Thug Lovin' (32 page)

“You said you came in peace and that you want us to talk and come to an understanding. I told you I want a divorce and I’m
not going back, so let’s talk about that.”

“Why don’t you want to come back? What the fuck you doin’ up here? You got a lame up here buying you a couple of furs and
some bullshit-ass jewelry and forgot who the fuck you are? Did you forget about the three kids and the home you have? Your
sons need you to come home and you have a husband that
wants
you to come home.”

“I don’t care what my husband
wants
. My husband should have thought about that before he started trickin’ himself out for houses, nightclubs, paintings and money.
And, nigga, you’re the one who is out here trickin’! Or did you forget all about your dick leaking?” she snapped.

Tasha was furious as she remembered the embarrassment of having to be treated for trichomoniasis. She was now standing in
front of him and screamed, “Oh, you don’t like it when the shoe is on the other foot, do you? Of course not. You that same
nigga that sold our marriage vows and trust for a few million dollars. You started this shit, Trae, so I’m damn sure going
to finish it. You got me fucked up.”

“So two wrongs are supposed to make it right?” Trae asked her with calmness. She hated when he did that.

“Right? I didn’t make them wrong, Trae. You did.”

“I know I did, that’s why I’m here. Shit, Tasha, I know I fucked up and I’m sorry. What the fuck you want a nigga to do?”
He grabbed her hands. “Give us another chance, Tasha,” he pleaded as he looked up at her.

“It’s too late, Trae. It’s over.” She snatched her hands away from him.

“The hell it is. You talkin’ crazy. You forgot that we said for life and death? So if you leave, you must be ready to die.”

“Now you are threatening me?”

“Tasha, you know it’s not over between us; you’re just mad at me and I’ll give you that. But I miss you and love you more
than anything.” He began to rub her ass. “Daddy fucked up and he’s sorry, and, baby, you know I am not letting you go. I miss
us, Tasha.”

“Trae—” Tasha got choked up because she knew deep down and without a doubt that one of them would need to be dead before she
would be free of this man named Trae. “That’s not fair, Trae. Let me go.” His hand was now under her dress, and his face was
between her thighs. She turned to push him away a few seconds too late.

“You don’t have on any panties?” He smelled her pussy and smelled the sex on her. He chuckled in disbelief. Tasha began to
back away from him. “You bitch!” he spat. “Straight like that you got a nigga standing here beggin’ your ho ass, and you got
the nerve to be talkin’ all this it’s-over bullshit and marriage this and marriage that and yo’ fuckin’ pussy smells like
another nigga’s nut!” Then he stood up and smacked the shit out of her. “Who is he, Tasha?”

Oh shit
. “Calm down, Trae,” she squeaked. She was petrified.

He smacked her again. This time so hard she flew backwards, damn near flipping over the La-Z-Boy.

“Who is he, Tasha? I will body that nigga! Is it the same nigga who bought you that coat and the necklace around your neck?”
He went over to her and snatched the necklace from around her neck.

Tasha was still in shock, holding her face.

“I asked you his name, Tasha.”

She took off running for the stairs.

The next thing you know, Trae’s coat was off and he was right behind her.

“What the fuck is the matter with you? We are married and you are up here trickin’ my pussy away?” Trae slapped her across
the back of the head, damn near knocking her up the steps. “Have you lost your muthafuckin’ mind? You gonna run off and leave
your children so you can fuck niggas? I warned you,
Don’t make me come up here and get you.
” He kept slapping her. “What the fuck is the matter with you? You ain’t no muthafuckin’ teenaged chickenhead. What is the
matter with you? Bitch, answer me.”

Tasha’s fresh hairdo was all over her head, a button had popped off her blouse and she was boo-hooing. Not sure if it was
from the surprise of Trae beating her ass or from the hard slaps he was putting on her.

“Answer me, dammit!” He started choking her. “What the fuck is the matter with you? I didn’t marry no damn chicken.”

She let out a loud wail and then screamed, “I hate you, Trae. You have been fuckin’ bitches, so what the fuck! It’s over between
us. I want a divorce.”

The word “divorce” infuriated Trae to the point of rage. He lost all focus. He continued to beat the shit out of Tasha. They
ended up back down the stairs and didn’t know how they had gotten there.

Tasha was sprawled out across the living room floor. Trae was standing over her. It was as if he had blacked out and was now
back to reality. He was wondering how she had gotten there on the floor.

“Tasha, baby, get up.” He went to grab her arm and she started screaming, swinging and kicking wildly.

“Get away from me! I hate you! Why?” she wailed. “Why did you do this to us?”

“Baby, I’m sorry. Dammit! I’m sorry.” He swooped her up and laid her down on the couch. He rubbed her back while telling her
how sorry he was, and telling her that he would never put his hands on her again. “We are going back home in the morning.
I miss you so much, baby.”

Tasha appeared to be in shock as she lay there crying, but not releasing any sound. The tears were slowly streaming down her
face as she stared blankly at the man she loved. She couldn’t even protest when she felt him enter her.

Trae and Tasha left New York early the next morning before anyone was even awake. Tasha didn’t want anyone to see her bruised-up
face and body. As much as her heart still said that it was over, it seemed that this was the remedy to put things back in
perspective. She knew exactly what type of nigga she married, and when Trae said that he would kill her she knew he meant
it.

B
ack in California, Tasha had tried to stay in the house with Trae but couldn’t. The house itself had too many memories and
it was beginning to fuck with her mentally. She had to get out. She lasted two weeks and couldn’t make it another day. She
packed up herself and the kids and ended up staying with Trina in her two-bedroom apartment. They had been camped out now
for almost three weeks.

Kyra, Marvin, Aisha and King were still all missing. Just the thought of something happening to Kyra and Aisha was driving
her crazy as well, and to date no one knew where they were.

Tasha was in the kitchen feeding the boys. She had fried chicken, baked macaroni and cheese and the boys’ favorite candied
carrots. Trina had left the house early that morning so Tasha and the boys had the apartment all to themselves. She had fixed
their plates and had sat down to eat when someone knocked on the door and rang the buzzer.

“The door, Mommy,” Caliph yelled.

“I heard it, baby. Eat your dinner.” Tasha got up to open the door. When she saw it was Trae, she rolled her eyes and left
him standing there. He still hadn’t gotten over the fact that he beat Tasha’s ass and that she had fucked a nigga behind his
back. He was trying his best to deal with it and felt that until he found out who it was so he could handle him, things couldn’t
go back to normal. So even though he could have, he didn’t stop her when she packed up and came over to Trina’s. But now he
wanted her back home.

Tasha went back into the kitchen to finish her dinner.

Trae closed the door and came into the kitchen carrying an edible arrangement of chocolate-covered strawberries and chocolate-covered
apples in one hand and a bag in the other. He was dressed in a black suit.

“Daddy!” all the boys yelled, jumping up from the table to greet Trae.

“I miss y’all,” he greeted them and set the bag on the counter and gave Tasha one of her favorite treats.

“Where you was at?” Kareem asked.

“Daddy had to go to a funeral.”

“A funeral?” Shaheem asked. “Can I go?”

“Me too, Daddy,” Caliph joined in.

“A funeral is not a fun place to go. Sit down and finish your dinner.” They finally found Rick, or rather what was left of
his body. And his name was not Rick. It was Jason. His wife had decided to cremate him. The police were looking for Marvin,
so Trae figured that was why Marvin took his family and got ghost. No one knew that Kyra was gone. Trae understood all too
well that a nigga had to check another nigga about his woman, which sometimes would lead to death. And he knew that Kyra fuckin’
with Rick was trouble.

“Trae, what is this?” Tasha held up the plastic bag.

“Some whiting. I’m hungry; can you fry that up for me?”

“I already cooked, Trae. There is plenty enough here for you to eat.”

“I want some fish, baby,” Trae said as he took off his suit jacket and hung it up. He then went to the sink, washed his hands
and sat down.

Tasha sighed and dumped the fish into a bowl and began to wash them off.

“Y’all want to go see Pop Pop and Nana tomorrow?”

“Yes,” all three of the boys said in unison.

“I’ma pick y’all up early in the morning, so be ready, and when we come back we all are going home.” He looked up at Tasha
as he said that.

He knew Tasha was still mad at him but it was too bad. If he had to drag her ass back to the house he would. He did it once
and he damn sure would do it again. He needed his family at home with him.

“You’re not even going to thank me for bringing your favorite treat?” Trae decided to mess with Tasha. “I got you something
else and I’m glad I didn’t give it to you.”

“Mommy, Daddy is talking to you,” Caliph said.

“I hear him, baby.”

“We going back home when we come from Nana’s?” Shaheem asked his mother.

“We’ll see, Shaheem.”

Tasha fried Trae’s fish up in silence as he talked with and answered questions from his inquisitive sons.

When she finished frying the fish, she fixed the boys bowls of ice cream, fixed Trae a plate and sat down to eat hers.

“Daddy can’t get fed?” Trae leaned over and whispered in her ear.

“We haven’t spoken to one another in, what, two weeks? You’re mad at me and I’m even madder at you. But you show up out of
the blue telling me I’m coming back home and wanting me to cook for you and feed you. Did I miss something?”

“I’m tired of fighting, Tasha. We need to come to a resolution. Shit has gotten way out of hand. Don’t you think so?”

“Whose fault is that?”

“It’s mines but we have a family, baby.”

“I know that. But you weren’t thinking about your family when you were fucking up. You… Never mind. Why don’t you leave? I
can’t talk to you right now.”

“Oh, you are going to talk.”

“Trae, I need time to heal. Physically and emotionally. I am not up to talking to you right now. You just want me to forgive
you and act like everything is normal. I can’t do that.”

“C’mon, y’all, time for your bath.” She stood up, waved the boys over and they all marched out of the kitchen.

Trae sat there deciding whether to leave or stay. He ended up straightening up the kitchen, rolling up a blunt and parking
his ass on the living room couch.

Tasha took her time bathing the boys as they played in the tub. She then dressed them for bed and sent them into the living
room with their father. She then cleaned up the bathroom and ran herself a hot bubble bath. She took her time, hoping that
by the time she got out the kids would be asleep and Trae would be gone.

But no such luck, well almost. By eight the boys were knocked out on the couch and Trae was sitting there watching TV.

“Damn, I was beginning to think you drowned in there.”

“I was hoping you would be gone by now,” she snapped. She picked up Caliph and took him into the bedroom and tucked him in.
Trae came behind her carrying the twins.

She then grabbed her blankets and pillow and took them into the living room, where she began turning the couch into a bed.
As soon as she finished, Trae plopped down and began flicking channels.

“Uh, excuse me. It’s time for you to go.”

“Tasha, sit your ass down. You look like you gained a few pounds. It looks nice.”

Tasha sat down and pulled the covers back.

“Are you done trickin’ my pussy away or what?”

Before she knew it she had swung at Trae, hitting him in the mouth. He went to grab her but hit her in the eye by mistake.

“My eye, Trae!” she screamed, as he now had both her arms above her head. “My eye! Get off me!” They had tumbled onto the
love seat.

“That was a mistake, Tasha.”

“Get off me and get out,” she yelled.

“Shut up before you wake the kids.”

“Get off me.”

“Not until you say you’re going to stop acting crazy.”

“Get off me.” She gritted. “You hit me.”

“You hit me first. Plus I didn’t mean to.”

“What about the last time? Did you mean to beat my ass then?”

“Yeah and no.”

The thought of those ass whippings brought Tasha to tears and took the entire struggle out of her. The Trae she had married
wasn’t this man here. The Trae she had married would never put his hands on her or cheat on her. Her Trae worshipped the ground
she walked on and would never hurt her.

“I don’t know who you are,” she mumbled through tears. “You beat on me, you cheated on me.”

“Baby, listen to me. You know damn well I didn’t mean to do that shit. Be for real, Tasha. All bullshit aside. Admit it, you
know I didn’t mean that shit.” He was now hugging her tight as she cried.

“So why did you do it?” she bawled.

“I snapped. Shit, I lost control, Tasha. I didn’t mean for it to go down like that, but we can work through this. We made
a promise to each other that we would work through anything, remember that? I’m not going to lose you, Tasha, and I’ll be
damned if I’m going to sit back and approve of you dancing off into the sunset with another nigga. I’m ready to work through
any and everything—no more lies, no more bullshit. I’m just asking you, Tasha, to meet me halfway,” Trae pleaded.