I ain’t press it. They clearly had a bond, but whatever it was, they was playin’ it cool.
Pluto pointed to my blunt. “That’s what they call God Smoke?”
I smirked. “That’s what they call it. This the real Trillium though. Y’all tryna hit it?”
“Hell yeah,” Kashmere said before Pluto could answer, reachin’ out.
I handed her the blunt and watched her take a slow pull, her lips soft around it. She passed it to Pluto who took it without hesitatin’, pulled and exhaled like she’d been smokin’ for years.
“This that shit,” Pluto said, her voice a little lower now.
They both laughed again, and I was just sittin’ there takin’ it in, lettin’ the night stretch out for once. That was until I heard heels clackin’ hard across the patio like somebody wanted to be seen. I didn’t even have to look up. I already knew the energy was off.
“Wow. Ain’t this cozy,” a voice said.
I looked up at the tag on her top and saw the name,Imani Blaze. She was dressed like she thought this was a red carpet and carryin’ herself like she’d never heard the wordnoa day in her life.
She came straight over, didn’t wait for nothin’, and sat herself right on my lap like I told her she could. I didn’t move right away—I just watched her.
She looked down at Pluto and Kashmere like they was in her seat. “Where y’all from?” she asked, her eyes narrow. “What made y’all come here? What y’all tryna get outta this?”
Kashmere leaned forward, her brows raised. “And who the hell are you?”
Imani let out a short, fake-ass laugh. “I’m the one askin’ the questions.”
Pluto glanced at Kashmere, then back at Imani. “That’s not how that works.”
I stayed quiet for a second, watchin’ Imani try to flex. She didn’t even realize how bad she was blowin’ the vibe.
I tapped her thigh once. “Say, baby… you gon’ have to get up off me and calm that mouth down.”
She turned to me, her face scrunched. “Oh, so now I can’t sit where I want?”
I let my eyes drag over her real slow, then looked her dead in her face. “Not when you movin’loud and disrespectful. This ain’t that, baby.”
She rolled her eyes and tried to stay planted on my lap like she couldn’t feel the shift in my energy. “You actin’ like I said somethin’ wild. I’m just askin’ questions. If they can’t handle that, maybe they don’t need to be here.”
“Aye!” I snapped, loud enough to make Imani jump. Pluto and Kashmere stopped smilin’.
Irritated as fuck, I sat my cup and blunt down.
“Don’t play with me. That bougie attitude might work where you from, but over here? You movin’ like a liability. Ain’t nothin’ cute about you tryin’ to flex for attention. Baby, you too disrespectful, and if you think that shit gon’ fly out here, you got me fucked up. Keep talkin’, you gon’ find out what I really do with energy like yours.”
She blinked fast. Her mouth opened like she was ’bout to clap back again, and that’s when I got her up off my damn lap and stood up. Now I was towering over her, lookin’ down in her eyes while she looked up at me, like she had just realized who she was dealin’ with.
“You see me, right?” My voice was low but deadly. “Do I look like the type of nigga you can play crazy with?”
She was lookin’ in my eyes, but I could tell she wasn’t seein’ me the same no more. That arrogance she walked over here with started to fade. Her chest was risin’ a little different now. Her lips weren’t tight no more, and her whole body went still, like it was pickin’ up on the weight of what was in front of her.
“I wasn’t trying to?—"
I cut her off.
“I done already let you talk. Now I’m talkin’. If I gotta raise my voice at you again, you gon’ be in an Uber back to wherever the fuck you came from before your suitcase even make it out this bitch. You got one more time to move like you confused about where the fuck you at.”
I didn’t have to say another word ‘cause she already knew she fucked up. She knew she wasn’t dealin’ with no weak nigga.
She thought she had presence… until she ran into mine.
