“I hate you!” Jilly whimpered, and I felt bad for her.
“You’ll love me tomorrow.” Tony spoke nonchalantly, taking down more of his drink as he surveyed the menu.
“No I won’t!” Jilly picked up her drink to toss onto him, but Tony knocked it out of her hand just in time and gripped her wrist, yanking her toward him.
“You my baby sister, and I love you, but you better show me some fucking respect. At the end of the day, I’m not that nigga, brother or not.”
When he loosened his grip, Jilly snatched away, eyes full of tears before storming off.
I was too scared to speak up, so I ordered my food when the waiter came, just as Tony did. We ate dinner as if nothing had just transpired, and then dessert before heading to the car.
“You know your sister is grown.” I mumbled, not wanting to upset him. I could tell he was still bothered. His jaw twitched as he drove with his fine ass. Deep chestnut skin free of any marks or blemishes except one on the side of his forehead where his MAK tattoo was.
“I don’t care who she fucks on, but if she wants the nigga to be in my presence, he can’t be no bitch like him.”
“I—”
“Camarih, trust me on this one. That nigga a snake. And you being my girl, you gotta know the niggas I don’t fuck with.” He looked my way once at a red light. “And you from the hood, baby, so you know any muthafucka Wacko don’t rock with, neither does Camarih. You understand?”
“I do.” I rubbed the top of his right hand. “I can’t believe you grabbed him by them tiny ass twists like that.” I burst into laughter, and he joined me after a while. He was peeved, so it took him a minute to allow himself that joy. Once it died down, I added, “I got a bad vibe from him too, so don’t even worry. Plus, I would never choose another side over yours.” I caressed his soft hair, admiring his face, and enjoying the scent of that Hermés cologne. I loved him. I was afraid to say it again, however.
When I brought my hand around to his cheek to caress it, he turned his head a bit to kiss my inner palm while keeping his eyes on the road.
After getting home and taking a shower together, I covered my body in my skin butter, then he and I enjoyed some fire ass sex.
Rubie
I was currently sitting at my desk in my office, looking over my Mint app. It was the only thing that I used to help me budget my finances and such. I was supposed to be making sure everyone who was electronically invited to Mark’s event had RSVP’d, and then I was to call the ones who had physical invites. I just wasn’t in the mood to speak to a bunch of people who probably had their finances in order, however.
As I looked over what I had to pay this month, I realized my check wasn’t going to cover it. Well it was, but I would only have about $100 left until my next payday, which was two weeks away from this one. I wasn’t sure how I was going to make $100 last for two weeks when I needed to stock the fridge, which would cost me at least $148. I was so frustrated that I wanted to scream.
Just as I tapped my Chase credit card bill to see if I could somehow work around paying it, I was interrupted with a phone call from Armonn.
“Hey, babe.” I let my elbows rest on my desk as I ran my hands through my hair. My hair, shit! I had an appointment to get it redone and that was another $80.
“Hey. So guess what!”
“What?”
“I got a modeling gig for this clothing ad in a magazine. You know Trucker Jeans?”
“I do! Wow! Congrats, honey! How much is the pay?”
“A measly $2,000, but it’s something.”
“It is something. That’s great.” I smiled, feeling a little better.
“I won’t get it for two weeks, but when I do, you already know what’s up.”
“Yup. Hey, I have to get back to work, baby, but congratulations, okay?”
“Wait, wait, Rubie.”
“Yeah?”
“I need a way to the job. Can you send me your card information or just give me your login to your Uber account?”
Every time he gave me faith in him, he ripped it right back from me with something like this. Why couldn’t he be a man and figure it out sometimes? Why was he so content with bleeding his woman dry?
“Armonn, I haven’t even gotten paid yet. I don’t get my check deposited until tomorrow. I only have about seventy-five dollars in there.”
“The ride is only thirty dollars. Come on, Rubie, don’t do this to me right now. I have to be there in an hour and a half. I’m gonna pay you back once I get my money.” When he finished speaking, I was still quiet. “Baby, you act like I’m using you or something. You know when I get this cash, I’m gonna pay you back.”
Staying true to our continuous cycle, I began to feel bad. He was trying, and he loved me, yet here I was acting like he was some random nigga begging me for money. He was my man and I should be supportive.
The last thing I wanted was to shut Armonn out and for him to become successful then tell the world how he had this unsupportive, nagging girlfriend who didn’t believe in him.
“I’ll text you my information when we hang up.”
“Thank you, beautiful. I love you so much. And remember, once this money hits, I want you to pick the nicest damn place in Los Angeles.”
I smiled, blushing at his words.
“I love you too, and I will.”
I hung up then texted Armonn my information before locking my iPhone. Getting up, I went to Mark’s office.
“Are you busy?” I asked him as he studied some paperwork.
“I’m always busy. If I wasn’t, I would be broke.”
“Right.” Asshole. “Do you think maybe my pay could be increased? I’ve been making the same amount for the past two years. I think I’m due for another raise.”
“Are you?”
“Yeah. Don’t you think so?”
“Let’s see… You’ve been doing the same shit since I gave you the first raise. What have you done, differently, that would make me increase your pay again, Miss Bailey?”
He was right. I’d been so stressed over my relationship with Armonn and making more money, that I hadn’t gone the extra mile to elevate my career. Even though Mark’s approach was rude, he was right.
“I understand. Thank you.” I turned to leave.
“Get me a Jamba Juice.”
“Yes sir,” I called out over my shoulder and left right away.
I got to Jamba in about half an hour, and when I walked in, I saw Camarih again but with Tony Wacko. He was leaning up against the counter, and she was standing in front of him, hugging his torso and smiling up at him so brightly. I bet he didn’t borrow money from her.
“Hi, Rubie!” Camarih cheesed. “Baby, this is Rubie.”
Tony turned to me and nodded his head up. He was taller than I expected, and scarier too. His face tattoos, although only two small words near his eyebrows, did the trick.
“Hey. Umm, since I see you here, I was wondering if you got the tickets I gave to your artist, Mr. Wacko.”
“Tony or Wacko is good. And yeah, I got the shit. We gon’ be there.” He tossed his arm around a smiling Camarih’s shoulders.
“Great, can’t wait.” I started toward the counter to order.
After getting my receipt, I stepped off to the side and waited. By that time, Camarih and Tony’s drinks were ready.
“Bye!” Camarih waved happily. Again, I was surprised by how sweet she was considering her looks. And I guess it was true that hood niggas loved good ones because Tony’s ass was far from sweet; I could tell.
“Bye!” I waved back grinning. “Hey, wait!” I stopped them. “Can I ask a question?”
“Bet not be no weird shit.” Tony looked down at me, causing Camarih and I to laugh.
“No. No, actually, it’s for you.” I kept eye contact with him. When he didn’t say anything, I quizzed, “Would you ever ask your girlfriend for money?”
I already knew his answer by his face.
“Oh, a nigga in yo’ pockets
, huh?” He grinned, sipping his drink. “Any muthafucka willing to ask you for some bread don’t give a fuck about you. Niggas got way too much pride to let their woman know their ass is broke. So if he asking, he don’t give a damn what you think about him. And that’s because you ain’t the bitch he really want.”
I was smiling at first, but it faded. I knew he’d say no just by his expression upon hearing my question, but I didn’t expect that logic. And I wished it didn’t make sense.
“But… but what if he’s flat broke and needs—”
“Baby girl, a nigga that wants to fuck with you on some real shit will ask his mama for some money, his hoes, his homies, distant fucking cousins, and whomever else, before he asks you. And that’s only if he ain’t out hustling.”
“Thanks. And no this doesn’t apply to me; I’m doing a survey for my blog.” I lied.
“Right. I’m gon’ let the homie Eitan know you fucking with a broke boy so he can swoop in on you. Yo’ ass ain’t no Catholic or nothing, are you? You give the pussy up, right? Or at least head, ’cause you got some dick sucking ass lips. That’s a compliment by the way.”
“Tony, no. Let’s go.” Camarih pulled him, and I was taken aback by his brashness.
“I’m just asking the bitch a question,” he said loudly. Did he just for real call me a bitch like it was nothing? Disrespectful was an understatement.
“Sorry.” Camarih turned to me, and I just nodded.
Hearing Eitan was interested in me or at least hearing Tony allude to that, made me feel some type of way. He was fine as hell, with his curly hair, full lips, and bright skin. He was tall like Tony, but had less hood tattoos.
I didn’t too much like light-skinned men, but Eitan could get it. I preferred dark-skinned men, but somehow I always ended up with light skins. They just always seemed to be the ones most interested in me and pursuing things.
Just as I grabbed Mark’s smoothie with a slight smile at the thought of Eitan, my phone vibrated. I looked down at it to see Armonn’s Uber trip. So much for the $30 he said it would cost, ’cause the shit came to $55. That left me with $20 until payday in forty-eight hours.
I hated being conflicted and didn’t know how much more of this I could take.
9
Rahim
Phoebe was straddling my lap as we kissed, allowing my hands to grope on her body. She was ass naked and ready. Just as I reached for the condom, my phone rang, and I saw it was Amara. It was 10 p.m. at night, so I figured it was an emergency.
“Hold up.” I moved Phoebe from trying to kiss me again.
“Seriously, Rah?” She sucked her teeth and climbed off my lap when I put my finger to my lips to tell her to be quiet. “Must be wifey.”
Phoebe was the only person who knew I had a wife. She was the last person I wanted to know, but the shit came up during pillow talk. So far, she’d kept quiet about it; or at least to my knowledge she had. I’d never brought her around the homies for her to spill the beans to them, so everything had been straight.
I didn’t purposely not tell Tony or Eitan; it was just the shit never came up. Then when I saw how many hoes they’d have around and how it was normal to indulge, I just kept it to myself.
As I explained before, it felt too awkward for me to tell them that I was married when such a life event wasn’t even a thought in their minds. People treated you differently once they found out you were married. And right now with the career I wanted, I needed to be in the same mix as everyone else.
“Hey, baby. You good?” I sat up straight, waiting for Amara to respond.
“Yes, I just… I was missing you, so I called. I’m so sorry. Were you busy?”
“Nah. I’m never too busy for you.” I leaned against my headboard and gave Phoebe a look when she groaned.
“Good. Having to go to work and then deal with Ahmira on my own has been so hard. I really wish you were back with us.”
“Me t-too.” I stammered a bit when Phoebe randomly started deep throating my dick.
As Amara talked, Phoebe continued to slurp me. And every time I tried to pull her off, it started feeling too damn good to use my strength. Putting the phone on mute, I grunted loudly as I came all over the sheets.
“I’m not swallowing shit since you wanna be rude.” Phoebe smirked, getting out of the bed.
“Hey, baby, I just got a track I need to fix. Can I call you in the morning?” I watched Phoebe’s naked ass prance across my room.
“Yeah, sure. I love you.”
“I love you too.” I hung up. “Bring me a towel or some shit!”
Moments later, Phoebe emerged from the bathroom, laughing.
“You be so tightly wound. You need to chill out. I gave you some head so you could relax.”
“While I was on the phone with my damn wife?” I frowned, tossing the towel onto the nightstand.
“It’s really not that big of a deal.” She tried to touch me as I walked past her, but I threw her hands off.
“Really? If she mattered that damn much to you, you wouldn’t have been letting me suck your dick while she was on the phone! Hell, you wouldn’t be letting me fuck you at all!” She hissed as I turned the shower on.
“You don’t know what the fuck you talking about! Just because we have sex don’t mean I care any less about my wife.”
“Yeah, nigga, it does. Any man who really loves his wife wouldn’t give me the time of day.” Phoebe stood in the doorway, now fully clothed.
“Just leave, Phoebe.”
“I already was.”
“Just mad ’cause you ain’t a nigga’s wife.” I mumbled, closing the bathroom door.
“You fine and got some good dick, but I would never wanna be your wife. You claim to love Amara, yet look how you do her? I can only imagine how you’d do a bitch you didn’t love.” Phoebe spoke at the door, but I didn’t respond, blocking out her words and pretending not to hear her ass.
Unfortunately, what she said plagued my fucking mind all night long until I drifted off to sleep.
“Fuck!” I hopped out the car after parking. It was a little after 4 p.m., and I was supposed to be at the studio by 3:30 p.m. I knew Tony was gon’ be pissed, but shit, at least the beat was already made. I was only here for any tweaks and to assist the engineer.
As I walked into the studio, I heard bickering. Squinting my eyes, I saw Shanece at the end of the hall talking to some skinny tall muthafucka. She was looking down at her feet with her arms folded, as he fussed at her with his teeth clenched. Not liking what I saw and no longer caring about being late, I approached the scene.
“Can I help you?” The nigga tall enough to be a ball player looked to me. I wasn’t short at all, standing at six foot two, but he was a good six inches taller, like six for eight.
“Not me, but maybe you should chill out on her,” I replied. I had a feeling this was her husband just based off what I knew about their relationship and him being a brat.
“Rahim, stop.” Shanece spoke, looking at me through her peripheral.
“Yeah Rahim, stop. This is between man and wife, and ain’t got shit to do with you.”
“She don’t even be doing shit, yet you always giving her a hard fucking time! Fuck is yo’ problem, nigga!” I barked.
“Okay!” Shanece merged between us.
Staring into my eyes, her husband said, “Let’s go, Shanece, ’fore I have to put this nigga over my knee and show him how to respect real niggas.”
“Rahim, please.” Shanece begged when I moved his way, ready to square up.
“Meet me in the car in two minutes.” He tread down the hallway like it was nothing. It took so much not to punch the back of his head.
“Shanece, you don’t gotta deal with that—”
“Fuck you. This had nothing to do with you, and you only made it worse.” She moved around me to follow her nigga who was already out of the building.
“You mad at me?” I pointed to my chest. “This nigga was talking to you like a fucking
dog, and you mad at me?”
“Yes! And not only did you interfere with something between my husband and I, but you had the nerve to let him know that I’d confided in you!”
My face relaxed, hearing her say that, because I didn’t realize it would come off that way, but it surely did.
“Shanece… Fuck! I was just angry and—”
“Well don’t worry, Rahim, because I will never tell you another thing. Matter fact, I will never talk to you period.”
“Shanece!” I hollered her name as she quickly left out. “Shanece! Damnit!” I punched the air.
“Nigga, get yo’ stupid ass in here!” Tony peeked from the studio room, frowning. “Calling that hoe’s name like a little bitch in one of them movies.”
“Fuck you, man.” I walked toward the room and inside. “And stop calling her a hoe.”
“If she got a pussy, that bitch a hoe. Shit, some of you niggas too. Only exclusions are my girl,” he pointed to Camarih on her phone while seated on the couch, “and Jilly.”
Shaking my head at Tony’s disrespectful ass, I couldn’t help but to chuckle as he shrugged before sipping his water.
Thank God this studio session would keep my mind off of what had just gone down.
Tony Wacko
“You know a girl fine when her feet this pretty.” I focused my camera on Camarih’s feet in some high ass heels, before traveling up the rest of her. She was seated somewhat across from me but more to my side, in a dress that fit her pregnant ass perfectly, and showed them sexy ass legs.
“What are you doing?” She laughed after sipping some shit called a mocktail through the straw.
I kept my camera on her beautiful ass as she laughed, flashing her perfect teeth and that one deep ass dimple in her left cheek. The restaurant we were in had lowlights, so the flash from my phone lit her up. Her golden curls were piled up on top of her head, with a few hanging down.
“Tell yo’ nigga you love him.”
Rolling her eyes while still cheesing with her corny, pretty ass, she replied, “I love you, Houston.”
She Gave Her All to the Hood’s Finest Page 26