URBAN: What A Thug Wants

by Shantel Johnson

  “Orlando, have you thought about other occupational options,” I asked him. He let go of my hand and sat back. The expression on his face changed and I instantly regretted the question. His response made me realize that he wasn’t ready to change.

  “I knew this was going to come up,” he said “No, I have not looked at other occupational options and I don’t plan on doing so.”

  “But you’re so intelligent, and you already consider yourself as a business man. Why don’t you continue in the field of business? I mean you’ve done so well in this one. I’m sure you’ll excel in a legal business as well,” I told him. He laughed.

  “Terielle, you are so naïve,” he told me. “Look, I’m not in this business by choice. I didn’t choose this life. It chose me. The streets raised me and made me the man I am today. My mother abandoned me and my father didn’t care for me. I lived with my grandmother who passed away when I was ten. The streets became my home. No one cared for my well-being. I was alone in this world and I did the only thing I knew how to do to survive. Did I try to get a job? Of course I did, but I was a street nigga, with a street mentality and that doesn’t work well in a job setting. Besides, I was used to fast, easy money and that money just wasn’t coming fast enough for me. In the two weeks I was working to get a five hundred dollar check, I could’ve been in the streets and made fifteen hundred easily and not a dime went to the government.”

  “But Orlando what you’re doing is illegal. If you get caught, you’re going to jail and you’ll be in there for a long time. If you’re going to be with me, I need you here. Not locked behind a jail cell.” I told him.

  “And I understand that T, but I just can’t give up this lifestyle right now,” he said. “Maybe once I make enough money to retire, or find another way to make money, but right now I’m stuck right here. Either you can accept that, or you can’t but I need to know so I’m not here wasting my time.”

  I looked away from him. I knew there was no way to change his mind. Not right now. He had lived this life too long and this was now a part of him. I didn’t want to lose him though. He showed me so much attention and seemed to care so much about me. I didn’t want to let that go. I knew if I chose to let him go based off of his occupation that I would miss an opportunity to be with someone who really cares about me and I wasn’t willing to give that up just yet.

  “I’m sorry Orlando, I didn’t mean to make you upset or anything. Now that I understand that this is a part of you, I am willing to accept it. Everybody has a flaw, this is yours, but the way you treat me and take care of me is worth more to me than how you make your money.” I explained. He sighed a sigh of relief and got up from his chair to help me out of mine. He then placed my arms around his neck and put his arms around my waist, drawing me in closer to him. He held me tightly against his body.

  “Thank you sweetheart,” he said and kissed me on my forehead. “I promise you won’t regret your decision.”

  Six.

  Orlando and I have been going on strong for a month now. I’m glad I made the decision to put my view of his occupational lifestyle aside. He’s done nothing but take care of me. He continues to wow me with his morning and night texts. He still shows me a lot of attention as well and seems to care about me more than he cares about himself. We’ve gone on a number of dates since the first one. Some I would’ve never imagined going with anyone else. Especially not with the guys I’ve dated before. It seems that when he’s with me, he sets his street life aside for a moment. He enjoys his time with me and never does “business” when we’re together because he knows how I feel about it. We have been getting really serious lately, and I’m thinking maybe I’m ready to trust him completely and give him all I have to offer. I invited him over for dinner and a movie of his choice tonight. I figured since he was always catering to me, that I would do the same and cater to him. Going out to dinner and a movie was out of the question, though, because I know he would never let me pay.

  I was cooking steak and shrimp with a side of pasta and broccoli. I had bought a nice bottle of wine, and romantically set the table. Everything was ready and it was perfect. He should be arriving any minute now. Dinner was at seven and it was now six forty-five, and I knew he always arrived on time, if not early. He was never late.

  Like I figured Orlando arrived at six-fifty, he came in the door with a bouquet of beautiful white roses. He pulled me into him and kissed me on my forehead.

  “It smells good as hell in here,” he said. “My lady threw down in the kitchen huh?”

  “You know it, bae, and it’s all for you.” He followed me into the kitchen and sat the roses down on the table. The roses tied everything together. I fixed Orlando a plate and then fixed one for myself. I then poured us both a glass of wine.

  “Everything looks great,” he said as he bowed his head to begin praying over his food. I did the same and we blessed the food together. Once we were done, we began eating. If Orlando didn’t like the food, he sure didn’t show it. He ate all of his food before I ate half of mine. The only time he sat his fork down was to take a sip of his wine. After he was done, he sat back with a look of satisfaction on his face. “That was delicious baby girl.”

  After dinner we went into the living room and watched some movie he found on Netflix. I don’t remember what it was called because I fell asleep during the middle of it. He had me lying on his chest while he held me. I was so comfortable. Too comfortable, which is why I fell asleep. He woke me up by kissing me on my forehead. That’s when I saw that the movie was over.

  “Comfortable?” he asked and I nodded. “Well you look tired so I think I’m going to head on out of here and let you get some rest.”

  “No, stay.” I begged and then added “Please.”

  He chuckled. “You want me to stay a few more minutes?”

  “No. Stay the night.”

  He stared at me. I had never asked him to stay the night. He’s been over here a lot of times and I had been over his as well but we had never spent the whole night together. Before I wasn’t ready to take that step, but now I think I am.

  “Ok love, I’ll stay but let’s get you in the bed,” he said. I stood up and walked towards the bedroom. He grabbed my arm and turned me around. He looked into my eyes and then he kissed me. I knew then he was testing me. Before when he kissed me, I wouldn’t let him go any longer than a peck and I would never let it lead to anything else. This time I didn’t hold back. My body began to melt as we went from gentle kisses to more vigorous kisses. I came in closer to him and he wrapped his arms around my waist holding me tightly against his body. He then started kissing me on my neck and when he bit it I gasped. He began sucking on my neck and my eyes began to roll to the back of my head. I wanted him then and there. I brought his head back up to my face and began kissing him again. He started feeling all over my body. He picked me up and I started sucking on his neck. Then, he took me into the bedroom and laid me down gently on the bed. He stared at me again, the same way he always does.

  “Are you sure you want to do this,” he asked. I nodded. He was hesitant, but he lifted up my shirt and kissed me on my stomach. He traveled up my stomach to my chest and undid my bra. Then he began to suck on my titties. I put my hand on the back of his head and held him there, telling him to keep going. He began to suck harder and faster making me want more of him. I brought his head up and kissed him again welcoming his tongue into my mouth. I held him tightly against my body and then began to feel up his shirt. He took off his shirt and I marveled at his body. I gently rubbed my hands down his chiseled chest and washboard abs. He removed my shorts and panties and then kissed me on my inner thigh. Then he started working his tongue, pleasuring me in ways no other man had pleasured me before. He made me come twice and then slid his dick into my pussy. I gasped as he began to penetrate. It felt so good to finally have him inside of me.

  Seven.

  I can’t take it anymore. Orlando and I decided to move in together three months ago and it’s
driving me insane. He’s turned my house into a drug house and has all kinds of druggies coming in and out of the apartment. Plus I can’t seem to get the marijuana smell out of my house. On top of all that, I came home the other day and saw a police car parked around the corner, with perfect view of the house. I walked into the house and threw everyone out immediately. I was pissed.

  Today, I walked in and saw the same scenario. The cops were around the corner from the house and Orlando and his boys were sitting on the sofa smoking weed. I came in and slammed the door. Everyone looked at me except Orlando. I stormed to the bedroom and sat my stuff down. I yelled Orlando’s name and told him to come here. I was fed up with this bullshit and it was ending now.

  “Baby, what’s wrong?” he asked sincerely and then attempted to grab my arm. I snatched away from him.

  “I want those people out of my house now!” I screamed. “I’m fed up with this. The house smells like nothing but weed. You got all kinds of people going in and out of the house. The cops are outside watching the place and eyeing me down as I get out of the car. I’m tired of it.”

  “Baby, come here,” he told me grabbing my arm and stepping behind me. He put his arms around my waist and kissed me on my cheek. It didn’t help, I was still pissed off at him. “You knew what you were getting into when I moved in, love. We talked about this.”

  I pushed away from him and turned to face him. “But you’re all about business now. It’s like ever since I gave it up to you I haven’t been your main priority anymore. I want my Orlando back!”

  He grabbed my hand and kissed it. “Baby girl, I haven’t gone anywhere I’m still here and I’m still yours. It’s just, okay, there’s two of us now and I want to be able to take care of you so I been working twice as hard. Besides, I’ve been really thinking about what you said about going into business for myself and I want to get to a place where I don’t have to worry about going bankrupt trying to start my own business. I want to get to a place where I’m making enough money that I can retire the drug business altogether, but right now I’m at the top of my game and I can’t stop now.”

  I was no longer mad after he said that. I had no idea of his intentions. Honestly, I had totally forgotten about the talk we had so many months ago. He pulled me into him and wrapped his arms around me, holding me tightly against his body. I laid my head against his chest.

  “I still want those people out of my house. I need some rest from work.” I told him, my words muffled.

  “You got it love,” he told me and kissed me on my forehead.

  ***

  Orlando came home late that night. Way later than he normally does. He came in and kissed me on my forehead. I asked him where he was and he told me he was handling some business. I decided not to pressure him about it. I doubted that he was cheating on me. He smelled highly of marijuana and his eyes were extremely low so I assume he had been smoking. Most likely another smoke session at his boys’ house since I kicked them out of mine. The sex we had that night made up for it though. I knew one thing, sex was so much better when he was high. He could go rounds that he didn’t have stamina for when he was sober and his head game was heaven.

  ***

  The next day, I came home and watched as one of the druggies left my house and was immediately stopped by the police a few blocks down the road. I pull into the garage and hurried inside the house. That was the last straw. I was putting Orlando out of my house for real this time. The police were getting closer and closer to kicking my door in, and with it filled with drugs and other drug related paraphernalia, there was no way that Orlando wasn’t going to jail; and if he went down, I was going down with him. I walked in the house surprised to see no body sitting on the sofa. All residue from the drugs were cleaned up, and the house surprisingly didn’t smell like weed. Orlando was sitting on the sofa watching TV. When I shut the door, he turned it off and stood up to greet me.

  “Hey baby girl,” he said and came over to hug me. He kissed me on my forehead and asked how my day was. I was taken by surprise.

  “My day was fine…” I trailed off. “What’s going on here?”

  “What you mean?

  “Well the house is clean, your boys ain’t here eating our food and smoking up the place and for once, it doesn’t smell like two hundred pounds of weed in here.”

  “I been listening to what you said T and you right. I been taking advantage of you love. I rented out another place, an apartment on the other side of town. Majority of my weed is now stashed there and that will be where I will handle my business from now on. My boys are prohibited to come here. This place is just for me and my lady.”

  I was stunned and amazed at the same time. Its things like this that keep me from putting Orlando out of my house. He actually listens to what I say and he acts upon it. For a second, I forgot what I had come in here for, and then it hit me.

  “Orlando, the cops have been watching the house for weeks now! They pulled over a guy that left the house not too long ago. I just know that their going to kick the door in.” I said worriedly.

  “Don’t worry love. That was just Tory. He’s not a druggie, just a friend of mine. He didn’t have anything on him that would make the cops suspicious of the house, but if it makes you feel any better, I plan on getting us a new house as well. I know I tainted this one. If we move, it will get the cops off of our backs and keep you safe.”

  I nodded in approval. I knew there was a reason why I kept Orlando around.

  Eight.

  Things have been great between us since Orlando and I had our little conversation a few days back. We have gone looking for houses and everything. Today, I was preparing a special dinner for him because I had a surprise for him. I got off of work as usual and walked to my car. As soon as I got into the car I got a phone call.

  “You have a prepaid call from ‘Orlando Johnson’. This call may be monitored or recorded. To accept charges press one.” The automatic voice said.

  I instantly got heated but pressed one anyway. “How the hell did you end up in jail?!”

  “Stop asking questions and come get me! My bond is a thousand dollars. You got it. I put it in your account. Come get me and I’ll explain on our way home.” He told me and hung up. I started my car and headed towards the police station. This was it. There was no way he could get around this one. It was either change his lifestyle or get out of my fucking house!

  Once I got to the police station I was hesitant on getting out of the car. I should just leave his ass in there and make him spend the night in jail. I got out of the car and walked up the steps to the courthouse. I paid bail and waited for them to release him. They brought him out of the cell and released his handcuffs. He refused to look me in the eyes as he walked out the door. He still opened the passenger seat for me though and got in the driver’s seat. Before I could even say anything he started talking.

  “Look I know what you’re going to say,” he said, “but first let me explain. Before we get to the house, I want you to know that they kicked the door down. The house itself was clean but they got me and a couple of my homies because we had something slight on us. I got caught with ten grams of weed. We had only stopped by the house so I could grab some money from our closet stash. We weren’t in the house five seconds before they kicked it down. I let them know that you had nothing to do with it. You didn’t even know what was going on in the house while you were gone. I didn’t want you to go down for what I did.”

  He looked hurt as he was talking. Like he knew he failed me. I turned his face towards me and looked him in the eyes. I felt like he was finally ready to give the street life up. “Orlando, I think it’s time for you to rethink your business. You don’t want to keep going to jail.”

  He nodded. “You’re right. I don’t. I want to be here for you.”

  “So what do you think you should do about it?”

  “Keep a closer eye on the ones I hang around with and be more careful. Next time they won’t have a reason to take
me in. I won’t have anything on me.”

  I looked at him confused. “Are you serious? There shouldn’t be a next time!”

  “You’re right because they won’t even get that close next time.”

  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Instead of changing his lifestyle. He decided that it’s not his lifestyle but the people he surrounded himself with. I was amazed. This man couldn’t be serious right now.

  “Orlando. Are you serious?”

  “What? You thought I was going to give it all up just like that? If everything goes right, I could easily make ten thousand dollars this month. Ten thousand dollars. That’s all we need to get the house you want and you know that. You wanna give that up for a profession where I won’t even make a third of that in two months?” he asked.

  “That’s not the point Orlando! You want to risk losing me and going to jail for some money? Fuck the house! I just need you at home with me.” I yelled.

  “I hear you and I’m almost to the point where I can give that up but right now I just can’t do that. I thought you understood that.”

  “I do but things have changed now.”

  “Changed. How have they changed? The only thing that has changed is me getting arrested and that’s not gonna happen again. I promise you that.”

  “I just can’t do it anymore Orlando. I need you to choose. It’s me or the streets.”

  “Where is this coming from? You really gonna make me choose? You knew where I stood before we got together so why it gotta change now? Why can’t you just be okay with me making money?”