Page 11 of Krist and Moanie (D-Ville Projects #3)

Moanie

I got off early today and elected to spend the better half of my day with my mother for Sunday dinner, then the last half leading full on into the morning with Krist. He said he had something he wanted me to hear and I was excited about that.

I loved to hear him spit, shit, most of all, I liked to hear him.

Who was I kidding? I liked everything about this man, from his incessant smart ass mouth to the way he would bring me breakfast or dinner, depending on the time of my shift, without me even asking.

He gave a fuck and it completely baffled me how I had gone from social media stalking to feeling like I had known him my whole life.

“You seem so giddy and happy, baby girl. You want to tell me about him?” my mother asked as she diced potatoes for the potato salad.

I smiled. “There’s really nothing to talk about. He likes me and I like him. We’re feeling one another out.”

“Hmm. Feeling one another out has you home less. Are you sure the correct words are ‘feeling one another out’? Because I can think of a few thing y?—”

“Mama, no. I do not want to have that conversation with you.”

She laughed and so did I. “So when do I meet him?”

“Meet who?” I heard Jeff’s voice before he entered the kitchen.

“Your sister’s new feeling friend. I’d really like to meet him.” She smiled then looked up at me.

“Yeen missing shit. She fucking with a Douglasville nigga. The same one I told her ass to leave alone. She isn’t gonna be satisfied until she finds herself in some mess behin?—”

“And there you go. All that negative shit. I told you once, and I’ll tell you again, my life does not revolve around DP and Bedford’s rivalry. Shit, at this point, neither does his. Why can’t you leave this hood shit alone, Jeff?”

“Because I’ma rep my set regardless, even if you keep forgetting where we fro?—”

“You ain’t repping no fucking set in here. If your sister is happy, let her be happy. Don’t go trying to stand in the way of that because I know she wouldn’t stand in the way of your happiness.”

Jeff smacked his teeth. “You ’ont get it, Mama. How I look letting my sister run around here with a nigga like that.”

My mama’s hand was on her side and she was shooting daggers at Jeff with her eyes.

“DP or not, Bedford or not, I don’t give a damn how you’d look, because at the end of the day she is grown.

As long as who she’s dating is not hurting her or this family, I don’t give a damn what set he reps and you shouldn’t either. ”

Our mother had spoken and Jeff was pissed but he didn’t utter another word.

He knew she didn’t play that, and no matter how old he was, he wasn’t crazy enough to challenge her.

He could be whoever he was in the streets, but under her roof he didn’t carry that weight.

We ate and made minimal conversation, all while he tried to stay mad.

“You really trust that nigga, Mo?” my brother asked.

The early dinner my mother had prepared was over and it was just him and me in the kitchen cleaning up after her.

I nodded. “I do.”

“But you don’t know him,” he countered.

“Neither do you.”

He sucked his teeth. “I know of him, Mo, and his rep ain’t good.”

“Would somebody say the same thing about you?”

He sighed, anger subsiding and worry shining through his eyes. “Yeah, bu?—”

“That doesn’t take away from how I look at you. Because at the end of the day you’re my brother and I know you in here.” I pointed to his chest. “I may not know all there is to know about Krist, but I know enough. Now can you trust my judgment and stop treating me like some lil na?ve ass girl?”

He looked at me for a moment, allowing my words to settle. Then he nodded. “Aight, but if that nigga hurts you, nothing you or Mama says will keep me off his ass.”

I nodded. “Understood.”

I spent a little bit longer with my brother before I left to get dressed and ready for the rest of my night. I didn’t know what I was doing with Krist, but he said he had something for me to hear. I was looking forward to it, and him.

I did some quick cleaning and was almost dressed to go when there was a knock at my door. I wasn’t expecting anyone. Shit, I was never expecting anybody. I didn’t do company and lately I wasn’t home enough to have company.

When I reached the door and looked through the peephole, to my surprise Alley was standing outside in the hall. When I opened the door, she plastered a smile I was sure wasn’t real on her face.

“Hey, cousin. I was in the neighborhood and had to pee. Can I use your bathroom?”

Confusion covered my features because when the fuck was she just in the area? She didn’t frequent over here.

“Uh, yeah.” I allowed her in just as my phone started to ring from the counter. After closing the door behind her, I raced to the kitchen. “Bathroom is right there.”

“Hey.,” I answered quickly, a smile on my face when I saw it was Krist.

“Don’t hey me, Honey Bun. I’m downstairs, where you at?”

“Coming down. I’m ju—” Alley’s voice letting me know she was near broke my sentence.

“I wasn’t even sure you were here. I hear you’ve been spending a lot of time with Krist in DP territory.”

I shook my head, not feeling her energy. She was fishing for info. I hate that I’d had her meet me here that night because now she knew where I lived.

“Who is that?” Krist asked, hearing her.

“My cousin stopped by. I’m grabbing my bag and coming down.” I hung up before he could give me that same lecture about keeping her out of my face.

“You headed out?” She acted oblivious to the part of my conversation I knew she heard.

“Yeah, I have plans.” I grabbed my bag from the couch and moved toward the door, hoping she’d follow. After a while she did and I was grateful. She was attempting to dangle and I didn’t like that.

“With Krist? I could stay here until you get back. We can hang out like we used to when we were kids.”

“Maybe another time. I can’t tonight. I’m not coming back until the weekend.”

“Oh, so you spend days with him, huh?” she asked in a snarky tone. She finally came out of my apartment and I locked the door.

“What’s up, Alley? What do you nee?—”

“A couple dollars. I’m doing bad because Joe was supposed to pay my rent last month. I don’t have it right now.”

I shook my head. “Sorry, I don’t have it.” Which I actually didn’t. I had just paid my own damn rent and my car note.

She shook her head. “Can you ask your man? I mean, like, can I borrow something?”

“Um hell no, what the fuck? Why would I ask him for money to pay your rent? Shit, why would he even give it to me?” I tilted my head to the side with annoyance evident on my face.

She laughed angrily. “You act like you don’t know who you’re fucking. Before he was some back alley battle rapper, he was a banger for some heavy DP niggas. I know he still has some of that money saved up.”

“It doesn’t matter, I’m not asking my nigga to pay your rent.” We stepped onto the elevator. I pressed the lobby button, still keeping my eye on her.

She sucked her teeth. “I need that money.”

“And I don’t know what the fuck to tell you.” My patience was gone because I knew this broad wasn’t just in the neighborhood. She was calculated from the moment her hoe ass knocked on my door.

“That’s fucked up because we’re blood. I let you get that nigga. I could’ve sucked him off in the bathroom instead of his friend. As a matter of fact, don’t trip. His dick will be the one I’m sucking soon, cuz.” She stepped off the elevator in front of me.

I laughed. “Then go do that. As a matter of fact, he’s outside. Go do your shit, lil mama.”

I could tell she wanted to get physical, but knew I’d grown up with Jeff as a brother and that shit wouldn’t fly. So she sucked her teeth and stomped off, beating me out of the door. I didn’t quicken my pace at all.

By the time I got out of the door, she was standing right in front of Krist. From the look on his face, he was annoyed.

I continued toward him. His eyes landed directly on me. Not a second later he was pushing off his truck past her to me. He then grabbed my bag and opened the passenger door for me to get in.

“The fuck you want, Alley?” he asked, his attitude fully displayed before he closed my door. For some reason I wasn’t even fazed nor surprised because Alley was who she was.

“I was wondering if you could give me a ride. You know, so I coul?—”

“Naw, you good. Get where you going how you got here.” He moved to the other side of the truck to get in.

Her face was cracked and I wasn’t shocked. Chicks like Alley thought sex would get them any and everything. Then they had the nerve to be shocked when it didn’t work on every nigga.

“You wanna tell me what happened?” My chin was in his hand and he pressed his lips against mine without a second thought. His lips were missed, shit, so was he. Just that fast I’d forgotten about Alley and whatever the hell she thought she was doing back there.

I explained what happened and he laughed. “Make sure she can’t get back up to your place. I’on even like the idea of her knowing where you lay your head knowing how she thinks. Don’t sweat the small shit though, you good, Honey Bun.” That assurance was followed by his hand on my thigh.

“You wanna talk about what she said about me?” he asked, eyes on the road as he drove to some unknown location. Only unknown because I hadn’t asked where we were going.

“No, not if you don’t wanna tell me about it. I’m fine wit?—”