“You do know that I have no clue what you’re saying when you speak Spanish, right?”
He just levels me with that infuriating gaze and chucks me under the chin like I’m five years old. “Better study hard in your class, little girl.”
With that, he turns and walks away.
ten
#1 on the Billboard Chart:
“4 Seasons of Loneliness”—Boyz II Men
Maddox North
The party is just like the one last summer—the block shows up with food and gratitude. Our little mama makes all the difference. Instead of rushing around like a chick having a panic attack, she flits around like a little bee, talking to everyone and encouraging them to take what will probably be the last swim of the season. I watch her with annoyance and awe. I can’t figure her out, and it pisses me off. It would be easy to say she’s being fake this time, but if she is, she’s one hell of an actress.
I settle on the theory that it’s her parents. Her mom doesn’t come out this time, and her dad is gone all weekend, so there’s no chance he’ll come home and bust up the party.
I remember those bruises on her legs, her arms, her face. Our dad never laid a finger on us—Mom would have put him in the ground if he tried that shit. But I’ve been a Crow since I was fourteen, and I know what a beating looks like.
The thought makes a slow burn rage simmer inside me as I watch Rae swing her wavy, chocolate hair over her shoulder while she talks to Lexi, who’s wearing a flannel shirt and daisy dukes instead of a bikini today. Playing with fire gets everybody burned eventually. The Dolce brothers might have scholarships to the fancy private school on the other side of the tracks, but they belong on this side of town. After the last party, Lexi won’t forget it.
At around ten, the parents pack up their kids and leave us to do our thing again.
About an hour later, the sound of cars pulling up and slamming doors draws everyone’s attention. Our host freezes, her big hazel eyes going wide and her face whitening. Before I can wonder who she thinks it is, Reggie jumps up and pulls his piece. I share a look with Lennox and Jeff, on alert for the appearance of the Skull Serpents. The rougher crew’s been encroaching on our turf and is known for their quick and ruthless execution style. While we prefer the clean kill of a bullet, their preferred method is a brutal curb stomp.
But when the gate opens, a dozen or so guys from the team pour through, led by Tommy Hertz and followed by their cheer squad bitches.
“What are they doing here?” I growl.
“Relax,” Lennox says, sinking back on the lounge chair beside mine. “It’s just your teammates.”
I glare at Tommy, remembering the way he was holding Rae before I sent him to the floor. “We brought drinks!” he yells, holding aloft two bottles of shitty vodka in his meaty fists.
Some of the others have rum and tequila clutched in their hands, though, and some of the guys are friends of mine. I sit back and watch, keeping an eye on things.
Our host looks uncomfortable, but she doesn’t tell them to leave like last time, when she kept trying to break up the party. She should know we’ll take care of things before we go, like we have at the pool ever since we saw what her dad thought of having people over.
After a while, I’m distracted when Scarlet comes gliding over, wearing a bikini top and a sarong wrapped around her hips. She parks her ass on the edge of my chair and bats her lashes at me. She’s high on her status upgrade, since last year she was just a majorette, but thanks to her whoring herself out to Randy, she’s now a cheerleader and part of the in-crowd.
“Hey, Maddox,” she says, leaning on her arm in a way that makes her tits push up in her top. “I was hoping you’d be here.”
Lennox snorts beside me. He doesn’t play the game like I do. He only fucks crew girls, though he entertains others up to a point.
“Hey, Scar,” I say. “Did you run out of guys with money to fuck, or are you just wondering if gangster dick is everything you’ve heard it is?”
“Maddox! You’re so bad!” She giggles and plays with her blonde hair. I can tell she’s already gagging for my dick, but I don’t make things too easy for chicks like her. Eventually I’ll fuck her to put her out of her misery, but she’s a rich bitch, and I’m not about to be another pony or car or whatever she sets her eyes on and gets. She’s going to have to work for this one.
“If you wanted a good guy, you wouldn’t be drooling on my dick right now.”
She widens her eyes and glances around like she’s scared someone will overhear me talking to her like that—and see that she fucking loves it. Girls like her eat that shit up. They pretend they’re all prissy and uptight, but they want to be treated like the dirtiest whores. I have to be careful of them, though. Their daddies don’t like it when they fuck around with gangsters, especially ones who look like me. More than that, the chicks themselves get clingy and weird when you try to move on. It took me a year to shake the last rich bitch I played around with.
Only Lennox is watching us, and he gets off on that shit as much as she does, so I’m not about to take her somewhere private and spare her dignity. She doesn’t want that much respect, anyway. If I told this bitch to bend over, she’d let me rail her in front of the whole party, and she’d cum harder than she’s ever cum in her life.
It’s tempting, so I mull over the idea for a minute. I spot Rae over by the shed, holding her hair up while Marilyn ties her bikini top, and my cock twitches.
“Go get me a beer,” I say to Scarlet.
She huffs and looks indignant that I’m ordering her around.