Heaven Between Her Thighs: Stealing His Heart (6 page)

Lord, have mercy… how am I going to go after that?
Chey thought to herself. She wouldn’t dare say it out loud because she knew that Von would have something to say and backing out at the last minute was not an option.

Rubbing her sweaty palms on the front of her romper, she did her best to calm herself.

“Girl, you will be just fine. You see Mike Murk just set the atmosphere and how well they received him. You good, boo,” Von encouraged.

Now that was something she could agree with. That performance was awesome. She had even peeped Qyree out there going in with everyone else. Just as she was feeling herself starting to gain control of her emotions, she heard the announcer call her name. It was show time and God was needed front and center.

Applause erupted and she was so glad that she decided to wear some cute little Toms shoes instead of her original pair of stilettos she normally wore with that outfit. Her legs were so wobbly, there was no doubt that she would have been on her face right now. Taking in and releasing the breath she was holding, she made her way to the mic.

Von smiled at her friend because that was exactly what Chey had been to her since her release. She knew the day that she walked into her probation office that Chey was as pure as they came. Chey reminded her so much of her friend Nivea that she thought God was giving her another chance at having a real friendship in another person.

So many nights after God had touched her heart about what she had done to Nivea, Von lay in her bunk crying because she realized just how bad she had hurt that girl. Because of her selfishness and loyalty to her mother, Von had lost one of the most important people in her life at the time. She thought she would never forgive herself for having been the one to set Nivea up to be raped. That one incident was the beginning of so many lives being destroyed, hers included.

God truly worked in mysterious ways and would turn a situation around in the blink of an eye. Good or bad, He could do it and He did. Von knew that everything that God did was already preordained before the creation of the earth, so He knew what would happen. So many times she wished He had given her a sneak peek into it all, but she knew that wouldn’t have allowed the growth that was needed in everybody involved. Things in life could hurt so bad at times, but she learned that there was purpose in the pain that we rarely saw.

Nivea was covered and favored by God like Abel was. She was the apple of everyone’s eye the minute she walked into their lives. It wasn’t forced, it was just who she was as a person. Von was so jealous, like Cain, that she couldn’t see that it was God’s doing and not the works of Nivea. While she tried to bring harm to Nivea, the harm fell on her instead.

Von shook her head at the memories but thanked God that she was finally healed, delivered, and set free from that pain. The devil held her mistakes over her head for so long, but no more would he be able to and she had Nivea to thank for that. Wasn’t it funny that some of the same people that we hurt would be the same ones that would also help us heal? You burned the bridge but they trusted God enough to build another one and help you back across. Nobody but God was capable of changing a heart like that. He was definitely worthy.

If they weren’t outside, Cheynese was pretty sure that the attendees would hear her knees knocking and her teeth chattering. Her nerves were beyond shot. They were dead and in their grave. Why hasn’t God jumped in yet? She knew He was there ‘cause He was the one that decided to be omnipresent in everything. Jesus come through! Just as she was about to run off and hide under a rock, her eyes locked with Qyree and he gave her a reassuring smile. That one gesture eased her fears and she was ready.

“I know that this is a different type of atmosphere, but I want all of you under the sound of my voice to just begin to give God some praise. You don’t have to know the Bible from cover to cover in order to worship Him. There is no hurt too painful for Him to heal. Open your mouths and hearts to receive,” Chey began, just as the track for Jekalyn Carr’s “Greater Is Coming” began to blow through the speakers. “That’s it right there. See, if it had not been for God I wouldn’t be standing here today. Years ago the enemy wanted to take me out of here, but God pressed upon my heart that my greater is coming."

All of the worry and anxiousness that Chey felt since she agreed to do this was now gone. Looking out into the faces of the people that stood before her let her know that God was controlling this and He would get the glory out of it. Once again, her eyes landed on Qyree as she said, “No matter how far out of God’s will you think you may be, God’s grace and mercy are sufficient enough to draw you back to Him.”

Chey hadn’t even started singing yet and Von was already in tears, with her arms raised above her head, sending up her worship.

“If it had not been for the shaking, I never woulda been ready for the making,” she began singing. The look of pure amazement was evident in every face, especially Qyree’s, as he watched and listened. The chills he got were nothing like he had ever experienced. Looking down at his arms, he saw the many tiny goosebumps that were revealing themselves in almost hundred-degree weather.

“That’s it, daughter. Come get your breakthrough. I feel a breaking in the spirit preparing me for greater. He hears your heart son. Greater is coming. Step out on faith and receive it. Greater is coming. Hold on ‘cause greater is coming. Hold on to that promise that He made sis. It’s coming, my greater is coming! Yes it is! Just hold on and receive,” Chey encouraged some of the people around her and that was when she understood God’s purpose for her being there.

“He’s preparing you. Walk into your greater. Have your way God. Do it in this place for your people,” she continued even after the song was over. It took a good twenty minutes to a half an hour to finally have people able to get up from where they had fallen or sat while they were in worship. God let His anointing fall fresh as He restored and brought back home His children who had strayed.

“I’m so proud of you,” Von told Chey as she made her way to the back. It had been a long time since either of them had felt this type of power, and they knew that the only source it could come from was God. All you had to do to experience him was move out of His way and let Him take the lead.

“Girl, that was nobody but God. I was too close to running off stage but at the last possible moment, He showed up. I haven’t felt like this in a long time,” she smiled.

“Well, I know He is well pleased. Why do you only sing in church? Your voice is so anointed you could give quite a few artists a run for their money in the industry,” Von stated. The look of sadness that immediately washed over Chey’s face didn’t go unnoticed.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, while preventing Chey to move any further.

Not wanting to go back to that horrible time, Chey told her only what she wanted her to know right then. It had been a long time since that incident, but still not long enough to go into detail.

“I haven’t been in the studio in years. I put my career at the top of my list so I kinda let that part of my life go,” she half told the truth. Chey loved being in the studio years ago because that was where she found her relief. Singing unto the glory of the Lord was like therapy for her. Then one day it was all snatched away and she never went back to reclaim it.

“You sung professionally?” they heard coming from behind them. Turning around to where the voice had come from, they saw Qyree.

“No, not professionally. I wanted to, but you know how our plans aren’t always what God has in mind for us and we have to merge into the lane that He wants us in. I guess that wasn’t my lane,” she laughed a laugh of sadness. Both Qyree and Von could tell that her heart was in singing just by her performance alone.

“Yo, you should really get back in there. The world needs that voice you have been gifted with,” Qyree encouraged. Watching her on that stage and how she ministered to the young crowd was amazing to him. He saw eyes being opened, lives being changed, and hearts being healed while she sang. It wasn’t forced. It was authentic and real and he could tell that she was in the wrong career field.

Before she had a chance to respond to him, a pretty dark-skinned girl walked up behind him with two of her friends. She was beautiful with her long curly hair and bright eyes, but the smug look and the way she looked Cheynese up and down instantly turned her ugly. Chey didn’t understand why women acted like that towards other women they didn’t even know. She chalked it up to some kind of insecurities they must have had because that was the only way she could see them having an issue with her. They knew nothing about her and from the way they were acting, she wasn’t interested in letting them into her world anyway.

“Bae, how you gonna tell me and my girls to drop by so you can show us a good time but then you in the next broad’s face,” she said, once again, looking at Von and Chey crazy. Home girl obviously thought she was going to get a reaction out of her, but was sadly mistaken. She did get a response but not what she thought or from who she thought.

“Aye shawty, look. First of all, you not the only female I invited, ask your girl right there. I bet she didn’t tell you that. Second, we not even that cool for you to be calling me bae. I ain’t even hit yet and you already catching feelings. And last, who I talk to is none of your concern. I don’t even know why I just explained anything to you fo’ real,” Qyree said shocking everybody. “I’ll get up with you later Chey, and again, you did an amazing job.

“Okay, and thank you. I’m so glad you liked it,” she told him, unbothered by the women who had just been put in their place.

Qyree returned his attention back to the three women. “So you coming with me or nah? I ain’t got time to be playing games.”

For a minute, Chey thought the girl that had just gotten her face cracked was about to bow out gracefully. There was no way she was going to let him talk to her like that and still leave with him. The girl stood there contemplating if she wanted to go because of the way he just played her, but thought against it. If she played his little game and went along with him, she was sure that what she had to offer him would have him coming back for more. That meant the more he came back the more money he would drop in her hands. Qyree was loaded and almost everyone knew it.

“You right, Qy. My bad. You know I’m going with you,” she said batting her eyes at him.

“Typical,” Von scoffed and sucked her teeth, and Chey elbowed her in her side to make her stop.

“Excuse me?” one of the other women said coming to the ringleader’s defense. Von turned her head from side to side then craned her neck to look behind her.

“Von, what are you doing?” Chey asked. Now Chey was far from being a punk. As a matter of fact, back in her day, she wouldn’t hesitate putting her hands to work. Now that she was older and had a career, her character and reputation were important to her and she wouldn’t dare let anyone bring her down to their level. They could say what they wanted about her walking away from a negative situation all they wanted to, but at the end of the day, the approval of God was the only one she cared about.

“I’m trying to figure out who this sock puppet is talking to,” Von said causing Chey’s mouth to drop open and tears began forming in her eyes. She wasn’t getting teary eyed because she was sad, but because her inside was screaming in laughter and she was trying not to let it come out.

Chey couldn’t lie though, the girl looked just like a sock with drawn on facial features. Anybody that saw her could tell that those St. Louis arches she had drawn on her forehead was not life, and she looked flat out foolish. If it was to pour down raining at that very moment she would be in trouble.

“Sock puppet? I know you didn’t with those thrift store clothes on. You could never get on my level, honey,” the girl called herself clapping back.

“You’re right, boo. I can’t see myself walking around in those HuaNOTches. So if that’s what it’s like to be on your level, stop the elevator now cause I caaaaan’t,” Von clowned. This time Chey couldn’t hold it in. The fact that Von had just told that girl she had on fake Huaraches and looked like a sock puppet had her dead and waiting on Jesus to accept her in. That last comment must have made her realize she was no match for Von, so she cut her losses and walked off, pulling the girl who had remained quiet the whole time.

“I’ll catch up with you later,” Qyree told Chey and walked off, trying not to laugh out loud. He didn’t know who Von was to Chey, but whoever she was he could tell that she would make sure to protect Chey at all cost.

“You not coming in?” Fatima asked with the car door open. Her two girls Naja and Drea had already gotten out and was headed towards the front door of her apartment. They already knew what was about to go down and they couldn’t wait.

When Fatima told them she had bumped into the well-known Qyree Reeves and he had asked her to meet him with some friends so they could get it poppin’, all they saw were dollar signs. Naja didn’t say a word when Fatima made her announcement, because he had asked her too. Her hopes were that once he was finished with the other two, he would slide off with her alone. In order to do that, they couldn’t know. She just had no idea that Qyree would put her on blast like that in front of everybody. There was no way that Tima was going to let her be alone with him and miss out on her meal ticket. They were all ready for a come up.

“Nah, I’m straight. I need to head back to the city. I got some stuff I need to handle,” he said not giving her too much attention. His mind was so preoccupied with thoughts of Cheynese that he couldn’t think straight. He needed to get somewhere and just think and he couldn’t do that around those three who were only out to try and win his affection with their bodies. Under normal circumstances he would be all for it. Nothing like hitting and dipping and on to the next, but tonight it just wasn’t in him. Something was pulling at him and he didn’t know what.

“You got some
stuff
to handle or
somebody
?” Fatima sassed yet again. If she hadn’t worn her welcome out before with that first stunt she tried to pull in front of Chey, she had surely done it now.

Snapping his head in her direction, he looked her over before speaking. Fatima was stacked and she was also beautiful, but her attitude stunk. He had dealt with women with bad attitudes before, more often than not, but it was something about her attitude that was a big turn off.

“Yo, didn’t I tell you already not to question me? Who or what I do does not concern you. What part of that don’t you understand? You’re not my woman and never will be,” he said, once again crashing her face. But Fatima couldn’t let him leave.

Fatima had planned it out perfectly when she knew the talent search was coming to the city. She did everything she could to wind up in the path of Qyree so that she could get him to notice her, and it was just her luck that he came through the drive-thru of her job one day. When he asked for her number and told her he wanted to get up with her after the show, she was ready to take her headset off right then and tell Mr. Burney she quit! If she could bed Qy, she would be set for life. All of her attempts before of getting pregnant by a baller had failed, so tonight was a must. She was tired of living from paycheck to paycheck so she had to do something quick to get him to stay.

“I’m sorry, boo. I don’t know why I be trippin’ so bad. Maybe it’s because I feel such a strong connection and I know it can’t be a coincidence that we ran into one another. Come on in so we can make you feel better,” she crooned.

Watching the lies spill out of her mouth, Qyree wore a smug look on his face. Fatima was trying her best to get him in there and he knew why. She was a trapper. Not trapper as in dealing with drugs, but a woman whose sole purpose was to come up by trapping a man with a baby. Qyree may have been a lot of things but a fool he was not. He could see it all in her eyes and he was ready to get far away from her as possible. He already had a little situation that he was dealing with in the baby area, and he didn’t need it again.

“Get out shawty,” he simply stated.

“Don’t be like that, baby. Let me make you feel good. I can send Naja and Drea home and it can be just me and you.”

Looking blankly into her face she finally got the picture and got out with much attitude. Qyree watched her throw her hips to the side extra hard in hopes that it would change his mind, and it almost did. Mama was working with something and she knew it, it just wasn’t worth it.

Pulling out his phone, he started smiling immediately at what he was about to do.

Qyree:
U tryna slide off wit a G?

912-555-6363:
I thought u were chillin tonight.

Qyree:
Nah

912-555-6363:
Aight

Qyree knew it was about to be some mess, as he put his car into reverse just as Naja came out of the house. Fatima and Drea weren’t far behind her yelling, and all he could do was laugh. He knew as soon as Fatima had showed out in front of Chey, he was gonna move to the next with Naja. She proved that she was worthy of a few minutes of alone time because she kept her mouth closed about him wanting to meet up with her too. Had it been the other way around, Fatima would have told the world.

Not paying any attention to the yelling and screaming, he headed to the nearest hotel. He just needed something to relax him before he headed home.

***

Traffic was to a minimum as Qyree rode down the interstate. He was so deep in his thoughts that the time seemed to fly by faster than normal. Turning the volume up on his sound system, he tried to let the noise drown out his thoughts but it was to no avail. Before he knew it, he was pulling up to his parents’ estate and just sat there. He was a grown man living at his parents’ house. Not because he couldn’t afford to leave, it was just that he didn’t have a reason to. They let him stay there rent free, come and go as he pleased, and was able to either stack his money or splurge on anything he wanted.

In the last year, he had bought 3 brand new, off the lot luxury cars, just because. He didn’t need them but it just seemed to do something to his ego when he got praise everywhere he went in either of them. People wanting to take pictures of them just to post to their social media pages and he let them. It was even better when the people recognized who he was when they saw him. His mother told him that all of that would get old to him one day. The women, cars, blowing money, and not having a relationship with God. She saw so much more potential in him than he saw in himself. All he saw was him being young and rich and taking over one of the biggest record companies in the nation, but his mother saw past all of that. She saw what God saw, and prayed fervently that one day his own eyes would be open.

“Ma! Where you at?” he yelled walking into the house. He threw his keys on the table beside the door and dropped his overnight bag on the floor. In that moment, he didn’t know why he had even bothered to take an overnight bag because he didn’t stay overnight.

The whole ride to the hotel, Naja talked his ear off and was asking question after question. The conversation had no depth to it and for the first time, Qyree noticed that. He had never been the one to care if a conversation was deep or not between him and a woman. It simply didn’t matter. All he needed was to get to that heavenly place and chuck up the deuces once he was done. Since the first day he had ran back into Chey on the campus all the way up until that very moment, she had been on his mind like no other woman had. Because of that, when he pulled up to the hotel and checked in, he gave Naja the key, told her to go on up and he would meet her, and he got in his car and left. She blew his phone up with text after text and voicemail after voicemail, until he finally got tired of it and blocked her number as he headed home.

“You’re back early. How did everything go?” his mother said coming around the corner. There was something different about her than before he left. Her eyes were clear and twinkling, but there was something else in them that he couldn’t figure out what it was. She had obviously pulled herself together but it was out of her character. Instead of touching on that right then, he filled her in.

“Yea, I wasn’t trying to stay down there until tomorrow. But the show went better than I expected. I signed this male and female R&B duo and another rapper who I know will put me in line to be Senior A&R of the company,” he said but his voice lacked excitement. This had been one of his lifelong dreams as far as he could remember, so to see him not the least bit amped was out of character.

“Aren’t you happy? This is what you have been wanting for the longest,” she said walking over to him and ushering him into the living room for them to sit.

“Yes and no. I mean, yes, because it’s my dream but no, because even if I get it, who besides you will share in this moment with me?” he told her and she immediately knew what he was thinking.

For so many years she had heard her husband teach their son that he didn’t need one woman in his life, he needed many. Although it hurt her, she had no one to blame but herself because she stayed and allowed it. All Zaria wanted was for her son to grow up with both of his parents when she found out she was pregnant with him. It was before Jaxon had started being flat out disrespectful with his indiscretions, and once it hit the fan that she felt like it was too late for her. But at that moment, she felt like God was answering her prayers by speaking to her son’s heart.

“So what else happened at the show?” Zaria asked and his face began to light up. There had to be a woman involved but right now wasn’t the time for her to ask him. She would just wait until he was ready to spill the beans.

“Awww man, Ma, let me tell you who I ran into,” he said, getting hyped. “Remember that time you and Dad came out to Cali to visit me at school and I introduced you to my tutor named—”

“Cheynese,” his mother finished for him, throwing him for a loop. How in the world did she know he was talking about her and better yet, how could she remember her off the top of her head like that? He knew that he had asked if she remembered, but he had planned on her telling him no and he would have to jog her memory.

“I remember her like I met her thirty seconds ago,” she smiled.

Looking at his mother he was at a loss for words until she spoke again.

“What about her?”

“I saw her before the show when I was finalizing everything at the school. We chopped it up for a few and then she left. Well, when I got there and got a list of who the performers were that had entered the contest, her name was on there. Ma, when I tell you that she has the voice of an angel…” he trailed off. Zaria watched him as he sat back in a daze, with a look of admiration on his face as he thought of Chey.

Zaria could never forget the girl as long as she lived. The moment she met her all of those years ago, she knew the girl was something special. Everything about her was pure and she had hoped that one day her son would call to tell her that they were a couple, but that day never came. He was too much like his father to settle down and that saddened her. As bad as she wanted Qyree to settle down with the girl that she had only met for a few minutes, she was glad that he didn’t pursue her. The last thing Zaria wanted was for Chey was to have her heart snatched from her chest the same way Jaxon continued to do hers.

“I didn’t know she was a singer. I thought she said she was in school for Criminal Justice,” Zaria remembered. Qyree looked over at his mother as she had a questioning look on her face.

“Ma, how you remembering all of this stuff about her and you only talked to her for a few minutes?” he asked.

Smiling, she said, “Baby, you never forget a person who is after God’s own heart. It’s just something in them that makes it hard to forget. I could tell in just that small amount of time that she was special.”

He couldn’t argue with her on that one. He, too, had felt it the first time he laid eyes on her when he walked into the student library.

Qyree couldn’t believe that he was on the verge of failing a subject his first semester. He couldn’t blame anyone but himself though, because he partied more than he studied and the different girls in and out of his dorm room didn’t help either. Qyree knew that he could pass on his own had he just applied himself and been in class like he was supposed to be, but he was about to enjoy the college life and all it had to offer. The only reason he allowed his professor to set his up a tutor was because he didn’t want to hear his parents’ mouth when they came to visit in a few months. He knew as soon as they touched down they were going to be snooping around. Because he was well known just by who his father was, there was no way that he could embarrass them by flunking out of school.

Walking into the library, Qyree looked for a girl fitting the description he was given. Scanning the room, his eyes finally fell on the back of her head. From the angle he was looking from, he could see she was wearing a fitted jean shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, a pair of dark jean capris, and some low top Converse. Her long hair was almost down her back and it was pulled behind her ear. She wore a pair of thin framed eye glasses on her face. He couldn’t see her full face, but from the little he saw, he knew she was beautiful.

Walking over to the table she was sitting at with a pen to her lips, with her right hand and her left hand massaging her scalp, she looked like she was deep in thought and couldn’t find whatever she was looking for in the textbook in front of her.

“Excuse me, are you Chey? I hope I’m pronouncing it right,” he said.

“Hi,” she smiled up at him and at that moment, he thought he was going to pass out. It wasn’t because she looked like all of the girls he chased after, but because she didn’t look like them. She held such an innocence about her and seeing her face completely let him know the side view didn’t do her justice. The girl was gorgeous.

“It’s actually pronounced like Chi not Shay,” she said. He was glad that she wasn’t offended that he called her the wrong name.