Yeah, Whatever

Chapter Five

Sienna and I walk back to Grambling Hall, M'kai and Adedayo's dorm, together.
"So was Adedayo the person you were all smiley about?" I tease, bumping my hip into hers. She blushes and laughs. "Yes, he was. I don't know CoCo there's just this energy about him that's so...alluring. I love it," she sighs dreamily.
"So cute Sie, I'm happy for you. I can't wait to actually meet him today, I'll have to give him the 'fuck with her feelings I'll fuck up your face' talk,"
"Coco nooooo—"
"CoCo! Sienna! Hey!" a familiar voice says from behind us. We turn around and see Ty walking towards us. Shit, I forgot he stayed in this dorm.
"Hey Ty, what's up?" I smile. Once he approaches us we each give him a small hug.
"Nothing much yeah...so CoCo when are we gonna get back to work on that project? We only have about a month and a half to do a lot of work. Are you free today?"
"Actually I'm not, I'm about to go off campus with Sie,"
"Oh, where y'all going?" Is he always this talkative and invasive?
"We're going to a cookout," Sienna chimes in.
"Bet, lemme pull up with y'all—"
"Nah bruh you good," another voice says from behind Sie and me. M'kai walks up behind us, Adedayo on his heels.
"CoCo, who's this?"
"Nigga don't play dumb, you know who I am. We stay on the same floor," M'kai almost barks. At this point I'm stuck. The aggression and tension building up is making me nervous yet at the same time it makes me feel special that two niggas are checkin' for me. But I know I can't let it continue.
"Ty, I'll let you know when I'm free to work. We gotta head over to the cookout. C'mon M'kai," I say, grabbing his hand and pulling him away from Ty.

''''
"What the fuck was that M'kai?" I whisper harshly. The 4 of us are sitting the back of his cousin's truck. His cousin seems cool, but I don't want her all up in our business and stuff.
"What the fuck was what?" he asks nonchalantly, texting.
"You know what I'm talking about, don't play dumb wimmie negro." I'm a little frustrated, if you can't tell.
He looks at me, eyes burning intensely. "He was tryna invite himself to somewhere he wasn't invited first off, second of all, he was tryna act like he ain't ever talked to me before knowing damn well I helped his ass move in and gave him advice on what his activist ass social media platforms should look like," he snapped, not really at me, but more at the situation.
"I mean I get that Kai but did you really have to post up on him like that?"
"Yessir. My dad taught me to never let a fake nigga catch you lackin', 'cause then they gon think they can step to you," he says, words rolling off his tongue like melted butter—smooth.

We arrive at his uncle's house shortly after.
"Wow," Sienna gasps. The house isn't really a house, it's more like a mini mansion. Adedayo places his hand on the small of her back. "Damn, this house dope as shit," he says, Brooklyn accent thick. I can't help but smile and how adorably the two of them fit together.
"C'mon y'all, we got here at the perfect time, I see my brother's truck here. That means we got some gaaaasss," M'kai smiles, golden grill glistening. "Yeeeeesiiir!!" Adedayo cheers. Sienna giggles and rolls her eyes at him. He smiles down at her and kisses her temple. Adorable.

The four of us walk through his uncle's house, heading straight to the backyard. It's huge. There's pool off on the far right side, and the younger kids are splashing and jumping in it. The grills are on the far left side, where some men are flipping burgers and making ribs and just going in on the soul food. There's a tent set up on a part of the huge patio where people are dancing to the music blaring from the sound system. Table and chairs where older people are sitting and talking are set up almost directly in front of us. We walk down the step and M'kai yells "AYYYYYYEEEE YOOO MEYERS GANG MEYERS GANG!"
The family cheers back and come to greet us, well, him.
'''''
"Nephew! C'mon over here! And bring that lovely lady with you," one of the men grilling shouts from across the yard.
"C'mon Nelly," he says, taking my hand and pulling me towards him.
"Nelly?? Nigga do you remember who you're with?" I ask confused.
"Everyone calls you CoCo, I wanna be different. You're name's Cornelia, so Imma call you Nelly," he smirks. I roll my eyes.
"I told you to stop doing that shit girl,"
"Ain't shit you can do about it,"
"Promise you, there is," he leans down and whispers in my ear, " but Ion think you can handle it," he kissed the spot behind my ear and then acts like nothing happened. I blush and follow him, finally reaching the man at the grill.
"My boy M'kai, how you doin'?"
"I'm great Unc, how're you?"
"I'm good mane, I'd dap you up but y'know I gotta hold it down on these burgers, know what I'm sayin? Now, who is this young lady?"
"I'm—"
"Uncle Tyrone, this is CoCo. She goes to school with me,"
"Nice to meet you Uncle Tyrone," I smile.
"You as well CoCo. So how'd you meet my nephew?"
"Well I quite literally bumped into him in class and he helped me get all my stuff back in order," I say, looking up at M'kai. He smiles down at me, shoving his hands into the pockets of his black jeans.
"Aww, y'know M'kai, that's how your mother and father met," Uncle Tyrone says, flipping the burgers over.
M'kai's eyes widen. "Are they here?"
"Actually, yes. They ran to get some more ice if—"
"IS THAT MY M'KAI JEFFERSON MEYERS??" A high brassy, and familiar voice booms over the music. M'kai's head tilts back and he groans. "Kai what's wrong?" I ask. "Just, I'm sorry I didn't have time to prepare you," he looks at me apologetically. "Prepare me for what?" "You'll see,"
A tall woman of about 5'9 makes her way over to us. Adedayo and Sienna are all of a sudden next to us. "M'kai, you know who that is right??" Sienna asks excitedly. "Yeah Sie I do,"
I turn around completely to fully analyze the stallion who is now positioned directly in front of us. My eyes widen and my knees get weak.
Standing in front of us is Ms. Angelique Harris-Meyers, world renowned supermodel. She's up there with Naomi Campbell and Tyra Banks.
M'kai sighs and smiles. "Hey momma,"

"MOM?!" Adedayo and Sienna exclaim. I'm so in shock I can't even speak. Suddenly I become highly insecure. Ms. Harris-Meyers smiles at all of us, hugging M'kai and kissing his cheek. "Hi guys! M'kai, are you going to introduce me and your father to your friends?"
"Yeah ma," M'kai sighs, again. Something is definitely up with him. His dad, former NBA player Derrick Meyers, stands behind his wife towering over her. Explains everything about why M'kai is so tall.
"Mom, Dad, these are my friends Adedayo and Sienna. And this, this is CoCo," he says, placing his hand on the small of my back.
"Hi Adedayo, hi Sienna...and your name is CoCo or is that just a nickname?" Ms.Harris-Meyers asks me, green eyes burning through my soul.
"Ni-Nickname, my n-name is Cornelia, Cornelia Bo-Bowler," I manage to stutter out. Fuck, this is a bad first impression. "Well, hi Cornelia. How did you meet my son?" she asks me. "We um, b-bumped into each other in class and um, he helped me get all my uh, stuff off of the ground," I reply. This is going terribly. "Oh okay, that's cool yeah...so do you know who my son has dated in the past?" Another question? Is she trying to kill me? Why isn't M'kai helping me?  I look up at him, and he's mainly staring down his dad and watching the conversation happen. My chest tightens a little bit, and I can feel myself well on my way to having an anxiety attack. I swallow hard. "N-No, but we're um, not d-dating, if you'll just excuse me for a minute," I get out, quickly walking into his uncle's house and running towards where I remember the bathroom being. I knock on the door and hear someone coughing and the faint smell of Mary Jane. At this point tears are pricking into my eyes so i just go to the empty living room and sit on the floor with my back against the couch and start to cry.
"Nelly? Nell where are you?" M'kai's warm voice echoes through the cold interior of the house. I hiccup and bury my face in my knees. Footsteps get louder and closer until they stop and a huge presence slides down next to me. M'kai puts me between his legs and pulls me against his chest.
"I'm so sorry Nell, I didn't know they'd be here. I thought they'd be back home in Cali...my mom she...she just has all of these superficial qualifications when it comes to the people me and my siblings date and well, I guess in our case, the people we like," he sighs.
"You like me?" I whisper.
"Hell yeah Nell. I do, I really like you. I'm not gonna let her stop me from having you. I really could care less what she has to think at this point,"
"Why didn't you help me when she was grillin' me then, Kai?"
"My dad and I were talking with our eyes babe, he definitely thinks she was going to far but he knows he can't stop her. But you're right, I shoulda stepped in, I'm sorry,"
"'S okay..."
"Why don't I show you around the house?"

'''''
Ms. Angelique Harris-Meyers as portrayed by Solange Knowles

Mr. Derrick Meyers as portrayed by Dwyane Wade

Mr. Tyrone Meyers as portrayed by Martin Lawrence