Page 33 of Anything Necessary for Her (Crenshaw Kings #9)

Not caring about his bloodied mouth, I kissed him deeply and in front of everyone. I heard gasps, and I could only assume it was from the people who weren’t my brothers who’d foolishly chosen to stick around and who I could hear talking shit.

Quick patterned steps to let me know someone was running caused me to look over and realize one of my brothers was about to come fight Low for our PDA, but Free and Asif stopped it.

Low let me to my feet before I turned to walk back to Asif, ignoring the rest of my siblings either shooting daggers at me or Low’s back.

“Nigga, you was ’posed to be making sure this shit ain’t happen!” Shakur barked at Asif’s back.

Lord.

“Nigga, I said that shit when she was a fucking minor!” Asif shouted back, brows pinched in annoyance. “Banks is grown as fuck, and I got four kids and a wife, nigga. I can’t play PI!”

“Man—”

“Aye, if you wanna holla at me privately, we can do that in a minute, but we not about to be arguing in front of everybody.” Asif cut off Shakur’s statement before corralling me behind the building for some semblance of privacy.

“That’s fucking crazy!” some random hollered out.

I could remotely hear the remaining crowd disperse, as I fell against the hard concrete of the bathroom building, arms folded while I waited for Asif to tear into me.

“Look at me,” he said, arms folded as well as he peered down into my eyes. “Low, huh?”

“Yes.” I sniffled, hating how today had gone.

Not only did my brothers have beef with Low now, but it seemed like my other brothers were angry with Asif.

This whole time I expected for them to band together and go at Low, but never did I think they would be upset with Asif, which made me feel even worse.

“What y’all ’posed to be? Boyfriend and girlfriend?”

“It’s not supposed , Sif. That’s my man.” I hiked a brow at him, and he nodded very slowly, shock evident in his face. “What?” I asked since he was just studying me like a weirdo.

“Nothing. I thought you grew out of the crush you had on that nigga, B.”

“I did. This is not a crush though. I like him a lot. I’ve spent time with him and had talks with him. If anyone knows how dope of a person Low is, it should be you.”

Asif glanced off at my words before running a hand down his fade, lips tucked in, in thought.

“It’s real, huh?”

“It is. Contrary to what you all may believe, I didn’t just wake up and decide to date a drug dealer because it seems cool. I took my time and got to know him. I made it clear how shit was gonna go between us, if it turned into anything at all. This not some good girl meets bad boy bullshit.”

“I know. Chill out. Give me enough credit to know how much credit I give you. You wasn’t raised to be no dummy—not in school and not for these niggas.”

“So what’s the problem then?”

“Back then, you was too young, and he was too reckless. Now . . .” He exhaled. “I fuck with Low, but he got a lot going on, and he likes to bury his problems in vices. That’s just not what a nigga pictured for you, baby girl.”

“Yeah, I witnessed that part of him, but the important thing is he wants to do better and is working on that part of himself.”

Asif bobbed his head, frowning a bit because of the sun.

“He must like you ’cause I ain’t never heard that nigga say or even attempt to stop spiraling when he have a bad day.” Licking his lips, he asked, “How he treat you?”

“Nice.”

Chuckling, he said, “Baby girl, it gotta be more than nice. Most niggas with a brain are nice to women they like, at least initially. However, it takes a man, an intentional one, to treat you how you deserve. So I’m asking, what is he doing? You know what is expected of a nigga, right?”

“I do.”

“So answer.”

“He’s very respectful, thoughtful . . .” I pinched the necklace he’d given me between my fingers, which Asif caught.

“Sweet, chivalrous, never pressures me to do anything, and I love how much he tries . And from getting to know him, Low is not the type of man to try to do anything or better himself, especially for a woman.” I watched Asif nod in agreement.

“But also the way he watches me, looks at me, makes me feel,” I listed.

“How he kissed me in front of y’all, showing where he stood.

It’s shit like that. I have never met a man like Willow. ”

My brother grunted, making it obvious this was difficult for him to hear. “He make you cry?”

“Sif.”

“Banks. Answer the question. It’s important.” He glanced off, shaking his head at someone who clearly wanted his attention.

“No, but you know it takes a lot for me to cry. He pissed me off though,” I admitted, smirking.

Asif nodded, then quizzed, “So you sure about him? ’Cause this is about to be a problem for a lot of reasons, and I want you to be sure that nigga is worth it and grasp what you getting yaself into, baby girl.”

“I understand all of that and am very sure about him. Whomever doesn’t like it, including your brothers, that’s too bad.”

“Calm down, thug passion.” He sighed, making me do my best not to chuckle. “If you so sure about the nigga, why you keep the shit a secret?”

“Because I knew shit like what happened today would transpire!”

He rocked his head, frowning some as if he only partially believed me.

“Wanna know what I think?”

“No.”

“Too bad. I think you wanted to make sure the nigga was worth ya time and didn’t wanna hear no ‘I told you so’ shit from us. Because regardless of when you told us, this shit that went down today would’ve happened.”

“Maybe a little bit,” I confessed. “But there won’t be an I told you so on y’all’s end. I’ll be saying that to y’all’s asses.”

He was right that today would’ve happened no matter when I told them about Low and me, but this would all be worse if Low did me dirty, because my brothers would never let me hear the end of it.

So, it was best for me to date his ass in secret, and that way if he played me, that, too, would’ve been in secret.

Though I hated how today had gone, I felt confident in what my man and I had and couldn’t wait for my siblings to see they didn’t know what the fuck they were talking about.

“I would prefer that. But aight. Come here.” Asif smirked while forcing me into a hug that I tried to turn down before melting against his hard chest and inhaling his cologne.

“I’m sorry,” I spoke softly. “I didn’t think they would be mad at you.”

“You straight.” He kissed the top of my head. “Me and them niggas gon’ be aight. We brothers; arguments and disagreements happen. My main focus, as is theirs, is that you ain’t being mistreated or embarking on a journey you not ready for.

“Being with a street nigga is more than him being rich and spoiling you.”

“I know.” I tilted my head back to look up into his face that was a darker version of my father’s. “Low told me as much while trying to wean me off of him.”

“I’m glad.” He sighed, then added, “You know I gotta see that nigga.”

“Don’t kill him.”

“I’m not. Mainly because you would never talk to a nigga again, and secondly, I’m trusting yo’ judgement right now. Don’t fuck that up.”

“I won’t. So back then when you said you would’ve killed him, you were just saying it?”

“Nah, back then, I would’ve murked him. You was underage and just . . . nah . . . would’ve put a bullet in his ass immediately. The Low back then had no good intentions for any woman. The one now, he’s more mature in how he moves, but I still see shit I don’t fuck with, so we gotta talk.”

He released me, and we turned to start walking back toward the main area of the park.

“Fine.” I surrendered, knowing there was no way around it, and Low wanted to speak with Asif privately anyway.

“He make you cry once, tell me.”

“No. So you can kill him? How many times have you made Stazi cry?”

He laughed before saying, “She only cry when she wrong so I can apologize. Soon as I do, eyes be dryer than the Sahara with her fakin’ ass.” We guffawed. “Other than that, my wife don’t ever cry. I make sure of it. He better make sure he do the same.”

I nodded, pondering for a bit as we meandered through the patchy grass. “Let me get on your back.”

“No, Banks. I’m old, according to you anyway.”

I cracked up at his statement. “I have never said that.” I slipped behind him just before he squatted some to allow me on.

“Yeah, aight,” he replied incredulously.

“Stazi won’t want her spot, right?” I jested.

“Nah, I usually have her the other way.”

“Ugh!” I gagged, making him chuckle as he started to run fast as hell, making me screech.

When we got back to the thick of the get-together where everyone was, I tried to focus on the tasks assigned to me, but my brothers, excluding Asif, barely saying two words to me had ruined my mood, so Anastazia said I could leave.

As I climbed into my Jeep with Kailey, my phone buzzed.

Low-Low: you not done with a nigga right.

“Ooh, I see a smile. That must be your man.” Kailey buckled up, giggling. “That man busted your brother in his sexy ass face for you.” Kailey reminded me of the horrific event.

Me: Never. 3