Read The Blackbirds for Free Online Page B

“Smartass.”
    â€œMiss Smartass to you.”
    â€œNo one asked for a scholarly lecture on my birthday. Just for that, I’m raising your rent.”
    â€œGo raise your own rent. That joke is so old.”
    â€œWhat difference does it make? The whole creation story was stolen from Africa. Now for the last time, who was the last one of us to get some? Stay focused.”
    Kwanzaa said, “Well, we know it wasn’t Ericka or Destiny. Wasn’t me. Had to be you.”
    All laughed except for Destiny, then they all turned to her to see what was going on.
    Indigo said, “What about you, Destiny? You’re carrying condoms for some reason.”
    Ericka said, “Destiny has rubbers?”
    â€œThe Trojan is carrying Trojans in her pocket. Tell us what’s going on.”
    Destiny said, “Well, since you are my besties, and we do keep it real, unless one of you misfits got some since about two thirty, maybe three this morning, I think I might win that trophy.”
    Indigo said, “Get out of here. You met somebody and didn’t tell us, or you had a one-off and didn’t come and brag about it so we could call you a sneaky thot and a bloody whore?”
    â€œI don’t do one-offs. Slow down, girls. Since you feel the need to be all up in my business, let me tell the story from the start. Once upon a time, a few full moons ago, I went out clubbing one night, a night when all of y’all were busy doing whatever y’all do when y’all sneak away from Little Lagos. I met this guy. We had fun dancing, made out a bit, then exchanged numbers.”
    â€œMade out?”
    â€œYeah. We made out.”
    â€œYou need to define what you mean by
made out.
For some folks, especially in the clubs, a blow job is making out. And anal isn’t considered sex, it’s just a way of asking
how ya doing
.”
    â€œYou know, light kissing that became heavy kissing, light touching on top of the clothes. No oral sex and definitely no anal sex. I’m not as freaky as you, Ericka and Kwanzaa.”
    â€œYou’re lying. You kissed a guy
and
let him feel you up the night you met him?”
    â€œI felt him up too.”
    â€œYou jacked him off?”
    â€œNo. But we did a little grinding when he walked me to my motorcycle.”
    â€œLiar. You don’t let people touch you and you don’t touch people like that.”
    â€œThat night I let down my wall and kissed for the thrill of being kissed, but drew the line at kissing and nice titty massage, didn’t give upMomma’s pearl. It was hard because chills were going up and down my spine and the pearl was throbbing.”
    â€œYou’ve slept with him, or are you still just petting and grinding?”
    â€œAbout a month, two hundred kisses, and four hundred nipple licks later, I went on a double date with him and his best friend and his best friend’s Asian girlfriend, and after a couple of glasses of wine, a lot of laughs, more dancing, and more grinding, I ended up half naked in his bed with a big, fluffy pillow under my booty. Damn. Why is everyone looking at me like I’m lying?”
    â€œWhat does he do?”
    â€œMechanical engineer at Northrop in El Segundo.”
    â€œHe’s a geek like you?”
    â€œA math- and sci-fi-loving geek like me.”
    â€œDid he have a pick-up line?”
    â€œDon’t they all?”
    â€œWhat did he say?”
    â€œHe made me laugh.”
    â€œWhat did he say?”
    Destiny imitated her male friend. “‘Baby, you all that. Can I be your man? I got a Big Wheel parked out front, and we can roll down to Crenshaw and get a bean pie.’”
    The girls applauded in slow motion, faces twisted, not impressed.
    Destiny said, “I thought it was cute. He said
Big Wheel.
It was funny. He didn’t say the standard stupid crap a brother usually says. He made me smile.”
    â€œWhat does he drive?”
    â€œA Ram