In Love with a Thug (9 page)

“You can come this way,” I said to her as she got up and followed me to my chair.

“How do you want it?” I asked.

“Just a wash and curl.”

“Oh okay,” I said, walking to the shampoo sinks with her following behind. I turned around to prep the sink for her. I felt my eyes fill up with pepper spray, then a sharp foot landed directly into my balls when I fell to the floor.

“Bitch,” yelled Rob when he ran over to me, pushing the girl out of the way. The entrance door swung open as two other girls ran in and started punching every client in the face who sat waiting to get their heads done. My eyes were burning heavy as Rob and the female began to get into an altercation. Words were exchanged. All I could hear were screams and girls yelling, “You fucking faggot.”

Rob began waling on the little girl once I got up and maintained my balance. I started to swing with my burning eyes, not knowing who was getting hit. Girls were appearing from nowhere. More and more girls began to fight as I regained my eyesight. I ran in the back to get my baseball bat that I had stored in the corner just for something like this to pop off.

“Get the fuck out of here,” I yelled, swinging the bat back and forth. The first time I swung the bat it landed on top of my workstation but the next time I swung, it landed right on the girl's back. Frustrated, Rob continued to throw blows at the girls as they came our way. Some of them backed up when they saw the bat I carried. The police were not too far so I knew that it was only a matter of time before they would appear.

By the time everything began to cool down, people were exiting my shop. Some exited with half of their hairstyles while others sat waiting, determined to get their heads done. I had flushed my eyes out with cold water as I was questioned by the police officers.

All the girls ran in different directions. The police weren't helpful to the situation at all. I decided from now on, instead of having a bat in the shop, I would carry a gun.

After stopping by the hospital to visit Anthony I went straight home. As I walked into the door of my apartment, my house phone rang. It was my mother.

“Hello,” I greeted with caution.

“Hey, Juan, it's your mother.”

“Hey, Mom, how are you doing? Is everything okay?”

“No, Juan, everything is not okay. If it was, I wouldn't be calling you.” My heart skipped a beat a few times before it registered that she was being a bit shady. “Your father is sick. He's on his death bed and I would like you to come see him before it's the end,” she added.

“Mom, what's wrong with him?”

“Well, for starters he has prostate cancer and the doctor says it's terminal. He has cirrhosis of the liver and his kidneys are failing terribly. Just get here as soon as you can,” she said before hanging up the phone, leaving me dumbfounded.

I stood in the living room and thought for a minute about what had just happened. Out of all people, why would she call me and tell me about my father. I didn't care whether he lived or died. My phone rang again but this time it was Bryant.

I picked up the phone. “Bryant, where the hell are you?”

“Calm down, J.J., please calm down,” he said, trying to state his case.

“No, I'm not gonna calm down. Where have you been the past two nights?” I got heated.

“J.J., would you calm down so I can tell you where the fuck I was.”

“Where were you, huh?”

“I was locked the fuck up.”

“Locked up, for what?”

“They're tryna get me for some dumb shit. Check this out, I wanna take you to dinner tonight,” he added. I stood in the middle of the living room looking completely astonished.
Does he take me for some type of fool?

“Bryant, where is my money?” I asked, cutting straight to the point. There was a bit of silence on the phone.

“Baby, I needed to use that money for bail. I'ma pay it back to you, aiight? I promise.”

I sighed with relief. It wasn't that he had taken my money and run with it but I knew he had needed the money for a good reason.

“Okay, where are we meeting for dinner?”

“Meet me at Zanzibar Blue at seven o' clock sharp.”

“You're talking about the one on Broad Street, right?”

“Yes, be there at seven sharp.”

“Okay.”

The sun was beginning to set when I left my apartment to meet Bryant downtown. I figured I'd wear something a little sexy, being as though he hadn't seen me in a few days. I sported a pair of khaki capris with the matching shirt and a pair of Steve Madden shoes.

I waited in the rush-hour traffic for about a half hour before reaching the restaurant. I had a valet parking attendant park my car while I went into the restaurant entrance. I walked inside to the atmosphere of live music being played by the Saint Nicolas Band and on every table there were cream-scented candles. The place was half-empty but at the bar there were people socially drinking; I presumed they were the after-work crowd.

Bryant sat far back into the corner wearing an army fatigue shirt with matching pants and cap. He sat grinning from ear to ear as I walked up to my seat and sat down.

“I'm glad you could make it,” he said, lifting his wine glass to his lips. I began to smile as I sat down. There were two red envelopes with my name on them on the table.

“Are these for me?” I asked, picking up the envelopes.

“Yeah, J.J., it's all you.”

“Hi, can I start you off with something to drink?” asked the white waitress who approached our table.

“Yes, please, I would like a Cosmopolitan,” I stated.

“And would you like another glass of wine, sir?” she asked, looking at Bryant.

“No, I'm fine, thanks, just water.” Once the waitress walked away I proceeded to look to see what was in the two envelopes. I pulled out the first card that said “Thank you” and the other card said “I love being your friend.” I smiled at him when he reached across the table and planted a kiss on my lips.

“Bryant, what if someone sees us kissing,” I said, blushing.

“I don't give a damn. Like I said before, Baby,
it's all you tonight.”

“Well, Bryant, we need to talk,” I said as the waitress came back with my drink and his water. She placed it down on the table and said that she'd be back to take our orders.

“Alright, I guess we do need to talk. Listen, I know I should've let you know sooner what was going on with me—”

“Yes,” I interrupted. “You should've let me know everything that's going on with you. Shit, Bryant, I don't know shit about you,” I added.

“What you mean you ‘don't know shit' about me? You know enough.” My face started to turn red. I tried my best to keep my voice down in the nice atmosphere.

“What the fuck do you mean I ‘know enough'? I don't know shit about you. The only thing I know about you is your last name and I'm not too sure if I know the truth about that.” He then reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet.

“Here, see. My driver's license.” He reached across the table to show me his license. “See, I am Bryant Thompson,” he added proudly.

“Okay, be that as it may. The only thing I know about you is your first and last name. I don't know nothin' else.”

“Alright, J. Let's calm down. What do you wanna know?” I began to look around the restaurant seeing the after-work crowd expanding. I tried to focus on a couple of questions that needed to be answered.

“Well, for starters, where the fuck do you live and have you ever messed with a guy before?” He looked around the restaurant, hoping no one heard us.

“Can you calm down, please,” he begged. “Now let's talk like adults.”

“Okay,” I agreed. “Where do you live?”

“Baby, I live in Southwest, Fifty-eight-twenty-four Chester Avenue,” he said. “You don't believe me, do you?” He opened his wallet again to show me his address.

“Okay, granted. I know where you live but I don't know your past, your history, nothing.” The waitress came back to take our orders as I did a quick overview of the menu.

“Are you guys ready?” She stood, holding her pen and pad. Bryant motioned for me to order first.

“I'll have the tender chicken roast with mashed potatoes,” I requested. Bryant ordered the cheesy noodles. I was happy to know that it wouldn't take long so I could get back to scolding him.

“Now, you didn't answer my next question. Have you ever been with a guy before?”

“To finally answer your question, the answer is no. I have always been straight until I met you. I've always liked girls but for some reason your skin color and the texture of your hair made me attracted to you.”

I smiled, then put my head down and blushed.

“Well, I try to take good care of my skin and hair just to get compliments like that. And furthermore I thank you for noticing.”

“No need to thank me. All that is mine now,” he said, waving his hand in front of my face. “I'm gonna make you a queen. Not just
a
queen but
my
queen. Do you have any problems with that?”

“No, no at all,” I said, taking another sip of my drink while checking out his flawless skin and teeth; thinking of what would happen once we left this restaurant. The swell in the front of my pants told it all.

“Actually, I'm glad that you asked that question.” He rubbed his chin.

“What question?” I asked with a confused look.

“The question you just asked. Have I ever been with a guy before? That was a good question.”

“Why was that such a good question?” I asked with raised eyebrows.

“Because, I messed with a lot of females. Shit, I mean A LOT of bitches and none of them gave head like you.” I almost choked on my drink from his comment. “I mean, you knew how to handle that ANACONDA. You really knew how to tame that thing. That's wassup,” he said proudly as he sipped his glass of water.

“So, who do you live with?” I asked, jumping back to the subject.

“I live with my grandmother.”

“Okay, where's your mother?”

“My mother passed away a few months ago.”

“I'm sorry to hear that. Where's your father?”

“C'mon, J. You know a nigga never knew his father. I grew up in a single-parent household. My father was not around. Maybe I should be asking
you
the same questions. Where's your mother, father; shit, where's
your
family?” I gazed into his eyes over the calm flames of the candles and took a sip of my drink.

“My mother and father abandoned me when they found out I was gay. I don't have any brothers or sisters. How about you? Do you have any brothers or sisters?”

“Yes, I have a little sister. She's twenty-one. She's in college at Penn State. She lives in the dorm.” He put his hands on top of the table as a signal for me to place my hands in his. I did.

“Hold up a minute.” I hissed. “When I talked to you the other day you told me that you was with your shawty. Who were you with?” He began to laugh, covering his mouth with his hands.

“What are you laughing for? This shit ain't funny,” I growled.

“Because you so cute.” He stopped for few seconds and stared at me while biting down on his bottom lip. “It's so cute to see the jealousy come out of you.” I sat there giving him the grizzly until he answered my question. “Man, you so funny. Sike, let me stop playing. When I said I was chillin' with my shawty, I was talking about my daughter, man.”

“Daughter,” I repeated with my chest getting warm from the drink.

“Yeah, my daughter.” He stopped briefly to get serious.

“Bryant, I didn't know you had a daughter.”

“Yeah, J., I have a seven-year-old daughter named Rain. I hope she's not gonna be a problem.” I was speechless. He saw the reaction in my eyes. “Is it gonna be a problem?”

“Why didn't you tell me you had a daughter?” I asked, giving him my full attention.

“Well, you never asked. Or I didn't think that it was anything more than sex with us. But now that I'm starting to get deep feelings for you, I would like you to meet her.”

“What do you mean I ‘never asked'? Don't you think that's something I should know beforehand?”

“Before what? Sex? I told you, I thought that sex was all we had, but now I'm catching feelings for you and I want you to meet my daughter. Is that okay with you?” I leaned back in my chair and scanned the room.

“Who's your baby's mother and are you still with her?”

“Her name is Melissa and no, I'm not with her,” he stated as the waitress came toward us carrying our plates.