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Authors: Cydney Rax

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BOOK: Brothers and Wives
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He’s wearing an army-green wife beater and dark cotton shorts. His thick, round arms remind me of Vin Diesel with biceps so large that Brax could probably do pull-ups on them. Yep, dude looks completely edible to me.

The handsome man rocks his head to the beat, and his lips are moving like he’s chatting with his partner. But the second he glances into the crowd and rests his pretty eyes on me, his conversation stops.

His partner nods like everything’s cool and he’ll keep the music going. The man removes his headphones, steps down from the deejay table, and walks slowly over to me. Grinning, he leans in with his mouth near my ear and offers me a pleasant “What’s up?”

“Hey,” I answer as I continue dancing.

“You look familiar.”

“Hmm, you look kind of familiar yourself. You spin on the weekends?”

“Naw, nawww, baby girl. I just got back into the H last night. I’ve been posted up in Motown and only been back in Houston since yesterday. I’m Scottie Meadows.”

At first I think,
Hmm, probably a younger cousin who went away to college
. Yet Scottie doesn’t look like he’d be stuck somewhere in a residence hall with his head buried between textbooks. The black bandanna tied around his head and twisted to the side gives him a dangerous air.

“And I’m Danielle Frazier, but my friends call me Dani.”

“Hi, Dani,” he says, winking at me.

I tilt my neck to peer at him with greater interest. Scottie reaches out like he’s about to shake my hand, but then he grabs my fingertips, intertwines them in his, and gently pulls me closer, as if he can’t help himself. I roll my eyes and emphatically shake my head like,
Don’t even try it
. I’m not opposed to being held and frisked by an incredibly good-looking man, but this dude won’t be getting Dani’s cookies this fast and easy, I don’t care how dangerously handsome he is. I decide that if I
do
let him have me, he’s going to have to wait for and
earn
this scrumptious piece of deliciousness.

After he releases me, I slow my dancing down a notch. Scottie continues talking over the drone of the music. “You look really, really nice today.”

“You’re too kind. Thanks.” I smile, wanting to say, “So do you,” but I don’t.

“Who invited you?”

“Neil.”

He looks shocked as hell, then replies, “Oh yeah? That’s my older brother.”

And SHAZAM, like a superhero with magical powers, Neil bursts onto the scene out of nowhere and interrupts us.

“Don’t even think about it. Don’t ask,
Scottie
. Don’t!”

“What you talking about, Neil? We’re just holding a conversation, minding our own business, and you walking up in here like you the big boss man.” Scottie throws up his hands in exasperation and leers at his brother. His six-foot-four body towers over Neil by a few inches.

“Baby bro, I’m nobody’s boss,” Neil continues. “I’m just saying Dani is off-limits.”

“What the hell?” I mumble, annoyed at Neil for having the audacity to try and control who speaks to me. I stop dancing, unable to take my eyes off Scottie and Neil.

“Say what?” Scottie jumps in. “Shouldn’t you be saying your wife,
Anya
, is off-limits? You getting me messed up,
brotha.”

“You’re already messed up,” Neil snaps. “And Dani doesn’t need to get caught up in all that.”

Neil’s not talking to me, yet I freeze. His harsh voice is a long blade shoved and twisted against my neck. Rage twinkles in Neil’s piercing eyes. This man isn’t playing. But neither am I.
Nobody
cock-blocks Danielle Frazier.

“What the fuck?” I screech.

I don’t care if Scottie is Neil’s relative or if he’s a stranger that wandered into their family reunion begging for a hot dog—Neil had no freaking right to put the brakes on someone trying to talk to me. It makes me so mad, especially since he is the one who invited me to this function in the first damned place.

“Dani, you don’t understand,” Neil says. “My brother isn’t someone you should be getting to know.”

“Wait a minute, Neil,” Scottie speaks up. “This is a family reunion. Dani here is probably going to be talking to everyone, not just me. Am I right, or am I wrong?”

I smirk at Neil. I love that a man I barely know is sticking up for me.

“Scottie, you know you’re full of …”

Then this tall, big-eyed girl with braids springing out of her head like long-stemmed flowers excitedly hops toward us and cuts in on our heated conversation. She looks like she’s in her early twenties and is wearing purple boy shorts and an orange tank with a plunging neckline. When she walks, her boobs bounce like basketballs and nearly flop out of her skimpy top. She tilts her head and stares at me with a mixture of hurt and disgust. She then swiftly parks
herself right in front of Scottie.
Who
is she? I move next to Scottie to get a good view. The girl smiles, then looks like she’s about to burst open and a river of tears is going to spill out. He glares at her like now is not the time to be in his face.

“Aw, Scottie, why you gonna act like that, huh? You know you’re not right.” She raises her voice, competing with the music.
Why is she doing that?
I want to discreetly tiptoe out of here while I have a chance, yet I can’t. I
won’t
. Scottie and I have just started a conversation. If I can get Neil off my case, I won’t be leaving until his brother and I finish talking.

Neil pleads, “LaNecia, please stop all that yelling. Go on and help serve lunch.”

“I don’t give a flying fuck about barbecue and chicken wings right now. These greedy-ass Negroes can serve themselves. Do I look like I work at Hooters?”

Yep
, I think to myself and stare her up and down.

The Ray J song is coming to an end. There’s a pause before the next song starts.

LaNecia continues whining and jumps up and down like a self-centered kid. “I want to talk to Scottie. I need to talk to him.”

“LaNecia, please calm down, cousin.”

Ahhh
. It suddenly hits me.
That name sounds familiar. I’ve heard about LaNecia, one of Neil’s imbalanced kinfolks
.

Neil squeezes in between LaNecia and Scottie, and Scottie takes the opportunity to move a few steps back from the line of fire.

“Shut up, nerd!” she shrieks. She presses her thick lips together, then opens her mouth and blows hard. A thick, nasty glob of saliva lands squarely on Neil’s striped polo. He
makes a face and raises his hand in the air, but his fist hangs suspended—as if he realizes he can’t throw a punch at his young relative.

I cover my mouth with my hands and discreetly laugh my butt off. Whew, his family is nuts. Thank God my dreams of being married to Neil never came true.

Neil exhales loudly, grabs a hankie from his back pocket, and quickly wipes off the spit. It looks so yucky. Neil clasps LaNecia by the shoulders and violently shakes her. Her long braids fly every which way and smack her in the eyes, nose, and lips. That’s when I feel a tap my shoulder. Startled, I spin around. Scottie gestures at me to follow him. I gladly walk away from the drama.

LaNecia is yelling so loud I don’t have to see her to know what’s happening. “I swear to God, y’all men ain’t shit. You always make up the rules, but the world wasn’t made just for you, was it, you annoying bastard.”

Scottie extends his hand to me. I reach out and accept. His palm is surprisingly warm and comforting. He guides me to a less crowded area of the picnic grounds. As we’re walking, he suddenly starts cracking up. I join him, and we shake our heads in amazement. I clutch my belly with my free hand because I’m laughing so hard it hurts.

Scottie points to a wooden bench, releases my hand, and takes a seat. So I plop down beside him, kick off my flip-flops, and start swinging my feet back and forth.

“Damn, now where were we?” he says as his laughter subsides. He dabs his eyes with his thumb.

“Awww, don’t cry,” I say teasingly and grin. Jeez, this man’s green-gray eyes make me want to stare at him all day. “Like I was trying to tell you before we were interrupted, I’m Dani, the proud parent of one. My little boy, Brax, is somewhere
around here running wild with his cousins. And, uh, I guess I should mention Neil and I know each other from way back.”

“I could tell something was up with you two, but he’s married, so …” Scottie says, his voice drifting off. He continues to stare at me. “You got a man?”

“Um, not really. I hang out, but no one serious.”

“You shitting me, Mariah Carey?”

“What you call me?” I grin and blush over the fact that he compared me to the attractive singer, even though I’m hardly as old as that narcissistic chick. His intense staring makes me feel beautiful, desirable, and the center of his attention.

Scottie reaches out and boldly brushes his fingers through my curls. He plays with my hair, twisting my locks around in a wide circle.

“You’re so fucking pretty that, just like Mariah, I know you make any other woman feel ugly. And,” he continues, his eyes running me up and down, “your body is scorching hot, mama. You oughta have ten men’s babies, not just one.”

“Yeah, that’s what I keep hearing, but reality is a trip.” His compliments make me feel like a princess. And even though we’ve just met, I decide to guide him past the typical outer-beauty crap and let him know me on a deeper level. “To be honest, Scottie, I-I’m at a point in my life where I want to find the right guy, fall in love, get settled, all that. I wouldn’t want ten men even if I could have ’em.”

“I hear ya. That’s what’s up.”

“And you?” I ask, offering him an encouraging smile. “You got someone?”

“Me? Naw, I’m not married.” He gives a pained look,
stares into space, then mumbles, “No kids.” Then he says louder and looks dead in my eyes. “No commitment.”

“Ah, how old are you, if I may ask?”

“You can ask whatever you like,” he sings in a silly voice. “You can ask whatever you like. Yeah!” He bursts out laughing, and I do, too. “I’m twenty-five, babyyy.”

“Twenty-five, huh?” I gawk at him, impressed. I love his cockiness. Some younger guys still act like they’re afraid of the pussy, but not Scottie.

“Well, I’m in my late twenties. But a woman never tells her true age.”

“In my eyes you’ll never be past your twenties. You’ve got the type of looks that’ll keep you young forever.”

“So,” I say, glowing, “are you sure you don’t have a woman stashed away somewhere?”

“Positive.”

“Then why was LaNecia yelling at you?”

“Too damn long of a story … I’ll tell you about it one damn day.”

“Oh,” I respond, surprised. “Does that mean you plan to talk to me
after
today?”

“You damn fucking right I want to talk to you. I want to talk to you every day after today. Gimme your digits.”

I chuckle but don’t make a move to respond.

“What’s wrong? Am I making you nervous?”

“Nooo, Scottie.” I twist around in my seat until we’re facing each other. His eyes are so sincere, yet I detect sadness underneath the surface, like he has a story to tell, but he may not be willing to add it to his Facebook wall just yet.

“Scottie, I just want to do things different this time,” I tell him in a calm, measured voice. “I mean, in the past I’ve made, what, a thousand mistakes in relationships, and I-I
am not in the market to get hurt again. Hurt
hurts
, ya know?”

“I know, darling.”

“You put all your hope on a guy, wishing things’ll work out…. One day you’re declaring your utmost love to each other…. By next week you’re telling the man to go to hell. He’s hollering so loud that neighbors can hear, calling you a cunt. Oops,” I say and laugh self-consciously. “I’m telling way too much.”

“No, do tell. I’m listening.”

“Bottom line is, I gotta make different choices. That make sense?”

“So you want my digits?”

I beam and give in. “Sure. If I feel like I want to talk …”

“Believe me, you
are
going to want to talk to me.”

“Like I said, if I
feel
like I want to talk to you, Scottie, I will definitely give you a call.”

I surrender my PDA and let him punch his contact info into my address book. He offers me his phone, and I input my number. Looking satisfied, he says, “Don’t forget, we made a pact. From now on we promised to talk to each other every day for the rest of our lives.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You don’t have to say it, just do it. Okay, Dani?” He looks so adorably sincere, like a loving, oversize puppy. I nod and wonder what I’m getting myself into.

He tells me, “If you haven’t heard by now, people consider me a fuckup, but ask me if I care.”

“Nope, I haven’t heard a single thing about you.”

“Then let me be the one to tell you, mama.”

He takes time to fill me in on how some of the family either treats him like they expect him to fail or are waiting to hear the latest bad news about him.

“It ain’t like they perfect. Everybody got flaws. But for some reason, some of them are always pointing fingers at the kid, trying to make me feel like I’m not going to amount to anything. But I’ll prove ’em wrong. They my family and I love ’em, but fuck ’em.”

A comfortable silence develops between us, and we stare at each other.

Scottie rises to his big ole feet. He gently grabs my hand and whisks me out of my seat. “I love talking to you, darling, but we need to get back.”

“That’s okay. I’m cool.” I slide my feet into my flip-flops and stand up.

By the time we get back to the Meadows setup, I can tell the area is nearly filled to capacity. Elderly gray-haired ladies are slumped in wheelchairs. Middle-aged men are slapping dominoes on the table and yelling. And fast-ass teenage girls are wearing skintight jeans, twisting their lips, putting their hands on their hips, and yelling, all at the same time.

I continue looking around at all the people, wondering which table I’m going to sit at, when I realize it’s been a half hour since my son went to the wildlife habitat. He’s probably getting hungry like me. I need to pick him up.

I excuse myself from Scottie and take quick steps toward the sound of children’s voices. My tits nearly bounce out of my bikini top. I can feel the disapproving stares of senior women when I move past them. And although by my serious facial expression, it should be obvious I’ve got something important to do, all these grandmas can focus on is my appearance. But Dani’s got to be Dani, no matter what. And being sexy and desirable is the very essence of who I am.

BOOK: Brothers and Wives
8.27Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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