Nobody Can Love You Like Them Roughnecks Do

by Shvonne Latrice

  She got quiet for a moment, just looking at me.

  “You’re cute too, just a little too clean and pretty for me, but that’s okay.” She exposed her bright smile.

  “Oh, you like niggas that look like they play in the mud and shit?”

  “I mean, I guess, yeah. Okay, for instance, how long does it take you to perfect those curls?”

  “Man, bye.”

  “No, seriously.” She laughed heavily. “I wanna know.”

  “Takes me as long as it needs to. I can’t be looking rough when I go to work and shit. I gotta look pristine.”

  “Understandable.” She nodded and looked off, just as the sandwiches came to the table. Once we let the waiter know we didn’t need anything else, Priscilla said, “Okay, one more question.”

  “Shoot.”

  “Do you know how to change the oil in a car, or does Dionne have to do that?”

  “Fuck you, aight?”

  We both chortled before digging into the food. It was uppity, but it was good as hell. We chilled for a little bit after we finished, but I was getting anxious as hell to get to the brothel.

  “Thanks again for doing this, Will, and for that big ass discount,” Priscilla let me know as soon as we got outside near her car.

  “No problem. Anytime you need a shoot, I got you. Oh, and I umm, took some video, so I’ll edit and send that too.”

  Cocking her head, she replied, “Wow, I appreciate that. You don’t have to though; the pictures are more than enough.”

  “Nah, I want to.”

  Silence fell upon us before I brought her in for a hug. As we pulled away slowly, somehow, my lips ended up on hers, and she snatched away instantly.

  “Will—”

  “I’m sorry. My bad. I don’t know what the fuck that was.”

  “Goodnight.”

  She hurried to the driver’s side of her car and climbed in before speeding off in record time.

  “Fuck!” I shouted, hoping she didn’t cut me off or run what I’d done back to Dionne’s emotional ass.

  Jogging to my whip, I hopped in, turned it on, and then floored it all the way to the brothel. Just knowing I was about to be in my favorite place gave me a sense of damn relief.

  Alivia

  “You do know it is 9 p.m., correct. Alivia?” My mom came and stood in my doorway as I got dressed.

  I wanted to wear something much sexier, but I could only get away with that in the daytime while my parents were at work. Many times I thought about just going against them and doing what the fuck I wanted to do, but they’d disown me, along with my entire family, and I wasn’t ready to deal with that.

  The way I was raised, I couldn’t parade around with a man like women of today’s era did. There would be no nightcaps, premarital sex, or shacking up. We were by the book Christians when it came to relationships.

  I was just hoping I found a man who liked me enough to stick around despite all of my restrictions, and then loved me enough to marry me so I could live on my own and be free.

  “Yes, and this is a really big opportunity for me, Mama. I promise I will be home as soon as it’s over.”

  Tonight, Manny wanted to see me, and usually, I let him know nights were off limits, but since he’d invited me to a club, I could swing that. My parents and I shared a family iCloud, so they checked my location throughout the night to be sure I was working like I said I was. So since tonight’s ‘date’ was at my usual job location, they wouldn’t suspect anything. It was perfect actually.

  “You better, or we will show up there, and you know you won’t like that.”

  “Ma, I just wonder how am I supposed to meet someone if I can never do anything? It’s like you’re trying to make ice without freezing it.”

  “Can never do anything?” My mother gave me that look, the one I’d been scared of since preschool, and moved further into my room. She reminded me a lot of Claire Huxtable in looks and attitude; she didn’t play. “Excuse me, but are you not getting dressed right now to go do something? Alivia Farms, if you believe you need to be out at all hours of the night, doing whatever, then I’ve made a mistake in how I’ve raised you.”

  “No, Ma, I don’t believe that. But I mean, if a man asked to take me to dinner, I couldn’t even say yes.”

  “As long as he wants to take you around 5 p.m., that should be fine. That gives you a good two hours to enjoy the date and then bring your ass home.” She folded one of my shirts and then placed it back down onto my bed.

  “No, I mean a date where he picks me up at eight, like normal women.”

  “You can go on as many late dates as you’d like when you become a married woman, but for now, you’re not. Hurry out of here, Alivia; you only have so much time to be in the streets.”

  I did as I was told, grabbing my purse and leaving the house after saying bye to my father. During the drive to Hollywood, I kept thinking of ways I could change my life. Going rogue wasn’t an option, but paying someone to date and marry me sounded like a great solution.

  I made it to the club a whole hour later because it was the damn weekend, and the 101 freeway was a damn cluster-fuck. To make matters worse, I had to pay ten dollars to park my nice car in that dirty ass lot nearby. This was exactly why I only came to clubs when I had a job to do, because all of this would be handled for me. I was already irritated with Manny.

  “Step over to the side,” the huge ass bouncer let me know.

  “Hey, I’m deejay Ali V.” I stuck my hand out to him. He squinted his eyes and then nodded, letting me inside. I didn’t expect that. I planned to sweet talk him into doing so, but I guess my name was starting to thrive.

  Hop in the coupe, subtract the roof like what it do? Heard you don't like me, well nigga fuck you too…

  “Bulletproof” by YG had everybody in here about to pull a muscle, and I felt my face turning up at some of the skanky hoes doing too much in their little ass dresses.

  Thankfully, I spotted Blaise, who I’d never met, so I knew Manny was close by. She too was in a short dress, a black one, with very revealing areas. Her body was really nice though, so her showing it off was still slutty but sexy as well, unlike the rest of these girls.

  For some reason, I was nervous to be around her. From following and reading gossip stories about her, I got the impression that she was the exact type of girl that wouldn’t like me. She was kind of wild yet reserved, and she always… lived, unlike me who lived in a prison.

  “Hey.” I spoke so quietly I didn’t even hear myself, as I walked up on Manny once I saw him.

  There were a bunch of niggas in the section, making me nervous, especially in these high ass heels. They were smoking, drinking, and bobbing their heads to YG. Some of them were standing and doing what I assumed was a gang-banging dance, so that was kind of scary. The women were moving provocatively, and I was sure I saw some cocaine on one of the glass tables. Blaise was down a little ways away from them, singing along and moving a tiny bit in Belly’s lap. They were like in their own bubble and didn’t appear to be in a party mood.

  This just was not my scene. I preferred being in my little booth.

  “Damn you look good.” Manny looked me up and down before running his hand over his head.

  I had on jeans and a halter top, but every girl over here had on dresses, so I felt like the damn mama of the group.

  “Thanks. You too.”

  He did look nice. I wasn’t a fan of baldheads, but Manny wore it nicely. He was wearing a beige Polo shirt, dark jeans, and some snakeskin dress shoes that were hideous but surely expensive. He smelled good as well.

  “You want something to drink? We got everything over here!” Manny shouted over the music.

  “Umm, no, I’m fine. Thank you.”

  “You sure. Just have something, loosen you up some.” He lifted up two large bottles, one Grey Goose and the other Patrón.

  “Fine.” I chuckled, tapping the Grey Goose. “I need some juice though.” I sat down on the cou
ch.

  Manny joined me and began making me a drink, as I continued to scope the area. As soon as he handed me the glass, I saw Blaise and Belly walking our way. Blaise noticed me staring yet again, which was embarrassing. She probably thought I was gay, weird, or both.

  “We up out of here,” Belly said, dapping Manny up with one hand and holding Blaise’s with his other. She was behind him, texting away on her phone with one hand, her long wavy hair falling over it. She was so well put together, and her perfume was nice too.

  “Damn, now? Stay for a little longer.” Manny groaned.

  “Nah, nigga. It’s something else I’d much rather be doing right now.”

  “Aww, shit yeah, I feel you.” I guess that meant he’d rather be fucking than be here. “Oh bruh, before you go, this is Alivia. Alivia, this is my brother, Belly, and his girl, Blaise.”

  I already knew who they both were, and even though they were cute together, I was honestly disappointed when I found out Blaise was dating him. I thought she was a bit smarter than that, because Belly was known to have a lot of ladies. In her defense though, I hadn’t seen or heard about him being with anyone else for a while now, so maybe he was trying something new.

  “Sup.” Belly gave me a head nod, and Blaise offered up a soft smile with a wave.

  “Hi,” I replied lowly, sipping this strong ass drink Manny made me.

  Belly and Blaise both said bye, before walking off hand in hand.

  The drink did loosen me up some, so I wasn’t as wary of the other men in the section, nor was I paying much attention to the girls acting like fools.

  “Wanna dance?” Manny offered, tossing something into his mouth and then washing it down.

  “What was that?”

  “Party favor. Want one?”

  “Umm, no. You… do that?” I frowned. That was a slight turn off, and for some reason, I didn’t expect him to dabble in such things.

  “Occasionally, like if I’m out at a party. If I’m working or just chilling at home or something, then nah. It’s not even like that. Everybody does it sometimes, even my brother.” I said nothing in response, so he took my glass from me and placed it onto the table. “Let’s go dance.”

  I let him grab my wrist and yank me from behind the table. Once we got some good space within the VIP, we began to dance to “Up Now” by Saweetie.

  The liquor was definitely getting to me, because I was feeling much more carefree than usual, but I was still very much lucid. I felt my phone buzzing in my small purse, but I ignored it as I began to grind on Manny, him gripping my hips tightly. Turning to face him, I continued to dance, before he pulled me in, slipping his tongue into my mouth. We stood there, kissing like a married couple as G-Eazy rapped his verse, but finally, I came to my senses.

  “Hey, I’m going to leave.” I pulled my phone out my purse.

  Dad: You must have lost your damn mind, Alivia Ashley Farms!

  My heart was beating out of my chest in fear, and the liquor in my system seemed to only make things worse.

  “I’m making you horny or something?” Manny smiled and tried to kiss my neck, but I pushed him hard as hell.

  “No, you’re not making me horny.”

  “Come on, baby. You know—”

  WHAM!

  I slapped the dog shit out of him, harder than I’d intended, and people around us in the VIP section were looking on. Without another word, I rushed out, mowing people down and bumping the shit out of others.

  I didn’t mean to slap Manny, but I hated the way he came on to me sometimes. It wasn’t sexy, and I didn’t know who told him it was. He was so immature and the last type of man I needed to be caught up with. I felt like I was fifteen with him instead of twenty-three, and I didn’t like it. The fact that I had to tell him to open doors, pull my chair out, and to respect me when I didn’t want him in my space, told me he wasn’t the one, and I was wasting my time.

  Not to mention, I had a feeling deep down that he wasn’t all that he was portraying himself to be. There was something he was hiding, and I was sure it would find me if I kept up with him. Men like him always had some issues locked away somewhere. Hell, he was Cortez Khalil’s brother, and that was a number one ain’t shit nigga. But at least he even had some level of maturity and suaveness to him, versus Manny’s foolish ass.

  Me: Hey tonight was fun, but I don’t think we should hang out anymore.

  Annoying: Why? Come back inside.

  I rolled my eyes at him asking me to come back in as if I didn’t appear to be upset when I left. Stuff like that was what I didn’t like about him. So instead of replying, I just locked my phone and headed to my car.

  Belly

  A week and one day later…

  It was the third Sunday of the month, so per usual, I was at this big ass church, helping feed the homeless. I always paid for the food, utensils, care packages, and even entertainment for the day because I felt like I owed it to my hood. It was something about getting rich and never giving back that didn’t sit well with me. And even though I wasn’t balling out of fucking control, I still wanted to show some appreciation for the area that raised me.

  “Alright, y’all, remember to pull a ticket because we’re doing a raffle. One of you will win a ticket to see our very own Cortez Khalil fight live,” the organizer Martin spoke into the microphone. “So once you get your ticket, go ahead and line up to eat.”

  Everyone that was let in began to go pull tickets then form a line near the long table, covered with dishes of food. This shit was pricey, but it was cool.

  “It’s so sweet that you do this every year.” One of the females Zaina that worked at the center came and stood next to me to prepare to serve food.

  “I don’t know about it being sweet, but I do what I can.” I fixed my gloves.

  “You know, in high school, when you used to fight all the time, I had no idea you’d turn it into a career.”

  “Well, I was already in boxing training by that time. You didn’t know me, so you wasn’t aware of that.”

  “True. So maybe now that we’re older, we can get to know one another. You kind of disappeared from high school, so I never got the chance to rake up some courage and talk to you.”

  “I’m straight. I don’t need to know any new bitches.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “I don’t need to fucking know you. Us working together every month is good enough.”

  “You don’t have to be rude about it, Belly. A simple no would have sufficed.”

  “I’m not being rude. I’m telling you what the fuck it is. Females that turned their muthafuckin’ nose up at you when you were broke and shit, always want to get fucked once you get on.”

  “That is not the case.”

  “Aight. I been doing this shit for a minute, now all of a sudden, you wanna get to know me. You ain’t say shit to me in high school, but now, you claim you were too scared to.”

  “Didn’t know not talking to me back then would bother you to the point where we couldn’t chill in the future.”

  “Nah, it don’t. I’d let you suck me up if I didn’t have a girl.” I mixed the dish in front of me with the large spoon. “I’m just making it clear that I don’t wanna get to know you, girlfriend or not.”

  I felt her staring at me, but the homeless people started coming down the line with their plates, so I focused on them.

  “You have a girlfriend?” Zaina began serving food along with me and everyone else, but she was barely keeping her eyes on her work because she was waiting for an answer from me. I ignored her until we were finished serving everybody, and began removing our gloves and netted caps. “Hey, so you have a girl or were you just fucking with me?”

  “I got a girl. Her name is Blaise, and she’ll beat yo’ ass if she finds out yo’ bougie ass is pushing up on me.” I moved past her, heading to the back where the bathroom was.

  Zaina said something, but I didn’t give a fuck enough to ask what. I took a piss then washed my hands,
and right when I came out into the quiet hallway to head back out to where everyone was, I saw Nichole.

  “Hey, baby. Thank you for the invite.” She smiled evilly.

  “Bye, Nichole.” I started walking, but she grabbed my shirt, making me pin her ass to the wall by her throat. “Bitch, I’m not fucking around with you. I don’t know what niggas you been around that let you bitch ’em out and blackmail their asses, but it ain’t me. Don’t let these big wig sponsorships and this giving back to the community shit fool yo’ ass. I’ll slap yo’ hoe ass around like ya daddy should have with the quickness.”

  “I’ll tell—”

  I tightened my grip on her neck, just enough to apply pressure. I knew I was much stronger than her little genetically modified body having ass, and squeezing too hard would probably snap her neck. That wouldn’t bother me, but I couldn’t be back here in the church Ted Bundy’ing bitches after just feeding the fucking homeless.

  “Do what you gotta do, but I wouldn’t fuck you even if it was the cure to keeping my dick from falling off. I wouldn’t even let you sit my balls on ya muthafuckin’ tongue, let alone put my dick in that genocide ass pussy. I’m not fucking around with you, Nichole.”

  I let her neck go and started walking back toward the front. I wanted to tell Blaise her hoe ass homie had been trying to get fucked, but she knew that already. Meaning she’d wanna know why I was bringing it up again, and if I didn’t explain, she’d press Nichole who would spill the beans.

  I couldn’t have Blaise finding out I’d fucked another bitch, especially after she allowed me to meet her baby. It was only once though, and I’d been surprisingly faithful as fuck ever since, so it was no big deal.

  “Just one time, Belly! One time and I won’t say shit to Blaise!”

  I ignored Nichole’s ass and kept it pushing. Wasn’t sure what kind of hoe ass nigga she thought I was, but I only fucked bitches I wanted to fuck. What kind of pussy ass muthafucka got blackmailed by a female for some dick? I wasn’t sure, but Belly wasn’t it.

  I went to have a seat, chopping it up with some of the homeless people that were eating, and I noticed Nichole storm her stupid ass out. Zaina came and sat across from me as if she wanted to converse with the people too, so I ignored her ass.