Loving Angel (15 page)

“
You thought your man was trying to spend the holidays away from you,” he teased.

“
Christmas in Miami together should be fun,” I thrilled. “Where in Miami are we going?”

“
South Beach.”

I had refused my dad
’s offer to spend the holidays with him. Now I would be in the area so I guess I would be dropping in.

CHAPTER TWENTY

ANGEL

My girls and I were at Theresa’s hair shop getting a little R and R with a full side of gossip. There wasn’t anyone in Harlem who could sew a weave like Theresa or design nails like Nancy and there sure as hell wasn’t anyone in Harlem who knew everybody’s business and wasn’t afraid to spread it.

“
Girl I forgot to tell you.” Theresa cried excitedly from above Daisy’s head. My cousin was getting a new weave done. She was going with a short pixy look in a light brown color and I could already see her new do would be the bomb. “You wouldn’t believe who showed up in my shop the other day.”

“
Who,” I asked dramatically. I was sitting in the styling chair beside Daisy’s, getting my hair flat ironed by a girl who worked for Theresa.

“
That bitch you nearly put the beat down on. What’s her name again?” she snapped her fingers and furrowed her brows trying to recall the missing name.

“
Carla,” Keya supplied. She was sitting at Nancy’s table getting her nails done.

“
Yes that bitch,” Theresa confirmed.

“
Since when does she come here?” I inquired. I really don’t like when bitches I have beef with try to be around my people. Usually they only want to find out my business.

“
This chick that comes here to get her nails done by Deborah is friends with her and she tagged along,” My stylist explained.

“
I bet she only tagged along so she could try and find out your business Angel,” Daisy assumed. She made air quotations on
‘Tagged along’
.

“
I wished we had stopped by on that day,” Keya fumed. “That punk bitch needs to get her ass beat.” My cousin was still a bit peeved she didn’t get the opportunity to beat Carla at the Barbeque.

“
What was home girl saying up in here?” I questioned.

“
She was talking to her friend but I knew it was for our benefit, because they were talking mad loud. She was saying that her baby daddy is up in her crib all the damn time and he can’t get enough of her.” I chuckled at that because the trick still thought I wanted her man and it was a damn shame. “Said she heard that you’re pregnant and your hoe ass better not be trying to pin it on her man.”

“
Oh hell to the nah,” I exclaimed, half rising from my chair and nearly getting my ears burnt off. “This bitch is really looking for a beat down.”

“
I told you we should have awaited her ass at the Barbeque,” Keya said with an
‘I told you so’
look on her face.

“
For the record, I’d like to point out that this Carla chick is crazy with a capital C. I don’t understand why she’s stuck on me like crazy glue when I don’t even remember that she’s alive if someone doesn’t mention her.” I expressed. “Second, I never even slept with her man so I don’t understand why I would say he’s my baby daddy and third I got a man, a good one at that and everybody knows he’s the father of my child.”

“
Damn right,” Daisy high-fived me.

“
But that’s not the end of it,” Nancy announced. Just leave it to her to remember all the details. She pointed her nail buffer at Keya. “She said she saw you in her man’s car on more than one occasion.”

Keya looked both ways before looking behind her.
“I know you are not saying you as in referring to me; because I will beat a bitch for lying on me.”

“
She definitely said you,” Theresa intoned.

“What exactly was I supposed to be doing in her baby daddy’s car?”

“
Said you were a professional hoe and you were probably getting your freak on,” Nancy supplied.

“
This bitch has gone too damn far,” Keya was livid.

Daisy rolled her eyes.
“Can’t you see what the bitch is doing?” she questioned. “She’s trying to create controversy between us. She knew this shit would come back to us; she came here to deliver it personally. She wants people to start thinking you’re messing with your cousins ex, which I’m sure Angel doesn’t believe.” Daisy looked to me for confirmation.

“
Of course I don’t believe,” I assured vehemently, while inside my head there was a lot of doubt. I kept remembering when Keya said she would have a go at Von if I didn’t want him and also Tyga telling me she kept coming on to him. I hadn’t asked her about that yet, and now I was wondering if I should have taken it more seriously. I kept asking myself of all the lies this chick could create why she would make one up about always seeing my cousin in her man’s car. I decided that although I would try not jumping to conclusions, I was definitely going to give Von a call and feel out the situation.

Later that evening I was presented with the opportunity
to find out from my ex if he was messing with my cousin. Tyga had gone to his father’s house to conduct his usual weekly meeting.

“
What’s up ma,” he asked. I could hear the smile in his voice. “Thanks for calling your boy for his birthday, but you’re two days early.”

“
I know your birthday isn’t until Tuesday,” I chuckled. I was planning on texting him my felicitations on his B-day.

“
I was thinking it must have been a special occasion since you called,” he joked. “A nigga hardly hears from you anymore. I almost forgot how sexy your voice sounds.”

“
Stop,” I laughed. “What have you been up to?”

“
Making that paper,” he responded. “What about you? How big are you now?”

“
Not too big because I still look fly,” I boasted. Yeah I had a little extra weight in the tummy area, but that was about it. Strangers couldn’t tell I was pregnant unless I told them.

“
So you’re one of those cute pregnant mammies?”

“
Damn right,” I confirmed. “I heard you’ve been hanging with my cousin?”

“
Which of your cousins am I supposed to be hanging with?” He seemed genuinely mystified; which could mean he was an excellent liar or he had no clue who I was talking about.

“
Keya,” I provided.

“
Who said I hung with Keya and why would we be hanging together?” he puzzled.

“
You’re baby mama,” I expounded. “She said she saw Keya in your car on more than one occasion.”

He snickered.
“And you believe that crazy bitch?”

I shrugged, and then remembered he couldn
’t see me. “I’m not saying I believe.”

“
But you aren’t saying you don’t either,” he pointed out. When this was met with silence he moved on. “Listen ma, there are millions of other women out there; I don’t need to get with your cousin. Carla is crazy and you should know it.”

I kinda felt bad for doubting them.
“Ok I get it. You wouldn’t smash my cousin,” I said feeling mollified.

“
Thanks for the vote of confidence,” he joked. “Now are you coming to my party? It’s Saturday night and what am I getting for my birthday; How about you in your birthday suit?”

I giggled.
“You never give up do you?” He was a perfect flirt.  “I’m not sure if I’m going to your birthday and I’ll send you a card as a gift. I won’t even dignify the last question with an answer.”

We talked on the phone for two hours before we hung up. It was the longest I
’d been on the phone with him since we broke up. Although I enjoyed talking to him I knew there wasn’t going to be any repeated phone conversations. Our relationship had devolved into the type of friendship that consisted of the occasional text message, being on each other’s friend’s list on Facebook and saying a quick hello if we ran into each other, but I was cool with it. I knew anything more would be inviting drama into my life and I was trying to avoid that type of shit.

Only t
wo days later, drama was exactly what found me in the parking lot of Red Lobster. Daisy had picked Keya and I up from school. She usually gave me a ride home in the evenings, while Tyga would drop me off in the mornings. I was having a craving for some shrimp linguini, although I wasn’t supposed to eat sea food, so we decided to drop by the Red Lobster. We were walking in the parking lot when I spotted Carter walking to his car with one of his side pieces.

“
Ain’t that your man walking with another chick and holding her hand?” I asked in disbelief, pointing my finger in Carter’s direction.

“
What the fuck!” Daisy exclaimed when she saw them and took off running. Keya was right behind her, but due to the fact I was carrying around a few extra pounds I wasn’t as fast. “Carter you no good disgusting mother fucker.” She was in a rage and Carter had a look of pure shock on his face at the sight of her.

“
Daisy I’m not gonna fight with you,” he had the damn nerve to announce.

“
You aren’t gonna fight with me!” Daisy yelled in disbelief. She was using her index finger to dig a hole in his chest. “You’re with another bitch and you’re not gonna fight with me?”

“
What’s going on?” Carter’s side piece asked. She was a timid looking, short chubby chick, wearing glasses.

“
Kelly, get in the car!” he ordered. Nigga seemed like he was about to try to make a quick getaway.

“
Don’t get in the car Kelly, please stay,” Keya taunted; home girl was braiding her long weave and removing her hoop earrings in preparation for the fight that was about to go down.

“
I’m not getting in the car Carter; I’d like to know what’s going on here.” Poor Kelly seemed genuinely puzzled. She had a look of defiance on her face although I could tell she was scared.

“
What’s going on here is that this nigga that you’re walking around holding hands with is living with me, we’ve been together five years and we have a one year old daughter,” Daisy snapped heatedly.

Kelly looked to Carter for answers, but he was busy glaring at Daisy
like he could murder her. “Carter is this true?” She seemed to be a blink away from tears. I guess she had no clue Daisy and Kiki existed.

“
Get in the car Kelly,” he ordered loudly. The poor girl nearly jumped out of her skin and hurriedly entered the vehicle.

“
You’re really gonna try to play me like this Carter,” Daisy asked with hurt in her voice. He didn’t respond and was about to enter his car when Daisy snapped and punched him in the back of the head. His body whipped around and he grabbed her by the arm and delivered a slap to her face in return. At that point Keya jumped in and gave him a Bruce Lee kick from behind.

The three started brawling while Kelly and I looked on. I wasn
’t a punk but I also wasn’t gonna let a nigga knock out my baby. Kelly on the other hand was locked in the car with a look of horror on her face. I guess she’d never seen anything like this before. Carter was holding his own against my cousins but his skinny ass was no match for those two crazy bitches. He was on the ground and they were stumping on him while he tried to protect his face. The fight had drawn a small crowd and I heard someone say they were calling the cops.

“
Five-O is coming,” I yelled at my cousins. I didn’t need to say anything more they knew the deal, after all this wasn’t the first beat down they had delivered. With how many chicks’ niggas Keya fucked with we were always in some fight or another. We took off running for Daisy’s ride and she burned rubber from the parking lot.

Carter ended up with two cracked ribs, a black eye, a split lip and numerous cuts and bruises. He didn
’t press charges against my cousins, although he did move out of the apartment he shared with Daisy. Turns out he’d been seeing Kelly for a year and moved in with her. Daisy couldn’t afford to keep the apartment so she moved in with Aunt Missy. At first she was broken up that he left her for another woman, but luckily Delco was there for her and she found comfort in his arms. They’ve been seeing a lot of each other, although they’re still not in an exclusive relationship.

CHAPTER TWENT
Y-ONE

ANGEL