Passion of the Streets Read online

  Men were cool, and looking for them even proved to be a good time, but Oni just went overboard sometimes. Not that Gia didn’t happily indulge occasionally; it was just never anything serious for her. She never saw any dudes worthy of her time. Some were cute, and some were just all right, while others were downright ugly.

  Gia had a certain type of man that she was interested in, and not one of the dudes she’d seen since landing at Hartsfield International Airport in Atlanta the day before had caught her attention. Well, almost none of them. The light-skinned dreadhead from the gas station was cute enough to be bae, but there was something about him she didn’t like.

  On top of him being one of the rudest people in America, he looked bad. Not bad as in something was wrong with him, but bad as in bad as hell. Bad like he’d steal your grandma’s purse and try to sell it back to you for half the price. He was handsome as ever with his tall ass, and those burnt orange dreads and facial hair. Then that one arm full of tattoos, and pigeon toes were an added bonus.

  Gia had never once in her life seen a black man with orange hair, and it was definitely something to pine over. Since he had been dressed simply in a pair of gym shorts and a tank top, she’d gotten a good view of his tattoos and physique. It wasn’t as defined as a man who went to the gym regularly, but he was far from fat.

  His shoulders were broad, his chest was hard, and his arms had muscles, but that still wasn’t good enough for her. If nothing else, Gia took her fitness and health seriously. She’d been a track star all of her life and did everything she could to maintain her speed. She was so good she’d just gotten selected as a hopeful to represent the United States in the following year’s Olympics.

  With the Olympics and men on her brain, Gia scooted down farther onto her chair and rested her hands behind her head. Once again thoughts of the grandma purse snatcher crossed her mind. His small slanted eyes, full pink lips, and the well-lined beard along the bottom of his chin had her daydreaming something terrible.

  The light brown irises that looked somewhere between evil and sad, paired with the tough-guy demeanor and thick burnt orange eyebrows, made Gia wish she had paid him a little more attention. She had been so focused on getting out of the heat that she hadn’t really given herself time to enjoy such a unique-looking man.

  “Oni, you remember the guy from the gas station?”

  Oni swam from one side of the pool over to the side that Gia was on. “How could I forget Mr. Rude Ass?”

  Gia snickered at Oni. She could be so comical at times. “You stupid.”

  “Girl, I’m for real. His mean carrottop-face ass.”

  Oni and Gia giggled uncontrollably until Gia sat up and removed her sunglasses.

  “Okay, for real, man, stop playing.”

  Oni was still laughing but she ran her hand over her face, pretending to be wiping her smirk off.

  “What about him?”

  “You ever seen him before?”

  Oni shook her head and kicked her legs slowly beneath the water. “Nah, I don’t think so. I never really be on that side of town until it’s time for me to get my truck cleaned. I love the detail shop right next to the gas station that we went to.”

  Gia nodded and put her shades back on.

  “Why? You must want to see him again.”

  Gia shrugged. “No, I don’t think so. He was just the cutest thing I’ve seen since I’ve been here, that’s all.”

  “Listen, just because our men down here ain’t all big and fine with all that long-ass hair you’re used to doesn’t mean that they ain’t fine. You’re probably only thinking about him because he was relatively large in stature.”

  Gia rolled her eyes. “That’s not what I’m saying, crazy girl.”

  “Yes, it is too, because I know I’ve seen some cute ones since you’ve been here, which hasn’t been but a couple of days.” Oni was being sarcastic.

  “Well, maybe we simply have different taste in men.”

  “No, we don’t, because Carrottop was cute. You and I both think so.”

  Gia got quiet, not really thinking that needed a response.

  “The fair starts tomorrow. We can go back down there if you want. It’s normally in that parking lot right across the street from where we was at. I’m almost positive we’ll see him again.”

  “I don’t know . . . is it safe down there? Those apartments didn’t look like they were the best place to be hanging around in.”

  Oni sucked her teeth and scooted backward in the water. “Girl, it ain’t. BTW is the projects, and neither you nor me was raised like that, so you better believe we won’t be over there.”

  “It’s bad like that?”

  “I mean, I don’t hear much about it on the news, but then again I’m always busy, so I can’t really say.”

  “I guess that’s cool. I ain’t trying to go over there anyway. I really only want to go to the fair.”

  “Okay, well, I’ll clear my schedule for tomorrow and we can spend the day out there.” Oni swam away for a second but turned around and came right back. “Isaac wants me to come see him tonight. You don’t mind, do you?”

  “Isaac? You mean your other daddy?”

  Oni smiled brightly, showing all of her teeth. “Don’t do that. He’s not that old.”

  Gia rolled her eyes. “Says who? All of the ladies who play bingo with your mama?”

  Both girls laughed, because Gia was always making age jokes when it came to Isaac. From the moment Oni had told her about him and how old he was, Gia hadn’t stopped clowning him. Though other girls might have taken offense to it, Oni didn’t.

  One of the main reasons was she knew it was all fun and games. The other was because even though Gia might have been being silly while making some of her jokes, they were all very true. Isaac was indeed old enough to be Oni’s father. Even with him being sexy as hell, he was still old.

  “You better be glad that old nigga is fine or I wouldn’t let your ass live.”

  “I know you wouldn’t because you barely do now.”

  Gia scooted down a little lower in her chair. “You know I like to play. Go see your old man if you want to. Just make sure you get some money out of that nigga.” Gia held one of her hands up in front of her face, admiring her acrylic nails. “I think I need a fill-in.” She smiled even bigger when she noticed Oni was smiling as well.

  “You know I’m hitting him up for some cash. Right after I bust this young pussy open for him.”

  Gia squealed dramatically while covering her ears. For one of the most ladylike females she’d ever met, Oni could be downright awful at times. After a few more laughs with each other, they went back to doing their own things.

  Hopefully living in Georgia for the next two months wouldn’t take too long to get used to. Life in Hawaii was all Gia knew. She had lived there since the first grade, when her father got stationed at Schofield Barracks. Her father was a colonel in the U.S. Army and had decided to retire in the sunny state.

  Being an only child, Gia had spent all of her free time making friends, and now she was missing them like crazy. Living the high life in Hawaii had become the norm for her, and now that she was back on the mainland she felt incomplete. All of her life her parents had been her entire world, and not having them there right then was making her sad.

  Growing up alone, her parents made it their business to keep her involved in sports, and they were there every step of the way to support Gia. Her father was her biggest supporter. Since her mother had gotten sick and was forced to get a hysterectomy, her father never had the chance to get the son he’d always wanted, so Gia was that for him.

  They did everything together. Anything Gia could do to make him proud she did, which was why she’d been training for the Olympics in Hawaii instead of flying to the mainland to do so. She had been offered numerous opportunities from accredited track coaches all over the United States, but she couldn’t fathom leaving her parents like that. They were both in their late fifties and not getting a
ny younger.

  Baseball and track had been two of her father’s favorite sports growing up, so of course Gia took an interest in them as well only excelling in track. She was currently the second fastest female runner in the nation, only coming second to a white girl from Denver, Colorado, named Stacy Dunlap.

  Though the two had never met each other, they had this ongoing competition between them, and Gia couldn’t wait until the day came where they would race each other. Many newspapers and magazines had been trying to sponsor a race between them since the beginning of their junior year in college, but it hadn’t happened yet.

  The main reason was that Gia’s father didn’t want her to, and the second reason was because there was no real purpose for that type of race to take place, other than the fact that the media wanted to see it. Initially it had been something small between both girls and their track coaches, with a few small-time media sources. That was up until last month when Sports Illustrated had run an article on them suggesting the race.

  That had set Gia off. A magazine that large featuring little ole her had her super hyped and ready to leave Stacy in the dust, but her father had said no, and what the Colonel said went. Though in her heart racing Stacy was something she desperately wanted to do, she could wait. When the time was right, she would run against her and win.

  “I know you ain’t still thinking about Carrottop?” Oni was standing next to Gia, wrapped in a towel.

  “Nah. I was actually thinking about track.”

  “Girl! Enjoy your break, please. Running track is all you do with your life. Let loose and have some Southern girl fun.”

  Gia smiled at Oni as she rolled her eyes every time she talked. “Oni, you need to learn how not to be so feisty all the time.”

  “And you need to learn how not to be so uptight.”

  “I’m not. I’m focused.”

  “Well, focus on these niggas I just called over here to swim with us.”

  Gia sat up and snatched her glasses from her face. “What niggas? You know I got a boyfriend.”

  Oni sucked her teeth. “And I have Isaac, but who cares about that? You wasn’t thinking about that fine-ass Samoan when you was talking to me about Carrottop.”

  Gia smirked and turned her head. She couldn’t even front. She hadn’t been thinking about Kainoa. Kainoa was her on-again, off-again boyfriend. He was Samoan and one of the other reasons she missed Hawaii. Even though right now they were on one of their off stages, she still missed him.

  They had been together since her freshman year in college and were still managing to hold on. If Kainoa could get over his crazy mood swings, then they would have a pretty decent relationship. Kainoa was born and raised in Hawaii. Coming from a full-blooded Samoan family, he was a lot larger in stature than Gia.

  His skin was the color of a perfect jar of peanut butter, with hair longer than hers that he normally wore in a ponytail at the back of his neck. He was one of the sexiest men Gia had ever laid eyes on and was only getting better with time. He was just crazy. She’d learned by living in Hawaii that most of the people there were pretty mild-mannered and easygoing.

  On more days than one she had questioned whether or not he was really from there. In the beginning Gia’s father had liked him a lot, but after their third breakup, he was no longer a fan. He thought Kainoa played too many games to be as old as he was.

  Oni snapped her fingers in Gia’s face. “Snap out of it, girl, and get with it. Willie and his cousin will be here in a minute.”

  Gia turned her nose up. “Willie? What kind of old-ass-man name is that?”

  “Old as hell, but that nigga got a big dick, though.” Oni smiled. “You remember what the father from the movie Friday said? They called him Big Dick Willie.” She fell over laughing, holding her stomach and all. “Well, that’s that nigga too. Look.” Oni pushed her cell phone in Gia’s face.

  The name on the screen read Big Dick Willie. Gia shook her head and pushed the phone away. “I can’t take you right now.”

  “Sometimes I can’t take myself, but I can tell you what I can take.”

  Gia waited for an answer as Oni fingered through her hair.

  “That dick!” She screamed and so did Gia.

  Both of them were so wrapped up in Oni’s silliness that they hadn’t heard the patio door open until her Auntie Ann’s voice interrupted their banter.

  “What y’all out here laughing at?”

  “Nothing, Ma.” Oni stood up. “I didn’t know you were stopping by. I’m about to go brush my hair real quick.”

  “Well, your company was pulling up at the same time as I was,” Gia’s Auntie Ann told Oni as she rushed past her.

  “Let them in,” Oni yelled over her shoulder, already in the house.

  Ann walked over to where Gia was sitting and touched the top of her head. “You enjoying yourself, Gianna?”

  “Yes, ma’am. I’m good.”

  “Good. I just got off the phone with your mama. She wanted to check on you.”

  Gia smiled. “I bet she’s been calling you every five minutes, hasn’t she?”

  “You know she has. That’s my big sister and I love her, but her ass be getting on my nerves when it comes to you.”

  Thinking about her mother and her Auntie Ann’s relationship had Gia laughing. Her mother and her aunt were only eighteen months apart, and sometimes one would never know. They argued about everything. It was funny, though. Their bickering was always more of a joke than anything.

  Gia thought about her mother and smiled. “You know how she gets.”

  Ann dropped her hand from her hip and turned to walk back into the house. “And you know how I get. I guess I’ll see y’all later since Oni has company.”

  Gia was still laughing as she watched her aunt disappear into the house. She was still lying back on the beach chair with her sunglasses on when she heard movement behind her. Then male voices. She sat up quickly and looked over her shoulder. There were two tall, brown-skinned men wearing swim trunks and tank tops. One had the popular haircut with his sides shaved low and a miniature fro in the middle. Gia didn’t know what they called it in Georgia, but in Hawaii she and her friends called it the thot haircut. The other guy had a low cut with waves.

  Both of them were very handsome, but that didn’t move Gia, so she waved and turned back around and faced the pool. It was a few seconds before they were back in her line of vision, sitting in the chairs that were next to her.

  “What’s going on, shawty?” the one with the thot haircut asked her.

  “Nothing. How are you?” Gia spoke properly.

  “I’m good. What’s your name?”

  Gia turned to them both and pulled her shades from her face so that they could see her. With her hand extended to shake theirs, she introduced herself. “I’m Gianna, but everyone calls me Gia.”

  They both shook her hand before the one with the waves allowed his eyes to travel over her body. Gia watched him openly gawk at her.

  “You straight?” She needed to make sure he was good because he most definitely didn’t have any manners.

  He chuckled. “Yeah . . . yeah, I’m good. My fault. You sexy as fuck. Oni told me you were cute and shit, but she ain’t say you looked like this.”

  Gia gave a friendly smile. “Thank you. What’s y’all’s names?”

  Thot haircut spoke first. “I’m Willie, and this my cousin Jarvis.”

  Ooh, Mr. Willie. No wonder he has that haircut. Gia gave them the once-over before nodding slowly.

  “Where Oni?” Willie asked her.

  “She ran in the house real quick. She’ll be out here in a minute,” Gia said. “Y’all ain’t got to wait on her to get in the pool. Y’all can go ahead if y’all want to.”

  They both looked at the pool while Willie stood up and pulled his shirt over his head. “Bet.” With no further comment, he walked to the edge of the pool and dove in. He swam around in the deeper end of the pool as Gia and Jarvis stayed where they were.


  “Hey, y’all.” Oni’s voice came from behind them.

  When Gia looked over her shoulder and saw that Oni had changed out of her orange swimsuit into a black and gold one, all she could do was shake her head. On top of that her once wild and curly hair was now pulled back into a neat ball. It was still wet, but it was brushed down sleekly so it looked nice.

  “Took you long enough,” Willie yelled from the pool.

  “Whatever. How long y’all been here?” Oni asked.

  “Not long. Why you ain’t tell me your cousin was this fine?” Jarvis looked from Oni back to Gia. “Dark-skinned women ain’t even my thing, but li’l Gia is fine as fuck.”

  “Nigga, what you mean why I ain’t tell you?” Oni snapped back. “I did tell you my cousin was the shit. You just didn’t listen.”

  Jarvis smiled at Gia and winked when she smiled back. “I’m glad I did.” He stood up and pulled his shirt off, showing the few tattoos that he had on his chest. “You swimming, Gia?”

  “Maybe in a minute, but not right now.” Gia looked down at her pink bikini with the white lace around the edges.

  Her hair was up in a messy ball on the top of her head with a few locs falling out of it. She had been swimming earlier and was really focused on letting her hair dry, so getting back in was somewhat out of the question.

  Jarvis gave her another sly smirk before diving into the pool near where Willie was swimming. Oni quickly occupied the dark green beach chair next to Gia and lay back as well.

  “They cute, ain’t they?” Oni swept water from her eyes.

  Gia nodded. “Big Dick Willie looking thick in them shorts.”

  Oni’s eyes moved to where Willie had just stepped out of the pool and was standing near the diving board. As Gia had noted, the imprint of his dick was massive in the thin white swim shorts.

  “Oh got damn.” Oni fell limply in her chair, making Gia laugh.

  “Get up and stop being stupid, Oni, before they see you.”