Read A Taste of Honey for Free Online

kept it moving and walked straight into the building.
    “Daaaaaamn, that man is fine,” Rorrie said once he was inside the building. “What’s up with you keeping it all short with him?”
    “I’m not gonna press him,” I said. All the while I was hoping he’d noticed how good I was looking in the tight yellow jeans I was wearing and the sequined Guess tank top.
    My heart did a cartwheel, a backflip, and a somersault when he came to the balcony and yelled out my name. “Hailey, come here for a minute.”
    “Girl, let me go see what he want. You want to go chill up in my crib?”
    “Nah, I’m gonna run home for a minute. I might want to come back and spend the night with you.”
    “Cool, I’ll catch up with you later,” I said to my best friend.
    “Call me,” she said.
     
    T en minutes later Manny and I were sitting on the couch as he told me what had been going on. He’d gotten locked up and so had Cheron. It turned out that he had three apartments besides this one that he used to stash drugs. Manny was a drug dealer and Cheron wasn’t even his main girlfriend. In fact, he had a wife, which made my heart sink a bit when he admitted it. Cheron knew about his wife, which was apparently the only reason why she’d gotten over what had happened between us. She’d known all along that she would never be the only one.
    I didn’t know why he was telling me all of his business all of a sudden. “I just wanted you to know because I’m planning on moving to Atlanta in a couple of weeks. My wife is pregnant and I need to think about my future. I never planned on staying in this game too long.”
    As he talked I could see the fear on his face. “So are you going to jail?” I asked.
    “No. My lawyer is great and the charges against me were dropped. Cheron, unfortunately though, she might have to do a little time if things don’t work out. She got caught red-handed. She’s a trooper though. She didn’t drop dime on me and I love her for that. It’s all about loyalty, Hailey.” I was impressed with her and how she had his respect.
    For the first time we actually talked about life. I didn’t know much about him before this point but listening to him I got to know that he was truly intelligent and a caring person as well. What shocked me was when he apologized to me. “Hailey, I feel like I took advantage of you and I’m sorry.”
    “No need to apologize. We both got something out of the deal.” I smiled. “I’m not mad at all.”
    He nodded. “You learn fast, I see. Well at least I taught you something, but I’d like to warn you though. Stay clear of guys like me. Street niggas like me. Most of ’em won’t be as nice as me and they’ll ruin your life and not even look back. Fortunately for Cheron, I’m going to look out for her. I posted her bail and I’m planning on paying for her lawyer. She may not get anything but probation, but still she’ll end up with a record.”
    “Well, let me ask you this. If you weren’t afraid of her snitching on you would you have looked out for her?”
    “You know what the good thing is?” he asked. “She was smart enough to put herself in a position where we didn’t have to find out. Always use this as well as this,” he said pointing at his head first then his crotch. “In the opposite order you’re headed for disaster.”
    We talked for a little while longer and he asked me about college. I told him that I wanted to go away somewhere, maybe California or New York. He suggested Spelman or Clark. I knew why.
    I was about to leave when he asked me if he could make love to me one last time. The next time he came by this apartment, he said, he’d be moving. Who could resist him, so I said, “Okay, but it’s gonna cost you. I don’t do charity cases.” Then I smiled.
    “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He laughed. This time we got in the shower together and he took his time. Once we were in the bed he was so passionate that he almost took my