CLICHÉ

CHAPTER 4 | meant to be

RAHEEM
Saturday 12:31 am

"So how do y'all know each other again? I thought I knew all your friends Jason, but I never met this one before," Little Light Skin says to Slim. I sit on the couch next to DJ snoring ass. That nigga hasn't changed a bit, he still goes to sleep when he gets drunk. Rock and the brown skin girl, Meg left about 15 minutes ago. It's just me, Slim, light skin whose name I found out is Taylor, and attitude Makenzie. Taylor is laid out across Slim's lap as they sit on the small couch across from me and DJ. Lil attitude is sitting at the bar in the kitchen on her phone.

"Man, me and Keem go way back like four flats on a Cadillac," Slim says. He so damn goofy. "Keem used to slang on the East side and he was stepping on niggas necks; wasn't nobody fucking with him," he says. Sometimes I miss the easy money and kickin shit all day with my niggas, but then I think about having kids one day and how I want them to see me in a better light.

"So you was that nigga huh?" Taylor says, licking her lips.

"I'm still that nigga," I say, caressing my beard. I haven't been in that scene in a good minute, but I'll still push a nigga cap back if he wanna act up. Just cause I went corporate don't mean I went soft. Slim laughs at my remark, placing his hand out to dap me up. We slap hands.

"Let these niggas know, Keem," Slim yells, cupping his hands around his mouth.

"Shut yo loud ass up!" Makenzie yells from the kitchen. Why she so angry?

"Take yo ass home," Slim replies, laughing at her.

"I'm waiting for you to take me," she says, cocking her head to the side, like one of them ghetto bitches.

"Ahah, yo drunk ass can't drive," he says, laughing. She gives him a mean mug and goes back to playing on her phone.

I look over to see Taylor watching me. She looks like she wants to say something, but hesitates a little before speaking.

"So you probably get a lot of bitches, huh?" she says, pushing her hair out of her face. I chuckle to myself at her comment. Not because I think it's funny, but because females always saying this to me.

"I've had my fair share of women, but I don't judge women by how many niggas they been with so I expect the same from them," I say, being honest. She nods as if she understands. I look over to see Slim dozing off and I shake my head. I see Makenzie get up from the kitchen island and come over to the couch, slapping Slim on the back of his head.

"Yo what the fuck, Kay," Slim says, rubbing the back of his head with a pissed off look on his face.

"Get the fuck up and take me home, Jason," she says with an attitude. I look at my watch to see that it's almost 2 am. It's about time I make my way to the crib.

"I'm about to head out, I can take you home if you want," I volunteer.

"Jason..." she says, ignoring me. She shoves his shoulder as he starts to doze back off. I stand to my feet, patting my pockets to make sure I have my keys. Jason doesn't respond and Makenzie stands behind the couch with her arms folded across her chest.

"My offer still stands..." I say, heading to the door. I look back to the living room to see Makenzie grabbing her purse and shoes and mean mugging Slim. I smile to myself watching her slide her small feet into her sandals. She walk towards me looking upset. I can tell she doesn't want me to take her home, but I see this as my opportunity to see why she doesn't like me. Every time I see her it seems like she has an attitude with me like I did something to her. I open the front door and she walks pass me towards the elevator without speaking. When I get to the elevator, she's already inside holding the door for me. I enter the elevator and we ride down to the parking deck in silence. When we exit the elevator, I take my keys out my pocket, hitting the panic button to find where I parked. My horn blares throughout the deck and I locate my all black Range near the exit.