Thy Neighbor II: Lovin' The Crew

Chapter Seventeen

"Boy you got me head over heeeeelssss...yo, this playlist is hittin', Sis. Where did you find this?" The brisk October wind creeping through the driver's side window is keeping Mahalia awake as she drives up I-476, Ashley all but sleep in the back seat and slumped over, holding onto her cell phone for dear life. Even Mahalia's pitchiness is unable to coax her from her slumber.

"I know, right? One of my classmates sent it to me." Winston wouldn't admit to checking his phone every other minute to see if Ciara received his gift. His heart broke when he saw that Ciara left him on read, not the response he hoped to receive. Ciara was in the midst of trying to pull away from Trevante's grasp for the umpteemth time that morning. She simply forgot to respond. "Yo, Ashley is knocked back there. I got worried for a second that she wouldn't be able to find a sitter for Saeed."

"Her Ahki baby daddy finally took him for an entire weekend. Dead beat fuck..." Mahalia doesn't like any of the men that grace her friends' lives. That's why Ciara is choosing to keep the news of her and Trevante's relationship to herself.

Behave yourself in those mountains

I'm good. You the one that needs to behave, Sir. Have fun at Michael's party.

Trevante and Michael were able to find a compromise regarding Michael's bachelor party and the overflow of guests that suddenly wanted to be a part. While the trip to Atlantic City would just be for the bridal party, tomorrow's party would be for all of Michael's frat, the smooth brothers of Theta Nu Phi. With Trevante's fraternity brothers also in tow, the city wouldn't know what would be hitting them.

Trevante didn't know what was hitting him as he waited for his one of his line brothers, Stephan, to arrive from Toronto. Stephan and Trevante were two peas in a pod in every conceivable way – especially the bad way. That's why Stephan's marriage and two children make Trevante's singleness seem almost intentional. He was forever going to be alone.

But then came Ciara.

Trevante thinks back to yesterday morning, Ciara telling him that she was down for the ride that would be their relationship. He still cracks a smile at the ideas of what they could do together. He sees her coming down to Texas with him for Thanksgiving. He can see them putting up a Christmas tree in his apartment. He can see Valentine's Day. A summer engagement. Trevante's dreams were beyond the limits of his own potential.

A potential that even his sister thought he could never match.

"Tre, you have a what?! I wanna see her!"

Trevante grabs a link to Ciara's Facebook page and shoots it to his sister during their weekly phone call. He thought about changing his relationship status on Facebook but for some reason, he backed away. He wasn't quite ready to yell it from the mountaintops. He was barely just coming down from Ciara telling him "yes."

"Aww, Tre! I like her! She's cute!"

"Thanks, Sis."

She passed the sister test.

I'm lowkey surprised though. She ain't really your type."

Trevante has a type and Ciara was never that but Trevante never thought about it ... until now. Up until that moment, Trevante didn't even think twice about Ciara not looking like she goes to the gym eight days a week or could run the full marathon. The idea of dating someone that doesn't fit that is now starting to cross his mind, even if his sister isn't talking about her size.

She's talking about the Bible quotes, the snapshots from church and the social justice memes that littered her page. Ciara was smart, sweet and safe. Ciara was everything she wanted for her brother but thought he'd never go for because like the rest of the world, she believed that Trevante had a type and Ciara was never it.

Trevante doesn't respond to his sister's comment once Stephan knocks on the door to his apartment.

"Yo, yo!" Their frat call could be heard all the way to the top floor of his building. He wasn't expecting to see four of his other frat brothers in tow behind Stephan. Trevante quickly tells his sister that he needs to call her back.

"Yo, Stephan ... you brought the damn cavalry to my crib, man?"

"Yeah, man. What? You got some chick up in here? Aww, man ... we busted up your whole vibe, man? My bad..."

"Nah, nigga... y'all good, I swear."

If they still believe that Trevante is up to no good, he wonders what Ciara must feel leaving her man alone for the weekend.

Ciara's not even thinking about Trevante as she responds to Winston's text with a thank you and a smile emoji, telling him that she's been playing the playlist since the morning.

"Ashley, this place is beautiful. Wow." The AirBnB that Ashley found is surrounded by trees already changing their leaves into their gold and auburn hues. The Jacuzzi tub is all set to be turned on and the cabin-like feel warms their bodies and souls before they could finish exploring the place.

"Ciara, no ... you didn't bring your laptop with you?!" Mahalia says as she swings a small computer bag in Ciara's direction.

"I couldn't leave it, I'm sorry. I just..."

"Ciara, girl ... no. I'm locking this bitch in the trunk."

"I wish you would. Let me live, please?! Speaking of the trunk, I left the wine bottles in there. Let me get them."

Ciara walks outside and notices an entrance to a trailway across the street. As she walks to the trunk, a voice cuts her concentration.

"Ciara! Hey!"

"Winston? Hey! What are you doing up here?"