Life After A Balla

by Jackie D.

  “That bitch Skye, took my husband away from me and she’s gonna pay. My plan to use Kareem to get him to talk is working and I’m even enjoying my young boy toy while plotting my revenge,” she said, pulling herself together.

  CHAPTER 16

  Skye headed upstairs to put all the bags of clothes she’d just purchased in her room with a huge smile on her face. Being back in the Louis Vuitton and Neiman Marcus stores in Bal Harbour gave her a feeling she couldn’t explain. The fact that she didn’t have to look at prices or worry about getting beat up by Sandino because she’d spend too much made the experience even more enjoyable. She even made a special trip to Dulce, a shoe boutique owned by Basketball Wives star, Evelyn Lozada and purchased five pairs of top designer shoes.

  Once inside her room, Skye glanced at all the different shoe boxes and displayed a huge grin. She’d always been a shoe hoe, and the sight of each designer’s name only reconfirmed her obsession. She immediately sat down on her bed and pulled a pair out of the box and tried them on. After buckling the tiny strap on the Francesco Sacco sandals, she stood in the mirror admiring how good they looked on her freshly pedicured feet.

  “Now these are hot,” she said to herself.

  When Skye looked over at the two pairs of Alexander McQueen shoes she’d also purchased, her smile became even larger. She held the black leather, six inch pump in the air, realizing it was love at first sight.

  “I can’t wait to wear these, too.”

  After spending several minutes in shoe heaven, she reached in her purse and pulled out the stack of bills she’d withdrawn from one of Sandino’s accounts and stashed them in her new safe that was hidden in the closet. Even though she really enjoyed all the splurging on herself, Skye’s main goal was to stash away as much money as she could for the next rainy day. She refused to be broke again and was preparing for the future which didn’t include living in that house under those circumstances forever.

  “Tomorrow, I will hit the stores again bright and early. Shit…I have to do something to take my mind off being back in the house with that devil,” Skye said as she closed her safe and covered it up with some clothes.

  Skye had basically avoided Sandino for the past few days and got pissed off every time Quinn would come and ask her to assist him. She also noticed that Jordan had been avoiding his father as well.

  She had a flash back remembering when Jordan busted in the door from school on Sandino’s first day home from the rehab center. He was so excited about his first day of football practice but his mood quickly changed once he saw his father. Sandino however, was glad to see Jordan and glad to hear that he was following in his footsteps playing football. When he saw Jordan’s reaction to seeing him and the way he ran out of the room, Sandino lowered his head with a sad look on his face.

  Skye knew his appearance was overwhelming for him, not to mention she knew both her sons had a lot of mixed emotions still bottled up inside when it came to their father. The only thing Skye regretted the most about leaving Sandino was the impact it had on them. She headed to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. She stood poking around inside and pulled out a turkey and cheese sandwich she’d made earlier and a Pepsi. She popped the top instantly turning it up.

  “Aahhhhh, now that’s what I needed,” Skye said, plopping down at the huge maple leaf granite bar in the kitchen.

  While sitting there, it reminded her of Ms. Petra and how she would come in the kitchen and sit at that very bar and talk with her almost every day while she cooked delicious Jamaican meals. Skye took a deep breath thinking about how much she missed Ms. Petra, and wondered how she was doing since Skye hadn’t been able to locate her. She’d called the number Ms. Petra had given her only to find out the number had been disconnected.

  “Ms. Petra, I really wish you were here to help me deal with this bullshit right now,” Skye said, as a tear rolled down her left cheek. She quickly grabbed a napkin off the counter and wiped her face.

  Weakness is no longer tolerated. I need to pull myself together. I’m the one in charge here, she thought.

  Suddenly her thoughts were broken when Quinn walked into the kitchen. Her eyebrows lifted when she noticed he wasn’t wearing his normal uniform. Instead he had on just a wife beater that exposed his ripped muscles and a pair of basketball shorts. Skye almost lost it when she saw the print in front of the shorts.

  What the fuck? This dude is hung like a damn horse, she thought to herself.

  “Thank you so much for watching Payton while I was gone. Since Jordan is out and I haven’t had time to interview for a nanny, I really appreciate that. I do realize that’s not a part of your job description.”

  “No problem. She actually went to sleep once I fed her, and has been asleep ever since, so I didn’t mind,” Quinn responded. “She’s a good baby.”

  “Yeah, I lucked up with her.”

  “I know you’re not drinking that garbage, Skye,” Quinn said, frowning up his face up at the Pepsi sitting on the counter.

  “Yes, I am drinking it. You so called healthy people kill me, always talking about this isn’t good for you, that isn’t good for you. Shit, we’re all gonna die anyway so why not go out enjoying something you like,” Skye joked.

  Quinn shook his head at Skye’s comment. “I see right now I’m gonna have to get some healthy food up in here and get you on a good diet. Plus, how are you gonna keep that body tight if you keep putting junk in it?”

  Skye blushed. “I guess you’re right. I do need to start eating healthy, but at least I’ve started working out again. Shoot, you should’ve seen me a few months ago. I gained so much weight. But in all the right places though.”

  Quinn looked her up and down with a devilish grin. “I’m sure you did.”

  The two were quiet for a minute.

  “Skye, I have to run out for a little while and I need you to go and sit with Sandino. He’s already dressed and in his wheelchair. You can push him around outside for awhile if you want.”

  “Oh nooooo, I got something to do,” Skye lied.

  Quinn wondered why she was always purposely avoiding her husband. In fact he noticed that her son was doing the same thing

  “Look Skye, technically it’s my day off. I haven’t been out of this house since I got here. I have to run and get a few personal things, but it will not take long.”

  Quinn hoped she didn’t get upset for him speaking his mind or even worse fire him because he really needed the job. But he felt the need to challenge her because the more she avoided Sandino the harder it was going to be for her to deal with his condition. He turned to walk away then suddenly remembered he forgot to tell her she had a visitor while she was out.

  “Oh yeah, a man stopped by while you were out earlier. His name was Bruze…Cruze or something like that. He said he would come back a little later.”

  Skye’s expression changed. She’d already told Cruze over the phone that she needed some time and he wasn’t respecting her wishes.

  Quinn noticed how upset she got. “Is everything alright? I assume that wasn’t somebody you wanted to see.”

  “You assumed right, but thanks for the message,” Skye responded.

  After leaving the kitchen, Quinn reappeared a few minutes later. He pushed Sandino into the kitchen. “Why don’t you take him outside by the pool so he can get some sun?”

  Skye gave Quinn the evil eye. “Who the hell works for whom around here?”

  Quinn threw up his hands. “Just an idea,” he said, walking out of the door.

  Finally deciding to take Quinn’s advice, Skye grabbed her Pepsi along with some other items. She paused when her stomach started to growl and decided to take a few bites of her sandwich. When she looked over at Sandino starring at her, she became irritated.

  “Can I enjoy my damn food without you drooling at it?” she spat. “You’re about to make me lose my appetite.” When he kept looking, Skye walked over to him. “Evidently your ass is hungry so here,” she said, stuffing ha
lf of her sandwich into his mouth making him gag. Skye then pushed Sandino outside near the pool talking shit the entire time.

  “When the hell did my name get RN, at the end of it? This is some bullshit. Quinn is pushing his luck with the stunt he just pulled.”

  Skye positioned Sandino by the pool then sat several feet away from him in a lounge chair. As she sat reading a book on her Kindle and enjoying the sunshine, she could feel Sandino watching her with those crazy eyes that once terrified her. She rolled hers and acted like he didn’t even exist.

  Suddenly, Skye heard her cell phone ring. She looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Cruze calling. Instead of ignoring it like she normally did, this time she decided to answer.

  “Hello.”

  “Hey, baby,” Cruze said.

  “I’m not your baby, and let’s get something straight right now. Don’t just be dropping by my house unannounced. I told you I needed some time so give it me,” she said, slamming the phone down.

  A few seconds later the phone rang again. Pissed, she looked at the caller ID again. This time is was Toni, Sandino’s lawyer. Skye debated on whether or not to answer. She was enjoying her day and wasn’t in the mood to deal with any business, so Skye decided to let the call go to voicemail and listen to her message later.

  When she saw Sandino looking at her again like he was wondering who was calling, Skye frowned up her face at him. “Why the hell are you looking over here? You need to mind your damn business and don’t be worried about whose calling my phone.” She then busted out laughing. “That’s the same shit you use to tell me…wow!”

  When Skye saw Toni calling a second time, curiosity took over. Once the phone stopped ringing, she quickly decided to check her voicemail.

  Hi, Skye. This is Toni Vaughn calling. Hey listen, I’m calling to see if you’ve looked at the news lately. I’m pretty sure you have since this has been all over the local news as well as some of those entertainment shows. We really need to discuss the recent pictures that were surfaced displaying Sandino in his wheelchair. I do realize that you wouldn’t have taken any pictures of him and submitted them to anyone, but it looks like someone else did. It also looks like it’s now been brought to the world’s attention that Sandino has been petitioned to take a paternity test. Now, of course you and I both know who is probably responsible for all this, and because Sandino doesn’t need this negative publicity right now, I need for him to go ahead and be tested so we can clear things up. We can talk details when you call me back. Talk to you soon.

  Skye cringed at the mention of the paternity test. Even though she hadn’t bothered to watch the news, she already knew Asia was behind this shit one hundred percent. She immediately slammed the phone down and jumped up, walking over toward Sandino’s face.

  “That was your lawyer on the phone. She wants to move forward with the paternity test. I hope you’re happy now. That bitch Asia is trying to take all your money, the little bit you will have left once I’m done spending it all. That’s what you get for fucking that gold digging ass bitch!” Skye got behind the wheelchair and pushed it closer to the pool. “I should push your ass in the water and leave,” she said, rolling him back and forth to the edge.

  At that moment, Skye heard thunder and felt small rain drops start to fall. She went over and gathered her things.

  “Since you always loved the rain, I’ll leave you out here to enjoy it,” she said, walking inside just as it started to pour down raining.

  Moments later, Skye headed up to her newly furnished bedroom, glanced out the upstairs window at Sandino outside and thought, maybe the rain will wash away all the dirt you did, bastard!

  When she approached Payton’s room and peeked inside to confirm that she was still asleep, Skye headed back across the hall to her bedroom. Once inside she flicked on the ceiling fan and fell back onto her King sized platform bed. Her mind drifted to Cruze. It was obvious that he wasn’t going to give her up without a fight. With him constantly blowing up her cell phone and even stopping by the house now, Skye had to make a decision whether it was really over between them.

  For once, she was enjoying her life without a man. Being single and being in charge of her own life was something she’d never experienced and it actually felt good. But as much as she tried to occupy her mind, Skye couldn’t help the fact that she did miss Cruze. The way he was so nurturing to her needs always made her feel so special. Not to mention the sex between them was off the chain.

  Actually just thinking about it made her hot. As soon as the thought of his dick entered her mind, Skye reached inside her jeans and started playing with her pussy. She was horny as hell and needed to relieve some stress. For some reason, her mind suddenly shifted from Cruze and she started fantasizing about Quinn. Deciding to pleasure herself before Payton woke up, she went to her closet and retrieved the nine inch Rabbit Pearl vibrator she’d just purchased. With five speeds, Skye read on the box that it was suppose to send a woman into complete ecstasy, and she had every intention on finding out.

  “We’ll see about that,” Skye said, removing the vibrator from the box and cleaning it off.

  After putting lubrication on it, she removed her pants and laid back on the bed opening her legs wide. She slid the vibrator inside and hit the first speed. With her head tilted back, a chill ran through her body as she moaned and squeezed one of her breasts.

  “Oh my God, this feels so good,” she whispered. Deciding to take it up another notch, Skye hit another speed. She gasped for air and tried to refrain from moaning so loud.

  “Oh, oh oh,” Skye mumbled in complete pleasure as she grinded the vibrator as if it was a dick. Her body started jerking when she took it up to another speed.

  “Oh shit…oh shit.”

  Her self pleasing was suddenly interrupted when she heard Jordan yelling out her name. He then started banging on her door.

  “Mom, please come downstairs something is wrong!” he demanded.

  When did he get home, Skye wondered as she turned the vibrator off, pulled it out of her and jumped off the bed. She slid her new toy under her pillow before pulling up her pants and running out of the room. Worried that something might have happened to Payton she ran downstairs towards Jordan’s voice.

  “Ma, I saw him outside in the rain and pulled him inside, that’s when he started shaking. Ma, do something!” Jordan yelled while leaning over Sandino’s chair.

  As she watched Sandino having convulsions and his eyes rolling back in his head, Skye shrugged her shoulders.

  “Well, what you want me to do about it? I thought something was wrong with Payton,” Skye replied unenthused.

  “Mom, what’s wrong with you?” Jordan yelled, as tears started to build up in his eyes. All of a sudden Quinn walked into the house and ran over.

  “Move back Jordan, he’s having another seizure.”

  Quinn pulled Sandino out of the chair onto the floor cushioning his head then rolling him onto his side to prevent him from choking on his fluids or vomit.

  “Why are his clothes soaking wet?” Quinn asked.

  Neither Jordan nor Skye answered him.

  Quinn monitored Sandino as the seizure lasted about three minutes, after which Quinn started talking to Sandino.

  “Are you okay, Sandino? Wink your eye once for yes twice for no.”

  When Sandino winked once, Quinn and Jordan picked him up and placed him back in the chair before Quinn pushed him to his room.

  Jordan stood looking at Skye.

  “Ma, I know my dad hurt you really bad, but he is still a human being. I don’t know you anymore. All you do is shop. You never spend time with us like you used to. Have you even called to check on Kareem?” Jordan didn’t even wait for her response before he walked away shaking his head.

  Even though Skye felt bad that Jordan felt that way, she still could care less about Sandino. In her mind, he deserved much worse.

  CHAPTER 17

  Kareem laid on the couch at Felicia’s house pouti
ng, still pissed off about seeing a man leaving her house two days before. Although Felicia told him it was her cousin, he still felt she wasn’t being completely honest with him. He grabbed his Playstation controller and started a game of NBA 2K12 to take his mind off the possibility that Felicia might be cheating on him.

  Several minutes later, Felicia walked into the house struggling as she carried groceries. Kareem was so involved in the game he didn’t hear her come in. She slammed the food down on the counter pissed when she saw the trashcan overflowing and dirty dishes piled up in the sink. When she glanced in the living room and saw Kareem still lounging on her Italian leather sectional and stuff thrown throughout, she instantly got mad.

  She’d never allowed anybody in her all white living room and now he was posted up in there with his game system attached to her 60’ inch flat screen. She was beyond sick of Kareem being in her house and didn’t know how much longer she could put up with him. He was totally disrespecting her once immaculate house.

  Felicia liked to keep things a certain way and in the short time he’d been staying there, Kareem didn’t respect her prized possessions. Not to mention, Kareem was lazy, spoiled and very insecure. Felicia was used to having her space and living with him was like taking care of a child. At least when Dre stayed with her he cleaned up after himself. Being in prison had him on a structured routine and he cleaned the house actually better than she did.

  “I want to kick his ass out so bad, but I have to deal with it a little while longer so I can work my magic on him a few more times and hopefully get some information,” Felicia said to herself.

  She had plans to cook him dinner and serve him some good sex for dessert, seducing him in ways he’d never imagined. After that, she would try and use reverse psychology to get him to open up over pillow talk.