by Lucinda John
“That is correct. What my son does in his personal life is his business; it was not for me to tell.”
“Well, you are a coward just like your son. I don’t want you or him anywhere near my child,” I said, giving her my ass to kiss. “Betty, can you only make sure that the Michael’s and I are the only ones authorized to visit Kareem, please, ” I said to his nurse.
“Yes ma’am,” she replied, cutting her eyes at Geek’s mother.
I sashayed my ass to my son’s room and sat with him. I read him some books I brought and promised him everything his little heart desired. It was hard seeing him like that, but I knew I had to be strong for him. I stayed with my prince until the hospital staff kicked me out, since visiting hours were over.
When I arrived home, I was a wreck. It pained me to have to walk out of the hospital once again, without my son. As much as I tried to coach myself on being strong, I couldn’t. Instead of getting out of the car, I laid my head on the steering wheel and cried. I was in a deep gut-wrenching cry when light taps on the window startled me. Wiping the tears from my eyes so that I could have a clearer vision, my eyes landed on a very handsome Smoke.
“Open the door,” he mouthed.
I hit the locks then watched as he jogged to the passenger side and opened the door.
“You good ma?” he asked.
“No,” I whispered.
“Don’t even sweat it Ma, everything is going to be ok,” he tried to assure me.
“Everyone keeps saying that; I’m starting to think it’s something that people are programmed to say during hard times,” I replied.
“It’s the truth, you may not see it now, but things will get better.”
“Says who?” I asked.
“God,” he seriously replied. “And don’t you ever forget nor question that.”
We sat in the car in silence while he pulled out items to roll up a blunt.
“You smoke?” he asked.
“No, I tried it once and I didn’t like it.”
“That’s what’s up. I don’t like when women mess up their pretty lips on blunts anyways,” he said, causing me to blush. “Do you mind if I smoke?”
“No, go ahead,” I replied.
The smell of his cologne mixed with the exotic weed he was smoking, had me in a daze. I haven’t hit the blunt, but I was getting high off second hand smoke. I felt my eyes getting low as my body relaxed.
“This is that good shit.” He smiled his beautiful smile, while looking over at me with his low, dreamy eyes.
I couldn’t respond, I was so lost in his beauty. I know a guy wasn’t supposed to be beautiful, but he was. He reminded me of an African American Greek God; everything about him was perfect.
“What happened to your grills?” I asked, remembering he had gold teeth the first time we met.
“They were plates, I can take them off and put them back in,” he replied.
“Oh,” I said.
After he finished smoking his third blunt, we both were high.
“I’m higher than a motherfucker,” he chuckled.
“Me too,” I giggled.
“You ain’t even hit the blunt.”
“Second-hand smoke is the truth,” I replied.
“Let me get you inside before the Michael’s come out here and kill me,” he said, opening his door and walking over to me.
I felt like a damn rookie getting high off contact. As he helped me out of the car, my legs began to wobble, causing me to fall into his chest. His strong arms wrapped around me breaking my fall, and sent chills up my spine.
“Damn you got virgin lungs for real,” he laughed, helping me to the door.
He grabbed the key out of my hand and unlocked the front door. All of the lights in the house were off, except for a small glow of light that was in the Mr. Michael’s man cave. The smell of fresh baked cookies had my stomach rumbling louder than thunder on a stormy day.
“CheChe is that you?” Mr. Michael called out.
“Yes, Mr. Michael,” I giggled.
“Are you ok?” His voice got closer.
“Yes,” I answered, walking into him.
“Ezra, what did you do to my baby?” he scolded, Smoke.
“Nothing, she ain’t even hit the blunt and she is tore up,” Smoke laughed.
“Oh lawd. How’s Kareem?” Mr. Michael asked.
“He’s good,” I replied.
“Okay, now go and get you some rest, don’t let Ezra’s black Kunta Kinte looking ass influence you,” Mr. Michael joked.
“Old man, you are going to have to see me one day,” Smoke laughed.
“You ain’t ready for these hands,” Mr. Michael replied, getting into a fighting stance.
“You right, I ain’t ready.” Smoke laughed. “I’m out of here, I’ll holla at y’all in the morning,” Smoke said, before walking to the door.
Mr. Michael and I went in the kitchen where he poured me a glass of milk then placed four cookies on a plate for me.
“I was able to get my father’s money back,” I told him.
“That’s good,” Mr. Michael smiled.
“Here,” I said, handing him a check for twenty thousand dollars.
“I can’t take this,” he said.
“You can and you will, it is for my appreciation. If it wasn’t for you and Mrs. Michael, I don’t know where I would have been,” I confessed.
“It was all out of love my dear, you are the daughter we never had. God blessed us with you and we are glad that you’re a part of our life.”
“Thanks. I love you Mr. Michael.”
“I love you too, CheChe. Now go on to bed, that weed got you all in your feelings.” He chuckled.
“I will, good night.”
“Good night, baby girl,” he said before disappearing out of the kitchen.
Chapter Four
Geek
It finally felt good to be free. I wasn’t ready to deal with all of the bullshit I know I had to face once I walked out of these doors, but I would take that over incarceration any day. When I walked out of the building, Draya, was standing there in front of her all white Ford F-150, waiting for me with a scowl on her face. I had been pleading my case to her, but she was still salty over the Karrueche situation.
“I see they let your black ass out,” she rolled her eyes, walking towards the passenger side, tossing me the keys.
“Don’t start with me,” I huffed.
“It ain’t my fault your ass slipped in some young pussy and forgot you were married. I should have your ass arrested for rape, you sick bastard!” She yelled, slapping me upside my head.
I wanted to strangle the fuck out of her, but we were still in front of the jail. Draya, really knew how to push my buttons, and that is why at times, I regretted marrying her. Draya, was my baby and I loved her like a fat person loved Golden Corral, but I couldn’t deal with her mouth at times. She had one like Angela in ‘Why Did I Get Married’, the type of mouth that made you want to cave her fucking jaw in.
“Draya, chill out man, a nigga is fresh out and I’m trying to chill.”
“How the fuck did you get out? Are you snitching?” Draya asked, giving me the side-eye.
Draya, was hip to the game, she knew I was hustling on the side and she accepted it, because it meant I could keep her laced. Unlike Karrueche, she didn’t see me jumping out the game anytime soon. Draya, was like my ride or die bitch, the type of bitch that would stuff a few pills up her pussy if the law was after you.
“No man! Since when have you known me to snitch?” I asked.
“That’s the thing, I don’t know who you are anymore,” she said.
“Man, that nigga Stacks got me out if I agreed to go back to the basics.”
“Weak ass,” she said, sucking her teeth. “You should have stood your ground and went against him.”
“And go to war with that half Columbian motherfucker? Hell naw! You must really have a death sentence. Anyway, he’s out the game now, so I’m suppos
ed to be reporting to some nigga named Smoke.”
“That’s good, we gonna feel Smoke out and figure how to get one over on his ass,” she replied with a smile.
Sometimes I wondered if she was really with me because she loved me, or because of my ability to take over the drug game. Some days I could feel her love and other days I could see her greed for money. I really hated that about Draya, but with Karrueche, I didn’t doubt the love she had for me. Thinking about her, I immediately thought of my baby, I needed to see him ASAP.
“I’m going to drop you off home and bust a few moves,” I said.
“You think I’m a fool? I know you are going to go visit your bastard ass son that’s laying there dying like the weak motherfucker his mother is.”
WHAP!
I backhanded her in the mouth for talking slick about my seed. Regardless, if she was my wife, Kareem, is my blood and in my book, blood was thicker than cum. I would never sit back and let nobody disrespect my kids. They came out of my nut sack; therefore, it was my job to care and protect them.
“So you slapping me over that tramp now?” She hysterically asked, wiping the blood from her mouth.
“No, I smacked you because you don’t know how to stay in your fucking lane!” I yelled. “Don’t you ever fix your mouth and disrespect my kid again, now get your ass out the fucking car!” I yelled, pulling into our driveway.
“It’s like that Geek?” She asked, with a look of disbelief on her face.
“Man, get the fuck out for real!” I roared, not even looking her way.
I made sure she made it in the house before driving off and heading to the hospital. When I made it there I gave the lady at the front desk Karrueche’s information, and she directed me to a Nurse Betty, in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. The whole time I rode the elevator to the third floor, I kept thinking about how much of a disappointment I was already becoming to my son. I wasn’t there for his birth, now I was going to have to raise him in a broken home. There was no way Draya was going to accept a divorce now that Karrueche and Kareem were in the picture. She would rather stay with me and be unhappy before she allowed me to be happy with someone else.
“Hello, is there a Nurse Betty here?” I asked the lady at the nurse’s station.
“Hold on one moment,” she said, picking up the phone and paging the nurse.
A few minutes later, she walked towards me wearing Sponge Bob Square Pants scrubs. Nurse Betty, was an older lady that hadn’t lost her beauty. She was definitely on the BBW side, but everything was stacked perfectly. If she was a cougar I’d definitely tap that ass a few times, I thought, licking my lips.
“Excuse me, you paged for me?” She said, snapping me out of my thoughts.
“Yes, I’m here to see my son, Kareem Davis and I was told to come speak with you.”
“Unfortunately, per the mother’s request, your name would have to be on the visiting list to see the child,” she said.
“What the fuck you mean visiting list? I am his father!” I yelled.
“I’m going to have to ask you to keep it down before I am forced to get security,” she said. “As I was saying, the mother put down the names of the people that are allowed to visit him, unless you have a wrist band that identifies you as his father, there is nothing I could do.” She smirked.
“Call Karrueche right now and tell her to bring her yellow ass out here to fix this shit. I am not leaving until I see my son,” I snapped.
Before the nurse could page for security, Karrueche came walking towards us. I wasn’t going to lie and say she wasn’t on point, because she was. The way Kareem made her hips spread had my dick gravitating towards her. She walked with so much confidence and it had her beauty on a different level.
“CheChe, how are you going to try to keep me from my baby?” I asked, grabbing her.
The way her body tensed up, I could tell she was still feeling me. Besides, the type of love we had didn’t die overnight. I knew she was mad at me at the moment, but once the dust settled, I would be able to have my cake and eat it too.
“Geek, can you get off me please?” She said, through pursed lips.
“Let me see my son,” I firmly said. “Regardless of how you feel about me that is still my child.”
“Stay right here, as soon as I’m done with my visit, I will have the nurse put your name on the list,” she said.
“Why can’t we visit him together, like a family?” I whispered in her ears. As much as she tried to fight it, her body couldn’t deny the chemistry between us.
“There is no family. Your family is at home with your wife and kids. What we’re doing now is simply called co-parenting,” she replied.
“That’s what your lips saying, but I bet them panties wet,” I said, brushing my lips on the side of her neck.
“Alright that’s enough,” Nurse Betty said, throwing her a life-line.
Karrueche slipped out of my grip and walked to the back to visit with our son. I made myself comfortable on one of the visiting chairs and waited for her to come back. My phone was dead, so I couldn’t even pull up a game of pool to kill time. When Karrueche was finally done with her visit there was only fifteen minutes of visitation hours remaining. I wanted to slap the smirk off of her face, but I didn’t want to waste time I could be using on my son.
When I walked in the room, my heart shattered. Seeing my little soldier hooked up to all those machines had me choking back tears. I was feeling like this shit was all my fault, if I had handled the situation between Draya and Karrueche better, then he wouldn’t have been laying here fighting for his life. The more I stood here and watched my son fight for his life, the less of a man I felt I was. Taking a seat on the seat next to him, I prayed that God gave him strength to pull through.
****
The first night home from jail was stressful as fuck. Draya and I kept arguing, forcing me to grab my shit and comes to my mom’s house. To make matters worse, my mother was in my ear bitching about how Karrueche didn’t want her in my son’s life. She blamed me for not properly handling the situation and putting her in my mess. She was catching heat from both Draya and Karrueche, which was pissing her off. I felt bad for having my mother in the middle of my drama, so I made a mental note to clean everything up.
I woke up in time to rush home and see my daughter’s off to school. They were excited when they saw me at the front door. Instead of dropping them off to the bus stop, I decided to take them to get some Ihop before dropping them off at school.
“Daddy, where is Karrueche and the baby going to stay now that mommy is back home?” Tamya asked.
“Yes daddy, will she sleep in our room?” Tamia added.
“No, Karrueche is going to live in her own house with the baby,” I replied.
“Why can’t we all live together?” Tamia asked.
I would have loved that shit, I thought to myself.
“Because mommy and daddy are married and we have to live together as a family,” I tried my hardest to explain. “Karrueche was just visiting with us until mommy came back. She was like a nanny,” I said.
“Well, can we go to her house to visit her and the baby?” Tamya asked.
“Yes, once she gets situated. Now eat up so I can get you pretty ladies to school on time.” I smiled.
Once I dropped the girls off to school, I passed by Tommy’s house to pick him up, before meeting with Stacks and Geek. Stacks pulled some strings so that my license wouldn’t get suspended, plus there was no record of my arrest and charges. When I pulled up in front of Tommy’s house, I spotted KiKi pulling out of his driveway.
“Really bruh?” I asked him, as he got in my car.
“Man, fuck Shantika bruh, she left me. As long as she comes back with my seed I’m straight,” he shrugged.
“So, are you saying that you are done with Tika?”
“Like the period after the end of a sentence. Done, finish, finito,” he said.
“Yeah right, but anyway, Karrueche’s on
some other shit,” I said, explaining to my brother everything that went down.
“Moms and I tried to warn your ass. I don’t know why you thought you were going to get rid of Draya and live happily ever after with Karrueche. I could have told you that wasn’t going to happen.”
“I love Draya, man, but I don’t understand how she could want me to risk everything by staying in the streets. It’s not like I don’t make good money legally,” I vented.
“So you want out?” he asked.
“No, of course I don’t I love this shit, but there will come a time when this shit will get old and then I will want to live right, ya feel me?”
“Yeah I feel ya, but fucking with Draya, that shit ain’t never gonna happen.”
“That’s what I mean, I don’t know if she’s here for me or my status.”
“To be honest I like Karrueche, but Draya is a better match; Karrueche is so young and fragile. Draya knows how to deal with your ass and your ways,” he said.
“I know,” I replied, allowing my thoughts to fall on Karrueche. Her birthday was coming up and I wanted to take her out on a cruise, but that wouldn’t be possible.
When we made it to the meeting spot, we were ten minutes late. We walked inside the run down soul food joint then took a seat at the table Stacks, and this Smoke character were seated at. The look on Stacks face told me his was pissed off. Stacks, was a very punctual nigga.
“I should break your neck for having me waiting,” Stacks snapped.
“My bad, traffic was bad,” I said.
“Whenever you’re meeting with me, make sure you map the location, and have Siri direct you with the routes that have the less traffic.”
“I gotcha boss.”
“Now, this right here is your new boss Smoke. Smoke this is your pill maker, Geek and his booty partner Tommy,” Stack said, causing Smoke to chuckle.
Smoke didn’t say anything; he just hit us with a head nod. Stacks went over the percentage and how everything was going to go from now on. Instead of Stacks meeting up with me, I would now have to answer to Smoke.
“Because of your slip up, you’re on a ninety day probation,” Smoke finally spoke up, causing Stacks to grin.
“Ninety day probation? What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” I asked.