A Losing Game

"Five-Letter Word"

            Jacory thought about Nate the moment he woke up on Monday morning. He did his morning routine and ate breakfast with his parents; all the while, his mind was on Nate. Although Nate had done his best to assure him that everything was fine, Jacory knew better. Was he wrong for shooting down Nate's marriage talk? Should he compromise and tolerate being versatile with Nate? It was like no matter how much he tried not to think about Nate, his mind would fight him and force him to think about Nate.

            "You're extra quiet this morning," said Demetrius as he drove himself and Jacory to school. "Uh-oh, Nate wasn't cool about you not wanting to be vers, was he?"

            "He was cool about it," Jacory replied. "It's all good." He smiled and asked, "How was your date with Zay?"

            "I had a really great time. You wouldn't believe how romantic Zay is."

            "Romantic? Bitch, yeah right. Zayvon Wright, half of the twins, romantic?"

            "He met up with me at Cassandra's and we beat the after-church crowd. We talked and got to know each other while eating, and then we went for a walk in the park. He writes poetry, Mookie."

            Jacory's eyes lit up as he asked, "What? Like actual poetry or rap lyrics? Because you know half of these niggas around here wanna be rappers."

            "He writes real poetry. He wrote a poem about the way I made him feel when he saw me dancing at your party. It was beautiful."

            "Damn, I guess he's the mature twin."

            "Either that or he's just looking for some ass. He claims he wants something serious for a change but...I don't know."

            "You wanna give him some, don't you?"

            "Hell yes, but there is a part of me that wants to see if he's for real. He's so fucking cute."

            "As crazy as it sounds, I can actually see you and him as a couple. Somehow, it makes sense."

            "He wants me to go with him to this Friday's football game. I wanna go but I don't trust myself. It's been a minute since I last had some dick."

            "Demetrius, all you have to do is make sure you eat something before and during the date. You can't have sex on a full stomach."

            "And what's stopping me from giving him head?"

            "Control your hormones and if he makes a move, tell him you're not ready. I think it's great that you don't want to have sex with him too soon."

            "If he treats me half as good as Nate treats you, withholding sex will be worth it."

            Jacory stared out of the passenger side window and sighed before saying, "Yeah, definitely."

            After parking his car in his favorite spot at a grocery store, Roderick ran the rest of the way to school and hurried to his locker. He was ready to get through that school day so that he could restart his business with Nard, JD, and Trek. He'd already downloaded different dating apps where they could reach different people to sell product to and help get the word out about their business. As long as he kept everything between him and his crew, he knew nothing would go wrong.

            "I think I'm in love," Zayvon admitted to his brother, Roderick, and Kelvin as they talked at Kelvin's locker. "Demetrius is special."

            "Y'all only went on one date," Tayvon said with a laugh.

            "Shit was still special, bro. He's so cute and shit."