Hakeem & Tasia : A Brick City Love Story
Page 14
Talen let Tierra go, and yelled, “Fuck her up Tay. I don’t like that hoe anyway.” Hakeem gave Talen a hard stare, but Talan didn’t care. He and Jodie were about the only two that weren’t afraid to challenging Hakeem.
“Don’t look at me like that, Keem. This hoe needs to get her ass whooped.” Talen said with a grin.
“Fuck you Talen.” Tierra turned and tried to slap him, but he caught her hand and shoved her back, causing her to almost fall. Her girls just stood there watching and snickering.
“The fuck is your problem, Tierra? Out here with all that ghetto ass shit,” Hakeem yelled at her like she was a child, causing a big smile to spread across my face.
“So this bitch just shows up and you act like I’m not important,” Tierra whined.
“What I tell you about coming at me or Tay like that. Just because I let you give me head doesn’t mean that shit has changed. Stay in your fucking lane Tierra, you know what it is so get out your damn feelings, and don’t get shit twisted.
“Really Hakeem? That’s fucked up but its cool. The next time she jets on , don’t come knocking on my door. I’m done.”
Hakeem laughed arrogantly. “How the fuck are you gonna be done when we didn’t have shit anyway.”
Tierra just looked at him, turned to walk away, and Hakeem grabbed my arm pulling me off to the side. I could hear Jodie laughing before he yelled, “Damn Tay, Keem bout to get in that ass.”
When we were away from everyone, Hakeem went in on me.
“The fuck you out here doing, Tay? That shit is not even you,” he yelled, waving his hand in the direction that Tierra went. “You’re too old for this ghetto ass shit.”
“You need to calm the fuck down. She came at me. I was just defending myself.”
Hakeem moved in close to me so that our faces were inches apart. “Watch your damn mouth,” he said through clenched teeth.
He would use every cuss word under the sun when he spoke to me, but he expected me not to.
“Look Tay, I get it but this shit right here is not your thing. I don’t even know why you let her get to you like that. You know that damn girl don’t mean shit to me, so you shouldn’t even be entertaining her bullshit.”
“I wasn’t until she put her hands on me!” I yelled.
Hakeem looked at me for a minute before a smile spread across his face.
“You were fucking her up though, Tay. I didn’t know you got it in like that. I guess I better watch myself around you.” Hakeem shook his head and laughed.
“Shut up, you’re so damn stupid. You just need to learn how to control your women.”
“Don’t make that shit plural. You’re the only woman I have, and I see now there isn’t shit I can do to control you.” Hakeem looked at me with a big ass grin.
“Damn Tay, why you embarrass that girl like that,” Jodie said as he walked up to us.
“That’s her fault. She put her hands on me first.”
“True, but you didn’t have to go in on her ass like that though,” Jodie said.
“Are you coming to see Mom and Dad? They’ll kill you if they find out you were here and didn’t come by,” Brit said. Jaysyn was right beside her with his phone to his ear, but he had his eyes on Brit the entire time. They were cute.
“She’ll be there later. She’s got something to do right now,” Hakeem answered for me.
“Don’t forget you promised to name the baby after me,” Jodie said, and winked at me.
“Uh trust me. There is no baby to be named,” I said, giving Jodie the side eye.
“Not yet,” he tossed over his shoulder as he walked off. “Call me later Keem.”
“You ready?” Jaysyn asked as the wrapped his arms around Brit and lowered his chin onto her shoulder.
“Yeah. Tay, don’t forget to come by.” She mugged Hakeem, which made him laugh.
“Chill Brit. We’ll be by there later.”
Jaysyn and Hakeem dapped each other before the left, and Hakeem followed me to my car.
“So we will be by there later?” I said with a grin.
“Hell yeah. I know Carla is about to burn in that kitchen the second she finds out you’re home, so we will be going to see your parents later. In fact, call her right now so she can have that shit waiting on us. It’s been a minute since a brother has had a good home cooked meal.” Hakeem looked at me with a smirk.
“Oh, so your hoes are only good for one thing I see,” I said, and rolled my eyes
He just laughed. “Chill with that shit, Tay. Follow me to my crib. I need to go take a shower, and we still need to talk.”
He kissed me on the cheek, and then stepped back to wait for me to get into my car. Once I was inside, he walked to his truck, got in, and pulled off. I wasn’t looking forward to the conversation that we were about to have, but at least he was willing to have one.
Hakeem
I walked into my bedroom and found Tasia on my bed, back against my headboard with her feet up, pulled closed to her butt with her phone propped up on her knees. She looked up at me and smiled, and to be honest that shit felt good as hell having her in my house, in my bed again, but I knew it wasn’t that simple. I walked into my closet, grabbed a pair of sweats, and stepped into them. I didn’t have shit going on, so I was just chilling today. When I walked out of the closet, I moved to my door and looked back over my shoulder.
“Come on so we can talk,” I said, and then walked out of my room. After I was in the living room, I sat down on the sofa followed by Tay, who sat down next to me but made sure there was about two foots distance between us.
“You know I love you right?” I turned my head so that I could look at Tasia.
“You know I love you right?” she said, making me laugh.
“Look, shit has been real fucked up with us lately, and it’s not all on you. I take responsibility for my part, but you need to own up to yours too. It was on both of us.”
“I know,” Tay answered with a disappointed look on her face.
“If we’re gonna make this work, then a lot of shit is gonna have to change. I’m mad as hell that it was so easy for you to let another dude take my place, and I’m trying to let that shit go but it’s fucking with me.”
“No one ever took your place, Keem.”
“That’s what you're saying Tay, but you still had another dude in your bed. As fucked up as it sounds, shit is different with women and men. A guy can be with a woman and walk away like that shit never happened, just simply another nut but with females, you guys can’t disconnect. If you lay down with a dude, then you’re emotionally connected and that shit right there,” I clenched up my fist, trying to control my temper.
Tay stood up and looked down at me before she climbed on my lap, placing one knee on each side of my body. She placed her hands on the side of my face before she leaned in and kissed me.
“I know you believe that, and to a certain degree that may be true, but it doesn’t matter. You’re the only person I love Keem, and that will not change. I need you to trust that.”
She kissed me again, and this time I kissed her back and let my hands slide under her shirt before I pulled her body into my chest. I loved her too much to let her go, so I had to figure out a way to make this work.
“So does that mean you’re mine again?” Tay asked with a goofy ass grin.
“Again? I’ve always been yours, Tay. Why the fuck you think I tore that note up junior year?” I worked my hand up her stomach and under her bra, letting my thumb massage her nipple.
“You weren’t mine back then. You were just crazy as hell and dead set on cock blocking me,” she said with that goofy ass smile again.
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Nah, I was yours but you're right. I was cock blocking like a muthafucker. If I found out somebody was checking for you, me and Jodie used to threaten to beat their ass if they ever stepped to you. I was surprised as hell when Joe actually asked you to prom.”
“Yeah, but trust me when I say he kept his
distance all night,” Tay said, rolling her eyes at me and making me laugh even harder.
“Trust me, I know. We had a little conversation about good touch and bad touch after I found out you said yes.”
“Are you serious?” Tay looked at me like I was crazy.
“Hell yeah, I’m serious as fuck. Ask Jodie.” Tay punched me in the chest. “Damn Tay, that shit hurt,” I said with a smile. “Hell, I was just looking out for your ass. I didn’t want you to be a prom night statistic.”
“You know what? I can’t even deal with you.” Tay climbed off my lap and stood up, but I reached for her hand.
“Where you going?”
“We are going to my parents’ house so that I can see them and you can eat, remember,” Tay said
“Fuck that, you can feed me right now,” I said, grabbing her around the waist but she backed away from me shaking her head.
“Not happening or we’ll never get out of here. Get dressed.”
I stood up and pulled her into me. “Nah, how about you get undressed,” I said tugging at the hem of her shirt.
“There’s plenty of time for that. I’m staying with you tonight. Now get dressed,” she said, pulling away from me before she walked into the kitchen.
About an hour later, we were sitting in her parent’s living room with Brit and Jaysyn. Tay and Brit where going a mile a minute about an upcoming event that Tay had going on, and Brit and Jaysyn were planning on going. Tay was styling several celebrities for the party, which could lead to a huge deal for her if things went well. In between my conversation with Jay, I listened as Tay was telling Brit her plans for starting her own company if this event worked out, since she already had a pretty decent client list. She had been styling a few of the Knick’s players and their wives, along with a few other local moneymakers, but apparently she couldn’t figure out how to get the money for an office space. Real estate in New York was expensive as hell, especially if you wanted to be right in the center of everything, and Manhattan was where shit was happening.
“Keem, are you going?” Brit asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.
“Yeah, I’ll be there.” I looked at Tay and smiled.
“Good, then we can all go together,” Brit said.
“Tay, you bout to have us on the red carpet and shit?” Jay asked.
Tay let out a cute as laugh. “I don’t know about all that, but I’ll see what I can do.”
“Are you excited? This is what you’ve been waiting for?”
“Yeah, I guess I kind of am. I’m just nervous. What if they hate my looks? The industry will love you one minute and hate you the next.”
“Man fuck that. You got this shit Tay,” I said confidently as I pulled her into my side and kissed her.
“I hope so.” Tay let her body fold into mine.
We all sat and talked for a little while longer, and then had a bomb ass dinner that her mother made before we took off to head back to my place. After we got settled and were laying in my bed, I couldn’t help but to think about shit being like this every night. I didn’t think I could handle us being in different places, especially since that was the reason why we didn’t make it the first time we tried.
I grabbed Tay around the waist, pulling her body closer to me before I kissed her on the check.
“Are you sleep?”
“Mmmm, not yet,” she mumbled, making me chuckle because she was most definitely asleep. I buried my face in her neck and starting kissing her, trying to make her get up but she pushed me away.
“Stop Keem,” she whined.
“Wake up Tay, I want to talk to you about something.”
She turned to face me, but pressed her forehead against my chest with her fist balled up under her chin.
“Okay I’m up,” she pouted.
I just laughed. “I was thinking about moving to New York with you.”
Tay’s head snapped back quick as hell, and she had a big ass grin on her face.
“Seriously?” she asked.
“Yeah, we’ve got some new territory over there and Jodie can handle what we have over here, so I don't see why not.”
“Are you sure you’ll be okay with that? I mean, leaving everything for me?”
“Not for you, for us. I’ll only be an hour away. I can go back and forth, but I want you in my bed every night and since your shit is over there, then it just makes sense for me to move.”
“Have you talked to Jodie about that?”
“Nah, but I don’t think he’ll care and besides, we talked about opening a club so I was thinking about doing that shit in New York. Since you’re doing your thing, I might as well do mine.”
“A club?”
“Yeah, why what’s up?”
“Nothing, it just doesn’t seem like your thing. You hate people.”
I laughed when she said that. “I don’t hate people. I just don't like muthafuckers all up in my personal space.”
“You are the most antisocial person I know. The only people you deal with are the same people that have been around you since high school. Me, Jodie, Talen, and that’s pretty much it.”
“Just because I keep my circle small doesn't mean I’m antisocial. I just don’t trust a lot of people, and there’s nothing wrong with that.” I kissed Tay on the forehead.
“Same difference,” she said with a smirk.
“Whatever, now go back to sleep,” I said.
With Tay securely in my arms, I closed my eyes and tried to relax. I had so much on my mind that my brain was going a mile a minute. If I did make that move to NY, I had a lot to do in order to make shit work, but I didn’t care. Me and Tay were in a good place, and I wasn’t about to fuck that up again. I had to figure it out.
*****
“I see you finally came up for air. Tay must have gone home?” Jodie said when he opened his door.
“Uncle K!” Angel ran up to me and jumped into my arms. She wrapped her thin arms around my neck, and I hugged her tightly before I sat down on the sofa with her on my lap.
“What did you bring me?” she asked with a big ass grin on her face. For the most part, Angel looked like Mona with her jet-black hair and toffee-colored skin, but she had grey eyes courtesy of Jodie.
“What makes you think I brought you something, Angel,” I yanked one of the French braids that hung down her back, causing her to giggle.
“Because you always bring me surprises, Uncle K.” She held her hand out and waited.
“Only because you’re my favorite.” I leaned back and reached in my pocket, pulling out the bag of sour worms that I had for her.
“Thank you,” she said with the biggest grin, so I kissed her on the forehead. Angel jumped down out of my lap and stood in front of Jodie.
“Daddy, can I eat it now?” she begged.
“Yeah, give me a kiss and then go play in your room for a minute so that I can talk to Uncle K.”
“Okay.” Angel leaned forward and pecked Jodie on the lips before she took off down the hall.
“Yo, she’s getting big man.”
“Yeah I know, and stressing me the fuck out because she acts just like Mona’s retarded ass.
“She’s five Jodie, how the fuck she act like Mona,” I said, and then laughed.
“She just does, but that’s my baby though.”
“So what’s up. How did shit go with Tay? You good again?”
I couldn't help but smile thinking about my baby. “Yeah we’re good.”
“It’s about time, shit. I was thinking that I was gonna have to get involved.”
“The fuck you think you were gonna do?”
“Lock both your stubborn asses in a room until you worked that shit out.” Jodie looked at me serious as hell, which let me know he wasn’t playing. His stupid ass probably would have tried it too.
“You just worry about Mona. I got this shit with Tay.”
“Man I can’t do shit with her crazy ass and you know it.” Jodie leaned back and shook his head.
/> “You’re right but check it, I need to hit you up about something.”
“What’s on your mind bruh?”
“You know how we talked about opening a club?”
“Yeah what’s up?”
“I was thinking about doing that shit across the bridge.”
“You bailing on me, Keem?” I couldn’t read Jodie’s expression.
“Nah, nothing like that, but since we’re taking on Rasta’s territory and one of us has to manage that shit, I was thinking that you could handle jersey and I’ll take over NY. We can open a spot over there because we’ll need something on paper to manage our funds.”
Jodie was quiet for a minute before he finally spoke. “I feel you. It makes sense.”
“So you good with that?”
Jodie looked at me as a smile spread across his face. “Your ass just wants to be near Tay.”
I laughed. “Fuck you, but hell yeah. She almost left me one time already. I’m not letting that shit happen again.”
Jodie sat up and extended a closed fist to me, which I met with mine. “You know I’m down for whatever, and if you that’s what you need to make that shit work then fuck it. Let’s do it.”
“Aight bet. I’ll start making some calls. You chilling with Angel all day?”
“Yeah, I’m taking her to the mall in a few. She wants to go shopping. That’s that Mona shit right there,” Jodie said, looking mad as hell.
“She’s five yo, her version of shopping is the Disney store.”
“Nah, Angel goes in. Her little ass must be watching her mother and she wants to get her nails done. The fuck I look like sitting up in a nail shop?”
I just laughed because he looked stressed as. “You look like a good father is what the fuck you look like.”
“Then you bring your ass with me and be a good uncle.”
“Nah, I’m good on that. I got shit to do today.”
“See, that’s what I’m talking about.”
I stood up and shook my head. “Have fun.”
“Fuck you Keem.”
“Angel, come give me a hug before I go.” I yelled down the hall, and seconds later she came jetting towards me with a big grin and sticky fingers. I lifted her off the ground and hugged her tightly, planting kisses on both of cheeks while she giggled.