“Friendships must be built on a solid foundation of alcohol, sarcasm, inappropriateness and shenanigans.”-Anonymous
keith in MM
Chapter 5: Cassandra
“What you think about this?” I switched from my left and right side, checking myself out in my full length mirror. For the most part I was okay with the outfit. A halter top and hip hugging low rise jeans and my Nikes looked about almost right but something was missing. I touched my neck and tilted my head to the side.
A chunky gold neckless?
“Nova, do you think I need a neckless?” I looked at her sitting on the edge of my bed through the mirror. She had her phone in her hand, typing away aimlessly. Nine times out of ten she didn’t even hear me.
“Nova?” I called again. She didn’t look up from her phone but with a “huh” sound she responded. “Do you think I need a neckless?” She briefly looked at me then back at her phone and nodded her head.
“Yeah, use the Gold chunky one that’s on the dresser.”
I grabbed for the neckless but looked at Nova while I was putting it on. It seemed ever since we left the cafeteria, her whole attitude changed. I knew it had something to do with that boy but for what, I didn’t know. I knew my friend was a little promiscuous but what Damion did was grimy. I tried asking her about it but, it took only the first time for her to completely brush me off to get me to back off. When she was ready to talk she’ll talk but the last thing I needed was for her to go to this party with me with this foul mood though.
“Nova, can you at least cheer up? I haven’t even seen you crack a joke at anything since the cafeteria.” Again she said nothing, only shrugging her shoulders. I sighed. Hopefully this party would cheer her up.
“Hey, I’m going downstairs to get a soda, you want one?”
“Yeah.”
I rolled my eyes. “But you can speak when you want something.” I mumbled underneath my breath. I trotted down the steps and felt my phone buzz when I hit the last step. Pulling it out, I flipped it open to see a text from Keith.
I hope I c u at the party beautiful
I smiled.
I’ll be there.
I got to the fridge and slightly danced to a tune in my head. I whined my hips in a circle stopping immediately when I heard the clearing of a throat.
“Where you goin’ girl?”
Caught completely off guard, I jumped dropping one of the sodas on the floor. I held my now free hand to my heart to at least slow it down while I glared at JD.
“JD, don’t do that! You scared me half to death.” I said leaning down to pick up the soda.
JD folded his arms over his chest and only continued to look at me not acknowledging that I almost died of fright. He assessed my out and a deep scowl slowly formed on his face.
“Where you think you goin’ look like that?”
“What?” I looked down at myself finding nothing wrong with my outfit. Maybe a little stomach was showing but nothing major. I sucked my teeth “I look fine.”
“What you think them little boys gone think when they see you?”
This was the same shit we went through every time I wanted to go out. He always said if I always carried myself like a lady, I’ll always attract a gentleman.
“They can think all they want. I have every intention to keep my innocence JD.”
He looked at me for a second longer then nodded his head. “I believe that. Keep doin' the right thing.”
I nodded my head and smiled. “Always.”
Before I stepped around him to head back upstairs, I kissed JD on the cheek. Back in my room, Nova was now on her feet, putting her jacket on.
“Where you goin?” I asked her. “Tyrone’s outside. I was coming down to tell you. You got my soda? I was gonna drink it on the way there.”
“Yeah, well wait for me.” I handed her the soda and reached for my tan jacket on the bed. Nova stood in the doorway, once again with her head in her phone.
“You ready?” she asked without looking up. I shook my head at her attitude. She seriously needed to get out this funk of hers or I was going to leave her at the party as soon as we got there.
“Yeah.” She walked out first, as I remembered to tell JD and Mom I was leaving on my way out the door.
I gave my jeans one last smoothing before hopping in the back of Tyrone's car.
"Hey Tyrone." I greeted him, leaning forward and kissing his cheek while getting a whiff of his cologne.
"Hey Cassy." Tyrone then peeked at Nova, waiting for her to speak. When he realized she wasn't going to say anything he sucked his teeth. "Hey, Nova."
She made a noise that I would call a grunt and half ass wave.
"Whatever." Tyrone mumbled putting the car in drive, looked in his rear view mirror and gave me a what-the-fuck-look. All I could do was shrug my shoulders and look away.
Like I said earlier. She'll talk when she's ready.
***
Pulling up to the party, it was like the party mode switch had been turned on in all of us including Nova. We could hear the music when we were pulling up all the way down the street.
Tyrone squeezed his car in one of the open spaces of the crowded street and was the first to hop out and run in, already greeted by his teammates and anybody else who knew him.
I leaned forward to pull down Tyrone's driver side visor from the backseat to check my hair and search for any obvious makeup smudges and what not in the mirror.
"You ready?" I asked her while fluffing my hair a little more. I was obsessed wit volume and body when it came to my hair. The bigger, the better.
"Yeah." She stuffed her phone in her jeans pocket and getting out of the car and I following behind her. I rounded the car and linked my arm though hers.
"We're going to have fun tonight right?" I asked her subtly hinting at how she'd been acting since school. She looked to house and smiled for the first time that entire night.
"Yeah, of course. C'mon." She lead the way into the house, as music, booze and horny teens greeted us. Pretty Ricky was playing when we walked through the door. All of the girls took it upon themselves to find them a guy and grind on them till the guys couldn't take it anymore. There were more people than I thought. They littered the living room, barely able to see the furniture, the kitchen, the stairway, etc.
"Ima head to the kitchen and see what these fools got." Nova said, already heading that way. I nodded my head and walked further into the crowd in the living room. I found my way to the couch and took a seat next to a few girls that didn't look very familiar. I wondered if they were even in the same grade as the rest of us. There were three of the them dressed in a way that would leave little to the imagination.
Shit, even from here I could see one of the girls coochie.
"Can I help you?" The girl I was staring at asked me with the most stank attitude. I raised an eyebrow at her, completely blown and raised my hands to my chest in surrender.
I chuckled and stood to my feet. "You got it." Was all I needed to say before deciding to go into the kitchen. If there were girls like that all over this house, then I definitely needed something to get me loose.
Spotting the array of bottles on the granite counter, I grabbed a red cup.
"You should try the peach Ciroc, it's good as shit." I looked beside me and there stood Keith. He was smiling hard, showing off those pretty teeth. I noticed he cleaned up nicely for the party too. I did a quick once over noticing the fresh cut, new rags and the new air forces.
I had to admit he was looking good. "Oh really?"
"Yeah. Matter of fact let me make your drink fah you." I suspiciously raised an eyebrow at him. Shit, was her serious? I shook my head no.
"Uh, no. I don't think so. I pay attention in sex ed and watched way too many movies to know that you never let someone make your drink for you." You never knew who wanted to slip you something in your drink and take you somewhere you don't want to be.
"You on't trust me?"
"As far as I can throw you."
He feigned hurt, putting his hand over his heart and taking a step back. "Damn, dats cold yo, but I wouldn't do dat to you." He stepped back forward, took a piece of my hair and twirled it around his finger. He was close enough for me to smell his cologne and damn did it smell good. "I on't need to."
He looked into my eyes with a look that tugged at something within me. Right then I looked away and chuckled nervously. "Yeah, whatever. You calling me fast?"
He scoffed. "Girl, you ain't nowhere near fast. If you were, I would have gotten them draws a long time ago." I gasped, jokingly appalled.
"He shrugged his shoulders and smiled. "Just bein' real. C'mon though, you can stand there and watch me. I got skills with mixing liquor and I want to send your taste buds on a roller coaster."
I looked at him a little longer and nodded my head. He had a point. There wasn't any real reason for me not to trust that he wouldn't do anything shady.
I watched as he mixed cranberry juice with a little Burnett, and Absolute Vodka. He handed me the drink.
"You'll love it, I promise." I took a sip and smiled. It was really good. With the amount of cranberry juice he put in it, I could barely taste the liquor and at that moment I didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
Before I knew it, half the cup was gone and Keith was dragging me to the living room to dance. "Me and U" by Cassie was bouncing off the walls while Keith grabbed me by my hips and pressed his body against mine.
I wasn't much of a dancer, but when I started to feel the liquor take its effect, I loosened up. Keith noticed and gripped tighter as I dangled my arm off his shoulder and rolled my hips into his. He kept rhythm, keeping his eyes between us, moving from my eyes to the way I rolled. He turned me around then, so now my booty was grinding against his groin. I held my hands up, feeling the beat with my drink in one hand.
Using what I saw in music videos and dancing in my room with Nova, I wounded my hips, grinding to the beat of the song. He hands never left my waist but by how tight he was gripping and how hard I was pressed against him, he was definitely feeling it.
The song ended and Keith turned me back around to face him. "Damn girl. I didn't know you had it like that." I took the last sip of my drink and shook the empty cup.
"All gone."
"Then let me get you some more." He grabbed my cup out of my hand. "Don't go nowhere, i'll be right back." Before I could stop him, he was already jogging back to the kitchen.
"Hey, Cassy." I looked behind me and there stood Aspen. She had her braids up in a neat bun with a short sleeveless dress on.
"Hey Aspen, you look cute." She smiled then looked down at her outfit.
"Oh, thanks girl."
"You're welcome." There was a little bit of silence before she spoke again. Of course, stating her real reason why she was in front of me.
"Hey, did you get a chance to talk to Tyrone for me?"
Damn, was this girl persistent. "Nah, didn't get the chance. While you here, why don't you holla at him yourself?" I scanned the sea of teens in search of Tyrone. I spotted him in the corner with a girl and pointed to him.
"There he is, go talk to him." She looked to where I was pointing and jutted out her lip in a small pout.
"He's over there with someone else." She said a little disappointed. I placed my hand on her shoulder.
"Hey, that doesn't matter. He ain't with her so I see nothing wrong with interrupting and saying hi." She nodded her head again in agreement then took a deep breath. She made this out as if she was getting ready for a fight. Maybe she was really feeling him.
"Okay, thanks." She said as she began making her way to him. She put a little more sway in her hips all the way till she reached Tyrone. I watched as he smiled when she greeted him and even noticed the other girl's scowl and walk off.
"Hey, I got your drink." Keith stepped in my line of sight with my cup in his hand. I sweetly smiled at him and took my cup.
"Thanks." I took a sip and tasted more of the Vodka this time.
"Hey, what did Aspen want? I saw here talkin' to you. I ain't know ya'll were cool."
"Were not really. She wants to get with Tyrone and wanted me to say something to him for her."
"You playin' matchmaker now?" He joked.
I waved him off. "Not even. I told her to go say something herself since he was here too. I spotted him and sent her in that direction." I pointed behind him and now Tyrone was touching her arm while she was grinning like a love sick thirteen year-old. not even a second after, he slid his arm down to grab her hand and lean in to her ear, making the signature move of a guy that wanted to get a girl upstairs.
Like I knew, she bit her lip, nodded her head and he lead the way to the stairway placing his drink on one of the steps near the railing. Keith cupped his hands to his mouth and yelled, "Use a condom my man!"
Of course over the loud music, Tyrone didn't really hear him or if he did he didn't pay any attention to his comment. I playfully hit his arm. "Hey, don't encourage that."
"What? You on't want him gettin' any?"
I rolled my eyes. "Please, what Tyrone does is his business. I just don't like how he's willing to do it in a crowded house full of nosy people." Which was completely true. It would make me really uncomfortable knowing that someone could be listening on the other side of the door.
"Well, when gettin' your dick sucked is involved, where it happens doesn't really matta."
I looked at him and twisted my face in disgust. "Sucking dick? Ew. No. How you know she sucks dick anyway?" He wiggled his eyebrows at me and I quickly shook my head in disappointment.
"You are truly a manwhore. You know that right?"
He pretended to contemplate about it and nodded his head and a smile crept to his face.
"I'm perfectly fine with dat."
I reached for my phone in my back pocket to check the time. I didn't know how long we been here but I had a curfew of 12a.m. I wouldn't dare break that rule. If I did, JD would beat my ass. It was a quarter till twelve meaning I had to go now.
I looked at the stairs sucked my teeth. "Damn."
"What's wrong?" Keith asked concerningly.
"I need to get home before curfew, but Tyrone is upstairs and God knows where Nova is." Come to think of it, I hadn't seen her that entire night since we got here.
"Let me take you home then. I was finna dip up out of here too. I got things to do in the mornin'."
I looked back to the steps once more then back to Kieth. "Aight cool, just let me find Nova."
I started to walk off but he held me back grabbing on to my hand. "I'm sure she's fine. The more time you waste lookin' for her, the more time you lose to get home."
He was right. I could just text her from my phone when I got in the car.
"Okay, let's go then."
He smiled. "Aight then."
****
The ride home was nice. We talked more about school and what we wanted to do after we graduated. He was going to join the army so he could be a flight engineer. He could just go to trade school for it but he figured it would be better to be paid for it while he learns everything there is to it. The downside, he just didn't know where he was going to be stationed.
His mom was against him going into the military ever since his older brother died in Afghanistan during his tour but he couldn't tell her no. Joining the army ran in his blood. Every male since his great grandfather in his immediate family all went into the military. He wanted to keep the legacy going.
The more he talked about his goals and dreams, the more he grew on me. It was something about ambition in a man that just made him that much more attractive. I even caught myself starring at him a couple of times. I was actually getting to know who Ketih was and it was refreshing to find out he wasn't just some street nigga.
"What about you, Cassy? What you tryna do after school?"
I was texting Nova telling her I left and was going home when he asked me. "I wanna be a neurologist. I've always been awed by how the body works and functions." I pressed the send button and began writing the same message to Tyrone. I'm sure he would be wondering where I would be...I hope he would be concerned.
"Really? Dats dope yo. But I bet dats gonna take a lot of school and hard work." I pressed the send button again then closed my phone. I exhaled at his comment. "Yeah, it is but I like school and I do well so I'm sure it'll fly by."
"That's good Cassy. I always found intelligence in a girl very sexy." I smiled meekly at him, slightly flattered at his comment. "All these girls now-a-days think that they on't need intelligence to get where they need to be. They think all they need is knowing how to fuck and keepin' they body tight, they can conquer the damn world. Real talk, I would take a good girl, with a great head on her shoulders, college degrees beneath her belt over some raggedy bad bitch any day. Bad bitches good to look at, but you can't turn 'em into no housewives."
He slowed the car to a stop, not even realizing I was in front of my house. "You need me to walk you to your door?" He asked.
I shook my head. "I'll be fine. Thank you for the ride Keith." I told him sweetly. He gave me one of his award winning smiles, that I just thought was so cute.
"Anytime beautiful. Seriously, if I could have my way, you would be my girl."
I playfully rolled my eyes. "Boy bye. I can't see you being monogamous. You got a girl for every day of the week." I joked. I reached for the door handle but he stopped me before I could open the door. He was reaching over me with his hand on top of mine. He was close enough that I could smell the liquor on his breath.
After that everything felt as if it was in slow motion. He looked me intently in my eyes, bit his bottom lip and leaned in to kiss me on my lips. The softness of his lips surprised me and I couldn't stop the moan that seemed to escape. There was no urgency. It was slow, wet and sweet. He took that as an initiative to deepen the kiss, moving my lips in sync with his, tasting the different combinations of alcohol on his tongue. Right then, I lost all cognitive thought. I couldn't think straight. The smell of his cologne and the taste of his mouth was the only thing I seemed to be able to focus on.
Before anything went any further, I had to break it. I stopped and the only sound heard was the panting of our breaths. I placed my hand on his chest and he leaned his forehead on mine and smiled.
He leaned up and kissed my forehead and leaned back in his seat. "That was better than I thought." He admitted in a husky tone.
"I could only agree with a nod of my head and a smile. I reached behind me for the car handle and opened it, slowly making my way out the car.
"Thank you for the ride, again."
"Your welcome, again." He smiled. "Goodnight. I'll watch you walk to your door."
"Okay." I walked up my driveway to my door and opened it. I turned behind me to wave goodbye as he pulled off. Closing the door behind me, I felt as if I was holding my breath so I let out a sigh and leaned my back against the door.
Good God that boy can kiss.