by Styles, T
“I was tryin’ to see if you wanted go see that Beverly Hills Cop 2, joint.” He tugged at his baseball cap. I don’t know if it was because we had been fucking ever since our first encounter in the shower or what. But for some reason, he looked cuter each time I saw him. It probably was the money.
"I don’t know if I’ma be able to sit in no movie theater feeling like this, Kali. I’m fucked up."
"Well why you drinkin’ then?”
“’Cause I do what the fuck I want to, that’s why.” I frowned.
“Fuck all that…I’m tired of doin’ the same shit with you. I wanna take you out. If you can sit at home and get drunk by yourself, then you can hang out with me."
Although I didn’t feel too well, I knew if I didn’t go, he would get upset.
“You gonna buy me a bottle of vodka?”
“Yeah, but you need to be drinkin’ ginger ale, too.”
I rolled my eyes. "Okay, get me the ginger ale and the vodka and I’ll go with you."
“Bet.”
Before he left, I decided to bring up the kidnapping. The cops hadn’t found the girl and I wanted to see where Kali’s head was at. The only thing was, Kali never talked about the details of the kidnapping to me. At this point I had only heard it first hand from Paco, and secondhand from Jace. Truthfully, I wasn’t supposed to know anything. But I figured if I could get him to tell me something, I would have something over his head, like he held the fact that we were fucking behind Jace’s back over mine.
“Kali, you trust me, right?”
“Yeah…Why?”
“Because if you do, then I wanna know if you had something to do with…That situation.”
Kali looked behind him and back at me. Someone was walking up the street and he let him pass before speaking.
“How could you know?”
“I just do, Kali.”
“That ain’t a good enough reason.”
“Because I know you and I care about you.” I said as believably as possible. “I could tell by the way that you were acting that something was up. Talk to me. You can trust me.”
He looked down at his new sneaks and said, “I don’t wanna talk about Charles…So I’ma leave it at that.”
“Charles?” I said confused. “My uncle?”
“Isn’t that what you were talkin’ about?”
“No…” I paused. “I’m talking about the girl.”
“Oh,” he said walking a few feet away from me. “I…I thought you were askin’ me somethin’ else.”
My heart was pumping wildly in my chest. “But why did you say something about my uncle?”
“No reason,” he smiled. “And as far as the girl, I think you should leave it alone. Too many people know too much already.”
“So I guess you don’t trust me?” I said sitting on my steps. “I thought we were best friends, Kali. And ever since we’ve been making love, I thought we been closer. So if that’s how you feel, that hurts me. A lot.”
“We are close,” he said walking up to me, sitting on the step next to my foot. Looking up at me he said, “I did what I had to do for me and Jace. So let’s just say she won’t be showing up at school no more. Ever.”
I had something over his head now.
“I appreciate you protecting me, and Jace. You are so loyal,” I said gassing him up. He started smiling and I couldn’t believe how emotional he really was. It was evident that just like me, all he wanted was love. But unlike me, he did a bad job of hiding his feelings. “I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have you.”
“You don’t have to worry ‘bout that, because as long as you alive, you going to always have me in your life. You’ll see…I got you.”
There he goes again with that, I got you, shit. Every time he said it he gave me the creeps. And what did he mean by as long as I’m alive?
"You serious about the movies though?" He asked skipping the subject.
"I said yes, Kali. What time you gonna be back?"
"I’ma scoop you up in a couple of hours. You gonna be home right?" He said standing up and getting back into his car.
"Yeah...But if I’m not, pick me up over Nut and Cherry's house." He looked strange.
“Why you be hanging over there all the time?”
“Kali, don’t nobody be checking for you or talking about you when I’m over there if that’s what you thinkin’.”
“Do she know we fucked?” He asked me.
“I won’t tell her if you won’t.” I smiled. “So what, ya’ll some kinda weird couple or somethin’ now.”
“I’ll be back here later,” he said with an attitude. “I’m not scoopin’ you from her crib.”
“Whatever!”
"Aight, I’ma check you later. But I hope you know you gonna have to stop that drinking shit soon."
"Why you say that?"
"Cause you pregnant. And if you really are, it’s a girl. I don’t want my kid lookin’ all deformed and shit."
I was shocked because he said out loud exactly what I had known all along. Had I just fucked Jace and not Kali, Kreshon and Paco, I'd be on cloud nine. Because giving Jace a baby could set me up real good, I mean, what man wouldn’t want a son? I wasn’t even thinking about having a girl because I have too much style with me to raise a bitch. I knew out of this body could only come a boy.
"I don’t know about all that. I’ma have to find out if I’m pregnant first.”
“Well I’ma buy you one of them pregnancy test joints from Peoples Drug store. You need to know if you are ‘cause you ain’t gonna be able to drink no more. I’m serious ‘bout that shit, Harmony.”
I don’t know what he talking about because pregnant or not, I ain’t have no intentions on putting down the bottle. My grandmother told me she drank the entire time she was pregnant with my mother and she was okay.
“Whatever, I’ll take the test tonight but just don’t forget my liquor.”
He smiled and said, "You know you ‘bout to have my seed right?"
"Kali, if I’m pregnant, it could be Jace's. You know that."
To be honest it could have been anybody’s, I couldn’t be sure. What I was sure about was that Jace was my target. And even if Kali’s blood did pump through my son’s veins, Kali wouldn’t know about it.
"I’m not even worried ‘bout that shit. My nut too strong to take second place. If you pregnant, it’s definitely mine. And like I said, it’s a girl."
I felt like punching him in the face. Having a little girl was one of the last things on my mind followed by having his baby.
He was about to pull off when I remembered I wanted to ask him something. I missed Jace and wanted him to know that I was thinking about him while he was in L.A. Even if I had to stop fucking other dudes, I was willing to do that.
"Kali, have you talked to Jace?” I paused. “I mean…Did he even ask about me?”
Kali turned around and looked toward the front of the car. Then he turned back to me and said, "Why?"
"Because I wanted to see if he was okay. And how come every time I mention his name to you it’s a problem?"
"What difference do it make how he is, Harmony? He not tryin’ to see you."
"I don’t believe you."
"He fucked you, had you kidnapped and didn’t call you not one time to make sure you were okay. The dude ain’t tryin’ to be bothered…But I am."
“Have you forgotten that you are with, Cherry? You act like I’m your girl or somethin’.”
“That’s me and her business. And I ain’t talkin’ ‘bout her right now.”
Niggas kill me. Always want the world but jump on you if you want the same.
"You know what, I don’t even care about what you and Cherry do." I said feeling a wave of nausea coming on. "And as far as Jace’s concerned, he probably feels bad that I almost got hurt after that kidnap shit. So stop trying to come in between us. "
An angry glare came over his face and he said, "I don’t know what happened between ya’
ll, but he made it clear that he ain’t fuckin’ with you no more. You need to move on.”
“Whatever,” I said waving him off.
“What is it, Harmony? The fact that he got money?" He jumped out of the car and dug in his pocket pulling out a wad of cash. "Here...Here you go!" He threw five hundred dollar bills in my face before they hit the ground. Some of the bills scratched me and stung. “Take it, since that’s all you care about.”
“What the fuck is wrong with you?!” I asked him.
“You an ungrateful, bitch! That’s what’s wrong with me.” Then he started looking wild-eyed around him. He reminded me of Jack Nicholson in that movie, ‘The Shining’. “You gonna have me do something I don’t wanna do to you.”
“You know what, fuck you.” I wanted the money but I didn’t want him to know it so I wasn’t going to pick it up. I was on my way back inside the house when he came up behind me, grabbed me by my neck and pushed me to the ground.
“Pick it up! Bitch, I’m not fuckin’ around with you!” When I didn’t do it fast enough, he gripped my neck so tight it felt like it would break. I managed to finally get the money in my hand, but I scraped my knees in the process. “Now be ready when I come back to scoop you up. You gonna take that pregnancy test first and if you pregnant, you gonna stop drinkin’. Do I make myself clear? Don’t make me fuck you up. Answer me!”
I was scared because if he could beat someone who could possibly be pregnant with his child, what else could he do? “Y…Yes. I’m clear.”
He let me go.
“Don’t make me come lookin’ for you later tonight." He said walking back to his car.
When he was done with me, he jumped in his car and pulled off. Kali was changing and becoming more obsessive and I hoped my decision to give him some pussy wouldn’t come back and haunt me later.
With a fist full of money, and a sore neck, I was about to call a cab to go to the liquor store. With everything that Kali was giving me, I needed a drink badly. But before I could go into the house and place the call, Paco pulled up. He had an evil look on his face, just as bad as the one Kali had just given me.
“Get the fuck in my car, Harmony.” He said parking his Acura in front of me.
“Naw…I gotta go.” I could tell he was mad and I didn’t feel like dealing with him.
I ran into the house and into Shirley. She was drunk and mad that Charles had still not been home. Also, the school board was threatening to call child protective services because of the allegations I made about sexual abuse to Mrs. Duncan.
Glaring at me she said, “What kinda trouble you bringin’ in here now?”
I locked the door and said, “Shirley, somebody wants to hurt me out there. I can’t talk now.”
When I moved toward my room she blocked me and said, “So, what you gonna do for me, if I let you stay inside?”
“What?” I asked confused. “What do you mean, if you let me stay inside?”
“Harmony, don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about. You haven’t taken care of me for a while, so what you gonna do for me if I let you stay? Since you got the people at school in our business anyway.”
“Shirley, fuck you!” I said attempting to walk around her.
Right before I could turn the corner, she grabbed me by my hair, opened the door and threw me outside. I banged on the door but she wouldn’t open it. And when I turned around, I saw Paco standing before me.
“Do you want to walk to the car, or do you want me to fuck you up?”
“I’ll walk.” I said still angry with Shirley.
He pushed me inside of his car and walked toward the driver’s side. Then he got inside and pulled off violently not talking for a little over a minute. To me it seemed like forever.
“Syphilis, Harmony? You gave me fuckin’ Syphilis?” He said hitting the steering wheel.
“I don’t know what you talking about.” I lied.
I did have Syphilis and the nurse told me it was bad too. She said whenever there were sores on the hands and feet, like there were on mine, I had it for a while. She also told me I had the frothy green discharge because I had a sexually transmitted disease called Trichomoniasis. That would explain the odor and the itching. So did I burn him? Maybe or maybe not! But he act like he didn’t want the pussy. Ain’t nobody force him to fuck me raw. He really had a nerve considering he didn’t bother to ask for a condom either. Fuck him, fuck his bitch and fuck his dick.
“You better go see Trip about that shit ‘cause I’m clean.”
“Bitch, stop lyin’ to me! Tell me the truth! You gave me that shit didn’t you? And it’s ‘cause of you I might’ve gave it to my girl.”
“Trip told me you had sores on your hands and feet, too. So how I know you ain’t give it to me?”
“Trip ain’t got it…At least she didn’t say nothing to me about it. So this problem is between me and you.”
“You know what, let me the fuck outta this car!” I said pulling on the car door before he took my head and mashed it against the window while he steered the car with the other hand.
“You ain’t nothin’ but a, gutter bitch! A fucking stank hoe!” He continued pushing my head so hard, my temples throbbed. I was sure the glass would crack any minute. Then he stopped the car and said, “You better never let me see you walk these streets again. You hear me, bitch?!”
“Okay, just let me out!”
Between these niggas and Shirley, if I was pregnant, they were gonna beat this baby out of me.
“And just so you know,” he continued, “a group of bitches talkin’ about jumpin’ you until they draw blood. Everybody know you throwin’ around a diseased pussy! It don’t sound like they fuckin’ around with you either. And if I ever catch you out here, I’ma hand you right over to them. You better be glad I gotta go get my son.” He said as spit escaped his mouth. He was beyond mad. “Matta fact, I’m not gonna even call you Harmony no more ‘cause ain’t nothin’ about you harmonic. I don’t know what the fuck your peoples were thinkin’ naming you that. From here on out, your name is Miss Burns!” He screamed. “Now get the fuck out my car.”
I hopped out before he could change his mind and realized I was stranded in the middle of nowhere. I was left alone trying to think about what I was going to do and suddenly, for the first time in my life, I realized that DC, the place I’d known since my father was murdered, was not for me anymore.
Vicious
Jace
I was riding in my limo, thinking about my eighteenth birthday when the car phone rang. I turned the Tupac tape down and answered. I had been in California for a month, and I didn’t feel like the same dude. I was on some whole otha shit and seen a lot of things in my short time here. Rick's team made me look at life differently and I was ready to hustle and hustle hard. Knowing I could take everything I learned from L.A, back to DC and rule.
"Hello." I answered, sipping on some Moet.
“Jace, everything cool on our end. We ready to move on them spots you had us check out." Kali said. “Them niggas tried to come at us sideways at first, but after we put a few of them on their backs, they got with the program. Basically, southeast DC is yours.”
I smiled and said, "You sure? I don’t want no problems"
"I’m positive.”
“Where, Tony Wop? Why he ain’t call?”
“What, you don’t want an update from me?”
“I ain’t sayin’ that, but you got other shit to be worried about. Like that shit at the zoo.” I said referring to Bam and his daughter. Bam was burned and scattered over Hains Point in DC, but his daughter’s body had never been found.
“And I said shit good. Don’t worry ‘bout it. Did anything come up yet?”
“Naw.”
“I told you…I got you.”
This nigga was fuckin’ me up with this nonchalant bullshit. I was lookin’ for the first chance to get rid of him, but I knew it wasn’t now.
“What about Herb Dayo and Sick Sense? Any
word from them?”
“Naw, homie. I think Massive had his fist on that shit.”
When my pager went off, I knew it was my new girl Antoinette, a chick my father hooked me up with while I was here. She didn’t ask a lot of questions and was more than happy to do anything I needed. She was much older than me but told me she never fucked anybody as good as me before and she even challenged my age. Antoinette was different than the bitches I usually got up with and I liked that about her. But I still did miss, Harmony.
"Aight, hopefully something will come up,” I paused. “But what’s up with, Harmony?”
“Not much. She still fucked up about you not callin’ after the kidnapping.”
After going to the doctors, and finding out she gave me syphilis, I knew I wasn’t fuckin’ with her no more. I couldn’t get over the fact that she burned me. And what was really fucked up was that I gave it to Brittany. What kind of shit is that? I wouldn’t even be asking him about her, had she not saved my life.
“I probably shoulda called her.” I paused. “Is she okay though?”
"Uh...I been meaning to tell you...shit has changed with her since you been gone."
"What happen?"
"She pregnant. With some niggas kid. I think he live out Maryland or somethin’. But people sayin’ she don’t know who the father is. Shawty, loose booty. They callin' her Miss Burns and everything. Good thing you stop fuckin’ with her."
“Pregnant by a nigga out Maryland, huh?”
“Yep.”
“Fuck her.” I said wondering if it could be possible for the kid to be mine even though I didn’t bust that night. “She as good as dead to me.”
“I feel you. Fuck that nasty, slut.”
I laughed and said, “Don’t tell her I asked about her either. I don’t want her gettin’ the wrong impression.”
“It is what it is…But look, I’ma be real with you on some shit. She knows about the zoo. Matta of fact, she knew a week after the shit happened.”
Silence.
“How she know, I ain’t tell her shit then.”