Page 13 of Phone On DND
“Yep,” I tossed out, feet already pivoting away from her before she could try and spark up a conversation, but I slowed down seeing the jet skis parked nearby. I quickly checked them out, glad that Maasai had chosen them as an add-on because they’d definitely make the trip more fun.
“Oooh, jet skis!” Gabriella came up beside me, running her hand along the length of the one closest to us. “I can’t drive, but I’d love it if you took me on a ride.” Her tone dropped seductively, and she looked up at me through her long, false lashes.
“Hey, Cruz!”
“Cruz is here?” I heard my youngins before I saw them and couldn’t help smiling at their excitement to see a nigga. That shit wasn’t supposed to move me the way it did, but I was already growing attached to their bad asses. Like clockwork, Keyani appeared, yelling for them to get back from the edge.
“Ugh, she needs to get those bad ass kids! I hope they’re not coming on every excursion, ’cause I did not sign up for that shit.” Gabriella turned up her nose and looked at me expectantly like I would agree with her or something, but I was instantly offended by her calling them the same shit I’d been calling them since we’d met.
Instead of cursing her out like I wanted to though, I shoved her bag back into her arms. “They were probably hoping the same thing about you not coming, but here you are in that aggressive ass pink dress,” I said, leaving her standing there looking stupid. She was still sputtering like a fool as I made myway through the lower level and upstairs where everyone else was.
“’Bout time you got here, nigga. You and big sis was bouta get left.” AJ walked up as soon as I reached the landing, with his wife Janessa tucked under his arm and a big ass grin on his face. I dapped him up just as we took off, further proving what he’d said.
“Shiiit, I would’ve just chilled on the beach with a blunt,” I lied, scanning the deck for Keyani. The truth was for as much as I’d tried to deny it, I ’bout would’ve turned into Aqua-mane from the Montgomery brawl and swam to this bitch if they’d pulled off on me.
“Oh damn, you got that shit on you? I definitely forgot mine tryna rush.” He shot his wife a look, and she sucked her teeth.
“Boy, don’t look at me like that. We would’ve been in the same boat as him and Gabby messing around with you.” They started bickering, and I crept off, not wanting to hear that shit. As I passed Armand and Ms. Eva, I paused long enough to give them a proper greeting, kissing her cheek before I continued on to find Keyani. The other guests were scattered around, but there was no sign of her or my youngins, and I surmised that she was hiding somewhere. When I reached the next level, I faintly heard kids laughing, and a slow grin spread over my face. I found the trio by the pool and immediately clocked Keyani rolling her eyes once the kids spotted me.
“Don’t run!” she yelled at their backs as they raced to where I was. They slowed to a fast-paced walk before stopping in front of me and firing off questions.
“Can you help us swim today?”
“No! Can you take us on the jet skis?”
“Absolutely not! Y’all ain’t getting on those things!” Keyani shut that shit right down, but they didn’t seem fazed, almost like they expected her to say no before moving on to the next thing.
“Well, can we play the game downstairs? They got a PlayStation and a Nintendo Switch! We can bet money too!”
“I don’t wanna play that, Kani!” Kari’s little eyebrows pressed together, making her look just like her mama when she was mad. I hadn’t really noticed it before, but she was Keyani’s twin while Kani favored their bitch ass daddy more. Thankfully, he hadn’t inherited his bitch tendencies too though.
“So! You can play with Mama!” They argued back and forth, and I was surprised I wasn’t immediately annoyed by that shit. I glanced over at Keyani, who still hadn’t moved as she watched us with her hands on her hip and an accusatory mug on her face.
“Chill out y’all, we can do all that, but y’all gone have to compromise on what we doing first,” I told them in a more patient tone than I was even aware I possessed.
“The game first!”
“Swimming first!” they shouted simultaneously, but before I could interject, Kani suggested rock, paper, scissors to make the final decision. I really didn’t care what we did first, but knowing I was still high from the blunt I’d smoked earlier, I was hoping to start with video games. As much as I trusted myself, I wouldn’t disrespect Keyani’s aggravating ass by putting the twins in harm’s way while I was zooted. I also didn’t want to have a damn D.A.R.E commercial moment with them if I had to explain why I couldn’t immediately take them out to the water, so when Kani won the best three out of five, I breathed a sigh of relief.
Keyani’s eyes were on us the whole time, and I could tell she felt a way about how easily shit was coming to me when it came to the twins. She’d made up in her mind what type of nigga I was and had been treating me accordingly, but the fact that the twins fucked with me threw her ass for a loop. I personally enjoyed seeing her so uncomfortable with how they took to me. That’s what her ass got.
With the order of activities decided, we headed down to the game room with their salty ass mama on our trail. Right away, they started trying to give away the little money they’d won the day before, especially when AJ and Maasai found their way in there, but I wasn’t falling for their conning again. I decided to let them hit those niggas’ pockets this time, opting to feed them cheat codes that had them walking away with another couple hundred each.
By the time they brought up the jet skis again, my high was dull at best, and I felt confident enough to take them out on the water, but I needed their mama’s approval first. Keyani had disappeared to the lower deck with the other ladies after it became too boring to watch us play video games. She’d been guzzling some sparkling alcoholic drink the onboard chef had made, so I knew she’d be more agreeable than she was before. I left the twins with Maasai and AJ to go in search of her, and it didn’t take long to find them singing karaoke in some type of entertainment room. Sticking my head in the door, I smirked seeing Keyani on a makeshift stage, rapping along to some GloRilla song, until she got to talking about dark-skin country niggas. She was feeling that shit a little too hard for my liking, rolling her neck and shit like she thought she was Glo’s ass for real. It didn’t help that Avery’s ole pregnant ass along with Maagic were hyping her up even more. Hell, even Gabby was all into it, so none of them noticed me come in until I was on the stage with her, then they started booing like this wasApolloor some shit. Not realizing why the crowd had turned on her, Keyani finally faced me and immediately rolled her eyes dramatically.
“Let me holla at you.” It came out like a request, but I already had ahold of her hand and was leading her out the room. She didn’t put up a fight either, just handed off the mic and fell into step with me. Low key, that shit made me feel good as fuckthat she didn’t automatically think something was wrong with the kids. It was like she knew she could trust them with me, or maybe she trusted that they were with Maasai, but I preferred the former.
“If you’re ready for me to get the twins, that’s all you had to say. I don’t need you to hold my hand there, I know where they’re at.” My forehead bunched hearing the sudden attitude in her voice once we stepped in the hallway, and it became obvious why she’d followed me out quietly. She thought I was tired of my youngins. She pulled her hand out of mine and went to walk off, but I caught her arm, bringing her right back, and wedged her between me and the wall. “What!”
“Aye, pipe down, ain’t nobody come get you for the kids, man. My youngins straight,” I snorted, feeling insulted for the second time that day about something having to do with her bad ass kids. Her expression softened a bit, but she kept her arms folded, tryna keep a tough façade. “They wanna go on the jet skis though, and before you start trippin’, I’ll make sure they got on the vests, and I won’t even go that fast. You can even come watch. Shit, you can ride too if you want. It’s a four-seater down there.”
Keyani was already shaking her head and trying to walk off, but I pulled her right back. “Boy, me and my kids ain’t getting on that thing with you!” She chuckled like I was crazy for even suggesting that shit.
“Fuck you say it like that for? I’m the safest muthafucka you can ride with.” My brows dipped as she laughed harder and waved me off.
“I’ll ride with you!”
We both looked up to see Gabriella’s thirsty ass with her head poked out the door, being nosy. Her presence had Keyani’s attitude back, and she raised her arched brows with a nod. “See,she’ll go.” Feeling as if that was a green light, Gabby pulled the door open wider, flashing all thirty-two of her teeth.
