I blinked, trying to remember how to form words. “I’m straight,” I said, but my mouth betrayed me by going dry and catching the ‘t’ at the end.
Booda looked past me and nodded at one of the girls, then let his eyes return to mine. I recognized that look. It was one of hunger that made me want to suck in my gut and stand up a little straighter, but I was too drunk to front. Instead, I just stared right back.
“Where y’all headed?” he asked, those eyes never leaving me.
“To The Milk Bar,” one of them answered for us, voice suddenly coy.
Booda chuckled as he shook his head, and the sound made my whole body want to move closer to him.
“Nah, lil’ momma, that’s where you headed. She’s leaving with me.” He swiped his thumb across his nose and pulled himself up to his full height, his eyes boring into mine as if daring me to say otherwise.
My friend let out a small laugh, letting go of my arm. She didn’t even try to argue.
“Well,” she said, looking between us, “I guess that answers that.”
“Girl,” I drawled, but there wasn’t much heat behind it.
Booda was fine as fuck, and I was adventurous enough to leave with him without even having a real conversation. I knew I should decline, but my body had other ideas.
The alcohol swimming through my veins made me bold in ways sobriety never would, and the way he was looking at me, like he could see straight through to whatever was broken inside me, made it impossible to look away.
“I came with my girls,” I said, but even I could hear the weakness in my argument.
“And now you’re leaving with me,” Booda replied, refusing to take no for an answer.
Before I could retort, my friend backed away, putting distance between us. “Text me when you get home, babe,” shecalled out with a wink before leaving to catch up with the other girls.
I watched her go, my mind sluggish as I tried to catch up with what was happening. One second, I was standing on a street corner with my crew, and the next, I was being claimed by a man I’d never seen before in my life.
“If I had known a nigga was gon’ kidnap me, I would’ve packed a spend-a-night bag,” I joked, though there was nothing funny about my situation.
Booda’s mouth curved into a smile that suggested he found my joke amusing. “You don’t need that shit. I prefer you naked anyway.”
“I can’t walk around like that.”
“You never have to walk when you’re with me. I’ll carry you wherever you need to go,” he replied before sweeping me off my feet.
“And don’t worry ‘bout nothing else either,” he went on, adjusting me in his arms. “Whatever you need, I’ll get it in the morning. I don’t mind dropping a bag on you. Yo’ pretty ass gon’ be with me all weekend anyway.”
The next thing I knew, I was waking up in a bed that wasn’t mine, tangled in sheets that smelled like him. Sunlight was creeping through the cracks in heavy curtains, and my head was pounding like somebody had taken a sledgehammer to it during the night.
A horn blasted somewhere behind me, and I jerked as the memory broke apart. The street came back into focus, along with the parked cars, the narrow road, and the same sign staring back at me.
Then, Booda’s face floated into my mind, the warmth of his smile betrayed by the distance he kept. Did he really not want to see me, or was that just what I had been told?
The tightness in my chest returned, a reminder of everything I had lost. The echoes of our past reverberated through my thoughts, leaving me questioning everything. Had I made a mistake by giving up on us so easily?
Shaking my head to clear the fog, I forced myself to focus, but thoughts of Booda still lingered, and I couldn’t shake them, no matter how hard I tried.
“Damn,” I said, dragging a hand down my face as I pushed the door open and stepped out, snatching my phone off my lap as I went.
One memory had already shaken loose from this block. I wanted to see what else it might give up.
I walked to the end of the street and stood there, waiting, but nothing came. There was no point in continuing to stand here. Shoulders dropped, I turned back around to head back.
Across the street, a car sat with the engine running, its windows too dark to see through. My steps slowed when the window partially rolled down, and I caught the eyes behind the glass.
They were on me. Their stare wasn’t casual, and it damn sure wasn’t one of curiosity. They were locked in, like they knew exactly who I was.
