by Tiece
Copyright © 2014 Write House Publishing
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without prior written consent of the publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Any references or similarities to actual events, real people, living or dead, or to the real locals are intended to give the novel a sense of reality. Any similarity in other names, characters, places, and incidents are entirely coincidental.
Thank You… Thank You…
I’d like to Thank My Heavenly Father for blessing me with the gift of writing and for being able to keep many of you entertained when reading my books. Without him, there is no me. He is an Awesome God and I’m grateful for everything, no matter how small or big.
I’d like to thank my Son, Devin Williams, my daughter from another mother, Carmen Davis, my Family, my Supporters, my Readers, and my Friends. I’d like to thank anyone that has and still is taking this incredible journey with me. It’s fun, sometimes stressful, and a lot of times I’m all over the place, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world…
I give thanks to Cole Hart for believing in me and giving me this opportunity… I think we took a chance on each other and neither one of us has disappointed the other. I’d like to also thank Torica Tymes, my other business partner of Write House Publishing, as well as, David Weaver for presenting this opportunity to all of us through SBR Publications…
I thank Ava Mann and, my Personal Assistant, Mia West, for having my back and being here for me. We’re not just associated in business, but these women are also my close friends and advisors.
I also want to give a thanks and a shout out to Shan… My TBRS Sis… One thing I’ve learned about her is that she’s cool people.
To my WHP sister’s… We’ve been hitting the charts hard and have enjoyed doing it. It’s a pleasure to be working alongside of you… May we continue to be blessed to run up that check… Much Love to the rest of my TBRS FAM…
To my newly signed Author’s… Ivy Symone, Tonii, and Faith Weathers, I appreciate each of you for giving me this opportunity to work with you and take you as far as God will allow… We know with God leading the way, there are no limits… And we will explore ever realm of this industry, above and beyond…
To My Sexy Ass P.O.P. FAM..!! I Love Y’all and thank each of you for your continuous support, as well as, all of my other supporters and readers… You all make this journey so worth it and I’m grateful for it!
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Write House Publishing’s website is coming soon… Stay Tuned… *kisses & hugs*
Chapter1
Scarlett stood down the cereal aisle trying to decide if she wanted to cook pancakes with the breakfast that she’d already planned for Gwen’s homecoming the following morning. She had thoughts of wanting to cook something quick, since as of recently she’d found herself eating out more. Standing over a stove wasn’t something she really wanted to do. Glancing down the shelf at the breakfast products, she picked up a box of Aunt Jemima buttermilk complete pancake mix.
“Hmm,” she spoke softly to herself. “Just add water; can’t get any easier than that.”
While standing down the aisle holding the box containing the pancake mix, she started to realize that Gwen coming home was going to be about change; change for Anton, herself, and hopefully for Gwen. Now, instead of whipping up something quick, maybe she should put her Chef Roble skills to work and throw down on a home cooked, good old fashioned breakfast with buttermilk biscuits and pancakes both made from scratch, thick slices of bacon and sausages, cheese eggs and grits. Growing up with Gwen as a mother caused her to learn a lot of great skills, for good or unhealthy reasons.
Out the blue, a smile crept across her face. For the first time, in over two weeks, she had a reason to feel relieved and somewhat happy. She’d just left her doctor’s appointment and found out that all of her blood work was normal and that she was STD free and couldn’t be healthier. After realizing that she’d been living life quite freely, she saw just how quickly catching a disease could come into play. Who would’ve ever thought that Luke and Jay shared the same sex partners? Hell, they didn’t even know each other until she introduced them. It was unbelievable how they were all caught up sleeping with the same people. It was a sexcapade, love circle that involved her with Luke, then Luke with April, then April with Jay, then Jay with Sheila and probably no telling who else, because in the back of her mind she was also with Greg. The thought of it all was totally embarrassing and probably never heard of. She shook the unsettling thoughts and quickly grabbed the complete pancake mix and threw it in the buggy.
She sighed, heading to the back of the grocery store where the lunch meat was located to grab a pack of sausages. As she browsed the section for the Mr. Lou sausages, her thoughts reflected on her brother, Anton, and the situation involving him and his best friend, Tommy. Even though weeks had passed it was still hard to believe that Tommy had shot Slim in a robbery attempt that had gone horribly wrong.
Hearing of Slim’s death just the day before gave her mixed feelings. He’d held on for a while, leaving them very concerned that he would awake and out Tommy as the shooter, but after staying in a coma for damn near three weeks, he finally slipped away for good. She hated the fact that it happened, but it did and there was nothing that none of them could do to take it back. Making Anton and Tommy lay extremely low was imperative, because from what they knew there were no leads as to who killed Slim or the whereabouts of his cousin’s stash. The streets were stumped and quiet.
Things were awkward between her and Luke, but at least she was still talking to him because Jay, on the other hand, was getting no play, no returned calls, and she wasn’t responding to any of his text messages. The whole business of them fucking around with the same bitch that had embarrassed her to hell and back still had her fucked up.
It was funny how one minute she was pleading for Luke to forgive her slutty past and take her back and now the tables had turned and he was the one pleading for her to understand his situation and take him back. Forgiving Luke wasn’t as easy as she’d hoped it would be for the simple fact that the woman she hated with a passion could possibly be pregnant with his baby.
What kind of strange coincidence is that? She thought with a frown on her face as she spotted the Mr. Lou sausages.
“Uh, excuse me,” a strong sexy voice called out to her. She turned to her left with a quick double take, almost choking off of her spit.
I know this ain’t who I think it is. She quickly thought. “Uh, hey,” she hesitantly spoke, completely caught off guard.
“I couldn’t help but notice you standing here, either deep in thought or undecided about what type of sausages you wanna eat. If you tell me your name I might be able to help you with both.” He kidded with a pleasant grin. His big white smile was really sexy and this caused her to casually grin back.
“Oh yeah, I was just looking for these,” she said, swiping up the Mr. Lou sausages and throwing them in the buggy. She attempted to walk off, but not before shooting the incredibly sexy man another smile. He smiled back admiring her laid back attire of bleach faded Old Navy jeans, a white snug tank top with a pair of white Old Navy flip flops on her feet. Her toe nails and fingernails matched with a simple French tip which fit her laid back personality and attire perfectly. Her hair was pulled up in a donut bun which made her eyelashes seem extra long, giving off a mysterious look as she glanced back at him. The smell of her Stella perfume enticed him to the point that he followed her down the aisle watching her round ass as it swayed back and forth in her ti
ght fitted holey jeans.
The manner in which he followed behind her caused Scarlett to feel nervously insecure and unsure of what this guy was up too, so she stopped and faced him. The glow from her coco brown skin and the look she gave him, batting her big brown eyes held him in a trance as he stood there, continuing to admire her flawless features.
“Do we know each other?” She asked, trying to break the ice or at least see what was up with him.
“No, I don’t think so, but I’d like to get to know you.” He cleared his throat. “That’s if it’s okay with you.” Scarlett was really unsure of what to say at this point. The confident man extended his hand for a handshake.
“My name is Troy and you are?” He said as she slowly extended her hand to shake his.
Damn, it is him, she thought, and then tensely clearing her throat. “Uh… Red,” she responded. “You can call me, Red.”
“Red,” he repeated after her with a smile on his face. It was like a ray of sunlight had risen in a dark place in his life; something he’d been missing for quite some time. “I know this may seem inappropriate, but I’d like to call you sometimes or if you feel more comfortable you can call me.”
Scarlett shook her head, not sure of what she should do at that point. “See Troy, I have a lot going on right now and getting to know someone new may not be in my best interest.” She explained thinking about having his stash hidden in the attic at her house and his dead cousin’s blood smearing the fuck out of her conscious.
“I see,” he sadly commented. “Well, it was nice to meet you, Ms. Red. Maybe one day we’ll meet again, but on different circumstances.” He slightly smiled with his handsome face then walked off, leaving Scarlett to contemplate if talking to him would be in her best interest after all. Plus, he looked even better in person than what she’d heard about him in the streets and damn, his bow legged walk was to die for. He was certainly one hot catch.
“Uh, hey,” she called out causing Troy to anxiously stop in his tracks. “Maybe getting to know each other wouldn’t be so bad after all.”
Troy smiled. “That would be nice,” he said as they immediately exchanged numbers. “I have to be honest with you. I probably won’t call until after I get some things squared away this week, but I will call. I promise, I will.” He informed her, already intrigued by her presence and beauty.
“But, what if I call you? Will you still talk to me?” She asked trying her best to feel him out.
“Why wouldn’t I?” he responded with a slight smile.
“I don’t know. It’s like one minute you’re anxious to holla at me, and then the next you’re telling me that you may not have time this week to fit me in. I feel like you’re putting me on a layaway plan or something.” She teased, causing him to casually grin at her statement. “See, that’s that shit I don’t like.”
Troy laughed at her witty comment. It was the first time that he’d genuinely laughed in weeks.
“I’m serious.” She stated with a playful pout.
Troy hesitantly cleared his throat. The words he was about to say were very difficult, but he needed for her to know the real reason behind him saying that. “See, my cousin died yesterday. He was like a brother to me,” he sadly reported. “And my uncle and I are responsible for making sure that he’s laid to rest in nothing but the best and that the expenses of his burial are taken care of.”
Scarlett sadly stared at him. “Oh, please forgive me,” she quickly responded. “I had no idea.” The lie came so quick that she almost believed it.
“No, it’s okay. It’s not your fault. I’m just dealing with some things right now, but that doesn’t change the fact that I still wanna talk to you.”
She smiled, but inside she was sad, because he was sad. The thing that caused her to care even more was that it was partly her fault, because her brother did have something to do with it. At that moment, all she wanted to do was lighten the situation.
“I must admit, I’ve never been picked up in a grocery store before.” She joked.
“You call this picking you up?” The nice deep tone in his laugh caused her to smile at him. “You haven’t seen anything yet. If this becomes serious and I really pick you up; you’ll never wanna touch land again.”
She playfully wiped her forehead. “Whew,” she said, blowing out a deep breath. “Shit’s getting hot in here.” They shared another quick laugh. “I supposed to be in here getting a couple of items and here I am getting caught up in this heated conversation with you.” She said, admiring his handsome face and unique style of gear. His hair was certainly full of big silky looking curls as she’d heard it was, but it wasn’t in the least bit feminine on him and actually was no longer than a mini afro with a fresh tapeline. He had a nice physic with the perfect light brown skin tone. He wasn’t too small or too big. For Scarlett he was just right with the perfect height of about 6’ feet.
“I’m supposed to be in here getting a few items myself. My uncle is cooking on the grill today and I’m almost certain he’s going to be wondering what’s taking me so long.”
“Oh, I see.” She commented. “I think I better get what I came in here for and get on back to the house.” She didn’t want to hold him up anymore. Their by chance meeting was already strange within itself. She knew that getting involved with him could be risky, but then again it could be beneficial to keep him close.
“I feel you,” Troy responded. “I need to get coals and some other shit, but I’m glad I ran into you this morning. It must’ve been a reason for us meeting today.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” she agreed. “It must’ve been.” She then extended her hand for another touch of his warm, firm handshake. “It’s certainly nice to meet you, Troy.” She said with a contagious smile.
He gently kissed the back of her hand. “Likewise Red,” he responded, and then they parted their separate ways with both having thoughts about the other.
______________________
Scarlett made it out to the parking lot with the two bags of groceries, and then threw them in the backseat upon getting inside her car. She smiled then quickly frowned.
What the hell am I doing? She thought, and then searched for her cell phone inside her black Michael Kors purse. She quickly called Nina. Nobody in the world understood her better than her best friend.
“What’s up, Red?” Nina answered.
“What are you doing?”
“Well, Stephen is about to pull up soon and I’m sitting out here on the front porch waiting for him. I’m gonna see this bitch today when he drops Mya and O’Mari off.”
“Oh, so you’re ready to finally meet her?” Scarlett questioned.
“I’ve been ready to meet her. Hell, my kids hang around this bitch and I’m curious to know who the hell she is. They don’t even know her name, because they call her Miss Bird. Well, I wanna know who the hell Miss Bird is.” Scarlett grinned. “Stephen acts nervous about me meeting her, because he thinks I’m gonna say something out of the way, but I’m good.”
Scarlett listened to the tone in her voice. “Are you sure you’re good? You sound a bit heated.”
“I ain’t gonna lie. I am a bit heated that this woman all of sudden comes waltzing in Stephen’s life and he completely forgets about me over night. Ever since that incident when he knocked Rick’s ass out, he’s been acting real shady,” she explained.
“Nina, I know you don’t wanna hear this, but he’s not acting shady as long as he’s still picking up the kids and handing you money. I can see if he stopped coming over all together and just left you hanging.”
“You would see things that way, but Red he treats me so differently now. It’s like I’m invisible to him and I’m not used to that. I’m used to him showing me love and affection. I’m used to his compliments and sweet kisses. He doesn’t even ask me out anymore.”
“I wonder why?” Scarlett murmured.
“I know I’d been pushing him away for a long time, but I just wanted to protect him. I k
new in my heart that I wasn’t over Rick and I just didn’t want to keep taking him through those changes.” She sighed. “But, I’m over Rick now and I know who’s good for me and that’s Stephen. I just can’t let this chick get in the way of him realizing that I truly do want to be with him.”
“Well, seems like you gotta do what you gotta do. I can tell that you really want Stephen, but he doesn’t know that and you have to show him. He needs to feel where you’re coming from and know that your heart is in a good place.”
“I know,” she agreed, but it was easier said than done now with a new woman in his life. “Hey girl, I’m sitting here talking about Stephen, but was there a reason that you called this morning?” She questioned, hoping that Anton and Tommy were still safe and no one would find out about what they’d done.
“You and I need to talk in person about this shit. I’m gonna stop by the dollar store right quick and then I’ll be on my way home. I’ll call you when I get there.”
“Okay cool,” Nina responded. “I’ll just walk to your house whenever you call.” She said, and then they ended their call.