My Baby Is a West Coast King

by Shvonne Latrice

  He paid him, closed the door, and then carried the food to the kitchen. I couldn’t move as I stood there still holding his wallet. The thought of him cheating on me had me going through a rollercoaster of emotions.

  I dropped his wallet back onto the coffee table and moved my hair behind my ear.

  “You good, baby?” he questioned me from the kitchen as he washed his hands.

  “Wh-where is the condom that you kept in your wallet?”

  “It’s gone?” he frowned.

  “Yes it’s gone! I’ve been in your wallet before and every time I looked there was a condom

  and now there isn’t!”

  “Stop yelling,” he demanded calmly as he walked from the kitchen and straight over to me. I wished I wasn’t somewhat afraid of him.

  “Where is it, Shai? We don’t even use them anymore so who did you use it on?” I could feel the tears welling up.

  “I gave it to Ish a couple weeks ago, because he wanted to smash this girl at Ace of Diamonds and didn’t have any on him,” he explained dryly. “Is this how shit is gonna be all the time? I’m not your damn kid so don’t come at me like I am. If you wanna know something, ask me like you got some sense and I will give you an answer.”

  “So you didn’t use it?”

  I didn’t want to believe him, but he appeared to be telling the truth. He was calm, stern, and not super defensive like niggas usually were when lying.

  “Nah, I didn’t. I ain’t sliding up in nobody but you, and that’s how shit is gonna stay. Ask any of these bitches if you want to and they’ll tell you I ain’t touched them.”

  “I’m sorry, I just panicked when I saw it wasn’t there.”

  “Come here.” He sat down and patted his lap.

  He looked so good in his gray sweats, wife beater, and socks. He could literally wear anything and look fine as hell. I especially loved his lips and that scruffy beard. I just might have been in love.

  “Ain’t nobody else out there for me, aight? If I find them I will let you know, but I doubt I ever will. I made you my girl for a reason… I love you, baby.”

  “You do?”

  I was surprised, yet happy to hear him say that. I was so afraid that I would fall in love with him and he wouldn’t feel the same. Mischief wasn’t the easiest guy to get through to, and he never showed his emotions, so there was no way for me to see this coming.

  “Yeah.”

  I hugged his neck tightly and kissed his lips.

  “I love you too.” I kissed him again, before turning in his lap to face him completely. I felt his dick hardening under me, which reminded me how hung my baby was.

  “What you grinning for with yo’ pretty ass?” His hands glided up and down my back gently, making goose bumps appear.

  “Because now that we’re in love I want you to tell me something no one knows about you, and I will do the same. It will be a secret between us.”

  “Can’t we do it after we eat the pizza? I’m hungry as fuck.”

  “No, right now, and then we can eat. Come on, tell me.”

  “Nah, you go first since this bullshit was your idea.”

  “Okay. Before I came here, my uncle tried to hurt me and I stabbed him.”

  “Hurt you how?” His face immediately balled up into a frown. His protective nature, that was something I loved about him. He completely skipped over the fact that I stabbed my uncle, because all he cared about was that someone had tried to harm me.

  “He attempted to rape me. For as long as I’d lived with my grandmother he’d tried, and that night in particular he almost succeeded.”

  “Are you fucking serious? That nigga better hope I never see him. Wait, did you kill him?”

  “No, just injured him. Now go, your turn.”

  “I mean, most of the bad shit I’ve done, people know about. Believe me I’ve done a lot of horrible shit, but most of my homies and brothers know about it.”

  “Doesn’t have to be something bad.”

  “Uhhh… aight, when I was in 6th grade, this 10th grade girl had agreed to let me and my friends fuck after school. So the morning of, I stole a condom from my dad’s room, and put that shit on before I got dressed.”

  Before he could even finish I burst into laughter.

  “Please tell me you didn’t wear the condom all day at school.”

  “I did,” he chuckled. “Wore the muthafucka on my dick all day, and then after school when it was my turn to fuck, I couldn’t even perform.”

  Throwing my head back, I laughed so hard I had to grip his shoulders so I wouldn’t fall. I was sure he didn’t want anyone knowing this.

  “That just shows you had no business having sex, Shai. What were you, eleven?”

  “Yep, eleven. Standing there in front of her with my dick on soft and a condom on it already,” he cheesed as I continued to chortle.

  “And what was a 10th grader doing at your school?”

  “She was my classmate’s older sister, and she used to wait around for him so they could walk home together. But to save face, when I got to be thirteen, I fucked the shit out of her.”

  “You’re ridiculous,” I sighed, stomach hurting from laughing so hard. “I love you.”

  “Say that shit again.” He pressed me into his erection, which caused my clit to throb.

  “I love you,” I whispered against his lips as my hand rested on the side of his face.

  Erynne

  “Fuck,” Risk grunted as he rolled off of me and onto his side of the bed.

  I quickly reached for the cold sheet and covered myself with it, feeling so disgusted. Watching him lie there panting heavily, I turned my back to him hoping he’d go to sleep soon. I wasn’t in the mood for a round two, and I wanted to make a phone call.

  I shut my eyes tightly when I felt the bed move from him getting out of it. He walked towards the bathroom located within the large master bedroom, to toss the condom. I listened to his urine hit the water as he groaned some more, before he washed his hands and returned to the bed.

  “You know yo’ shit is lethal,” he kissed the nape of my neck with his cold lips, making me shudder slightly under his touch. “Night, ma.”

  “Goodnight,” I whispered so lowly that I wasn’t sure if he’d heard me.

  Risk was a big-time dope dealer in Chicago. He ran things around here so I guess you could call him the king. He was the guy that all the small-time corner boys answered to, and the dude that every regular wanted to be.

  I guess you could call him my boyfriend but in my opinion, this was no relationship. He bought me things, took me places, and seldom let me stay in his home, but every time I looked up, he had a new woman in his face that he entertained. No one close to me knew about he and I, not my parents and definitely not Laine, and I wanted to keep it that way.

  Not that Risk wasn’t handsome, because he definitely was, with his deep chocolate skin, muscular build, full lips, baldhead and long beard. He was irresistible to most women, including me at one point, but that feeling was long gone. These days I wanted to run for the hills, but I’d felt like I was in too deep with him to do so. Plus, I enjoyed the money he gave me, and the nice things he gifted.

  The first time he told me no when it came to money was when I needed to fly to Los Angeles. I had to work a lot of overtime to even get the money for the ticket, but luckily my best friend came through so I got to save my cash. I was definitely contemplating moving because I wanted to get away from Risk and my life here in Illinois altogether.

  When the sound of Risk’s snoring became the background noise to my thoughts, I got out of the bed, and went to the bathroom to take a shower. When I was finished, I brushed my teeth and then went down to the kitchen for a cold glass of water. With my phone in hand, I scrolled through the text conversation between Chaz and I.

  Since the night we talked until the wee hours of the morning, he and I had been best friends damn near. So much so, that I was sure Laine would be jealous someone was coming for her p
lace.

  The time on my phone read 11pm, but these days I found myself anxious to talk to Chaz. Funny enough, our conversations weren’t sexual at all really. We’d flirt here and there, but it was so subtle that I think if his wife or Risk were listening in, they wouldn’t bat an eye.

  Chaz was just weird, or maybe I wasn’t used to a man genuinely trying to get to know me before attempting to sleep with me. By saying that, I decided to call him and hope that he was awake at this time or not recording.

  Entering the den, I left the lights off and just turned on the faux fireplace to heat up the room and give it some light. Risk’s house in Lincoln Park was so beautiful. It was huge with eight bedrooms and nine and a half bathrooms. I enjoyed coming over here to spend time, especially when he wasn’t home.

  Curled up on the couch with a blanket, I tapped Chaz’s name and listened as it rang. After the fifth ring, I was about to hang up because I felt embarrassed for calling. Chaz usually initiated contact, so this would have been the first time I tried.

  As I was about to hit that red button, he picked up.

  “Is this a bad time?” I asked, clenching my teeth as I anticipated his response.

  “Nah, I’m just playing a video game.”

  “Oh okay, I thought you might have been in the studio or sleep.” I got comfortable under the blanket. I caught a glimpse of my face in the glass fireplace and saw I was cheesing way too hard.

  “Nope, Kordell and I had a morning session today since my brother had someone else booked for the evening and night.”

  “Oh, I guess I got lucky then.”

  “I guess so. Why are you talking so lowly?”

  “I am? I guess because it’s late so I feel like I should keep my voice down a bit.”

  “I forgot yo’ ass is over in the midwest. It’s only a little after 9pm over here in Los Angeles.”

  Chuckling, I said, “I totally forgot too. I’m thinking I’m calling you all late, but it’s still early over there.”

  “Yep, so when are you coming out here? I got a big show coming up and I want you to be there to see it.”

  “Won’t she be there?”

  “Probably not knowing her. But even if she does come, so can you.”

  “You don’t think that would be weird for us both to be there at your show?”

  “Nah, I don’t. Why would it be weird? She’s my wife, and we’re cool.”

  Why did his statement bother me? I guess because I was starting to like him, and I thought he liked me too. I couldn’t really tell with Chaz. Some phone conversations he would subtly flirt with me by calling me beautiful and all that good stuff, but then the next time we’d talk he’d say stuff like what he’d just said.

  “Right. I may come, who knows.”

  “I’ll buy the plane ticket, just tell me you’ll come.”

  “You always buy plane tickets for people you’re just cool with?” I wanted him to give me something I had no business wanting.

  “Nope, but I’m buying one for you because it’s my show I want you to come to. I can’t ask you to come to my performance and make you pay for your own ticket.”

  Well played.

  “Oh, okay. Well yeah, I guess I will let you know if I’m gonna come.”

  “It’s in three weeks, but I’d like to know in the next few days. Thanks.”

  I rolled my eyes and smiled at his calm yet demanding attitude. I loved that about him. He didn’t need to talk disrespectfully or loudly to let you know he expected something from you. Just the way he spoke let you know he wasn’t the type to play around, and he didn’t need to raise his voice for you to understand that.

  “I have work in the morning.”

  I wanted to end the conversation and start over again tomorrow. Maybe then he’d be more on the flirty tip with me. I hated talking to him when he played the ‘I don’t like you we’re just friends’ card. Bipolar ass nigga.

  “Nah, baby girl, you about to put in work for this plane ticket. You better drink a can of Red Bull for work tomorrow because you ain’t getting off the phone.”

  Smiling, I just sighed and continued to talk.

  ***

  The next day…

  I was finally on my lunch break, and I didn’t know if I wanted to eat or take a damn nap. Chaz and I talked until 3am since he changed his demeanor. I smiled as I clocked out thinking about him and the things we talked about. It didn’t matter that it wasn’t sexual. It was good conversation.

  “Hey, wanna go to Cafecito?” my co-worker, Anna, asked me.

  “Umm, sure.” My hunger outweighed my tiredness.

  We both left to the cafe, and since I was sleepy as hell, I asked her to drive. When we got there, we stood in line to order our sandwiches, and then found an empty table once we got them.

  “So tell me, how was it staying in The Model house?” Anna grinned, munching on her food.

  “It was cool. It’s a really nice home. The parties were really fun though because we got into the club free, I met some celebrities, and had free drinks all night.”

  “So is it true what they say about Jude and shit?”

  “No, Anna. Well, I mean it’s not true as far as my best friend and her homegirl go. I talked with some of the other girls but it was meaningless chatter inside the club. Nothing seemed off to me about it.”

  “You don’t think it’s strange that he makes them live in one big mansion?” Anna raised a brow like she just knew the rumors were true.

  Some people swore up and down that Jude was a pimp, and made money by selling the girls to musicians, basketball players, football players, boxers, you name it. I never really paid attention to The Models until Laine told me she was gonna be a part of them. All I knew was that they were a group of pretty girls, and I sometimes saw a few of them modeling different things.

  According to Laine, they were simply party promoters who sometimes got other modeling gigs from the exposure received from promoting and hosting. So far, it seemed to be true because Laine had gotten a lot of modeling opportunities since being there. And I know my best friend, she wasn’t getting pimped out by anybody. Not to mention, Mischief is off in the head so I’m sure Jude would be lying in a ditch somewhere if he tried to turn Laine into a hoe.

  “I mean, yeah, I think it’s weird for them to stay there even when they get on their feet. However, I think having somewhere for the girls to live when they’re not L.A. natives is a good idea. My best friend wouldn’t have had anywhere to live,” I finally responded to Anna.

  “Well, maybe your best friend is one of the lucky ones. I saw her on the Paste website when I went to buy some lipsticks and bronzer. I meant to send you a screenshot.”

  “Oh my gosh! Yeah, she told me but I haven’t seen the pictures. I’m gonna go to the site.”

  “Hey, could you ask her if Jude is looking for any more girls?”

  “Anna.”

  She just laughed and continued eating her food.

  Kordell

  “So who is this bitch I’m hearing about, Kordell!” my ex girlfriend and soon to be baby mama, Brooke, yelled loudly over her living room. I was high as hell off a couple things, and her voice was killing me.

  “I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about, and you ain’t my girl no more so don’t be questioning me about who I deal with.”

  It wasn’t that I was trying to hide Cassie, it was that for one, she honestly wasn’t my girlfriend, and two, Brooke was out of her mind and might try to kill Cassie for no damn reason.

  “I’m having your baby, nigga! I have dibs on you for eighteen years!”

  I cringed at her words, because a part of me felt like it was true too. As long as I wanted to be in my child’s life, I would have to deal with cuckoo ass Brooke. I could easily just dip on her ass, but I wasn’t that type of dude regardless of how I acted out in the streets. I would never want my child to be without a father because I somewhat knew what that shit was like.

  My dad was barely home once
he became who he is today. I swear he spent time at the house for the holidays, or our birthdays, but other than that, he left us for my mother to raise alone. My mother didn’t even raise us really though, my aunt Doreen and uncle Gordon did, which is why Ishmael was so close to my brothers and me. The only thing my mom did was spend my dad’s money, and if she did pay us any attention, it all went to Mischief. She would leave for days and take him with her, or call him nonstop if he wasn’t home when she got there.

  My father had other kids, but he didn’t claim them because they weren’t from my mother. And even though I hated that he had children with other bitches, I felt it was fucked up for him to act as if they didn’t exist. But then again, we pretty much didn’t exist to him either until we got older.

  “You hear me, nigga? Let me find out you got a girlfriend!” Brooke shouted.

  “B, chill. If I get a girlfriend it’s none of your business. Why can’t you act like you got some damn sense sometimes? Fuck! I swear to God I wish you weren’t having my kid! But that’s what I get for sticking my dick in yo’ foolish ass.”

  There was silence, so I looked up at Brooke since I was sitting down on her couch. I saw her eyes were glazed over, so I immediately felt bad as fuck.

  “No, move,” she whimpered when I reached for her.

  I stood up and brought her into my chest so I could hug her. She always did this; went crazy on my ass until I couldn’t take it, and as soon as I came back at her with the shit, she would cry like a little ass baby.

  “I didn’t mean what I said,” I lied to make her feel better.

  I prayed to God every night that somehow someone else got her pregnant. But Brooke was obsessed with me, so I knew how unlikely it was that she’d slept with someone else while we were together.

  “I just want to work things out, Kordell. We can be a family.”

  “Brooke, you know we don’t work. You’re out of your damn mind and so am I. We’d end up killing one another and leaving my son without parents. Plus, I don’t want a girlfriend. I like my freedom.”

  “Is that why you cheated on me the whole relationship?”