I was so compliant. Swore I could hear angels singing and birds chirping. Was feeling so good; the thought of giving free hairstyles to every client who touched my chair this week crossed my mind. Vasiah pulled out and buried his face in my pussy, sucking out another orgasm.
“Arghhhh!”
“Mmhmm. I knew you had another one in you.”
“Master V, pleaseeee.”
“Please, what, Hayami?”
“Please don’t…ever…stop…fucking…me.”
“I don’t plan to,” he inserted himself again.
He fucked me down to the ground, through the mattress, and through the floor. I tapped out with one last orgasm, then collapsed. I didn’t know how long or when I fell asleep; I just know that I was awakened with a warm washcloth, ice-cold alkaline water, and a massage.
“Reina,” he said, kissing my shoulder. We were in the nude, on a fresh pair of sheets.
“Yes, Vasiah?”
“How do you feel now?”
I flipped on my side to face him, so he could see the sincerity in my eyes. I had fucked a thousand times before, but never did I feel safe. With Vasiah, everything about me was changing.
“Exhausted…and safe.”
He grinned, then kissed me deeply before cutting off the bedside lamp.
I think I could get used to feeling safe.
29
REINA
“Watching you be in love is so weird, bro,” Chewy called out to me as he rearranged the happy birthday banner for the fourth time. I cut my eyes at him and stood back to admire my handiwork. Vasiah’s birthday was the next day, and I was throwing him a small get-together on his dad’s block. I rented out a couple of those gamer trucks, we had a large inflatable pool, and I got Mz. Earline’s to cater all his favorite foods. His Uncle Victor was also on the grill, and I even found somebody to show us how to make custom Cuban cigars.
“I love being in love, Chewy… so shut the fuck up!”
“Daughter, what you out here fussing about?” Poppa Hill came outside to see what we were doing. I grinned, loving the sight of the older version of my love. Our bond was so special. I felt like I had gained a father figure in addition to a dope ass boyfriend. He was kind, funny, and so wise. Vasiah was blessed to have him.
“Chewy’s just being a dick head, Pops- nothing unusual.” Chewy huffed and sat on the steps, wiping his brow.
“Nah, OG, this girl got us out here working like Hebrew slaves!”
“She always go all out like this for birthdays?”
Chewy nodded. “Lowkey, yeah. Last year, we all went to Tulum for her birthday, and she planned everything down to a T. She made us color coordinate, booked all the excursions, and made us drink so much liquor! I couldn’t look at tequila for months.”
Poppa Hill chuckled. “Sounds like a good time.”
When I found out that Vasiah didn’t usually do much for his birthday, my wheels started turning. I wanted him to enjoy himself because in my world, birthdays were a big deal. Why wouldn’t you live life to the fullest on the day you were born? I told Poppa Hill what I wanted to do, and he graciously offered his backyard for the festivities. I even found his friends and some of his college crew from BLERD and invited them out.
Black men deserve to be celebrated, especially when their name is Vasiah Varnell Hill.
“I’m agreattime, Pops!”
“He’s lucky to have someone like you. Ever since he was a kid, he hadn’t liked to do much for his birthday. Admittedly, I was grieving heavily on his birthday when he was younger…his mama used to go all out, too. I hate that I made my son not care about his own like that.”
I stopped what I was doing and went to embrace Poppa Hill. I didn’t know how it felt to lose the love of your life, but I felt for him. Getting closer to my mom over the last few weeks made me look at her differently outside of the ‘mom’ title.
