Authors: Xander Daniels
“Let’s go.”
Tamika
Fuck, that was him. I know that was him. It was the guy from last night. Dom was freaking out over this Evens guy. Damn. We should have stopped. I saw the way he was looking me up and down. The way he stared at my ass as we walked past him. But, all I could say was “What up playa?” What the fuck is that? Nice, Tamika. Real smooth.
I turned around when we walked through the door and he was already running to the parking lot. Damn.
Evens
I’m going crazy. I gotta call her. I swear, I’m trying to keep from jacking off on the way home. The only thing keeping me from doing is the fact that Manny is in the passenger seat right next to me. But damn, that girl is fine. And she doesn’t seem to give a shit. The way she barely spoke to me. I mean, it was like she didn’t care at all. She wasn’t impressed with the car or anything. Fuck that. Maybe I should be more like Manny. He’d been trying to talk sense into me all morning. Maybe he was right. Girls were supposed to be played. Play or be played he was always saying. But, I couldn’t get the thought out of my head that I had just let the love of my life walk away from me. I barely said anything before she walked away. I was so nervous, but trying to stay calm. I talked in my low, sexy voice. The only thing that I have going for me is that her friend gave me her number. I just hope that she’ll talk to me.
Dominica
First day of class, I picked up my schedule and books yesterday, and now I’m off to class. It’s great to be in a totally new place. The smells, the different buildings and people, but all I can do is think about Evens. The way that his muscles made his shirt bulge in all the right places. And his jeans, there was quite bulge there too. Tamika said not too worry. It was just a matter of time before he called. But, all I could do was doodle his name in my notebook in my first class. It was a small class in African American literature, and I swear that the professor knew that I wasn’t paying attention. I looked up one time and he was staring right at me, furrowing his brow, and stroking his beard like he was disappointed with me, or like he was studying me. It costs a lot to go to Howard, and, if I hadn’t gotten a scholarship, then my parents would have made me go to Michigan for the simple fact that in-state tuition is much cheaper. I couldn’t screw it up now. But with Evens on my mind, it was going to be tough.
Tamika and I agreed to meet up at a little cafe in between classes to get some lunch. While I waiting for her, I opened up my notebook, and made some more revisions to Evens name. I added some lines around it and stars and hearts. Then my phone started vibrating in my Gucci purse. I reached in and pulled it out. I didn’t recognize the number.
“Hello?”
I heard the voice, and I knew who it was immediately. My heart started beating super fast, I thought I was going to have a heart attack. “Hey, it’s Evens”
I couldn’t believe it, this beautiful man was calling me? What did he want with me? WTF? I never got attention in high school, I mean, I never got the kind of attention that I wanted to get from guys. And here was this guy that made all those other guys look like little boys calling me? I couldn’t breathe, but I squeaked out a “Hello.”
“It was nice to see you again.”
“Yeah, it was nice…”
“Listen, I’d really like to take you out sometime.”
I smiled, “I’d like that too. What’d ya have in mind?”
“Dinner?”
My mama always was schooling me on how I was supposed to play ‘hard to get’ growing up. Not that I ever had to use her advice. She had learned through many years of being pursued by a whole onslaught of men. “How ‘bout coffee.” I said it as a statement more than a question. Just then Tamika walked through the door. She could tell by my face that I was talking to Evens. She motioned for me to hang up. I shook me head ‘no’ and kept talking. She grabbed the phone from me and put on her best version of my voice. “Evens, I have to go. We’ll talk later,” and she hung up.
“What’d you do that for?” I screamed.
“Girl, you gotta make him work for it.”
“I was, just let me handle it.”
“Trust me, Dom, the more you make him work for it, the better he’ll treat you. And I don’t want any man messin’ with my girl. You’re a queen.”
She was always telling me that but it was hard for me to believe it. I’d had way too many times when some guy or girl was mean to me for the way that I looked for me to believe that I was a queen. Tamika must have seen the doubt that I was feeling. She reached out for my hand and grabbed it.
“Believe it, girl.”
Emmanuel
Evens has been tripping hard about this girl that he saw at the party. I told him he needs to get that bitch out of his head. He didn’t want to appear weak. Women sense that shit, and with as much flow as he had, some bitch was bound to try to take advantage of him. I told him that if he was going to meet this girl, I had to be there.
“Why you gotta be there?”
“‘Cuz, nigga, I gotta get a read on her. She probably smelled that money on you.”
We made a plan that I’d show up to where ever they were going to be a little late, and then I’d act like I just showed up outta nowhere.
Tamika
Dom was real worried that Evens wasn’t going to call her back. I told her that she needed to relax. This man called her and he was the one pursuing her. She had all the control. But, I was going to be there to make sure this guy wasn’t a playa. I didn’t get a good read on him in the little time that I had met him.
“Listen, Dom, I’m gonna be close. Maybe I’ll show up a little late, and then sit down with you two. But, you need to make sure that he isn’t just trying to hook up, and that’s it. You’re too smart and good looking to get played.”
“Sometimes I just want to get it over with. Just so I know what it’s all about.” She said. I knew what she was talking about.
“Girl, it’s better when it’s with someone you care about, I promise.”
“Maybe, but, you’ve hooked up with plenty of random guys.”
“Yeah, and most the time all they care about is themselves. Once they done, they don’t care if you finish or not.”
“Finish?”
“Girl, you gotta a lot to learn, do we gotta go back to middle school?”
Dominica
I had to concentrate all through the rest of that week. It was super hard not thinking about Evens and our upcoming date. On top of the fact that I was in a totally new place, getting lost all over campus, and was taking a full load. My parents were constantly calling me to make sure that everything was okay, and that I had found a nice church to go to. I was completely overwhelmed. Tamika was handling it a little bit better than I was.
Evens and I decided to meet at the same coffee shop as Tamika and I had been frequenting since arriving. It made it easy for me and made me feel more comfortable being in a place that I was at least somewhat familiar with. The plan was for Tamika to come in to the coffee shop fifteen minutes after Evens and I were supposed to meet. We planned for 6 o’clock that Saturday, but I still had to get past Thursday and Friday. I couldn't stand it. I kept on finding myself lying in my bed or taking a shower just thinking about that man. And thinking about…
When Saturday finally came, I was relieved to have made it through the week. The first week of school was really disorienting because there was so much going on, and I was feeling like I was going to lose my scholarship. I couldn’t continue this pattern. But, meanwhile, it was Saturday.
I woke up super early which Tamika hated, it was already becoming a source of contention between us. She knew it going in though. Whenever we’d sleepover at each other’s houses, I was always up at least an hour or two before her. On this Saturday, I woke up with a different feeling than I was used to. It came from south of the border, and aching, pulsing feeling that seemed to grow every time I thought about what was going to happen later that day. Evens was all I could think about. I couldn’t wait to see him. I kept thinking about his muscles bulging through his shirt and his low voice talking to me. The way his eyes fixed on me. Oh, I gotta get out of bed before something happens!
Evens
All I’ve been thinking about this week is Dominica. I swear, it’s like women must smell it on you because the amount of traffic coming my way has been up all week. But, I’ve been playing around for long enough. I want me a good woman, a strong woman, a smart woman. I’m sure Dominica is that woman. I’ve had my share of fun, and now, I’m ready to settle down. Manny thinks I’m crazy, but, he swore off a serious relationship long ago.
When I finally was able to pin Dominica down on a time for a date, we agreed to meet at a coffee shop on Howard’s campus. I feel like I’m shaking on the inside. I’m never nervous when I talk to women. I got over that a long time ago. But, for some reason, I am about Dominica.
When she walked through the door, I nearly bust right in my pants. Her jeans were clinging to her ass, she was wearing a low cut shirt, and was looking so good.
“Hey, Dominica,” I waved to her from across the coffee shop. It was like she saw right through me.
When she finally came over to the table she seemed disinterested.
“Hello,” I said in my low voice, while pulling out her chair for her.
“Hi,” she didn’t say anything else.
“How was your day?”
“Good.” She wasn’t giving me an inch.
“Oh, good. Mine was good too.”
“That’s good,” she said avoiding my eyes.
It went on like this for a while, but we finally got into a bit of a flow. All of a sudden the time was just flying by. And just when I thought things were starting to go good, she stood up.
“I gotta go. I gotta meet my friend.”
“Need company?”
“No. Listen, I had a real good time.” I couldn’t believe this girl was blowing me off. I was pissed.
“Yeah, me too. I…” She cut me off before I could finish.
“I gotta go, I’m sorry.”
I was left sitting at the table by myself wondering what the fuck just happened. It seemed like everything was going well, then all of sudden, she had to go. What did I do wrong? And where was Manny?
Tamika
Oh my goodness, I’m totally running late to back my girl up. I was studying in the library, and somehow I messed up my alarm on my iPhone 6. Somehow I managed to put in A.M. rather than P.M. Damn, now I gotta run over there, and try to catch up with them before this player tries to get into her pants. She a virgin, but the way she was talking about this Evens guy, I don’t trust her to wait. She was saying that she was sick of waiting for the right guy. She just wanted to get it out of the way. I told her that it was a gift to give to a special person, she told me that Evens was special. But, how the fuck would she know? She’s only talked to him on the phone a few times, and maybe a few texts. She had no idea what she was getting herself into, and then there’s me, getting there late.
I was running up to the coffee shop, and then all of a sudden, this guy steps right in front of me. I knocked him right over.
“Oh my goodness, I’m sorry.”
He looked up from the ground.
“What up playa?” I recognized him immediately.
He smiled and rose to his feet. “What up, girl?”
“I’m sorry, I got to go. I gotta meet my friend.”
“Whoa, hold up. I gotta meet my friend too, but they can wait, can’t they?”
I could feel myself getting wet just talking to him. He towered over me, which usually isn’t the case, being that I’m 5’8”. But he must have been 6’4” at least.
I smiled at him “Alright, playa, I’ll give you a minute of my time. But don’t go wasting it, I gotta go…”
“I know, to meet your friend.”
“So better get talkin’…”
Let me just say that he made that minute count because I totally forgot about Dom, and what I was supposed to be doing. Oh my goodness, I just wanted to take this guy for a ride. But, I was trying to be careful. I didn’t need any random hook-up my first week away at school. But also…
Emmanuel
It couldn’t have worked out better. She knocked me down. She knocked me down. I couldn’t believe that little… She must have seen me coming. To knock my shit down. What the fuck? I’d never heard of such a thing. Maybe in grade school, when you used to hit a girl if you liked them, but, a grown ass woman? I was walking into the coffee shop to check up on this girl that Evens has been chasing, then, just as I’m about to go in, this bitch knocks my ass down. Then she stands over me an calls me a playa? This bitch is all kinds of crazy. She’s driving me crazy! She gave me one minute. I’ve never had anyone pull that on me. She had me sweating. I told her that there was a club right down the street that I thought she’d like. She said no. I still had thirty seconds left, and I just threw out a hail mary.