Two Tribes, page 9
part #1 of Young Atlanteans Series
‘It’s only nine o’clock,’ JJ said, already seeing the slight smudge to her eyeliner and lipstick.
She shrugged.
‘And you’re drunk.’
She rolled her eyes and went to turn away again. ‘You’re not the boss of me.’ Her hips were already moving as she began to dance again.
His eyes dropped to the temping midriff she was showing as she moved provocatively around him. In a moment, the familiar fierceness rose in him. He snatched her roughly to him and whispered in her ear, ‘Then let’s dance.’
Latitia allowed it stiffly, as if it took a moment for her mind to catch up with whether she should or not.
JJ relaxed his hold, knowing the instinct was too strong for human company. Strong territorial emotions were normal for Atlanteans when it came to a mate. Mate? He instantly shook the thought away. That could never be what was going on here. ‘It’s just a dance,’ he said, a little distracted by the revelation, and began to move with her.
He absorbed the feel of her; soft and warm. She smelt gorgeous, and it was more than the cheap perfume. There was an underlying note to her skin that drove him wild. It overwhelmed him so much he was grateful when she decided to try to keep her anger with him. ‘You’re too … too—’
Her expression made him laugh. ‘What?’ he said, resisting the urge to cover her mouth with his own. The strength of his urges around her shocked him.
She was no more than a few inches away, looking bleary-eyed up at him. ‘I don’t get you. One minute you’ve got the whole loner thing going on and then …’
‘There’s nothing to get,’ he said, swaying with her and looking off into the crowd. But even he had to admit he was sending mixed messages. ‘There’s just no point in me getting close to anyone. Doesn’t mean I don’t like you.’ Or want to share you, he finished in his head.
JJ was glad when she tutted and rolled her eyes, too inebriated to see how she was affecting him. ‘You can’t have it both ways, Mister.’
The exaggerated way she pointed at his chest made him laugh because instead of pulling away, she pulled him closer to her afterwards, as if she refused to let him go. She was too drunk to notice but he revelled in it, breathing in the scent of her hair at her hairline. ‘If only it were that simple.’
He said it more to himself, but she heard and pushed apart to look him in the eyes. ‘Well, what is it then?’
Her lack of coordination had disappeared and her chest was rising and falling in anticipation. As if she knew, even in her drunken state, that they were at a monumental crossroads. ‘Tell me. You can trust me.’
He stared down into her eyes. The noise and the bustle of the party had already receded around them and he wondered how much truth she could handle. Did he want to share any of himself with her? Could she handle that – could he? Because he knew, if he did, then he’d have to throw in his whole lot with her. It was the only possible way it could work. But that would be a real relationship and that was something he had little or no experience with.
He was torn. She’d only seen a very small part of his power and knew nothing of his race.
He almost spiralled off in anger at his fathers for putting him and her in this impossible position, when she touched the side of his face to pull his attention back to her. ‘If you don’t want me to dance with other boys, you have to at least give me something.’
The irony made him feel sad. The reality was he was strong enough to do what the hell he wanted, and that was at the bottom of his fear with her. That she understood so little of that. But before he could say another word, her hand was behind his neck and her mouth was on his.
Strangely, it was only at that point, he remembered where they were. Her friends were nearby, pointing and whispering, but he was soon lost. The kiss bloomed and opened into the deepest, most drugging kiss of his life. She became pliant and soft around him and tasted sweet, like the cherry alcohol she’d been drinking. He had to call a stop to it and pulled apart, breathing heavily.
She was looking at him wide-eyed with wonder and tinged a little with fear, proving she was a shocked as he was at their reaction to each other.
It wasn’t his idea to come to the school and it certainly made no difference to the scheme of things, but for the first time, as he gazed down into her uncertain expression, he questioned the need to face the future totally alone.
He nodded to the seating area arranged in the corner of the room. ‘Do you want to get some water and talk?’
She nodded, clearly pouncing on it as progress. So he led her by the elbow in the direction of the chill-out area of low gym benches, grabbing two bottles of water from a table nearby. It sparked a gaggle of gossip as the crowd closed the gap behind them. He didn’t care. His mind was already scrambling on what on earth he was doing; off-piste and making it up as he went along.
JJ sat down heavily on a bench, while another kid scooted along at his stern look. Latitia sat gingerly, angling herself to face him, leaning her elbow on the wall. He cracked the top off a bottle of water and passed it to her. ‘Here. Your mum will kill you if you get home smashed.’
Latitia took it from him and brought it to her mouth. ‘I didn’t think you were coming tonight?’ she said in between gulps.
He smiled a little. He and Xavier had never arrived to anything early in their lives. And in all honesty, he hadn’t been sure he’d come himself. Xavier had demanded it in the end so he could stalk Alexia, but he was sure he was also checking whether the blonde he fancied, really didn’t come. In the end, JJ opted for as honest as he could be. ‘I wasn’t sure myself.’
Somehow, the idea of getting into trouble with Xavier, flirting and fighting as they’d done at their last school had lost its appeal. He sensed it in Xavier, too. Maybe their dads had been right and they were growing up. But as he sipped his drink and studied Latitia’s stunning, expectant face, it still didn’t alter the fact that their worlds were poles apart and neither could play much of a part in the other’s. ‘What do you want, Latitia?’ he asked, suddenly so weary with it all.
Her eyes widened and she immediately balked. He was sorry how arrogant he sounded, but there was no other way of saying it that wouldn’t insult her. ‘I mean, where do you see this going between us?’ he said, motioning his hand between them.
Too late. Her eyes lowered to a scowl and she went to get up. He quickly grabbed her arm. ‘Sorry … please … let me explain.’ He said the words softly, suddenly conscious of the eyes on him, restraining her.
‘Explain then. You kissed me back, remember?’ She slumped back onto the hard wood and glared at him. ‘You’ve got precisely five minutes.’ She checked the time on her phone and folded her arms.
His grin soon turned into a frown at how he would do that, exactly. In the end he let out a deep sigh. ‘How much did your mum tell you about us?’
Latitia shrugged. ‘Dunno. Not much. Just that she knew your dads back in the day. And she owed them a lot.’
JJ bobbed his head. He’d guessed as much. He had no idea where he was going with this.
Latitia started to look bored and checked the time again on her phone.
It made him smile. He admired that she didn’t take bullshit. ‘OK,’ he said, leaning back onto the wall. ‘Don’t say I didn’t warn you. I’ll tell you a little, otherwise we’ll be here all night.’ He scratched his head. ‘And quite honestly, I’m done with the whole thing.’
He looked up at the coloured lights bouncing off the ceiling from the cheap glitter-ball and wondered how on earth he’d put it in terms she’d understand. But when he looked at her again, her impatience had been replaced with a look of sadness.
‘It’s OK. I’m tough. I can take whatever it is. I promise.’ She stroked the back of the hand resting on the leg he had bent at the knee.
He looked at it as if it were an alien thing on the end of his arm. He felt completely thrown. ‘It’s hard to explain.’
‘Try me.’
He took a deep breath and began with the three of them. ‘Well … you know I have a different father to Alexia and Xavier?’
Latitia nodded and waited.
‘Well … we are still part of one family – a very important one.’ He shifted irritably. ‘Like one who has the President of the United States on speed dial kind of important.’
Her eyes went wide and then narrowed with scepticism. ‘What are you doing in this dump, then?’ She was starting to grin as if he was going to deliver the punchline of a joke.
‘Our fathers’ last-ditch attempt to force us to grow up.’ Then he frowned. ‘It strangely appears to be working.’ He focused on her face again, looking more and more bewildered. ‘We’re too old to be tutored and we messed up at our last prep school in America, so here we are. Left to fend for ourselves and clear up our own messes.’
She stared at him a long moment after he finished speaking, no doubt weighing whether she believed him. Then she swallowed, now sobered, and frowned. ‘OK. Suppose I believe you, why does that stop you having a girlfriend?’ Then, immediately seeing her mistake, she corrected it to, ‘Or getting close to anyone?’ Her face went a deep shade of purple.
He smiled sympathetically, understanding and feeling immediately sorry for her. It did seem the easiest thing in the world to an outsider. ‘Maybe, if it was just a roll in the hay, but I don’t think it would be anything that simple with you, would it?’ He widened his eyes mischievously, but his meaning was serious enough.
Latitia laughed and visibly thawed in front of his eyes and he hated himself for it. A less-scrupulous guy could swoop in and take anything. Her inexperience, despite a level of street smarts, meant the kind of honesty that humbled him. She was the trusting fawn gradually taking scraps from his hand, only to find out his world was a far more dangerous place than any of London’s streets. She had no idea.
‘I don’t understand then. Why can’t you?’ She was sitting forward, now openly holding his hand.
JJ looked down at heir joined hands across his leg. The music vibrated the walls around them and when he looked into her eyes again, all he could think was how unbelievably light brown they were for a human and how they set off the glow in her dark skin, perfectly.
He ran a finger over the top of her hand, then it just began to come out. One word after another, like a train, with no conscious thought to it. ‘My father and Xav’s father grew up together like brothers, but they weren’t blood, you know?
‘OK,’ she said nodding slightly.
‘When Xav’s father grew up, he took over the family business. He was the oldest and he won his birth right fair and square.’
She nodded, her face clouding a little at his choice of words, but she didn’t stop him.
‘Then, a few years ago, when we were young, something happened where a guy took it from him. He was from another family and my father saved it for him.’
Her face was a rainbow of expressions, trying to follow every word. He knew how it must sound. That she probably thought they were some Mafia-type family in a turf war, or something. He simply didn’t quite know how else to put it. ‘Everyone thought my father would take it over, but he didn’t. He handed it back to Xav’s father. He loved him.’ For some reason a lump came up in his throat as he saw the concern in her eyes. He couldn’t look at her and toyed with the bands at his wrists that symbolized all his hopelessness. It was impossible to tell her it all.
‘That’s good though, isn’t it?’ she said, gently rubbing his hand. ‘They were like brothers and your dad did a great thing.’
JJ immediately snapped out of his wallowing and sat up with a sharp intake of breath. ‘You don’t understand. To lead the—’ He almost said nation and swapped it for company at the last minute. ‘You can only pass it on to your eldest son. When we grow up, it should be Xav’s.’
Latitia looked at him, completely bewildered. He wasn’t doing a good job at explaining it at all. He tried to dig a fingernail under his wristband and failed. It was a habit in times of stress. ‘We’re a big family and because of what happened, some say it should come to me.’ His eyes went to hers, any warmth in them completely gone. ‘Xav is my brother and I really don’t want it.’ When she just stared at him, at a loss for words, he added the killer blow: ‘But I won’t have a choice and we’ll have to fight for it someday. So all the posh schools and all the studying for some pie in the sky job won’t change a single thing.’
He’d stunned her into silence and even that made him angry. He pushed his hand back through his hair.
Surprisingly, she made no comment on what he just said, simply pointed at the gold bands on his wrist. ‘What are those?’
It almost made him laugh; that she should home in on the very symbol of everything he’d just said. He held both of them up so she could examine them closely, but pulled them out of reach before she could touch the metal that would burn her. ‘They tell my people who I am. That no matter what I do, I’m on this earth to mess everything up. So that’s exactly what I do.’ His anger was rising in his chest. ‘So, me, you, here,’ he said moving his hand between them and getting to his feet. ‘It’s not going to happen.’ He stood, turned his back on her and pushed roughly through the crowd. He had to get away before he said something he’d regret. She’d forgive him, let him love her and then he’d mess her life up too.
CHAPTER 11
Alexia stood up on the dais with Dwayne and surveyed the crowd. She’d done it many times with her mother when she was small, but this meant so much more. The tacky decor in the shabby gym, in the run-down school, full of happy, partying kids, forgetting all their problems in their simple lives, made her heart glad. She was grown up, with the cutest boy ever, having the best night of her life.
She was proud of him; the crowd adored him. He was truly master of ceremonies. He instinctively knew what they wanted and played it to cheers every time. People’s problems, how someone was dressed, no matter what background they were from; nothing existed except the music. In the dance everyone is created equal. Knowing that was what made a great DJ; her mother had taught her that. He was without doubt the coolest boy in the room.
She was so excited, she called her mother and held out her phone so she could see the delighted crowd. ‘Just like you, Mum,’ she said, almost crying with happiness.
‘He’s great, darling. I can’t wait to meet him. Put him on,’ her mother said.
‘She wants to speak to you,’ she shouted to Dwayne.
He pulled his earphones down and turned his back to the worst of the noise. It was really tough to hear. ‘Hi, Mrs Dubonnetti. Thanks. Yes I will.’ Then he laughed and handed Alexia back her phone.
‘Bye, Mum. Love you,’ she said and ended the call. ‘Hey! What did she say?’ she asked, intrigued.
‘She congratulated me on a great set and told me to look out for you and hold my own with your brothers.’
Alexia clapped her hands and laughed. ‘She loves you. I knew she would.’
Dwayne grinned, covered his ears again and dropped his next tune. Then he swept her up and kissed her in front of everybody. Alexia couldn’t ever remember being this happy. It lasted no more than about three seconds, but it was enough to get a cheer. She didn’t care who saw. It was proof Dwayne felt the same as she did. Not even her brothers could ruin that.
Dwayne put her away from him with a grin and told her to stop distracting him, making her laugh. He selected his next song and picked up her hand. ‘Come on, we deserve a break.’ He went to walk towards the steps down into the crowd when he paused to look out to the doors at the back of the room. He squinted as if he was focusing on something, or someone.
‘What is it?’
He shook his head and began going down the steps. ‘Nothing. Someone got let in that shouldn’t have. That’s all.’
Alexia tried to see who it might be. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but Dwayne’s mood had completely changed. Something was very wrong. He seemed loath to move too far away and grabbed a couple of juices while they stood at the foot of the steps. A few partygoers congratulated him and patted his back, then the crowd parted as a group of boys approached that she didn’t recognize.
There were five boys, ranging in varying shades of black skin and all dressed in the trendiest, eye-catching clothes, like models on a catwalk. Dwayne gripped her hand and pulled her into his side. It was his reaction that made her more nervous than anything.
One of the boys eyed her up and down and kissed his teeth, loudly. ‘Where you been hidin’ this one, Johnson?’
‘You shouldn’t be here, Trick. This is a school party; you don’t go here.’
The one Dwayne had called Trick moved in uncomfortably close to Dwayne. Alexia’s heart pumped as the others moved in behind him. She’d seen enough of nights out with her brothers to know there would be trouble. He kissed his teeth loudly again and sneered. ‘I don’t need to get physical, everyone knows I rule the decks,’ Trick said right in Dwayne’s face, making him blink.
‘That’s right,’ another boy said, posturing and pointing behind him.
Alexia was now shaking. Her eyes dropped to a boy taking a square black box out of a bag. He bounded up the steps and plugged it into Dwayne’s equipment. The music stopped abruptly and another, louder, more aggressive song kicked in. Trick laughed and followed him, producing another set of earphones while another boy began shouting down a mic.
The crowd responded, instantly assuming the change was planned and began chanting the offensive lyrics back to the rapper.
Alexia moved into Dwayne and he put his arm around her. They were forced to watch what looked like madness, until a flock of teachers swarmed the stage and the electricity was cut.
Trick dropped the mic to an eruption of cheers and grinned widely as the five of them were escorted off the stage. He fixed Dwayne in the eye as he passed with a smirk and even Alexia could see that he’d completely stolen Dwayne’s show.
One of the teachers approached Dwayne angrily. ‘It’s over, Dwayne. We’re calling a halt to it before there’s trouble.’ The lights came on and Dwayne pulled her away, obviously furious. Alexia couldn’t believe he’d been blamed for the whole thing.
