Caught Up

Chapter 1

Taj Pictured on the cover

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Taj sat at her desk tapping her pencil. Her palm was placed firmly under her chin while her elbow rested on the counter. Her job bored every good feeling out of her body as she sat there staring at the clock.

 "2 more hours" she said out loud with a slight sigh. It was yet another mundane Tuesday at Bills rental emporium and Bill was out, probably cheating on his wife again. Taj was once again left alone, holding down the fort in case anyone happened to come in. But customers were scarce at this once thriving business. Ever since the constant robberies, the stores in that shopping center slowly closed down one by one. Nobody wanted to stay in the area except Bill. But Bill was rarely at work anyway.

Taj was one of the sweetest people you could ever have the pleasure of meeting but her appearance showed otherwise. Her dreads rested just above the middle of her back and her mocha colored skin was usually enough to intimidate any random conservative soccer mom. She had a masculine edge up that stayed fresh and rarely smiled. Her aggressive demeanor was what kept her immune to the robberies over the past year and the fact that she knew everyone in the area and had 3 well known siblings; no one dared to cross that line with her. Not to mention she carried a gun with her everywhere she went. She never used it on anyone but her eldest brother Ramon got it and told her he wanted her to carry it, so she did. Aside from shooting random small animals and cans in the woods every now and then she really didnt have any use for it. No one ever messed with her and she liked it that way. Taj was never really one for drama anyway. She was always the calm one of family. When everyone else was yelling and screaming she was the one to bring peace. People just listened to her. She had an aura about her that made people do so. Her heart was genuine and people knew that.

Taj hung her head down and played with the dangling dreads in front of her face. She let out a deep sigh as she pulled her droid out of her pocket and scrolled thru the recent text messages. Maybe she could spark a conversation with someone she recently texted. Anything to cure the boredom would help. She tapped Kerri’s thread and it opened. The last thing they had talked about was how bad Kerri wanted to Fuck but couldn't leave the house. Taj decided to hit her up..

“Aye Miss Lady wassup” Taj tapped out and hit the SEND button.

10 mins later, the reply came:  “Nothin just sitting in my room catching up on my stories. What you doing boo?”

Taj smiled as she replied, “At work bored out of my mind. U should come keep me company.”

“Well alright. I need to go down that way anyway. I’ll be there in 15 is that alright with u?” Kerri replied almost instantly.

“Yea Imma take a smoke break. Ill prolly be outside this hell hole when u get here.” Taj sent while tapping her pocket to make sure she still had a pack left. She did.

“Ok. See u soon.” Kerri sent.

Saying Taj liked Kerri would be an understatement. Taj was downright head over heels for the girl although she would never admit it out loud. Kerri was a nice honey brown complexion. She had gorgeous natural green eyes and shoulder length hair. She had the body of a goddess and loved to show it off. Every chance she got she was half naked. The very sight of her screamed sex appeal and niggas definitely broke their necks just to get a peek at her curves. The only problem for Taj was that Kerri was still young and wild. At the tender age of 19 she was all about partying and drinking. Weed and any other drug she could stand would occupy her mind whenever the chance arose. She was such a beautiful and sweet girl but was clearly running from something in her life with all the drugs booze and parties. She was a hurt soul and Taj could see it in her eyes. Taj so desperately wanted to save her from whatever it was that she was running from but she wasn't where she wanted to be in life financially or mentally to do so. So she settled on being a “fuck buddy” until the time would come when she would make it official. Kerri always told Taj that she was the only one she was messing with and Taj truthfully told her the same.