Teach Me To Love - Chapter 10 Part 2

ha ha, thought I forgot about you.

Nope. Yahoo started working right and I had to address over 5000 (I kid you not!) that I had received in the five days that yahoo was all messed up.

On top of that I'm doing publicity for two authors now and I'm pushing their event. (duh, i should have posted their stuff here just in case anyone in the D is interested in supporting them and making me look good, LOL).

Enjoy!

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Derrick watched from his bedroom window as Carne Smith, his stepbrother, paid for a cab and came to the house. He hadn’t seen Carne in years and now that he was out of the detention center, he didn’t know if he really wanted to see his stepbrother, who had gotten him in so much trouble.

Not moving out of his room, he listened to his stepfather greeted Carne at the door in a loud drunken manner. The television in the front room played loudly, but Ernesto Smith was louder.

After a few minutes, Carne must have found an excuse to get away from Ernesto and come upstairs to Derrick’s room. His Spanish-African decent clearly showed with his dark skin and soft hair smooth back. Thick lips with his exotic Spanish mother’s eyes and nose made Carne a lady’s man even at twenty years of age, but he looked younger and could easily have someone think he was under eighteen. At only five foot ten, Carne was a head shorter than Derrick, but held himself like he was ten feet tall and had the quick tempter to go along with his dangerous arrogance.

“Que pasa, Ricky,” Carne said, grasping Derrick’s hand and snapping in unison with Derrick.

“How’s it going?”

Carne choose to speak in Spanish rather than English, “Good Amigo, What about you?”

Derrick didn’t revert to Spanish, but he understood every word Carne said as clear as day. “Probation until I’m eighteen and a promise to my old man I won’t fuck up anymore or I’ll be getting a new asshole.”

“As if you don’t have enough in your life already,” Carne sneered.

Derrick smirked and said with a shrug, “I do what I have to do, Carne. What brings you to Davenport?.”

“Just coming to see my old man and you.”

This was a straight up lie. Carne didn’t go anywhere he didn’t have business at these days, but Derrick wasn’t going to refute the matter. He just knew he couldn’t get involved in any of Carne’s shit anymore. They been cool since they moment they met. It was as if they had a silent understanding that they were going to be friends to the end.

“And what other shit is happening in Davenport?” Derrick asked suspiciously pulling Carne’s card.

Carne chuckled knowingly and nonchalantly shrugged. “Some cat hired me to find out if his courier’s dipping in the cookie jar down here.”

“And if he is? You go and tell?”

Carne smiled a sneering grin. “Naw, I either take care of the problem or see how it can benefit me.”

The idea of Carne turning to knocking people off didn’t surprise Derrick. His stepbrother could be a cold ruthless bastard when he wanted to be and he’d do about anything for a chuck of change. “I thought you were still making money the same way,” Derrick inquired.

“Of course, I am – or will be, but I need a large pile to front me. This job or the benefits from this job will put me over the cash flow I need in order to do what I wanna do.” He relaxed over Derrick’s bed as if it were his own.

Derrick tried not to look displeased at Carne taking liberties in his room without asking him.

Carne continued explaining, “I got this cat up in the D that wants to bail. Owes me something and looking to hit the International waters to get away from five-oh. I think I can get big bills up there, plus be close to my old man. You interested in giving me some knowledge and
time?”

“I’m interested in staying alive, Carne, and if I have anything to do with you, I can fuck that. Derrick wasn’t going to beat around the bush. “Mr. James don’t make idle threats and just cause his ass ain’t looking over my damn shoulder all the time, don’t think he won’t find out I’m running hot with you.”

“I know. I know. Your old man is the shit.” There was a look of fear, awe and envy in Carne’s soft brown eyes. “Going all soft now that he’s up in the boonies and thinking he got pull here. Well fine, Bro, you choose your own road and see where that gets you.”

Derrick knew guilt was a popular tactic of Carne’s to bend people to his will, but his stepbrother didn’t understand he was messing with an older smarter Derrick James. In a dark deadly hiss, he sneered, “I spent four damn years in some greasy place for your road, Carne. Coming in here with that bullshit ain’t gonna make me jump ship and do something stupid again to get me back behind bars.”

Carne eased off. “Okay, okay, Bro. I’m just fucking with yo’ head, man.”

The impassive look in Derrick’s face didn’t flinch.

Feeling very uncomfortable, Carne got up from the bed and found and reason to leave. “I’m going to ram some food down my throat. You coming?”

Derrick only shook his head. When Carne was gone, Derrick relaxed on the bed and closed his eyes. Carne had a lot of nerve coming in here trying to mess with Derrick’s head.

Arwin came in the room hurried and locked the door behind him. “I thought he would never leave, Man. It’s b ad enough trying to sneak in this house with your folks not knowing, but if he’s here, I ain’t never gonna have no place to stay.”

“Why didn’t you just come in?” Derrick asked. “He’s cool with that.”

Shaking his head nervously, Arwin said, “Even though I never met him, Derrick, he came around here when your parents first moved here a lot. Doing business with a lot of people who even I knew at a young age you just didn’t talk to. He ain’t no good and I just don’t like him. When I found out he was your brother, I didn’t know if I should even hang with you anymore, but I changed my mind when I knew you wasn’t nothing like him and would never be.”

“He’s not anyone to be cared of, Arwin,” Derrick assured him. “He talks shit, but he really is shit.”

Arwin chuckled appreciating the fact Derrick was so casual about it. “Is he gonna stay in here with you?”

“Nope, he’ll stay on the couch.” He sat up from the bed and tossed a pillow down on the floor where Arwin usually camped out next to his bed. “You’re cool here, but check with me tomorrow about the staying the night. I think I warded him off for a night, but he might inch his way up here to take my knowledge down. He ain’t the smartest brother, but he got connections that I might be able to use later.” He frowned nothing the edginess in Arwin’s stance and sensed that Arwin had a bigger problem than Carne. “What’s your deal?”

“We got a problem,” Arwin said. “I told Tonya some things and I think she took it wrong.”

“What did you tell her?” Derrick asked, his frown deepening.