“Good. Leave it there,” he instructed.
“I already told you it’s dead.”
With all the chaos that had popped off since I walked through the door, unlocking my suitcase to find my charger was the last thing on my mind.
He sucked his perfectly aligned white teeth. “Just do what the fuck I said.”
I swear I wanted to pop off so bad, but due to his size and angry demeanor, I listened. I picked up Butta’s crate and brought it into the bathroom before closing and locking the door behind me. After turning on the shower and letting it run for a few seconds, I started pacing the small space between the sink and the shower while the water heated up. I glanced into Butta’s crate that I’d set on top of the toilet. He was looking back at me crazy like I was in the process of growing a second head.
Truth be told, I didn’t know what the fuck to do. I didn’t know if I believed that Kareem was in a car accident or not, but something had brought him to my apartment. If he was telling the truth, how could I call myself a good person and willingly throw a stranger out onto the street in the middle of a hurricane? Aside from that, I couldn’t ignore how fine he was.
When I finally started to stop racking my brain for a sensible solution, I peeled off my clothes and stepped into the shower. The water was heated to the perfect temperature—not too hotand not too cold. Just when I started to relax under the rhythm of the soapy water droplets, everything suddenly went black. The power had gone out.
Fuck.
As soon asthe lights went out, the first thing I thought about was her. She still hadn’t told me her fucking name, but as pretty as she was, I knew she had to have a name to match. I couldn’t deny the fact that shawty was fine. Her face was a breath of fresh air I needed after being surrounded by hard-faced criminals all the goddamn time.
She was sporting long box braids in a half-up, half-down style. She was short as hell, so the tips of her braids ended right above her lil round ass. Yeah, I noticed she had a lil body on her the minute she walked through the door wearing that wet-ass jumpsuit. The way the fabric clung to her curves and solidly carved thighs had me glad I’d tossed that fuckin’ throw pillow over my shit before it started to brick up.
The hot pink French tips on her nails and toes told me she was timeless but a bit rebellious. I admired her slim body type and how her braids complemented her butterscotch complexion and full dark brown eyebrows. Her almond-shaped eyes were deep-set, and she had a set of long, wispy lashes that fanned over them. Her golden skin looked as smooth as buttermilk, and her full lips were the color of red blush like a Georgia peach. There was an innocence about her that I appreciated. Attitude aside, I could almost smell the green on her. Lucky for her, green was my favorite color. Although she hadn’t smiled since I’d met her, I could tell she had some pearly whites behind that sassy mouth of hers.
A slowed-down recap of her body replayed in my mind as I felt my way down the dark hallway. Shawty definitely had a set of lips I could see myself diving between if ever given the opportunity, and I didn’t mean the ones on her pretty ass face. Regardless of how she looked, I knew there was a strong chance she was freaking the fuck out on the other side of the door.
I stepped up to the door and heard the familiar growl of that annoying ass brown pooch. For a second, I reconsidered knocking to check in on her, but I needed to know where her flashlights were so a nigga could see. I was tired of getting my Stevie Wonder on. I balled up my fist and knocked, which set off the yapping of both her and the damn dog. That lil nigga obviously held grudges. His ass should’ve been glad I didn’t punt his ass into the fuckin’ woods.
“Yo, you good?”
“I’m fine. Go away.”
“I was just trying to be nice to your rude ass, but fuck it,” I growled.
Before I could walk away, she snatched the door open, letting out whatever amount of steam she’d accumulated in there before her shower ended so abruptly. My eyes caught hersbefore traveling down the rest of her body. All she had on was a towel, and her braids were wrapped up in a high bun on top of her head, which made her at least three inches taller. For a second, I almost forgot my train of thought. Then the sound of her annoying ass dog and her nagging quickly brought me back around.
“I’m rude when you’re the one who broke into my shit?” she grumbled, her arched brows downturned into a scowl.
“Candles?” I challenged, ignoring her.
“I dropped them by the door.”
“Matches?”
“No, but there’s a lighter in the drawer in the kitchen. I’ll get it.”
“What about a flashlight?”
“The batteries are dead.”
I smacked my lips. “Go fuckin’ figure. You really oughta be more prepared for shit like this.”
“Shut up. I bought more. They’re at the door too.”
“Aight, bet.”
We split up—me getting the candles and batteries from the shopping bags she’d dropped at the front door and her grabbing the lighter and flashlight. We lit candles and replaced dead batteries in silence before she took one of the three-wick candles into her bedroom to get dressed. She returned a few minutes later wearing a tank top and some black biker shorts that showed off the lil round peach she was toting from behind. I was a Georgia nigga, so I appreciated a beautiful Southern woman with a nice ass. It didn’t have to be big or take up two seats on a plane. It just had to sit up nicely and be easy to cuff. Shawty’s was both.
After setting the dog’s crate in the living room, she met me in the kitchen, where I was scrounging around through her cabinets, looking for food.
“You got anything to snack on around this mothafucka? I’m hungry.”
