Authors: Carry Lowe
“
Montego Bay and I didn’t need you for a tour guide, I had a whole lot of fun,” I smirked, getting on one of the bicycles. That’s when he caught sight of my engagement ring and wedding band.
He snatched my hand off the bike handle, causing me to stop my workout
, and inspected my rings closely. “What the fuck! Don’t tell me you went and married that nigga.” His voice was filled with disbelief.
I forcefully retrieved my hand from him and gave him a disgruntled look.
“Not that it’s any of you damn business but yes I did get married to the father of my son while we were on vacation.” His attitude was really starting to piss me off. I got that he thought he was into me and shit, but he knew I had a man and I’d never led him on, so I didn’t understand why this should come as such a shock to him.
“
Damn ma, calm down. This was just a real big surprise that’s all. I knew you two were living together and had a baby, but I wasn’t thinking you’d go and get married. I guess that was my bad assuming and shit.” He smiled to try and lighten the mood but I could tell it was a little forced. “I guess I should be saying congrats. Do I get to kiss the bride?” He gave me a quick kiss on my cheek before I could respond. His lips felt real soft against my skin and I’d be lying if I said it didn’t affect me.
“
You do know flirting with married women is a big no no,” I chastised, playfully punching him in the arm. I was feeling a bit awkward now.
“
You’re the exception to the rule.” He had an unrepentant look on his handsome face.
“
Exception to what rule?” Daisy asked as she joined us and hopped onto one of the bikes. And boy was I ever glad to see her.
“
Haven’t seen you in a while either, guess you were in Jamaica too?” Kit asked avoiding her question.
“
Yup,” was her only response. My girl wasn’t about to elaborate when she didn’t know what I had told him.
“
Damn, mum’s the word on you huh? Your girl already told me she got married. I’ll leave you two to get your work out on. But you should definitely come to my party I’m having the end of next month since you didn’t come to the last one.” He was looking directly at me. “I’ll put your names on the V.I.P list; hopefully I’ll see you before then, unless you decide to disappear on a nigga again.”
“
Cool,” I replied evasively. I didn’t want to commit and then not show up and the way things were going currently the chances were nil that I would be there. I was now realizing that our little flirtation had to come to an end.
He accepted my cagey reply and left putting some extra swagge
r in his stride.
Daisy shook her head at his back.
“That nigga needs to learn that its time he gave up the game.”
“
I guess I’ll have to change gyms or something because I don’t think he’ll ever leave me alone.”
“
Do you even want him to leave you alone?” she was looking at me keenly.
“
Why’d you ask something like that? Of course I’d like him to leave me alone. You know Tyga would flip if he found out this shit.” I wasn’t mad at her for asking me that question because I knew she was just trying to figure out what was going on inside my head.
“
I’m just asking because you flirt with him even though you say you aren’t interested and I think that’s what’s keeping him around; that small chance that your flirtation will lead to more.”
“
I guess I’m gonna have to stop doing that shit because I’m not about to mess up my life for the first hot guy that comes along.”
“
Super-hot guy,” my cousin teased.
“
Super-hot,” I agreed smiling. I knew Mr. Super-hot would eventually get me in super trouble if I didn’t stay away from him so I was gonna have to make some changes so I didn’t run into him anymore.
It was the first time my girl and I were having a good one on one since I got back so I hadn
’t told her about Delco having a girl in prison he been waiting to get out so I took the chance to fill her in.
“
Wow,” she said in a stunned voice. “I guess I should have seen that coming.”
I completely agreed, but I wasn
’t about to let her know when I knew she must have been feeling horrible at the moment. But the guy was running around with a plethora of other chicks right before her eyes, so the chances of him having a main chick that he hid his dirt from was very high. “What’re you gonna do about it?”
“
I really don’t know.” I could tell she was fighting tears from the sheen in her eyes. “I just know I can’t deal with his shit anymore. I’ve already been through all that crap with Carter and it just makes me feel like a fucking fool to be going through this shit with another dude right after him.”
I rubbed her back in comfort.
“Whatever you decide just know that I got you.”
“
I know you do,” she smiled ruefully. “Did I tell you Carter has been calling my phone lately saying he got something he wants to talk to me about?”
“
For real, does he want to get back together or something?” Just leave it to a nigga to come crawling back when they realize the grass isn’t greener on the other side.
“
I don’t know. Lately he’s been ringing my phone like crazy but I haven’t answered his calls, not after how he did me dirty and isn’t even taking care of Kiki. I don’t even want to hear his nasty ass voice. The other day he called my mama and told her to tell me to call him.”
“
Maybe you should call him back and see what he has to say, it could be something important if he’s trying to get in touch so damn bad.”
She sucked her teeth.
“Girl please, I bet it’s just some bull but I’ll call him and see. If he comes at me with some crap I’ll just dial tone his ass.” It was mad funny how things changed. In the past Daisy always took Carter back no matter what he did to her, now she wouldn’t even take his calls.
Later that day I went to Theresa
’s to get my hair done because with all the salt and sun I knew I was in need of some good deep conditioning. I was getting my hair set with plastic rollers by one of the assistants when no other than my cousin Keya walked into the shop. She came up to me and sat in the unused style chair beside mine and started talking to me like we were still cool.
“
Congrats on the wedding, although you didn’t invite me,” she said casually. I could see Theresa and Nancy’s ears perking up to listen in on our conversation.
“
Thanks, but I didn’t know I was getting married until the very day it happened, it was kind of a birthday surprise,” I replied nonchalantly, I wanted to see what the little viper was up to before I shut her shit down.
“
Your ring is balling.” She was looking at my shit a bit enviously. I wondered if she realized that her true feelings were written all over her face. “How many carats is it?”
“
Five.” I was checking her out in the large mirror in front of me. She was looking a bit tired in my opinion, she had bags under her eyes and her weave looked like she hadn’t gotten it done in a minute.
“
Well I’m really happy for you.” I wanted to roll my eyes and say ‘yeah right’. “You got that bitch real good the other day didn’t you?” She had that pleased smirk on her face that she was wearing the day she set that dumb bitch Carla up for a beat down. Was she expecting me to thank her for that shit or something? She’d still be waiting a millennia from now if that was the case.
“
Why’d you befriend that poor girl and then set her up?”
She rolled her eyes.
“Because she bitch is dumb. Wasn’t she the one who was saying she was seeing me in her man’s car and shit? If she became my friend after that then she real stupid and deserved that shit.” She truly was one cold hearted bitch. “Plus she was running her mouth off about you too damn much, we may not be cool anymore but we’re still family, so I wanted you to beat her ass down.”
I shook my head sadly because I knew Karma was a bitch.
“Damn girl, you better be careful, you really don’t want another bitch to do you the way you did her.”
“
Please, I don’t trust anyone like that,” she stated emphatically. One of the shop assistants called her to the back to get her weave cut out. “Anyway, I just wanted to say hi, we’re still family after all and although you might still be mad at me, I ain’t mad at you.”
I gave her a fake smile and a wave as she walked off. She wasn
’t mad; she was just filled with nothing but hate. Theresa gave me a ‘what the fuck’ look after Keya had left. I knew my girl was wondering why I was even cordial with my deceitful cousin. The thing was Keya and I had been best friends for so many years that although she hurt me I knew it would be impossible to completely cut her off forever. I wasn’t gonna be friends with her or anything, but I would say hi when I saw her and because we ran in the same circles and were related we would definitely run across each other. I didn’t want to be constantly fighting with that bitch.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
TYGA
I was sitting in my office at Excellence when Cindy sauntered into the room and struck a pose on my desk trying to look all sexy. She had her legs slightly open and wasn’t wearing any panties so her fat pussy lips and her juicy looking clit were visible. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t turned on but I wasn’t having any of that shit.
“
What do you want Cindy?” I placed a whole helping of irritation in my voice.
She smiled despite the polar ice caps I was throwing her way.
“You haven’t given me any of that good dick for a minute now,” she complained as she tried to get her hands on my junk.
I grabbed her wrists
and gave them a firm squeeze until I saw a wince on her face. “Don’t be touching my shit without permission you know damn well we ain’t cool like that.”
“
Why’re you always so rough?” she rubbed her sore wrist looking peeved.
“
How about you get your ass off my desk?” I retorted. “I got shit to do.”
“
So it’s like that now. I guess it’s true that you married that bitch. She…”
I gave her an open handed slap that rocked her head back before she could say another word. She touched her fast swelling cheek with the tips of her fingers and gave me a wounded look with tears in her eyes.
“
Don’t be talking any shit about my wife or you won’t like what I’ll do to you,” I warned her calmly. I didn’t know what her fucking deal was. She knew her and I weren’t that serious. Yeah I’d been fucking her occasionally for about a year, but she had to know that shit wouldn’t last forever. “Now as I said before, get the fuck off my desk!”
She rose
reluctantly. “When are we going to hook up?”
“
I’m a married man now Cindy, I can’t be creeping on my girl anymore.” It was a half lie. I wasn’t going to be creeping on my girl with some chick she came in contact with occasionally but that didn’t mean I’d never cheat again. I didn’t have that much confidence in my ability to stay faithful. Emotionally it was all Angel, but I knew that I’d eventually see some bitch with a real nice fat ass and just had to scratch that itch.
“
What about me? You’re just gonna do me like this?” She was crying now. “I love you.”
“
Cindy, you knew the fucking deal from the start, so don’t act like a fucking fool now.” She was way pass irritating me and was now making me really pissed.
“
I knew the deal huh?” she nodded her head and gave me a look that said she had come to some conclusion. “I guess I should call your wife so she can know the deal too.” She stressed the word ‘wife’. I snatched her by the neck and started choking she shit out of her until her eyes were rolling back in her head. When I let her go she was coughing as she tried to get air into her lungs.
“
Just make that fucking call and it will be the last fucking call you ever made,” I threatened and I was dead fucking serious. The fear in her eyes said she knew I wasn’t playing. “Now get the fuck outa my office.”
She nearly mowed
down Delco in her haste to get out the door.
“
What the fuck is up with her?” my best friend asked with a puzzled frown.
“
Just had to put that bitch in her place,” I responded before changing the subject. “What’s been going on while I was away?”
“
Everything has been pretty normal, except for a little mishap I didn’t tell you about on the phone because I didn’t want to ruin your vacation.” He paused and I gave him an expectant look for him to go on. “Someone tried to rob another one of the weed trucks.”
“
Are you fucking serious?” I exclaimed. I wasn’t expecting him to say some shit like that.
“
Yeah, but they didn’t succeed because our boys were prepared. They killed one of those niggas and the other ran away.”
“
We still haven’t figured out who the fuck is doing this shit?”
“
Nah, but it’s only a matter of time, whoever is doing this is mad greedy and will definitely try that shit again.”
I had to agree with that.
“Tell Rob to give the two drivers a ten grand bonus for keeping their shit together.” I would have lost a lot of money if they hadn’t defended my product and I had only recently recouped my losses from the last robbery so those niggas deserved something extra for preventing me from suffering another loss. “I’m about to go drag Chance’s ass home, you want to roll with? That nigga hasn’t been home in the two days since I got back and he’s not answering my calls. I called around and I found out he’s hanging around a bar in Harlem with those little fools I told him to leave alone.”
“
Sure, I’d been meaning to talk with you about him. I heard some of those niggas he’s rolling with are on the streets slinging weed for that cat Kitsune. I don’t know if Chance is working for Kit too but word on the street says he is.”
I shook my head disbelievingly.
“I really don’t know what to do about that boy. Sometimes I think he needs a good beat down. If I find out he’s working for that nigga it’s gonna come down to that.”
It took us forty-five minutes to get to the spot my
baby bro been hanging at because we made a food stop at the drive through and a gas stop on the way. It was a Caribbean looking bar with a slightly dilapidated exterior. The inside wasn’t much better than the outside, with all the bullet holes in the walls, the broken furniture and the extremely pockmarked floors.
When Delco and I walked up to the bar the few rough
looking patrons scattered around the room drinking were watching us keenly, but there wasn’t a sign of Chance or his boys in sight. I was happy I had my nine tucked away at the small of my back.
“
I’m looking for a nigga name Chance,” I told the dreadlocked bartender placing a C-note on the counter to loosen his lips. “He looks a lot like me.”
“
Wait bout five minits or soh an’ him wi’ be here,” he said in a very think Jamaican accent, snatching the money and placing it in his pocket.
“
In that case give me a rum and coke,” I told the bartender taking a seat at the bar and looking to Delco for his own order.
“
I’ll have the same.” Delco sat beside me.
He nodded and grabbed the things he needed to make our drinks from under the counter and got to work.
I took a small sip from my drink after he had placed it before me and received payment. “What do you think about this place?” I inquired from Delco.
“
Man, I think this place is only one notch away from a war zone from the looks of it.”
Those were my sentiments exactly. I didn
’t know why my baby brother had to be hanging in a place like this but what I did know was that after today he wasn’t hanging here anymore.
We had to wait for almost twenty minutes before Chance showed up with three grimy ass looking niggas.
“What’re you doing here?” he asked when he saw us.
“
The better fucking question is what are you doing here? I can’t believe you’re hanging in a place like this.” I wasn’t trying to dog him out in front of his friends but I was so damn pissed at him I couldn’t filter my words. “Let’s go, it’s about time you came home.”
His little friends were all smirking and
giving him looks that asked if he was going to take shit from me.
“I’ll be home later,” my bro promised, trying to play it cool, placating me while saving some face in front his boys.
“
Nah nigga, let’s roll now,” I ordered. I was willing to drag his ass from there if I had to.
“
Are you gonna let this nigga punk you Chance?” one of his little shady friends had the nerve to ask. I immediately sent a death stare his way to let him know he was probably going to get my gun in his mouth if he opened that trap again.
“
Shut the fuck up Junior before I shut you up!” my brother replied heatedly to his friend. Junior gave a show of surrender and backed down immediately. “Let’s go,” Chance directed to me in a disgruntled tone storming from the bar.
I had to shake my head at his behavior as Delco and I followed in his wake. He was really in for a good talking to and if that failed a good old fashion
beat down.
“
You’re working for Kitsune now?” I asked when we were in the car and on our way. I was looking at Chance in the rearview mirror and he was sitting in the backseat looking sullen.
“
Who’ve you been talking to?”
“
It doesn’t matter who I’ve been talking to just answer the damn question.”
“
No, I’m not working for him, but my niggas are. I’m working for you; not that you let me do shit except count money.” His voice was laced with sarcasm.
“
And you’ll keep only counting money with that attitude of yours,” I assured him. “This will be the last time I tell you to stop running around with those niggas, next time you won’t like what I’ll do to you.”
He sucked his teeth and rolle
d his eyes at me in response. “Do you think I’m Angel or Ricky so you can dictate my life to me?”
“
Yeah nigga, I can dictate your life to you. I’m your legal guardian that means I’m responsible for you and what you do, so keep fucking around and you’ll see what happens.”
He didn
’t respond and we were quiet the rest of the ride to the club so Delco could get his car.
When we finally got home
Chance went directly to his room and I went to the living room where I found my wife and son. Ricky was lying on his mother’s chest sleeping while my girl was watching something on T.V.
I gave her a quick kiss and then took the baby and placed him in his basinet before joining her on the couch.
“Do you want a massage?” Angel offered. “You’re looking a little tense.” I nodded and she got behind me and started rubbing the knots from my muscles. “What’s got you all messed up like this.”
I told her about the attempted robbery and going to get Chance in that shitty bar in Harlem, but left off the part about Cin
dy getting on my last nerve and adding to my stress.
She started placing nibbling kisses on the back of my neck.
“I can massage other body parts of yours so you’ll feel better.”
I ran my hand up her leg because that was exactly what I was in the mood for to relieve some of my stress. That
’s why I married this chick; she knew exactly what I needed when I needed it.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
ANGEL
Mina called my phone crying hysterically mumbling something about Boss breaking up with her so I stopped by her house to see if she was ok. I only went by her place because he was now out of the picture. She answered the door looking like death warmed over and the apartment looked worse than it did the last time I came by and had to do a complete cleaning.
I pushed a bunch of garbage off the armchair and
took a seat while she slumped on the couch like a lifeless ragdoll.
“
You can’t live like this Mina.” The smell was horrible and I was sure I spotted a few rats scurrying about.
Her response was to start sobbing and shaking her head like
she was a crazy person. I guess all the shit she’d sniffed up her nose was making her fidgety. In the past I would have comforted her, but if being nice wasn’t working she was gonna get some tough love instead.
I snapped my fingers at her.
“Will you shut the fuck up with the damn crying; God, your giving me a fucking headache?”
“
You’re such a heartless bitch Angel,” she snapped back. “Can’t you see I’m hurting?” She sniffled while wiping away her tears and snot with her shirt sleeve.
“
What you’re doing right now is stinking and all because of some no good loser,” I plugged my nose with my fingers and fanned in front my face. “What did you say happened anyway?”
“
He left me,” she wailed on a fresh bout of sobs. “He said it’s not working anymore but I know it’s because of his baby mama and that bitch Keya.”
“
If you know he’s with them why do you even want to be with him?”
“
Because he’s my fucking man and I’m not gonna let another bitch take my spot!”
“
Are you even listening to yourself? He’s got a baby mama he’s fucking with in your face. He’s fucking your own niece in your face and you’re talking about some bitch taking your spot. I guess you don’t have to worry about that anymore since he left your ass.” I knew I was antagonizing her but it was better she faced the facts and moved on with her life because it was currently going right down the crapper.
She shot me a death stare.
“You’re really fucking coldhearted.”
“
I guess I got something from you after all,” I countered. “How about we get this place cleaned up and then we can make some plans for you to go to rehab like we’d planned the last time until your man dropped by and you changed your damn tune.”