"It's a Friday night, go chill." Tiana spoke, looking at her twenty eight year old grandson who was seated on the couch watching TV.
"I'd rather stay here with you, Ma." He spoke without glancing at his grandma.
"Baby, I'm fine on my own." She said.
He rolled his eyes. "Last time I Iistened to you, I got a call from the neighbors that you've been rushed to the hospital."
"I'm fine." She coughed.
He looked at her and raised a brow. "You're fine?"
"I'm fine, DeSean." She said with a slight frown.
"Mama, I ain't leaving you alone." He said with finality in his voice. Tiana rolled her eyes at him and got up from the couch and left the living room to her bedroom. She came back with her phone in her hands.
"What you doing?" DeSean asked his grandma who was tapping furiously on her phone. He looked at her in confusion. She eyed him and put the phone in her ear with a small smile on her face.
"Hey girl." She said happily to the person in the other end.
"Is that Sheila?" He asked.
She glared at her grandson."Shut up, boy. I'm on the phone." He rolled his eyes and focused on the television.
"Yeah, that was my baby." She said to who she was talking to on the phone.
She chuckled as she glanced at her grandson. "He's home. Yeah. He said he can't leave me alone after what happened last time."
"Sheila, I'm fine." She said sighing dramatically.
"Okay, fine, come over."
"Yup, there's chicken. Alright." She said and ended the call with a smile on her face. She let out a satisfied sigh.
"What?" DeSean asked.
"Sheila's coming over." Tiana answered and sat sat down beside her grandson.
"Okay." DeSean nodded and focused on the show he was watching. They both sat in silence, enjoying the show that was playing on the television. The doorbell went off and the grandma and grandson exchanged looks.
"I'll get the door." DeSean said and got up from the couch and went to the door. He opened it and there stood Sheila, his grandma's best friend. Sheila was a beautiful black woman who just turned sixty.
"Hey." He smiled at the older woman. Sheila smiled and pulled him in for a hug.
"DeSean baby." She smiled happily. "You look so good." She broke the hug and examined him.
"You look beautiful and more younger. You don't even look sixty." He complimented with a smile making the older woman blush.
"Thank you, baby. Where's your grandma?" Sheila asked as she entered the house.
DeSean closed the front door. "In the living room." He said and followed Sheila inside the house. The older woman squealed like a teenage girl as she saw her best friend. Tiana got up from the couch and engulfed her best friend in a bone crushing hug.
They broke the hug. "I missed you so much girl." Sheila said with a smile. DeSean mentally rolled his eyes.
"Y'all literally saw two days ago." He said in his mind.
"I missed you too, girl. You look so good, Sheila." Tiana smiled as she checked out her best friend.
"You look good too, Tee." Sheila said.
Tiana looked at her grandson who was standing behind her best friend. "Boy, what you standing there for? Get us some drinks."
Sheila chuckled. "Don't be too harsh, Tee."
"Tell her, Ms. Sheila." DeSean said with an eye roll as he went to the kitchen to get drinks for his grandma and her guest. He rolled his eyes at the word drinks. His grandma and her best friend were both diabetic and they avoided sugary drinks. He opened the refrigerator and took out two bottles of water. He took a tray and two glasses and put the bottles on it. He took the tray to the living room where the two women were both seated on the couch talking.
He placed the tray on the coffee table.
"Thank you, DeSean." Sheila smiled sweetly at him and he smiled back. He went to the armchair and sat down.
"What you sitting down there for?" Tiana asked him with a frown. He groaned inwardly and looked at his grandma.
"What you mean?" He asked.
"Go have some fun, baby. Sheila's here with me. I'll be fine." She said with an assuring smile.
"I don't wanna go." He said stubbornly. Tiana's smile left her face.
"It's not a request, DeSean. It's an order." She said sternly.
He frowned. "Why are you chasing me out of my house?"
"Firstly, it's my house." Tiana corrected.
"I bought the house." DeSean said with a smirk making Sheila chuckle.
"You bought it under my name." Tiana said and DeSean's smirk faltered which made Sheila laugh.
"And secondly, go have fun. It's a Friday night." Tiana said.
"I don't like having fun." He said with a pout.
"You haven't had sex since you were born. Go get laid." She said and DeSean frowned.
"I'm not a virgin, Mama." He said.
"Whatever helps you sleep at night." Tiana said nonchalantly making Sheila laugh.
DeSean groaned. "I'm not a virgin, Mama. Just because you don't see me with girls don't mean I don't get laid."
"When was the last time you had sex?" Tiana asked with a smirk.
"Yesterday." He said.
"Yesterday?" She smirked with a raised brow.
"I'm not having this conversation with you, Mama." He said feeling embarrassed.
Tiana laughed. "Why?"
He got up from the armchair. "You know this talk would make me uncomfortable and you brought it up on purpose."
"What you mean?" Tiana asked, trying hard to not laugh.
"You win, Mama." He said and left the living room. He heard his grandma and her best friend's loud laughter as he entered his room making him chuckle. He walked to the mirror and looked at himself.
He was a handsome biracial man with a white father who he doesn't know and a black mother who was happily married to her new husband. He was six feet tall; kept a neat buzz cut; had perfectly arched brows that were cut at the edge; clean shaven, blue eyes, a cute button nose, deep dimples on both cheeks and full pink lips.
He was dressed in black shorts and black sleeveless shirt which showed his hands that were fully sleeved with tattoos. He shook his head and walked to the closet and picked out a black jeans, black t-shirt, black leather jacket and black timberland and place them on his bed. He went to the bathroom and had a quick shower. He came out and rubbed some lotion on his body, got dressed and wore some cologne.
He walked to the mirror and saw his appearance. He looked daring, cold and intimidating. He nodded as he was pleased with his appearance. He took his phone and wallet and went downstairs to the living room. His grandma and her best friend were both engrossed in the Steve Harvey show they were watching and the gluten free popcorn they were munching that they didn't notice him.
He cleared his throat and the women looked at him, both having smiles on their faces.
"So?" He asked.
"You're good to go." Tiana said with an approved smile.
"You look handsome, DeSean." Sheila smiled.
"Thank you." He smiled and looked at the wall clock and the time read 7:45pm. He looked at Sheila.
"Are you sleeping over, Ms. Sheila?" He asked.
"Yes baby. Tommy went for a business deal." Sheila answered. Tommy was Sheila's son who was divorced and living with her.
"A'ight. I'll get going now." He said.
"Make sure you get laid, baby." Tiana smirked making DeSean roll his eyes.
"Be safe, DeSean." Sheila said and DeSean nodded and left the house. He took a taxi and got to the club. The long queue of people waiting to get checked in he saw was no surprise to him. It was a Friday night and a lot of people went clubbing to relieve whatever stress they had. He walked straight to the bouncer which caused a lot of people to groan and cuss at him. The bouncer recognized him and let him in quickly.
He walked inside the club and the stench of alcohol and sweaty bodies attacked his nose. He made his way to the bar and sat down on the stool beside a woman who was laughing with a man. He looked at the male bartender who smiled flirtatiously at him.
"What can I get you?" He asked, his voice slurring a little.
"Was he drunk?" He wondered to himself.
"Martini." He simply said and took out his phone from his pocket.
"Coming right up." He smiled and he simply nodded and turned his attention to his phone. He had a text from his half brother, Kentrell.
Kentrell: do you know why the gun got fired? Because it was shot.
He sighed. Kentrell has been trying to make him laugh for the past two weeks which was not working because of the lame jokes he had been sending. He couldn't blame Kentrell though, because he was just a twelve year old.
DeSean: This is not funny
He spoke each word aloud as he texted his cousin. He placed his phone on the bar as the bartender brought him his drink.
"Thank you." He said.
"Enjoy." He said and winked at him.
"Okay, now that's weird." He thought to himself. He shook his head and sipped his drink as he found himself eavesdropping on the conversation the woman beside him was having with the man.
"And he said my name is Jackson black." The woman said and laughed along with the man. Whatever conversation they were having, they seemed to be enjoying it. This made him go down memory lane. He remembered when he used to laugh at the lamest things but now, he couldn't even remember the last time he laughed.
His phone vibrated from the bar, making him check. It was a message from Kentrell.
Kentrell: Women are supposed to tell mom jokes not dad jokes.
He unconsciously read the message aloud.
"Do you have a problem with me saying dad jokes?" He heard the woman beside him ask.
He turned and faced her. She was a beautiful blonde woman with gray eyes, light make-up that looked beautiful, high cheekbones, pointed nose and full lips.
"What?" He asked her.
"You're a lonely misogynistic piece of trash who doesn't-" She started angrily.
"I'm not a misogynist, lady." He cut in respectfully with a frown on his face.
"Calm down, Cedes." The brown haired man that sat beside the lady said to her.
"Listen to your friend, lady." He hissed and downed his drink in one go.
"Asshole." She cussed at him making him roll his eyes. He sighed and dropped some dollar bills on the bar and got up from the stool and turned to leave.
"That's right, you should leave. Fucking misogynist." She said loudly making him stop. He looked at her and she was already looking at him with a smirk on her face, her friend looked at him apologetically.
"Your makeup is smudged." He simply said and watched as her expression changed into that of horror.
"Naive bitch." He said and walked away, feeling pleased with himself.