Free Love and War by Jackie Chanel Page A

none in my own crib, do you really think I’m going to let my friends fuck in here?”
    Diesel eased past her. Caprice moved to the side and let her gun fall down the side of the couch between the cushions. She was fairly confident that Diesel wasn’t there to hurt her, especially when he sat down at her dining room table and pulled a bag of weed out of his pocket.
    “You don’t mind, do you?”
    “Nope,” she answered and shut the door.
    She crossed the living room and sat down across from him to resume studying. Five minutes later, the small dining room was saturated with the smell of Diesel’s good smoke. Although Caprice wasn’t smoking, she was starting to get a slight contact buzz.
    “What you studying?”
    “Everything,” Caprice chuckled. “Got finals coming up, and if I want to graduate, I have to ace every single one of them.”
    “NYU, huh? Heard that school is hard as hell.”
    “College is hard, period. Doesn’t matter which one you go to.”
    “What’s your major?”
    “Business.”
    “You gonna get your MBA?” Diesel asked through the haze of smoke.
    Again, Caprice chuckled. What could this thug know about MBAs and everything graduate school entailed? He probably hadn’t even graduated from high school, like his best friend.
    “My parents want me to go to graduate school, but I don’t know,” she answered truthfully. “Four years of this shit might be my limit.”
    “That’s dumb,” Diesel replied. “I wish I would have gone to graduate school. A bachelor’s degree don’t mean shit in this fucked up job market. You need a Master’s if you want to make any real money.”
    “You went to college?”
    “Why you lookin ’ at me like that? A nigga can’t be educated and still be in these streets?”
    Caprice shrugged. “How am I supposed to answer that without pissin ’ you off? Let’s just say, I don’t know any dudes who went to college to sell drugs.”
    Diesel laughed. “Stringer Bell.”
    Caprice burst out laughing. “Are you serious? That’s a television show!”
    Diesel smiled at her. “Seriously though, I went to Brooklyn College. Graduated last year. No one knows that shit except my mother.”
    “Why keep it a secret? There’s nothing wrong with having an education.”
    “You wouldn’t understand,” Diesel answered.
    The sexy grin he gave Caprice made her tingle a little. She was completely surprised that the man sitting across from her was a college graduate. He was a living breathing example of why you couldn’t judge a book by its cover.
    Caprice started at Diesel, wanting to know more about the brown skinned man sitting across from her. She wanted to slide her chair next to him and talk about all the things she couldn’t talk to Nico or Rocco about. She wanted to talk about the economy, the Obama Administration, and see what the last book he read was. From the way he talked, Caprice knew that Diesel was a lot smarter than she gave him credit for. The only thing that stopped her from sliding next to him and running her hands along his deep waves and starting an intellectually stimulating conversation was the fact that Keisha was into him. Now wasn’t the time to burn any bridges. Aries was tough to crack and Caprice needed his cousin to soften him up. She couldn’t piss her off now.
    “When is Keisha supposed to get here?” Caprice asked.
    “She’s supposed to be on her way. Don’t worry about us,” Diesel grinned. “I’ll take her to a hotel or somethin ’ since it appears you’re going to spend your Friday night buried in your books.”
    “What else am I supposed to do?” Caprice threw a sly smile Diesel’s way. “You said Aries was kickin ’ it with his baby mama.”
    “That pisses you off?”
    Caprice shook her head. “Nope. Why would it?”
    “Because I said he was with his baby mama, not with his kids.”
    “If he would rather chase pussy than spend time with his children, why is that my problem?”
    “You know how bitches