“Okay, I’ll do it,” Boston replied, finding it almost impossible to tell her no. He loved to make her smile and the one that graced her face now was priceless.
“What’s good Boss?” Justice asked when they walked out of the house. He gave Boss a fist bump as Indigo walked to her car.
“I can’t call it.” Boss shrugged as Indigo got into her car and pulled off.
“I guess I better get going too. I stay in the damn doghouse,” Justice laughed, even though he was serious. Indigo hadn’t said two words to him, so he already knew what that meant. Justice had to get his shit together and quick. Indigo was getting fed up and it was only a matter of time before she wanted out. He wanted forever with her, so he was praying that she didn’t break his heart.
“Be easy fam,” Boss replied as he walked into the house and closed the door. Justice had the wrong nigga if he was looking for advice. Boss wasn’t gonna hate on him but he wasn’t about to give him any pointers either. He was hoping that he fucked up because he was waiting in the shadows to take his place. It was Boss’ spot first and he was ready to slide back into it.
Indigo drove home deep in thought. She’d been trying to avoid it for as long as she could but it was inevitable. She had to break up with Justice and there was no getting around it. Justice was a good man but he just wasn’t the man for her. Indigo had been feeling that way for a few months now and reconnecting with Boston showed her just how right she was. She wasn’t a selfish woman but she couldn’t be with a man who never put her first. It didn’t have to be that way all the time but it would have been nice occasionally.
When she got inside, Indigo hurriedly hopped in the shower before Justice got home. Boss had her leaking like a faucet on his patio. He didn’t care that Lacey was inside as he devoured her like a starving man. Once Indigo cleaned herself up, she put on some pajamas and went into the bedroom. Justice was sitting on the edge of the bed and it was the perfect time for her to say what she needed to say.
“We need to talk,” Indigo said as she sat on the bed and folded her legs Indian style.
“Okay,” Justice said, dreading what she had to say. He always did hate when someone came at him and started a conversation off that way.
“This is not working out anymore Justice,” Indigo said.
“Please don’t do this Indigo. I admit that I have to do better but, please, give me a chance to get it right,” Justice begged.
“How many chances do you need? Stop acting like this shit just started Justice. I get it, you work hard now so you can play hard later. I commend you for that but I’m not your mother. I’m not okay with you neglecting me now in order to give me a better life later. I’m too young for this,” Indigo replied.
“You’re right baby, about everything that you’re saying. I haven’t been acting like the same man that you fell in love with but I promise to do better. I have lots of vacation time at work. I’ll take a few days off and we can do whatever you want to do. I love you, Indigo, and I’m willing to do whatever I have to do to show you just how much. I just can’t picture my life without you in it,” Justice said, making the guilt that she felt ten times worse.
Indigo wanted to continue with the breakup speech that she’d rehearsed but she couldn’t do it. Justice wasn’t the best boyfriend in the world but he didn’t deserve that.
“People make time for what they want Justice. Lately, the only thing you’ve made time for is work,” Indigo pointed out.
“I know that you’re tired of me apologizing but I mean everything that I’m saying. Just give me a chance to show you better than I can tell you,” Justice said.
Indigo only nodded but she was done talking for the night. Justice stripped out of his clothes and took a shower while she laid in the bed and messaged Boss for a while. Indigo went to sleep with a lot on her mind but only time would tell if she was making the right decision by staying with Justice or not.
A ri walked into the house and found Quita and Keema posted up on the sofa watching tv. Things had been kind of tense between them for the past few months and she had been keeping her distance. Keema didn’t do anything but she fed her with a long handle spoon too. Hoes could not be trusted and she already knew that. Quita was her girl at one time, so she expected much more from her.
“Good evening,” Ari said as she bypassed them and went to the kitchen. She had just come from by her mother’s house spending time with her family. Her brother, West, was finally home from jail and it had been a while since they were all together. Ari’s daughter didn’t want to leave and she was happy when her mother agreed to let her stay. Lane was supposed to be coming over, but she was still in the hair salon. She and West had started kicking it again, even though he dealt with a few other females. Although they had just signed a new lease a few months ago, Ari wished she could have gotten out if it. Living with shady bitches like Quita was not her cup of tea.
“We’re about to fry some seafood. You want some?” Quita asked when she and Keema walked into the kitchen.
“I’m straight,” Ari replied emotionless.
“Where’s Ashlynn? I miss seeing my little friend around here every day,” Keema said, referring to Ari’s daughter.
“She’s with my mother,” Ari replied, tired of the forced conversation.
“Are you okay Ari? You’ve been acting kind of distant lately,” Quita noted.
“I’m good. I’m just being mindful and watching the company that I keep,” Ari replied.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Quita asked, taking offense to what her friend had just said.
“It means exactly what I said. I don’t have no room for grimy hoes in my circle,” Ari snapped.
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. She remembered feeling physically sick over Boston to the point where she couldn’t even think straight. She’d loved him so much at one time that eating had become a hard task. Ari dealt with other men all the time but Boston had her heart. There was nothing worse than loving a man wholeheartedly and finding out that he didn’t love you back. She was praying that Boston was the father of her daughter but her prayers went unanswered. It was sad that she didn’t even know who Ashlynn’s father was but she really didn’t care. It wasn’t who she wanted it to be and that was all that mattered. It pissed her off that Indigo took it upon herself to get her daughter tested because that was the end of whatever she and Boston had going on. He wanted nothing else to do with her and her heart broke all over again.
Quita was there for her the entire time as she vented, cried and loss sleep over her nonexistent failed relationship. She was the voice of reason, always reminding Ari that there was light at the end of the tunnel. And after all that, she was the same bitch who went behind her back and stared fucking him. Ari wondered how long it had been going on. She wondered if she had been sharing Boss with her girl the entire time and how they managed to do the shit right up under her nose. There was no doubt in her mind that her girl was hooked. Boss had the kind of dick that made bitches do some crazy shit. Ari used to damn near stalk him when he left her alone. That was how she found out that he was using his bus route as a means to sell dope.
“I don’t know what’s been up with you but, if you got something to say, you need to just say the shit,” Quita snapped, pulling Ari away from her thoughts. She was tired of her walking around the house with a chip on her shoulder. They were good one day and Ari just switched up the next.
“Who the fuck are you talking to like that? You got the right one,” Ari fumed as she walked closer to her.
“Let’s all just calm down ladies. We’re better than this,” Keema said, trying to be the voice of reason. She stood in the middle of the two women, hoping they didn’t come to blows.
“Nah, fuck that. I didn’t even do shit for her to be coming at me like this and I’m sick of it. She’s been snapping on me for weeks now and I didn’t do a damn thing to her,” Quita fumed.
“Girl Quita, you a whole ass fraud out here. Trying to pla
y the victim like you ain’t did shit,” Ari laughed sarcastically.
“I didn’t!” Quita yelled.
“So, going behind my back and fucking Boston is nothing?” Ari asked, making Quita and Keema turn their heads simultaneously in her direction.
“Boston!” Keema hissed louder than she meant to.
Boss had been on some other shit lately and he hadn’t been coming around too much. Keema had been damn near stalking him but she didn’t know what was wrong with him. She eventually had to pop up on him on his bus route, just to talk to him. He brushed her off and promised to call her but that call never came. Now, to know that he was possibly fucking yet another one of her roommates had her out for blood.
“That’s a muthafucking lie!” Quita yelled, just like she always did when she got caught up.
“Be a woman and own up to the shit. I saw the nigga sneaking out of here one day and nobody was home but you. There’s no way for you to explain that shit, even if you tried. It’s all good though. You showed me what it is and I’m good on you,” Ari swore.
“That nigga came at me. It ain’t like I fucked with him when y’all were dealing. The shit wasn’t even that deep,” Quita defended.
Admittedly, she felt bad for going behind her friend’s back and dealing with her ex. Truthfully, Boss couldn’t even be considered an ex because he made it clear that Ari was never his girl. If the sex wasn’t so good, Quita would have stopped dealing with him a long time ago. Boss had been on some new shit lately and he seemed to have cut her off anyway. He hadn’t been over there in a while and he never answered his phone when she called. Even when she saw him at Dixie’s, a head nod was the most that she ever got out of him. Quita liked him and all, but he wasn’t the only nigga that she dealt with. Boss was a cocky nigga and they just kept stroking his ego by running after him.
“It must have been that deep for you to go behind my back and fuck with him. You used to be the main one telling me that he wasn’t worth it. I guess your views changed when he started dropping dick off in you,” Ari argued.
Keema stood in between them as the two friends argued back and forth. Ari was heated and that was proven when she took a swing at Quita. Keema jumped out of the way when they started throwing blows in the kitchen. They were like wild animals as they knocked things off the counter and table. When Quita fell, Ari picked up the cast iron skillet that they were about to use for their seafood and was tried to hit her with it. She probably would have if Keema hadn’t intervened.
“Y’all need to stop this. We’re friends. It’s not even that real to be fighting over Boston’s dog ass anyway. He knew that y’all were friends and he didn’t give a fuck. He’s not even worth it. He’s a hoe and we all know that,” Keema argued.
“Nah, Ari and I know that, but you don’t. Besides us renting from him, you claimed to not even know him at all. It sounds like we’re not the only ones fucking him,” Quita noted.
She had never told a soul about her dealing with Boston. She and Keema had never even discussed him at all. She knew without a doubt in her mind that Ari would never say anything about him. Keema seemed a little too upset for a bitch who wasn’t dealing with him. She was in her feelings and knew more than she let on.
“Wow. I was really surrounded by snakes,” Ari said as she shook her head.
“I’m no snake and I don’t owe nobody an explanation,” Keema said, neither admitting nor denying if what they said was true.
Quita knew her friend very well, so she didn’t have to. Keema was guilty and it was written all over her face.
“Fuck both of you hoes. Y’all can have this house and that nigga. I’ll have all my shit out by the end of the week. Both of you bitches better stay far the fuck away from me,” Ari fumed as she stormed out of the kitchen and out the front door.
She loved their house, but she would live on the streets before she lived under the same roof with hoes that she couldn’t trust. She would never even feel comfortable bringing a man around them anymore. Quita came as a shock to her but Keema was a known hoe. She was marrying the son of a pastor and she needed to be saved. If he knew what he was getting into, he would have run for the hills. The way Ari’s petty was set up, she would probably be the bitch to let him know. One thing finally made sense to her though. She was wondering how Boss managed to get out of the mess that she created and now she knew. Keema was a police officer and she obviously tipped him off.
“Girl, that’s fucked up. You’re better than me though. I would have been swinging on both their asses. I can’t believe that you didn’t confront them. And you’re still dealing with his ass too. That’s just too much,” Erin said as she and Lacey sat on her front porch eating crawfish.
Lacey swore that she wasn’t going to tell anyone about Boston and Indigo, but she just had to vent. Erin was always a good listening ear, but Lacey hated that she was bringing it up in front of her sisters. As usual. Erin purchased all the food and drinks while her sisters helped themselves to whatever. They were cool, but Lacey didn’t know them well enough for them to be in her business like that.
“Fuck her. It can’t be all that deep. I still sleep there every night,” Lacey noted.
And sleep was all that she did. She and Boston didn’t even have sex anymore and it didn’t seem like he was interested. Even when she tried to get something started, he always turned her down. Lacey didn’t understand why he even wanted her there.
“I don’t know why if y’all ain’t fucking. You’re too nice for me, Lacey. I couldn’t still be smiling up in that nigga’s face after seeing him eating on another bitch.” Erin frowned.
“I didn’t see him doing anything,” Lacey corrected.
“You can’t be that stupid Lacey. The fuck was he kneeling in front of her for then. You should have told her nigga what was up when he called you,” Erin replied.
Justice had called Lacey a week after she gave him her number. He was trying to do something special for Indigo and he asked for her help. Besides Monroe and Jaci, she was the only other female that he knew Indigo to be around. Since she had access to the hotel, he figured that she was the best person for the job. She was tempted to tell him about Boss and Indigo but she stopped herself. As crazy as it sounded, she wasn’t ready to be done with Boston yet. Not only would he have cut her off but Justice and Indigo probably would have broken up too. She would have been pushing them together and she didn’t want that to happen at all. She didn’t know what Justice had planned but she was going to help him keep his girl any way she could.
“His stupid ass probably won’t leave her alone anyway. I don’t understand how he doesn’t even suspect anything. Everybody picks up on the shit, including me. They ain’t fooling nobody with that best friend bullshit,” Lacey fumed.
“Shit, it sounds like they’re fooling a lot of people if you ask me,” Erin’s sister said.
Erin and her sisters were cool but they lived for drama. Lacey’s brother, Julius, had been with Erin for three years but they were complete opposites. Julius was a nerd who worked two jobs and played video games in his spare time. He had the same mother as Lane and Lacey, but he was raised by his father. While his sisters were raised in the hood, Julius grew up in an upscale subdivision and went to a private school. The one time that he decided to step out of the box and accompany his cousins to a hole in the wall club was the same night that he met Erin. She was a hood chick who drank beer like it was water. Although she was a little rough around the edges, Erin was always cool with her.
“I need to get going girl. I’m working tonight and I need to get me some rest if I plan to be up at that front desk all night,” Lacey said as she stood up.
She went into the house to wash the smell of seafood from her hands. She talked to her brother for a little while before she got into her car and left. Lacey stopped for gas before going home and she was pissed when she pulled up. Ari rarely came to their house but her car was parked out front now. Lacey was already in a foul mood. One wrong word
from her sister’s friend and they were going to be fighting. Moving as quietly as she could, Lacey walked into the house and quickly headed to her room. When she overheard her sister and Ari talking, she slowed down her stride and started to eavesdrop.
“Boss is really a hoe. I can’t believe that he was fucking both of your roommates. How could y’all not know that?” Lane asked, making Lacey’s heart drop.
It seemed as if she couldn’t catch a break when it came down to Boston. His name was always in somebody’s mouth and nothing that they said about him was good. That was the part about love that she hated. Once you were in, it was almost impossible to get out. All the shit that she was hearing about Boston should have been enough for her to be done with him. Seeing him crawling from between his best friend’s legs should have been an eye opener but she still couldn’t see herself walking away.
“I don’t even know girl. That nigga was doing the damn thing. The house is so damn big. It’s not hard to sneak somebody in and out. Me and Keema were cool but Quita was my friend. If nobody else knew how I felt about him, she did. It’s all good though. I’m gonna stay by my mama until I find another place to stay,” Ari replied.
“Girl, I love my sister but Boss ain’t shit. I wish she just leave that nigga alone and move the fuck on,” Lane sighed.
“She won’t be satisfied until he breaks her heart,” Ari replied.
“Too late,” Lacey mumbled as she walked down the hall to her bedroom.
She hated that she was so attracted to street niggas because she knew that they were no good for her. She wasn’t attracted to suit wearing working men, even though they were the ones who always seemed to come after her. She dated a computer technician once and he was really feeling her. After about six months into the relationship, Lacey got bored and called it off.
She met Boston outside of a gas station a few months later and had sex with him that same night. She was hooked after that first time and not much had changed. In her heart, Lacey knew that Boston had to have some kind of feelings for her. She knew that Indigo was the only thing that was standing in their way. As bad as Lacey wanted her out of the picture, she knew that Indigo was there to stay. Unfortunately for her, so was Lacey.
To Boston, With Love Page 14