"Man, I don't even know why I'm here right now," AJ muttered as he looked into the rearview mirror of his car.
He was sitting in the drive way of his cousin Ty's house building up the courage to socialize with members of his family he hadn't seen in years. It was his aunts birthday party and he came as a favor to Ty since they were both still close. He stayed for at least 30 seconds looking into the mirror until he let out a long sigh, turned the car off and decided to go in.
He had his half-finished star bucks drink in one hand and his aunts birthday gift in the other. Just as he stepped out of the car and shut the door, one of his younger cousins came running by playing a game of tag or something and barreled straight into his chest. He managed to save the gift but the same could not be said for his drink as it now stained the front of his t-shirt.
"Please lord, gimme the strength need to not kill a child today." He thought as he picked his now empty cup up off the ground and threw it away while keeping an eye on where his little cousin went to. He was definitely gonna catch a couple elbows in the bounce house later.
Begrudgingly, AJ walked to the door and knocked. No answer but the music was up loud and everyone was in the back yard so he let himself in and set his gift on the table with the other gifts. Truthfully, he wasn't very close with any of his family other than Ty but he didn't mind his aunt. She was always the life of the party and she could throw down so mean on the grill that he once gifted her a pair of New Balance sneakers as a joke. He went looking for her, which wasn't hard since you could ALWAYS hear her before you see her, so he could wish her happy birthday.
After exchanging pleasantries with his aunt his mind turned to the next mission: food. He could see that no one had fired up the grill yet so he thought, "fuck it," and went straight to the fridge. He found some lunch meat and bread and managed to sneakily make himself a sandwich. He was taking quick bites hoping no one would bother him. Suddenly, he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder.
"Boy, what the fuck you doin' with my muhfuckin LUNCH MEAT!?" Despite the voices exaggerated, threatening tone all he could muster up was a chuckle as he had heard the voice numerous times before.
He turned to see his favorite cousin Ty and the greeted each other like they were strangers even though they had just played 2k together the night before.
"Damn cuz! I thought you were bout to cry with that meat hanging out ya mouth," Ty joked.
"PAUSE!!!" Aj shot back as they both laughed a little too hard.
"When you get here?" Ty asked.
"Shit, I just walked in the door," replied AJ, "what about you?"
"I been here all day helping moms get ready," Ty said.
Though he said the next part of the sentence normally for some reason the words hit AJ's ears as if it were slow motion.
"Me and Lena."
Lena. Lena!!! How could he forget?! Of course she would be at her husband's moms' birthday party!
Lena was Ty's wife of three years. They'd been together since high school though. Sometimes, AJ would sit and wonder how his normal looking ass cousin wifed a certified twelve out of ten. She had everything you could want in a woman's body. She was 5'5, she had beautiful brown skin, shoulder length curls, her years playing soccer meant she had thick thighs and an even thicker ass, wonderfully petite boobs, nice full lips that concealed perfect teeth, and a smile that would make a blind man blush.
Ty was AJ's DAWG though and he had never even attempted anything more than a glance every now and then that lasted maybe a second longer than it should. Honestly, Ty had noticed AJ looking from time to time but he knew with a girl as fine as Lena that was bound to happen sometimes and she would walk around in booty shorts around the house while AJ was there from time to time. Besides, AJ was his boy! He'd never do anything other than look, right?! Right?!!
AJ and Ty chopped it up for a while cracking jokes about everyone that was there. Still no sign of Lena but they figured she was off with Ty's mom. At some point during the night AJ went off to the bathroom. The door wasn't locked as he was just using this as a break to recharge his social batteries for a second. He wet his face with water from the faucet and looked into the mirror.
Suddenly, the door flung open. It was her. It was Lena. She absentmindedly closed the door behind her. AJ took this opportunity to admire her. She wasn't dressed revealingly at all but her beauty was impossible to conceal. She was wearing black leggings and a black hoodie and her hair was tied back. Still she was stunning. AJ noticed her hands were covered in a red substance.
"Yo, are you okay?!" He blurted out, thinking she was bleeding.
Startled and not realizing she barged in on someone already in the restroom.
"Oh my god, AJ! I'm so sorry!" She went to turn around and leave.
"Nah, you're good. I was just tryna recharge a bit before I go back out there." He again asked, "are you okay?"
"Oh definitely. It's just ketchup. One of the little ones thought it'd be funny to splash it on me," She said.
"I already know who you're talking about. I'ma get his lil ass in the bounce house later." They both chuckled at the thought of a grown man assaulting a child in a bounce house.
Lena washed her hands off and decided to stay and shoot the shit with AJ for a bit.
"Where's that girl you were seeing?" She asked.
