The Nine

Chapter 1.2: Tara

I broke the chapters into multiple parts to allow for easier reading. Long chapters are a turn off :P You're welcome :P

I slept good and long that night, a dreamless sleep. Wish I hadn't woke up, cause the hangover absolutely blew me. It was an effort to climb from the mass of pillows and satin sheets and brush my teeth. I pulled my hair into the messiest sort of puff ball and laid on the couch in the living room for an hour. After a while I got to rereading my favorite The Silence of the Lambs for maybe the sixth time. I fixed some fish sticks at noon, wishing I had my phone so I could show Dillon my look right now. I was working this tank top and panties thing to the fullest. The sticks I made hit the spot, but then I had to head out to Cayman's to go record something Wallace wanted us to do. Normally it woulda taken fifteen minutes to get there, but that hangover had me pulling over every five minutes to crush up an Aleve and count to ten. When I arrived the gang was all there.

Cayman lived off a busy intersection in the lower ninth on a block mostly to himself. His house was big and fancy, though I knew when the Nine started to really profit, he'd add on and on and make this place a palace. The studio was located on the first floor past a broad hallway. The studio was a great size and very professional-looking, not someone's living room or a spare bedroom modified to accommodate all the equipment. In fact, he actually had the room added on to his house only a year ago.

The first two waiting to greet me at the door of the control room were the twins, Tyson and Dillon. I greeted Tyson with a hug and a kiss on the cheek, his brother with a hug and a kiss on the lips. They were happy to see me and I them, very much so. The group hadn't met up in its entirety in over two weeks, which was weird considering our recent breakout. Hell, I hadn't seen Dill in a few days, and I was beginning to suffering from withdrawal. Dillon and Tyson are identical... except they look totally different. Tyson, the older twin, is at least two inches shorter than Dillon so that he stands at about six even, and he's also two shades darker. He sports a wavy Boosie fade. He's also noticeably burlier than Dillon. Dillon, on the other hand, is the tall redbone with eight or so inches of curly/wavy brown hair sitting on top of his head, hair that I often found myself running my hands through. Both of em got that defined jaw, those thick brows, and those full lips, but Dillon's nose, unlike Tyson's, was fat as hell. They both stayed sharp, with Dillon in all grey today and Tyson in all black.

"Oh y'all niggas chose to match today, y'all cool or whatever." Tyson said coolly. I had on grey Nike track pants and a grey sports bra, and also some shades for the hangover.

"Oh so you mad nobody matching with you? It's cool I understand." I winked at him.

He laughed a little joylessly. "Fake Aaliyah looking hoe. Y'all look like some shit off the Matrix. Glad you came when you did though, twin was working a nigga last nerve talm' bout you."

"Well I suppose that's what a faithful man does, worries about his one and only and not about balancing a good six or seven hoes." Dillon rolled his eyes at the both of us; his brother had at least half a dozen girls down his pants at all times, even though he had a baby on the way by his girlfriend (or were they engaged now? That's what I'd heard) Destiny.

Tyson waved me off and got to using his phone, which reminded me...

"My bad I didn't text you back last night," I told Dill, giving him another kiss. His lips stayed extra soft. My bad for a lot of things last night.

Dill didn't seem to know what I was talking about. He stared down at me - way down at me - amused. "Baby whatchu mean? I told you goodnight, of course I ain't expect you to tell me nothing else, it was a whole 1:30."

... Boy what?

I was wide-eyed. "Ummm no, not at all. I left the party at like eleven thirty without my phone, cause I lost it." And somebody picked it up, apparently.