Side Chic 4 (Forever Ratchet) (6 page)

“Child, what crawled up your ass and has you all in a funk?” Nelle asked looking at Mia confused. Mia didn’
t reply so she looked over at me and mouthed. “What’s her problem?”

             
I just shrugged my shoulders and continued to work on my client’s hair. Mia really hadn’t had much for me to do since the whole incident with Corey. I was so afraid that she might say something to Nelle that I didn’t bother to press the issue about the change in her attitude towards me. I just let things be because I didn’t want to piss her off and there be a big mess. I knew that she wouldn’t hesitate to tell Nelle how she’d caught me eyeing Corey.

             
After gathering all of her belongings, Mia said good bye to everyone and headed for the door but Nelle stopped her just before she made it out the door.

             
“Are you good cuzzo?” Nelle asked her. “Why are you leaving?”

             
“I’m good.” Mia assured with her hand on the door knob. “I have a doctor’s appointment in forty-five minutes, that’s why I’m leaving.”

             
“Oh alright. Well call me later and let me know how everything went.” Nelle smiled. “Are you sure everything is good? You look annoyed. I know you aren’t that upset over a lil gossip.”

             
Mia waved Nelle off and gave her what looked to be a forced smile. “Nah, I’m not upset at all. It doesn’t have anything to do with me.”

             
“Oh alright.”

             
“I’ll call you later.” With that she left.

             
“Is it just me or has Mia been acting a little different lately?” Nelle asked once Mia was gone. “I mean, she always seem to have an attitude about something.”

             
“To be honest, I really haven’t paid her that much attention.” I lied knowing that Mia’s attitude had definitely changed and also knowing the reason for it. “Girl, there has been so much going on with Tre and I that I haven’t paid attention to much other than the mess that we have going on.”

             
“Hmph, well I don’t see how in the world you could miss how she has been acting. It’s like she’s mad with the world about something. She definitely hasn’t been herself lately.” Nelle continued on about Mia. The look on her face told that she was really concerned about what was going on with her. “Maybe I should try talking to her? I don’t like to see my fam like that.”

             
When she mentioned talking to her my heart skipped a beat. All I could think about was Mia telling her about the little Corey situation. “Nah maybe you should just give her a little time and see if she will come to you about whatever it is that is bothering her.” She gave me a strange look so I explained. “I’m just saying, she just said that she doesn’t like telling us her business because we love to gossip. If you go to her and ask her what is going on. She may feel like you are only trying to be nosey so that you can spread her business.”

             
Nelle smacked her lips. “Mia knows that I would never do anything foul like that. Yeah, I heard what she said but at the end of the day, I know that she knows that I would never spread her business around. I don’t cross my fam.” She shook her head, her micros swaying back and forth. “Nah, that ain’t how I get down.”

             
“You know that, I know that.” I told her. “And Mia should know that but obviously she believes that you would. She did say ‘y’all spread everybody’s business.’ She didn’t just say me.”

             
“I don’t care what she said. She knows that I wouldn’t do that. Hell, I’ve never done it before. She just said that mess because of whatever she has going on.”

             
“Maybe…but don’t say that I didn’t warn you.” I was tired of talking about Mia so I changed the subject. “So how are things with you and my favorite cousin-in-law?” I pried. Even after the incident with Mia catching me eyeing Corey, I still had it bad for him. He was one of those people that you wonder what it would be like to be with them at least once. I wanted so badly to be with Corey just one time. I’d been admiring him from afar for years now and to be very honest I was tired of just looking, lusting and wondering. I wanted to find out what it was about him that had Nelle so in love that whenever he walked into a room her entire face lit up and just the mention of his name caused her lips to spread into a smile that nearly touched both ears. And I definitely couldn’t forget how he’d driven the white chic that he’d met in DC so crazy that she’d tried to kill Nelle and his mama. It didn’t make things any better having to see his fine ass nearly every day. That only made it worse.

             
“Things with Corey and I aren’t too good right now but I am not letting it get to me. We will be alright.” She sighed moving one of her braids back out of her face. “My baby is seriously pissed at me. We had a pretty heated argument this morning.” She gave a little pouty face, poking out her lips.

             
That got my attention. Since everything that had gone down with Amy, the two of them rarely argued. That situation actually appeared to have worked in their favor because they had become inseparable and almost like some hood love fairy-tale.

“Mad at you, for what?” I pried with raised brows, waiting for her response. I’d even stopped working on my client’s hair. I didn’t want to miss a word of what she’d done to piss him off.

              “Girl to be honest, he’s mad for nothing really.” She sucked her teeth and then went on to explain. “For the past month or so, he has been putting in a lot of overtime at work. I understand that we have a child and we need the money but by the time he comes home he’s tired and doesn’t have any energy to spend time with me or Korey for that matter. Most of the time, I’ve already put her to bed by the time that he comes in. He comes in, takes a shower, eats and goes straight to bed.”

             
I wanted to slap the shit out of her for getting my hopes up for nothing! I’d thought that she was about to tell me that he was back up to his old bullshit, dealing with other bitches or something. Something that would give me some hope but instead here she was telling me about him working overtime and not spending enough time with her needy ass. Reflexively, I rolled my eyes up in my head at how petty she was. 

             
“What?” She asked with her hand propped up on her hip.

             
“Huh?”

             
“Huh nothing, I saw that.” She let me know wearing a bothered expression. I hadn’t been aware at the time that she’d seen my reaction but now I was well aware of the fact that she’d seen me. “Well…why did you roll your eyes up in your head?” She wanted to know.
              I didn’t bother looking up at her. Instead I busied myself with my client’s hair. “Nelle…” I started. “Truthfully, I feel like you are being kind of petty and acting all needy. You are reminding me of Kisha a little bit.” I teased laughing, hoping to lighten the mood a little because I could tell that I’d struck a nerve. I glanced over at her to see if she was laughing or if she’d even cracked a smile but I saw that she hadn’t. “All I’m saying is, you have what you wanted, which was for Corey to stop running the streets and chasing bitches. He’s not doing any of that anymore. That man worships the ground that you walk on and here you are showing him that still isn’t enough by getting upset with him for working overtime to provide for his family. Shit like that is what pushes men back out into the streets.”

             
“I am not saying that I don’t appreciate the changes that he’s made.” She let out a frustrated breath and threw up her hands. “I’m just simply saying that he needs to have some balance. I am all for working and getting money but at the same time he needs to make time for his wife and child.”

             
“I hear you and I get what you are saying but you may want to be a little careful of how you complain about it to him because he may feel like you are not fully seeing the effort that he is putting forth in trying to be the man that you wanted so desperately for him to be. He may be feeling like regardless of what he does you still have a complaint. That’s just my opinion.” Even though the shit I was telling her was some real shit, I honestly could’ve care less about her pathetic issues. I really hoped that all of her nagging and whining would push Corey away and right into another woman’s bed, preferably mines.

             
“I appreciate your advice, Mina.” She sounded deflated. I knew how much she and Corey arguing affected her. I studied the sad expression on her face. She looked almost like she wanted to cry. I smiled inwardly at her misery.

             
“Y’all will be fine.” I said trying to sound sincere. I finished with my client’s hair and then got started on my next client. The rest of the day seemed to drag by and Nelle was no company at all. Talking about her and Corey’s issues had killed the chipper mood that she’d been in earlier. A few times, I tried to get her to talk but not because I was trying to make her feel better but because I was bored. It didn’t work though. She was too in her feelings. I started thinking to myself that maybe it was time to hire a few new people. Things weren’t like they were before when I’d first opened the salon. Back then, Nelle, Mia and I got a long and we used to have so much fun at work together. Now, I only tolerated Nelle because she had no idea that I really didn’t care to be around her at all. And Mia…well to be honest, the two of us were pretty cool until she decided to stick her nose where it didn’t belong. In my opinion, she shouldn’t have been concerned about me lusting after Corey. Her only concern should’ve been Ron but she and Nelle had always been the tightest of us three so I guess she felt like she was doing the right thing by calling herself checking me about Corey.

             
At the end of the day, Nelle and I cleaned up the shop in silence. The only noise that could be heard was the constant back to back ringing of my phone, which was starting to annoy me because Mello had been calling me back to back almost the entire evening. I didn’t feel like being bothered with him. He knew that I was at work and that Simya was nowhere around. I felt like the only time that he and I needed to speak was when it concerned her. I wasn’t about to spend precious time on the phone with him chopping it up like shit was sweet between us because it wasn’t. He hadn’t ever wanted to talk to me before he’d gotten locked up or when we were together. He’d never had the decency to sit and talk. All he’d wanted to do was argue and fight. So why should I waste my time on the phone talking to him? I’d made up my mind that we were done completely and there would be no more chances. I liked having my freedom and being able to live my life without all of the constant physical and verbal abuse. No one should have to live that way and I wasn’t about to live that way anymore.

When
Nelle and I were done, I locked up and headed to Tre’s house. On my way, I smoked a half blunt that I’d left in my ashtray that morning. I knew that I was going to need something in order to deal with those crying ass babies of his. Lala had made a mess of them. They were way too spoiled. All they did was cry…like their whiny ass mama. I knew that my nerves couldn’t take it. So I decided to prepare myself before I got there. When I’d finished smoking, I rolled down the window in an attempt to air out my hair and clothes. Then I cleaned my hands with hand sanitizer. I didn’t want Tre to smell the scent of weed on me because that would definitely start an argument and I didn’t feel like arguing with him.

             
I arrived at his house and noticed Kisha’s car parked in the driveway. “Seriously?” I asked aloud, rolling my eyes and turning off the ignition. “What in the fuck is this nearly crippled bitch doing here?” I got out of the car and hit the door lock on my keychain. I held my keys in my hand as I made my way to the door, fingering the pepper spray that was attached to my keychain. Kisha and I hadn’t been in the same space much since I’d been seeing Tre but I knew that she didn’t really care for me and that she was feeling some kind of way about my being with him. Though she hadn’t said anything to me directly, she’d said things to other people in town, who’d come right back to me and told every word that she’d said. She didn’t have to like me or the fact that I was with Tre but if she tried to jump stupid I was going to empty the contents of the can that I was holding onto in her damn face.

             
I rang the bell and waited. After a few seconds, I heard someone unlocking the door. The door opened and Tre was standing on the other side wearing a pair of black basketball shorts and a black wifebeater, holding one of the babies in his arms.

“Hey, come on in.” He invited me. His face held an agitated expression. He didn’t wait for me to come in before turning and heading in the direction of the living room.

Lord please,
don’t
let me be walking in on some bullshit.
I thought to myself. All it would take was for him and Kisha to be having some sort of disagreement and then for her to see me walk in. I knew without a doubt shit would turn ugly really fast. I felt my heart rate speed up just thinking about it all. I walked in closing the door behind me and then followed him into the living room. The boys were running back and forth down the hallway playing, and the other baby was on the floor playing on a play mat. Kisha was sitting on the loveseat wearing a pink sweat suit and sporting a cute little short hairstyle. I noticed a pair of crutches propped up against the wall next to where she sat. From what Tre had told me, she had recovered really well from the accident that she and Skeet were in but she was still on crutches because her leg that had been broken hadn’t completely healed. When she saw me she turned her nose up running her hand over her hair as if she were royalty or something. Tre took a seat on sofa across from Kisha and I sat on the other end down from him.