Page 58 of He Thugged Me First

I endedup chilling in the basement with the fellas while Kirey pulled Love in the direction of where Gina and the ladies were.

“I see you finally asked.” Klusive looked over at me and nodded.

“Had to, you fucked around and told ya nosey ass wife.” I glared at him momentarily before my smirk returned.

“I told you my bad, but you know ya fucking sister is nosey as hell. Fuck you texting me at one in the morning for anyways? In the door she thought it was a bitch.”

I laughed because one thing I did know was that my sister was crazy as hell and threatening to shoot somebody.

Kurse shrugged his shoulders. “ Congratulations young nigga. Shit that’s good at least yeen get a?—”

“Promise ring, you’ve been bringing that shit up for years now, when you gonna let it go?” Kure asked out of nowhere.

“Nigga didn’t nobody bring up ya promise ring but you.” Kurse laughed.

At this point we were all laughing. When things died down it ended up being me and Gemini in the basement. He was takinga call, while Klusive, Kurse and Kure went to get some food from upstairs.

“I heard you tryna switch it up, young blood.” Gemini took a seat next to me at the bar.

I shrugged. “Seeing what else I’m good at.” That was definitely the lie I told myself at this point.

“The way you pop them shots, you shouldn’t need to test the waters.”

I nodded. He was right.

“Look, take it from me, I’ve made enough mistakes in my life to save somebody from making the same. None of this shit is forever, we live by codes that are unwritten but imbedded within the brain. You are good at pulling the trigger and being done, then do that. This drug game is a different demon, a different drug. You know that feel you get after you pull the trigger? That chill down ya spine? It’s like a high you can’t get anywhere else, bask in it while you can. The drug game used to do that for me, but shit has changed and the direction has reversed. I’m probably talking in circles but I’ll leave you with two things. Number one, never get too comfortable because somebody is always ready to become you. Next is simple, don’t overstay your welcome. When you feel that chill leave and the high doesn’t hit the same, it’s time to step out.”

Love

“You mean to tell me, you’re carrying that small at seven months?” Century smiled at me.

I giggled.I didn’t feel small at all, I actually just had a panic attack before we left the house. “ Small where? I can’t fit anything I used to wear.”

“I remember those days, but no you haven’t blown up until you look in the mirror and don’t remember the size of yourcheeks before the monster invaded your body.” Gina chewed on the ice.

“Shit y’all were lucky, my nose blew up and I refused to take any pictures!” Kurrance shook her head.

We all laughed. This wasn’t the first time I’d been around them so, I wasn’t nervous or anything, actually I always ended up taking in all that they were saying because they always spit straight knowledge. The funny thing is even though my sister was with Cass, it was different from this. It was hard to explain but I’d try. When I first told Lola I was dating Quari she was in shock, but told me not to ask him about anything he handled in the streets. She said that he’d always keep it from me because he loved me. But that wasn’t the case that I found myself in. Quari told me almost everything, just like these women in front of me said their men did. Quari said he told me everything because he didn’t want me to be somewhere confused and not know who he was. He had always been honest with me, and within our four years I became comfortable with it. I loved him more because he was open with me about more in the beginning.

“You dance, right?” Century asked me interrupting me from my thoughts.

“Used to, the little alien in my gut is hindering it.”

She giggled. “Imma need some lessons when you drop him or her off.”

I laughed too.

“What are you having?” Kurrance asked.

“We don’t know. The last two times we tried to see the gender, the doctor couldn’t see it. The baby had its legs closed.”

“Oh, it’s a girl. That’s that stubborn shit.” Century cut her eyes at Gemini as he walked into the room.

“Don’t be sneak dissing on my daughter, Cent.” He playfully mugged her.

One Could see the love they had for one another just oozing from their pores. It was so damn pure and real, I couldn’t fathom the stories of what Century told me the last time I met her being true.

“Whatever don’t think y’all slick. Nosey niggas.” Gina shook her head and glared at Quari as he walked through the doorway right over to me.

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