One Shots [Rated R] Book 2

No Scrub ['Urban'-Straight]

No Scrub ['Urban' One Shot-Straight]

"Ay! You jus' gonna walk by and not say hi?"

Jasmine Turner blinked out of her trance. She'd been so busy trying to calculate her pay from the extra shifts this week she'd completely forgot where she was. A dangerous thing living in the kind of neighbourhood she does. Then again she's lived here all her life but hopefully she won't have to live here that much longer.

As her feet halt, her gaze twists to a narrow alleyway where there's a bunch of men and some boys of varying shades of brown grouped together. Any group of men in this area (and maybe some of the women too) calling her name would have made her tense but these guys she's on tentative ground with.

She knows them.

They have a sort of...understanding.

"Sorry Jay didn't see you guys there. Hi. How's it going?"

Her smile is stiff as it always is around them. Without Sean here anymore Jasmine's always waiting for the time when they'll think she's no longer off limits, Sean's legacy will only protect her for so long. Soon the upcoming young ones won't give a shit about the sacrifice her brother made for their gang and then she'd really have to be worried walking the streets at night after shifts.

Jay and Sean hadn't always seen eye to eye all the time but the respect had been there. They were close, they'd had each others backs until...well, they hadn't. Jasmine's not all too clear what exactly went down that night, she knows the statement she'd got from the police had been empty and worthless but Jay's story hadn't been much better. He'd been consumed by anger blaming anyone and everyone that she'd never got a clear picture. Now she doesn't ask, she knows better. Whatever it had been was ugly and bad. Inevitable when you run drugs and guns. Maybe it's because of that that Jay had decided to somewhat take Sean's place in protecting her in his own way. He made it clear she's neutral, off-limits and not just some piece of pussy. At least for that she's grateful. Though that's not to say that she'd rather just leave it all behind anyway.

Jay breaks away from his group, stepping towards her and into the dull winter sunlight. He's almost the exact opposite of her brother. While Sean had been built more of a footballer-short and stocky with muscle, Jay's got the baller stature, tall and lean. He probably could have made it too if he hadn't chosen the path he did. Even now sometimes when she sees Jay on the street, the light shifts and she can almost swear she pictured Sean there next to him. Not this time though.

"You know how it is, ma. What's good wit' chu'?"
He steps in close. Too close. That's definitely new. And so is the way he darts his hand out, tagging a tight curl between his fingers and tugging slightly.

Jasmine takes a small step back that smile of hers straining even more to stay upright.

She's not sure what to do. The last year or so Jay and her have always had some distance so maybe this is just him being friendly. Only even as she tries to convince herself that she knows it's a lie.