Track 7: Mama Yells, Best Friend Shocks, and the First Date

“Hi Mum,” Jasmine said, holding the door open for Wanja.

“Don’t ‘hi mum’ me when you have explaining to do,” Wanja stated. “I’ve been worried about you.  Not coming to dinner, not calling me, kwa nini unajificha?What’s going on with you?  ” (Why are you hiding?)

Jasmine sighed at the expected tirade, watching her mother head straight to the kitchen.

“Nothing is going on,” Jasmine said.

Her sister, Jenny, and her brother, Daryl, came in each holding shopping bags.  They both paused to hug Jasmine before they followed their mother.

“You’re in trouble,” Jenny teased as Jasmine closed the door.

“I’m not,” Jasmine said, following them.  “How was church?”

“The usual,” Daryl said, sliding onto the kitchen counter.

Jasmine smiled at his appearance.  In a white and black t-shirt, baggy jeans and new kicks, he was the picture of cool teenager.  Her brother was into machinery and electronics, talked a mile a minute, and could make the saddest human laugh.

“I’m hungry,” he whined.

Jasmine grinned and added appetite to fit an elephant to the list.  She moved to give him a bowl of banana crisps she’d left on the counter.

“You’re looking cute, Jenny,” Jasmine commented, smiling at her younger sister.

Jenny was the brains of the family.  She was twenty-two and currently doing an internship at a prestigious accounting firm in Westlands.  She was the cool-headed one in the family, always so organized.

“I bought this whole outfit for less than five thousand shillings,” Jenny answered, rubbing down invisible wrinkles on her skirt.  “Makes me look great, doesn’t it?”

Jasmine smiled and nodded.

“How about you tell me what really happened on Friday, Jazz,” Wanja said.

Her mother was busy putting away the groceries she’d brought with her.  Jasmine hadn’t missed that her mother had inspected her refrigerator and sighed with exasperation.

“I had to fix issues at work and came out late,” Jasmine lied.  “I apologized already.  How come you came here so early?”

“Early?  It’s ten-thirty, the sun is shining outside,” Jenny said, pouring herself a glass of juice.  “Mom insisted we check on you after church.  You haven’t come home to visit in three weeks.”

“I’m sorry,” Jasmine sighed.

“Some apology,” Wanja teased.  “I’m glad you’re alright.  It looks like you haven’t eaten breakfast.  Nipike fried eggs?”

“I agree with this decision,” Daryl nodded, still eating the banana chips.  “Jazz, have you seen the new racing movie?”

“No, but I’m sure you’ll tell me all about it,” Jazz said.

Thoughts of a strange night disappeared as her family surrounded her.  It suddenly didn’t matter that she was panicking about sleeping with Danny.  She had always known she had a weakness for him.  Danny could make her do anything.  Jasmine sighed and wondered what they would talk about at dinner tonight.

***

“You finally did it,” Jimmy exclaimed.  “I’m impressed.”

“Keep it down,” Danny scowled at him, while his best friend laughed.  “It’s not like we’ve worked things through yet.  I’m taking her out to dinner tonight.  Some place fancy.”

“Take her to The Passion Fruit,” Jimmy said, reaching for his cell phone.  “I’ll make the reservations.  Seven-thirty okay?”

Danny blew out nervous energy.  “I’m nervous.”

“As you should be.  Jasmine is no quick game, Danny,” Jimmy said, then spoiled it when he added, “She’s hot.”

“Respect, Dude!  She’s my woman now,” Danny said, with a fierce frown.

“Apparently,” Jimmy nodded with approval.  “Speaking of which, I hope you don’t mind.  Terry and I, we hooked up.”

“For how long?” Danny asked, knowing his best friend was a player.  “You’re not going to dump her in two days for another chick.”

“You know I respect your sister, man,” Jimmy said.  “In fact, you should be worried about me.  Terry is tougher than Jazz, you know.  Birds of a feather, and all that—

“Still,” Danny said, closing the distance between them.  He gave Jimmy a hard glare.  “You know, I’ll get on you if you hurt her.”

“I know,” Jimmy said.  “Are we cool?”

Danny studied him, then knowing Terry’s decisions were her own, he sighed and stepped back, lifting his hands up.

Jimmy cleared his throat and wiped sweat off his forehead with a kerchief in his back pocket.

“Now that we’re cool, I gotta tell you about Anderson.  Nic Mugera decided to check up on him first.  Said he didn’t like the look of the man.  He says Anderson is trouble.”

Danny sighed in disappointment.  He didn’t need this kind of trouble right now.

“Call a meeting,” Danny said.

“I agree with that, but today is Sunday.  Everyone is busy.  Besides, Nic thinks Anderson has people in all our camps, including our garage,” Jimmy said.  “That way, Anderson always knows when our races are, and how much they cost.”

“I need to think about this,” Danny said, shaking his head.  “The smart thing is to lay low for a while, no more races.  ”

“I’ll call the meeting this week, only the four heads,” Jimmy said.

“Meanwhile, find out all you can about the mechanics in our garage,” Danny scowled.  “Especially the new people.  No one is exempt. Our business is clean, I don’t want parasites invading.”

“You got it.”

****

Jasmine changed her dress four times; her shoes five times, and fussed with her hairstyle much longer than usual.  Taking in a deep breath, she closed her eyes and breathed out.  When she opened her eyes again, she stared at the woman in the floor length mirror.  She’d chosen black.  Her dress hugged her figure to perfection, stopping just above her knee.  It had long sleeves and a very low neckline, risqué but she loved the danger of it.  Studying her face, she reached for a stick of lip-gloss and pursed her lips.  Her makeup was natural tonight: emphasizing her eyes, she wore a light pink lipstick to soften her look.  Her skin looked clear, overall, not bad, she decided.

Now, if she would stop being so nervous.

The doorbell rang while she was in the kitchen warming food for Min.

“Come in, door’s open,” she called out, punching numbers on the microwave.

A few minutes later, Danny stood at the kitchen entrance.

“This habit you have of leaving your door open, Jazz,” he complained.  “We need to talk about it.”

Jasmine who had bent down to place Min’s food on the floor, straightened.

“I knew it was you,” she said, hands on her hips.  “I’m not expecting anyone else.”

Danny seemed to forget his argument, as he stood staring at her.

“Wow,” he managed.

Jasmine felt fluttered by his reaction.  Stunned had been her target, but absolute amazement worked too.

“Hi,” he said, meeting her gaze after a slow perusal of her body.

Jasmine smiled, and shook her head.

“Hi,” she said, returning the inspection.

Danny looked great.  He’d ditched the leather today and was in a black suit, black shirt open at the collar and black loafers.  She was glad he had not put on a tie.  Danny cleaned up nice.

Min meowed, and Jasmine looked at her.  She’d forgotten milk.  Pushing the microwave door open, she got the bowl of milk and placed it down carefully.

“I have to feed her now.  I might forget later,” Jasmine explained.

“Come here,” Danny held out his hand.

She took his hand, moving into his arms without protest.  His arms were so strong around her, she felt…safe.

“I missed you,” he murmured.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, and pressed closer into him.  The chemistry between them was undeniable.  She truly wanted him, always had.  Meeting his gaze, she smiled.

“I missed you too.”

Danny pulled her into a consuming kiss.  Her scent filling his nostrils, clearing his head of any thoughts, all he could do was feel her in his arms.

He sucked on her lip and murmured, “Let’s scratch dinner.”

Jasmine moaned, when he kissed her again. “We can’t.  We…mmm…we have to talk.”

“Talk later,” Danny said, lifting her up so that she wrapped her legs around him and turned to press her against the wall.  “I need you, Jazz.”

His kisses were intoxicating, his lips tracing down her neck, and she clung to him, wanting to give in.  Jasmine gasped when he nipped on a sensitive spot.

“Danny.”  She sunk her fingers into his shoulders, pushing him back.  “We should try sitting through dinner first.  Just to get through one without shouting at each other.  Please?”

Danny sighed then, pressing his forehead into her shoulder.  He took in a deep breath and allowed her feet to slide to the floor, making sure she felt every inch of him.

“This better be really good food,” he whispered into her ear, once he was under control.  Opening his eyes, he pressed a kiss to her neck.  “Where’s your sweater?”

“On the armchair,” she said, as he pulled away.

Jasmine leaned on the wall to steady herself.  She took in a deep breath, her heartbeat too fast.

****

To be continued….Thank you for reading ^_^

←Previous Track