“Not much before I need to go back, are you almost done?” He asked. I gently bit at his ear while watching him respond to whoever about the games. It was somebody that wanted free tickets or at least a free way in. Standing upright, I began to part his locs, finishing up the last few when I heard my name being called. I looked up as Emani, one of the sirens I could see myself getting close to nodded towards the door.
“Babe, pause the music.” Isis, Souxie, Quan, and Clementine stood at the door of the closed salon, waiting to be let in. For a moment, I looked back at the sirens who waited to see what I was going to do. I hadn’t been around them since Solo left me in charge. That was after Maggie’s parents' house and the big blow up with Souxie and I. Still…Quan, standing in his human nymph form, banged on the door again.
“You’re just staring at us instead of letting us in, Asha! What the fuck!?” He shouted. Souxie and I locked eyes even throughthe tinted glass. Silas looked back at me, confused as to why I hadn’t moved before motioning towards Nate with his hands.
“You got me on the line up?” Silas asked. I took that as my cue to leave. Wiping my hands down, I stepped aside as Nate came over with the clippers and laced Silas up with a black cape to cover the top half of his body. I unlocked the door and stepped outside to close it behind me as if it was suddenly sacred and stared awkwardly at Isis, Quan, and Souxie. Clemothy didn’t count but I could see she was already about to start.
“You suddenly too good for your old friends now that you figured out you’re a siren?” Clementine asked.
“I was trying to figure out why you were here, but I forgot you’ve been tagging alone since our story started in book one,” I tossed back before looking at everyone else. “What? What is it?”
“Did we…interrupt something?” Souxie questioned.
“Her man is in there,” Isis whispered with a knowing smile.
“Who? Solomon or his brother?” Quan pressed.
“What the fuck do y'all want?” I asked more directly. When I saw the cracked expression on Isis’s face, I took a deep breath before calming myself. “What happened, I mean? Why….Y'all never come here.”
“You remember when you said something may happen tomorrow during the games?” Souxie asked. “You just wasn’t sure what exactly…”
“Yeaaaaah…”
No one said anything as Clementine huffed. She stood before me and suddenly rolled her neck like she was asking for a fight…Well a beat down. I would beat the dog shit out of her and she knows it.
“Well, we figured out what’s going to happen tomorrow, and unless you want to risk putting your little Marco Polo Water Club in danger, you might want to hear what we have to say.”
Souxie Lafayette
“So you pay for this expensive ass school and can’t even get some damn tickets to the games happening at the school?! The same school you go to?!” Jean Lafayette fussed through the phone. “Honey, they scamming these mothafucking students and the parents who pay for this shit.”
I could hear him run his mouth to one of my aunts in the background as I looked through the packed crowds all heading towards the round dome. The sun was already settling in the sky early Saturday morning as music played throughout the grassy parking lot filled with cars, trucks, tents, and folding chairs. Grills were going and tables were set up where people were selling merch for the different schools. Everybody and their mama were here from above to below, and in between.
This is the biggest event in the Underground and by far one of the most important events. Once it was over, there was a committee that started the planning all over again as they prepare for the next one in a few years.
“Souxie got her lil friends now. She’s gonna act like she can’t sneak us in,” Jean went on with an attitude. “I told her ass; she can act brand new all she want…I made yo lil pretty ass. I brought you into this world and I know how to take you out!”
“DCU flags and banners!” Someone shouted. When I heard the click, I knew Jean hung up in the middle of hollering aboutthe school. “Society Hill Knight helmets! Yasuke swords! Rep yo school!”
The dome had several entrances for ticket holders as the lines trailed outside of each like tentacles. Weaving and curving as those who were VIP or security made their way through, the rest of us were made to stand out in the heat and wait while the seats filled. The drums could be heard from inside as I stood in line to hold the spot. A mother and her two children stood before me jumping up and down with excitement while she wore her alumni Belmont University t-shirt with the orange and black colors bright against her skin. I smiled when I saw the thick fur trickle down the back of her neck and into her shirt before disappearing. It was normal to see a partial shift or even hints of it when someone was half shifter or even a quarter. I once knew a man who had hairy feet and claws that constantly grew within days of clipping, and it was normal here. I couldn’t imagine having to now hide that above ground where people weren’t used to seeing it.
Today cannot happen, no matter what.
“Sorry I’m late!” Isis breathed as she quickly rushed to my side. She was fully decorated in grey and white colors with hints of maroon hidden in the creases of her pleated grey bubble skirt that barely covered her ass. The thick white socks had charms all the way up to her knees, her wet curls were pinned back with grey and maroon hair clips, and her makeup was dramatic around her wide eyes. Her tank top was split in the middle and the boobs were pushed upright with no visible bra that I could see.
“You’re always late,” I told her. She pulled out a small plastic spray bottle to spritz herself in the face before nervously lookingaround. She made it so obvious that we knew something we shouldn’t. “Are your parents still coming?”
“No. The entire family is sitting this out, and my mom got a call last minute so she’s working along with my Aunt,” she said as she anxiously spritz herself again with the misty water. “Everyone is so anti-Maggie…Just hearing people talk casually about her with hate is so unnerving to me,” she whispered. “I don’t like it.”
“Yeah well fuck this place after today,” I told her as we moved up in the line. “Where is Quan? I’m sure he spent the night with you.”
Isis cut her eyes at me but didn’t deny it. I knew a good after sex glow when I saw one and she had it. She always had it after Quan spent the night.
“They’re going all out this year,” Isis said as she looked around. “I remember when it was purely just the Olympics, the trials…regular sports with magic…Now…They’ve put in a lot of money behind this.”
“Have you seen Asha?” I asked.
“Asha is–––”
