Page 14 of And It’s Still You

“You know how to reach me. I’ll move my entire day around for that dick.”

All I could do was shake my head and walk away. Over my shoulder, I informed her, “Lock up when you leave.”

“Will do.”

Jess was easy and chill. That was the main reason I kept her around. We had an understanding that I wasn’t looking for anything more than what she possessed between her legs, and it was the same for her. She and I both had our hearts broken, so we understood each other on a different level. I’d tried to have the same arrangement with three other women before her, and they all ended up catching feelings. I cut them off and kept it pushing.

Before I hopped in the shower to wash Jess off me, I checked the time to see I had about an hour to get to Ocean’s school. He was in his school’s play, and my boy had one of the lead roles. He’d been practicing hard. When we were at the beach, I went over lines with him every day until he felt confident enough not to glance at his paper. I was proud of him and couldn’t wait to see him in action.

Once I was good and clean, I moisturized my body and put on my clothes. Ocean wanted to choose my outfit, so I video called him last night. He chose a white button-up shirt where I kept the first two buttons undone to show off my diamond chain with his name on it. The black jean shorts and white tennis shoes set off the look. My boy had some taste.

I sprayed on some cologne and threw my locs up into a man bun before looking myself over in the mirror. Satisfied with my appearance, I grabbed what I needed and headed out to go pick up my sisters.

For some reason, neither of them wanted to drive, so they volunteered me to do so. I didn’t mind because it gave me time with them. Our lives were busy, but we made it a point to get together twice a month to catch up and just hang. Sometimes we included Onyx, and sometimes we didn’t.

Speaking of him, I received my thirty bands when Ocean and I were at the beach. He didn’t even call or text to let me know. His ass was salty about it, but he’d get over it. I bet he wouldn’t try no shit like that again.

My oldest sister, August, lived closest to me, so I was picking them up from there. They were sitting outside on the porch when I pulled into the driveway. Wednesday had two cups in her hand while August had one. All I could do was shake my head as I got out to open the doors for them. Wednesday greeted me first, handing me one of the cups and kissing my cheek.

“Hey, Shea. You look good as hell, Brother. Who you trying to look good for?” Wednesday teased, and I playfully mushed her head.

“Girl, please. We both know it’s for his baby mama,” August chimed and winked at me. “Ain’t that right, Shea Shea?”

“I’m ’bout to leave yo’ ass here, August,” I threatened.

She took a sip of her drink and waved me off. “Oh, please. You know my nephew would get on your ass if I wasn’t there. Now, come open my door so we can leave.”

Being the only boy and the baby could be a lot. August’s ass was so damn demanding, while Wednesday was softer with me. She was the middle child, and at thirty-seven, she was older than me by three years. August had a good six years on me, and she loved to act more like my mama than my sister at times.

Once they were in the truck, I climbed inside and pulled off. Ocean’s school was a fifteen-minute drive from August’s house, since he went to a private school. I picked up my drink and took a sip, damn near choking from how strong it was.

“Now y’all know I’m not supposed to be drinking and driving.” I chuckled and side-eyed August, who avoided my gaze. There was no doubt in my mind that she was the culprit. It didn’t matter what type of event she was going to; she would have a drink. If Wednesday and I were with her, she’d make sure we had one as well.

“Talk to our sister about that.” Wednesday snickered from the back seat. “I told her you wouldn’t want it, but she insisted on fixing you one.”

“Nah, I’m going to drink it, but not until we get to the school. I hope one of y’all got some gum or something to mask the smell.”

August dug into her purse and held up a pack of gum. “You know me better than that, O. You know I come prepared. Always.”

I switched hands on the steering wheel and smirked. “Oh, I know. Where my nieces and nephews at?”

“With their fathers,” August answered and took a sip of her drink. “I don’t know about Wednesday, but I wasn’t about to bring my heathens to ruin the play. All the attention needs to be on Ocean.”

Wednesday snapped her fingers. “Exactly, sister girl. My two were driving me crazy before I left the house. The way I ran up out of there so fast when their daddy walked through the door. I didn’t give him a kiss or anything. They wore me out today.”

Both my sisters were married. Their husbands were cool as hell and fit into the family well. All Onyx and I asked of them was to treat my sisters right and not make us have to go upside their heads. So far, they’d been doing great. I didn’t need anything to change.

We were about halfway to the school when I could feel August staring a hole into the side of my face. I glanced over at her with my nose snarled and one hand up.

“Speak what’s on yo’ dome, August. Stop staring at me like that. Over there looking like Angela.”

“Like the baddies she is,” Wednesday stated.

August jokingly tossed her long, bone-straight brown hair over her shoulders. She pointed back at Wednesday and agreed. “You better know it. Anyway, how do you feel about seeing Moya?”

I slightly yanked my neck back and hunched one shoulder. “I don’t feel any way, August. Why? Am I ’posed to?”

“I was just wondering. Sis has been looking good lately. Whatever is going on in her life has her glowing, and I’m happy for her.”