Page 19 of Terrez and Shalene (D-Ville Projects #4)

As the evening went on, my dad started playing his music from the seventies and eighties.

These were the same songs I grew up hearing on Saturday mornings when he and my mom would force me to wake up and clean.

He’d poured Terrez and me a glass of his favorite Tennessee whiskey and I was feeling it.

“If You Were Here Tonight" by Alexander O’Neal was playing loudly through the speaker and I was singing it at the top of my lungs. This was one of my mother’s favorite songs.

She used to play it so much that I’ve known it by heart since I was eight.

Terrez surprised me when he started singing along with me.

“What you know about this?” I asked.

“Girl, you ain’t the only person with old school parents. I may have grown up in the projects, but my momma still played her old school music. I grew up on Blue Magic, The Commodores, and Ready for the World,” he let me know.

When dinner was done, a spread of oxtail, cabbage, sweet potatoes, and cornbread laid in the middle of the table.

Ever since I could remember, both of my parents enjoyed cooking.

It was very normal to come home from school and see my father in the kitchen after a long day of work instead of my mother.

My father’s dad was a Jamaican man who moved to The States as a young adult looking for better opportunities.

Diamond Falls was where he met my grandmother Tina.

My dad liked to keep the traditional Jamaican dishes going. Even till this day.

Conversation flowed effortlessly between Terrez and my father.

They talked like they were old friends and even spent a few minutes alone in my dad’s man cave.

I also got more comfortable being back home as time went on.

I was able to give Terrez a tour of my old bedroom and even look at a photo album my dad made for my mother.

It felt good to see my dad in good spirits and I could tell he’d been looking forward to me being here.

Now, it was approaching nine o’clock and we were preparing to leave.

“Let me keep my grandbaby. She hasn’t any time with her pawpaw in weeks,” my dad stated as he picked Amayah up.

“You don’t have to, Dad. I’m sure you’re tired. You know she has an unlimited amount of energy.”

“Shalene, please. You forgetting I raised you. Your butt was the poster child for the Energizer Bunny. She’ll be fine. I’ll take her to that bear store in the mall your mother used to take her to,” he stated, referring to Build-A-Bear Workshop.

“So you’re keeping her until tomorrow night?”

“Come get her Sunday after church. Maybe we can do Sunday dinner if you’re up to it. I’d also like to meet Terrez’s mother sometime soon.”

“We can arrange that. She loves Shalene, so I’m sure she’d like to meet her family as well,” Terrez countered.

My dad wanting to keep Amayah for the weekend was perfect.

Terrez and I had plans tonight, so Pat’s mother was going to keep her for me.

However, I’d let my dad keep her with no hesitation.

When Terrez and I left out the front door, Amayah and my dad waved us off and didn’t go back inside until we pulled away.

“I fuck with your pops. He’s a cool ass dude. He’s not one of those aggressive types of men, but he still let it be known he doesn’t play about you or his granddaughter. Your baby daddy better tread lightly around that man,” Terrez informed me.

“I know. My dad is more of a silent but deadly type. I’ve seen him in action a few times growing up. He’s very good at keeping that side of him contained.”

“True shit.”

“Thank you,” I said lowly.

“For what?”

“For coming over there with me. I wasn’t trying to cry as much as I did but it still hurts.

I’m glad I did it though. I truly missed my relationship with my father.

But also, thank you for putting the battery in my back to go in the first place.

Had you not made me realize things from a different perspective, there’s no telling how long it would’ve taken me to go back home.

I feel complete now. Well, as complete as I’ll ever feel. ”

“I got you, baby. I told you from day one I got you and the princess. I don’t give a fuck who’s doing what.

You and Amayah got someone who’s gonna be there no matter what.

Your grief will never burden me. I’ll just love you harder on the days it seems to be too much. You got my word as a man, as your man.”

The rest of the ride was filled with listening to the rappers Terrez kept in heavy rotation. This right here was why I was shocked he knew any old school music. We pulled up to a bar that was in the cut. It was hidden in plain sight with nothing else around.

“This is one of the spots me and my boys like to come and chill.”

“This is where DP hangs out?”

“Not all of us. Most of the niggas do their own shit and go to other places, but this is where me and the men I hang around like to come. It’s still open to the public, but it’s usually more gang members than anything.

Just know you’re safe. Every man in here has a minimum of one gun on his hip. So don’t be alarmed.”

Just as I was about to open my car door, Pat called me and said she was having trouble finding the place. After guiding her to us, I saw her car pulling into the parking lot.

“Girl, I’ve been living in Diamond Falls my whole life and never seen this bar back here. Never even heard anyone talk about it,” she said as she walked up to us.

“That’s what I told Terrez. But we were never on this side of town. There’s a lot of things I’m seeing for the first time on the south side of the city,” I admitted.

After introducing Terrez and Pat to one another, the three of us headed inside.

The dimly lit bar was filled with smoke in the air and at least six pool tables that were fully occupied.

The DJ was playing “Wipe Me Down”, the bass so loud I could feel it in my chest. Looking around, I noticed most of the men were dressed in black and white. Even Terrez.

“What y’all want to drink?”

After getting me and Pat’s drink requests, he went to the bartender and ordered.

“Girl, I forgot to tell you, he has a friend who wants to see you.”

“What? Wanna see me for what?”

“He asked Terrez if I had a friend. I told Terrez you were with someone, but he said his friend was still gonna try to talk.”

“Who is his friend? Is he fine?”

“I’ve seen him a couple of times in passing. He is fine. I won’t even lie,” I admitted, looking over my shoulder to make sure Terrez was still out of earshot.

“What’s fine?”

“Light skin with honey brown eyes and long ass locs.”

“He’s a pretty boy?”

“Hell no. Even his features are edgy. Nothing about that man is soft. I don’t know his real name, but his nickname is Little, and I don’t know why. That nigga is just as big as Terrez.”

“Damn. Okay. I might need to make an exception. You know a gang banger’s never been my type of man, but hell.”

I had no response because I’d eaten my own words in the end.

Before, a man who was in the streets would’ve never gotten my attention, let alone my damn panties wet.

Terrez was different and so was DP. By the time Terrez came back with our drinks, the man in question was right behind him.

Little was in a white T-shirt with a pair of stacked jeans on.

He finished the look with a fresh pair of all white Air Force Ones on his feet.

His locs were styled half up half down. His beard was a good length and thick as hell.

I defended the hell out of Pat and her on and off relationship, but I feared she was about to make me look crazy.

I knew my best friend and she was not about to pass on this man.

“Little, this my lady Shalene and her friend Pat. Y’all, this my brother, Little.”

“I need a real name,” Pat said as she extended her hand to him.

“Larry,” he responded with a chuckle.

“Okay, Larry. Nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you too, Miss Lady. You wanna play a game of pool?”

“I don’t know how to play,” Pat responded shyly.

“Let me teach you.”

Little grabbed her hand and led her to a table that only had one other couple. Pat looked comfortable and was sipping the hell out of that drink. Relaxing, I took a sip of my own drink and put my attention on my man.

“I told you that nigga she with is a situation. If he was her man, she wouldn’t be over there smiling and shit.”

“I guess I was wrong.” I shrugged.

As the night went on, the DJ played hit after hit and Terrez kept my drinks coming.

He didn’t have nearly as many since he was focused on our surroundings.

Today was a good day. I felt like I accomplished a lot personally and I got to end it by spending time with my man, in his element.

So many men came up just to speak to him and shake his hand.

Terrez never told me exactly what he did in the streets, but the one thing for sure, he was a leader.

When the night ended, Pat informed me that she’d be coming to spend more time with Little.

Since he lived in the same building as Terrez and me, I wasn’t nearly as worried.

Plus, I knew the type of man I was dealing with.

I couldn’t see him being good friends with a man who didn’t have just as much integrity as him.

After showering, Terrez and I went round for round.

We didn’t stop until we physically couldn’t take anymore.

I could still feel a pulse in my walls well after he pulled out of me.

This was what I considered a good life. Waking up and falling asleep next to good dick that also came with respect and boundaries.

Even if Terrez and I didn’t work out, there was no way I’d ever end up with another Brevin.