oh no." I say. "I'm sorry to hear that Marvin."
"It's okay. He's been wanting to leave me for a while now, but that mother trucker finally grew a pair and left."
One thing about Marvin is that he doesn't cuss. Ever.
"Why don't you take the rest of the day off?" I say.
"Are you sure?" He asks, wiping his face.
"I'm positive." I say.
"Thanks Diggy." Marvin says, gathering his things and standing up. "I owe you one."
"Don't mention it." I say as he walks out.
I turn, about to walk back into my office, when the door opens. I turn to see Alana standing there with bags of take out in her hand.
Great. Just great.
"What is it?" I ask.
"It's Chinese." She says, waving the bag in my face. "Duh. What else would it be?"
She saunters right past me and into my office. I don't think she quite understands the meaning of friends. I might have to explain her to her—when I said friends I meant friends who occasionally bump into one another and make small talk then go their separate directions, not who bring lunch.
With a sigh and wondering how I was going to handle this, I walk into my office, really just wishing I had Simon to hold.
Simon Minsk
I pull up outside of a run down house in a high crime neighborhood. There is spray paint on abandoned buildings and bars on the doors and windows of homes. I've only ever been here once, and that was to pick Fiona up after she had one of her many fights with Hakeem, but that had been at nighttime and I had been scared shitless. I feel a little more secure now that it's during the day.
I park my car in the driveway, getting out, and being sure to lock it. I make my way up to the front door and knock on it. I know why I'm here, and if I stick to the plan, I should be able to find out what Isaiah is really doing.
The door opens and a man stands there. He has a few teardrops tattooed under his eye, and I can see tattoos crawling up his neck and covering his large arms.
I swallow my nerves down as he glares at me. "I'm here to see Hakeem."
"What you want him for?" The man asks in a gruff voice.
"I'm a friend of Fiona's." I say.
"So?" The man says, looking me up and down. "You one of them soft niggas?"
Just as I'm about to turn and run far away, Hakeem appears over the man's shoulder. He sees me and rolls his eyes.
"Yo, Lip, he with me." Hakeem says. "He cool."
Lip steps to the side and I walk inside. Hakeem looks me as Lip slams the door closed, locking a series of locks, and then walking past us.
"What you want man?" Hakeem asks me.
I couldn't get over how much he genuinely looked like a fuckboy. Fiona could do much better than this, but she had always been attracted to this type, and she'd always gotten burned in the end.
"If this about Fiona I don't wanna talk about her." He says, turning and walking away.
I follow him into the kitchen. He sits down next to an attractive older man in a wife beater counting money. He looks up at me as I come in, a blunt hanging from between his lips. He takes one hit and passes it to Hakeem, who sits in the seat next to him.
"Who is this, Keem?" The man asks.
"This is Simon. Simon, this is Seven." Hakeem says, hitting the blunt and exhaling the smoke. "He cool. He friends with Fiona."
Seven's eyes bore into me, like he's reading me, and then a smirk spreads across his face. He chuckles and goes back to reading his money. Did he just laugh at me.
"This isn't about Fiona, Hakeem." I say.
"Then what's it about?" Hakeem asks. "Look you gotta hurry up I gotta business to take care of."
"It's about Isaiah." I say. "Isaiah Jones. Do you know him?"
Hakeem nods his head. "Yeah I know him. That's that singing nigga ain't it?"
"Yes."
"Yeah, I know him. Why?" Hakeem asks.
"How do you know him?"
"Fuck kinda question is that?" Hakeem asks. "He starting to sound like the police."
Seven looks back up at me, licks his thumb, and then starts to count again.
"Are you going to answer my question or not?" I ask, crossing my arms.
"Who you getting buck with little nigga?" Hakeem asks. "Standing up there like a bitch accusing me of cheating or something."
"I wouldn't put it past you."
"You watch your mouth. You came in my house." Hakeem says.
"Just please tell me how you know him so I can leave." I say, rolling my eyes.
"I met that nigga at a party once." Hakeem says. "That's it."
"Has he ever been here?"
"No."
"So he doesn't sell drugs for you?"
"No. He too much a pussy nigga to sell drugs for me anyway."
I feel relieved to hear this, to finally be able to put these fears behind me. I'm glad that Isaiah isn't wrapped up in all of this mess with Hakeem.
I'm about to turn to leave when a naked female walks into the room. She wraps her arms around Hakeem from behind. Hakeem holds the blunt up to her lips, she takes a drag, and then they shotgun the smoke. They kiss when they both exhale, and her lips trail along his neck.
"When are you going to come back to bed, baby?" She asks.
"I gotta count this money first." He says. "Then I'm gonna come dig that pussy out, baby. But you know what you could do for daddy while I count this money?"
She nods. She sinks down to her knees and disappears below the table. A few seconds later I hear the noise of a zipper, and then Hakeem's lips part and his head tilts back in measure.
What the actual fuck?
"You just gonna do that shit in front of me knowing I'm friends with Fiona?" I ask, I'm mad now, I don't even care about the fact that I'm in a house full of thugs who would kill my ass. I ride for my best friend.
"What she gone do? You gone snitch?"
"You know if Fiona wasn't pregnant she'd fuck your ass up." I say in a fit of rage, and then I immediately wish I could suck the words back up.
Hakeem's face falls. "Sh-she's pregnant?"
I stare at him for a moment, and then, unsure of what to do next, I turn and rush out of the house. I get in my car, crank in, and drive out of the neighborhood.
I just fucked up big time.
«•»
When I hear the knock of my door later that afternoon I already know who it is before I open it. I walk over, nervous as fuck, and then open the door. Fiona storms in before I even have the door open all the way.
"What the fuck Simon?!" She yells. "I trust you with some secret shit and then you go running your fucking mouth about my business. What was you doing way over there anyway?"
"First," I say, holding my hands up to try to get her to calm down. "I'm sorry. It was accident. That nigga just made me mad that's all. He had some hoe on her knees topping him off while I was standing there."
"So? Don't use my secrets as ammunition!" Fiona exclaims.
"You had to tell him at some point." I say.
"Right. I had to tell him. Not Simon." Fiona says, sitting on the couch, hurrying her face in her hands, her knees bouncing fast. She was majorly pissed.
"I'm sorry." I say, siting next to her.
"Sorry is not going to fix it." Fiona snaps.
"I was over there to find out if Isaiah was involved in his drug game." I say. "I just needed to know the truth."
"What? Isaiah's word wasn't good enough?"
"No."
"I bet if Diggy had said if you would've taken it for the Gospel." Fiona says.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Why do you keep stringing Isaiah along?" Fiona asks. "You just playing with his emotions. You get mad at Hakeem for cheating on me, but you cheating on your own nigga."
I never felt so hurt by the truth before. I want to yell at her, tell her she's wrong, but I know that she's right. I sit there silently, thinking about how terrible of a person I am.
"I feel bad for Isaiah." Fiona says. "I really do. He's too good of a guy to be treated like shit."
Fiona stands and starts towards the door.
"He told me loves me." I blurt. "He wants me to come to Virginia with him."
She stops and turns to look at me. Her face is softer now, still angry, but not as angry as it was a few minutes before. "It sounds to me like you got some thinking to do, and at least now you know he's a good guy and not a liar."
"It's just that I didn't know if could trust him."
"How much do you know about him?" She asks.
"A lot." I say.
"Okay." She says, opening the door. "And how much do you know about Diggy?"
With that, she walks out, closing the door just as her words start to settle over me.
«•»
Later that night, I sit on the living room floor of Diggy's penthouse, a movie is on tv. But I haven't paid much attention to it, I have too much on my mind.
Diggy walks back into the room, settling back into his between my legs, his head laying on my lap as I rub my hand over his hair, and he rubs my bare leg that sticks out from my shorts.
"What's on your mind, Simon?" He asks, looking up at me. "You haven't said much at all tonight."
I think about spilling it all to him, Fiona and Isaiah and Hakeem and Fiona's unborn baby, but instead I decide to do something else. "Let's get to know each other."
Diggy chuckles. "Okay. What do you want to know?"
"Let's start with the basics." I say. "Tell me about your parents and where you grew up."
"Okay. My mom works as an RN at a hospital in Atlanta, where I grew up." He says.
"I didn't know I had a southern boy." I tease.
"Why do you think I'm such a gentleman." He says with a smile. "My dad...he owned his own construction company."
"Oh wow, a businessman." I say.
"Yeah, you could say that." Diggy says. "I had a mostly normal childhood. What about you?"
"I grew up with both of my parents for a little while here in LA, and then my dad left me and my mom when I came out of the college freshman year of high school. It was pretty hard, but we made it through it."
"Damn, I'm sorry to hear that." Diggy says, kissing the beach of my kneecap, making my giggle. "My father isn't in the picture anymore either."
"Why not?" I ask.
"He had some crooked ways, that ended up getting him out behind bars for a very long time." Diggy says, looking like he's getting lost in a memory. He comes back, and I can see that his eyes are a little glassy with tears, and it makes my heart ache.
He sits up, turning to face me. "But ma and I are better off without him, and I'm better off with you."
I smile, wrapping my arms around his neck as he moves closer and kisses me.
«•»
Some time later, I wake up, my back resting against Diggy's chest as the credits to the movie roll. I look up and see him sleeping as well. I reach over and check the time in my phone. A few minutes past midnight.
"Did we fall asleep?" I hear a groggy voice asks, and I turn to see Diggy rubbing his eyes.
"Yeah." I says, standing up. "I better get going. It's late."
"You don't have to leave, you know?" Diggy say, standing up too. "You can stay."
I smile. "Okay."
«•»
After I've used Diggy's large and luxurious shower, I step out to find he's laid one of his shirts on the counter. I smile, pulling the expensive fabric over my body. He's also left a pair of boxers for me, and I slide them up my legs, smiling giddily at the thought of Diggy wearing these.
I walk out of the bathroom and into the bedroom. Diggy, freshly showered and donning only a pair of tight boxer briefs and looking oh-so-daddyish, pulls back the covers of his bed. He smiles when he sees me, taking in my appearance.
"Damn." He says. "If this is what the married life looks like I'm ready to put a ring on it right now."
I laugh and throw a pillow at him.
"Come on, wifey, let's go to bed." He says, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me into bed with him. I smile as he pulls the silk sheets over our bodies.
He wraps an arm around me, pulling me close, my butt pressing back into his crotch, the bulge against my ass making me want to do some very sinful things with this man.
"Don't call me wifey." I say.
"I like it." Diggy whispers in my ear, kissing the back of my neck. "Sweet dreams."
For a moment, I contemplate sex, but then I remember how much I have going on right now, and the last thing I need to do is complicate what Diggy and I have.
"Good night." I say, my eyelids already becoming heavy.
Diggy's warmth embraces me, the rise and fall of his chest pressed to my back lulls me off to sleep, and the last though I have is how being wrapped in Diggy's arms feels just like home.
{A/N: So, shit s about to hit the fan next chapter, so just be prepared for that. But as always, I want to know what you guys think about this chapter! It is the longest in the book thus far, so I hope you guys don't mind reading something this long. Until next time: XOXO!}