“Yeah, I feel you,” Desirae said. “I’ll be up there around three thirty. I gotta drop the twins off at my cousin’s house then I’mma come right on over there. Girl, please try to get my check out of Greg’s office so I ain’t got to see his ugly ass.”
“Three thirty?” Nalique said, in confirmation. “Okay. I’mma try. Hit me up when you on your way so I can know.”
“Okay,” Desirae said.
The two of them ended the call. Desirae sat at her mother’s dining room table, thinking. “God, please,” she said, pleading. “Let Nalique have my check so I ain’t got to go up in that store and see them people face to face. Good God, please.”
Chapter 7
Everything went pretty well when Desirae dropped Titan and James off at Tiffany’s place. This time Reggie was not there, and there appeared to be no sign that anyone else was in the apartment except for Tiffany. Desirae really didn’t like the idea that she was dropping her twins off with a cousin who secretly didn’t think highly of her. However, Desirae also knew that her options were limited when it came to childcare. Any other center in Indianapolis that would take the risk of watching two newborn babies would charge more than Desirae would probably make in a month with the kinds of jobs her qualifications met. Being the strong woman that she was, Desirae simply had to grin and bear it as she dropped Titan and James off.
When Desirae had gotten back into her car, she pulled her phone out of her purse and sent a text message to Nalique saying that she was on her way up to the Family Dollar. Within a matter of seconds, Nalique had responded: Okay, I’mma try to get that check for you when you get up here.
Desirae smiled as feelings of guilt came over her. Nalique had been such a good friend to her, even though they’d only worked together for a little over a week. She became nervous just thinking about what Nalique would say when she saw her face. However, Desirae had decided while she was heading up to the Family Dollar, that she would simply explain her face as being the result of getting into it with this chick that lived down the street from her.
Every minute seemed to fly by, but not in a good way, as Desirae rolled up to the entrance of the Family Dollar parking lot. Any other day, there would be droves of traffic coming down the street in the oncoming lane, making it difficult and time consuming for her to turn into the parking lot. However, today – the day that she was going to show her face for the first time to her former coworker and friend – traffic was light. Regrettably, she was able to turn into the parking lot and quickly pull into a spot further back from the store.
Desirae waited in her car for several minutes, sending text message after text message to Nalique. She wanted desperately for Nalique to bring her check out to her as they’d planned. Desirae could see that the parking lot had a quite a few cars, however. She thought that maybe Nalique was too busy with customers to respond to her text message, let alone bring her check out to her in the parking lot.
“Fuck this shit,” Desirae said to herself as she climbed out of her car. “Fuck them and whatever they think. I’m goin’ in so I can get my fuckin’ money. I ain’t got time for this shit.”
Desirae grabbed her purse, threw it over her shoulder, and walked across the parking lot. Just as she’d stepped inside of the store, she could not only see that it was busy with customers but also that Nalique was the only person with a cash register. Soon enough, of course, Nalique lifted her head up as she was saying, “Welcome to Family…” Her words trailed off as she saw Desirae’s face, her own face looking as if she’d seen a ghost.
“Girl, I’m so sorry,” Nalique said, trying not look at Desirae’s face in such an obvious way. She motioned toward the customers. “It got busy in here and I couldn’t answer you.”
Desirae nodded, feeling the eyes of customers looking at her bruised and scratched face. “Girl, it’s coo,” she said. “I understand you busy and stuff. Did you at least have a chance to go back to his office and get it?”
Nalique smiled at a customer then shook her head. “Girl, no,” she said. “I’m sorry. Greg been back in his office all day, so when I went back there, there was just no way I was gonna slide out of there with your check without him noticin’.”
“Girl, that’s coo,” Desirae said.
Quickly, Nalique helped the last two customers in her line. She came from behind the counter and walked up to Desirae. This time, however, she made it no secret that she was looking at Desirae’s face.
“Girl, what happen?” Nalique asked.
Desirae shook her head. “I don’t even wanna talk about it, girl,” she answered. “Like I said on the phone. If I told you, you wouldn’t believe this shit, I swear. You said Greg is back in his office, right?”
Nalique nodded. “Yeah,” she said. “He been back there since I got here earlier in the afternoon. Girl, if you want, I can go back there and tell him that you here and want your check so you ain’t got to see him.”
Desirae looked toward the back of the store. She shook her head, pushing her chest out. “Naw, girl,” she said. “You stay up here. I’ll go back there. It ain’t no big deal.”
Desirae walked past Nalique and made her way through the store aisles until she came to the back of the store. She lightly tapped on Greg’s office door, pushing it open and stepping inside when she’d been told to do so. Greg was talking on the phone. As soon as he looked up and realized who had just come into his office, he ended his phone call and stood up.
“Desirae,” Greg said, sounding concerned.
“Yeah, it’s me,” Desirae said, keeping her eyes down. “I ain’t come in here for no problems, or to see that crazy bitch you call a wife. I just want my check, nigga, and nothin’ else.”
Greg sifted through a pile of envelopes on his desk. When he’d come to the envelope with Desirae’s name on the front, he held it out to her. Desirae snatched it and began to turn around. No sooner than she’d gotten two feet closer to the office door, Greg had walked from behind his desk. “Desirae?” he said.
Desirae turned around, moving a little of her hair out of the way. “What, Greg?” she asked, clearly not in the mood.
“About Saturday,” Greg began.
“What about it, nigga?” Desirae said. “You just gon’ sit up in the house and watch your wife do that to me like you ain’t have nothin’ to do with it. And she probably stayed with your little dick ass too, didn’t she.”
“You ain’t have to go talkin’ about my dick,” Greg said.
“Fuck you and your dick,” Desirae said. “That little ass shit. I can’t believe that I even wasted my time on that shit when I coulda been out there with a real nigga with bigger and better. What is it that you want?”
“Look, I know you prolly don’t wanna work here no more,” Greg said, “but I can help you transfer to another store.”
“Oh, can you?” Desirae asked, sarcastically. “You couldn’t stop me from gettin’ my ass beat naked on my mother’s front yard like some humiliated bitch, but now you wanna help me transfer. Let me guess, even after what happened on Saturday, you still want us to kick it sometime and hope that your wife don’t find out?”
Greg stood there, silently. For the last few days, all he could think about was Desirae. She had the nicest body he’d ever seen, with an ass that he could eat his meals off of and even lay his head down to sleep if he wanted, like it was a couple of plump pillows. “I didn’t say that, Desirae,” he said.
“Yeah, but you didn’t say that wasn’t what you wanted,” Desirae said. “Nigga, I’m done with that shit. I’m done bein’ a side chick. I done found some nigga that might actually be interested in me for me.” She thought about D’Mann, remembering that she was going to respond to his text messages from last night when she got on with her day. “You ain’t worth shit, nigga. I swear to God you ain’t. You saw your wife comin’ and just gon’ hide in the house while she out there doin’ me dirty and shit, pullin’ my robe off in the front yard for the whole damn street to see. Hold up…How
the fuck she even know where I live? How she know where to come find your little dick havin’ ass?”
Greg grunted under his breath, clearly feeling uncomfortable. “Well,” he said, “when I came over there that morning, she followed me, or at least that’s what she told me. When she got done with the kids at her mother’s house, she dropped them off at her brother’s house and came over to where she’d followed me to, which was your house.”
Desirae squinted at Greg, being able to see right through him. There was no doubt in her mind that he was full of shit – so much so that his eyes were nearly turning brown.
“Fuck you, Greg,” Desirae said. At the very moment she’d said that, she’d thought about how ridiculous it was that two men – Greg and Tron – both watched her get humiliated and embarrassed in her mother’s front yard. “You prolly slipped up and was tellin’ somebody since you know you really can’t get none as good as mine nowhere else. That’s what I think. Prolly got excited and shit that some woman was gonna pay your little dick any attention and started talkin’ too much, and she heard about it. How the fuck you really expect me to believe that she followed you all the way to my mama’s house, and you drove all that way, through stoplights and different neighborhoods and shit, and didn’t notice your own wife’s car following you? Boy, please.” Desirae shook her head. “Niggas really be thinkin’ I’m stupid, don’t they?”
Desirae turned around and headed for the door. Part of her was wondering if it had even been worth coming to get her check. Having to confront Greg and let him know how she felt had proven to take more out of her than she’d originally thought. Just as Desirae was about to step out of the office door, she’d heard Greg say her name. She turned around and said, “What?”
Greg held out two one hundred-dollar bills. Desirae looked down, wondering what was going on. “What is this?”
“Here,” Greg said. “You got them twins and you said you need the money. I understand if you got a problem with what happened and all, but if you wanna meet up at hotels or something and whatnot, I can definitely make it worth your while.”
Desirae looked at the money then up into Greg’s eyes. She’d never had sex for money. However, she didn’t necessarily look down on it either. The fact of the matter is that she was well aware of the power between her legs. Many times in her life she’d used it to get men to buy her things, take her out to nice restaurants, or for the occasional shopping trip to the outlet mall an hour south in Indianapolis, in Edinburgh. Desirae simply didn’t expect Greg to pull any money out of his pocket and hand it to her right then and there, in his office.
Not knowing what to do, Desirae reached back and pushed the door closed. She stepped closer to Greg.
“So, it’s worth that much to you?” Desirae asked Greg. “You like this ass that much you willin’ to come up off of that kinda money all the time?”
“I don’t know about all the time,” Greg said, shrugging his shoulders. “But at least a couple times a week. You the sexiest woman I’ve ever seen, Desirae.” Not being able to help himself, Greg leaned in closer to Desirae’s neck. He was leaning in to lick it, but soon found himself practically falling forward as Desirae calmly stepped out of the way.
“Hold up,” Desirae said. “I ain’t say we could go there, yet.” She then looked down at his gray dress pants. In the front was a tent from his hard-on. “I see somebody is really serious, huh?”
Greg chuckled. “I really am sorry about Saturday,” he said. “I swear to God I didn’t tell anybody and didn’t know that she was followin’ me. C’mon, Desirae. Tell me what I gotta do. Let a nigga get some more of that pussy.” Just then, Greg reached around to Desirae’s back and slid his hand down over her behind.
Desirae rolled her eyes, seeing the look of desperation in this man’s eyes as he continued holding the hundred dollar bills. She smiled, knowing exactly what she would do. She glanced back at the door then to Greg, smiling. “Take it out,” she told him.
Greg, seeming confused, asked her what she meant.
“Take that dick out,” Desirae told him again, this time sounding more forceful. It was very clear to her that Greg was being turned on by her taking the lead somewhat. Just as she said to, Greg quickly undid his fly. In a matter of seconds, his hard manhood was poking out of his pants, so hard it almost pointed up at an angle.
Desirae gently tapped the top of Greg’s dick, watching it boing up and down like a spring. She giggled then looked up at the money. In a quick snatch, Greg felt the hundred-dollar bills slip from his grip. The moment he looked up and into Desirae’s eyes, smiling with anticipation to see what she was going to do now that he’d pulled his dick out in his office, the side of his face stung. In what seemed like the bat of an eye, Desirae had slapped Greg across the face.
“That’s what you get from me for two hundred fuckin’ dollars after what happened to me on Saturday,” Desirae said. She turned around and quickly pulled the office door open, causing Greg to scramble just to get his rock-hard dick back into his pants. The last thing he needed was to be fired, or worse, because an employee or customer just so happened to walk by his office when he was exposed. When Greg had finished getting himself together, having quickly jumped over into a corner of his office, Desirae was gone. Frustrated and a little upset, Greg slammed his office door, telling himself that Desirae wasn’t even worth it to begin with.
Feeling confident and bold, Desirae walked with her head high toward the front of the store. For the first time in a couple of days, her bruised and scratched face had literally been the last thing on her mind. She breezed through the cluster of cash registers at the store and out into the parking lot.
Nalique noticed the extra pep in Desirae’s step, saw how she marched out of the store. She then looked toward the hygiene aisle and motioned for Shawna to come over to her. Shawna approached Nalique’s cash register, having just gotten into the store when Nalique called her, saying that the Desirae chick was in the store if she wanted to swing through.
“Is that the chick that was messin’ around with Tron when you and him was together?” Nalique asked.
Shawna nodded, setting some things up onto the counter. “Yeah, Nalique,” she said. “That’s her. I will give credit where credit is due. She does look good for somebody who just had twins.”
“Yeah,” Nalique said, nodding, as she and Shawna watched Desirae walk further out into the parking lot. “I admit that she does. I knew something was up with her. She just seem like the biggest hoe I know.”
“I wanna know what happened to her face,” Shawna said, shaking her head. “Whoever got with her really gave it to her. Poor thing.”
“You know who I think it was?” Nalique asked, letting Shawna know that she was about to present one of her theories. “I think that thot been fuckin’ around with Greg, the store manager nigga that I was tellin’ you about. He back in the office right now.”
“That’s where she was comin’ from when she came walkin’ from back there?” Shawna asked.
“Girl, yes,” Nalique answered. “And who the fuck you know that need ten fuckin’ minutes to go back there and get they check? Girl, in ten minutes, I done got the check, signed the back of it, and am at the nearest bank try’na cash that shit. The ink ain’t even dry on my shit. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was back there try’na suck his dick to keep her job or somethin’. She seem like she’ll do some shit like that.”
“Don’t be mean, Nalique,” Shawna said, feeling sorry that Desirae just couldn’t seem to get herself together.
“I ain’t bein’ mean,” Nalique said. “I’m just tellin’ it like it is. But, back to what I was sayin’, I think Greg’s wife Veronica got in that ass. Of course, I ain’t never see the chick fight. But I heard she beat some bitch’s ass one time so good she sent her runnin’ home crying. Poor girl ain’t show her face for days after that, or at least that’s what I heard. Somethin’ tell me, by how she was talkin’ on the phone about how she ain’t wanna see Greg
, that she did somethin’ with Greg and got caught up. I even told that bitch to not fuck around with his ole freaky self because that wife of his is crazy. She ain’t listen. She like otha bitch’s niggas. I can just tell.”
“Yeah,” Shawna said, shaking her head. “Whoever she did, or whatever she did, they did it back to her good. Her face. It’s been a minute since I seen a chick walkin’ around with her face beat up like that. She prolly too ashamed to work here, anyway. I know people gotta be lookin’ at her when she go places.”
“Yeah, well…” Nalique said, beginning to scan Shawna’s items. “That’s what you get when you a side chick. I don’t play that shit. You remember what happened with me and that bitch up at Honeys East when she was fuckin’ around with Tyrese and had the nerve to say some ole dumb shit to me.”
Shawna’s eyes cut to Nalique. She pressed her lips together and put her hand on her hip. “Girl, I know,” she said. “You ain’t got to remind me what went down at Honeys East that night. Trust me, you ain’t got to remind me. You can prolly get on YouTube and see a video of the news coverage and see my ass in the background. I already know how you feel about side chicks. You definitely do not have to remind me.”
“Girl, it wasn’t that serious,” Nalique said.
“It wasn’t that serious?” Shawna said. “You almost caught a murder charge.”
Nalique snickered. “I was just playin’ with the girl. You know I wasn’t gon’ kill her ass. I was just try’na scare her and make sure that I get my point across is all.”
Shawna rolled her eyes and shook her head.
Chapter 8
When Desirae had gotten into her car and pulled out of the Family Dollar parking lot, a little bit of guilt came over her. She felt a guilty for not stopping and taking a moment to talk to Nalique. Nalique had been a good friend to her in the short time they’d known one another; Desirae thought she should at least try to keep in contact with her. However, she also knew that keeping in contact with Nalique would only remind her of what happened with Greg. Desirae wanted nothing more than to put the front yard fiasco behind her.
The Diary of a Side Chick 6 (SCD) Page 11