Page 16 of No Gemini Does it Better
“Shit, it felt like heaven to me.”
“If this is supposed to be convincing me that you’re not homeless, you’re not doing a good job.”
“What kind of cereal you got?” he asked, changing the subject to the contents inside my cereal bowl. “Better not be nothin’ nasty either like Raisin Bran or some shit.”
I grunted. “It’s Cinnamon Toast Crunch, nigga. Don’t insult me like that.”
“Bet. I’m finna grab a bowl.”
“Of course you are. Help yourself. Just make sure to make it quick when you open and close the fridge.”
I glanced over at Butta, who had finally stopped barking in his presence, seemingly warming up to the thought of sharing his space with another male. Somewhere along the line, he’d stopped seeing him as a threat, and so had I. We ate in silence, listening to the clanking of the spoons against the ceramic bowls. Just as I was about to speak, I heard the loud, annoying sound of him slurping the milk.
I frowned. “Ew.”
“There you go with that ew shit again.”
“Sorry, it’s just annoying. You really are obnoxious.”
“So?”
“So? Now I see why you’re single.”
“How you figure that?”
“Because no woman in her right mind would put up with all of . . . this,” I said, waving my pointer finger around at him.
He scoffed. “You’d be surprised what a female will put up with when the dick is good.”
I swallowed hard, recovering with a loud scoff. “Yeah, okay.”
“I’m serious. A bitch will bend over backward for a nigga if he’s slanging good wood. If you ain’t know that, that means you’ve never fucked a nigga that had you climbing the walls,” he stated matter-of-factly.
“My sex life is not up for discussion,” I confirmed.
“You uncomfortable talking about sex?” Kareem asked, head cocked to the side.
“No. I’m grown. Why would I be?”
“I don’t know. By the way you actin’, you seem too wound up for that type of talk.”
“Well, I’m not. I don’t see the point in talking about it with a stranger.”
“Then don’t.”
“I won’t.” I snapped back before curling my feet underneath me on the couch.
Butta was at the other end snoozing while I cracked open a book to read by candlelight while the storm raged outside. Kareem sat on the floor next to the pile of clothes he’d left in my arm chair.
“It’s too quiet around here, and I’m bored.” He grunted. “I don’t see how you can sit and read in the dark.”
“The same way you just worked out in the dark.”
“I need some entertainment.”
“You don’t read? I didn’t realize you were such a child.”
“I read plenty. I’m just not in the mood to fall asleep right now unless you wanna hear a nigga sawing logs in here.”
