R.A.Y.A.N
I sat crouched behind one of the many trees that lay a few feet back from Naomi’s patio. In my right hand, I held one of her shirts. My eyes watched her movements from here, and I worried that she would call the police. However, when I saw her turn her lights off, I reassured myself that she probably wasn’t going to alert the authorities until tomorrow.
Grateful that I made it out OK, I pulled my ski mask off then freed my hair from its bun. Hesitantly, I held Naomi’s shirt up. I grinned when I smelt a hint of her perfume on it, and I eagerly pressed the cotton material up to my nose, taking a deeper whiff.
“Soon,” I promised. “You’ll be mine soon.”
C.H.R.E.S.A.N.T.O
I sat on one of the outdoor picnic tables, listening to Ki Ki drone on about how excited she was that the weather was oddly warm for winter. She began to talk more about how there was another party coming up, but I hoped that she took my silence as a hint. I knew that she wanted me to make the two of us exclusive, but I wasn’t ready for all that damn commitment.
Checking my watch, I sighed impatiently. Rayan promised he would meet me here, yet he was half an hour late. That nigga had been absent from school for a long ass time, and I was getting sick of collecting all his work for him. I knew that he was probably locked in his apartment crying about how Naomi left him for Craig.
“Are you listening?” Ki Ki bitched at me, her lips pursed in her trademark ‘I’m-gonna-whoop-your-ass’ position. “I said that we should go to the party tomorrow.”
Rolling my eyes, I shifted so that I was looking her in the eyes. “Baby, I ain’t in the mood to hang with your girls again. We went to that party with Rayan and look how that ended up.”
She opened her mouth to retort, but Briana, Jacob, and Naomi walked over, distracting her.
“Where’s Rayan?” Naomi asked, her nervousness evident. “He hasn’t been out here has he?”
Shaking my head as no, I frowned, “He ain’t here.”
“Do you know where he was last night?” she asked.
Confused as to why Naomi’s interest in Rayan suddenly grew overnight, I leaned forward. Had the two of them gotten in another fight? Or had he done something else to piss Craig off? Ever since Ray stormed off, he had been absent until he met up with me last night around 3 in the morning to tell me to meet him here.
“He was with me last night,” I vouched for my boy. “Why are you concerned?”
“She thinks the nigga is stalking her ass,” Briana asserted. Her eyes lingered on Naomi as if she was telling her friend to come clean. “Someone broke into her house and he looked a lot like Rayan.”
Ki Ki looked at Briana in shock, and I toyed with my hands nervously. Shit. Had this dumbass actually tried to break into her damn apartment? I really needed to talk to him.
Jacob, who was doodling a lopsided peace sign on Briana’s arm, looked at me. “Well, if Rayan was really with Chresanto, then how could he have broken into Naomi’s house? He can’t be in two places at once.”
The group fell into a silence, and I took a shaky breath. I could feel Ki Ki’s eyes lingering on me, and I knew that she could tell I was lying. Forcing myself to smile at her, I returned my attention to my hands. Suddenly, my phone rang. Thanking the Lord for the distraction, I excused myself from the table before moving to a secluded area.
“Hello,” I whispered harshly into the phone, already knowing it was Rayan. “Nigga, what the fuck is wrong with your head? Did you get hit too hard by something?”
“What are you talking about?” he drawled, a deep yawn erupting from his end of the phone.
“Where did you go before you came by my place?” I interrogated him. “Were you at Naomi’s apartment committing a crime by breaking and fucking entering? God damn it, Ray; I thought you were smarter than that.”
“Mind your own damn business,” Ray hissed.
I could hear the frustration in his voice, but I refused to back down. “Listen, your business is turning into my damn business. Next time you want to chill with me after committing a crime, just don’t even bother.”
