Hell House (20 page)

Jaylin had pissed me off so badly that I jumped up to confront him. This nigga didn't know my struggle, yet he could stand there and judge me. His words had me shook up. Since I wasn't fucked up like I was yesterday, I was ready to deal with him. I touched his chest with mine, forcing him to back up.

“You ain't walked in my shoes, bruh, so don't stand there and pretend that you have. It's so easy for you to get at me like you are, but step out of the suburbs and bring yo ass down on Dr.
Martin Luther King, Union and Kingshighway to see how I get down. Get a feel for what my life is like every day and get to know my daily struggles. You don't have a clue, potnah, and see won't you get a cap popped in that ass for talkin' yo shit.”

Jaylin shook his head. He had a smirk on his face as he backed away from me. “Been there, done that. Lived on some of the same streets, but by choice, not anymore. I made a decision to trade in my shoes for comfortable ones that I could pay for with my own money. You're still wearing the ones that you done stole off another man's feet; that's why being in your shoes is difficult. You think that I'm supposed to fret when you jump up and threaten to hurt me? Fool, killing another black man only gets you classified as being stupid. I'm not afraid of you, Prince. A man who does not provide for his children, or who doesn't have the means to take care of self, does not move me. So, step the hell back before I crack you in your fucking face, again, and display my real North Kingshighway roots. You got until I count to three, and I'm already on two.”

I seriously did not feel like going at it with this stuck-up asshole this morning. There was a time and place for everything, but this wasn't it. All I did was walk out, thinking about ways to make that nigga stay sleep for good.

Dinner was on the table. My intentions were to make sure it was better than breakfast. But as I looked at the table, I realized how badly the food was jacked up. The onion-filled hamburgers were almost as black as me and the fries were crisp and greasy. The only thing that wasn't burned was the cheese, and that was because I had slapped the slices on right before I put the burgers on the table. Everybody had a look of dissatisfaction on their faces, but there wasn't shit I could do.

“Eat up or be hungry,” I said, giving options and scooting my chair up to the table. “I did the best I could do.”

“It's just a burger, baby,” Jada said. “Why did you have to be so mean to it? Once you saw it gettin' dark that should've been your cue to flip it.”

“We forgive you,” Chase said. “And I'm going to eat every single drop of this food on my plate.”

“Bitch, ain't nothin' on your plate yet,” Jada said. “So I guess you'll be eatin' nothin'.”

“You don't know me like that to be callin' me no bitch, Jada, so chill out with that. And I am going to put some food on my plate, just not much.”

While they were exchanging harsh words, Prince and Sylvia had gotten a few fries and one hamburger. I saw them picking
around the edges, trying to remove the burnt pieces. I didn't expect for Jaylin to be sitting at the table, but he was. All he touched was his water and he winced at the burgers. It didn't matter to me if he ate or not, and on a for real tip, he could starve himself. He had nothing for breakfast, so I knew his stomach was fighting with him.

“You're not going to eat anything?” Sylvia said to him. I noticed the two of them getting kind of close, plus she had slept in the bed with him last night. Heard them talking and laughing, amongst a few other things that I suspected. I had plans to make some moves on Sylvia, to get underneath Jaylin's skin. I don't think there was ever a time when I had a beef like this with someone and didn't know how to handle it. I believed that Jeff would have me arrested for doing something to that fool, and I wasn't going back to jail over no bullshit. Jaylin wasn't worth all of that. Besides, Desa Rae would kill me. I couldn't even see myself being without her again, but it was hard for me to keep my anger in check.

After dinner, we did the usual. Some went outside to mess around, but I stayed inside to play Uno with Sylvia and Jada. Uno wasn't how I normally got down. I preferred craps, but since I wanted to see what was up with Sylvia, I decided to stay and make my move.

“I don't like playin' with y'all because y'all be cheatin',” I said, lying sideways on the living room floor. Sylvia was across from me, so I had an up-close-and-personal view.

“Jada is the one cheating,” Sylvia snitched, laughing. “We busted her with two draw-four cards inside of her pants yesterday.”

“You are so wrong for that,” Jada said. “But today I have them hidden in my socks.” Jada pulled several cards from her socks and laughed. “Now that I got busted again, I'm goin' outside to take a dip in the pool. I think the others are playin' volleyball, so Roc, I may need you to come outside to put a hurtin' on Jaylin. It's the only way I'll win.”

“I'm comin',” I said, watching Jada get up. Sylvia did, too, but I touched her hand, asking her to chill with me for a while. “I haven't had a chance to holla at you and see what's up. I think we're the only two in here who ain't made no for real connection.”

“You are so right,” she said, sitting back down. “And if I'm going to win this challenge, I must get to know the people I'm competing with.”

Jada threw her hand back and walked toward the door. “Hurry up, Roc. Don't leave me out here by myself, okay?”

“I promise. Ten minutes at the most.”

Jada was gone, so Sylvia and I had a chance to chill. “What do you think of all of this so far?” I said. “Is it everything that you envisioned it would be?”

“And then some.” She laughed. “I didn't realize how hard it would be for all of us to get along. I'm disappointed about what happened between you and Jaylin, and to be honest, I really don't trust the women around here. Jada and Chase are cool, but they're not the kind of women I normally hang around.”

“I couldn't prevent the squabble that happened between Jaylin and me. He brought that shit to my doorstep, so I had to roll with it. I hated that it went down like that, especially in front of y'all.”

“Are you still upset with him? I kind of felt as if all of this was my fault since I was the one who told him about Prince. For whatever reason, he thought you were in on it, but I reminded him that you had nothing to do with it or, at least, I hope you didn't.”

“Nah, ma, I don't take anything from the next man. It's not my style. If Jaylin thought I took somethin' from him, he should've stepped to me like a man. He didn't, so we wound up lookin' like boys who weren't man enough to settle our differences.”

“The two of you have had time to think about what happened and I hope it's behind you. I can't see things getting any worse
than they've already been, or do you think I'm fooling myself?”

“From my point of view, I don't think they call this Hell House for nothin'. Prepare yourself because things will get much uglier.”

I winked at Sylvia and left it there. Asked her to follow me outside, so we could join the others playing volleyball. I didn't care whose team I was on, as long as Jaylin was on the opposite team. I worked it to where me, Prince and Sylvia were on one team and Jada, Chase and Jaylin were on the other. Jada served the ball first and it went right into the net.

Jaylin sighed. “Are you telling me with those big, biscuit-looking arms you got that you can't even get the ball over the net? That's messed up, Jada, really it is.”

“Fuck you, Jaylin. This ain't no damn Olympics where we can win a gold medal, so cool out with yo musty-dick self.”

Jada had us cracking up and she didn't give a damn about what she said to anybody. The ball went to us, and Sylvia served it over the net. Chase hit it back over, and when I hit it, I tried my hardest to spike the ball at Jaylin's face. He dodged it by quickly moving his head.

“Watch yourself,” he said to me. “Don't start none, won't be none.”

I said nothing and pretended as if I didn't hear him. Sylvia served again, but this time the ball hit the net. “What you got to say about that, Jaylin?” Jada shouted. “Her arms ain't blowin' up like Pillsbury biscuits and she still didn't get the ball over the net either.”

“I'd say the two of you need to sharpen your skills. Pay attention and learn something today.”

At least an hour into the game, it had gotten ruthless. Nobody wanted to lose and we all were playing like there was a gold medal to be awarded at the end of the game. The score was 49 to
44 and the winner had to reach 50. My team was winning because Prince and I were determined not to lose.

“It's a done deal after this,” I said, serving the ball to the other side. There was no doubt about it that the women were tired, but they kept on playing. They were soaking wet, especially Jada who swung at the ball, showing exhaustion and missed.

“Didn't you hear me say set it up?” Chase said with anger in her voice. “You're never going to get the ball over the net by swinging at it like you're hitting a baseball.”

“That's what I'm talking about,” Jaylin added. “What a way to lose the damn game.”

On my side we were cheering. Just for the hell of it, I picked up Sylvia and proclaimed her the real winner. She was showing her pearly whites while being carried in my arms. More than that, she was happy to be on the winning team.

“Ugh,” Jada said, getting out of the pool. She was so mad that she stomped into the house without saying a word. Jaylin and Chase wanted a rematch, but they weren't going to get it right now.

“How do you want me to repay you for workin' so hard?” I said to Sylvia, loud enough for Jaylin to hear.

“I don't know,” she said. “What you got?”

“I can think of a million and one things, but you know I want you to be real satisfied, right?”

“I hope so because I worked my tail off so we could win this game. Somebody needs to give me something.”

“Tonight, maybe I will.”

The corner of my eye was in motion. Chase was hot, and even though Jaylin would never admit it, he was too. It was a double whammy for them both. I could sense hate a mile away, and I suspected all of it would be coming my way soon.

I had a problem and a serious one at that. There were two big-ass dicks in this house and neither one had been in me. Sylvia had been getting all of the attention and I didn't like it. First, she was all underneath Jaylin, and then her attention turned to Roc. She didn't appear to be playing by our rules, so I was going to pull her aside and have a little conversation with her, to see what was up.

Jada had been holding up her end of the bargain. I saw her flirting with Prince and hanging around him more often. He seemed to connect with her quite well. Then, why wouldn't he? They both were ghetto fabulous and the slang he used was terrible. Sometimes, I didn't understand a word he was saying and all that hip talk was driving me crazy.

Roc was guilty of using slang, too, and what in the hell was a “Ma?” I didn't mind his slang because his sexiness and the size of his penis made up for it. I swear that thing was huge, and when I sat on top of it in the bedroom that day, I could only imagine what it would feel like inside of me. We were almost there, but from what I knew now, he wasn't on the same page as me. It was unfortunate that he underestimated me as well; there wasn't a man on this earth that I wanted and couldn't get. Sure, some played harder to get than others, but when all was said and done, I was sure of a few things: I would have me a piece of the Roc,
Jaylin would be craving for more of me and the $100,000 that I needed so badly would be placed in my hands. Anyone who didn't believe me may want to put some money on it.

All day yesterday, and this morning as well, Roc had been on Sylvia like flies on shit. When she moved, he moved. Last night, they stayed up talking and didn't hit the sack until way after one o'clock in the morning. Roc had even gotten up to make breakfast for everyone. This time, it was a little better, and he prepared Sylvia's plate for her. He claimed it was for all the hard work she'd done while playing volleyball. But how much gratitude did he have to show her?