I had now given Phoebe my attention by flipping my visor up.
Can we talk?she mouthed.
No,I mouthed back.
To me, there wasn’t anything to talk about. It was clear she was doing her, and now I was going to do me. Phoebe and I weredifferent, yet the same. Even though she was the only girl I was fucking on, I could have easily had a roster just as she did. I went to move around her when she pulled at my shirt, which made me stop. I leaned down to meet Phoebe’s ear.
“Chill with that shit. You don’t have to explain. It’s a party full of niggas. Go have fun.”
“Dance with me?” she asked.
I let out a sharp breath. I wanted to say no, but I knew if I did that, she wouldn’t stop asking. “Fuck it. Come on,” I muttered.
Her smile was pretty as hell, and I tried not to focus on it because it was probably how that nigga Percy had gotten caught up in her rapture. However, the shit was hard to ignore, so to avoid getting lost in it or seeming lost, I flipped my visor down. Phoebe turned around, bent forward, and slowly rolled her ass all over me. My hands slid up and down her thighs as my eyes became fixed on her movement. Each grind and roll was intentional as she hit every single beat. When she turned her head to look at me, it was as if everything else faded away, leaving only us in a bubble. Despite the tinted visor, our eyes connected, and I felt she could see my face even if she couldn't. It was as if we shared the same understanding. Her sensual movements reminded me of moments I’d known behind closed doors, and her smile was similar to the one I saw when I woke up from recovery naps after our sessions.
Phoebe was like a sad love song; there were hidden messages behind her. I just hadn’t figured them out yet. Then my mind shifted. I began to think about her and Percy, then the nigga from Hoodoo’s. Had I only been a number on her list? I came out of the trance that she had me in, pulled away from her, and left her standing there in confusion. To be honest, the party was a vibe, but being in the same space as Phoebe wasn’t it. I knew there was something brewing between us, but the way she moved would turn me into a toxic nigga, and I wasn’t trying to be that.
I limped through the party, trying to move to the other side when I realized my shirt was being pulled from the front by a pretty-ass girl. She immediately began dancing with me. I felt a hard yank on my sweater from the back. I turned to see Phoebe pulling at me. I grabbed her wrist, shoving it off me. She went to grab me again when Paige came dancing between us. I could see it in her face—she wanted me to give her my attention, and I tried that, but shit was dead. I liked Phoebe, and she played in my face.
While the attention was on us, I noticed Alyse and Samara going back and forth. I wasn’t sure what was being said, but suddenly, Samara rushed out of the space we were in. Peanut glanced over at me and nodded. He was going after her, while I, stuck here with Phoebe, wasn’t budging.
DIO
I was so tired, I didn’t even want to be at this fucking party. They had us setting up everything, and as soon as people started showing up, they began sliding these corny masks onto our faces.
“I bet not see none of you niggas walking around this party alone. If one moves, you all move, and where the fuck is Number Six!?” Stay Fly barked.
“I don’t know, Big Brother Stay Fly!” I shouted.
He shook his head. “Every day it’s some excuses with y’all Slimes. Don’t worry; a party ain’t a party unless we’re having fun, right?”
We all screamed in unison. “Yes! Big Brother Stay Fly!”
He flicked at Chris’s mask and walked away.
“Man, this is some bullshit. That Percy nigga got to pay.”
Quan nodded. “Fuck yeah. No telling what these niggas about to be up to. I hope y’all know y’all shit. Last time, a nigga almost caught the flu.”
I was pissed. At this point, Percy was moving to my shit list. I’d taken so much heat over his ass, and the closer we got to Hell Week, the more I knew things were only going to get worse.
Once the party started to get live, I spotted Streets and Peanut. Of course, them niggas came in here with helmets on. It wasn’t long after I saw her that my heart skipped a beat. Even though she was wearing an orange shiesty, I knew it was Samara. A part of me wanted to take this fucking mask off and go over to her. There was so much we needed to talk about, but I had my eyes on the prize.
It wasn’t just about crossing anymore; it was bigger than that. It was now about putting a nigga in his place. Having the title of Dean of Pledges went to his head. It made him feel superior. Instead of doing what he was supposed to be doing, which was giving value to the purpose of young niggas like me, he was destroying everything about us. It was as if he was breaking us down but not rebuilding us. I had done my research on this type of shit. There had been many deaths in things like this. The young striving for something, for a place in an organization in which most of us believed was safe. Thick Neck, he didn’t give safe. He didn’t give brotherhood, and he damn sure didn’t give leader. He simply didn’t play by the rules.
When Big Brother Spitta tapped us to leave the kitchen, I took one last glance at Samara before I walked off. Spitta and Freaky Zekey took three of my line brothers upstairs while Quan, Brian, and I were shoved into a fucking bathroom by Stay Fly and Thick Neck. We scrunched inside.
“Get y’all ass in that tub and Chain One!” Stay Fly shouted.
The moment we stepped into the tub, niggas’ feet got to sliding.Did they put baby oil in the fucking tub?I was in the back while Quan carried the middle and Brian was up front. Leaning backward and holding these niggas up was killing me. My feet slowly slid forward, breaking the chain. The moment that happened, Thick Neck slid the mask up and sprayed water in my fucking face.
“Number Seven, when were we founded?”
“1939! Dean Big Brother’s God’s gift!” I shouted.
Suddenly, the door of the bathroom opened, and just as Stay Flywent to shove it closed, he shouted, “Number Six, where the fuck have you been? Oh shit! This nigga got a baby,” I heard him say.
My head shot toward Percy, who stared at us with pity in his eyes. “Slime, what the fuck are you looking at!” Thick Neck shouted.
