by Nicety
Sunset
You know who this is and you know what to do…
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Ugh. There he goes again, ignoring me. I hated like hell when Jeremiah pulled that shit on me. He knew I hated it too. It never failed. One moment we would be going good for a few days and everything would be peachy between us. Then the next minute this nigga was pulling disappearing acts. My nerves were bad. I didn’t have any weed to smoke and I didn’t smoke cigarettes so I was basically stuck in the house with my feelings. Even if I wanted to smoke some damn weed, I couldn’t do it around my children. They blew my high every time.
“Hello? Hello?” I called back thinking someone picked up his cell phone but the dead end clicks only reverted to a busy signal. “How the fuck?”
Anger got the best of me as I slammed the phone into the counter pacing the floor wondering why he wouldn’t answer the damn phone. Could he have been in the middle of fucking her? Could he be trying to treat me like he was doing the last time? All kinds of stupid shit ran through my mind but nothing made sense, not even the reasons why I was still so deep in love with him.
If I could pray and ask God to take the thoughts away, to take all of the emotions, passion, and affection that I felt inside and throw them away then I would pray every fucking night until the shit was banished from my heart forever. Until then, nothing seem to keep my heart from loving him so much. Not a day went by that I didn’t think of him. I couldn’t even look at my kids without thinking about him since they were the spitting image of him. The hairs on my skin began to stand at attention as reflections of him plagued my mind and rejection began to play on me.
“Hello? Jeremiah?”
“Yeah man. What’s up? Something wrong with the kids or something?” He sounded as if he had been running from someone, tired out and distressed.
“What? No, no. I wasn’t calling you for them. I was calling you for me. You haven’t been over here. You know I need you all day in order to be straight. You’re like my drug baby,” I responded in the sweetest voice I could muster.
“Damn Sunset. I ain’t got time to play with you right now okay? It’s some real shit going on out here. So if this shit ain’t about the kids or a fucking emergency or something then I’ve gotta go.”
“But J. wait. I need to talk to you about something.”
“You trippin’ man. I’m handling real fucking business right now, Sunset. I don’t have time for this shit. Do you fucking hear me?”
“I have to fucking tell you something, Jeremiah.”
“Bye man. I’ll play in your ass later.”
He hung up and as he did vomit rose from the pits of my stomach to the top of my throat. I was making myself sick missing him so damn much. It was hard for me to eat or sleep. I couldn’t really eat without him. Every waking moment of everyday all I thought about was his kids and I being here alone while he ripped and ran the fucking streets all day and went home to a bitch who couldn’t possibly love him the way I could. It wasn’t fair, dammit. It just wasn’t fair. I was tired. At my wits end with his shit. I was smart enough to know that I was done with his bullshit but I was too weak emotionally to leave him alone and find better.
Packing the kids up in their clothes and preparing their bags, we left headed over to my momma’s house. He wasn’t around to tell me that they couldn’t go over there and this time when he told me to pick them back up, I would lie and say that my momma took them to Wisconsin to my aunt’s house for the weekend. Ha. You wanna play games motherfucka? Well, two can play that game. And, all the time why he thinks he’s getting over on me, he’s got another thing coming.
“You sure you ain’t gonna rip them from my arms again this time baby girl?” Momma called out as she headed up to the car to help me remove the kids from their car seats.
“Nope, this time you can have the babies for as long as you want momma. Just call me when you need more milk or when you’re ready to give them back.” The smile that filled my face made my momma shoot me a wink as I hopped back in the car and took off fast as hell.
Adrenaline was one of those things that ran through you when you needed it the most and was responsible for multiple ass whoopings being handed to motherfuckas. Well it was running through me and I was ready, suited and booted in my jumpers, booty shorts, and tank top with my hair pulled back tight to get it in once I made it to Jeremiah. The entire ride I let 2Pac hype me up for the shit, putting me in the frame of mind to fight for what the fuck I wanted or at least the respect I deserved. I blasted the music allowing him to invoke the beast within me so that I wouldn’t back out of the shit at the last minute.
On some slick shit pulling up on the side street of their block was the perfect place to be so that I wasn’t seen and for when I needed to get away quickly. No one could easily read my license plate on some bullshit and call the cops on me. Trucking up the street to the middle of the block, I headed right up to the door and rang the shit out of the fucking doorbell. My finger went insane on that motherfucker pushing the shit out of it so if they were in there fucking it would damn sure disturb them.
“Who the fuck is it?” A woman shouted from inside. “I swear if you ring that bell one more time, when I get to the door I’m hitting your ass in the motherfucking mouth. For real.”
I kept ringing that shit like what bitch. She didn’t scare me no matter how much bigger she was than me. I would trip that bitch and get to pounding on her fucking face until I beat her face in like I was kneading dough. She was the reason why most of my problems were happening. She was the beginning, middle, and end to all of it and even though it could’ve made my situation worse, I just needed to be able to beat the shit out of her to make myself feel better. If I could fight him and win instead, I would. He was much stronger and faster. But that bitch, I would take down.
“What the fuck do you want?”
Before I could speak, I looked up into the eyes of someone I hadn’t seen in a long ass time. My expression lit up and my anger instantly dissipated. She, on the other hand, hadn’t been as happy to see me as I was to see her. Actually, she was looking at me as if she was still ready to get it in on the scraping in the grass. I had really irritated her with how I was ringing the bell.
“It’s me, Sunset,” I said refreshing her memory.
“Oh shit! That’s my dog. How have you been chick?” Damita opened her arms wide embracing me with a tight grip.
“I’ve been good. I didn’t know you were living here with your cousin. So I guess she told you then huh?” I said bringing my tone to a solemn level as she invited me inside.
I reluctantly stepped inside wondering if the shit was a trick or not. I hadn’t seen Damita in years and even though she was my girl back in the day, I didn’t know the type of person she was today. Not to mention, she was the blood of the enemy. Looking round at the middle class extravagance of the house, however, that’s when I knew that Jeremiah was living good with this bitch and that could’ve played a factor in why he wouldn’t leave her. I didn’t have enough money for his ass.
“Where’s your cousin?” I questioned keeping a watchful eye on my surroundings.
“Oh shit, she’s at work. I’m glad you came over or else I would’ve never known you were still around the hood.” Damita said taking a seat on the plush sofa. “Did you want something to drink or something?”
“Yeah, you got red wine?”
“Hell yeah bitch. Come on over here,” she said as she escorted me over to the kitchen area. “So what hasn’t my cousin told me? Y’all best buds now or some shit and I’m supposed to be jealous?”
“Ha. I don’t think we are anything close to best buds, chick. At least those aren’t the words I would use to describe what we’ve got going on.”
“Well can you fill me in please? I’m always the last to know shit.” Damita handed me the glass of wine she poured.
Taking a sip allowing myself to relish in the
fruity flavor splashing around in my mouth and coat my lips made me realize this bitch had good taste in every fucking thing. It started to annoy me and as I broke the real down to Damita, her facial expression began to change in increments. There was a slight awkwardness in the air as I finished speaking and we stared at each other.
“So now what?” I inquired guzzling the rest of my wine.
“I think you need to down another glass of wine for that shit,” Damita joked as she hovered the bottle over my glass pouring more of its contents in my glass.
“So you’re not mad at me or feel some type of way because that’s your cousin?” Disappointment read on my face because I knew the answer that was coming afterwards. “I mean, I know we can’t be friends after this.”
“What? Who says we can’t be friends? Girl those kids are already here and that shit happened in the past when I wasn’t even here. How can I be mad at you for living life? Shit, that’s life. It happens. You say you’re in love with him and you should be. That’s your babies’ daddy.” Surprisingly Damita didn’t seem the least bit fazed by the news.
“Oh my God. You don’t know how much of a relief it is to finally be able to talk to somebody who understands what I’m going through.” My hand clenched my chest, taking a deep breath and exhaling it completely.
“Well, I don’t fully understand because it’s never happened to me but I feel you though. Besides, you’ve been my girl since high school. You had my back through everything I was going through with my mother and all of my hard times. You were always there for me. I can never just toss you aside like that,” Damita walked over grabbing my neck for a hug. “We all make mistakes boo. It’s how we learn from those mistakes that makes us better people.”
“That’s true shit chick. So why’d you come back from Atlanta? Was it not all the glitz and glamour that you hoped it would be?” Snatching up my glass and savoring the great wine, I watched as her solemn look returned.
“Naw, Atlanta was a bust. I’m back to start a new. I can’t ever go back.”
“Why not? You good?”
“Yeah Sunset, I’m good. But do me a favor would you? Don’t tell nobody else that I’m back in Chicago. I don’t want too many people knowing. Okay?” She grabbed my hands firmly staring me straight in the eye. If I wasn’t mistaken, I could swear that I saw a trickle of fear in them.
“Yep, I promise. Right after we celebrate one night out for your return!” My excitement wouldn’t allow me to remain in my seat. “You can’t come back to Chicago and not get fucked up and kick it.”
“Oh…I’m not in the mood to be partying and shit Sunset. I’m just trying to lay low while I find me some sort of under the table pay type of job. I’m just not in the mood.”
“Girl, I will slap the shit out of you. I’m not taking no for an answer. You’re going out with me tonight. Understood?” I demanded.
It was all in her facial expression that she didn’t want to go but I felt that the best thing for a sad heart was some hot loud music, a couple of drinks, and some fine men circling around us vying for our attention. It was just the thing we both needed actually. Jeremiah wasn’t checking for me the way he needed to. Maybe it was high time that I got that nigga up out of my system once and for all. The first nigga that I saw that looked like he was ready, I was taking home. Period. Damita nodded her head in agreement that she would go right before lowering it to the floor.
“Don’t look like that bitch. You’re gonna have a great time and so will I.” I hugged her with a sly grin spread across my face. She didn’t want to say but I had a feeling that her sorrows were just like mine, due to some raggedy ass man. “Fuck these niggas.”
Chapter 8
Meanwhile over at Styles Most Wanted
Bianca
“Girl did you hear about what happened to Precious the other day?” Tamika poked her lips out as she wand curled her client’s long luxurious blonde weave.
“Naw girl. What happened?” A slew of ladies leaned in for the gossip.
My shop was always jam packed with women all spreading rumors, lies, and gossip about each other and others they didn’t know while they got their faces beat to the gods or their hair whipped. Most of the time I didn’t listen or believe any of it because females can begin a story with the truth and end it with a lie sometimes. But Precious always found herself mixed up in some mess. She was the city ho. Almost every nigga in the city had her at least once and she had about twenty kids by as many daddy’s. Okay, maybe she didn’t have twenty kids but you see what I mean about rumors. It always happens. The story starts out as the truth and by the ending you’ve already heard about three lies mixed in.
“Her man’s baby momma tried to run her over with a car last night,” Tamika continued.
“What? Get the fuck out of here. That shit ain’t true Mika.” My lips curled as I waved her off.
“Bitch if I’m lying, I’m flying. I swear she did and that ain’t even the half of it. She got up off the ground and beat the dog shit out of the baby momma. I mean when I say she dog walked her, the bitch ended up with two black eyes and her whole front grill gone. Not to mention she had a big ass bald patch in the middle of her head like this big.” Tamika mimicked the size of the hole on her own head.
“I heard she actually sat on the bitch. You know she’s about 300 pounds. I would’ve been like fuck that bitch you can have him,” another woman jumped in.
“Nope, she didn’t sit on her. She bashed her head into the girl’s own car,” my client interjected.
See, it’s hard to believe what the real story is and even if one of them is true you would never know. I shook my head in disbelief choosing not to insert my two cents into the discussion. They will believe what they want to believe regardless. I tried to keep my personal life private for that very reason. Sure they were probably already hovered around when I wasn’t there talking all kinds of things about what was going on between Jeremiah and I but they never knew exactly the truth and that was okay with me.
“Okay but what about Tanisha? You know she caught her man cheating again this morning. She picked up a pipe and was swinging the shit out of that motherfucka trying to hit somebody. Girl, and you know she’s 8 months pregnant with that one year old at home too.” Tamika poked her lips out in her signature gossip mode.
“Okay now see that I believe because she’s always catching that nigga doing something.” I pointed out.
“Okay,” the ladies agreed in unison.
“Oh, oh. Shh. Here she comes.” I quieted the salon down as Tanisha waddled through the door. “Hey girl. You late again now. I don’t want to have to dock your chair when you know you’ve got clients waiting.”
“I’m sorry, B. I’ll try to be on time from now on. I promise.” Tanisha made her way over to her chair signaling for her first client to come on over.
She was fresh out of high school and already working on her second baby so I didn’t even respond. She was going through so much at such a young age that I didn’t want to stress her no more than she already was. But if it became a problem that began to affect her work ethic then I would have to sit her down and force her to choose between that nigga and her job. Tanisha was a great stylist and could lay some hair. But I couldn’t afford to have the morale of the salon going in that direction. One bad apple will indeed spoil the bunch.
“Baby, baby…” Jeremiah busted through the door, disheveled and out of breath as if he had sprinted all the way in here.
“Uh oh. Fresh meat,” one of the clients yelled raising her hand in the air once Jeremiah rushed in.
“Girl, shut up. That’s boss lady’s man.” My stylist, April, nudged her.
“Baby, I need to talk to you for a minute. Can we go to the back?” He uttered grasping my arm, walking me to the back without giving me a chance to respond.
“Excuse me, I’ll be right back,” I called back to my client. “April, can you take care of her please?”
She nodded as I closed the d
oor turning my attention towards J. He was scaring me. I had never seen him all twisted up like this. He looked as if he had just seen a ghost. All I could think about was something, anything bad had happened. My heart jumped hoping it wasn’t anybody that I cared about or loved. The next thing I thought about was that it had to be something involving his little bitch of a baby’s momma.
“What’s this about, J.? I have clients if you didn’t notice.”
Without speaking Jeremiah spun me on my heels, pressing his front against my back kissing me passionately on my neck. This nigga came to my place of business for a quickie and I had clients in my chair and others waiting. But I couldn’t tell him no. If I didn’t give it to him, he would undoubtedly go and get it from her ass and that wasn’t happening. So I obliged him, reaching back to grab his dick as our tongues met.
He bent me over my desk, raising my skirt up to my hips. His hand gripped my ass cheeks so tightly then smacked it hard as fuck. When the two collided, it made a sound so loud that there was no mistaking what it was. I knew the girls probably heard it but I didn’t give a fuck. This was my business and if I wanted to give my man some pussy all up and through here then that’s what I was going to do.
Jeremiah had me looking so damn crazy but I didn’t give a fuck. My belly, tits, and face were pressed firmly against the desk with his hand on my back as he inserted his rock hard dick inside of me. My lips exhaled deeply as I closed my eyes hoping that I could keep my moans to a minimum. That shit was feeling so good though, that I almost forgot where I was.
Usually J. would slide in and out of me rough and fast but this time he was taking long deep slow strokes that seemed to tap me in all the right places. My pussy grew wetter than it ever had been before. With his hands, he lifted up my ass cheeks slapping them a few more times before focusing back on his strokes. I slid my hands underneath me, fiddling with my nipples to encourage the cum to drip out of me.
“I’m cumming baby,” I breathed silently.