Boss Bitch Swag (13 page)

“You kiss all the boy
s
like that?” Boss joked
,
and it was at that moment that I saw for the first time that he was feeling me
,
to
o
.

“No.” I tried my best not to blush, but I couldn’t help it. “Just you.”

I leaned back in and kissed him again. He made me feel safe and vulnerable all at the same time. I wanted to tell him all my secrets because I knew he
’
d keep them. All the bad things I
’d
heard about him were lies
; t
hey had to
b
e. There was no way that this man who pulled me in out of the rain was capable of causing such pain. Other people just didn’t understand him
- n
ot like I could
; n
ot like I would.

A
s we sat parked in front of my family’s apartment
,
t
he rain started coming down harder and faster. Soon
,
we were sitting in the middle of one hell of a storm. It was so romantic
; t
he rain sang background as his cologne mixed with my perfume
,
creating a sexy and unique aroma.
Suddenly, though, t
he loud crashing thunder
,
followed by bright jolts of lightning
,
brought it all to an end
-
reeling me back into reality.

“I better get her in the house
,
” I
said,
point
ing
to Angie
, who was
still sound asleep in the backseat. “She needs a bath
,
and she hasn’t even done her homework yet.”

“I’ll carry her in.” He took off his beautiful tan leather jacket and put it around me. “You get the food.”

Not only did he treat me and Angie, but he also sent me home with enough burgers and fries for my four little brothers. Maybe he was too good to be true, but I didn’t care. I didn’t want anyone to tell me about Boss
;
I wanted to learn it all for myself. That cold rainy day
,
he showed me that somebody other than my family could care about me. That day
,
a man with no reason to let anybody in
had
let me in. That day
,
we connected on a level that went so far beyond our age difference
...that day was just the beginning.

Chapter 20

The next day
,
Boss was there waiting to drive me to Angie’s school. Before we picked her up
,
he told me he had a little surprise for me
; well, i
t might have been little to him, but it was the biggest gift anybody had ever given me. Inside of a
slim
,
black velvet rectangular
-
shaped box was the most beautiful diamond bracelet that I ever laid eyes on. It was a full 10
carats
of flawless princess cut diamonds in a glowing platinum setting. I was speechless. I didn’t understand what I did that was so special. I was nobody. Girls like me didn’t get gifts like that
; w
e watched the blonde
-
haired
,
blue
-
eyed girls on TV get showered with jewels that sparkled like the stars in the far away night sky and dreamed that it would one day happen to us
– but i
n the back of our minds
,
we knew it never would. When stars fell to earth
,
they didn’t land in the ghetto
– that is, n
ot until Boss. He was a superstar
,
and he landed right at my feet.

“Come here and let me put it on you.” Boss took the velvet box from my hand and removed the bracelet. “I want you to wear this to always remind you of this day.”

“I’ll never forget.”

When h
e pushed up the sleeve of my pink
Wal
m
art sweater and put the bracelet around my wrists
,
I felt like I was in the middle of a fairy tale. Two days ago
,
I was sitting in our apartment praying for something good to come into my life
; now,
he was here.

“Meesha, I’m not a perfect man. I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life, but I wanna make up for that now. With you.”

“Okay.” I had no idea what he was talking about, but I would have agreed to anything with that gorgeous bracelet on my wrist.

The next few days were like a dream for me. Boss picked me up every single day
, w
e
’
d head to Angie’s school to pick her up
,
then he
’
d take us somewhere for dinner.
On
Wednesday we had pizza
,
Thursday it was Chinese
,
and Friday we were back at McDonald’s
-
Angie wanted another Happy Meal. That Saturday
,
my mother had the day off so I was free to spend the entire day with Boss. We went to the mall
,
where he treated me to a surprise shopping spree. He dropped three
hundred and eighty dollars at Lady Footlocker on three new pair
s
of Nikes
for me, t
hen we stopped at the nail salon
,
where he got my nails and toes done. Next
,
we went to Macy’s
,
where he counted out seventeen one hundred dollar bills like it was nothing.
When it was all over,
I had e
nough
new clothes to last me an entire month. I felt like a queen. Boss was a perfect gentleman
; h
e opened doors for
me, h
e held my hand as we walked through the mall
, and h
e even carried my bags for me.

We didn’t have fast food that night
; instead, h
e took me to Landry’s Seafood House for a nice intimate dinner. It was my first time dining there. We sat out on the patio and watched the people go back and forth across the lake in their rented paddle boats. I was having such a good time
,
I
began to
wonder whose life I fell into and when they were going to come back and claim it.

Chapter 21

By the time I turned sixteen
,
I was already head over heels in love. It didn’t matter to me what everybody else thought
-
Boss had my heart
; i
f he wasn’t right for me
,
no one was. Nobody treated me better
, and n
obody made my life more meaningful. He said things to me that stopped me in mid
-
stride. I knew he loved me
,
to
o; h
e told me every single day.

For my birthday
,
Boss let me pick out any car I wanted. The price didn’t matter. Plaza Motors sold some of the most beautiful luxury vehicles on the planet
, and w
e weren’t there long before I set my sights on a pretty little Porsche. The Cayenne was part
-
car and part
-
SUV
, and a
perfect red paint job adorned the exterior
while s
mooth black leather flowed throughout the interior
; i
t was the perfect combination. I wanted it bad
, s
o I got it
– and i
t didn’t take me long to realize that being Boss’s Bitch came with benefits. I didn’t have to turn many pages
, though,
to find out that it also came with plenty drawbacks.

I
’
d been living with Boss for two months when the drama began. I was standing over the stove frying fish in one skillet and scrambling ground beef in another
,
waiting for my
B
ig
D
addy to walk through the door. That night
,
I was preparing his favorite dinner of fried jack salmon, spaghetti with extra meat and extra sauce, garlic toast
,
and 7-Up cake for dessert. When the telephone rang
,
I dashed across the room to retrieve it from the base.
..a
few short minutes later
,
I found myself wishing I
’
d just let the muthafucka ring.

“Hello
?
” I answered half out of breath. “Hello
?
” I repeated when no one responded.

“Can I speak to Boss?” An unknown female voice requested to speak to my man.

“Who is this?”

“Excuse me?”

“You excused
,
” I snapped. “I said who the fuck is this?”

“Just tell him Asia’s on the phone.” Her high
-
pitched voice was really starting to irk the fuck out of me. “He knows who I am.”

“And who the fuck
are
you?”

“Ask yo man. He knew exactly who the fuck I was last night.”

The ignorant bitch laughed
,
then hung up in my ear.
I
looked at the
C
aller ID
: t
he call came from The Candy Shop
- and
I knew exactly what time it was then. The Candy Shop was a massage parlor known more for its blow jobs than its massages. Tia Knowles owned the place
,
and
she
just so happened to be old friends with my mother. I was so upset by the conversation that I paid no attention to the fish burning on the stove. Let it burn
;
I had bigger fish to fry.

“Hey
,
baby
,
” Boss
said,
answer
ing
his cell on the first ring.

“
’
Hey baby
’
my ass!”
I
yelled in his ear
,
wishing he was already home so I could yell
right
in his face. “Nigga
,
who the fuck is Asia?”

“Who?”

“Boss, don’t play with me
,
” I warned him before he got too deep into his lie. “Who the fuck is Asia?”

“Baby, I don’t know no muthafuckin’ Asia.”

“That’s funny
‘
cause the bitch just called here.”

“What she say?” He was beginning to sound as guilty as I
’d
already decided he was.

“If you don’t know the bitch
,
then why the fuck you worried about what she said?” I asked him in a very calm
,
logical fashion. “Huh, Boss? You got a clever response for that one?”

He didn't respond
,
nor did he need to
; h
is silence said it all. The night before
,
he told me he was at The Two One having a few drinks with Pee-Wee. He was lying through his fuckin
g
teeth.

“I knew this shit was a mistake.” I could have kicked myself in the ass for moving in with hi
m
so fast. “My mama tried to tell me
; s
he said livin’ together changes everything.”

“Baby, listen to m
-”

“Nigga, fuck you.” I told him in a whisper
,
then hung up the phone. “Fuckin’ liar.”

I stood there in a daze
...t
his shit couldn't really be happening
...w
ho the fuck did he think he was
?
Better yet
,
who the fuck did his side piece think she was fucking with
?
My mama didn’t raise no punks.

I hurled the phone across the room like it was a football
, and i
t hit the wall hard and cracked before crashing to the floor. t w the flThe hum of the dial tone didn't distract me at all. The fish was burnt
, so
I walked back over to the stove and turned both burners off. The entire meal went into the trash
-
even the food that wasn’t ruined. That nigga didn’t deserve my food
; l
et his side hoe cook his dinner.

My mother warned me that I
’
d have to go through those types of things. Boss was a rare breed
: h
e was young, handsome
,
and financially secure
;
Black men like that were rare where I came from. My mother also warned me that when it did happen
,
I
’
d better handle my business
– and t
hat was exactly what I planned on doing.

“Excuse me!” I yelled as soon as I stepped foot in The Candy Shop. “Which one of ya’ll is Asia?”

I had all of their attention
-
but I was only there for one. The bitch was bad on the phone
, and
I hoped she was just as bad in person
; t
hat would have made kickin
g
her ass even more satisfying