“You’re the first person that’s told me that and I believe them.”
Billie smiled as she envisioned seeing Reese free from her alcohol abuse. Billie knew it was possible because she herself was a walking testimony to what prayer, and dedication could do for you.
“And I mean it. God blessed me and I have to pay it forward. I believe it’s why he kept me alive. To be better than I was before. To serve out his purpose and part of that is saving people that like me have an addiction to alcohol,” Billie replied, and Reese nodded before they finished up their meeting.
Two days later Dreux stepped into his mothers’ clean home. Soft gospel music played throughout the living room as he stepped out of his $1000 sneakers. His eyes peered around the swanky set up and he searched for the woman he loved so much.
A heavy breath escaped him as he walked further into the home.
“Ma, where you at!”
“In the dining room and stop with all that yelling Dreux,” Deidra fussed.
Dreux chuckled as he headed towards his mother. He found her seconds later sitting at her cherry oak dining table with a stack of bills before her. His smile fell as he joined her at the table. Dreux inspected his mother’s pristine looks for a minute. Deidra was a curvaceous woman with a big smile and slanted light brown eyes. She usually wore her hair in soft curls that reached the top of her shoulder while rocking the latest threads. Dreux had never known his father. Didn’t even ask about the nigga and to him his mom was both parents. Always had been. Deidra worked hard as an engineer to give her sons a good life. Dreux watched his mother suffer from his brother becoming a drug dealer and he vowed to never put her through that. Instead he’d chosen college and was trying his best to make her the proudest mother she could be. She deserved the world and he worked hard to give it to her. Because of Dreux she lived in a beautiful two-story brownstone in Canton. She also had a foreign car due to her sons giving ways.
Dreux always had to force his mother to take his gifts because she hated the thought of him spending so much cash but after much convincing, he was able to get her to take them.
“What’s good with you, young lady?” he asked cheesing at her.
Deidra smiled. She looked up from her bills and sat back in her seat. The small diamonds in her ears sparkled as she stared at her youngest son.
“I’m good. I talked to your brother earlier. It’s looking like he may be home in the next two months.”
Dreux nodded. His brother had been approved for early release due to him attending a few classes while locked up. He’d been gone for years and Dreux was excited as shit to see him.
“Yeah he told me. I’m ready I just don’t wanna get excited and they change it at the last minute. You know how they do.”
Deidra nodded. Dreux grabbed the bill that sat infront of his mother and his eyes scanned the paper. His mother’s calm resolve turned to worry as he looked back up at her.
“What’s this?”
Deidra shook her head. She tried to grab the bill and he held onto it tighter.
“How is work coming along?” she asked changing the subject.
Dreux read over the bill again and his insides boiled with anger.
“Ma why the fuck do it say you owe your bank $40,000. What’s going on?”
“What you’re not about to do is sit up in here and curse at me. Respect the woman that brought you into this world,” she replied with a tight mouth.
Dreux nodded immediately regretting his choice of words.
“And I do. I’m sorry now what’s this about? You not broke ma, we far from that. What’s going on?”
Deidra fiddled with her gold Tiffany’s ring that Dreux had given her two Christmas’s ago.
“Your auntie called me. She said she was losing her house and she needed for me to co-sign on a loan with her. As much as that woman works my nerves, I didn’t want to see her or them babies out on the street, so I did—”
Dreux’s face tightened at his mother’s response. He chuckled to keep his cool.
“Them babies? You must be speaking on Kawan cause Malachi’s hefty’s as-…. he aint no baby ma.”
Deidra nodded.
“I know that, but she needed it Dreux. Her home was in foreclosure and she had one last chance to save it. I signed on with her and she was making payments, but she recently stopped so now they’re coming after me. Every time I go to her house, she refuses to come to the door. She done even stopped coming to church all because she doesn’t want to see me. I decided to stop calling because I refuse to chase anybody,” his mother replied.
Dreux’s leg bounced as his mind drifted to a dark place. He could handle people trying to fuck him over any day of the week but his mom? She was off limits. Like a precious jewel she was never to be touched. Never to be played with yet their own family was the guilty party. For as long as Dreux could remember his auntie had been jealous of his mom. Much like her son Malachi was jealous of him. While Malachi had a love, hate game he played with Dreux his mother had a straight up hatred towards Deidra. Dreux couldn’t understand why his mom would even take her phone call let alone sign on a loan with her. Shit didn’t make any sense to him.
Dreux sat the paper down and cleared his throat. The protectiveness he felt over his mom had him heated but with her he needed to remain calm. He took a deep breath and exhaled. His hand brushed over his curls on his head as he looked his mother’s way. She was too nice and the thing about being nice was people usually fucked you over, but this was one loss Dreux refused to let his mom take.
Nah, his auntie was going to have to rectify the shit she’d done to his mother.
“Ma, why would you co-sign for her? I don’t get it. She don’t even like you.”
Deidra smiled at her sons’ words. She neatly stacked the papers before her and looked up at her child.
“My love for my family isn’t conditional. There are things that happened between me and my sister that has shaped us into the sisters that we now are. I won’t take all the blame, but I can say that I haven’t always been a good sister to her son. I do get why she’s upset so I let a lot of the things that she does slide. I still love her son and I always will. I’m still waiting on the day for her to be the sister that I grew up with. Until then I will be waiting. I just couldn’t watch her get kicked out like that,” she replied.
Dreux rubbed at his temples. His anger was mounting, and his mother wasn’t making it any better. She was a God-fearing woman no doubt, but she was taking her Christianity to another level.
“I got you. I’ma pay it off today,” he said and put the bill into his back pocket.
Deidra opened her mouth to protest and Dreux shot her a look that made her simply nod.
“It wasn’t my intention to have you do that son. I was going to take some money from my savings and pay half now and the rest in a few months. I can do it,” she told him.
Dreux’s eyes looked his mother over and he smirked at her.
“As long as I’m alive you won’t have to. Business is good and I’m thankful for that. You ready for your trip?”
Deidra’s face lit up and she smiled. Dreux was sending her and her church sisters on a trip to Mexico for the weekend.
“Of’course I am. How is my Billie doing?”
The mention of Billie’s name made Dreux relax. Just the thought of her put him in a better mood. He could only think of one time he’d ever hated hearing her name and it was after everything had come out with, she and Malachi.
“She good. I been thinking bout telling Malachi about us. This hiding not for me. I mean I don’t feel guilty anyway cause she was never his girl but since they got Kawan I do feel kind of bad. Still he knew from the jump how I felt about her. It wasn’t a secret and for him to play that move showed me that he’s not real. She even showed me back then all the stuff he’d showed her just to make her feel like I was with Kylie. You know I never cared for Kylie like I do Billie and he knew that too. Honestly, I’m only keeping quie
t because she asked me to. You know I would have been let him know. I might even go behind her back and tell him,” he replied.
Deidra cleared her throat as her eyes widened.
“I’m not sure about that son. I think you need to give this more time. I know you don’t want to hide it forever but it’s a delicate situation. I would wait some more. How do you think Billie would feel if you snuck and told him?” she asked.
Dreux shook his head. He ran his hand over his soft hair and sighed.
“She probably wouldn’t like it but I’m a man at the end of the day. This sneaking around not for me. We been hiding this for two years. I’m ready to marry that girl. Give her a ring and a new crib but I’m not doing any of that until he knows. Its only right.”
His mother nodded as she stared at him.
“Yes, I agree but please wait a little longer. I don’t see this ending well Dreux. Give Billie some more time,” his mom pleaded.
Dreux nodded with a frown marring his face. All that waiting shit was for the birds. He wanted Billie to be his wife but in order for that to happen Malachi had to know about them. He wasn’t popping the question until everyone knew of their relationship especially his bitch ass cousin.
3
#ssdd
Her straight strands stretched to an unbelievable rate as he tugged them as hard as he could. Her doe shaped eyes the same shade as maple syrup lolled to the back of her head as he drove his member into her repeatedly.
Normani tried to push back and fight off the intrusion from his thickness and he slapped her hand away.
“Nah, you wanna flip out every second of the damn day. I know what you need, ma. Calm down and take this dick,” Tru demanded.
Normani’s thighs began to shake and Tru chuckled.
“There she go,” he muttered before leaning down. His thick lips planted wet kisses across Normani’s neck as he pumped into her as hard as he could. “Close your eyes and let go. Let my pussy cum,” he demanded sexily in her ear.
Normani’s heart rate spiked as tears pricked her eyes. she clawed at the sheets as she felt her orgasm overtake her.
“Tru…Tru slow down,” she begged helplessly.
Tru licked his lips. He shoved his long tongue into Normani’s ear as his dick knocked at her g-spot. Within seconds Normani’s body exploded for him. Her legs gave out and she collapsed onto the California king sized mattress. Tru went down with her pumping away as he chased his own release.
“Damn, that pussy still cumming?” he asked in a throaty tone.
Normani offered a faint yes as her vagina pulsated for him. Her walls tightened and Tru growled into her neck as his back stiffened. For several minutes he rested ontop of Normani as they both tried to catch their breath.
“Waaaa! Waaaa! Ma-ma! Waaa!”
The loud cries of their daughter made Tru pull back. Slowly he removed himself from Normani’s sex before falling out onto the bed. Normani sat up slowly with her chest heaving up and down. She ran her hands through her frizzy sweated out strands and sighed.
“We need a nanny.”
Tru chuckled.
“You keep taking it like that and we’ll get two of them bitches,” he joked.
Normani glanced back at him and licked her pouty lips.
“I’m serious. I work assiduously with River, but it can be tiring at times. We can afford it Tru so why not?”
Tru nodded. His downcast eyes gazed up at Normani as he pulled the comforter up over his toned, tatted up naked body.
“What’s up with this we shit? Don’t you mean me? I can barely afford to take care of y’all with as much as you spend. How the fuck I go to sleep with ten g’s on me and wake up broke? Fuck kind of shit is that Normani and what I say about talking like that? Use regular fucking words baby. A nigga was barely able to graduate highschool in this bitch.”
Normani found her strength to stand and she smiled. She snatched her silk Sailor Moon kimono robe from the floor and quickly put it on.
“But you did graduate and look at you now. You’re the best DJ to ever do it Tru. If you were to put me on your actual account not the dummy one you wouldn’t have to worry about waking up broke. Until them I’ma continue to hit your pockets honey,” she replied.
Normani went to grab her glasses and Tru sucked his teeth.
“Come on ma. It’s too early to be walking round this bitch in them large ass frames. Where your contacts at?” he asked.
Normani sighed. She looked at Tru and his eyes connected with her’s.
“Tru I get tired of putting them things in. The glasses are easy to wear.”
Tru nodded. He licked his lips as he gazed her way.
“You beautiful as hell ma, but I love to see your whole face. Them shits cover half of it. Do it for me,” he begged lowly.
Normani rolled her eyes as she sat her prescription glasses down. She went into the bathroom and quickly put in her contacts before exiting her bedroom.
Normani found her fourteen-month-old daughter standing in her crib when she entered her room. Beside her was her princess pull-up resting on the mattress. Normani shook her head as she picked her chunky fair skinned baby up.
“I guess you were in here crying us a river huh?”
River smiled with crocodile tears falling down her fat cheeks. Normani smiled at her daughter and sat her on the floor. River rushed over to her corner of toys as Normani grabbed fresh underwear and a onesie. Normani quietly dressed her daughter before leaving out of the bedroom. Normani took her daughter downstairs to the kitchen and placed her in the high chair.
Like they did every morning Normani began breakfast while her daughter watched her educational videos. Once Normani was done cooking she pulled out her flashcards and held them up for River to see.
“Point to the color pink,” Normani told her holding up a pink and a blue card.
River smiled and quickly pointed to pink.
“Ink!” River said attempting to say the word.
Normani smiled like a proud momma and held up another set of cards.
“Okay point to the car baby,” she instructed.
River looked back and forth between the cards before pointing to the red car.
“Ar!” she yelled.
“Damn she smart as shit. Its kids bigger than her and they can’t talk yet,” Tru said coming into the kitchen.
Bond. 9 floated around Normani’s space making her frown. He only wore that cologne when he was preparing to be gone for a few days.
Normani sat the cards down and looked back at her man. From the moment she’d met Tru in the club she’d been smitten with him. Yes, she was attractive, that was something she never questioned but men like Tru didn’t regularly come on to her. To Normani he was the cream of the crop. The sexiest nigga she’d ever seen alive and while he was rough around the edges even rocking facial tattoo’s he was handsome. Handsome in the kind of way that made you cream yourself. He was a cutie. Tall standing at 6’4 with a lean build and handsome face. He usually wore up to date designer threads and was always sporting the flyest shoes. He had a thing for nice ass kicks. Tru rocked his hair in low cut waves with a neatly groom beard. His skin was the color of coffee with way too much milk in it and Normani was positive River had gotten her complexion and fine silky black hair from her daddy.
Tru couldn’t deny his daughter even if he wanted to.
“You just got home. Where you off to now?”
Tru frowned at Normani’s question. He placed his diamond chain around his neck and made a silly face at River before turning his attention back to Normani.
“Out. I need to meet with some people and holla at this nigga Kasam. You know he be having them hookups for me and shit. I’m trying to tour with them niggas he used to manage. I’ll be back by eight so find a sitter. Preferably my momma or yours,” he replied.
Tru laced Normani with a kiss to her forehead before walking away.
Normani looked back to her daughter as Tru exited the house and R
iver smiled at her. Normani shook her head as she pulled another set of cards out.
“Your chunky butt looks just like your daddy,” she told her, and River laughed like she knew what she was saying.
Hours skated by like minutes as Normani anticipated her date with Tru. She took River to her mothers’ home and got her hair curled into sexy spiral curls just the way Tru liked before returning home.
That was at 8 pm.
At 9 pm she was showered and dressed in a black Versace dress that hugged her body tightly. One of Tru’s favorite dresses. He often told her that he liked the way it made her curves pop out. Normani was on the smaller side but she packed a mean punch in her little frame.
At 11 pm Normani sat inside of her living room with a glass of wine. Her eyes stared down at her freshly painted toes. The white polish again one of Tru’s favorites looked perfect against her chocolate skin. Her watery lenses glanced up at her glass chandelier that cost more money than the shit was worth, and she sighed.
“He’s such a mendacious ass nigga.”
The words escaped her lips quietly.
Angrily even because once again he’s stood her up.
He came home, fucked her so good it made her cry then lied to her.
At one in the morning Normani found herself drunk as hell. Tru was officially ignoring her calls and all the fucks she had to give about him for the day was done with. Normani rose from the seat slowly and rubbed her bottom. Her ass was asleep. She’d been sitting in the chair for so long even her legs were numb.
“Why do I keep dealing with this? I mean why? I have to be a dense ass broad to allow for him to keep playing me,” she muttered.
Normani walked sluggishly through her home. Slowly she ascended the steps and went into her bedroom. Her eyes traveled around the room deliberately. While anger coursed through her like lava. She wanted to kill him. Kill his black ass dead then love him back to life. That was the sort of insane shit he evoked out of her and she knew it wasn’t right. Couldn’t have been normal and even if it was, she refused for it to be her normal any longer.
Upside Down In Love Page 6