"Damn." Zoo chuckled.
My eyebrows piqued for a second.
"Really?" I asked, a little surprised.
"Really," she shot back.
"You like females?" I had to know. I mean, it was cool if she did. It wasn't a thing for me to convince her things were better with me.
"I'on like you, that's for sure," she sassed, causing me to laugh. She grabbed her sister's hand and tried to walk past me.
"Mane, her mouth is slick as fuck," Zoo decided to say, prompting Naomi's sister to stop in her tracks and glare at him.
"Excuse me, but you and your two cents can mind their business," Penelope stated. Where she seemed sweet and docile, underneath that, I could tell baby girl was as mean as a rattlesnake.
"You gon' make me?" Zoo asked, prompting both Naomi and Penelope to scoff.
Zoo was the wrong nigga to get worked up, so I intervened when I saw lil' baby about to light into his ass.
"Chill, Zoo." I chuckled. "How can you say you don't like someone you don't know?" I asked Naomi, taking her mind off Zoo, who stood there eye-fucking Penelope. She was doing the same to him, so I let them be.
"Because... Your aura gives off 'run bitch' vibes," she answered. The fact that she said it with a straight face caused me to laugh.
"Well, if it's anything to you, I like you." My statement didn't go over well as she grimaced.
"It's not anything to me," she stated. "But thank you, though. Come on, Peeg," she called while sliding her shades down over her beautiful, almond-shaped brown eyes.
"You're a lil' mean," I relayed to her retreating back. "But that don't scare me, shawty," I reminded her of the same thing I told her in the elevator. She kept walking with her sister hot on her heels.
"Mane, the day I break lil' baby down. I'ma have her ass callin' me daddy."
I laughed because Zoo never let a woman get under his skin. Clearly Penelope had, and that shit was funny. Both she and her sister were bad as fuck, and their mouths were destined to get them both fucked up.
CHAPTER 3
NAOMI
"It's always you and this bitch coming outside doing the most. We are just having brunch. Why are y'all tall asses in heels?" Brianna walked into the restaurant like she was headed on a date with a millionaire, dripped in every damn diamond she owned.
"Don't hate on us because we neva' half-step, and you choose to look like Cleo when you step out." Bri took a seat in the booth, talking big shit. She had me looking down at my fit to see if Ilooked a mess for real, and I knew I’d checked myself three times before walkin' out the door.
"You already know even when I dress down, I'm always up and lit fa'sho. A bitch could neva' say Naomi London was out here looking bad. I'm surprised Teddy let you out of the house looking like a juicy ass boneless neck bone."
"Girl, if I cared what Teddy thought, I would have stopped fucking with y'all because he doesn't like nobody who he feels will talk me into leaving his ass."
PJ looked at me first, then back at Bri. I knew her ass was about to go off.
"First off, fuck Teddy, and yes, when it comes to our best friend, we will always encourage her to do better. Any good friend would, matter of fact. That's your man, and for whatever reason, you love him, so I'm not just going to say leave, but I'll point you in the right direction of a man that will treat you right. What happens after that has nothing to do with either of us. When you are good and tired of Teddy, you will leave. As of right now, you're not tired, baby so if you like it, we love it because we will always rock with you. Regardless of how much we don't like his ass," she mumbled that last part.
"You know I don't allow him to talk shit about y'all. So, I shut that down before he even gets deep into theyo' friends don't want you with mebullshit. But trust me, our time is slowly coming to an end. I find myself frowning up at him, and I have to catch myself. He just sits around and pops pain meds for his old-ass injury. That's what worries me the most about him."
"The nigga is addicted to pills?" I asked, genuinely concerned.
"Unfortunately. I've been trying my best to get him off, but I can only do so much. That's part of the reason I stay because I feel as though if I leave, he will eventually take too many and kill himself. I can hide them, flush them, and he always comes back with more. I get tired, but I do what I have to do."
"No, you do what you want to do, boo, because you don't have to be there. If he does do something crazy, that's on him. You can't stay in a place of brokenness and expect to come out still put together. That man will eventually break you. You have too much to lose to be in the middle of Teddy's mess," PJ told her, and I agreed.
After seeing Bri start to tear up, it was like PJ and I moved in unison on both sides of her. PJ put her arms around her first, and mine overlapped.
