"Mane, he gon' fuck you up," Brooklyn warned. "You already woke his surly ass up."
Zoo huffed. "Nigga, what the fuck is 'surly'? Old ass. How you younger than Sin and me, but you act old as Granddad?"
Granddad was in his eighties.
Shaking my head, I tuned them out while I moisturized my skin and handled my beard and low cut. Inside my walk-in closet, I selected a pair of boxers, tailored slacks, a Polo shirt, and a fresh pair of all-black Jordans. I dressed, then iced myself out before heading back into my room.
I found Zoo and Brooklyn in my doorway, mugging me.
"What?"
"Fuck you was in there so long for?" Zoo questioned, with his nose turned up.
Brooklyn snickered. "Yo' ass is determined to get fucked up this mornin'. I'll meet y'all outside."
I mushed Zoo in the side of his head as I passed him, which earned me a mush back. "Yo' house is next door. I bet if you had a woman up in that bitch, yo' ass would stay outta my shit."
Zoo chortled as we made it down the stairs. "The devil is a lie! Don't be speakin' that wicked shit over me."
I shook my head and laughed because my cousin was dumb as fuck, but I loved his loud, obnoxious ass more than anything.
CHAPTER 2
NAOMI
"I'm telling you, sis, all you have to do is dress up a little. Why you walk around in damn sneakers and jeans all the time is beyond me. Do you know how bomb your body is?"
Sighing, I ignored PJ trying to tell me once again about being more girly. What the fuck was 'girly' anyway? Shoot, I kept my hair nice and flowing or in a topknot, my eyebrows on fleek, and my lips juicy and popping. Thatwasgirly in my book!
Her words only reminded me of the bullshit Vick's mother said about me well over a year ago.Fuck!Don't even think about thatbullshit! Why, of all days, did that particular memory pop into my head? I needed no reminders of one of the worst days of my life.
"PJ, I feel comfortable in jeans, aight? It's not like I look thrown away."
Her eyes trailed up my body with her nose turned up. We made the exact facial expressions but seeing her do it aggravated me.
"Nah, you don't look thrown away. But imagine how those hips and ass would look in at least some slacks. We're going to meet our possible new agent, and all you could think to throw on was some sneakers and jeans?"
Smirking, I replied, "You only gave me ten minutes, and at least I threw on a blazer."
She smacked her teeth. "With a Marbury graphic tee underneath it."
I shrugged.
"Boo, just because you're a professional basketball player doesn't mean you have to look like a..."
"Don't even say it," I warned.
"... lil' dude," she finished.
Squinting my eyes at the exact replica of me, just a year younger, I grilled her.
"Andthatshit is still ugly. As fine as my sister is, that grill makes you look like you don't do shit but scrap. We left those days behind when we went to college," she stressed.
I chuckled because PJ was so serious all the time.
"Can we just go in here and meet with these people? I still have some unpacking to do, and I, for one, would like to get it done before the week passes." I almost tripped over a box coming out of my room earlier. If I tweaked my ankle, I would've been pissed.
With the season set to start in less than a month, I wanted to get acclimated with my new home, Pensacola, Florida. Being from South Florida, this was a nice reprieve from the hustle and bustle of the city. While I found Pensacola to be laid back and relaxed, there was still enough to do to feel like I was back home — because I didn't do much but play basketball and mind my business.
