These Streets Don't Love You Like I Do

by Charmanie Saquea

  “It all depends. I might just let her ass sit there,” Chasity answered.

  “I’ll ride with you.”

  When they got down to the county, Chasity found out that Emani had gotten locked up for possession of drugs, and that the so-called friend she got locked up with was none other than Faizon’s trifling ass baby mama. To say that Chasity was pissed would be an understatement.

  “I’m up here playing mama to this bitch’s son and she got the nerve to be running around with drugs? Oh, and please don’t even get me started on Emani’s scandalous ass. She’s going to end up just like her damn mama,” she fussed as she paced back and forth in front of her car.

  “So what are you going to do?” Ahnesty asked.

  “Both of their asses can sit there for all I care. Neither one of them are my concern and Nana needs to stop always coming to Emani’s rescue. If Faizon wants to bail his baby mama out, that’s on him, but I won’t be doing it,” she said as she shrugged her shoulders before getting back in the car.

  “I agree with you, Chas Chas. Nana is always coming to her rescue but she does that for all of us considering she’s all we got,” Ahnesty said.

  “Nana doesn’t have to come to our rescue like this because we don’t do stupid shit, Ahni. Emani knows my Nana has a bad heart but yet she continues to do shit to worry the hell out of her. Oh, but you just wait. I already know she’s going to cry to Nana tomorrow morning about how I didn’t bail her out and Nana is going to run down there and do it. As soon as I see her, I’m punching that bitch dead in her mouth,” Chasity spat.

  If you didn’t know any better, you wouldn’t even know that Emani and Chasity were sisters because they looked and acted nothing alike. Chasity was done with her sister when she tried to get Faizon to fuck her and tried to blackmail him when he refused to do it. Chasity beat her ass so bad that she put Emani in the hospital with a fractured jaw.

  It was at that moment that she knew her older sister couldn’t be trusted. Just off the strength of their Nana did Chasity even try to act cordial to Emani. She told her trifling ass that if she even came within a yard of Faizon, she was going to kill her, and she meant just that. Everyone thought she was wrong because they were sisters and blood was supposed to be thicker than water, but Chasity said to hell with that. Emani didn’t think about them being sisters when she tried to sleep with her man so Chasity didn’t think about them being sisters when she beat her ass.

  18

  Ahnesty was awakened by kisses being put all over her face. She slightly giggled before she opened her eyes. Fabion pinned her down to the bed before climbing on top of her.

  “You know I love your dragon breath-having ass, right?”

  “Wait, did you just call me dragon breath?” she laughed.

  “Yea, it’s a little tart, but I don’t mind. I love you regardless,” he said before kissing her. Fabion playfully bit her lip before looking at her seriously.

  “What’s wrong?” Ahnesty asked.

  “I want to ask you something,” he said.

  “Okay, what’s up?”

  He reached over into the drawer of the dresser and pulled out a black box. He opened it up and showed it to Ahnesty. Ahnesty’s eyes almost bugged out of her head when she saw the ring.

  “Fab…I…you.” She was so shocked that she didn’t even know what to say.

  Fabion laughed nervously as he rubbed his neck. “Yea, I know. I’m just as shocked as you,” he told her.

  “Is this what I think it is?” she asked.

  “Yes, I—”

  “Yes, yes, yes!” she yelled as she jumped in his arms and damn near squeezed the hell out of him.

  “Damn, baby, wait. I didn’t even get to ask you,” he laughed.

  “I don’t care, the answer is still yes. Put it on!” she said excitedly.

  Fabion took the ring out of its box and put it on her finger as she cried. The diamond was so big and beautiful. She couldn’t wait to call her cousin and Nana to tell them she was now someone’s fiancée.

  “I love you so much!” she squealed as she kissed him.

  “I love you, too, Mami. I can’t believe I’m about to be a damn husband,” he chuckled.

  “Well, we’re not walking down the aisle yet, sir.”

  “True.”

  “Oh gosh, I have to call Chas” She said as she reached for her phone.

  Fabion shook his head as she got off the bed and left the room for her and Chas to talk.

  “Yes, darling?” Chas answered.

  “I’M GETTING MARRIED!” Ahnesty yelled into the phone.

  “Wait, what? Stop playing with me, Ahnesty,” Chas told her.

  “I wouldn’t lie to you. Fab asked me…well, I really didn’t give him a chance to ask before I yelled yes and jumped in his arms.”

  “AHHHHH! MY BABY’S GETTING MARRIED!” Chasity yelled.

  “I know! Like, who would’ve thought I would be somebody’s wife?” Ahnesty beamed.

  “I’m on my way! I’m dying to see the ring!” Chas told her.

  “Yes, come! Bring my godbaby while you’re at it.”

  After Ahnesty hung up from Chasity, she laid back on the bed and stared at her ring with a big, goofy smile on her face. The love of her life had just proposed to her and she was floating on cloud nine. The fact that Fabion had cheated on her and had a psycho out there trying to claim him as her baby father was pushed to the back of her mind. All that didn’t even matter at this point. Neither did the whole Khan incident.

  She wanted to put all that behind them and move forward with their relationship as one.

  ___

  “Man, when I head you popped the question, I had to rush over here and see this shit,” Faizon told his twin.

  The two brothers were downstairs in Fabion’s man cave, chilling and smoking while the ladies were upstairs cooking.

  “The hell you trying to say?”

  “I’m saying I never thought I would see the day where you would want to get married. Don’t get me wrong, I know you love Ahni. There’s no doubting that, but marriage is a big step and I’m proud of you.”

  “Aw, shit. You just got mushy on me,” Fab laughed.

  “Shut up, nigga. I’m just saying I know love when I see it. You and Ahnesty were really made for each other, though. That girl really loves your ugly ass.”

  “I know. That’s my baby, dude. Enough about me, though. How you and Chasity doing?” Fab asked.

  “We’re working on it. She said we were going to have to take it slow because she doesn’t trust me right now. She still lives in her house with Saria but we chill together like a family every day and she’s slowly warming up to Junior,” Faizon explained.

  “Slow progress is better than no progress. I have no doubts you two will get back on track. Y’all been down for each other since forever. She was just hurt but I don’t doubt that she still loves you.”

  “True. You do know that you started some shit, though, right?” Faizon asked.

  “How?” Fab retorted.

  “Because whenever I get ready to propose to Chas, I have to make sure her ring is the shit. There’s no way I can let me little brother outdo me,” Faizon explained.

  “Nigga, you act like you’re five years older than me when you’re only five minutes older,” Fab laughed.

  “Doesn’t matter. I still came out first.”

  “Anyways, did you bail your baby mama out of jail?” Fab asked with a chuckle.

  “Hell nah! I’m not obligated to do a damn thing for her. I don’t even know if I want my son going back with her if her ass is going to be around drugs,” Faizon spat.

  “I hear you. That’s why I’m happy you decided not to take over where Pops left off. You don’t only have one shorty to protect, but you have two,” Fab agreed.

  “Yea, and I have to look after your ass, too,” Faizon told him.

  “No doubt.” Fab nodded his head.

  Faizon was still hot about his brother getting shot. Even
though Ahnesty called off the plan to get at Khan, he now had beef with him that was more personal. There was no way in hell he was going to allow him or any other nigga to get at his brother without retaliation. He had always been his brother’s keeper and protector and that wasn’t going to change just because they were grown.

  19

  “So Nana, what do you think?” Ahnesty asked.

  She had stopped by her Nana’s house to tell her about her and Fabion’s engagement. Since the passing of her parents, her Nana was the only parent she had and she really valued her opinion about everything. Nana had always liked Fabion but Ahnesty wanted to know how she felt about her spending the rest of her life with him.

  “I’m happy he finally asked you. I thought I was going have to ask for him,” her Nana laughed.

  “Wait, you knew he was going to ask?” Ahnesty asked, confused.

  “Of course I did. He called and asked for my blessing. I obviously told him I approved. That boy was so nervous, I can just imagine how he asked.”

  “Well, I really didn’t give him a chance,” Ahnesty laughed.

  “Oh Lord.”

  Ahnesty looked up towards the stairs when she heard footsteps. Down came Emani looking as if she was mad at the world. Ahnesty looked at her and rolled her eyes. She didn’t know that she was out of jail but she should’ve known that their Nana wasn’t going to let her sit there, just like Chasity said.

  “Mani, come look at this ring on your cousin’s finger,” Nana told Emani.

  “Which one did you con into giving you a ring?” Emani asked.

  “Emani, we are two different breeds. I don’t have to con, trick, or trap a nigga to give me a damn thing. You should take notes, I could teach you a thing or two,” Ahnesty spat with an attitude.

  “Exactly what can you teach me, Ahnesty? How to fuck my nigga’s enemy?” Emani smirked.

  “I already told you not to open your mouth about shit you know nothing about. Don’t worry about what I have going on. Worry about why your washed up ass can’t find nor keep a man and still trying to be out in these streets like you’re a damn teenager.”

  “Alright you two, that’s enough. I raised you two better than that,” their Nana fussed.

  “Check your granddaughter, Nana. She don’t know who she’s messing with.” Emani rolled her eyes.

  “Don’t nobody need to check me, and if I were you, I wouldn’t make threats knowing you’re scary. You wouldn’t even bust a grape in a damn fruit fight,” Ahnesty warned her.

  “Ahnesty.”

  “Sorry, Nana, but I’m not about to stay here and join her in her misery. She’s looking for some company and I’m not available,” Ahnesty said before kissing her Nana on the cheek before leaving.

  Emani watched Ahnesty leave with a smirk on her face. She felt as if Chasity and Ahnesty always acted as if they were better than her but she knew that she would get the last laugh. If Ahnesty knew what she knew, she would have been trying to stay on Emani’s good side.

  Ahnesty was appalled by Emani’s attitude and behavior towards her, like she had really done something to her. When everyone else had written her off and dogged her out, Ahnesty was the only one who had her back and continued to talk to her when her own sister had cut her off. Emani had been the root of plenty of her and Fabion’s arguments.

  She had always said that Emani only acted like that because she was angry about her mother getting addicted to drugs and her father abandoning her before Chasity was even born. She tried multiple times to talk Emani into going to talk to someone and get some help but she refused, so there was nothing else she could do.

  It took her a while but she was finally starting to see what everyone else saw in Emani. She should have cut her off when she did her own sister dirty, but Ahnesty always believed in giving people the benefit of the doubt and second chances.

  ___

  Fabion was chilling with his boys at Tone’s house. It had been a minute since he was able to just kick back and relax. His stitches from his wounds were healed, he had just proposed to the love of his life, he was making more money than he could count; so therefore, he had a lot to celebrate.

  “Yo Fab, I forgot to tell you. Somebody left a package for you today,” Tone said as he tossed Fabion a manila folder.

  Fab examined the folder and all it had on it was his name.

  “Who’s it from?” he asked.

  “No idea, it was sticking out of the mailbox at the house on Dexter,” Tone told him.

  Fabion just shrugged and tossed it to the side. He had better things on his mind than trying to figure out what was in that folder.

  “So tell me, how does it feel?” Tone asked Fab.

  “How does what feel?” Fab asked, playing dumb.

  “Nigga, you know. How does it feel knowing that you are about to throw away your freedom and be tied down to one woman for the rest of your life?”

  “Y’all niggas act like my life is going to be over or something. Ain’t nothing between me and Ahnesty going to change except her last name and our status. She already got the Bentley, her name is on the deed to the house, she gets the money, and she has my Black Card, so in my eyes, she’s already my wife. We’re just going to get the shit on paper,” Fab explained.

  “That’s what’s up, though, Fab. Like, on some real shit. I love black love, that’s some powerful shit,” Tone nodded his head in approval.

  “Hell yea. She had a nigga scared as shit though when she left me. I really didn’t think her ass was going to come back. She had me begging and everything,” he admitted.

  “Oh scary ass,” Faizon laughed.

  “That’s coming from the nigga that was depressed when Chasity left him,” Tone said, busting Faizon out.

  “Nigga, I was not depressed,” Faizon snapped.

  “You definitely were. Chasity had your ass going crazy,” Tone told him.

  “You was on some other shit, Twin. I don’t know what the hell you were thinking when you moved your baby mama in. You turned my happy home upside down with that one. I couldn’t get no ass for two damn weeks straight because of some shit you did,” Fabion told his brother.

  “Nah, I can’t lie. That shit really fucked me up though. I knew she wasn’t going to be happy and I honestly thought she was just going to fuck me up and be done with it. When I pulled up to see her taking bags out the house, I knew I was fucked but she crushed a nigga when she said she wouldn’t accept my son,” Faizon explained.

  “That’s another reason why I thought Ahni was going to leave my black ass.” Fabion shook his head.

  Everything his dad had told him when he went to see him that one time came rushing back. He’d tried to warn him about shit like this and Fabion thought he had everything under control, but he was obviously fooling himself.

  He really would have lost if he would have lost Ahnesty for good. She really had been down with him since day one and he would be a fool to lose her.

  20

  Ahnesty sat nervously on the examination table as she waited for her doctor to come back in with her results. She was nervous but anxious at the same time. She had been feeling sick lately but she didn’t want to tell Fab until she knew for sure. Previously Fabion had said that he didn’t want any kids while he was in the game but since he was basically the king of the north, she knew he had no plans of getting out anytime soon.

  “Well, Ms. Jakes, I have the results from your pregnancy test,” her doctor told her.

  Ahnesty took a deep breath to prepare herself for the news she was about to receive.

  “Okay, I’m ready,” she said.

  “You are in fact pregnant.” Her doctor smiled.

  She didn’t know if she wanted to smile or cry. She was about to be someone’s mother. She placed her hand on her stomach and a little smile spread across her face. I’m going to be a mother.

  “If you would please lay back so we can see just how far along you are.”

  While the doctor was examining her,
her mind was full of thoughts about how she couldn’t wait to feel her baby growing inside of her. Even though she would probably end up having to put her schooling on hold, she didn’t mind. She was praying that when she told Fabion that he would be happy since he knew what he was doing when he didn’t pull out anyways.

  “Okay, it seems that you are approximately nine weeks. We can estimate your due date to be May 15th. I’m going to start you on some prenatal pills immediately,” her doctor explained.

  “Okay, thank you so much.” Ahnesty beamed.

  “No problem, hun. Congratulations. Motherhood is such a beautiful thing.”

  After getting her prescription, ultrasound picture and necessary paper work, Ahnesty was free to go. She couldn’t wait to get home and share the good news with Fabion. She could have easily called and told him, but she wanted to see the look on her fiancé’s face when she told him.

  Fiancé, that has a nice ring to it, she thought as she started her car and headed home. When she pulled up to the house, she shook her head at the fact that Fabion was having a damn iron gate built around their house. He said he didn’t trust anybody and niggas were going to have to come hard if they planned on coming after him.

  She smiled when she noticed Faizon’s car in their circular driveway.

  “Good, I can kill two birds with one stone,” she said out loud to herself.

  ___

  Fabion sat in his office in deep thought as he looked over the contents of the package Tone said was dropped off for him. Not only had he been through some fucked up shit in his life, but also he had done plenty of fucked up shit in his life; but this sitting in front of him was an all-time low. Nothing could have prepared him for the hurt and distrust he felt right now.

  The one person he thought was down for him no matter what and was loyal to no end was looking like the most disloyal person in is life right now. Eight years, he thought as he swiped everything off his desk and the contents went flying everywhere.

  Eight years he and the woman he made his fiancée had been together but yet, there she was in a ton of pictures with another man. Not just any man though, his nemesis of all people. Their relationship had been far from perfect but he didn’t think it was so bad that she had to run to the next nigga’s arms.