Chapter Two: The Morning After

Huey looked from afar as he picked up his second Rum and Coke for the night. He brought the tiny straw up to his lips and drunk almost half of his drink. He turned to the bartender and signaled for another one.

"You think you hitting them pretty hard, Huey?" Caesar asked his friend. Huey shook his head and continued to look out to the dance floor. Caesar followed his and saw what he was staring at. "You could just go out and dance to her," he offered.

He waved Caesar off. "Nah… she's having enough fun ol' boy over there," he replied, turning away toward the bar. "No point in ruinin' that for her."

Caesar could tell Huey was starting to get drunk. His Chicago accent would come out and he sounded more like Riley than his usual self. He motioned to Huey's drink. "How many of those have you had tonight?"

"Does it really matter?" Huey snapped back.

Cindy walked up to the boys and wiped her forehead. "Let's bounce. This place is dead," she told them. "This dude I was dancin with said there's a better club ten minutes away from here."

Caesar's eyebrows rose. "You danced with another guy? And Riley didn't do nothin?"

Cindy shrugged. "Reezy ain't my daddy." She glanced over at Jazmine and motioned over to her. The boy she was dancing with gave her a slip of paper and she skipped over to the bar. "Come on girl, we leaving."

She pouted. "Fine," she said. They all walked out together where they saw Riley outside smoking a cigarette.

"Damn, I been out here for ten minutes!" he complained. He took out the cigarette and threw it on the concrete. He smashed it the heel of his foot. "Come on, I'm ready to go!"

Cindy signaled for a taxi. "Most likely we gonna hafta get different taxis, so the club is in the Luxor. Meet us outside." The taxi pulled up and Cindy and Riley got in. "Jazzy, you comin with us?"

"Uh… Caesar can take my spot. I'll go with Huey," she announced. Caesar got in the taxi after Riley and as they drove off, Jazmine waved to them. She hailed another taxi and turned to Huey. "So… did you have fun?"

He shrugged. "I guess."

She rolled her eyes. "Are you seriously gonna be like that the whole night?" He raised an eyebrow. "'Oh I'm Huey, and I'm a complete asshole who doesn't like to do anything except sit at home and go to work,'" she imitated him, complete with a deep voice.

"I'm sorry that I don't dance with some random person I met in a club," he retorted back, letting his jealously come out. "I thought that it wasn't you either, but apparently I was dead-ass wrong."

"Oh my God, I was just having fun!" she yelled back. She crossed her arms over her chest. "Are you mad that I was all over some random guy or are you mad because it wasn't you?" Huey chuckled and looked over Jazmine's head. "Aww, is Huey jelly of the random guy?"

"Whatever," he answered. The taxi finally pulled up and Huey quickly got in the back. "Luxor Hotel, please," he said to the driver. Jazmine jumped in next to Huey.

She looked up at him. "If you just would admit it…"

"Admit what?"

She blinked her glossy eyes. "That you like me," she said matter-of-factly. Huey scoffed. She put her hand on his thigh. He looked down at her hand and back up to her eyes. "I already know, Huey. I just want you to admit to me and frankly yourself."

Huey smirked. "How many drinks have you had?"

Jazmine smiled and shrugged. "Three, or four… maybe five," she replied. She giggled. "Hell, maybe even more than that! I lost count after a while. Told you I can handle my liq-uorrrrr," she said, slurring the last word.

He leaned in towards Jazmine's body. "Jazmine… I—"

The taxi stopped in front of the hotel, jerking them both forward. "Ten fifty," the cabbie said.

Huey reached in his pocket and pulled out of his wallet. He pulled out a ten dollar and a five dollar bill. He handed him the money. "Keep the change," he told him.

Jazmine and Huey both got out of the cab and walked to the front of the hotel. Jazmine quickly turned around and kissed Huey on the lips, surprising him. He could still taste the alcohol on her. She smirked and turned back around. "Come on! The others are waiting on us!" she said, acting as if nothing happened.

Huey huffed and walked into the hotel, knowing this night was going to be longer than expected.

Huey groaned as he woke up. His eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room. The only light in the room was coming from the window where the curtains refused to connect, making a sliver of sunlight radiate from the window to the adjacent wall.

Huey shivered when the AC started back up again. He lied back down on the bed. He sat back up again. He was in a bed… when he was supposed to be on the pullout bed. He rubbed his temples, suppressing his incoming hangover.

He hoped that if he turned to his side and hoped that he wasn't with Jazmine. He secretly wished that he didn't make a huge mistake while he was intoxicated and slept with his best friend, but he saw wisps of curly strawberry blonde hair as he turned to his left.

"Dammit," he whispered to himself. He had sex with the girl of his dreams last night and he couldn't remember a damn thing. He sighed and crawled out of the bed. He managed to find some sweatpants on the floor and slipped into them. He walked over the door and quietly went through, closing it so she wouldn't wake up.

He sat down on the couch and rubbed his aching head. He grabbed the remote and turned the TV, only to meet with the loud music of some rapper he's never heard of. He immediately shut it off, and groaned loudly. He needed to find some aspirin fast.

"Damn, Huey. Can you make any more noise early in the morning?" Caesar asked as he walked out of his own room. "It's like nine in the morning." He looked over at Huey. "You look like hell, man."

"I'm hungover. The fuck you think I'm gonna look like?" Huey snapped back.

"Right, I forgot. A hungover Huey is a more-pissed-off-than-usual Huey. Thanks for reminding me," Caesar retorted. He walked to the kitchen and started the coffee pot. "I told you to stop drinking those Rum and Cokes. But nah, niggas always gonna do what they want."

"What happened last night?" Huey questioned Caesar.

"Well, after we went to the second club, Riley and Cin left like, thirty minutes later. Then you had to take Jazzy out of the club after she started fighting that girl. When I came in, I don't think anyone was here. Then again, I may be wrong."

Huey blinked his eyes. Jazmine fought somebody? He thought it would be best not to bring it up. He shook his head. "I don't know what the hell happened after the first club." Caesar started to laugh hard. "What's so funny?"

"Wow, out of me and you… I was the responsible one!" he laughed. "Me, Michael Caesar, was more responsible than Huey Freeman. I thought I'd never see the day. Wait, wait, wait, lemme get a picture. This shit is going on Instagram."

Caesar approached Huey with his phone in his hands, but Huey slapped the device out of Caesar's hands. "Be glad it isn't broken," he simply replied, getting a look from Caesar as he picked up his phone.

"Can you two be civilized for once? Just for a couple of hours in the morning?" Jazmine whined as she walked out of the bedroom and into the kitchen. "I just want to go one day without hearing you guys bickering."

"And Princess Jazmine awakes and leaves her royal bedroom to be with us peasants," Caesar announced, handing her a coffee mug. "Here you go, your highness," Caesar said, bowing down and lifting the mug over his head.

She snatched the mug out of his hands. "Haha Caesar. You're oh, so funny." She filled her cup halfway, adding creamer and sugar to make it reach the top. She sat down on the couch next to Huey. She shoved her drink in front of his face. "You want some?"

"Does that even count as coffee anymore?" he asked. "It looks like a mug of high-blood pressure, diabetes, and a sugar-induced coma mixed in with a little bit of coffee."

She huffed and took of sip of her drink. "A simple no would have sufficed for me, Freeman. Not that huge lecture about how my coffee could kill me with one sip."

"Then that really wouldn't be a response from me, now would it?"

She sighed and touched his face. "Ah, a smartass. Can't live with them, and you would definitely be better off without them."

Huey shrugged. "How would you have gotten home without me? I told you that you couldn't handle drinking."

"Okay, okay it probably wasn't that bad. What was I doing that was so terrible?" she asked Huey.

"Umm… well… you got into a fight…"

"What?" Jazmine exclaimed. "A fight? With who? When? Tell me!"

Caesar chimed in at this point. "Oh, man, that fight was the best!" he added, coming into the living room. "So, this girl right? She was sitting at the bar next to Huey and she was being a little flirty with him, right? She was saying things like 'Oh, your afro is so sexy, you should come back to my hotel room.' You know, real hoe shit. But Huey wasn't giving the girl the time of day," he started. He pointed Jazmine. "Then, Jazzy walks over. Keep in mind, your blood alcohol level is probably three or four times the legal limit. You walking over, right? You go up to the girl and was like 'This is my seat.' And the girl was like 'Step off, bitch.' You got real mad next, like you was not having that shit today."

"Oh my God, what did I do?"

"You get the girl's drink and poured it all over her. Then you threw the cup in her lap! I was like 'Damn, son! Jazzy a thug!' The girl gets real pissed off. 'You fucked up my hair! Imma beat yo fucking ass, you little bitch!' and she swung at you, but you ducked. Like, that was some ninja shit right there! Something that Huey would do. So you ducked, and WHAP! You gave the girl a right hook so quick, like damn, I almost didn't see it. Then Huey had to pick you up and take you outside, but not before you kicked her nose with your heel. She started bleeding and shit and she had to run to the bathroom. I ain't never seen you fight like that!"

Jazmine giggled and shook her head. "I can't believe I fought someone… and won. I wonder what else happened last night. I hope it was something exciting." Huey started to cough. She rubbed his back. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine… I'm just a little cold," he lied, not looking over in her direction. "Can you look in my bag and get my black hoodie for me?" She nodded and went back into the room. He looked over to Caesar. "Ceez, I think I had sex with Jazmine."

"Well, it's about damn time! Shit, I was sick of all this not-flirting flirting that was going on. It was making me sick," he replied.

"I don't know for sure though," Huey added. He sighed and leaned his head back on the couch. "I mean, from a logical standpoint, all signs point that way. I was in her bed, I was half-naked, and even you said we left together."

"So, what's the problem? I thought you liked Jazzy."

"Don't get me wrong, I do. I really do. I just don't want the first time we were… together… to be a time that only happened because we were drunk and neither one of us remembered what happened," Huey explained. "There could be a chance she remembers, but she doesn't even recall the fight, and that happened before we had sex."

"You sound like a girl right now," Caesar remarked.

Huey sucked his teeth. "You're not fucking helping."

Caesar put his hand on chest and batted his eyelashes. "I want our first time to be special… with champagne and music and candles. And I want rose petals on the floor in the shape of a heart." Huey smacked him in the arm. "Hey man! I was just kidding!"

"Yeah, whatever. I don't even know how I'm going to…" Huey immediately quieted down when Jazmine came into the room. She held one of Huey's hoodie in her hand, and she wore the other one. "You're wearing my hoodie," Huey dumbly said. Caesar slapped his own forehead in response.

"Umm… yeah, your powers of deduction are amazing. Is it okay if I wear it?" Jazmine asked him. He nodded. "Thanks…" she said suspiciously. She looked over at him. "Huey, are you okay?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're acting really weird!" she answered. "Is it because I got your hoodie? I'm sorry; I really should've asked you before I got it." She started to lift the jacket over her head. "I can just take it off and put it—"

Huey pulled the hoodie back down. "Dear God, keep the hoodie on."

Jazmine heard her cell phone ringing in the other room. "I'll be right back," she announced, getting up and going into the bedroom.

He glanced over at Caesar. "Not a damn word."

Caesar burst into laughter. "You are so awkward, man! I mean, I thought you were awkward dude around her before, but daaaamn, that little scene right there… that takes the 'I'm awkward as fuck' cake. What did you tell her last night that made her sleep with you in the first place? It had to be some smooth talking… or she was drunk as hell."

"You don't think I got moves?"

Caesar stared at Huey, and started to laugh again. "You? Moves?" he cried out through laughs. "Come on Huey, you can't be serious!"

Huey leaned into the couch. "Well, I must've did something right, or we wouldn't even be having this conversation."

"Yeah, I'll fuck you up, you stupid bitch! Come at me, fake-ass Nicki Minaj! Your ass is faker than three dollar bill! I'll rip your fucking weave out!" Jazmine yelled as she was being pulled by Huey. She slipped out of his grip and ran towards the random girl she had started a fight with. Huey followed Jazmine and grabbed her waist before she could hit the girl again. Jazmine tried to squirm out of his arms, but she was failing. She smirked and kicked as hard as she could, hitting the girl in the nose. "Haha! Got your motherfucking nose kicked in, you basic bitch!"

"Alright, Rocky, we need to get you home," Huey said, dragging her into the hotel lobby. "Are you done fighting every girl you see, or are you going to behave?"

"I'm not some damsel in distress, okay? You don't have to carry me around like this," Jazmine noted. "And I don't fight every girl I see, just that bitch with the horse hair. She doesn't know I'm from the fucking streets!"

Huey scoffed. "What streets are you from? I don't think people are intimidated with people from Timid Deer Lane." He stopped on the street and sat her down on her feet. "You think you can walk?"

"Yes!" she yelled at him. She walked five steps and collapsed onto the concrete. "Okay, maybe I can't..." Huey sighed and picked her up and held her up by the waist and continued to walk. "You're so strong, Huey," she drunkenly giggled.

"You know, you real flirty when you drunk," Huey remarked.

"You're sexy when you are," she retorted back. He smirked and hailed a taxi. "I want you so bad right now," she let out, smiling at him.

Huey rolled his eyes. "Jazmine—"

"No I'm serious!" she answered. She opened the door of the taxi and jumped in the back. Huey followed her. "MGM Hotel, please." She turned back to Huey. "Can we… just be for real for a second? You like me, I like you… why can't we just fuck?"

"You always this horny when you drunk?"

Jazmine giggled and put her hands on his lap. "I just know what I want, Huey. And what I want… is a six foot three tall mocha-skinned boy, no… man with maroon eyes and the cutest afro ever.

Huey laughed. "You have no fucking idea how bad I want to." He scooted her closer to her. "You don't know… how bad I want… a five and a half light-skinned mulatto woman, with sexy ass green eyes and curly ass strawberry blonde hair."

Jazmine licked her lips and moved close to his ear. "Then you can have me. All of me."

Huey looked her up and down. "Mmm… I can't wait." He kissed her lips softly once, then twice. "Just wait till we get to the hotel."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Huey pushed Jazmine into the front door of their room and kissed her roughly. The sloppy kisses haven't stopped since they got on the elevator. He pulled away from her and looked into her emerald green eyes. He licked his lips and went back for more. He lowered his head down to her neck.

She giggled. "That tickles, baby." She ran her fingers through his cotton-like hair. She stood high on her heels, and she was still six inches shorter. Huey lifted her slightly until she was eye level with him. "Hi," she breathed out.

"Hey," he answered back. "Do you wanna go inside? You gotta get out your key, though. You kinda wrapped around my pocket right now."

Jazmine got out the key from her purse. She swiped the door behind her and he led her in towards the bedroom. He sat her down at the edge of the bed. "Don't keep me waiting all night, Freeman." He got on top of her, moving her to the front of the bed. Her eyes never left his. He lifted the dress over her head.

"Sexy," he remarked, looking at her lacy lingerie.

"All for you," she answered back. She started to unbutton Huey's shirt. "I think it's your turn to surprise me." The shirt came off first, then the undershirt, and finally she moved to his belt. Her breath quicken as he slipped out of his jeans. "Sexy," she repeated.

He connected with her lips for what seemed like the thousandth time that night, leaving her craving more than just kisses. Her body was aching for him to go faster, although she loved the feel of his soft lips upon hers.

His kisses started to trail lower, as if he read her mind, until he stopped at her waist. Her head fell to the pillow and she gripped the sheets tight, bracing for what he was about to do. He removed her of her black lace v-string and threw it on the ground. He could see her chest rise up and down as he bent down.

"Are you going to keep teasing me, Freeman?" she panted. She gasped loudly as she felt a finger enter her. He smirked as he heard a moan emit from the top of the bed. He pumped faster in her, causing her to arch her back. She bit her lip hard as he switched from his finger to his tongue. "Don't… stop…" she exhaled.

He paused for a moment. "Never babe," he responded. Her legs twitched uncontrollably as he continued to hit her sweet spot over and over again. She clutched the sheets as tight as she possibly could, and her moans of pleasure reached higher octaves.

"Huey!" she yelled out as she released everything. She loosened her grip on the comforter and tried to catch her breath. "Damn… you were good," she said through breaths.

He smugly shrugged. "I do my best." He looked in his pants for his wallet, hoping to find a condom that he usually keeps in there. He pulled out the golden square and dropped the wallet on the floor.

He turned back to Jazmine, who was already under the sheets and was waiting for Huey to return to her. He got in next to her and unrolled the condom onto him. He positioned himself on top of her, supporting his weight with his arms. "Ready?" he asked her.

She nodded quickly. She closed her eyes and held her breath as he slid into her. She couldn't help but let out a small sound of bliss. She lifted her hips slightly, making him go deeper inside her. She moaned loudly at his tender touch on her waist.

Huey hissed out in ecstasy when Jazmine dug her fingernails into his back. He gradually quickened his pace, his breaths sharp and low. Jazmine looked up at Huey, who shifted his gaze back down to her, earning a legitimate smile from both of them. She let out a loud moan as she reached her peak. Huey wasn't far behind her, shutting his eyes as he finished. He rolled off of her and silently tried to catch his breath.

"Damn… that was better than before," Jazmine remarked, fanning her sweaty body. She turned her head towards him. "We should do that more often. You are… amazing. And I waited eleven years for this." Huey grunted in response. "Huey… I love you. Always have."

"Jazzy… baby… I love you, too."

"Why don't you just tell her?"

"I don't want to."

"But it'll be better if you did. You know Jazmine; she'll hold a grudge on you forever if you keep this away from her, especially since she asked you what happened."

Huey sighed. He knew Caesar was right, but he didn't want to tell her, even if she had a crush on him. "I don't even know if it actually happened!"

Caesar scoffed. "You are really not gonna face facts right now? You, of all the people in the entire world, are going to not look at the facts in front of you? You had sex with her; get over it."

Huey raised an eyebrow at his friend. "And you're touchy about this because…?"

Caesar sighed. "Jazz is like a little sister to me. I wanna protect her from stupid shit and all those things big brothers do. And you… you're like a big brother who don't know shit sometimes and I gotta teach you about things."

"One, Jazmine's older than you… by about six months. Second, the way you said that makes it sound a little incestuous," Huey said.

"Nigga, you know what I meant!"

Huey shrugged as Jazmine entered the room again. "Who were you talking to?" Huey asked her.

She flopped onto the couch. "My madre. She was just asking to see how everything was, if I was still in one piece, although I did cautiously leave out the 'I got wasted drunk and fought a girl' part out. She even asked about you Huey!"

Huey and Caesar exchanged a look. "Really? What did you tell her?" he asked her.

"I just told her you were doing fine, and that we were just hanging out right now."

"Did she ask about me?" Caesar questioned, giving her a wide smile.

Jazmine shook her head. "I don't think my mom really cares about a guy who came over a lot and ate all our food back when we were in high school."

Huey smirked and held in his laugh. He gave Jazmine a high five. "Y'all two ain't funny," Caesar said, pouting.

Cindy came down the stairs and looked at the people on the couch. Her hair was in a high messy bun and she was wearing a tank top and one of Riley's basketball shorts. "Damn…" Huey and Caesar both said at the same time.

"Where's Riley?" she said in a gravelly voice.

"Why does it sound like you've been smoking five packs a day for thirty years?" Caesar inquired.

"Nigga, I ain't playin' with yo goofy ass!" Cindy snapped. "Now imma repeat it: Where the fuck is Riley?"

Everyone was quiet.

"Oh, so now everyone's on hush-mouth, huh?" Cindy replied, getting highly upset. "Where the fuck is he? Is out with another fucking girl? Is he hidin' from me?" She stomped around and started looking through doors, yelling for her boyfriend.

"Calm down, Fatal Attraction, he hasn't been down here," Huey said.

She stopped in her tracks. "He hasn't been down here?" she repeated. "Well, he ain't fucking upstairs!" She immediately changed her mood. "Oh my God, where is he? What if he's hurt?"

"Yo, homegirl is pretty crazy…" Caesar whispered to Huey and Jazmine. They nodded in agreement.

Cindy's phone rang. She quickly picked it up. "Hello?" she answered. "Riley! Where are you…? What you mean 'give the phone to Huey?' What the fuck does he have to do with anything…? You shoulda called his ass!"

"Cindy, give me the damn phone," Huey said, watching the scene from afar. Cindy rolled her eyes and handed the phone to Huey. "Hello?"

"Huey. You gotta help me man, I think I really fucked up this time," Riley said in the phone.

"Alright, where are you?"

Riley sighed. "I'm in the Clark County Detention Center."