AUGUST, page 12
“I told you so.”
Taking my eyes off of Asia, I glanced at my brother.
“It’s so fuckin’ obvious, bruh,” Grey chimed in.
“We’ve been callin’ you all types of fuck niggas for the last five minutes and you haven’t said shit,” Jericho explained.
“‘Cause you up Asia’s ass,” King added.
“I mean… Shawty is fine as fuck,” Grey intoned. “We get it.”
“I’m tryna figure out why y’all in my fuckin’ business,” I said.
“Nigga, we’re happy for you.”
“Shocked.”
“Surprised like a muthafucka.”
They each rattled off something different while I mugged them. Yeah, these were my niggas. However, they needed to mind their own women and business.
Faith’s quiet, yet firm tone had us all pausing to put our attention on the ladies.
“I said excuse me. Y’all standin’ in the muthafuckin’ way,” some girl popped off.
The ladies were standing by my truck with us. Although it was packed out, there was plenty of space to mingle without bumping into the next nigga. I sensed bullshit and so did the fellows.
“Aight, be cool.” Jericho already stood between Faith and the other woman, who was glaring at her.
“Tell yo’ bitch to be cool, nigga.” That was some nigga walking up and standing next to ol’ girl. He had a cup of liquor in his hand and looked higher than a muthafucka.
Jericho didn’t give one fuck about that shit. One minute that nigga was running his mouth. The next minute Jericho had him spitting blood out onto the concrete. King, Grey, and I moved quickly to get shit under control. Jericho was the type to kill this nigga in front of everybody and not give a fuck. We couldn’t have him splattering a nigga’s shit all over the evening news no matter how much we all wanted him to. Security came over and had the nigga and his bird head ass woman off the premises before anyone could figure out what was going on.
“You always have to go to the extreme,” Faith fussed.
Jericho’s face screwed up. “You fuckin’ for real?”
Smacking her teeth, Faith stormed off towards the barbershop. Jericho went to go after her, but I stopped him.
“Watch Asia. I’ll go talk to Faith.”
His face slowly relaxed.
I chuckled. “Calm yo’ crazy ass down.” As I walked past Asia, I tweaked her chin. “I’ll be right back.”
Chapter Nineteen
FAITH
Christmas… Colorado Springs, Colorado.
“Needed some air?”
I nearly jumped out of my skin hearing Jericho’s voice behind me. Glancing over my shoulder, I wanted to tell him to take his handsome ass back inside the building. Here we were at this beautiful venue surrounded by snowcapped mountains. I was dressed classier than I had ever been before; the outfit covering my body costed more than any outfit I’d ever purchased.
Yet, I felt so out of place. A beautiful gown couldn’t cover up the heaviness on my heart. Every holiday season was like this. I’d do well all year just to get here and recall every bad thing that happened to me all those Christmases ago.
Turning back to the picturesque view, I said to Jericho, “You should go back inside. I’m okay.” That was the only reason he was out here—to check on me. I couldn’t move an inch without him being close by watching my every move.
He sidled up beside me and tugged his coat closed over his strong, tattooed neck. Although it was dark out, I knew those tattoos like they were on my body. Including the tattoo of my name across the right side of his neck. It took up the most space. He pulled his hood closed too, blocking the biting wind from touching his ears.
“I hate when you lie to me, Faith. You know that shit infuriates me.”
Smiling, I clutched my scarf a little tighter to ward off the brisk temperature.
“I can’t tell you how to heal, mama. All I can do is be here for you while you do.”
Jericho was my protector. Always had been. There were so many times I wished we were more.
“Jericho, how long are you going to wait for me? There’s a ton of women—”
“You’re my woman, Faith. Fuck these other bitches.”
“I had an entire kid—”
“A kid I love the fuck out of.” He moved closer until his chest was against my arm. “I’d never blame you for runnin’. When you left Atlanta to go to school, I knew there was the possibility of you being with another nigga. I had to man the fuck up and let you go, though. It was hard for me to, but you needed that time to find you, baby. I never wanted to take that away from you.”
Jericho’s hands reached out, took my coat, turned me to face him, then pulled me close. My breath rushed out at the look in his eyes.
“We’re outchea on this nice ass balcony, dressed like we just got married or some shit. All I can think of is, what will help you make us a reality?”
This was it. Jericho wasn’t allowing me to run anymore.
“Your whole life is in Atlanta.”
He smirked. “You think so?”
In the middle of me nodding, his lips lowered to mine. Sparks ignited in every crevice of my brain. What I didn’t expect to feel was the explosion of pure bliss that assailed me when his tongue began to stroke mine. The temperature out here wasn’t even in the teens. However, I felt like we were standing on the sun as we kissed.
“Aight, what the fuck is goin’ on? Y’all been actin’ funny since we came back from Colorado.”
August came into the shop, scowling and interrupting my thoughts. I was crazy to think he wouldn’t notice the shift in me and Jericho. To get him off my trail, I shrugged.
“What’re you talking about?”
He shrugged too. “You mad ‘cause Jay checked a nigga ‘bout you.”
“I’m not mad about that.” The correct terms for how I felt were hot and fucking bothered. Every time I was around Jericho now, it took everything in me not to fall victim to his lips, his hands, and his voice.
It was that damn kiss. I couldn’t let it go. Neither could I let go of how good I felt in his arms.
“So what’s good? Something’s got the both of y’all off. Either I need to go beat that nigga’s ass, or you gon’ tell me what the fuck is going on.”
When I just stared at him, he threw his hands up.
“Aight. Lemme go beat this nigga’s ass.”
Laughing, I grabbed August’s arm to keep him from walking out of the shop.
“Okay, okay,” I conceded. “I want him, alright. Are you happy now?”
“I am,” he replied with a vindicated smile. “Are you happy now?”
With my thoughts a jumbled mess, I started pacing the polished floors again. After Colorado, I thought I’d officially gotten Jericho to drop the case about us being together. Then this nigga went and changed everything. Jericho uprooting his life from Atlanta was a far cry from him always coming back and forth to see me and June. Now, things were different. He was building his life here, which meant I had no more excuses to hand him.
On my second lap, August stopped me.
“Faith, as much as we’re different, we’re a lot alike.”
By now, I wasn’t surprised by this more mature side of August. He and I were so close that I considered him another best friend. Aside from Jericho, August knew everything about my past.
“Neither of us believe we’re worthy of love, therefore we’re running scared,” August stated.
Smiling, I stopped my racing thoughts to take in the serious expression on his undeniably sexy face.
“You love her.” It was a fact. The way he didn’t deny it was proof. My heart was happy for August.
“She’s cool people,” he said.
Screeching with joy, I walked up to him and wrapped him in a tight hug.
“I knew the night you called me to her house.”
“I barely knew her then.”
I shrugged. “Your heart knew her.”
He glanced away.
“You’ve kept her tucked under you all night. She’s comfortable with you around too. The minute you walk more than three feet away, I can see her heart about to pop out of her chest.” That made him grin hard as hell as he hugged me back. When I stepped out of his arms, we both stood there, proud that we’d finally admitted to ourselves and each other that we were feeling the bite of something we thought was out of our reach.
“As long as we’ve known each other, we’ve never made a pact. Let’s make one.”
Skeptical, I shook my head. “What kind of pact?”
“One where we promise each other we’ll go after what we want. You go after Jericho, and I’ll…” He briefly bowed his head and chuckled. “I’ll see what things can be like with Asia.”
I chuckled with him. “First of all, that damn girl is head over heels for you. All you have to do is say the word and she’s yours. On the other hand, Jericho is my best friend. It’s different with me and him.”
“Excuses.”
Laughing, I asked, “How do y’all go from damn near killing each other to being the best of friends? If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear y’all were brothers.”
“We love the same woman.”
His answer caused me to smile. I had to remember August was just a different man than the man I met when I was still heavily broken.
“If he hears you say that he’s gon’ blow a gasket,” I teased.
“It’s the truth. Even he knows that.”
“How are you going to explain our relationship to Asia?” She was my girl and the bond we were creating was without August’s involvement. That was on purpose. I wanted Asia and I to actually like each other outside of him. Also, I was being so careful bringing June around. If Asia and August fell out, I didn’t want my baby to be attached to her if she decided to stop being friends with me.
August made a face that caused me to laugh. “We kind of already crossed that bridge, lil’ baby.”
“Really?”
His nod was confirmation. Sighing, I shook my head, not believing that I was thinking about taking August up on his proposal.
“I don’t know about this.” My stomach churned. “What will June think?”
August chuckled. “He calls Jericho, Bonus, baby. Our son already knows what’s up. You’re tryna talk yaself out of it, and I’m not gon’ let you. At ya word, you have me and Jericho doing whatever the fuck you want. So are we in this or not?”
“You’re asking me to do something that’s crazy as hell.”
“Nah… I’m askin’ you to pull us both outta hell. Honestly, I’m over being there. I’ll only climb out if you climb out with me, though.”
I knew damn well August was manipulating me. Yet here I stood about to take on a pact with this man.
“How are you so sure that this will work?”
His face balled up. “We hold each other accountable. I hold my brother accountable. You hold ya homegirl accountable. We hold each other accountable. You know I got you.”
“And I’ve got you,” I quickly replied.
This time my sigh was much heavier than before. As much as I wanted to tell August to get out of my face with this foolishness, my heart was too ready to climb out of hell with him. The fact that he was even standing here proposing such a crazy ass pact made me want to take part. If August could man the fuck up and go after what he wanted, I could woman the fuck up and stop being afraid of someone I knew loved me and my son with his whole heart.
“You ready?” he asked.
Swallowing my fears, I nodded.
As we exited the shop, the first thing that caught my eyes was Jericho watching the door. He’d been waiting for me and August to emerge. Standing next to him was Asia, who had her concerned eyes on August. To break the worry on both Jericho’s and Asia’s faces, I smiled as we approached them.
“Let’s take a picture,” I suggested now that the parking lot wasn’t as packed as it had been thirty minutes ago. Gianna and Tiffany both looked tired and would be leaving soon. Like every time I was around them, it was all love and as if we were sisters. Over the years, we’d become the best of friends. Without this circle, there was no way I would’ve believed that familial love existed.
“I’ll take it,” Asia offered as Grey, Gianna, Kingston, Tiffany, Jericho, August, and I gathered in front of his truck for the picture.
Moving to stand in front of Jericho, I tamped down the fire blazing through me at his eyes dancing up and down my body.
“Take a picture with me. And please smile.”
Placing the camera out in front of us for a quick selfie before Asia snapped our group picture, I mugged the look on his face.
“I’ll smile when you stop playin’ wit’ me.”
Smacking my teeth, I snapped the picture. It didn’t matter that he had his face scrunched up. The picture was perfect.
“Okay, is everyone ready?” Asia asked. Her smile was infectious. She and I were going to be great friends. Not only was she easy to talk to, but her spirit was genuine.
“Nah, hold up,” August announced. He stopped one of the men who’d been running security and had him take Asia’s phone. Then, he motioned for Asia to come to him. Bewildered, she went to him with August putting his arm over her shoulder. When her hand banded with his, I understood why he wanted to climb out of hell for her. She was his person.
“Everybody ready?” the security guy asked. We all mumbled that we were ready.
Briefly, I noted how beautiful this moment was. They didn’t know it, but each person in this circle taught me how to love. Which was why I posed with my man as if these were our wedding photos. Jericho was my man. This moment with my family would be one I cherished forever.
Chapter Twenty
ASIA ANTHONY
“Girl!” Nesha shouted in my ear.
Giggling, I replied, “What, Nesha?”
My feet were aching, and I needed a hot shower. August told me to make myself at home, but I couldn’t help being nosey for a minute. Inside his room, I looked at the framed pictures on his nightstand and dresser. A framed picture of June was on his nightstand. The two of them were identical, and I couldn’t see Faith anywhere in her son.
Pictures of August and his family were on his dresser. One picture stood out the most. It was a picture of August with his grandmother. She held him on her lap. In the picture, he had to be about five years old. The smile on his face was full of innocence.
Next to that picture was a picture of him with his mother. The smile he held in the picture with his grandmother was nowhere to be found in the picture with his mother. He looked sullen and worn, as if his life was heavy. Kingston was also in the photo. His face mirrored August’s. Their mother’s eyes gave it all away. She wasn’t happy, so neither were her children.
“Why did I just go on IG and see a picture of you and August all snuggled up like y’all are together? You were supposed to be putting me on.”
I rolled my eyes. This girl was literally stalking August’s page as he’d just posted the picture less than thirty minutes ago. He captioned it with: Celebrated the grand opening of J Cutz IV with my forever people.
Admittedly, I was still crushing over the caption. I wasn’t trying to dig too deep into it, but if he considered me one of his forever people, I would legit fall the rest of the way in love with him without any shame.
Tonight, as he and Jericho were being interviewed by the local news, all I could look at August and think was how much of a quiet gangster he was. He thought I didn’t peep how niggas didn’t fucking play with him or his crew. August was reserved in a way that spoke to a man who understood his crazy and how to keep that part of himself under control. He kept it cool and calm until he was forced not to. There was yet another reason I was smitten over his ass.
Despite how thick the crowd had been tonight, August stayed stuck to me like glue. He and his boys were what I would consider brothers as they seemed to be just that close. August made sure I ate, drank, and had plenty of fun. It was observing him keeping the niggas away from me that stuck to me, though. Every time a dude even acted like he wanted to come my way, August would casually touch me or pull me to his side. Almost as if he was claiming me in some way.
And here it was, my best friend wanted him.
“There’s nothing I can do to make that man talk to you, Nesh. Honestly, he isn’t looking for anyone and is cool being single.”
“Fuck that! Niggas always say that shit. All that means is he doesn’t want to commit to just one woman. I can make him change his mind.”
You can’t even get him to respond to your messages, I thought.
“Why won’t you just leave him alone? It’s plenty of other men who want you.”
“I want him. What can’t you understand about that? Girl, I’ve never seen a nigga as fine as him. And you let him touch you. He’s gotta be heaven sent ‘cause you’re comfortable enough with him to actually let him have his hands on you.”
She had me there. August was touchy as hell, and I hadn’t once shunned his touch. Here I was at his house simply because I’d had two drinks, and he wanted to keep an eye on me for the night. I didn’t argue because those drinks were definitely a bad idea. Instead of going back to my place, we ended up here. To say that I was stunned by the place he called home was an understatement. August had an old soul, and it was reflected in every corner of his house.
“I’m gon’ break all his walls down,” Nesha said. “Yep, I sure am.”
“Well, let me know how it goes,” I replied.
“Oh, you’ll be the first to know.”
My giggle wasn’t so giggly as August entered his room shirtless and showing off his amazing ass chest... and a healed bullet wound along with a line of healed stitches down the back of his left arm. My mouth went dry.
“Uhm, Nesh, I’ll catch up with you in the morning.”
“Alright, boo!”
I hung up with Nesha to August’s smiling.
“You got what you need?” he asked as he moved toward his walk-in closet. Coming here was a damn mistake. Just feet away was his bed, and I wanted to push him right into it and ride him like I’d never had a ride in my life.
