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I leaned back against the wooden railing, letting the cool night breeze wash over me. The sound of faint laughter and the clinking of plates from inside the house filtered through the open windows, but my focus was on the glowing tip of my blunt.
The tension in the air was thick—Zach and Dwayne stood a few feet away, watching me with guarded expressions. Sky's brother and brother-in-law weren't exactly welcoming me with open arms, but I wasn't about to let that bother me.
Know dem just a put a up the 'protective big brother' front.
I wasn't here to impress them; I was here for Sky. If that meant enduring a couple of icy stares and awkward silences, so be it. I took another pull, exhaling slowly.
Zach broke the silence first. "Suh big man yuh did ask permission if yuh coulda smoke wid we?"
I raised an eyebrow, flicking the ash off casually. "Ask who? Yuh? Bredda, when unuh did my age, mi sure know seh unuh did a do di same ting."
For a moment, neither of them said anything. Then Dwayne, the older of the two, cracked a smile, and Zach let out a low chuckle.
"A true yuh a talk still," Zach admitted, his tone softening slightly.
The invisible wall between us crumbled. They weren't so uptight after all. It seemed like they just needed me to prove I wasn't intimidated.
"So weh yuh live?" Zach asked, leaning against the porch railing now, his body language a lot less stiff.
"Hellshire," I answered simply, taking another drag.
"Which school yuh go?" Dwayne followed up, his arms crossed but his tone lighter.
"JC," I said, nodding.
"And how long yuh an Sky a talk?" Zach pressed, his voice laced with curiosity.
A interview???
"From December." I exhaled the words along with the smoke. "Couple months now."
Zach nodded slowly, rubbing his chin as if weighing my response. Then his eyes met mine, more serious this time. "Yuh betta not play wid her, enuh. She jus' a get back pon her foot after weh she did go through wid har ex... an dat fren she did have."
The mention of Sky's ex made my chest tighten, and I felt the blunt almost slip from my fingers. My jaw clenched instinctively before I forced myself to relax. He wasn't worth the energy, and Sky was with me now. That's what mattered.
Zach must have noticed the shift in my mood because his expression softened slightly. Dwayne chuckled quietly to himself, shaking his head.
"Mi did know mi spirit did gree wid yuh," Dwayne said with a small grin.
I glanced at him, raising an eyebrow.
"Hm," he continued, tapping the ash off his own blunt. "Yuh good man. Yuh welcome fi come roun' any time yuh waan. And if yuh need anything, jus' link mi or Zach."
