There Can Only Be One Read online

  "I love Red Lobster!" Qianna cheered while I sulked. I swear I got in my feelings once again from eating out the garbage the night before, but the new me woke up that next morning with a vow to never eat out the trash again.

  "It ain't all that," I moaned and twisted my face up like I didn't really care for it.

  "Well, let's get some Chinese food," Meka said since she was paying and it was cheap enough to feed the three of us. Actually, Duck was paying for it since he donated the dime to our campaign. She knew neither of us would say no, so she hopped up and led the way.

  I saw Meka put some extra sway in her hips so I put a little in mine too. I was by no means a follower but wasn't in a position to lead. Not just yet anyway. I quickly snapped my head around and saw Duck was locked on my booty. I wasn't sure if it was because he liked me or he just recognized my hand-me-down shorts from someone else's booty.

  ***

  "I'm still full anyway," I told myself hours later when I retuned home and didn't smell any dinner. My mother was a pothead, so she would cook when there was food in the house. Or when she had her period, since men didn't spend the night.

  "I'm cuming!" my mother screeched and did cum or didn't. The bed’s rhythm kept on going as I prepared to shower and go to bed. I tuned them out and came out of my clothing.

  "Argh!" Ione grunted as I passed by their room, bringing the bed spring singing to an end.

  I can't lie; I love touching myself, even at that age. Not sexual like I do now but just to explore and admire my shapely curves. After washing, I stepped out to dry off and dress but the bathroom door came open. In an instant, I came face to face with Ione in all his naked glory.

  My eyes dropped straight down to his dick hanging limply between his legs. He was soft since he just fucked my mother but it was still pretty. A nice beige color with a thick vein running along top. Meanwhile, his eyes shot down to my vagina, up to my breast and back down. He looked at my face for half a second then back below my waist. I was still locked on the first dick I'd ever seen this close. Boys used to pull their little rusty dicks out in school, but they don't look like this.

  "Wow," I heard myself say when his dick seemed to bob on its own and began to rise.

  "My bad!" he said and rushed back into my mama's room. I didn't even bother to dry off. I just grabbed my towel and rushed into my room.

  I slipped into my night shirt and climbed into my bed. As soon as I closed my eyes, I saw that dick again. Shoot, sometimes when I close my eyes I can still see that dick all these years later.

  Shortly after I climbed into bed, Ione climbed back into my mother. The rhythmic knocking of the headboard and moans were the lullaby that put me to sleep.

  Chapter 3

  I ran into Ione again that next morning, except we were both fully dressed this time. He was sitting at the wobbly little dinette table while my mom transferred food from the take out joint to a real plate like she cooked. His eyes went straight to my crotch again before he looked up and smiled at me.

  "I ain't know lil mama was here. You shoulda got her a plate too," he said looking back to my crotch through my shorts.

  "Oh yeah," was all my mama had to say. She knew good and well I was home and there wasn't no food in the apartment. She ran her ass over to S and S Chicken and Waffles while he showered and didn't get me shit.

  "Humph, she can have mine. I'm finna go anyway," he said and stood and yes, my eyes shot down to his crotch as well. He saw me and cracked a crooked smile and slight nod.

  "Oh yeah," she repeated. I know she ain't want me to have it, so I rushed over and began to smash before he could get out the door. I thanked him by sitting wide-legged like Meka always did when guys were around. She would let them see the print of what they wanted and they came off whatever she asked for.

  Had it not been for those early life lessons, I probably would have ended up renting pussy like my sorry ass mama. I will fuck for benefits but there's a difference. Our cycles were right around the corner and I bet Ione would be in the wind until it was over. Good thing our EBT card would be reloaded soon, so we can eat.

  "I'll see you later daddy," Desi purred and leaned up for a kiss. Way too much of a kiss in front of your teen daughter too. They were moaning and tonguing and he was gripping her booty. I watched but kept right on eating. I looked at his crotch again and saw the difference from when he stood.

  "See you later," he said once he got his tongue back. It was obviously for me too, since he shot a glance between my open legs. I made up my mind to ask him for some money next time I saw him. I wished I asked in the bathroom last night while he was staring at my little kitty kat.

  There's power in the pussy and you don't even have to give it up. Lessons I had to adapt and polish later in life. I'm twenty-five now and not sure if I’ve quite perfected it yet.

  ***

  "Sup, Autumn," Duck asked when I stepped outside. He would or would not speak when I was with my girls but always spoke when I was alone. The greeting came with a full body scan as he ran his eyes from the messy bun in my hair, down to my turned-up tennis shoes.

  "Hey," I said and shrank under his stare. A hunger pain lifted my head and opened my mouth. "Can I have five dollars?"

  "You can have whatever you want, shawty!" he said and quickly broke me off with five one-dollar bills. I wished I said a hundred since he sure had plenty of money.

  "Need some weed too?" he offered and dug into his other pocket.

  "I don't smoke. Um, yes please," I said and accepted it on behalf of my friends. I knew he would be watching so I made sure to pop my little booty from side to side as I walked away. It must have been funnier than it was sexy cuz I heard him chuckle.

  "I see you, lil mama!" he called out and went back to slinging crack to the crack heads.

  "Hey, Autumn," Meka said when she and Qianna came out and took their position on the stoop.

  "Hey, y'all," I shot back and it took all I had not to tell them about my little come up. Anytime Qianna got money she would blow it as soon as possible. I think she like being broke cuz she would literally spend every penny as soon as she possibly could. Yeah, she would spend some on me too and so did Meka, who always had money. She’d always spend money on Qianna and I. I wasn't being selfish but I needed my little money. I loved my money.

  Meka's mama was too fly to cook so they ate out everyday. Quianna's grandma lived in our complex so she got to eat every day. I was the only one who had a chance of not eating. Five bucks may not seem like much but I can eat for two days from the dollar menu. I can get a burger and fries for two days and still have money left for candy. One thing for sure, I won't be eating out the garbage again.

  "What's popping out here?" Meka asked and looked around. Our complex was like one of them urban books; something was always going on. Someone was either shooting, fighting, fucking or something.

  "Girl, Rod done jumped on Robin again!" Qianna cheered. No one could feel sorry for her baby daddy beating her up every week because she asked for it.

  "Cuz she got caught sucking some dude dick in the parking lot!" Meka said.

  "She be fucking er’r body!" I added. It was true and she had no discretion about it. On cue, Quinna's mother hopped out a car and spit a mouthful of cum on the asphalt. We paused our conversation while she rushed over to Duck and bought some crack. She rushed inside to smoke and we picked right up where we left off.

  "I think she like that shit?" Qianna guessed. It was a good guess since neither us could understand why a chick would stay with a dude who beats them. Shoot, I can tell you all about that now.

  "Hey, y'all. Let's go to the mall!" Meka announced when we met up at our post.

  "Hells, yeah!" Qianna and I cheered and did a little happy dance. We knew if our friend asked us to come to the mall, she planned to at least feed us.

  There are plenty of malls in the city of Atlanta but, the mall meant the nearby West End mall. It was low budget and ghetto but it was all we knew at that age.
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br />   "We catching the bus?" Qianna asked, making me want to pop her. It's good enough we get to go to the mall at all and she trying to make the girl spring for bus fare too.

  "Girl, we been walking to the mall!" I reminded her sharply.

  "Nope, no bus, and we ain't walking," Meka replied to us both at once. She cracked a devious smirk as she led us toward the back parking lot instead of the street.

  "Where we going?" Qianna asked, almost getting popped again. Especially since it was obvious from the man in the car smiling at Meka as we approached.

  "Ooh, Meka! He grown!" I fussed in a whisper when I saw him. He was only in his early twenties but we had all just turned fifteen.

  "So," she shrugged and pulled the passenger door open. We followed and hopped in the back seat.

  "Hey, Simon."

  "Hey, Meka," he said and gave her a hug. He shot a glance at me and Qianna's thighs as he copped a feel on Meka's booty.

  “These my girls, Autumn and Qianna," Meka introduced us once their hug ended.

  "Simon," he nodded at us both and gave our thighs another look before pulling off. He drove with one hand while reaching over to fondle Meka's legs.

  "Stop," she giggled, but spread her legs so he feel her up.

  Qianna and I giggled at each other while he rubbed his way up her legs. He slipped a finger by her shorts, panties and found what he was after. Meka drew the line at penetration since she was still in tact; both of us was at that point. Quianna was the only one out the bunch who was fucking. She held his hand firm and let him play in her outer lips.

  "Got that wet-wet," he whispered but not low enough for us not to hear. We giggled again, then once more when he pulled his hand up and marveled at all the juice on his fingers.

  "Eww, you nasty!" Meka laughed when he stuck his fingers in his mouth and sucked them dry.

  "Shole is, and I'mma suck that lil pussy dry when you stop playing," he informed her.

  "Mmph," Qianna said and shifted in her seat. She was the only one who knew how good that felt since she was having sex already. Come to find out, these dudes love eating pussy, especially young pussy.

  "One day," Meka said coyly as we reached our destination. I caught the promise of some pussy is just as good as giving up the pussy. She proved me right when she cracked on him for some money. "Can I have some money? We gone get some Taco Bell."

  "That nasty shit!" he fussed while shoving his hand into his pocket. He was still frowning up as he came out with a big roll of dope dollars. The hundred bucks he broke her off with was more than he left his baby mama before he came to give Meka a ride.

  "Un-uh! You just sucked coochie off your fingers!" she fussed when he leaned in for a kiss. She turned her cheek and he gladly planted the smooch there instead. He locked his eyes on her booty as we walked into the mall.

  "Girl, he grown!" I said once again. Asked actually, since I was seeking guidance.

  "He’s only twenty-three. Shoot, my daddy ten years older than my mama," she explained. "’Sides, these young niggas ain't got nothing to give but they dick."

  "Mmhm," Qianna cosigned, since she would know. The last three dudes she slept with hadn't come off a hundred dollars combined.

  "Anyway, we need something to wear 'fo the park," Meka said and headed into a store that specialized in the latest hood fashions.

  "You buying something for us too?" Qianna asked earning her third pop of the day. One day I was really gonna start smacking her ass for asking dumb ass questions.

  "Yup," she said and plucked a tiny tennis skirt from the rack. The clothes were cheap enough for us all to get an outfit, shoes and still have plenty left over.

  "I want red!" Quianna shouted and grabbed the same little skirt in red since Meka selected black. That only left yellow for me since we were still young enough to want to dress alike. We saw some older girls from our apartments enter talking loud and cackling like the chicken heads they were.

  "Asia 'dem stay fly!" Qianna gushed at what the hoochie mamas were wearing. There was technically three other girls but Asia was the leader so they were Asia 'dem anytime she was with them.

  "That's cuz they getting to that bread!" Meka cheered too. "They work at the same club with my mama."

  "They strippers too?" I asked way too loud. I was just shocked because they were only a few years older than we were. Plus, Cookie looked like a man in the face. She looked like a drag queen with all the heavy makeup and pounds of wigs and weaves.

  "Can't wait ‘til I can work in the club!" Qianna said, shaking her head as if it was dream come true.

  "Me too. Me and my mama gonna do shows together. That shit gone be fly as hell!" Meka added. They both looked at me waiting for me to join them. I ain't wanna be no stripper though. I planned to go to college like them chicks in the books I read.

  I just kept quiet and watched the ghetto girls grabbing ghetto clothes off the racks without even checking the prices. Sure, it was all cheap but it was still a big deal to a thot, a stripper’s child and girl who ate out the trash.

  "Oooh!" we all cheered when Asia and company all pulled out large rolls of cash from knockoff designer purses. They were mainly ones but we didn't know it.

  "Come on y'all. Let's get something to eat," Meka said and led. We fell in step and headed over to the food court.

  I lifted my head in disgust while looking at a woman pulling food out of the garbage, but unfortunately, I knew her plight all too well. The local homeless people would bum-rush the food court and raid the garbage cans around lunch time. They would grab all they could grab before security would run them off.

  "Eating out the damn trash!" Meka hissed scornfully as we passed the woman. She lifted her head high as hell, as if stripping along side your mama was an honorable profession.

  "Let's get Chinese!" Qianna suggested for the same reason I always did. They gave more than enough food for one meal so I could take some leftovers home with me.

  "Mm," I frowned when a cramp twisted my insides. I used to dread the arrival of my cycle but now it was welcomed since it coincided with Desi's. Both coincided with the reload of our EBT card, which meant a few days of good eating.

  Both Meka and Qianna played on their phones as we sat down with our food. Mine didn't have any minutes so I pretended to be salty about forgetting it at home.

  "Girl, look," Qianna said nodding towards Duck and some girl entering the food court. "He buying her something to eat!"

  "Either cuz she ain't fucking or she got some good pussy and he wanna keep fucking her," Meka offered. I just cracked up at the look on my friend’s face. I knew her question before she even asked.

  "So, how you know if you got some good pussy?" she asked with a pout.

  "Oh, they gone tell you!" I said emphatically. I done heard it enough through my bedroom wall to know that much. My mama must have some good pussy because they all say it and change the beat on my wall.

  "Mmhm," Meka nodded and chewed her food. She lifted a finger for us to wait so we waited for her to swallow so she could continue. "Actually, almost all pussy is good unless it’s just stretched out to where a nigga can't feel it. The best pussy is the pussy a nigga gotta work for. Give it up too quick and a nigga on to the next. Girl, it's a million hoes out here and er’r one of them got a pussy. It's more than just the pussy."

  Those were lessons from her stripper mother but it made a lot of sense. She made good money letting strange men look up her ass but made even more money selling the prospect of someday getting to fuck her. She let dudes spit endless game for hours in pursuit of some pussy while shoving money in her garter. Meanwhile, the only one who got to fuck was her dope boy baby daddy. These two could dance for dollars if they wanted to, my ass was going to college.

  "We walking out right now!" Meka said when she answered her phone. She put a little pep in her step as we stepped from the mall.

  "Simon coming to pick us up?" Miss Questionnaire Qianna had to know. She always asked questions that would be answere
d on their own if she just waited a few seconds.

  "Girl no," she frowned, then smiled and waved at the next grown man pulling up in another new car. I squinted my eyes to see if they saw something different in my friend. We all had nice little bodies already but we still looked like kids. These niggas wasn't mistaking her for being grown.

  "Sup, lil mama," the man said and practically devoured her with his eyes as she slid in the passenger seat. He didn't even look our way when we climbed in back.

  "Hey Chip," she sang and batted her eyes just like she did with Simon. She giggled again and spread her legs to let him play with her pussy as he drove her home. Of course he tried to put his finger in it too. "Un uh!"

  I learned another lesson that day: guys like putting their finger in some pussy. I didn't quite understand it then and don't claim to understand it now. The ride home was as quick as it was getting there and we soon pulled up in our parking lot.

  "Can I have some money?" Meka asked as me and Qianna began to climb out.

  "A'ight now..." he seemed to warn before he went for his pocket. I slowed down to see and hear what she said.

  "I know, I'ma let you have some. Soon," she vowed. He squinted at her, then dug a hundred bucks out of his pocket. My girl made two hundred dollars, got rides to and from the mall, and didn't have to fuck for it. Not yet anyway, because the look in Chip's eyes shook me.

  "Girl, I’on know about that dude?" I asked when she caught up with us.

  "Girl, his lame ass ain't talm ’bout nothing. He my daddy friend. Be tryna sneak and holla at me," she explained. "My daddy will do him something nasty if he touch me!"

  "Still, he look crazy!" I warned once again. Come to find out, we were both right.