December, 1990
I had interviewed at the dance studio that Marshall told me about, and they ended up calling me the next day wanting to hire me. It was absolutely fucking crazy, and I couldn't believe how easy it all seemed? After the interview when they asked me if I had any questions, I of course instantly asked about the Juilliard thing. That just seemed way too good to be true. They had told me that essentially it was a program that they ran, and if I was willing to sign a contract with them stating that after I had been sent to Juilliard that I would come back as a full time choreographer for their sister company for two years, then they would absolutely send me.
They told me that their sister company gets contracted out to do the choreography for movies, music videos, and those types of things which actually sounded really cool. I had never in my life even thought of doing something like that. I never knew what I really wanted to do with dance, but I always knew that I loved it and that was enough for me to stick with it. It all seemed like everything in my life was perfectly falling into place, and I was just so thankful.
Even though I had been hired, my official start date wasn't until January. So I decided to pick up as many shifts as I could at the club for this last month, and then that way I could have a bunch of money saved up so I could start slowly cutting my shifts, and just focus all my attention on the studio. I know I could work both if I really wanted, and I'd probably always stay at the club to a certain degree until I go to Juilliard, if I ever do, but I was just so nervous about my energy levels. It's a lot of work dancing for eight hours straight during the day, and then dancing another eight hours straight at night. Plus, that would leave almost no time for my family, or friends, or Marshall. So, I just really wanted to be mindful about not spreading myself too thin if I could help it.
Today was actually Christmas day, so me, Marshall, DeShaun, and Nate were all going over to my moms house for the day. Of course normally, Marshall and Nate would just be at Debbies, but she was off on another one of her benders so we had actually been taking care of Nate for the last few days. We had no idea when she would be back, so we were just keeping him until whenever she called and said she was home. I know it really made Marshall mad watching Nate go through that, and having to deal with his mom be out of the house for sometimes weeks on end, but there was nothing any of us could do which is what I think upset Marshall the most. Nate's four now, he's about to start becoming aware of what the hell is going on, and I just know it's going to be so upsetting watching it if nothing can be done.
All three of us had decided to just walk over to my moms, since it would be helpful to get some of Nate's energy out. Now, I didn't have a lot of experience with kids outside of when I was teaching, but I swear Nate was the most high energy kid maybe ever. He could run around for hours, and he loved going outside. It was fun though, he was such a happy kid so that made everything just so much better.
As we were walking, Nate kept wanting us to swing him. We had done it maybe twice in the last few days, but he loved it so much every time were walking now he's begging us to do it again. So we both just grabbed one of his little hands, and would swing him, in my opinion, far too high. But Nate loved it, and Marshall thought it was so funny watching him scream and laugh, so I just shoved my anxiety to the side and let them have fun.
As soon as we walked into my moms house, she immediately came up to us, picked Nate up, and engulfed Marshall in a giant hug. I swear she loves him more than she loves me.
"Ma! Hello! Your pride and joy is also here! Standing right in front of you!" I waved at her as she released Marshall, still with Nate in her arms.
She laughed. "Did someone say something?" She said sarcastically as she came and gave me a hug.
"Ha ha! Very funny!" I said as I hugged her back.
"She definitely always wanted a boy." Marshall whispered to me as my mom walked away with Nate. I laughed and lightly smacked his shoulder.
"And you're definitely looking to get your ass kicked if you don't shut the hell up." I said as I took off my jacket.
"Ah, you're too pretty to kick anyone's ass." He smiled and threw his arm around my neck as he kissed the side of my head.
"Where's DeShaun and Pepper?" I yelled as we walked through the kitchen towards the living room.
"They'll be here soon! I think DeShaun's bringing Sharonda too!" My mom yelled back as we entered the living room and saw her setting Nate up with all my old toys.
"Can I help you do anything Karmen?" Marshall asked as I went and plopped myself down on the couch.
"Actually yes! Can you help me set the table?"
He nodded. "Yeah 'course." They both walked out of the living room and back into the kitchen. I decided to just get down on the floor and play with Nate. They were only gone for about fifteen minutes, but I swear the whole time all I could hear was just them laughing and it sounded like Marshall was so at ease which made me so happy. After his birthday dinner, I told my mom about everything that happened, and me essentially calling out Debbie in her own home. She felt so awful and was so shocked that his own mom could treat him in such a way, so ever since then she's really just been trying to put him under her own motherly wing which I know he loved, and so did I.
Not to mention, when I had told her we were dating, I swear I've never seen her eyes light up so bright. She's always loved Marshall so much, and I know she just thought the absolute world of him so when we said we were dating I'm sure it was like Christmas for her. Or at least that's how she acted which made us laugh. Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, everyone was super excited for us. All the boys were so supportive of it which I was thankful about, but they said they all knew something was going on for awhile, ever since the very first time we had sex. So I guess we really weren't as sneaky about it as we thought we were.
"Whatcha thinkin' 'bout?" Marshall asked as he came and sat down beside me and Nate. He pushed his fingers through my hair and kissed the side of my head.
"Hm?" I looked at him as I was aimlessly colouring with Nate. "Oh. Nothin'." I said shaking my head. "What are you thinkin' about?" I smiled.
"How much I love you." He smiled back at me and planted a gentle kiss against my lips.
"Ewww!" Nate squealed and we both burst out laughing while I pulled him in between my legs.
"I also wanna give you your present before everyone gets here." Marshall said as I enclosed both my arms around Nate.
"Oh shit baby, I'm sorry, I left your present at home."
He smiled. "That's okay." He quickly got up, went into the kitchen, and thirty seconds later came back with a wrapped medium sized box.
"That looks like a shoe box." I said with a smile as he sat back down in front of me and Nate.
He shrugged and handed me the box. "Maybe." I grabbed the box from him and as I was about to open it, Nate started ripping off all the wrapping paper himself. We both just laughed and let him continue.
He eventually got it all off and I said to Nate, "open it!" He squealed and opened the box revealing brand new very light pink pointe shoes. I gasped and my head shot up towards Marshall. "Baby..." I whispered.
He laughed. "Do you like them?!"
I nodded frantically as my eyes started to well up. "Thank you, thank you, thank you." I said as I grabbed his face with my one free hand and smashed my lips against his. I had been stressing recently since I was about to start at the dance studio next month, but I had sold my old pointe shoes a long time ago to help pay my rent when Eric left. I was actually supposed to go this weekend and get new ones, but Marshall beat me too it.
"I hope they're the right ones. I don't know, when I went there I kinda had no idea what I was looking for. I really just relied on what the guy at the store was saying." He chuckled.
I shook my head. "No baby they're perfect, seriously thank you so much. I love you so much."
He smiled. "I love you more."
"Aww, aren't you two just the grossest." DeShaun said jokingly as him and Sharonda walked into the living room. I guess we both had been so caught up that we didn't even hear them walk in.
We both laughed. "Man shut the hell up." Marshall said back jokingly.
Shortly after we all sat down for breakfast, and then we all just hung out and opened a few presents each. We ended up staying at moms until around 10 at night just watching movies and being together, and it was absolutely perfect. Nate fell asleep at about eight, so when we left Marshall just carried his little unconscious body the whole way home. When we finally got back, I put him in his pyjamas and laid him down in his crib. Normally, Nate doesn't sleep in a crib, but since we didn't have anything else for him to sleep in, my mom gave me my old one to use for the time being. I have no idea why she keeps this stuff, but she says its all very sentimental.
So, we put him to bed, and then a little bit later Denaun came home from his moms house. We hung out for a bit until Denaun started saying how tired he was, so he took himself to bed which I was internally thankful for. I had just been so horny all damn day, and now I could finally deal with it. Nate had been sleeping in our room, so I knew that was off limits but I still needed to get laid somehow. We were laying on the couch together with his arm around my neck while he had his eyes glued to the TV.
"Hey." I whispered as I looked up at him.
"What?" He looked down at me as I ran my fingers down his chest all the way to his bellybutton and back up again.
"You wanna take a shower, maybe?" I smiled.
"Uh yes? Obviously?" We both laughed. "Go get it ready, I'll be in in a sec." He said as we both got off of the couch.
"Hurry please." I said as I placed a soft kiss against his lips. I walked towards the bathroom and Marshall went directly over to our room, I assume to check on Nate one last time and make sure he was okay. I turned the shower on, got completely undressed and then stepped in. A few minutes later I heard the door creak open. "What took ya so long?" I said and I heard him laugh. The curtain opened and he stepped in with me while his arms snaked around my waist and he rested his chin on my shoulder.
"I asked Denaun if he could listen for Nate for like forty five minutes."
I giggled and leaned against his chest. "What'd he say?"
"He said we were fuckin' nasty and then he threw a book at me." I bursted out laughing and he chuckled with me. "Worth it." He mumbled as he kissed the side of my neck. I let out a little 'mm' and then moved my head slightly more the side so he could have better access to me. He took full advantage and his tender kisses turned into licking and sucking.
One of his hands started slowly travelling up towards my breast and I turned my head to the side so I could kiss his lips. We kissed softly for a few moments until he swiped his tongue against my lips, asking for permission. I eagerly opened my mouth a bit wider and our tongues instantly attached.
He ran his thumb over my hard nipple a few times until he lightly squeezed it in between his fingers, causing me to moan out into his mouth. Just as I was about to turn around so I could kiss him easier, he stopped me by flexing his arm around my stomach, and then started lowering his other hand down towards my pussy. He let his fingers slip around for a moment or two, and then applied a gentle pressure so he could push through my folds. As soon as he began gently rubbing my clit, I moaned so loudly I ended up breaking our kiss. My eyes rolled into the back of my skull, and I leaned my head back against his chest.
"That feels so good, Marshall." I moaned out as he started sucking on my neck again.
"Yeah baby?" He mumbled against me.
"Yeah, fuck." I whined out. He pulled away from my clit and instead inserted two fingers into me. I sharply inhaled and grabbed at his arm to help steady myself.
"How's that feel?" He asked in a really low tone.
I let out a hot breath. "Fuck baby, keep going." I cried. He kept sucking on my neck and moving his fingers in and out of me, and I knew I was close. I gripped his arm tighter and my whines and moans got louder and louder. My pussy started to clench around his fingers and my breathing became extremely erratic. My whole body tightened and I started shaking like a leaf. He kept going until I was completely done and then he immediately turned me around.
I smashed my lips into his and he quickly reached down my thighs and I jumped into his arms so my legs were wrapped around him and my arms were tightly around his neck. He cornered us into a wall so we were more secure, and he gripped my back with his arm. He slowly began guiding himself into me and I immediately whined out into his mouth as I dug my fingernails into his back.
Marshall began moaning with me the more he inched inside of me and we both broke the kiss so we could moan freely. "Fuck Ti." He breathed out as he fully got inside me and started moving in and out. "You always feel so fuckin' good." He moaned again as I brought my lips down to his jawline. I licked all the way from behind his ear, down to the middle of his jaw while lightly grazing my teeth across. I felt him clench his jaw in my mouth but I just kept going as he kept thrusting me.
He began moving faster and harder and I started moaning like crazy. I was already so sensitive from my first orgasm, and anything he did to me was being amplified by 1000x. I felt that familiar heat return to my lower half and I immediately whined out, "Fuck baby I'm gonna cum again, I'm gonna cum again."
"Cum baby, cum again for me." He panted out and I immediately released myself once more. I thought for sure we were gonna be done after that, but he just kept going right through my second orgasm. "Fuck I love when you cum on my dick." He said as he started sucking on my neck once more and moving even faster and harder.
"Shit Marshall I'm cumming again." I cried and just as I was becoming undone for a third time, I felt him start to fill me up with his warm cum and I had never been so thankful for birth control in my entire life. I don't know what it was, but I loved when he came inside me. It just made me feel that much closer to him. He started moaning and cursing like crazy, and my moans began to match his. I scratched at his back as we both hit our peaks and then he started slowing the pace as my body started relaxing.
"Shit." He panted as I slipped down his body and tried my hardest to plant my feet firmly against the ground, but my legs were still so shaky, I had to grab onto his bicep as I was being encaged by him. I took a deep breath to hopefully help return my breathing back to normal, but it didn't really work. "You okay?" He asked with his eyes closed.
I nodded. "Yeah baby. I don't know why you always ask me that. Of course I'm okay."
He paused since I could tell he was just trying to come back to reality and then he opened his eyes and uncaged me. "'Cause I don't wanna hurt you."
"Marshall you're never gonna hurt me, stop worrying about that." I said as I turned off the water and we both stepped out of the shower.
He shrugged as he wiped the water away from his torso. "I don't know about that. I think a lot of people have hurt you in one way or another but you just ain't speak up." I scrunched my eyebrows as I wrapped the towel around my body. "I brought you pyjamas." He said as he pointed towards the sink where folded clothes were sitting.
"Oh, thank you." I said as I reached for them. "Marshall I'm always vocal whenever someone hurts me. I promise I'll tell you if you ever hurt me."
"What happened with Eric?" He asked as he stepped into his sweats. "You weren't very vocal about that."
I sighed. "Is that what this is all about? You think you're gonna hurt me like Eric did?"
"Hell no, not purposefully at least. But I mean, you ain't really ever told me what happened. I have speculations, but I don't know for sure."
"Marshall I just really don't feel like talking about this right now. I promise if you ever 'hurt' me, I will absolutely tell you." I put air quotations around 'hurt' because for one, I know Marshall would never do what Eric did, and two, I sort of just wanted to downplay the whole Eric thing. I know I could trust Marshall, but I just didn't wanna put that kind of bullshit onto him, and make him upset so I was always gonna just try to get out of this conversation.
"Baby you don't have to tell me anything you don't want, but I just want you to know that I'm never gonna judge you, I'm never gonna make you feel bad about it, and I'm never gonna treat you the way he did, whatever it was." He said as he put my face gently in his hands.
"I know baby. Thank you." I smiled softly and kissed his palm.
"I love you so much." He kissed my lips gently and then pulled away.
"I love you more." We both smiled at each other.
"Aight, let's go to bed. I'm fuckin' tired now." He chuckled.
"Yeah you gotta get to sleep. You got work in the morning." I said as I ran my hand over his shoulder and we walked out of the bathroom. We stealthily made our way back in the bedroom as to not wake up Nate and then fell asleep almost immediately.
January, 1990/1991
It was New Years Eve and we were all supposed to go over to Karnail's for a party tonight. I was in the bathroom getting ready while Denaun and Marshall were sitting out in the living room just drinking and hanging out before we left. As I was curling my hair I heard the phone start to ring. I saw Marshall walk past the bathroom to go and answer it, but I couldn't really hear the conversation since the TV was pretty loud, as well as the fan to the bathroom was on.
I just shrugged and continued on getting ready. I finished my hair and started putting on some mascara. As I was finishing up with the mascara, Marshall came and leaned against the doorway of the bathroom.
"That was Ronnie." He stated flatly.
"What'd he say? Is he gonna come with us?" He wasn't supposed to, Marshall had told me that he had plans with some other friends tonight. But I thought maybe Marshall had convinced him to come with us instead.
He shook his head. "No. I don't know what's going on, but he sounded really upset on the phone. I think him and his girlfriend got into a fight or something. Uh, so I think I'm just gonna go over to his house and hang out with him for a bit instead. Are you okay if I don't come tonight?"
I looked at him with a sad face. "Aw baby, I mean that sucks but yeah of course. Do you want me to come with you?"
He shook his head again. "No, I don't think he wants to see anyone right now. He doesn't even really want me to come over, but he just sounded so upset I need to do something."
I nodded. "Okay. Well I'm gonna miss you."
"I know, I'm gonna miss you too." He said as he wrapped his hand around the far side of my head, and kissed the side closest to him. "Have fun tonight though, k? Be safe and call Ronnie's if you need anything."
"I will, I love you so much." I said as I put my arm around his neck and pulled him down to my level. I gave him a quick peck and then he pulled away.
"I love you too." He said as he turned and made his way back over to Denaun, I'm sure to tell him he wasn't coming anymore. I saw Denaun nod and then watched as Marshall walked over to the door. He grabbed his wallet, keys, and jacket while I smiled sadly to myself as I watched him walk out the door. Marshall's always been such a good friend, and he will truly give the shirt off his back to help anyone in need, but it just made me sad we weren't gonna get to spend our first new years as an actual couple together. I shrugged away those thoughts knowing we'll have many more new years to spend together, and that I'll just see him when I get home.
I finished the remainder of my makeup and walked out to the living room. "Ready?" I asked Denaun who was still staring mindlessly at the TV.
"Hell yeah, let's do it." He said as he got up and turned the TV off.
We drove my car over to Sharonda's since that was where everyone was meeting, and then I was supposed to be the designated driver tonight. DeShaun, Rufus, Sharonda, Denaun, and then some other kid that Rufus had met at the hip hop shop named Ondre all piled into my car. It was really squishy, but Sharonda just sat on DeShaun's lap in the backseat and ducked down in case we passed any cops.
We arrived at a little past 10 and the house was jam packed. The music was loud, everyone seemed extremely drunk, but it was already super fun nonetheless. About an hour or so after we got there, me and Sharonda had slipped away to go get her another drink, and I really needed some water. We were just standing around talking and laughing when some obviously very drunk, and very large guy walked up to us.
"How you doin' ladies?" He smirked and threw both of his arms around our shoulders.
"Get the hell off of me, raggedy ass." Sharonda said annoyed as we both stepped out of his reach.
"Oooh, she's feisty." He chuckled. "How 'bout you baby? How you doin'?" He said as he put his arm around my shoulder once more.
"Don't fuckin' touch me." I said sternly as I pulled away once more. Both me and Sharonda turned to walk away, and he quickly slapped my ass. I instantly turned on my heel towards him and my hand went flying towards his face. It made a loud slapping sound and I started yelling, "I said don't fuckin' touch me!"
"Shit, come on Ti let's get outta here." Sharonda said in a panic as she could see the guy becoming angry. We both quickly turned away again, but just as we were scurrying out the guy instantly grabbed the back of my hair by the roots and pulled me back against him, causing me to let out a little whimper from the pain.
"You got alotta fuckin' nerve for a chick that's 3ft tall!" He yelled into my ear and all of a sudden everyone that was in the kitchen just stopped what they were doing and starred. The only thing you could hear was the music that was still blaring, and everybody else who was talking in the living room and the hallways.
"Let her fuckin' go you psycho!" Shardona yelled at him as he pushed me forward by my head.
"Someone needs to teach ya girl a god damn lesson!" He yelled as we successfully ran out of the kitchen this time. We kept going until we saw someone we knew.
"Rufus we gotta go some guy just tried to kick the shit out of Ti in there!" Sharonda said as fast as she could.
"What? Hold on? What happened?" He asked confused.
"Some guy was tryna hit on us, I slapped him and he yanked my hair and started threatening me!" I said also as fast as I could.
"Aight ya'll go out to the car, I'll get everyone else." Rufus said and we both nodded. "Wait Ti!" Rufus yelled as we started making our way to the door. "Who was it?!"
I shrugged. "Tall guy, blue hat, white hoodie!" I yelled back and he nodded.
Me and Sharonda booked it all the way out to the car and I quickly put the keys in the ignition to start it. "You think they're gonna try and do something?" I turned to her.
She looked at me with nervous eyes. "I wouldn't put it past them."
Thirty seconds later we saw the front door fly open and tons of people started piling out of the house. "Oh fuck what have they done?!" Sharonda yelled. Shortly after we saw Rufus, DeShaun, Denaun, and Ondre all run out of the house in the crowd of people right up to my car. I quickly unlocked the doors and they all jumped in.
"GO! GO! GO!" Denaun yelled at me. I threw it in drive and quickly sped off.
"What the fuck did you guys do?!" Sharonda cranked herself around in her seat to look at the four of them squished into the back.
"We jumped him!" Ondre bursted out laughing, causing the other three to erupt.
"What?!" I yelled.
"Yeah! Check it out! Buddy ain't have much but DeShaun got his wallet and his hat." Denaun said still while laughing. DeShaun flashed us the wallet and then put the hat on Rufus' head.
"Looks good. Makes ya big head look smaller." Sharonda joked and everyone laughed.
"Man fuck outta here." Rufus said and took the hat off. He threw it back at DeShaun and we all laughed once more. I drove everyone back to Sharonda's and thats where we stayed put for the remainder of the night. I figured I should call Marshall and just let him know that we were back at Sharonda's and that me and Denaun would probably be home in a couple hours.
I got up from the couch that me, Sharonda, and Rufus were sitting on and started making my way over to the phone that was in the kitchen. I had to think for a moment about what Ronnie's number was, but after I thought for a second I quickly remembered it. I dialled it into the keypad and waited until the ringing stopped.
"Hello?" I heard Ronnie say into the phone.
"Hey Ronnie it's Ti. Is Marshall there?"
"Yeah, one sec." I heard him yell for Marshall and then heard I assume, Marshall yell something back. "Sorry, he's just in the bathroom right now. He'll be out in a minute."
"Okay, no worries." I trailed off. "How are you?"
"Uh, yeah I'm good. We've just been hangin' out all night."
"Yeah? That's nice. What have you guys' been doin'?"
"Not much, we smoked a joint and then we've just been watchin' The Exorcist III."
"The Exorcist III? Ya'll watched that scary shit after you smoked a joint?"
He chuckled. "Yeah, Marshall almost bitched out but I convinced him it'd be fine."
I smiled. "Oh god, now he's gonna be up all night thinkin' he hears ghosts and shit."
He laughed again. "Yeah 'cause he probably fuckin' does! They're real!"
"DO NOT put that shit in his head I swear neither of us will sleep for a god damn month with him constantly 'Ti! Ya hear that?!'"I said in a low toned voice trying to imitate Marshall.
"Yeah well when one of you becomes possessed for pissin' off the ghosts then you'll be sorry." We both laughed. "Oh, here's Marshall." He said and then handed him the phone.
"Yo." My favourite voice danced through my eardrums and I smiled.
"Hey baby, how's it goin'?"
"Good good, just gettin' the piss scared outta me but y'know."
I laughed. "Just cover your eyes."
"Oh I fuckin' am, don't you worry."
I smiled. "Uhm, so we're back at Sharonda's now. I was just callin' to let you know were here and we'll probably be home by like..." I peered at the clock behind me. "Two?"
"Aight, dope. Yeah I'll probably leave around that time too."
"Okay, sounds good."
"Why ya'll home so early though? It's barely midnight."
"Long story, but essentially this guy was tryna hit on me, he grabbed my ass, I slapped him, he pulled my hair and then threatened me."
"What?!"
"It's fine, I'm fine, it was just kinda scary is all."
"Yeah no shit baby! Fuck I'm so sorry I wasn't there! Did you tell the guys?"
"Oh yeah, they all went and jumped him." I let out a little laugh.
"Fuckin' good, dude deserved it. But you sure you're okay? You ain't get hurt or nothin'?"
"I'm totally fine baby, I promise. I just wanted to let ya know."
"Aight well thank you. I'm just glad ya'll left, that's so fucked up." He paused. "I just hate that dudes think they can treat ya like that, it makes me so fuckin' angry."
I shrugged. "It happens. Just gotta learn how to defend yourself."
"Yeah but that's the problem, ya shouldn't have to defend yourself. Dudes should just respect you. Fuck that pisses me off."
"I know, but I swear I'm fine. Don't worry about me. Go spend the rest of your night with Ronnie and have fun."
"Aight but PLEASE be fuckin' safe. Don't go anywhere without one of them, yeah?"
I shook my head. "I wont. I'm stayin' put here until me and Denaun leave."
"K, good. I love you so much baby. I'll see you soon."
"I love you too! Bye!"
"Peace." He mumbled and then I put the phone back on the hook. I made my way back out to the rest of them and plopped myself down on the couch once more. As I told Marshall, me and Denaun left at around 1:45 in the morning, and made it back home by 2:00.
Marshall was back by 2:30 and demanded to check me out just to make sure I wasn't hurt. It was silly, because of course I wasn't hurt just from someone pulling my hair, but it made me so happy knowing how much he loves me and cares about me. He just always wanted me to be safe and be protected, and I absolutely adored that.