This Could Be Us But You Playin' 2

by Cachet

  “Trust me when I tell you that I love you too. Probably more than I should. It’s just that I just can’t do this any longer.” Tiera lifted her hand and wiped the tears away from her face. She forced a smile on her face, “Whoever it is, I hope she makes you happy, Kaleb. I really do. Apparently, she is the something really special, and I refuse to continue to compete because I obviously can’t.”

  “But there’s no one to compete with,” Kaleb continued with his lie.

  “You take care of yourself.” Tiera turned away, “Bye, Kaleb.”

  “Tiera, come on man!” He called out, but his words fell on deaf ears as Tiera snatched his front door open and walked out.

  Chapter 4

  “Where the hell you about to go?” NiChia asked, “Yo’ stubborn ass done finally called Kaleb, huh?” She laughed, sticking her tongue out. “I knew yo’ freaky ass was gone call him.”

  Dominique turned around and looked at her sister. “You so damn nosy.” She rolled her eyes before turning back around and facing the mirror. “No, I haven’t called him. For your information, I’m going to lunch with Nicy,” she paused and turned to look at her sister again, “and before you start acting up, just know that I don’t want to hear it.”

  NiChia’s smile immediately dropped. “Ugh!” She plopped down on the bed. “That’s fine. Just when you see her, ask the bitch if she remember that ass kicking I gave her.”

  “Now you know damn well I ain’t asking her that. You should be trying to leave that girl alone. Did you forget that you’re still going to court for that shit?”

  “Hell nah, I ain’t forget. How the fuck could I?” NiChia asked with her face twisted up. “It pisses me off that that hoe can run her dick suckers all fucking day long, but when I finally get tired and pop her in her shit, I’m the one that’s wrong,” she groaned. “She better hope I don’t go to jail behind that bullshit because if I do, when I get out, I’m gone drag that bitch again! Next time she better hope she’s able to talk when the cops pull up, because I plan to murk her trifling ass.”

  “Peanut!” Franny yelled, walking into the room. “What I tell you about that language?”

  Dropping her eyes, NiChia replied, “I’m sorry grandma. I’m just upset.”

  “That’s okay baby, just remember next time before I beat yo’ tail,” Franny said, causing both of her granddaughters to laugh. “Where you off to, Nikki?” She turned her attention to her eldest grandchild.

  “To have lunch with that phony bit-” NiChia looked over at her grandmother with wide eyes, “that phony heffa that she calls her best friend.”

  “Humph, you still dealing with that ole’ fast tail girl?” Franny asked, walking over to Dominique.

  “Yep,” NiChia spoke, which made Franny look over at her.

  “Girl, I wasn’t even talking to you,” she told her. “Don’t you got some business?”

  NiChia smacked her lips loudly and rolled her eyes. “Well, excuse me. I guess I’ll go and check on my nephew, since this conversation doesn’t involve me. Maybe, while I’m there, I can find me some business.”

  Franny watched as her younger granddaughter got up off the bed and stomped towards the door like a little kid. “You better watch that attitude, missy. You ain’t too grown to get popped in the goddamn mouth, you hear me?”

  “Yes grandma,” NiChia mumbled, as she walked out of the bedroom door. She knew when Franny cursed, she was serious, and although she was a live wire, she never got out of pocket with her grandmother because she knew better.

  “That girl gone make me beat her ass one day,” Franny said, once NiChia was out of ear shot.

  “Yeah right. You ain’t gone whip nobody grandma.” Dominique laughed. “You already know how Peanut is.”

  “That I do,” Franny agreed, “That girl has an attitude on her. Remind me of her mother back in the day. Boy, do I miss me some Nicole. That girl used have your daddy on his toes.” A grin appeared on her face as she reminisced. “I sometimes wonder how things would have turned out if he had married her, but then I remember that everything happens for a reason and God makes no mistakes.”

  Dominique smiled. “Amen.”

  “Anyways, how has my beautiful granddaughter been?”

  Dominique picked up a bottle of oil, poured a few drops in her hands and started to unravel one of her Bantu knots. “I’m doing pretty good,” she replied, while moving on to the next one.

  “Girl, who you think you fooling?” Franny asked, looking at her granddaughter though the mirror. “I may be old, but I ain’t stupid.”

  Dominique snickered. “I know you ain’t stupid, grandma. You’re one of the smartest women I know.” When she saw Franny still staring at her, she smiled. “Seriously, I’m okay.”

  “Who is he?”

  “What?” Dominique asked, trying to keep the shocked expression off of her face. It didn’t work because her grandmother had already seen it.

  “You heard me, who is he?”

  “What makes you think it’s—”

  “Stop,” Franny told her, lifting her hand up and cutting her off. She took a deep breath. “Now, you just told me that I already know how Peanut is, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “So, doesn’t that mean that I know how you are too?”

  “I guess so.”

  “Okay, so tell me who he is,” Franny urged.

  Dominique dropped her eyes to the floor. She could no longer look at her grandmother because she knew she was right. “I can’t because I don’t want you to look at me different.

  “Listen to me.” Franny grabbed Dominique by the shoulders and turned her around to face at her. “Never would I look at you any differently. You’re my baby, Nikki, and I know you know that right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Alright, now get yo’ butt on over here and tell me all about the guy who has you head over heels in love,” Franny told her, guiding her over to the bed.

  “Well, his name is Kaleb,” Dominique started, once they were both seated. “We were in a relationship before I moved here with you and Peanut, but we broke up and lost contact. That was up until a few months ago when Dre and I went to see the house I was telling you that were are buying. Turns out, Kaleb owns it with his best friend, Desmond, who just happens to be Peanut’s new boyfriend,” she explained. Franny nodded her head. “Afterwards, he called me up and asked me to meet him at the park. I went and we talked. It was then that I found out that we had broken up for nothing. From that day, we continued to talk and sometimes I’d go spend the night over his house when I was here with DJ,” Dominique admitted.

  Franny smacked her hand on her leg and laughed. “I knew you were up to something.”

  “You did?” Dominique asked, looking at her shocked.

  “Girl yes! I knew you weren’t coming up here that much to see me, that’s for sure.” When Dominique looked over at her, she rephrased what she had just said. “I’m not saying it like that. I’m just saying that you weren’t even here that much, so I knew you had to be out with someone. Not only that, but Peanut was gone all the time with her new man, so where the hell else would you be?”

  “I guess I ain’t as slick as I thought I was.”

  “You damn sure aren’t.” Franny laughed before she got serious again. “What I want to know is what do you plan to do with Dre?”

  “What do you mean? I don’t plan to do anything with him.”

  “So, you’re going to continue to sneak around behind his back?”

  “No,” Dominique shook her head. “I don’t talk to Kaleb anymore. I broke it off.” She revealed. “It’s not worth it.”

  “What’s not worth it?” Franny asked, looking at her granddaughter puzzled.

  “Losing my family,” Dominique told her, as if she should have known.

  “Listen, trust me when I tell you that I don’t approve of cheating. I never have, and I never will. The reason being is people get hurt. You can’t play with someone’s feelings like that,
baby. No one deserves to be cheated on.” Franny placed her hand on Dominique’s thigh, “Now, what I will say is this. If you love Dre… I mean truly love him, then by all means, stick with him. On the other hand, if you love this guy Kaleb, why live your life settling for Dre when you can actually be happy?”

  “What makes you think I love Kaleb?”

  “Nikki, I watched you as you spoke about this man. You wore a smile on your face the entire time you talked about him, and I haven’t seen you do that with anyone besides your father. That lets me know that you are in love with that man.”

  Franny was seeing right though her façade, so Dominique went on and told the truth. “I am,” she confessed, “but I’m also in love with Dre.”

  “No you aren’t. You love Dre, and that is a big difference,” Franny went on to explain. “I’ve seen the two of you interact, and I’ve never seen that look in your eyes when you stare at him.”

  Dominique sat on the bed confused. She didn’t know what her grandmother was talking about. Wanting to know what she meant, she asked, “What look is that, grandma?”

  “The look of love and adoration. The guy, Kaleb, isn’t even here. You’ve only spoke of him for maybe a few minutes, and I’ve already saw the look. You love that man with every fiber of your being. So, I wonder why you’re torturing yourself.”

  “Because it’s complicated,” Dominique admitted.

  “It’s only complicated because you make it that way.”

  *****

  Dominique signaled her blinker and switched lanes. She was headed to La Parrilla, a Mexican restaurant, to meet with Shanice and have lunch. While she drove, she couldn’t help but reflect on the conversation that she had with her grandmother. While the chat was awkward at first, it didn’t end that way. Dominique was initially ashamed that her grandmother knew about the fact that she was cheating on Deondre. She had always been known as a ‘good girl’ to both Franny, as well as her father, and knew that something like that would be something that they frowned upon. Turns out, Franny wasn’t as disturbed about the fact that she was stepping out on her fiancé. She was more troubled to find out that her granddaughter was head over heels in love with someone else and wasn’t with that person only because she felt that she owed her baby’s father.

  Although Dominique never said it out loud, what everyone else thought was somewhat true. She did feel like she owed Deondre for all of the things that he had done for her when she basically had nothing. Back then he not only allowed her to move into her apartment, but he wouldn’t accept the rent that she attempted to pay him on numerous occasions. While Dominique had a part-time job during that time, she wasn’t making a lot of money and Deondre knew this. Since his uncle was footing the bill for everything he had, he told Dominique that she could stay with him for as long as she needed rent free. This was something he’d done even before they became a couple. Deondre had done so much for her, and she appreciated him and loved him for everything. Did she love him as much as she loved Kaleb? The answer to that question was no. She and Deondre did have a bond that they shared, and that was DJ, their child, and while she wasn’t ‘in love’ like her grandmother predicted, she was going to make it work with her family. Not growing up in a two parent household was something that Dominique didn’t get a chance to have once her father was sent to prison and she was going to work hard to make sure that DJ did, even if it meant putting her needs on the back burner.

  After pulling into the parking lot of the restaurant, Dominique found an available spot near the front and parked her car. She looked around and saw that the restaurant wasn’t as packed as it usually was on the weekend, and was glad that there wouldn’t be a bunch of loud folks while she and her best friend ate. Once her vehicle was in gear, she pulled down her visor and inspected her hair in the mirror. She loved how it had turned out. The Bantu knots that she had put in the night before were damn near perfect. There were large, full curls all over her head. The ones in the front framed her face, while the ones near the rear fell gracefully across her shoulders and down her back. The new oil that she had started using had her locks shiny, and the edge control had her baby hairs laid. Happy with her look, Dominique put on a coat of lip gloss, grabbed her bag, and climbed out of the car.

  As soon as she entered the restaurant, she saw Shanice sitting at a table close to the bar. She was on the phone talking to someone, and from what Dominique could see, the conversation wasn’t a pleasant one. When she walked up, Shanice immediately ended the call with a look of annoyance on her face. Her expression quickly changed and she threw on a smile.

  “Hey babes,” Shanice squealed, standing up to greet her.

  “Hey boo. You look cute,” Dominique complimented.

  Shanice beamed, placed her hands on her hips, and turned around to give her best friend a full look at what she had on. When she was back facing the table, she smiled and replied, “Thank you. You do too. Sit down and let’s chat. I haven’t seen you in forever.”

  Taking a seat, Dominique thought for a second, “I know. It’s been at least a month,” she paused. “About the fight, I tried my best to break it—”

  “Girl, don’t even trip about that,” Shanice interjected with a wave on her hand. “I ain’t even worried about that no more. That’s old news,” she lied. “Anyways, what’s been up with Miss Nikki?” Shanice asked, taking a sip from the glass of water in front of her.

  “Umm, nothing much. I’ve just taking care of DJ and staying out the damn way,” she said as she looked over at her friend.

  Dominique was amazed that there weren’t any marks on her. After the fight Shanice had with NiChia, her face was a bloody mess. So, to see that none of the scratches and scars was visible was shocking. Dominique noticed that Shanice had gotten her hair braided and wore it in a high ponytail. She wondered if it was because NiChia had pulled out a lot of her hair, or if the braids were just something she wanted at the time. While she wasn’t sure, Dominique figured that it was because of her hair being pulled out. Shanice was never the type to really rock braids. She usually opted for extremely long sew-ins.

  “I know that’s right,” Shanice agreed.

  At that time, the waitress walked up. She wore a bright smile on her face and introduced herself as Maria before she placed a platter of tortilla chips and salsa in front of Dominique. Once she was finished, she removed a pen and pad from her apron and asked them what they wanted to drink. Shanice ordered a glass of sweet tea, and Dominique opted for a margarita and a glass of water for herself. Since both women already knew what they wanted to eat, they went ahead and put their orders in as well. When the waitress had everything jotted down, she let them know that she would be putting their orders in and would return shortly. Right before she walked away, she told them to let her know if they needed anything else.

  “Girl, I wish I could order a damn margarita,” Shanice said with a smirk, as she rubbed her small bump in a circular motion.

  “Oh shit, I forgot you were pregnant. Congratulations!” Dominique cheered. Even though she still wondered why she hadn’t told her about it before the fight, she was truly happy for her best friend.

  “Thank you.”

  “When are you due?”

  Shanice took another sip of her water. “At the end of February.”

  “That’s what’s up.” Dominique nodded. “How does Lamar feel about having another baby?” she inquired, hoping that he was the father of this child. It was no secret that before Shanice got with him, she was hot in the pants. The fact that she had never told Dominique that she was pregnant made her wonder if it was supposed to be a secret.

  The waitress walking up interrupted their conversation. With all three drinks on her tray, she lifted them both and placed them in front of each woman. When she turned to walk away, the best friends continued their discussion.

  “He’s happy. You know, he wants a boy this time.” Shanice smirked again.

  Dominique really wanted to ask her what she was smirking
for because there wasn’t anything funny about dealing with a guy who you have to keep in the dark, but she bit her tongue. “I bet,” she said, trying to keep from rolling her eyes. “When do you find out the sex?”

  “Sometime next month.”

  “Cool, well keep me posted.”

  “Girl, you already know I will.” Shanice grinned.

  Yeah right, just like you kept me posted about you being pregnant again, Dominique thought to herself. “You guys already have London, so a boy would give you the best of both worlds. Speaking of my stinka butt, how is she doing? I miss her so much.”

  “She’s at the house with my mother. You know Mya loves her some London.”

  “That she does. When am I going to be able to see her, bitch?” Shanice smiled because she had already been looking for a reason to come and visit, and now she had one.

  “I’ll bring her down there to see you and DJ this weekend.”

  “Okay, that sounds good,” Dominique told her, picking up her drink and taking a sip from her straw. “I’m sorry, but this is so good.” She laughed.

  “Whateva hoe.” Shanice rolled her eyes before she picked up her tea. “I hope they forgot to put alcohol in it.”

  “Ha ha bitch, there’s plenty alcohol in here. Do you want to try some?” Dominique asked, holding her glass out towards Shanice.

  “You get on my damn nerves.” She laughed. “Anyway, are you sure you are going to be at home this weekend?”

  “Yeah, where else would I be?”