“Yeah, and shit is about to real y hit the fan, dawg.” Xavier said, looking out the window over the bar. “Oh shit, come on man!” he said, running toward the elevator.
“What’s going on, X?” asked Jay, jumping up after Xavier.
“Dawg, Déjà just knocked the shit out of Latasha,” said Xavier as he banged on the down button.
“Get over to the bar now!” Jay yel ed to security through the walkie talkie.
The security guard pul ed Déjà off of Latasha just as Xavier and Jay was approaching the bar. Jade then kicked Latasha while she was trying to get up off the floor. Déjà was fuming. She tried to ignore Latasha and her jealous streak, but she hated to be constantly tested. Latasha’s face was swol en and her bottom lip was bleeding from the whooping that Déjà had put on her.
“Jade, are you riding with me or Jay because I’m out of here. I don’t have time for this dumb shit,” she said, snatching away from Xavier and heading for the exit.
Xavier was furious because he knew that Déjà was pissed. He had never seen her that angry and he didn’t like it, but he knew it was his fault.
“Don’t cal me until you can learn to control your damn women. I’l park your car in your driveway,” Déjà said to Xavier before getting into the car and pul ing off.
“I warned that bitch,” he said, looking around for Latasha. He found her coming out the ladies room. Xavier grabbed her by the throat and lifted her off her feet. “I told you what was going to happen if you kept pressing my buttons didn’t I?” He said, choking her. Jay grabbed Xavier.
“This is not the place, X. we’l get this bitch another time!” he said, prying Xavier hands from around her neck.
Latasha fel to the floor gasping for air.
“I’m not done with you,” he said in her ear. “You think Déjà fucked you up, wait until I get done with you. Get this bitch out my spot before I kil her,” Xavier said to security.
~NINETEEN~
Jade was already tired of being pregnant. Jay waited on her hand and foot. He helped out with the household chores while stil trying to hold down the club and his other businesses.
Jay and Jade were on their way out to catch a movie when his cel phone rang. He ignored the cal then powered it off. He wanted to spend the day with Jade with no disturbances. After the movie, he took her out to dinner and for cheese cake at her favorite spot. He took her for a walk on the beach. It was a little after midnight when they returned home. He powered his phone back on and threw it on the kitchen counter. Jade had gone into the bathroom to run her a tub of water when she heard a big bang. She ran down the stairs only to see two men standing there dressed in black ski masks and the biggest gun she had ever seen.
“Go back upstairs, baby,” said Jay, standing there with his hands in the air.
“No, I’m not leaving you,” she said, walking down the stairs.
“Jade get back upstairs!” he yel ed at her.
“Naw, bitch, come on down here,” the shorter guy demanded.
“Calm down dude. This chick is fine!” said the tal er one, “And, she pregnant! You know they say pregnant pussy is the best kind. I’m going to have to hit that before we leave this motherfucker.”
“Man, what the hel y’al want?” Jay asked through gritted teeth.
“What you think we want, high rol er?” the shorter one said.
Jay knew that these dudes were not only scared, but they were young. He looked over at a scared Jade who was now standing next to him.
“Next time I tel you to do something, you need to listen,” he said in a whisper.
“Shut the fuck up!” The tal er guy demanded.
“Where the fuck is the money?” said the shorter guy.
Jay knew he had recognized that voice, but he couldn’t figure out where he had heard it. “The loot is in the basement,” Jay said stil trying to put a face to the voice.
“You’re going to take me to the money,” said the shorter one, pointing the gun at Jay. “My brother can take care of business with old girl just in case you try something slick.”
Those words alone made Jay’s blood boil.
Apparently, these nigga’s don’t know who the hell I am if they thought they were going to run in my crib and walk out,” Jay thought to himself. Jay looked over at Jade who now had tears flowing down her face. Jay leaned over and kissed Jade on the cheek. “Don’t cry, baby, you know I’m not going to let anything happen to you,” he said in a whisper. The tal er guy grabbed Jade and pushed her in the living room then pushed her down on the couch. The shorter guy ordered Jay to walk toward the basement door with the nose of the gun pressed into his back. Jay walked down the dark basement stairs with the short guy right on his trail. He could hear things being knocked around and the muzzled screams of his fiancée.
“I know you got a light in this bitch?” said the short guy. “Yeah man it’s at the bottom of the stairs,” said Jay.
When Jay got to the bottom of the stairs he reached over to hit the switch, but also grabbed his glock off the shelf right next to it. Before the short guy could react, Jay had let one round off in his head. He picked up the guy gun and sprinted up the stairs where he now heard complete silence. When he walked into the living room the tal er stick up kid was unzipping his pants and Jade was lying on the couch motionless. He was positioning himself between her legs when he felt the cold steel on the back of his head.
“Get your punk ass up!” Jay said not taking his eyes off of him.
“Be cool, Jay. I’m sorry, please don’t shoot me!” the tal er stick up kid begged.
“Turn around and take off that motherfucking mask,” Jay demanded. The kid did as he was told. To Jay’s surprise, the stick up kid was indeed a kid. It was Mona’s little brother Montrel .
“I’m sorry man. My sister made us do it,” he confessed.
“Who is the other dude downstairs with a slug in his head? Please don’t tel me it’s your other brother Maurice!” he asked.
“Yeah man, it’s him.”
Jay didn’t know what to do . I watched these boys grow up, and now Mona dumb ass done sent them in my crib to rob me,” he thought. “Ain’t this some shit,” he said.
“He tried to rape my baby. I can’t let him walk out of here,” he thought to himself before pul ing the trigger.
He looked down at Jade and noticed that the entire right side of her face was battered.
Montrel had knocked her unconscious.
”Wait until I catch that bitch!” he said to himself.
That was the difference between Jay and Xavier.
Jay was quick on the trigger. He shot first and asked questions later. He looked down and saw that Jade was bleeding between her legs. He grabbed the cordless off the end table and dialed 9-1-1.
~TWENTY~
Déjà had ignored al of Xavier’s cal s, flowers, and cards for the past two weeks. She couldn’t deal with the baby mama drama. She had tried everything to avoid the situation that went down that night. Déjà loved and treated Jeremiah as if he was her own flesh and blood, but that stil wasn’t enough. Déjà knew what the disrespect from Latasha was al about. She stil wanted Xavier and was pissed because she was with him. Xavier had cal ed so much that Déjà had to turn off her ringer. She was final y able to catch up on some laundry that was piled up to the ceiling. Her house was stil clean since she hadn’t been there. She was practical y living at Xavier’s so she was hardly home to mess up anything.
Déjà was just stepping out the shower when she heard the doorbel . She threw on a pair of pajamas and tip toed to the door. She was not ready to face Xavier. She looked through the peep hole and was relieved to see that it was Jade. She opened the door only to see Jade standing there with a teddy bear and a box of chocolate.
The teddy bear was holding a heart that said ‘I miss you’.
“Wel hel o to you too!” Jade said, walking in and closing the door behind her.
“Hi Jade,” she said, flopping down on the cou
ch.
“What’s with the teddy bear and candy?”
“You already know Xavier sent this stuff over through me because he said that you won’t talk to him,” said Jade, sitting across from Déjà.
“I have nothing to say to him,” said Déjà.
“Why are you so angry at him? It’s not his fault he has an ignorant baby mama.”
“Because she’s free to do whatever she wants to do, and he let her.”
“He can’t stop her from being ignorant.”
“You right, but if I delete myself from the situation I wouldn’t have to deal with it.”
“I bet that chick is sitting back laughing right now?”
“Yeah, I bet she wasn’t laughing when her face was swol en. I gave her dumb ass exactly what she deserved.”
“I’m just saying Déjà you’re giving her what she want by cutting off a good man that she wishes she had.”
“I don’t have time for the bul shit that ol’ girl is on.”
“I hear you girl, but I don’t think you should give up on him because of Latasha. That’s just my personal opinion we’re al entitled to them. I could have given up on Jay for that bul shit Mona pul ed, but I had the last laugh. If I would have lost my baby though,” Jade said, getting angry al over again, “I would have found that bitch my damn self. Her ass would’ve been six feet under just like her brothers.”
“I don’t understand why she would send her little brothers in y’al house knowing that Jay wouldn’t let them walk out,” Déjà said, shaking her head. “Heartless!”
“These women don’t give a shit as long as they get what they want,” Jade said, concurring with Déjà.
“I’m not going to lie, girl, I miss him like crazy but I just can’t deal with al that drama that his baby momma is causing.”
“I hear you Déjà. You’re my best friend and I wil support any decision you make, but I think you should at least talk to him and tel him how you feel,” she said, opening the box of chocolate. Déjà didn’t respond. She hugged the teddy bear and thought about what her friend was tel ing her. They sat and talked for about an hour when Jay cal ed and asked Jade if she would come home and watch a movie with him. Déjà turned her ringer on as soon as Jade left. She cal ed Xavier and asked him to come over so they can talk. He didn’t hesitate. He was ringing the doorbel twenty minutes later.
“What, were you sitting outside my house?” She asked, opening the door.
“Actual y, I was on my way home from my barbershop when you cal ed, but I’m glad you did,” he said, walking in and closing the door behind him.
“Only reason why I cal ed you is because I felt I at least owe you an explanation as to why I decided to end our relationship,” she said, taking a seat on the sofa.
“So you decided to end our relationship?” he said, sitting across from her so that he can look her in the face. “I have no say so in this decision?”
“No, not real y, Xavier.”
“Okay, why are you doing this, Déjà?”
“Xavier, I had enough pain in my life and I’m tired of heartache. Nothing in my life has ever worked out in my favor,” she said, picking up and hugging a couch pil ow.
“Let’s keep it real, Latasha wil never let us be happy because she stil wants you.”
“You know I don’t want to cause you any pain, baby but don’t let her do this to us Déjà,” he said. He stood up, walked over, and took a seat next to her.
“You say you don’t want to cause me any pain but what do you think you’re doing Xavier?” she said in a firm tone.
“I wil admit that I let my guard down but I promise you it wil never happen again babe,” he said putting his arm around her and pul ing her close to him. Please don’t give up on me Déjà.”
“Xavier you know that I love you, but how do I know that I can trust you? Every time I turn around ‘your’ baby momma is fucking with me. She doesn’t even know me.
We both know her reasoning for the bul shit, and that’s you.
She’s fucking with me because she stil wants you which mean there is no winning as long as I’m messing with you. I don’t have time for this kind of drama.”
“Just trust me, babe, I wil handle her,” he said. “I don’t want to lose you.”
“I don’t want to lose you either, Xavier. But like she said, I’m going to have deal with her for the next eighteen years and I don’t know if I can do that.”
“No you want, I promise. Just let me handle it Déjà. I swear I wil try to keep this as far away from you as possible.”
“How do you plan on doing that?”
“I don’t know yet, but just trust me!”
Déjà took a deep breath. She wanted to believe Xavier, but she knew Latasha wasn’t going to stop until she got what she wanted. She looked over at him and said,
“Okay, but I’m tel ing you Xavier this shit is far from over I can see it now.”
“Don’t worry about none of that. Just kiss me,” he demanded. She abided. “I love you, Déjà!” he said through kisses.
“I love you too!” she replied.
~TWENTY-ONE~
Two months had gone by since Jade almost miscarried. She was now 8 months pregnant. They were just getting settled into their new home. Jade wanted to move after the attempted robbery. She felt if Mona tried it once, she would definitely try it again. Jay had gone over to Mona’s apartment, but she’d moved out. She knew that Jay found out that she had her brothers to rob him and that she tried to cause Jade to have a miscarriage. When the cops got to the house that night, they checked the pockets of the two young boys for identification. They found a Ziploc bag that contained two abortion pil s. The plan was to give them to Jade. That alone put an expiration date on Mona’s head.
Jade was on her way to her mother’s house to check on her wel being when she spotted a man that looked identical to her Uncle Paul. He was sleeping on the ground outside a corner store.
“I don’t know why mom won’t move from over here,” Jade said to herself. She wasn’t sure if that was him or not, so she kept going. Ten minutes later, she was at her mother’s doorstep. She opened the screen door and walked into the house. Kate was standing in the kitchen.
“Hey, mom, how are you feeling?” Jade asked Kate.
“I’m fine, honey. How’s my grandbaby?” Kate said, rubbing Jade’s big bel y.
“Busy!” she said, looking down and rubbing her bel y as wel . “Where’s dad?”
“He should be home soon. He doesn’t get off work until six.”
“Oh okay,” Jade said, taking a seat on the sofa.
“So, are y’al al settled into that big house y’al done bought?”
“Yeah, just about. You know Jay won’t let me do anything until I have the baby. I be sneaking and unpacking while he’s at the office.”
“Girl, you better sit your butt down. You need to be getting al the rest you can now because once that baby is born, sleep as you know it would be long gone.”
“Yeah, that’s what people keep saying.”
Kate was lecturing Jade on mothering a child when Reginald came walking in. He’d gotten a job working as a construction worker. One of his old school buddies owned a construction company and gave him a job, paying him under the table. Because of his criminal background, no one else would hire him.
“Hey honey,” said Reginald, greeting Kate. “There’s my girl!” he said, kissing Jade on the cheek and rubbing her bel y.
“Hey, Daddy,” Jade said.
“How is my grandbaby?”
“Kicking like crazy!” she said, looking at her bel y.
“I can’t wait to see him!” He said, guessing a boy.
“Her!” Kate said.
“It a boy,” Reginald whispered to Jade.
“Wel , we would see who guessed right in one month,” Jade said, settling the dispute.
~TWENTY- TWO~
Xavier had surprised Déjà with a vacation to Jamaica. Déjà had always ta
lked about going there ever since she had seen the movie “How Stel a Got Her Groove Back”. There was only one problem; Déjà had a fear of flying. After days of convincing Déjà that there was nothing to getting on a plane she had final y agreed to go. They checked in at the most beautiful resort in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Déjà had never been to such a beautiful place.
Xavier used to come here often on business so he knew she would love it. Déjà didn’t waste any time changing into her two piece bathing suit and heading out to the beach.
“This place is absolutely beautiful!” she said, sitting on the beach in a lounge chair sipping on a Jamaican tail with
Xavier.
“It is and it feels good to be away from al the drama and be at peace,” he said, taking a seat behind her.
“I got you al to myself for the next three days.” They went snorkeling, sightseeing, shopping, but for the most part they made love.
********
Xavier powered his cel on when they landed at the airport. Seconds later his phone began ringing. It was his mother.
“Hel o,” he answered.
“Boy where have you been? I’ve been cal ing you for days,” she said gril ing him.
“I was on vacation,” he said as he loaded the luggage into the Navigator.
“Vacation?” she questioned, “Latasha brought this boy over here three days ago. She said you were coming to get him.”
“She did what?” he said stopping what he was doing.
“She said she spoke to you; she said you told her to drop him off here and you’l be right over to get him.”
“I haven’t spoken to her in over a week,” he said opening the passenger side door for Déjà.
“That child was in the car with some thug. He had his music blasting throughout the neighborhood,” She said sounding disgusted.
“She had on this little bitty skirt that had half of her tail showing. Son, what did you see in that girl?”
“Nothing ma, she was a mistake that I wish I could take back” he said getting in the driver’s side.
“Jeremiah has been there for three days and you haven’t heard from Latasha?”
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