EJShaun.com

“Can we please film this?”

People packed the living room. They piled on couches and loveseats, sat at the bar or on the floor. The furniture had been pushed back to clear a space. A heavy instrumental thumped overhead. Markus walked around with the bucket of phones to make sure nobody had theirs. Aliyah and some of her girlfriends sat on a sofa in the middle.

“No,” she shouted, “No phones!”

A collective groan passed through the crowd.

Kelvin and Aja stood in the center. Armed with only their microphones, they stared each other down. For him, he saw an unbreakable veteran with fire in her eyes. For her, she saw a skinny punk in a corny button-up.

“Don’t let them rattle you,” she said, talking about the audience, “Lot of money in the room.”

He looked at the crowd then shook his head. His hair fell in his face. He fiddled with his mic like he was nervous, but it wasn’t that bad.

“You wanna go first or second?” she asked.

“First.”

She introduced him without further delay. She mentioned the autograph and said it was up to the crowd whether he deserved it. She didn’t sugar-coat it.

“Show him love if he’s good. Boo him if he’s bad.”

Everybody but Aliyah cheered in agreement. Aja lastly stepped aside to give him the floor. The guy working the sound system changed the song to an upbeat number. People clapped before quieting. Kelvin couldn’t stop grinning. So far, it was the best night of his life.

“It’s about to storm soon. Maybe I should warn you. This ain’t exactly gonna be your typical war, Boo. Insults? Nah, I would rather pick door two, and rap about my last girl cause that girl adored you. Dancing to your music, she could shake the whole floor loose. Best moves happened, horizontal in her dorm room. Shut it like a drawer, dude! You know how the poor do. I would tour her, while her stereo toured you!”

Most of the crowd laughed or hollered back. Aja scowled, clenching her jaw to keep from smiling.

“She had me like a board, never bored when she bored through. Even with your style, she would wear what you wore, Boo. Thigh-high boots, crop tops, short shorts, too. Damn, how you brought the horn out that unicorn. Whoo!”

More people hollered as Kelvin finished his turn. Aliyah crossed her legs, half impressed, half curious. One of her girlfriends asked the same question on her mind.

“Who was that about?”

In the doorway, a dark man with long dreadlocks sipped his drink and watched the battle over the rim of his cup. He was tall and built with a scar across one eyebrow. He left after Aja lost her composure and buried her face in her hand.

He hurried down the hallway, ducking into the theater room. Inside, a rerun of the latest playoff game was showing. Most of the seats were empty, but one guy sat in the back. Both men played amateur basketball in the area. The second was tall, dark, and built like the first. He wolfed down a lamb skewer with pieces of meat caught in his beard. Sauce dripped from his fingers and stained his jersey.

The man with dreadlocks tapped his teammate on the shoulder. “Yo, your girl’s battling someone right now.”

The man licked his fingertips. “I know. She told me about it, said it was nothing. Charity work.”

“Nah, I doubt it. He’s all flirty about it. He’s got her laughing and shit.”

The second man turned around. “What? Aja doesn’t laugh.”

Back in the living room, the audience clamored for more. The sound guy cut the music to help everybody calm down. The commotion carried into the hallway.

Kelvin blushed, putting his hand up to hide it. He peeked at Aliyah to gauge her reaction. She had a look in her eye that reminded him of one of her characters. Good or bad, he didn’t know.

Aja brought the crowd back afterward. She usually didn’t like flattery.

While she chuckled, her boyfriend barged into the room. His teammate barreled in behind him. The two men towered over everybody. They saw Aja, then Kelvin, then all the excitement.

Her boyfriend shoved his way to the front. “Yo, Aja, what’s going on?”

She popped her hip, lowering her microphone. “We’re just battling, having some fun.”

“Fun?”

That didn’t sound like her at all.

She shooed him away with a flick of her wrist. The two men drew back like she slapped them. The sound guy turned on another instrumental. The crowd cheered before quieting once more. Aja nearly kissed her microphone.

“I like you, boy. Thanks for knocking me back. If I stumble some, it’s probably just the bottle of Jack. I kinda had a lot, took a couple shots on the grass. My fault, though, didn’t think the stalker could rap.”

The crowd snickered. The drunkest of them bellowed in approval.

“Nah, boy, I’m just spitting coy. I’m just toying. You just triggered the deployment, so I figured I’d destroy it. Like a missile’s on you, boy, and I’m just sitting on the toilet, shitting on the toilet. You can’t avoid it. Almost clairvoyant, like I see this whitey ended up buoyant. You bring the noise, and what you bring will void you of all your choices. But yet, annoyingly, one look at him—” She turned her back. “He’d enjoy it!”

The audience erupted. The sound guy played a siren over the music. Everybody agreed who won that round. Aja cracked her knuckles like she was just warming up.

Kelvin slumped where he stood, giggling. It wasn’t his first loss.

On the sidelines, Aja’s boyfriend snarled. His teammate tried to calm him down, but he shushed him. Aja wasn’t acting anything like herself.

“Painful,” Kelvin said into his mic, “But not wrong.”

People laughed. He spun his finger in the air to keep the beat going. Aliyah sat up, crossing her legs the other way. The room fell silent.

“Nah, I’m alright, I got thick skin, thankfully. You’re gonna have to hit a little harder when you’re spanking me. Please, Mama. Baby needs tough love. Make me scream. Beat me with the alphabet. Kelvin’s in: A-to-Z. I kinda like a woman who can dominate the J-O-B. Maybe you won’t take the L, but tell me, can you take the D?”

A startled gasp rippled through the room. Aliyah and her girlfriends gawked. Aja found it hilarious, which only enraged her boyfriend. As Kelvin continued, he hurtled out of the crowd with his hands in fists.

“How you like the blatancy? We don’t have to wait and see. All we gotta do is find a room with some vacancy—”

Kelvin barely saw the man coming. With his ponderous body, he stepped in front of him and unleashed a vicious right hook. Kelvin ducked but still caught the brunt of it on his brow. He fell hard.

The living room broke into chaos. Aliyah raced over, calling for first aid. Aja grabbed her boyfriend by the wrist and started yelling at him. Markus jumped in to help, dragging the guy out.

“We were just battling,” she screamed, “He didn’t mean it!”

Aliyah dropped to her knees and cradled Kelvin’s head in her lap. A stream of blood ran down his face. She brushed his hair aside then held his chin.

“Get an icepack,” she shouted, “A rag, too.”

He tried to push her away. “Nah, I’m fine. It’s nothing.”

“Stop that.” She bent down for a closer look. “He split your brow. And you could have a concussion.”

He squirmed in her arms. Her warm breath rushed over his lips. She was so close.

First aid arrived shortly after. The guy took Aliyah’s spot and sent her away. She got up with a huff, reluctant to leave. Aja hurried back into the room a moment later. The two women watched while Kelvin was treated. He didn’t have a concussion, but he did need a bandage, some aspirin, and a hefty icepack.

Once he was propped up, he pulled Aja’s CD from his pocket. “Can I have that autograph now?”