Hey, Book Bae!
Promise to Keep it Trill comes out on the 5th, so I wanted to share a chapter for sample Sunday! I wanted to pick something that showed the dynamic of this friendship triangle. Hope you enjoy!
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Kannon
Unedited
Kannon wouldn’t have been able to forgive himself if he wouldn’t have made Makayla ride with him. She was clearly in a bad mood, and he knew if he didn’t get her out of her hotel room, she’d sulk and constantly think about what was bothering her. Makayla was almost always in a bad mood after she dropped Austin off, which was why Kannon often did it. It didn’t matter how ugly Gina acted when she and Makayla were alone, she was always on her best behavior around him.
Even though she was sitting in the passenger seat of his car pouting, Kannon knew her well enough to know she was happy to be away from the hotel. Giving her time to herself, he didn’t bother her with conversation as a playlist of Memphis rappers played in the background. As if Jason felt that they were together, he called. Unlike most inmates, he had a cellphone that he was able to use freely.
“Yeah?” Kannon answered, hoping the sound of Jason’s voice as it blasted through the car via Bluetooth didn’t catch Makayla too off guard.
“Who you wit’?”
Makayla’s eyes rolled, and she sat further down in her seat.
“Mak.” Kannon looked over at her as he said, “We’re in the car so she can hear you.”
Jason sighed heavily into the phone. “How did the meeting go?”
Kannon shook his head. While he understood Jason’s desire not to hold Makayla back, he hated how he’d chosen to do so. The fact that he was able to completely ignore her and act as if she never existed wasn’t helping her move on… it was causing her to hate him more and more.
“It was coo’. We just coolin’ it now.”
“Aight. I was just checking to make sure everything was straight. I’ll see you next week.”
“Aight, one.”
“One.”
Kannon waited a few seconds to see if today would be the day Jason acknowledged her, but it wasn’t, so he disconnected the call.
“You good?” he asked, to which she nodded.
She’d already had to deal with her mother; being ignored by Jason was the last thing she needed. He texted Jason, Stop doing her like that, or I’m going to stop answering your calls when she’s around. Kannon reached across the center console and took her hand into his, intertwining their fingers. She continued to look out of the window, blinking watery eyes to dry them out.
By the time they’d pulled into the parking lot of his mother and aunt’s businesses, Jason had texted him back.
Jason: The fuck I do?
Kannon: Nigga. You know what you did. She ain’t got no daddy and her mama ignore her or talk bad to her, she don’t need that shit from your ass too.
Jason: I made it clear what was up on my end. We done and it’s for her own good.
Kannon: Nah. YOU were for her own good. She’s accepted that it’s over but you don’t have to be cruel about it.
Jason: Cruel? I’m doing what’s best for her.
Kannon’s head shook. Sometimes there was no point in trying to talk to Jason, and he didn’t know why he was wasting his time. Makayla was in her phone in another world, not bothered by Kannon’s slow movements to get out of the car.
Kannon: Whatever man. Like I said, if you do that shit again I’m not answering your calls when she’s around. That ignoring her shit fucks with her mental and I’m not letting you or nobody else do that.
Jason called back, prompting Kannon to step out of the car as he answered with, “Yeah?”
“I don’t need you to protect her from me. I know what’s best for her.”
“Apparently you do. You told me to look after her and make sure nobody hurt her. You’re included in that, too. I’m telling you that woman still loves you no matter how much she hates you, and when you do that, it makes her feel like you never gave a fuck about ’er.”
“You know that’s not the case.”
“I do, but she don’t. So if you don’t put an end to this shit, I will.”
“Aight, aight,” Jason conceded. “Just let me know when she’s around and I won’t call. I don’t want to do anything to intentionally hurt her, but it ain’t no communication between me and Mak. It’s best this way.”
“Aight,” Kannon agreed before disconnecting the call and going to the opposite side of his Hellcat to let Makayla out.
There was a slick smirk on her face, as if she’d heard his end of the conversation, but she didn’t say shit about it as she grabbed his hand. They walked to his aunt’s chicken shack hand in hand. It was directly next to his mother’s beauty salon, and the sisters were known for getting into all kinds of shit together.
If there was an environment that could get Makayla out of her funk, it was Wanda’s Chicken Shack. Wanda served all kinds of soul food, but she specialized in chicken – baked breasts, fried wings, and roasted quarters, to be exact. As soon as they headed into the restaurant, Makayla’s smile widened. The atmosphere was chill. Small, dark, music blasting. Half of all the tables were taken, and there was a line to the door with people waiting for to-go orders. Pictures of Wanda with celebrities lined all the walls leading to the kitchen… where Wanda and Tracy were standing over the fryers with red cups in their hands, laughing.
The brightly lit, spacious kitchen would have been unbearably warm had it not been for the large fans blowing. It in itself had become a space to party. In the corner of the kitchen and away from the food was a small card table with several flavors of MD 2020 and bottles of Budweiser on it. After speaking to the pair of sisters, both Kannon and Makayla headed to the table. While she opted for the grape MD 2020, Kannon grabbed a beer.
He watched as she talked to his mother, aunt, and cousins. Staying back, he played a few rounds of spades with his cousins. It didn’t take long for Makayla to start returning to her normal self, and by the time the MD 2020 was good and in her system, she’d washed her hands, pulled her hair back, and put on a white apron to start frying chicken and fries with Wanda.
The music seemed to change every hour. Once the old school songs that his mother and aunt requested stopped, rap music began to play. His younger cousins alternated between washing dishes, serving food, and jookin and Kannon couldn’t help but join in. Not everyone liked or understood what vet G-Nerd had coined urban ballet for the streets. But that gangsta walk and getting buck had been a part of urban Memphis culture for decades.
He thought back to his days at Crystal Palace skating rink, jookin trying to impress the girls and his crew… when life was a less heavy time. Kannon couldn’t deny just how much he missed that shit.
Makayla put the plate of buffalo chicken tenders in front of him, pulling him from his thoughts.
“What’s on your mind?” she wondered, smiling down at him.
Her naturally lazy, light brown eyes were sitting even lower because of the alcohol and Kannon swore she got even more beautiful with time. He often wondered how her Werther’s Original caramel candy-colored skin would taste. If it would be as sweet as it looked. Or if her plump, pouty lips would feel like the soft pillows they looked like. She must have been done cooking because she took her hair out of the rubber band and fluffed her wavy curls back in place. They framed her square face and rested on her shoulders perfectly.
“Just thinkin’ about a simpler time,” Kannon confessed before taking a swig of his beer.
“I feel you.”
“I ’preciate you making me tenders instead of wings.”
Makayla nodded with a smile. “It’s nothing.”
But it was everything. She handled him like she knew him, always taking his wants, needs, and desires into consideration.
“How you feel?”
“I’m good now, thanks to you.”
“Good.”
Kannon bobbed his head once before picking up one of the buffalo chicken tenders. He couldn’t resist allowing his eyes to lower to her ass as she walked away. Her frame was slim and it wasn’t the biggest, but it was enough to jiggle when she walked and twerked. She was a part of that lil booties matter too movement, and Kannon had to admit, he enjoyed watching what little bit of ass she had shake and jiggle.
Pushing those thoughts away, Kannon focused on his food and all the love in the kitchen. As long as Makayla was back in good spirits, that was all that mattered…
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I can’t wait for you to read this baby! It goes live Tuesday, but it’s available for preorder here. As always, thanks for the support, and I hope you enjoy!