Page 27 of So I Know it's Real

We entered Clover’s single-family home and headed for the living room, where Stevie, Blaze, Essen, and Stony, O’Cyrus’s wife, sat around laughing like a pack of hyenas. Clover stood peering out the window.

“Blue! It’s time to bust a move,” Shiloh suggested, pulling his wife to her feet.

The other couples followed their lead and said their goodbyes while heading to the door, so I walked everyone outside. Essen and Ishmael pretended they weren’t leaving together, but I knew better. I didn’t understand how Church and Shiloh didn’t recognize their connection.

Before I went back inside, I got comfortable and smoked in Clover’s backyard. From the patio chair, I could hear her going off on her niece. Anger boosted her tone, but the trembles carrying her voice proved she feared for Kya.

Once the ruckus morphed to silence, I found Clover in her bedroom. She sat in a reading chair near a large window overlooking her backyard. I could tell by her fresh scent and different clothes she had taken a shower.

“What are you in here thinking about?”

Clover drew me close, reaching for my hand. “You didn’t have to call the gang over, but I really appreciate it. Kya has been getting into too much too fast. I hope people showing up at her home makes her slow down.”

“It probably won’t,” I spoke from experience as I moved to sit on Clover’s windowpane. “If she likes the fast life, having shootas pull up on her behalf will only add to her interest. Just pray she’s smart about it.”

“I’ll beat it out of her.” She curled her lips from side to side. “Hmm...Would you like to spend the night? It’s already close to 1:00 a.m., and...”

The grin that spread across my face ushered one to Clover’s face.

“Oh no, don’t start grinning.” She playfully rolled her eyes. “We will not be finishing what we started earlier.”

“I already finished, mama. You gotta keep up.”

Her mouth fell open. Seconds later, a throaty laugh left her body. “I’m not sure how to respond. Telling you my actions tonight were out of the norm seems cliché.”

“You don’t need you to convince me, Lucky. Your pussy was virgin tight, and the moan you let out runs on a loop in my head. Had I believed you did shit like that all the time, I would have protected myself.”

A shaky breath blew thinly through her heart shaped lips. “Destin, it only takes one unprotected encounter to end up with something you can’t get rid of.”

“I’m banking on it, baby.”

While Clover tossed a pile of pillows off her bed, I removed my clothes. I kept on my undershirt and briefs but placed everything else, including my pistol, in her reading chair.

Years had passed since I slept foot to ear with anyone, but I knew I had to tonight. I didn’t have faith I could cuddle with Clover and not slip into her pussy. Every time I shut my eyes I had flashbacks of her candy-coated breath against my ear. The money I had on the line didn’t cross my mind, and even now, I had no regrets about giving Clover what she asked for.

I didn’t realize I dozed off until my sights refocused. I listened closely to chatter in the distance and discovered Clover talked in her sleep. Her words were gibberish, but her body flinched. I don’t know what came over me, but hearing her cry made my chest tight.

“Aye! Clover!”

I could hear her breath hitch before she said, “I was having a nightmare.”

I sat up. The room was dark, but the moonlight beamed through her curtains, illuminating the wet streaks smudging her cheeks.

“About your kids’ father? You dream about him a lot?”

“Not a lot but enough. I didn’t mean to wake you. I can go sleep in—”

“You’re not going anywhere. How about I move up here, so you don’t kick me in the face?”

Side by side, we lay in silence until my curiosity got the best of me.

“What happened to him?”

“What happens to most black men who make money in the streets? Calvin got caught up in a drug deal gone wrong. What hurt most was losing him a year after he was released from prison; he got locked up two years after the boys were born.”

“Have you talked to God about helping you move on? My granny says it works.”

“I have. I think he’s working on me.” Clover eyed me for a few seconds. “Have you ever been in love, Durk?”

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