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        When Aliona reawakened she was sweating more profusely than before. Some of her hair was matted to her face, and her body was in the oddest position. An arm, leg, head, and half of her torso hung off the bed – backbend style. She was uncomfortable, but even more so, the heat prevented her from wanting to be touched by anything. The hanging body parts were on fire, but nothing compared to the other half, which was so sweaty that it stuck to the futon's powder blue sheets. She began to peel her body from the sheets when she noticed her back was sore from the position she lay in. Again, she prayed for relief, sleep, and a cool breeze. Yet none was to be had.
        Aliona’s face was flushed, and she wasn’t quite sure what she could do to alleviate some of her discomfort. Minutes rolled by like hours; each second felt like she was slowly baking in a preheated oven. She drank more water and wished that she was not here. Her brother had a luxury apartment in the city with air conditioning. If only he had come today and taken her from this horrible place. She looked around at the scuffed walls and noticed a centipede crawling across the ceiling. At least, that was the only unwanted visitor she spotted in the room that night. 
       Miraculously, as if her prayers were being answered, the trees softly rustled against the rooftop. Another blessed breeze. Although, unlike the one she prayed for, it was warm and short-lived, but it was better than nothing at all. She closed her eyes, hoping the windy presence would again appear and release the rest of her hot stress. A rustle of trees could be heard, but no air could be felt in the room.
         Aliona’s desire for more release jolted her to attention and closer to the window, where the mocking trees bellowed that the breeze was still there. Yet she could not feel it upon her skin.  The leaves clapped together subtly as the boughs brushed against each other teasingly. It was almost as if the trees were laughingly rustling to make her longing rise. Aliona perched on the uncovered window sill, her open pores still waiting to taste its fleeting mistress once again. It came not a moment too late. It blew as if acknowledging her need for rescue, blowing a tad bit harder this time. 

         Her tense muscles relaxed to the dancing movements of the gust against her body. The more the air blew, the cooler and more intoxicating it felt. She closed her eyes and leaned further out, almost halfway out the window, to receive respite. It felt so damn good. So she adjusted herself and sat on the outer portion to receive more. It felt almost as if her heart's desire caressed her body softly with his hands. The clouds were gathering in the sky. It looked as if they were preparing to expel the rain. That would be a blessing, and she watched as they swirled frantically around as though they had been called to order before a big performance. 
         Ali’s mind wandered again, thinking of “his” touch gently brushing against her skin like a breeze. A simple touch…could lead to so much more. Aliona moaned as she slowly lifted her hands above her head, creating an even more sensual mood for herself as a cooler breeze surprisingly tickled the sides of her body. It was so pleasurable that more sound escaped her lips. She imagined his stance beside her as she looked out toward the direction of the city lights. He would stand close enough for his presence to be felt but far enough that every pore in her body migrated to be closer to him.
        “Mmmhmm,” she mumbled as she let her fingers graze across her skin. 
        Her mind jumped to spring break when the two snuck off into the gangway between this building and another. He had been on the court playing ball, as he always was. Their silent flirt during breaks had caused both of their bodies to respond. They were both turned on. Maybe their secret was becoming too public. A situation that would cause more harm than pleasure. He grabbed for his water bottle as Aliona tauntingly led him into the gangway.  Seconds away from his body, her body, their bodies stood. Unmoving. Moments that felt like an agonizing eternity. The distance between their lips was closing, and she anticipated them having their first kiss. As always, it would be within reach but unattainable. 
         Her dreams could have a different outcome, though. They would finish closing in; their lips would meet. It would be hard for them to break themselves apart. Both of them would get lost in the moment. Passion and lust would bubble over, and they would make out feverishly as forbidden lovers do.  
        “Hey, calm that down!” A voice demanded.
        “What,” Aliona abruptly dropped from the clouds down to reality. A private moment now had an audience. Someone was lurking around in the shadows, watching her. Aliona searched the court but found no one there. Then she began to look in the shaded area by the gate barely lit by moonlight. It took a while for her pupils to adjust enough to see a figure in the darkness. 
        The shadow noticed when she first came into the window sill. He had walked to the sidelines to retrieve his drink when she appeared. Quietly, he observed her, concentrating on her frame as it twisted to the breeze. Her movement was low-key seductive and reminded him of the girls who twirled around poles. Her smile lit up the court and made everything glow. She was gorgeous as she sensually moved to the breeze, letting the wind caress her body. His eyes bathed in it for several seconds, allowing his drive to get excited by her bare skin before making her aware that she wasn’t alone with her thoughts. He stepped forward to reveal himself in the single light above the court. He had watched her long enough. She needed to be aware of his presence.
         It was Patriek A.K.A. Spanky, the guy she was dreaming of. He was back from his first year of college. Perfect timing, or was it? He was down there, and she was up here. She thought about it for a minute and realized that she no longer found it creepy but very tantalizing. Arousing even. Both of them half-dressed, having a relatively private conversation. He walked closer to the building where her fourth-story window was nestled amongst the dark brick exterior. Even his saunter became a beckoning call for her body to release endorphins. A familiarity that dazzled and danced with a call to come closer.  
         In her dreams, he would move toward her fully undressed. She wanted to see what was in those shorts, and she wanted it to be hard. He looked absolutely scrumptious standing there bare-chested in long black baller shorts with a blue stripe down the sides. Once he got right beneath the window, Aliona cocked her head flirtatiously and just stared at all that delicious manhood below her.
         “You need to get out of the window sill.” He mildly stated in such a way that she took it as provocative instead of demanding.
         She didn’t want to. She wanted him to see more of her, all of her. Maybe it would give him something to dream about later to entice him beyond reproach. If she could create just as much of a want and need that he ignited within her, then the simplest sparks could get a fire going. An inferno that would consume both of them with salacious thoughts of one another to cause a reaction. The things they would do to the other set them absolutely in a whirlwind of raunchy acts that could bind them together for eternity. Aliona smiled to herself with thoughts of desirous grandeur.
         His fingers would run down the sides of her body until he had one of those ball-handling fingers inside her. He, like the wind, would massage her desperate skin teasingly at first before giving her exactly what she desired—extinguishing all possibilities of being reignited all over again. All the heat they’d generate together would smother the fire that burned within with molten lovemaking.  She belonged to him even if he didn’t know this yet. She determined that there was nothing that was going to prevent her from making this true. 
         Aliona continued soaking up the essence of summer air as the clouds continued to roll in and the breeze became even cooler. The coolness liberated her from the humidity, and as the wind continuously blew, it began to smell of him—Candies Cologne for men. The moment was here, and she was pressed to open up dialogue around the light toying that had quickly turned into a dangerous game of captivating.       
         “Daydreaming?”  He asked quietly.
         “Maybe,”  Aliona stated coyly.
         “Of what?”  He asked. She smiled, and he returned her smile with his own.  
         “You!”
         “Me?” After asking the question, Patriek realized what he had opened the conversation up to and regretted it. He wasn’t ready to answer any questions about what had transpired between them since the holiday break. There were no easy solutions, and avoidance had been his only way of dealing with the rising sexual tension between them.
          Yes, she had grown into a beautiful young lady. And yes, he was majorly attracted to her.  Not just because she was his physical type, curvy petite, but because of her personality. She was fun to be around, and easygoing. Ali knew him well, having known him her entire life. The problem was that she was like a little sister; it was hard to try to make sense of how his feelings had changed so suddenly. Or had they? It was a confusing and messy situation because her brother Johnny never wanted her to date or even look at boys. Patriek's past made him an even less desirable candidate for dating his best friend's little sister. He wouldn’t even want to date her for fear of hurting her.
         A broader smile crossed her face. How coincidental that the very man she had been dreaming about all night happened to be on the court. In close range, he could now see the perspiration on the bare parts of her skin. Spanky adjusted himself slightly and began to think of ball-handling techniques to keep himself in check.
         “Maybe you should get back inside.” He spoke softly to her.
         “Just maybe?” Aliona inquired teasingly.  Blushing slightly because she was happy he was able to see her almost bare. The only problem was that he was too far to touch. If only...
         “Is this what we doing?” He asked, imagining drills and layups to prevent himself from thinking of the obvious.
         “Yes.”
         “Baby girl…” Spanky looked up at her as if begging her not to go there, but she didn’t feel sorry for him in that way. She felt sorry that he was trying to deny what was between them and what wasn’t in the way. She wanted him to choose her and leave the rest to work itself out. 
         Spanky tried so hard to pick and choose his words carefully. It was apparent that she had a crush, and to be even more transparent, his own crush had grown quite significantly. This caused great tension for him in many ways. Spanky knew that he was also a full participant in the blurred lines recently created between the two. Participation that had him feeling a little guilty for even letting things get this far. It was hard to control his AKA at times when it came to women, but when he found himself gravitating toward her, it sent his mind into panic. She was the first girl he could truly see himself enjoying being with, not just being with her to maintain an image he inadvertently created for himself. Aliona was a catch, but his list of girls ran long, and his girlfriend was just one of many. Aliona could never be a number, but he wasn’t sure he was ready for that type of relationship.
         “Yes?” Aliona sang to him, to which he could only reply by blushing. “You don’t want me any more daddy?” 
Using her baby voice to call toward him was her way of sustaining his sexual interest just a little longer. She was pushing boundaries in hopes that if she could, she would one day push right through the barrier and into his arms.
          “Ali…” He thought long and hard, but the words weren’t coming to him like he had thought. He wanted to let her down easily, but there was just no way. “We can’t do this.”
          “Sure we can.”
          Spanky took a loud, deep breath, and Ali chuckled silently, not to break the mood. She thought he was so cute when he struggled to keep his composure.
         “No, we can’t.” He was able to muster up. The words didn’t even come out of his mouth convincingly enough. Even lying to her was almost impossible.
         “Nobody has to know but us. I won’t say a word.”
         “Baby girl…”
         “Don’t do that. It’s not just me. You know it and I know it. You want it, and I NEED it.”
         “Damn!” Patriek rubbed his lips and shook his head, finding it hard to rationalize everything. He tried to gather some logical thoughts to back out of the conversation unscathed. “Girl it is more than just that. You’re beautiful, but you know me...we can’t do this. The flirting even…”
         “No! You can’t take it back. You can’t tease me this way. It hurts right here.” Aliona motioned towards her heart playfully to draw his eyes to her bare breast but continued to drag her fingers down between her legs. She bit her lip, and Spanky once again adjusted himself. He was now almost at full salute, and Aliona was pleased. “Be hesitant but it doesn’t just go away cuz you want it to. Get used to it, because you’re mine already. You just don’t know it yet!”
         Her words were valid. He could feel it, but he wasn’t going down without an attempt to break his fall. She had already won. How long would he be able to deny her? Despite all the factors against being with Ali as a good idea, he couldn’t help but let her have her way. That was the power she had over him. He couldn’t help but admire her sitting there, hair disheveled from a restless night. This was what she would look like after...Skin so smooth and enticing made him think of doing some nasty things to her. His gaze now was focused on her breast, making it hard for him to divert his glance. Perched there, alert, he stared at her almost bare frame. At times, he would try to look at something other, but they beckoned his glance, to stare and be dazzled.  
         Aliona looked Nubian sitting there with one leg propped up, swaying back and forth, calling attention to the length of her legs, thighs, and to her firm behind. Behind her leg, her cherry played pee-a-boo with his manhood, causing him to stay high. Attention which had him thinking like a man on the hunt for another female prey. Something he was skilled at, and it came easy to him. Most times, just walking down the street beckoned attention from girls of all kinds. He enjoyed conquering, dominating, evaluating, and eliminating females from his roster, but Ali wasn’t just any girl.
         Laying her down and entering her, feeling the exuberance that would nearly bring him to full peak upon entrance. Finding the strength to control the urge and bring her to her knees, literally and metaphorically. One that he would fight to hold back to get ultimate pleasure from her body to then receive his prize only afterward. No longer had he imagined her as Johnny's little sister but as the unopened present under his Christmas tree. He had to shake it off and return to reality before what had risen in secret had become known. Basketball! More thoughts on the game itself.
         Her temperature began to rise, this time in a way that only his manhood could cool down.  As he had in her dreams, his touch on her, and her flesh would turn up under his fingertips, and inside, she would yearn for more. It became hard to hold in her attraction for him physically, and sometimes, she felt that it might just give her away. Her nipples harden at the thought of his hands on her. Unconsciously, he began to shake his head, trying to regain control. He tried so hard to concentrate on something other than her sex but kept getting pulled back in. 
         To be so attracted and unable to say a word made every word subject to interpretation. Aliona was asking him because at the moment he began to shake off the response of the call to sex, she had looked back toward him after gazing at the dark grey clouds. Aliona repositioned herself; he was able to catch a glimpse of her silk panties. It made him smirk.  
         Even as a seven-year-old, she could keep up with the big dogs, and age had found her not so far behind no matter how the years had passed. She was no longer that little girl who tagged along with the boys, jumping fences to keep up with the troublemakers – today, she was making trouble for herself. Her seduction had not gone unnoticed. He played the game just as well as her but siked himself into thinking he could control the outcome. Ali was now all grown up in more ways than one, but she was not just some girl off the street, so Patriek tried his best to respect this established bond. 
         As a little girl, she despised dresses and vowed too never to wear them. She was cute even back then, but more like an annoying little sister. She always wore Pocahontas pigtails flowing down the sides of her arms. It was the only hairstyle that she could complete nicely. Her curly locks would soon be all over her head, full of dirt and twigs from trees and secret hiding places of the boys that she found not so secret. She would scuff her knees, and Johnny would try and tend to his little sister, but she was a tomboy who hated the extra attention. She would be alright. Johnny would not take no for an answer despite her fight, and his fun would end for loving and attentively tending to her. 
         After years of her sneaking out of the house to follow him around while he picked up stashes to sell or rob to have extra cash for clothing and entertainment, she had become not just an annoying sister. Instead, Spanky and J began to have the utmost respect for little sister, who would lie like it was the only truth she could tell. When anything came up, she would leap out and tell police, parents, and shop owners her version of the truth. A version that no one could deny because her innocence shone through her dimpled smile. Her loyalty to them made them just as loyal in return. So, although the household they lived in barely had any income, neither Johnny nor Aliona was ever at want.  
         Tonight presented itself differently. They were no longer kids getting into trouble. The bond created was strong between the three of them, and no matter how hard they pretended that they could create something between the two – it wasn’t so. Spanky dropped his head to get the vision of her nakedness out of his mind. While looking at her, he would have thoughts of her underneath him moaning, grabbing, gasping, clawing as he divulged in her virgin shell and freed her from the bonds of childhood. An experience that they would both enjoy immensely. Spanky wanted to taste those waters that flowed from her unknown, calling for his ecstasy to him, for him, on him. He would physically beg for her ultimate cry when she peaked with him, forging away her innocence with his desires. He wanted to rid himself of all ideas of her ever being so young and so unwanted. Spanky took a deep breath and returned to reality, where his thoughts were just that – thoughts. Besides being Johnny’s little sister, she was just a sophomore in high school. How could she even know what she wanted?
         “Butt naked in a window sill is not how we do things Ali.” His tone was more authoritative like her brother Johnny was talking to her. Without thinking, he looked up at her, and the authority melted into desire. Her smile was like sunshine on a fall day, pounding against his back and giving him much-needed warmth. She laughed, and he chuckled uncomfortably. Patriek shook his head again; it was all he could do to stop himself from saying something on impulse, mostly so he wouldn’t DO anything on impulse.
         “You are a trip!” Patriek told her before he covered his mouth, looking as if he was concentrating very hard.
         “What?!” She teasingly sang out.
         This time, he raised his eyes to meet hers, and those beautiful hazels looked down on him, encouraging him to continue with what he was going to say.
         “Just thinking.”
         “I know that, but about what?”
         “School.” He sounded so sure, but she felt so unsure.
         “Are you sure about that?” Her eyes said she read his mind and made him feel so uncomfortable that the walls began to rise around him.
         “Yeah, sure, get out the window Ali.” He knew that he had just digressed, but it was the only way to save him from the torture and her defeat of his heart.
         “And if I don’t.”
         “Ali, don’t make me…”
         “What? Come up here,” her smile widened as deceptively as Cruella Deville. Oh, how she hoped he would come up there and show her. She continued, “Now that sounds like a threat, and I hope it feels that way too.”
         She was trying to pull his card, and all who knew him knew that this was one thing he hated – it was partly why he got his nickname. No longer was he feeling sexual. He was feeling a threat to his manhood and self-control. As a result, his ego took back over.
         “Ali you know me better than that. If you don’t get your naked ass out that window…You don’t want to find out how I am going to handle it. You really don’t!”
         The play was over, Patriek, her brother’s best friend, had returned, and her dream had disappeared. He was never going to let her in—not even far enough to smell, let alone taste. Their history let her know that it would be easier just to do as he said, to leave fantasies in her head and not expect those to come true. She gave in to his request, but not after pushing one last button before returning to the heat within.
         “I was going anyway. This view,” looking directly at Patriek, the rains gently sprinkled from the clouds above, “ has gotten tired anyway.”

 
.  .  .
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         The rain began pouring down extremely hard just as Johnny used his key to open the apartment door. He had just finished his cigarette, putting it out on the door jam before entering the apartment. The apartment was dark as he anticipated, so he maneuvered himself around in the darkness back to the bedroom that he previously shared with Ali.
         “Goodnight anyway.” Ali called in response before leaving the window and began shutting it. Patriek disappeared in the night just as Johnny busted into the room, loudly cocking his Walther P99. Caught off guard, Aliona jumped, her heart racing then suddenly settling like it had so many times.  She grabbed at her chest for effect when she saw who it was.
         “Damn Johnny, I thought I was going to be robbed or raped!”
         “Who’s in here?” Johnny turned on the light, still looking around the room with his gun pointing in the direction he searched.
         Aliona continued to play a role. She looked at him as if he was crazy. She smelled the marijuana and tobacco on him and figured that she could play on this.
         “Nobody.” She laughed it off. Johnny looked at her after looking under both of the beds and with no closet, there was nowhere to go but to the window. But there were no footprints in the water puddles outside the fire escape near the window. He pulled her away from the window anyway, opened it back up, and looked down both sides and across the courts to be sure.
         “Don’t play me crazy, I heard you talking to somebody.”
         Aliona was cool and collected. She didn’t even blink when she began to speak.
         “Talking, no. Closing the window and cursing the flood on the floor, yes.”  She paused and gave him an inquisitive look. “Have you been smoking?”
         “That’s not the point!” He answered quickly in defense of her acquisition. Something that he knew she wouldn’t let go, but at the same time, he was fairly sure. Maybe. Aliona laid on the bed face down and closed her eyes.
         “Well, please search the house, because we all know that when you're high you're on point. I would hate to be robbed, raped, or killed once you leave.” She closed her eyes and slowed her breathing not to confirm his fears of her being deflowered. Johnny wasn’t sure. In his haze, he saw no signs of there being someone there, but at the same time, he knew his sister; she was good at lying. It helped him in many tight situations and prevented him from being arrested several times. Johnny would never get caught doing the same wrong deed twice, which also helped. J grabbed his sister and asked her to get dressed.
         “I am going to sleep!” She yelled, not willing to get trapped in his paranoia.
         She laid back down just to have him snatch her up from rest again.
         “I don’t give a fuck. You ain’t staying here. I got business and I’ll feel better with you somewhere else. I know there was someone here.”
         It was good news to know that she would be leaving. At this time of night, there was one of two places he would take her; she hoped it was the closest in vicinity. At the same time though, she couldn’t sound too gun-ho to leave then it would raise his suspicion.  Ali continued to play the harmonic of his fears.
         “Whatever, I ain’t goin nowhere you just acting this way cuz you high.”
         She pressed the button that would get her to pack for the weekend because, in his eyes, there was definitely someone here with her, and he had prevented it from going too far. She wouldn’t fight so hard if there weren’t someone here.
         “Get da fuck up, now!” His tone meant the game was over and played well on her part. She got up out of her bed just as the slight faint of a baby crying could be heard. Aliona stopped in her tracks, true fear read across her face. Not the type she pretended as Johnny yelled, but the kind that actually caused her harm. A door could be heard being slammed, and the voices of the younger siblings in a sleeping fog ask the trouble. Johnny positioned himself in front of the door, pushing her frame behind his. 
         Ali stood for some seconds and then began to pack frantically as hard footsteps came closer to the door. She threw on a tiny tee with a rip right in the middle that would show the corral bra she had managed to get on while he shielded her. The bra matched one of the rays on the colorful rainbow on her shirt.  Just as the door flew open, Ali was hopping into a mini jean skirt. With Johnny blocking the rampage, she knew there was no time to contemplate, so jeans and tops it was in her weekend bag. Underwear if they matched good-looking. If they didn’t, who gave a damn. Purse, gloss, keys and…
         Champaign was woke and truly unhappy by the sounds of her youngest crying in the still of the night. Without hesitation, she went directly to Ali’s room because no matter where the commotion had truly come from, that was where she would release her anger and frustration. The point was that she had not calmed the baby down before it had awakened her. Johnny put the safety back on the gun and concealed it in the back of his pants. Not a moment later did Champaign bust through the door. She was hoping to just yell at Ali, but saw her son Johnny front and center. This silenced her.
         “We leaving, I woke the baby!” He said to her bruskly, knowing that she would have no recourse and could say nothing more. For he was the one who kept the rent and utilities up to date while her money was used for the other addictions that she didn’t get for free through Johnny.  
“Just here for Ali.” 
         Champaign just gave a fake smile before leaving the room with the door wide open to tend to her crying child.

Grown Girl

only the back of a young Teenage black girl with long curly hair looking out of a window a

Chapter 1: Cool Breeze

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