All For You (Boys of the South) by Marquita Valentine, The 12 NAs of Christmas Read Free Book Online Page B

of
pictures of McKenzie when she was little and as she grew older. One I
recognize from our senior portraits. I pause to study it, staring at
the beautiful girl with sad eyes.
    “My dad likes
to put up my pictures everywhere,” she says, like she has to
apologize for anything.
    “I don’t
blame him, but I’d put your picture up everywhere in my room
for totally different reasons.”
    “Oh.”
    Then she starts for
the kitchen again. It’s right off the living room, and you can
see the television from the table in the center. Her dad had to be
the one in charge of placement.
    She sets the pizza
on the table and begins fixing drinks, pulling out plates and
napkins. I want to help her, but I’m on shaky ground and she’s
getting quieter by the minute. Pretty soon, I’m sure she’ll
have some excuse as to why I should leave and that’ll be all
she wrote.
    Flipping one of the
chairs around, I join her at the table. Immediately, I chow down on
the pizza while she does the same.
    “I have an
uncle.”
    She blinks at me,
finishes chewing her last bite of pizza, and says, “So do I.”
    “Is he in
jail?”
    “Um, no.”
    “Mine is.”
    “For what?”
    “Gangbanger.”
    That gets her
attention. “That’s not funny. Just because I made a
stupid remark—”
    “He killed
people, raped women, and sold drugs. It’s why my grandparents
sent my dad to school here, to get away from that life. They had
friends in Charlotte who made sure he stayed in school and kept his
nose clean,” I say, nonchalantly. “Turned out he has a
head for math, and a talent for soccer.”
    “Like you.”
    “Yeah.”
I grin, and then turn serious. “But my uncle, he’s still
in jail. We visit him in the summer, take him things, and remind
ourselves that it could be any of us.”
    “Why are you
telling me this?”
    “No one around
here knows.” I drink some of the soda she poured for me. “But
they probably think it about me.”
    “That you’re
in the popped-collar gang?”
    I throw at discarded
piece of crust at her. It lands on her plate, and she laughs. “I’m
telling you, because I want you to have this piece of information
about me.”
    Understanding dawns.
This is something she can use against me, something that could hurt
me and my family’s reputation.
    “My parents
never got married,” she says. “My momma said it was an
archaic institution that subjugates women.”
    That was certainly
one way to look at it. “What do you think?”
    “That what she
thought and what she chose doesn’t mean I have to be like her.”
    “What if she
came back, and wanted to get married?”
    “I would have
a difficult time believing it was her,” McKenzie says firmly. A
warning, I think.
    “So you’d
write her off? No chance to prove to you that she’s different?”
    A small smile curves
the corners of her mouth. “I said difficult, not impossible .”
    In that instant, I
know I haven’t lost her.

Chapter Eight

    McKenzie
    “I had a nice
time tonight,” I say, standing beside West’s car. It’s
almost time for my dad to get home, and I don’t think he’d
be too happy to see a guy in our house after midnight.
    “Nice enough
to want to do it again? Maybe tomorrow night?” West wraps his
arms around me, and my shivering body begins to warm.
    “Depends on if
I get to drive or not.”
    “You can pick
me up, if you want.” He grins and kisses my forehead. “You’re
truck is much roomier than mine.”
    Why would we need a
bigger vehicle? “Roomier for what?”
    He laughs softly.
“God, you’re innocent.”
    “Oh... oh. ”
I bump him with my hip. “You’re so cocky.”
    “Damn right I
am.”
    “How can any
female resist that?”
    “Tomorrow?”
    “Yes,” I
say with a firm nod. “I’ll go out with you again.”
    He steps away, and I
wish that his kiss had travelled lower. “Be prepared to have
the pants charmed off you.”
    “Just my
pants?” I tease and then slap my hand over my mouth. I did not
just say