I set the framed picture of my mother on the center of the inset mantle. It was the first thing I unpacked, and the first thing I wanted to christen my new bedroom. Her radiant smile made me frown, as it'd just reminded me that she was no longer here. She wouldn't see me graduate High School, go to college, or get married. I reached up to take the picture down, but stopped myself. I was going to be stronger than that. I had to be. I'd just turned eighteen, after all. I was man. Time to start acting like one.
I was living with my aunt now, the eldest of my grandmother's children, and the most feared and hated. My aunt Valerie in California had offered to let me come stay with her and Uncle Vernon, I'd declined. I was going to be a senior in the forthcoming school year, and it just made sense to finish here in Boston.
"But are you sure you want to stay with Aunt Janet, though?" Aunt Val had asked, knowing full well the kind of hell I might be subject to.
"Yeah, I'm sure," I'd told her. I'll be fine. I promise."
I'd hurried her off the phone, because I knew she was going to attempt to talk me into moving out into sunny California. And while it was tempting, finishing school here just seemed like the smart thing to do, the better thing to do. Plus, there were other reasons I opted to stay with Aunt Janet...
"Boy, have you lost your everloving mind?" Aunt Janet screamed as she stomped into my bedroom, which was impressive in five inch heels, I thought. Aunt Janet is Hell In Heels. A certified super bitch from outer space. She's gorgeous as the sky is blue, but she's got the attitude of a agitated mountain lion. According to my grandmother, it was why she was forty-two years old without a man, which I think suits Aunt Janet just fine. She seemed to be more focused on her career as a business legal counsel.
She was holding a small wooden box in her hand with a Jimi Hendrix sticker plastered on the top of it. My fucking stash box. I'd forgotten that I told her it was okay to help me unpack. "Weed, Rome? Drugs?"
"Aunt Janet, Iβ"
Slap. The woman knocked the words, along the taste, right out of my mouth. I'd literally forgotten what I was going to say, not that it would have done me any fucking good. But about that other reason I'd decided to stay with Aunt Janet 'till I went off to college... she turned me on. Especially when she was full of rage like she was now. Her slap had gotten me hard as a fucking brick. I was half tempted to say something that would get me slapped again.
"No. No excuses, Rome. I know that your motherβGod bless her soulβjust died, but I'm not going to accept drugs a proper escape from that reality! Especially not in this house! I will not have my nephew being another one these black men smokin' weed and actin' a fool!"
"Aunt Janet, are you suggesting that all black men smoke marijuana and act foolish?"
I don't know what the hell came over me. I just said it. And in the most sarcastic way possible.
Slap.
I shivered, and felt my cock twitch behind my jeans. God, I was so turned on. If she hit me again, I was sure I'd make a mess of my boxers.
"I know your mother wouldn't have stood for this," she said, her pretty brown eyes narrow with anger, "so I don't know what the hell makes you think I would..." Her eyes drifted downward, catching the bulge throbbing in the front of my jeans. If she was disgusted or intrigued, it didn't show on her face, but she stared at meβmy dickβfor several long, silent moments. I felt my cock throb even more, and I realized my chest was heaving in anticipation. What was she going to do...? What was she thinking?