Page 46 of Just Like Summer

Straightening his spine, Cairo cleared his throat and proceeded to talk. “Yeah, this C4… You want that nigga to sound real, bring him through.”

He hung up and looked at Nate. Pride that only someone who went through the battle with you shone on Nate’s face. “In the meantime, rest. You about to be worldwide.”

The pair sat at the end of the block for another hour or so before Nate’s phone chimed with the update.

“Gahdamn it, nigga, you right again,” Nate spoke with a silent jeer. “That security system got his ass.”

Cairo bobbed his head and started down the street. “Aight. Send them niggas to the hills.”

No one who rode with Tiny was making it back to any block of L.O. let alone making it to see another day. Once he reached the side of the house, a few wires were tampered with, and the rest was done. A small kitchen fire would have the house in a pile of ashes by the morning.

Back in the small house, Cairo laid on the couch forcing his ears to listen to the sound of Kamilla’s breathing while his mind played the tortuous clips of her father’s last breaths. The blood-stained tees, the screech of tires. The shouts and screams. Pure pandemonium.

He clenched his eyes shut, trying to will his mind to anything else. As if his internal chaos had beckoned her peace to him. Kamilla snuffled out the room, down the short hall and stopped at the foot of the couch. With her hair stuffed in a bonnet, the blanket wrapped around her, and sleep still resting in her eyes,

Cairo repositioned himself, granting her the access she silently sought to be held. He needed it, too. Settling on top of him with the blanket covering their bodies, Kamilla nuzzled her herself into his hold.

“Go to sleep. I can hear you thinking,” she mumbled. “Whatever it is doesn’t get to keep you up anymore.”

He sighed, letting his body relax underneath her. Wrapped in his arms, he remembered what Nate said hours ago. Whatever would happen, this would always be his resting place. She was brought to him and he’d keep her for as long as he was allowed.

seventeen

She woke up before him. The heat radiating from his body making her sweat. With the increased L.O. heat and his, she chose to shower, make pancakes and map out the rest of her time in L.O. with her new job. How much money to save, how much to give Dania, how much she owed on her tuition for the following semesters.

It was all to keep her from climbing back on top of Cairo. Not that she would know what she was doing if she did. It was the thing that pulled her from the bed into his arms. She craved him. If it were nothing but his touch, smell, and the cadence of his breathing – she wanted it. It was mind-altering. And even if she tried to put words to it, she couldn’t. This was one of those things that just happened and it would grow into something that was the best thing for her.

A tap of knuckles against the door took her attention from the notepad she swiped from his nightstand to the door where he stood, wild hair, no shirt, basketball shorts hanging low on his hips.

“I can come in?” he asked.

“It’s your room,” Kamilla answered, trying to get her eyes to pull away but they wouldn’t.

“I had everything but a shirt,” he stated, moving to his dresser. “You good?”

Kamilla bobbed her head. “Yeah, I am. You?”

Cairo looked at her in the foggy mirror. “Better. Thanks.”

She nipped a smile as the static of nerves threatened to seize her body. There was something she wanted that she wouldn’t get until she said something. She was sure about it, she just needed to say it.

“You know,” she started, shakingly. “You don’t have to keep doing that.”

Cairo raised a brow. “Do what?”

“Keep sleeping on the couch or the floor,” she replied. “The bed is big enough.”

Cairo pulled the shirt over his head, turned and looked at her. A slight smile on his face. “Two things – I asked you to be my girlfriend last night. You curved a nigga. If I get in that bed with you, I’m going back on my word and I’m not that type.”

She swallowed the nervous lump in her throat. “I have an answer…and I know what I want.”

“Yeah?”

She swayed in agreeance. “Yeah…”

“I’m listening, K,” he prompted her to continue.

“I’d really like to be your girlfriend,” she announced, luring him to erase the space between them.