Bunny

35

Throughout the week just consisted of cleaning and ducking off to places to hang out with Isaiah. Today, he and his friends had spent the past three hours moving and putting everything together into his apartment while I just sat on the kitchen counter and watched.

LJ, Kevin, and Kareem were putting together a table for the living room and Isaiah was in his room putting his bed together. You wouldn't expect it to take three people to put together one table but somehow they managed to do it.

I could hear the drill in Isaiah's room and became curious so I got down from the counter and walked off to find him.

I saw him crouching down with his tatted back facing me as he drilled a screw into the wooden planks laying in the center of the bed frame. He was shirtless and in sweatpants. I could see the waistband of his underwear.

I walked over and kneeled down behind him before draping my arms over his shoulders to look.

He turned to the side and looked at me.

"I got bored." I said as I kept looking at the pieces in his hands.
He snickered and went back to work.
"How long is this going to take?" I wondered.
"I'm almost done. I gotta attach this last piece then I can put the mattress on and make the bed. 'Bout ten minutes maybe," he said and finished attaching the piece.
"Then what?" I asked and looked at his face. His side profile is even perfect.
"Then I shower." he scoffed. "I'm gross. I don't even know why you on me right now."

I could feel that he was damp but he didn't smell bad. They had been carrying a lot of large boxes or already put together furniture upstairs. Plus, it was hot outside.

"Because I was bored and wondered what you were doing." I answered.
"So you missed me." He turned to face me and looked at my lips.
"That's not what I said."
"That's what I heard." He gave me a cute peck on the lips before turning back to the bed frame.

"Alright, get up." he commanded.
I stood up and so did he.
He pushed the bed frame against the wall then opened his scissors and ripped the plastic on his mattress against the side wall.

Once he'd stripped it out, he let it flop onto the bed frame.

"You gonna help me make it?" he asked.
"No, I want to see if you can do it on your own." I joked.
"I'm not a toddler. I know how to make my bed." he snickered and grabbed his sheets.
"Prove it."
He shook his head and rolled his eyes at me.

I leaned against the wall as I watched him make his bed. I really only said no so I could watch him from afar.
The way his back muscles shifted when he adjusted the sheet and tucked the corners under the mattress. His tricep would flex when he lifted the mattress to make sure the sheet was under all the way.
He laid the top sheet down over the bottom one and then his comforter before grabbing every pillow and placing them down in an orderly fashion.

"There. You happy now?" he asked.
"Yes, you did an excellent job." I smiled.
"You a pain in my ass." he snickered.

He went into the dresser they'd already put in his room and started grabbing clothes.

"I'ma take a quick shower." he stated and walked into the bathroom.
"Okay."

I heard the bathroom door close as I walked down the hallway to the living room.

The apartment looked so nice when it was fully furnished.

They'd mounted the tv to the wall in the living room. The boys finished building the table. They had a couch and a chair placed. The kitchen was stocked with all of his dishes. Pots, pans, plates, bowls, and utensils. The bathroom was filled with all of its necessities.

He was right, it did look smaller furnished but it was still really nice and he didn't need a huge apartment anyway. I was surprised they coordinated it as well as they did. It wasn't necessarily decorated but all of the furniture matched.

"Man, calm down. What happened?" I heard LJ say.
I sat on the couch on the other side of Kevin as LJ and Kareem stood up. LJ was on the phone with someone.
"What's he sayin'?" Kareem asked.
"Somebody got shot."
"WHO?!" yelled Kevin.
"Deion." (Pronounced Dee-Yon) LJ answered sadly.
"Fuck. What happened?" Kareem wondered.
LJ gestured for the two to be quiet.

I was confused and a bit intrigued about what was going on.

"I fuckin' knew this shit would happen, bro." LJ said.
"What?" Kareem asked.
LJ looked at me. "Where's Zay?"
"He's in the shower." I replied.
He looked back at Kareem. "Remember those dudes from like a week or two ago? They showed up on the hill wit' us, tryin' to threaten Dre."
"Yea."
He looked at Kevin. "They got Deion 'cause Dre never returned that stuff he took."
"Damn, bro."

I could hear a door opening towards the back and figured it was Isaiah.

LJ looked at me.
"Whatever happens, don't tell Zay. We'll tell him, and we're gonna wait." he stated.

I wondered why he told me that.

He came down the hallway in sweatpants and a t-shirt.

"Don't tell Zay what?" Isaiah asked.

"Pretty good." he said when he saw the table. "I gave you dumbasses the easiest task I could. Glad you could handle it." he joked and looked at them. "What's wrong wit' you? What can't you tell me?"
"Uhh..." LJ looked at Kareem.
Kareem nodded.
"Let me talk to you for a second." Kevin said and got up then walked past to head to the back of the apartment.
I could see the confusion on Isaiah's face as he followed.

"I don't get it. Was Isaiah especially close to Deion?" I asked LJ.
"Same closeness as the rest of us."
"Then why is Kevin acting like he's telling Isaiah his dog died?"
"Because Isaiah's probably the most emotional. That man takes deaths seriously, especially when it's somebody he knew and was close to. Even more if it was gang violence. Zay don't really tolerate bullshit either. As soon as he finds out, I won't be surprised if he rushes outta here to find who killed Deion hisself," said LJ.
"Oh..."

I heard fast footsteps and saw Isaiah rushing to the front door. He opened it and slammed it shut.

Kevin came in afterwards.

"See." Kareem said. "He ain't handle it well, did he?" he asked Kevin.
"He almost never does. We gotta go before he gets himself killed." LJ answered instead.

I followed behind them as they left the apartment.