probably did wild and crazy things every day, just for the hell of it. Mercedes could not wait to be with him!
âHello,â Hakeem answered.
âHi, itâs me.â
âMe? Me who?â
âThe girl you gave your phone number to.â
âOh, whatâs up, girl?â
âWhatâs up witâ âchew?â Mercedes asked, attempting to sound âcool.â
âI thought you was gonâ call later on this week.â
âWell, I surprised you, didnât I?â
âNo, âcause I knew you was gonâ call me eventually, and if you didnât, I was gonâ punch you in your mouth for lyinâ to me.â
Mercedes heard laughter in the background. She suspected that Hakeem had company over, or a lot of brothers. âThatâs why they call you âPunchâ?â she quizzed him.
âYou donât wanna find out why they call me Punch,â he told her.
Mercedes grinned. Hakeem was tough as nails, and rambunctious. âYou got a lot of company over or something?â she asked.
âNaw, my cousin, Lou, lives witâ me. Him and my brothers are drunk.â
Mercedes thought they probably got drunk every night and acted like fools, like her father would do whenever his friends came over. That was the only time Mercedes could stand her father. Keith was entertaining when he was drunk.
âHow many brothers you got?â she asked.
âThree. What about you?â
âI got a little sister.â
âSo youâre the oldest, hunh?â
âYeah, but I know youâre not,â she guessed.
âNope, Iâm the baby. But Iâm still the man, though.â
âWhat do you do to have fun, Hakeem?â
âTalk to pretty girls like you.â
Mercedes turned giddy as a baby. âIâm serious, Hakeem,â she said with a huge smile.
âI told âju already,â he responded. âSike, girl. You wanna know what I really do to have fun?â
âYeah, Hakeem, tell me.â
âWell, as soon as you come over, you gonâ find out,â he joked.
Mercedes could see that Hakeem wasnât for beating around the bush. He was into cutting down trees.
âHow we gonâ do anything when your brothers gonâ be there?â she asked, starting to play it his way.
âOh, they not gonâ be in here. Plus, I got my own room. Two of my brothers stay in the basement.â
âWhat about your parents?â
âMost likely, they gonâ be at work when you come over.â
Mercedes heard footsteps. âHakeem, I gotta go. Okay?â she said quickly. She turned the light on and got a tall glass from the cabinet. By the time her father walked into the kitchen, Mercedes had a glass of water in her hand as she squinted her eyes to act as if she had just woken up.
âHey girl, you had to get some water too, hunh?â
âYeah, my throat was dry,â she said in a husky voice, faking sleepiness.
Hakeem was it! Mercedes would give him his chance and he would give her excitement. She figured it was a fair trade for a relationship. And her body would be her ammunition.
Hakeem was on the prowl, looking for Mercedes after school that next day.
âYo, Mercedes, come here!â he yelled after waiting on the corner for her. He was standing with his crew again.
âI know what you gonâ say, and I only hung up because my father was cominâ.â
Hakeem walked over to her, smiling with slit eyes. âWell, whatâs up? When you gonâ come over to see me?â he asked.
âWhenever you want me to,â Mercedes answered seductively.
âOh, shit! I like that attitude,â Hakeem told her. âI think me and you gonâ do lots of things.â He reached out to hold her hand.
âI hope we will,â Mercedes responded to him with a smile.
âAwâight then. Call me tonight,â he told her.
Mercedes headed up her
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