“And?” Paris urged me to continue.
“And he wanted to take me out for brunch but I said no, that I was hanging out with my besties!”
“That’s right!” Zion exclaimed.
“What’s his name?” Paris asked. I paused.
“I don’t know.” I admitted. Paris pointed the spatula at me.
“You mean to tell us that you don’t even know his name?” Paris demanded, his eyebrows raised.
“I didn’t even think to ask.” I admitted.
“She sprung already,” Zion said shaking her head sadly.
“Am not!” I snapped.
“You gonna give up the booty?” Paris asked.
“Absolutely not!”
“Mhmm,” they both said in unison. They made eye contact and laughed.
“What-ever!” I snapped laughing. Asha walked into the kitchen wearing footie pajamas and rubbing her eyes sleepily.
“What’s so funny?” she asked huskily.
“Lele is going to fuck that white football player,” Zion announced.
“No, I am not!” I snapped. “All we did was talk on the phone.”
“You called him last night?” Asha asked, looking very interested as she crossed her arms over her small boobs.
“Yes, I did,” I said.
“And he was already trying to pick her up,” Paris added.
“But I said no,” I finished.
“Did y’all two fuck last night?” Asha asked, pointing at Paris and then at Zion.
At the same time that Paris said “No!” Zion said, “I gave him head.”
We all started cracking up. I laughed so hard that I almost pissed myself, I had to run to the bathroom. On my way, I heard Asha say, “You a hoe.” A little pee slipped out before I made it to the toilet.
*****
I took a quick shower before breakfast and changed into the second outfit that I had brought. I was a little sad that we hadn’t gone out, I was looking forward to wearing the outfit that I had packed, but something told me that I’d get another chance to wear it. We ate breakfast in the living room while watching a movie. My phone vibrated to let me know that I had received a text message. It was from the football player. I tried to mask my excitement, but a smile escaped as I opened the message.
‘Good morning.’ It read simply. I texted him back, ‘Good morning.’ Moments later, my phone vibrated again. Zion, who was sitting beside me, looked over.
“Who are you texting?” she demanded. Before I could answer, she snatched my phone out of my hand and began reading out loud what it said, “’What are you doing?’” She looked at me. “Is this the football player?” Everyone looked at me to see my response.
“Yeah,” I answered. Zion looked back at the phone and began typing, reading out loud as she wrote.
“‘Sitting here wondering what your name is.’” Zion handed me back my phone. She had sent it. I cut my eyes at her. I needed to know though. He texted back.
‘LOL. Michael. What’s yours?’ Zion looking over my shoulder, read his response out loud.
“What a typical white boy name.” Paris noted. I typed back, ‘Kathleen, but everyone calls me Lele.’ My phone buzzed.
‘That’s pretty.’ He said simply. Zion rolled her eyes.
“Dry ass conversation,” she said. I rolled my eyes back.
‘You still at your friend’s house?’ he texted.
‘Yeah, what are you doing?’ I texted back.
‘Just got out of practice, at the gym working out. When are you going home?’
‘I don’t know yet, why?’ I said.
‘I want to see you,’ he said.
“He means that he wants to fuck you.” Zion said, still reading over my shoulder. I sucked my teeth and playfully pushed her over.
“If you don’t mind your business,” I started.
“You are my business,” she finished.
‘Let me know when you’re back home. I’d like to take you out for dinner,’ he texted. I smiled.
‘Okay,” I texted back. I wish I had something else to say, but nothing more seemed necessary. He didn’t text back after that.
After breakfast, Asha and I volunteered to clean up and do the dishes. Asha took the initiative to begin washing the dishes, so I dried them. Asha washed a plate and handed it to me. I dried it off with a dishtowel.
“Where are you going to stay now that Paris is back?” I blurted out. I genuinely wanted to know. Asha hesitated.
“I don’t know. I was going to just stay here on the couch until I figured something else out,” she said. I nodded silently. We finished the dishes and returned to the living room, where Paris and Zion were wrestling on the floor.
“Just fuck already!” I exclaimed as I sat down on the couch.
“I’m going to take a shower,” Asha announced as she headed to the bathroom. I got up and began beating both Zion and Paris with pillows from the couch.
*****
Later that evening, after dinner, Zion drove me home, just me and her. I took the opportunity to ask the question that had been plaguing my mind ever since the other night.
“So...what’s up with you and Paris?” I asked, staring intently at her as she drove. Zion’s face remained neutral, although I thought I saw the hint of a smile flash across her lips.
“Nothing,” she answered without taking her eyes off of the road. I raised an eyebrow skeptically.
“You guys kissed last night,” I continued.
“You and I have kissed before,” Zion reminded me with a glance. Point taken, I thought, but…
“But you gave him head as well,” I reminded her. Zion’s jaw tightened. When Zion didn’t say anything, I asked, “Isn’t Paris gay?” Zion smiled.
“He’s bi-sexual.” She corrected. I nodded, making a mental note. Paris was bi-sexual, not gay; noted.
“Bi sex you well,” I teased.
“I wouldn’t know,” Zion replied. I rolled my eyes.
“So last night was you and Paris’ first time hooking up?” I asked.
“More or less,” she said vaguely.
“What the hell does that mean?” I demanded. The smirk on her face let me know that Zion was enjoying this.
“Wouldn’t you like to know,” she teased.
“Yes, yes I would like to know! Stop playing!” I snapped irritably.
“Before Paris left for Ethiopia, we hooked up,” she admitted. But I needed more.
“Hooked up as in..?”
“We had sex.”
“And it was..?”
“Good as fuck,” she said with a nasty look on her face.
“Ew, don’t be reminiscing while I’m in the car!” I said in disgust. Zion laughed.
“So, are you guys dating or what?” I probed relentlessly.
“We are fucking. Well we fucked and are probably going to fuck again,” Zion rambled. “We’re fucking.” I shook my head. Zion glanced at me out of the corner of her eye. “What?” she demanded.
“Y’all are messy, that’s what,” I said.
“How?” she asked with a giggle.
Did I need to paint her a picture? I began counting off the ways on my fingers as I broke her messiness down to her.
“One, he’s your roommate. Two, he’s your roommate who is also our best friend. Three, he’s gay!” I threw my hands up in the air. Zion raised her index finger matter-of-factly.
“Bi-sexual.” We both laughed. There was a lapse in conversation as we let the music play. Zion had hooked up her phone to her car and was playing music off of her phone. I turned down the music to begin my second wave of questioning.
“Where is Asha going to stay now that Paris is back?” I asked. Zion frowned as though the answer were obvious.
“She’s going to stay with us.”
“Oh, okay.” I said nodding. Now, it was Zion’s turn to ask questions.
“So, what’s going on with you and that white boy?” she asked. I raised my index finger, mimicking Zion.
“Michael,” I corrected her. We both giggled.
“Excuse me, Michael. Are you going to fuck him?” Zion asked bluntly.
“I don’t know. Not yet, at least. I want to get to know him first,” I told her. Zion rolled her eyes and sucked her teeth.
“Girl, bye,” she said.
We pulled up outside of the rooming house a little before 7 at night. I hugged Zion goodbye, grabbed my stuff and headed inside to what appeared to be a full-fledged party. There were people on the stairs, in the halls, and in the living room. I quickly made my way through the crowd, let myself into my room and shut the door behind me. My first thought was, I’ve got to get out of here. I dropped my bag on the floor and sat down on my bed. Pulling out my phone, I texted Michael, ‘I’m home.’
He texted back, ‘Address?’I texted him my address, feeling myself growing more and more excited by the moment.
‘I’ll be there in an hour. Wear something sexy,’ he instructed. I was a little taken aback, and rolled my eyes but I also smiled in spite of myself. I was going to get to wear that outfit after all. Thank goodness I had showered at Zion’s because I definitely did not want to leave my room and face that crowd unless it was absolutely necessary. There was a mirror on the inside of my room door. I undressed, leaving on nothing but my panties, and took out my makeup.
Using my reflection in the mirror, I began doing my makeup. With liquid eyeliner, I applied a black line at the end of each eye that made me look like a sex kitten. Assessing my skin, I decided that I didn’t need any concealer; my skin was still tan from summer days spent on the beach, and clear from drinking a gallon of water a day. I combed mascara over my long eyelashes, the black framing my brown eyes, making them pop. I squeezed some gloss onto my full lips, making them look juicy. They looked so kissable that I had to kiss my reflection. I let my hair down, cascading over my shoulders and down my back. With my infamous toothbrush, I laid the edges of my hair beautifully. I put on the dress with the boots; it was too hot to put on the fur vest yet. Then I began transferring my wallet and other random must-haves into a small, frayed suede purse that matched my boots.
I stood back and admired myself in the mirror. I looked beyond beautiful. I checked my phone; Michael was supposed to be here in less than five minutes. I was just about to put my phone down when Zion called me.
“Wassup?” I asked, answering on the first ring.
“ASHA FUCKED PARIS!” Zion yelled into the phone. She sounded out of breath as though she had been running.
“Wait, what?” It took me a moment to register this new information.
“ASHA FUCKED PARIS!!!” Zion yelled even louder. I had to pull the phone away from my ear, but I had heard correctly.
“When? How do you know? What the fuck?”
“When I dropped you off. They fucked while I was gone! When I got here, they were fucking on the living room floor like animals!” Zion yelled every word, only pausing to take deep sporadic breaths. I had to manually close my mouth to stop myself from gaping; I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
All I could say was, “That’s crazy.”
“Yea, I put both those motherfuckers out!” Zion sounded like she was outside walking fast.
“But Paris is gay though,” I muttered to myself. Zion didn’t even correct me this time. “Where are you?”
“I’m outside, walking around my complex. I needed some fresh air. I fucked Asha up,” Zion told me. My jaw dropped again.
“Where are they now?” I asked.
“I don’t fuckin’ know, they left after I beat Asha up. One of the neighbors called the cops,” Zion said. I wasn’t sure if she could kick Paris out like that, but he definitely deserved it. This was crazy. It was all happening so fast. My phone vibrated to let me know that Michael was calling.
“Zion, hold on, Michael is on the other line,” I told her and then clicked over before she could respond.
“I’m outside,” he answered.
“Well hello to you too!” I said. He laughed. “Hold on, I’ll be right out.” I clicked back over to Zion.
“Hello?”
“Yeah,” she said. Zion sounded kind of strange. I heard her sniffle and knew that she was crying. I couldn’t get off of the phone with her now, not with her like this.
Without consulting Michael to find out if it was okay, I made an executive decision.
“Do you want me to come over?” I asked her.
“What about your date?” she asked through sniffles. I could hear the tears in her voice.
“I’m going to have him drive me. I’m on my way now, ok?”
“Okay,” she said.
“I love you Z,” I told her.
“I love you too K,” she replied, hanging up when she could no longer control the tears. I put on the fur vest, grabbed my purse, and gave myself one more once over in the mirror before opening my room door.
I had almost forgotten that the rest of the rooming house was partying. The crowd had grown since I first got home. I turned around to lock my door and heard a few whistles at my back. I rolled my eyes and hurriedly made my way through the crowd. Guys tried to grab my hand a few times, but I somehow slipped through and made it out of the house.
Double parked in front of the house was a fully loaded, all black Range Rover with tinted windows. The people drinking on the porch were staring at it. As I made my way down the porch steps, someone behind me exclaimed, “Damn, she got a fat ass!” I ignored it and kept it moving. Michael must have seen me coming because he hopped out of the driver’s seat, hustled around the front of the truck and opened my door for me. As I climbed into the passenger seat, I heard someone from the porch say, “Oh she like white guys”. For the umpteenth time, I rolled my eyes. I began to worry that they would get stuck up there; I rolled them so much these days. Moments later, Michael climbed back into the driver’s seat.