A Thug's Wife (Full Length Novel)

by Shan

  Yessenia got up from the bed and grabbed her cell phone from her purse and quickly went to pull up the internet to search for a phone number to UPS. She wanted answers, but knew that she would have to get them herself. No more playing games with Devon. She had to find out what was really going on although it was clearly evident.

  If a bitch was texting him talking about she was ready and waiting for him then it was obvious that Devon’s ass wasn’t going to work. She wouldn’t even waste her time asking him because all he would do is lie.

  "Yes I need to speak with Devon Butler, this is his wife Yessenia. Is he working tonight?" she asked quietly as she quickly left their bedroom.

  "What’s the name?" the person on the other end asked.

  "It’s the Devon Butler. He’s the night manager."

  "Devon Butler? I’m the night manager ma’am. Did you call the right location?"

  "This the UPS facility in Mesquite right?"

  "Yes it is, but I am the night manager and the other managers are not named Devon. You might have the wrong location."

  Yessenia huffed, "Okay." She hung the phone up and quickly pulled the internet up to search for the other UPS locations located in the Dallas vicinity. Devon told her that he worked for the location in Mesquite, but maybe she had been mistaken. After calling several other locations and being told that not only did a Devon Butler not manage any of them, but they didn’t have any employees by that name either, Yessenia was stumped.

  "What the hell is this man up to?" Yessenia said aloud as she walked back into their bedroom. Devon was pulling his jeans on, and he looked up at her. "Hey I’m about to run to the store. I wanna grab a couple of things from Walmart that I need to take to the salon tomorrow."

  "Why you wait so late to go?" Devon asked her as he took a sip of the Ginger Ale and let out a burp.

  "I just remembered that I needed to get some scissors and some wrapping tape. I’m a just grab something right quick for my first couple of appointments, and then I’m a go to the beauty supply store on break tomorrow."

  "Alright. Be careful."

  Devon pulled Yessenia toward him and kissed her lips. He pulled a strand of her hair from her face and looked into her eyes. She looked as if she had been crying to him, and he wrinkled his forehead in confusion, "What’s wrong?"

  "Nothing, something got caught in my throat and had my throat a little itchy."

  "A’ight, I’ll see you in the morning when I get off work."

  "Okay, have a good night."

  "No doubt. Love you babe," Devon took another sip of the Ginger Ale and watched as Yessenia walked out of the room.

  ***

  Yessenia sat parked across the street from Latifah’s house. She stared back and forth between the clock in her car and the house waiting for Devon to come out. After pretending to be going to Wal-Mart, she’d parked her car a few houses down from theirs and followed behind the rental car that Devon was driving. She couldn’t believe she had been so stupid to believe that Devon had actually been working all these hours like he claimed. She felt so damn dumb.

  She didn’t know how she allowed him to manipulate her into believing all of his lies. She only wanted to believe that he was actually making some progress in his life by getting off the streets because it meant if he was doing better, then they could finally have a baby. The high she felt knowing that he’d finally gotten a good paying job was just a feeling she didn’t want to lose, so she forced herself to believe something that she knew in the back of her mind was just too good to be true. That’s how bad she had wanted that baby.

  Yessenia perked up in her seat as she watched Devon finally emerge from the small-dilapidated house. He threw his arms in the air and stretched and then placed his hand on his stomach as he looked around. The moment he walked down the few steps in front of the house, a small petite woman came following behind him. She knew it. She knew all along that he’d been cheating on her. She felt it in her heart that he was doing her wrong, and she was right.

  "Lying about where the fuck he works at and he fucking around on me. What the fuck else is this nigga doing? I gave this man everything. Put my life on the line for his ass, and this is how he do me." Yessenia shook her head as the pain she felt slid down her face.

  She thought back to when she and Devon had first gotten together, and he was still heavy in the streets, hustling heavy to make ends meet. She loved his ambition at the time and dealt with the lifestyle because she’d gotten to know him as a person and began to truly care for him. She never complained or once knocked him for what he was doing. As long as he didn’t allow the streets to interfere with what they had going, she was cool with it. Yessenia wasn’t the type to judge anyone, and that was why Devon was able to easily fall in love and later marry her.

  "I put my life on the line and he does this to me. How could he?" Yessenia heaved. She stared on in disbelief as Devon carried on a conversation with the chick that walked outside of the home with him. She was angry and upset because she’d done the unthinkable for Devon. Only a year into their marriage, Devon became frustrated with working low paying jobs that he decided to give the dope game another try. He had only been back at it for three weeks, when a dude named Larry that he was working side by side with stole some work from him. It was almost like déjà vu all over again. Before Devon was robbed by some random dude, but that time it was someone he thought he didn’t have to look out for.

  Devon confronted Larry and in return was disrespected. Feeling as if he had no other choice, Devon pulled out his pistol and shot him. Two times in the chest and this time, it wasn’t attempted murder he was facing, it was murder.

  Devon knew being that he was already on probation that if he was caught and charged with the murder of Larry that he would most likely be facing life. He stared at Larry’s body for what seemed like hours before he called up the one person he knew he could trust-Yessenia. He only wanted to inform her that he wasn’t coming home and that he would be going on the run, but he’d gotten a response from Yessenia that he wasn’t expecting.

  She told him that whatever he needed from her, she would give it to him, and whatever he needed her to do she would do it. She begged Devon to tell her what was going on and when he did, Yessenia showed up ready to work. She helped Devon get rid of Larry’s body, clean up the mess that was made, and got rid of Larry’s car.

  To this day, the murder of Larry is still an ongoing investigation. The police have no leads or any suspects. Devon had gotten away with murder with the help of Yessenia. Bitches always hollered how they were ride or die for theirs, but Yessenia was for real about it. If she could go back, she would do it again. That’s just who she was.

  She talked Devon into leaving the streets for good and doing something better with his life. She convinced him that God didn’t give anyone too many chances to get it right. It was either now or never, and Devon chose to do right. He chose to leave the game behind for good, marry Yessenia, and walk down a straight path.

  Yessenia believed that they were happy. She knew that he’d been struggling with getting a good job, but she never faulted him for that or made him feel bad about it. She stared on at Devon wondering if maybe she’d put too much pressure on him about having a baby and if that was what caused him to seek another woman. Not one legitimate reason came to her though.

  "Wait a minute, did this bitch just hand him some money?" Yessenia eyes were bucked wide open as she watched the hand off between Devon and the woman. "That’s where his ass is getting all this extra money from. Lying about having a good job while collecting money from another bitch. I bet this ain’t the only bitch he fucking either. What the fuck is he supposed to be some kind of pimp or something?"

  Yessenia pulled out her cell phone and quickly pulled up her camera, snapping a few pictures of Devon and the woman. She wanted to have proof when she confronted him with it, knowing that he would only lie to her if she asked him about it. She watched as the girl stepped closer to Devon and wrapped
her small arms around Devon’s huge build. That instantly made a flush of tears pour from her eyes. The hurt she felt was indescribable.

  "Wait a minute. That’s the same bitch that was at the gas station just the other day. The nigga claimed he didn’t know the hoe, talking about she was selling somethin’. Ughhh!" Yessenia huffed.

  She was getting angrier by the minute. She reached for the door handle ready to open it, but thought better of it. Instead, she looked up toward the small house and noted the number that was painted next to the door. It was hard to make out, but she was able to see the numbers 9-5-1.

  Cranking up her car, she placed it in drive and drove off. She would come back and holler at ol’ girl tomorrow. No need to ask Devon about his infidelities when she just could ask the chick herself.

  "One thing is for certain, Devon got me fucked up. I’m a get all the answers I need before I say anything to that muthafucka though. He fuckin’ with the right one."

  Yessenia reached into her glove department and pulled out her handy little CD case. She flipped through the book and then planted her eyes on the road before flipping through the book again. She quickly pulled out her K. Michelle Rebellious Soul CD and slid it into the player. She went to song that she’d been playing every time she was feeling some type of way about Devon.

  She turned the knob on the stereo and allowed the music to blast through her ears and the car. You got the right one. You got the right one. I just really hate you. All that game you’ve been running. Now it’s time I played you. And why I let you do me. Like a door wide open you ran right through me. But you done find the right one nigga. She sang along to The Right One and drove down the street with her mind on ten. She needed someone to talk to, but didn’t want to go to Zaria. Zaria had just gotten home from the hospital, pregnant, and the last time she told her about her feeling that Devon was cheating-Zaria blew her off. She wanted someone to talk to that would listen to her, and she knew just the person.

  ***

  "Damn, girl I haven’t seen you in years and I’m surprised that you still have my number. What’s up?"

  "Hey, Rashad, how are you?" Yessenia said meekly. She walked up to him and wrapped her arms around him, hugging her ex-boyfriend tightly.

  "And damn, I see you haven’t changed one bit. Still looking good as ever," Rashad eyed her up and down, but fixated his stare on her voluptuous hips in the lavender skin tight jeans she was wearing.

  Rashad and Yessenia dated on and off for two and a half years before they finally called it quits. Neither of them had done anything wrong to one another, but the relationship just didn’t work. They didn’t mesh the way a couple should, and they each agreed to just be friends.

  "And you still crazy as ever. How are you?" Yessenia asked as she looked around. They were standing outside of Rashad’s apartment, and Yessenia began to wonder if she had made a mistake by calling Rashad.

  She just needed someone to get her mind off of Devon and the foul shit that he was doing to her. When she’d called up her old boyfriend, the only thing that had been on her mind was Two Can Play that Game. She had the intentions of getting back at Devon, but now she didn’t know if that was what she really wanted to do. She thought about her grandmother and wondered what she would have done had she been in the same situation. Grandma would never cheat on PaPa just to get back at him. What am I doing here?

  "I’m good…come on in. I was in here listening to some music and playing a game of Chess on my phone. You must knew I was bored and needed some company."

  Yessenia chuckled nervously. I should turn my ass back around right now. Yessenia thought, but still allowed Rashad to steer her inside of his apartment. She looked around at the neatly laid out pad and nodded her head approvingly. It was nice. Rashad had the entire place looking like a picture out of one of those Interior Decorating magazines. Well he’s obviously doing well for himself now. That’s good.

  "So, what you been up to Yessenia? You doing hair now? I know you talked about pursuing it when we were together."

  "Yea, I do hair now. I work in a shop in South Dallas, but I’m hoping to get my own shop in the next couple of years. I see that you’re not doing too bad. This is a nice place, Rashad."

  "Thank you, selling cars ain’t too bad. The economy hasn’t affected me just yet," Rashad nodded and glanced over Yessenia.

  He didn’t know what made Yessenia call him up, but he was so glad that she did. Yessenia was one woman that he thought about constantly over the years. She was good to him. She was unlike any woman that he’d ever met, and still to this day; he hadn’t met a woman that could match her.

  It wasn’t her personality, although she had a beautiful one; it was her make-up. It was the way that she longed to please a man and how she would go out of her way to do so. Yessenia never asked for much but was always giving. He missed her, but he had to admit that they were better off apart.

  They would fight about some of the pettiest things one could think of, like the last person getting out of bed in the morning not making it up, or Rashad leaving the toilet seat up after using it. The fights became a constant headache, but when things were good, they were good, especially their sex life.

  "That’s good Rashad. I’m very proud of you," Yessenia said not sure of what else to say. Girl just get up and go. Why are you still here?

  "Can I get you something to drink? Have a seat and let’s catch up."

  "Yea, whatever you have is cool with me."

  Rashad headed towards the kitchen and grabbed two beers from the fridge. He came back and sat on the sofa mere inches from Yessenia. He hadn’t noticed it before, but it was as bright as a summer sun as Yessenia toyed with her wedding ring. He knew what was up then.

  "Ahh, married now?"

  Yessenia chuckled nervously. "Yea, three years and some months now. I’m happy," she lied.

  "Then, what are you doing here? I haven’t talked to you in four years at best. Not that I’m not happy to see you, but why does a happily married woman call up an ex at this time of night?" Rashad handed Yessenia a beer and watched as she shifted nervously in her seat.

  "Honestly," she cleared her throat. "Devon is cheating on me. I called you up because I wanted to pay him back by being in the company of another man. It’s not like I had a lot of men in my life before, and I didn’t want to talk to some random nigga."

  "Damn, I didn’t expect you to tell the truth. That’s….that’s…hell I don’t even know what to say now. I’ve never had a woman flat out tell me she came to see me for revenge sex."

  "Rashad no one said anything about sex so get your mind out the gutter. I figured that maybe you and I could talk and being that you have dated me that you can help me figure out what I’m doing wrong."

  "Oh, all you want to do is talk?"

  "Yes, that’s it."

  "Okay, so let’s talk."

  Rashad sipped on his beer and slouched down in his seat as he waited for Yessenia to tell him exactly what was on her mind although he already had an idea. It wasn’t the first time he had revenge sex with a chick, though it was the first time a female had been honest about it.

  Yessenia did what no woman should ever do. She told Rashad everything there was to know about her and Devon’s marriage leaving out some of the excruciating details such as the murder. She dived in head first without even thinking. She gave Rashad pertinent details that should have never been given to another man, let alone an ex. She was fucking up without even knowing the consequences it would have. But the only thing that had been on her mind was payback.

  Chapter 21: Do Anything To Get Her Man

  Tianna ran her hands through her hair and looked herself over in the mirror. She grabbed her MAC lip glass from the counter and placed a small coating over her lips. She smacked her lips together and then suddenly frowned at the small scar over her eye. She’d healed nicely from the fight she’d had with Yessenia except from the small little cut that she had.

  Badly, she wanted revenge, but
Quasym was able to talk her down from it. She would hold off on getting back at Yessenia for his sake, but her thirst for revenge was just too strong to let it go. For now, she had another plan in mind, and she had a feeling that tonight was the night to put it into action.

  Quasym was on his way to pick up Quita to take her to stay with him and Zaria for a couple of days. She dressed up in the smallest lingerie outfit she had and was ready to go all in.

  Grabbing her pumps from the floor, she slid them onto her feet and stepped out of the bathroom. Before going to wait for Quasym to show up, she peeked into Quita’s room ensuring that she was still asleep. She lightly shut the door and headed to the front of the house. Looking down at her watch, she knew that Quasym would be there at any minute, and she couldn’t wait to see him.

  She wanted Quasym to want her so bad. She felt like he should have left Zaria the moment he found out about her child and that there should have never been a wedding. She looked better than Zaria, and she had Quasym’s first and only child.

  Tianna’s parents split up when she was a teenager, and it bothered her that they couldn’t stay together at least for her sake. She promised herself that she would never do her child like that. But unfortunately, she’d gotten pregnant with Quita unexpectedly and even then, she never expected for her and Quasym’s relationship to be a one night stand and for him to never contact her again.

  He stumped her with that one. When she went to look for him and finally caught up to him, he’d been locked up, and she never heard from him again until years later.

  Tap! Tap!