Shut Up & Listen - Chapter 55: Chapter 55

Cobe had left the loft to pick up some items for dinner since everybody was still over. While on the frozen foods aisle at the back of the store, he noticed a familiar frame on the other end.
A seductive smile came across Mohammed's neatly shaved face and his tongue danced about his bottom lip before he approached Cobe. "Where you been?" Mo wrapped his arm around Cobe's shoulder in a cordial side hug. He looked down at the shorter man, appreciating the visibility of the shape of his ass in the joggers Cobe had on.
Instead of responding, Cobe kept his eyes on the frozen vegetables in the refrigerator, praying that Mo would just go away.
"So we not speaking now?" Mo asked, visibly hurt at the dismissal of his presence. He reached into the fridge and grabbed a few bags of frozen spinach still taking in the sight of Cobe. "You know I aint messin' wit my boy if that's what you thinkin'. I just aint wanna stop what we had goin' on." He scratched his forehead, looking around to see if anyone else was in the aisle. "I swear, Kwabe."
He stood before him, watching his demeanor trying to figure out what he had done to deserve this cold shoulder.
"And at yo homie house... I wasn't gone do nun forreal. I was just playing around... You already know I could never actually kill somebody." He whispered the last part, looking around again. He grabbed his shoulder.
Cobe turned around, "the fuck do you want?"
"You."
"You too fucking old for this childish ass shit."
"I'm only a year older than that Black nigga you love so much." Mo glared at him, catching Cobe off guard with the random mention of him.
"How you know how old he is?"
"It ain't ever bothered you before. I always been this exact same amount of years older than you. Now I'm too old?."
"How you know?"
"When you got enemies, you learn shit about them. You always cookin' up some wild ass conspiracies. Kwabe, you literally the only dude I ever been with, why you keep askin' me shit about these other nigga's?" Mo said, a little too defensively.
"I didn't."
"You just aksed me if I got a thing with Black."
"I only asked you how you knew his age, but I guess a guilty conscience will hear what it wants."
"The fuck am I guilty of?"
"You tell me."
Mo spread lid lips into a smile like expression, but the look in his eyes read anger and maybe fear.
Cobe's phone started ringing in his hand. 'Saved by the bell' he thought, looking back towards Mo. "I gotta answer this."
He looked offended. "That's yo new nigga?" He looked around before stepping closer to Cobe. "Every time I turn around, it's a new nigga." He said, softening his voice.
He leaned over Cobe, instinctively Cobe's face went up to match Mohammed's gaze. "Why can't it just be me and you?" He leaned down and placed his lips on mine, much softer than he ever had before.
Cobe's heart stopped and everything melted away. When Mo pulled away, the phone wasn't ringing anymore and Cobe's heart was beating fast at the realization that he was still in the grocery store, in public, and people had saw.
He looked around frantically, but what surprised him the most, was that Mo was unfazed by the onlookers. "I want you, Kwabe. Only you." He said, still standing over Cobe.
***
Cole sat in his car waiting for Cobe to answer his call. Dame is always his first stop when he needed to talk. When Dame don't listen, Cobe is next on his list. Recently however, Cobe was tough to get a hold to unless they were in bed together.
He threw his phone into the passenger seat and pulled off down Woodward ave. He decided to go to the river walk to clear his mind since no one was willing to hear him out.
"FUCK!" He yelled out over the water while he leaned on the silver colored railing that tried its best at keeping unhappy individuals from jumping ship. Cole has been in this same secluded spot on far too many occasions wondering if it would be easier to just climb over this thing and steal away.
He bent over, resting his head on his folded arms that rested atop the railings. The breeze from the river cooled him down along with the mist. He noticed a shadow on the ground beside him but had no reason to look up to find out who it was.
"I know that ain't you, playboy?" Lonnie asked, closing the space between he and Cole. "You look like you need somebody to talk to... you wanna talk to me?"
"Depends, is this Black or is this Lonnie?"
"You a real funny guy." He smiled and Cole laughed then stood up right, resting his back against the railing.
"But forreal though, as Dame's brother and as Cobe's friend," Cole started, "I just wanna apologize for the other night. I keep crossing the line and I don't even know what the damn line is. I just don't even know if we supposed to be cool."
"Who's making the rules?" Lonnie asked, getting only a shrug from Cole. "Exactly. We not doing nothing wrong by chillin'. And we fasho don't owe nobody shit."
"I mean sure, but like... there's bro code. Wasn't you and Cobe like... in love or some shit."
"I mean... yeah. I wouldn't call it IN love though... it's definitely love there, but it's more of an understanding of eachother. Damn, I keep saying is like I still got that shit or sumn." He looked over at Cole.
" You know i've never talked to anyone about Cobe? I've never said this shit out loud, not even to him." He sighed, messing with the cigarette behind his ear. "We was like... so in tune. You ever felt that before? That real ass connection... no phony shit, not corny or nothing, just comfortable." He looked out at the water as if he could see the past there. "Shit, it felt good as hell having him, but I always knew that it wasn't gon be no forever thing cuz Cobe just aint the forever type of dude... he's too scared, always lets fear run his shit like he's not the one in control of it; I don't get it."
"Fear?"
He looked back at Cole. "Yeah. He's scared to death of himself. He don't even really know who he is and I hate that for him. It almost makes me feel bad for making him reap what he sowed but then I have to remind myself that I don't really owe him any thing. He's soft and caring and everything, but he's also selfish as fuck. Self-centered is what I mean. I mean, look at you... trying to be his savior and shit, but when you need saving is he the first one you'd call? Would he do the same for you that you do for him?"
Cole was silent. It wasn't that he had to think about it. The comment was true, undoubtedly. He just didn't want to admit it.
"You really don't think that y'all could have that again? If it wasn't about nobody else... nobody in yo ear, no drama, no Mo." Cole asked, more for clarification for himself.
"But all that shit does exist, and it's real, and I can't pretend that Kwabena aint really hurt a real nigga. If you felt that type of hurt before, you would understand."
"I have."
"Hum. And you out here sulking and crying on your own shoulder while Cobe, your best friend, is where?" Cole rolled his eyes at the continuous slander of Cobe's name. This nigga always on Cobe dick, Cole thought.
"At my crib, why?"
"Nah, he at the grocery store up on Warren with that nigga Mo as we speak." He looked at Cole, "You think he love him too? That nigga prolly got you thinking it's all love too."
"Aight... last time I let you clear you chest, but I don't like you throwing shit on his name, thats shit is unnecessary. It's honestly getting old as hell. If you ain't fucking with him no more, then leave it at that." Cole said, finally coming to Cobe's defense. Lonnie took what he said and put it in his back pocket. They strolled down the river walk a bit more, in silence, until Lonnie broke it. "What you out here for anyway? You looked tired."
"Tired of the bullshit, that's it."
"You can lay it on me if you want." He put his finger up to his lip and chuckled, looking down at Cole, "your problems, not your body." He smiled. "Although I wouldn't be opposed to that." He added in.
Cole shook his head, holding back something. "Well. Today I found out that I'm trending on social media mostly due to my latest singles... but I can't even enjoy that shit cuz my mind is all wrapped up in some other shit. And nobody tryna hear me out. Imma be honest, and don't come for me cuz I know I'm spoiled as hell and prolly selfish too, but I'm not used to having to fend for myself. My bro's usually there for me to listen or anything. But everybody been occupied lately and my ex dropped a bomb on me and I really woulda preferred to not even know."
"Try me then." Lonnie said with soft eyes.
Cole looked up at him, their eyes met and Lonnie let out a coy a smile.  "I'm here and I'm not going anywhere for the time being, so just blurt it out."
"Shehadanabortionandbrokeupwithmebecauseofit." He got out in one breath.
"Okay.... so I think you said... "she got an abortion and broke up with you over it."
Cole nodded his head.
"Was this recently?"
"We broke up back in October. We were together for three years though."
The two were quiet as Lonnie processed the information. "Did she have a reason for telling you now? Was it to get back at you?"
"She into all that spirituality voodoo shit. Apparently spirit told her she needed to tell me." Lonnie tried not to laugh, but it came out as a stiffled snort. Cole smiled at his attempt to remain serious.
"It's real." Cole defended. Lonnie nodded his head as they kept walking.
"Well, It's in the past now." he shrugged.
"That's what I keep telling myself, but there's this thing that won't let me let it go."
Lonnie looked at him. "And you don't know what the reason could be?" Cole stared out over the river, avoiding the question as Lonnie expected. He wanted so badly to psychoanalyze the younger man, but now wasn't the time. He decided to change the subject as they approached a bench on the other end of the river front.
"You said you do music." Lonnie said earning a nod from Cole. "You signed?"
"Nah... I'm independent. But I got a good team."
"That's what's up. Can I hear sumn?" Cole let out an anxious breath.
"You ain't gotta sing right now, you can just play something." Lonnie reassured him prompting Cole to pull his phone from his pocket.
"Aight. Let's get on YouTube and type in Luke James..." he said narrating his actions.
"Who the fuck is Luke James?"
"That's my stage name. I wanted to go for a RnB vibe and Colin Adebanjo wasn't doing it for me." He handed Lonnie the phone so he could choose which video he wanted to watch. Music started to play making Cole roll his eyes when he realized which song he decided on.
"So that's what you look like with no clothes on." Lonnie mumbled, watching the music video while the song 'dancing in the dark' played.
"That would be the one you picked." Cole laughed. "I should've gave you Spotify."
Lonnie looked back at Cole smiling "Why? I was gonna see this ass eventually." With that, Cole snatched the phone away from him.
"I like your voice. Lemme see another one. A live performance or sumn."
"I did a show on valentines day" he clicked on the video and held the phone between them. It was quiet the entire time they watched the video until the last few moments. "Your energy on stage is contagious, nigga. Yo, you dope as hell. How come I ain't know I was pushing up on a super star?"
"Nah..." Cole waved his hand out, rejecting any premature claims to fame. Then he became uncomfortable in their comfortability once again. He looked down at his phone.
"You aight?" Lonnie asked, confused by the sudden shift in Cole's energy.
"You not going to say anything to Cobe, right?" Lonnie's brows knitted together, confusion spread about his face. "I'm just saying, he knew about you coming to talk that first time... I just wanna know if you gone tell him about the other night too?"
"I said we good didn't I?"
"What does that mean?"
"We cool now. So I gotchu." Lonnie said, resting his hand on Cole's thigh."He ain't gone hear it from me."
"I need to hear a guarantee." Cole said, getting serious.
"I would give you one... but I'm not God. Plus... anybody coulda saw. And that's my bad... I got a little carried away. I don't regret it though. It was right. It felt right." He said confidently before noticing the regret in Cole's face. "But... I'm cool with us being friends... without benefits." He said, removing his hand from Cole's thigh. " And when I say us I mean you and Lonnie. Don't be fucking around with that Black dude. That nigga is crazy, aight." Lonnie joked.
"Yeah... yeah."
"Don't look so disappointed. Lonnie a cool cat, man."
"You know what would be cool?" Cole asked, looking at Lonnie as if he were about to say something relevant. "If you stop talking about yaself like that. It's giving me melly vibes." He laughed at his own joke.
"Oh see now you crossed the damn line. I told you I ain't psycho. I just gotta keep business and pleasure separated." Lonnie retorted.
"I feel you."
"I know you do Luke James." Lonnie said, mocking Cole for also having two personas.
"Here this nigga go." Cole shook his head, putting his attention back onto the flowing waves of the Detroit River.