Heights of Desire (24 page)
Epilogue
Jaylee
I
t’s hot as fuck out. The heat coming up from the basketball court has me sweating double. It’s hotter than Santo Domingo, hotter than fucking Haiti. I take my T-shirt off, ball it up and shoot a basket with it. I make the basket too, only my shirt doesn’t come down. It gets stuck up there and my boys tear right in giving me shit and laughing – until I hit the fucking ball right out of Flash’s unsuspecting hands and dribble her half-way across the court and dunk my shirt back out. They try to ride me again but aren’t so sharp after watching me drop my skills.
It’s too hot to keep score and we only do when mother fuckers we don’t know are playing our yard. Today it’s me, Flash, Willy, and Nardo, and we all know each other better than we even want to. Those niggas been running with me since they been wearing footie pajamas.
I’m ready to go home and crash ‘til the heat lets up. It’s gonna be a busy night. Nobody gonna want to stay up in they crib after it been cooking in the sun all day long like a hot box. I want to get another shower in before I make my rounds. I tuck my shirt into the back pocket of my shorts. No reason not to let the ladies get a look at the goods.
Then somebody yells ‘Ada’ in English and I turn around because that was my grandma’s name, the one who died like two years ago.
Whoever she is got ‘Ada’ tucked under one arm and the kid is yelling and kicking like a feisty carajito. Her hair is dark and kinda curly and messy, looks like she just got laid. The way she got her kid’s got her shirt pulled up and her whole side showing. Her waist is small but it’s the curve of her hip that does something to me. I wanna run my fingers up and down it, or better yet, my tongue. I wanna bite her there and make her squirm. I can already see myself doing it somehow.
“Yo, let ya’ girl watch. She don’t wanna miss all the action,” I say, trying to get her attention. I can’t tell if she don’t hear me or if she jus’ playing like she don’t. I walk even closer to her and I feel like I wanna touch her, like I gotta make her hear me, like my whole fuckin’ life depends on it.
She adjusts her kid and her shirt rides up even more and I see she got a tat on her hip. Looks like some kind of horseback rider. She’s already passed me but I know I gotta get her attention, some way, somehow.
“Nice tat!” I yell. What a fuckin’ mark. Fucked up my chances already. She’s steady ignoring me or else she got a hearing problem cause that one got all my boy’s attention. Now they all looking too. Then she spins around and her eyes find mine. Hers are big and blue and fiery as hell but also kind of sad and lost looking. She’s pissed an I can tell she got a word on her lips but she lost it when she looked at me.
I know how to give a woman the ‘I wanna fuck you’ look. I been doing it ever since middle school. Thing is, I’m giving it to her hard but she’s throwin’ it back at me even harder. The way we’re looking at each other is burning us both up. My body is already begging for her. Her face is the sweetest thing I ever seen and I can’t stop looking. Blanquita with freckles across her nose and cheeks, heart shaped lips and those blue eyes are killing me. She breaks it like she feels guilty for even looking.
The second she turns around it’s like I’m outa breath and I gotta have more. My feet start walking after her like they got a mind of they own.
“Yo, Jay, where you goin’?” my boy Flash yells.
I jerk my chin in her direction. Flash nods like he get it but then says, “Cómo que ‘ta muy señora ya, Mano?”
“
Mi
señora,” I say smiling.
“Tu ‘ta pasao, Manín!”
My boys whoop it up and throw shade like we do. I turn around and walk backward looking at them but going in the direction she went. I throw my arms up like I’m hard and like I’m more than happy to take all the shit they got to say. I don’t know where she’s going but wherever she goes, I go because just
looking
at her changed everything for me.
I keep walking backward, my arms thrown up and my fingers spread as my boys ride me harder. I look like I’m flexing but what I’m really doing is praying to God. I’m asking him not to let me lose her. That whatever it was I jus’ felt – I’m praying that she felt it too.
Coming Soon
Dear Readers,
Thanks so much for embarking on this ride with us! Forgive me for the cliffhanger but I couldn’t end Kate and Jaylee’s story any other way.
Look for
Fear of Heights: the Heightsbound sequel
, coming in 2014!
About me
I’m a reader, a writer, and a lover of all things romantic. I’m also a coffee, hot sauce, ink, telenovela and Bikram Yoga enthusiast. I live in New York City with my husband and two children, and I spend a lot of time on the playground.
I’d love to hear from you, so follow me, email me, look me up – reach out!
https://twitter.com/authormarawhite
Playlist 1 for Heightsbound
Created by Leslie de Jesus of Sinistergirlz
http://sinistergirlz.com/blog/
These songs will hopefully give you a taste of the flavor and culture in Washington Heights. If you only have time for one, listen to “Llévame Contigo,” by Romeo Santos because it’s the one I consider to be Kate and Jaylee’s song. -Mara
“Ponte Tu Chaleco” by Secreto el Biberon- in Jaylee’s car on the way to Union City
“Tengo Ganas” (Salsa version) by Victor Manuelle – at the salsa club in Union City
“Ponme to eso pa lante” by El Chuape – on the way back to the city
“Llévame Contigo” by Romeo Santos – at Jaylee’s house when Kate arrives uninvited
“La Noche” by Yoskar Sarante – in the truck on the way to el Malecón
“Corazón Culpable” by Anthony Santos – song that Jaylee sings along with at el Malecón
“Ella quiere cualto” by Jowsa in da house – with Jaylee’s group of friends at el Malecón
“Ella le gusta los tigeres” by Doble T y El Crok – in Oscar’s car the night Kate gets kicked out
“Te Prendo” by Chimbala – outside the park house bathroom
“Corazón sin cara” by Prince Royce – on the way to 171st St.
“El Malo” by Aventura – in Oscar’s car on the way to Passaic, NJ
Also check out Leslie Grace’s version of “Will You Still Love me Tomorrow?”
