Wanted For Pleasure: vol 2

Chapter 40: tease me if you can

"An interesting life could always use a little seduction, confidence, ambition, and danger."

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𝑴𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒂𝒏

I'm careful everywhere I go. I'm constantly looking over my shoulder. Strangers, I can no longer smile at, they all might be in disguise.

This is no way to live and I know it, but Annette said she's got something that'll put me at ease finally.

It's only been a few days but she did say she is the best in the country at her job so I expected nothing less.

I leave Izzy and Jasmine at the salon and run into Jabari on my way.

"JB!" I squeal, giving him a squeeze.

"It's been so long, where have you been?" I interrogate him.

He just looks at me with worry, or fear.

"Little sis." He says, finally hugging me back. "I'm sorry..."

There's this look in his usual carefree eyes that scares me.

"What?" My voice shakes. "What's wrong?"

~

"Thank you." I say to the waiter without removing my eyes from Jabari who was MIA even for his best friend's birthday.

Jabari shakes his head, rubbing his hands over his waves.

I sit back with my arms folded and my legs and a face of stone. He's got a lot of explaining to do.

"Don't look at me like that, you just like Jasmine, y'all know how to make a Nigga squeal."

I lean in. "Jabari, where have you been? What happened?"

"I fucked up."

"What?"

"I cheated on Jas with some bitch at the strip club."

"What bitch? What strip club?"

"Dice Bar. I don't know her name. I ordered me, Chris, and Lee some shots. It was these Spanish bitches, they said they had X. Chris kept talking 'bout he wanted to go home to you but I was scared he was gonna tell you I was cheating on Jas..."

"What are you trying to say?"

"So I copped the X from the Spanish girls. We did ecstasy before so I thought it would be straight. But right after I put it in our shots, the bitches left. I ain't think nothing of it 'til it was too late. Lee said he was gonna pour his in Chris's because we wanted to get him fucked up. That's how Lee remembers everything, but Chris... I thought he was dead that morning. Now that I think of it, it could've been anything - the drugs. It was dark, I-I was distracted, just tryna party. I hated seeing him like that. Morgan, you don't know what I saw. I thought I killed my boy." He starts to cry in his arms at the table.

I can't believe a word he said.

"No... no, no, no. JB, tell me you're joking." I sob full of emotion but my face never falters.

He brings himself to finally look me in the eyes and I can see the sad, shameful truth behind them.

The facts are more heartbreaking than the theories I had circulating in my head for the past few days.

"Do you know what happened to him?" I sniffle so he can be the only one crying in this conversation.

"No. What? What happened to him?! Who did it, I'll fuckin' kill them, I swear, sis."