Nobody Can Love You Like Them Roughnecks Do

by Shvonne Latrice

  “Why?” I stopped walking, so Blaise did too, redoing her bun.

  “What the fuck you mean, why? How many times I have to go over this shit with you! I told you don’t post shit about our fucking family!”

  “I want to be able to post things!” I shouted back. Thankfully, the gym was empty because Robert always cleared it out for our training days.

  “And the last time you said that shit, I allowed you to post the kids! You always wanting more! Take that photo down!”

  “Oh, so I just can’t post you is what you’re saying.”

  “Exactly. Remove it now, Priscilla, or I’m reporting that shit.”

  He hung up before I could say anything, so I just stared down at my phone for a little bit. My notifications were blowing up, so the photo had already gone viral in a sense, but I went onto my profile and just deleted it.

  “You okay?” Blaise asked once I resumed walking.

  “I had to remove it.”

  She shook her head and sighed, just before we entered the room to sweat.

  The next morning…

  “Mommy, Grandma Two said we make cookies today!” my daughter Penni shouted. “Can you make Rafi go with you?”

  Since my mother died before I had any kids, my children knew my Aunt Vivian as their grandmother. However, I made sure they knew who my mother was, so to differentiate them, my mom was Grandma One, and Aunt Vivian was Grandma Two.

  “No, baby, your brother wants to spend time with you and grandma as well.”

  “I know, but I don’t like him too much.” She pouted.

  I squatted down to be eye level with her and kissed her little nose. She looked exactly like me, from her smooth mocha complexion to her tightly coiled hair.

  “Baby, you have to like your brother.”

  “He’s so bad, Mommy! I say, ‘sit down’, and you know what he does? Do you?”

  “No, what?” I laughed at how grown up she was.

  “He don’t do it!” She threw her little arms out. “He just keeps on going!”

  “Okay, well if you deal with him for the day, mommy will get you a new Barbie doll.”

  She gasped and asked, “The doctor one?”

  “Yup, with the matching playset. So can you do that for me?”

  “Oh yes! I promise!” She hugged my neck tightly, so I picked her up, kissing her face.

  I carried her all the way to the den where Rafi was with my son and his homebody Leek. Ignoring them both, I placed Penni to her feet and then scooped my son up to kiss him and talk to him.

  “Okay, bye, babies.”

  “Bye, Mommy!” Penni waved, brushing her baby doll’s hair.

  “…Mommy!” Baby Rafi mumbled, simply copying his sister as he pushed his toy grass mower around. I had no idea why he found that to be a fun toy or why it was even created.

  “Oh, that’s the only people you gon’ speak to?” Rafi called out. I hadn’t been talking to his ass since yesterday, and because I was angry, I was using that as a reason to not ask or inform him of where I was going today.

  “Bye, Rafi.”

  “Aye! Where the fuck you going wearing them shorts and shit, Prissy?”

  “I’m going to a little pool thing with Blaise.”

  Belly had a photoshoot for a magazine at this plush house out in Calabasas. There would be a little party afterward, so Blaise invited me to come.

  “Who all gon’ be there? She be around a lot of these industry niggas, and I don’t want you in the mix.”

  “Too bad. Bye.”

  “Priscilla! Priscilla!” he yelled after me, but I kept walking. The car driving Blaise and me had already been waiting outside long enough.

  “Hey!” I greeted Blaise in the back seat of the Escalade as soon as I climbed in. I ignored Rafi standing at the front door of our home.

  “Hey, is he okay?”

  “Yup.”

  It took us a little over an hour to get to Calabasas since it was pretty far out, but we had a good talk and some laughs the whole way, so it wasn’t bad at all sitting. Not to mention, we had some stuff to snack on. The house we pulled up in front of was insane, and even more so on the inside. I thought the home I lived in with Rafi was huge.

  “This reminds me of Five-Star’s house,” Blaise commented as soon as we walked through the living room.

  Some young white boy had let us in, saying he was Will’s assistant. I had no idea Will would be here, but I wasn’t mad about it. I liked looking at him.

  “What’s up with you?” Belly appeared from the backyard, grinning lustfully at Blaise who blushed in response.

  “Nothing,” she replied shyly as they neared one another.

  “Sup, Priscilla.” He hugged me after kissing Blaise.

  “Hey.”

  “Y’all can come chill in the backyard. Once I finish shooting and shit, y’all can get in the pool, but for now, just relax.”

  “Okay,” Blaise and I replied simultaneously.

  Belly took Blaise’s hand into his, taking her out to the backyard, so I followed. I saw some people setting up and Will directing them. A white man in a suit was there as well, just observing. Laid out on the sides, talking and eating were of course Belly’s ContraBandz gang, and they had about five girls with them.

  “Aye, get yo’ ass up so my girl and her friend can sit down.” Belly walked over, talking to two of the women sitting on the lawn chair. I admit I wasn’t used to his brashness just yet.

  “But we were here first.” She frowned up at him.

  “Bitch, get yo’ bear weave wearing ass up ’fore I flip this shit over.”

  The girl looked to Belly’s homeboy Cole to back her up, but he continued to laugh along with everyone else. Sucking her teeth, she told her friend to come on, and they stood up.

  “Thanks, baby.” Blaise got a kiss.

  “Put a towel down so that contaminated ass pussy juice don’t crawl up in you.” Belly laid a towel out on the chair bed, and then we took a seat.

  The same young white boy asked if we wanted something to drink, so after telling him yes, he brought us champagne. As Belly started his shoot, with Will taking the photos, everybody ate, watched, and listened to music. By the time they were done, it was around 6 p.m., and the sun had started to set. The music was louder now, and there were more people, plus a few drinks.

  Run up a check, make that lil’ ho give me neck, uh… Hop off a jet, lookin' to see where I'm at, uh…

  “Head On” by NBA YoungBoy was blasting through the speakers while people danced everywhere, some in the pool, some by the cabana where we sat, some up on the edge of the rocks, which overlooked the city, and some by the food.

  Everybody had their phones out recording pretty much, and honestly, I was having a good ass time too, while ignoring Rafi’s calls and texts. I knew my kids were fine because Vivian would have said otherwise, and I’d just spoken to her ten minutes ago.

  “I always see you for the turn up.” Will came and sat next to me in Blaise’s seat. I shook my head at Manny filming three girls kissing in the pool.

  Blaise was too busy giving Belly a lap dance to NBA YoungBoy’s song in that tiny bathing suit, with a drink in her hand.

  “I know, I know. But I work too, I promise.” I chuckled, a little tipsy.

  Blaise and I had been in the pool so I was still slightly wet.

  “Yeah, I believe you. I see you working.”

  I nodded, taking down some of my drink.

  “I didn’t expect you to be the photographer for the shoot.”

  “Me neither at first, but Belly told the magazine he wouldn’t do the shoot unless I was the one taking the photos, and surprisingly, they agreed.”

  “Damn, and you got paid, right?”

  “Hell yeah!” He laughed along with me. “It’s hard for Black photographers to get those types of opportunities, so I appreciate the homie. He’s always looking out for niggas, so even though he crazy, I fuck with him.”

  “Nice. Yeah, I like
him for my friend.”

  “She must have some voodoo or something because he usually doesn’t claim anyone or have them around us like this, this much.”

  “Well good, because if he tries to play her, it’s gon’ be a problem.” Will just raised his eyebrows and nodded. “So where is Dionne?”

  “She wanted to come, but Belly said nah. And since it was a job, I didn’t argue with him.”

  “Oh.”

  He turned to me. “I saw the picture of your family. You got some cute kids.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Why you take it down?”

  “Just changed my mind. I don’t like exposing too much. I only post my kids occasionally.”

  “It wasn’t because he asked you to, was it?”

  “No.” I turned to him with my brows furrowed. “Why would you even think that? I do what I want.”

  “Well, because when I looked through your profile, I saw you had no pictures of him. It’s just you and your kids. That was the only one with him in it, and you deleted it.”

  “Well I just told you the reason.”

  He saw that he’d bothered me, so he got quiet for a little bit. “I wanted to mention that if you needed some professional photos, I can do that for you. First time will be free.”

  “Thanks.”

  I was no longer interested in talking to him. He saw that, so he got up and walked off.

  For the next five minutes or so, I was bothered, but eventually, Blaise got me back in the mood to party.

  People didn’t leave until about 1 a.m., and since this was an eight-bedroom house, Blaise, Belly, Will, Manny, the ContraBandz guys, and I were each able to sleep here. Of course, some women stayed for Manny and the other men. Blaise had already told me to bring an overnight bag just in case.

  “Hey, you okay sleeping in here alone, or do you want me to stay with you?” Blaise stood in the doorway.

  “Can I at least get some pussy first?” Belly appeared behind her, so she elbowed him in the stomach playfully. The scowl he wore was hilarious because I could tell he was serious.

  “No, I’m fine, but thank you.”

  “Okay, goodnight.”

  I took a shower using the large bathroom inside of my room for the night, and then put on my nightgown before dozing off in the plush bed.

  A few hours later… around 4 a.m.…

  I woke up thirsty as hell, so I climbed out of the bed to go get some water. When I got down to the kitchen, I heard the front door open and close slowly like someone was sneaking in. Opening multiple drawers, I finally found the one with the knives, and waited by the wall to stab up whomever was about to rob or kill us. I was only now wondering whose house this was.

  “Aye, what the fuck!” Will hollered, grabbing my wrists when I’d rushed him from behind with the knife.

  “Sorry, I didn’t know it was you.” I moved from him as he released my wrists. “Why are you coming in late? I thought everyone went to bed.”

  “I umm…” He ran his hand down his face. I think I smelled perfume, but I wasn’t sure. Plus, there were lots of women here tonight. “Just went for a drive.”

  “This late? Why would you—”

  “Yeah this late! And why are you questioning me like you my girl or something? Have a good night.” He turned away, leaving the kitchen and jogging up the stairs.

  He was a straight up weirdo.

  Manuel “Manny” Ortiz

  “Oh damn.” I breathed heavily as Jasmine rolled off of me. She laid her head on my chest, but I immediately sat up to get out of the bed.

  “Where are you going?” she inquired.

  “I have some shit to handle.” I reached into my jeans pocket to pull out my money clip and then handed her some bills. “You took your birth control, right?”

  “Yes, Manny.” She fell back, letting her head hit the pillow. “You don’t have to ask me that every time we fuck.”

  “Well maybe if we didn’t have a kid from me trusting you in the past, then I wouldn’t have to ask, Jasmine.”

  Yeah, a nigga had fucked up by getting one of the biggest bops in Inglewood pregnant. I just knew when she came at me talking about she was late that the baby was one of the many other niggas she’d fucked, but of course not; he was mine. I got several DNA tests and tried everything in the book, but they all came back saying the same thing.

  I took care of my son, meaning I threw Jasmine money for him whenever she asked, but as far as me taking him places and shit, I wasn’t ready. Everybody recognized my son as Jasmine’s, so if they saw me with him, they’d for sure catch on.

  I loved my kid, but I was too fucking embarrassed of the fact that I’d slipped up and got Jasmine’s hoe ass pregnant. Not only would I be the laughing stock of the hood, but the females wouldn’t wanna fuck with me either. And it didn’t help that my brother was always saying I would regret not strapping up with some of these hoes. This would only prove him right.

  “Whatever. Where are you going though? I was thinking maybe you could take Jasiel to the park or something.”

  She wanted to name him Manuel Ortiz Jr. after me, but I couldn’t have that because it’d blow my cover. So we settled for Jasiel.

  “You know I can’t do that. You can take him though.”

  “Okay, but you’re his father, and he needs to spend time with you, not inside of the house.”

  Despite the fact Jasmine was a hoe, somehow, she was a great mother. I didn’t even know that was possible.

  “I said no, Jasmine.” I reached into my pocket. “Here’s some extra cash though in case you want to take him to Disneyland or something.” I dropped it on the bed since she ignored my hand outreached to her.

  I went to her bathroom to clean myself up, then quickly got dressed. I needed to get the fuck out of here before everybody started to come out their houses.

  Entering my son’s bedroom, I leaned down to kiss his cheek. I was happy he didn’t wake up, because he’d be begging me to stay, and I wouldn’t be able to. I hated that I had to even be this way, but in my eyes, as long as my son saw me, and as long as I footed the bill for whatever he needed, it didn’t matter if I took him out in public or not. He was three and half, doing just fine.

  I grew up without my father, even though he lived a couple blocks down from my mother and me. My mom was just one of my dad’s side chicks that he was smashing here and there, so when she ended up pregnant, he wasn’t feeling it. Plus, Belly’s mother was his main woman, and he knew me being born would cause him to lose her.

  But even though she agreed to stick by him, that nigga chose to not be in my life, claiming my mother had fucked someone else, and I wasn’t his. My pops was a dark-skinned brother and felt his kids should be at least brown skinned or darker like Cortez. Since I was more on the deep caramel side, it didn’t add up for him, despite the fact that my mother was a non-black Puerto Rican woman, contributing to my lighter complexion.

  He used the fact that Cortez’s mother was light skinned, and how Cortez still came out a dark brown. My mom, however, made sure Cortez and I spent time together, and I appreciated her for that, because I loved my brother.

  “Aight. Talk to you later.” I peeked into Jasmine’s room to see her preparing for a shower, and she ignored me.

  Rushing out, I hopped into my Lexus and sped off. It was almost 9 a.m., and today, I’d finally have the chance to take pretty ass Alivia out for breakfast. I’d been trying to take her out to lunch, but she’d been too busy, and for some reason never wanted to go to dinner with me. She always said the latest she could meet me was 3 p.m., which I found odd, but I figured she was just one of those freaky quiet chicks who turned into a nympho after a certain time, so she ain’t want me to see that.

  I made it to my condo in Torrance about half an hour later, so I went straight to my shower. Once clean, I brushed my teeth then got dressed, making sure to wear my new Balenciaga sweater. Females liked niggas in name brand; it always made the panties come off easier.

/>   After putting on my watches, I wore two, I checked myself in the mirror and smiled. I was one handsome nigga.

  On my way out, I dialed Alivia up to be sure she was coming, because last time she told me she couldn’t, but late as hell, and a nigga was already on the way. She refused to let me pick her up and only agreed to meet at the location.

  “Hello?”

  “Where are you?”

  “I’m on my way to the address you gave me, where else would I be?” she snapped. She had some attitude on her, but I knew it was because she liked me.

  “Just making sure. You wear something sexy for me?”

  Click.

  I pulled the phone away to look at it and saw she’d definitely hung up. Chuckling and shaking my head, I left the crib to go meet my date.

  The breakfast place I’d chosen was in Long Beach, so across town from where I lived. Because of that, I usually didn’t go over that way, but Alivia wanted brunch, and the best brunch was over here.

  “Hey, baby.” I hugged her from behind. “Ah fuck!” I hollered when she rammed her thin ass heel into the toe of my sneakers. “Why you do that?”

  “Do not come up grabbing me like I’m your woman. We are simply here to eat breakfast and nothing else. And you already had me waiting, which I do not do.”

  She was so fine with her pale ass and that short brown hair that framed her round face perfectly. Her body was a neck-breaker too.

  “Alivia!” the hostess came out to call her name.

  “My bad.” I licked my lips, and she turned hers up in disgust. She loved pretending she wasn’t feeling me. I admit, she played the part well.

  I followed Alivia and the hostess inside to a table, and when I went to sit down, Alivia cleared her throat. I didn’t get the problem, so I just stared up at her.

  “You’re not going to pull my chair out?”

  “Oh damn.” I hopped right up and yanked the chair from the table so she could sit. “So maybe if this goes well, you can spend more time with me.”

  She said nothing as she surveyed the menu.

  “Yeah, well the breakfast date has just started, and so far, you’ve lost points.”