Page 28 of Merci

He ended the call, and Ariel’s pleading for him not to send Raheem the address did nothing to sway him. Ariel didn’t like violence of any kind. She was the kind of woman who believed fighting was ugly. The type to not want to risk breaking a nail. I think that made her liking my brother even more hilarious, but they did say opposites attract.

“Oh God. Please don’t tell me you’re going to actually give him your address,” Merci said. “Why would you do that?”

Cujo looked at her, truly confused by her question. “It ain’t like he can beat me up, and even if he did, I would kill ’im.”

“Straight like that,” I added, knowing I wouldn’t even have to jump in. I probably would anyway, though. That was just how we were for each other.

“Jojo, please don’t do this. I don’t want you in my bullshit,” Ariel pleaded with tears in her eyes.

“Nah. He wanna act like thisThe Color Purpleand fight for his love, so I’ma let him do that.”

He went back to the grill and tended to his meat like he hadn’t just told a man to pull up on him to fight. I could tell Merci and Ariel were nervous, but I sparked a blunt and continued to enjoy the weather and music. It was Raheem’s funeral if he pulled up. I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop my brother if he got his hands on him, and honestly, I probably wasn’t going to try to. I liked seeing him like this. The protection. The loyalty. The passion. He was usually only like this for my mama and me, so it was refreshing watching his heart work for someone else.

Less than thirty minutes passed before Raheem was pulling up. Ariel’s pleading meant nothing to Cujo as we made our way toward the front yard. As soon as I saw Cujo take his shirt off and hand it to Ariel, I smiled.

Raheem hopped out the car like he was really about to do something, and he was a true example of how ego and adrenaline could fuck a person’s life—and their face—up.

“Now what was all that shit you were talk?—”

Before Raheem could even finish his statement, Cujo’s fist was connecting hard as hell with his jaw. I heard that shit crack and flinched when he hit the concrete. Cujo standing over him with his hands on his hips, shaking his head in disappointment made the situation funnier than it truly was.

“One hit, and you sleep already, Raheem? You ain’tnofun.”

At that point, I couldn’t hold my laughter in anymore. While Ariel tried to wake Raheem up, Cujo casually picked him up and carried him back to his car. He put him in the passenger seat and asked Ariel where he lived so he could drop him off, but she said she’d take him. Initially, Cujo wasn’t cool with that, because hedidn’t want Raheem waking up and taking his shame and anger out on her, but Merci offered to ride behind them so she could take Ariel home. I wasn’t cool with that either, but I trusted that if some shit went down, Merci would call before Ariel would.

“You sure you trust him enough to let her be in the car with him?” I asked Merci.

“Yeah. Raheem tries to act tough, but he’s not crazy. He would never put his hands on her because he knows my family will literally kill him.”

“Well, now he knows she got another crazy nigga riding for her, and he got a brother with some screws loose too. Hopefully this will motivate him to go ahead and sign them papers.”

“From your lips to God’s ears,” she said, pulling me down for a quick kiss before they headed out.

As Cujo and I made our way back to the backyard, I said, “You really like that girl, don’t chu?”

“It ain’t like that,” was what he said, but I saw him fighting back a smile. “I’m on that behind her because she’s a sweet girl, but nah.”

“You might can lie to yourself, but you can’t lie to me, big brother.”

“There’s honestly nothing going on between us. No sex. No kissing. Nothing romantic at all. We’re genuinely just friends.”

“I didn’t ask you that,” I argued. “I said you like her. You can like her and still be her friend.”

Sighing, Cujo shook his head.

“She’s too young for me. I think she’s only like twenty-eight. Plus, she’s getting the divorce, but she ain’t purged herself of that nigga yet, and I’ll end up killing his ass. And she doesn’t want to jump into a relationship right after her divorce is finalized, which I can respect. I don’t want anything serious either. It’s too much work making me make sense to a woman.I’on have time for that. I dip in pussy when I need it and have companionship when I want it. That’s it.”

“I hear you. I do. About it all. But I want you to have and experience what I have with Merci. So even if you don’t have it with Ariel, I hope you love yourself enough to give yourself the chance to have it with someone else.” Gripping his shoulder, I made sure he looked at me when I said, “You deserve that. Just as much as I do. Life ain’t got to be hard for us no more, Cujo. That shit is dead now. Enjoy your life, and enjoy whatever Ariel has to offer.”

“I hear you,” was what he said, with an attitude at that.

I laughed and took it because I knew that was the best I’d get. Usually, he’d say he wasn’t on that or that he was good, so this had to be progress towardsomething.

19

MERCI

Had I known Hammer stopping by to drop off donuts would lead to him devouring my pussy, I would have asked him to bring them every damn day since we met. His thick, wide tongue had me trembling with each stroke. Our eyes were locked briefly until mine squeezed shut from the pleasure. The second he applied pressure just under the hood of my clit, I convulsed as I came. Always taking pleasure in my pleasure, Hammer pressed my knees into the bed, tilted my hips, and continued to feast on me until I came two more times.