She Used to Be the Sweetest Girl

by Briann Danae

  “Wait, what? Just explain what you talking about man. I’m lost as fuck right now.”

  “So Reiman or whoever the little white bitch is you fool with didn’t mess up Brix’s car?” she asked, with a roll of her neck already knowing the answer.

  Hitting his hand in the steering wheel, Shemel cursed out loud. He had honestly forgotten all about that shit with her. Not knowing if Reilyn had told them everything, he decided to ask.

  “Man. Who told you that shit?”

  “She did nigga. Her and her ugly ass friends came to Brix’s food tasting and ruined it. Bragging about how you knew it was her and y’all made a bet and some mo’ shit. You wrong as hell, you do know that right?” Carissa said, more than asked.

  Running his hand over his face, Shemel sighed heavily. He couldn’t even be pissed at Reilyn. This was all his fault. If he had told Brix from the beginning who damaged her car, he wouldn’t be sitting here feeling as bad as he did. Sure, he would have still felt bad, but not like this. He didn’t even go through with the so-called bet she put in place, but that didn’t matter. The fact he didn’t tell her and covered it up like he was genuinely sorry about the shit is what was wrong.

  “I know I’m wrong man. I need to see her though. It’s been two weeks. Is this why she been ignoring me?”

  “What the hell you think! She don’t want to see you though. I can guarantee that.”

  “Let me hear her say that shit,” he hissed.

  “No. She’s sleep right now and I’m not waking her up for this shit.”

  “Sleep? She with you right now?” he asked, cranking his car up.

  “Are you in the car?” she groaned, inwardly, knowing he was going to ask to come over.

  “Yep. Where she at? She at home or your house?” he asked, pulling from the warehouse parking lot.

  Shaking her head, Carissa cursed herself for even answering the phone. She didn’t normally answer unknown numbers, but she thought it was someone from her job calling. Arguing with Shemel was the last thing she wanted to be doing before she went into work, but she’d ride for Brix regardless of the circumstances. Against her better judgment, she let him know that they were at her house.

  “Can you please send me your address Carissa. I ain’t no begging ass nigga, but man, I’m willing to be right now,” Shemel asked.

  “Why should I? All you gone do is come over here and lie anyway. That’s the last thing she needs right now.”

  “I’m not gone lie to her again for real. I’mma just make sure we on the same page. Look man, yes or no about the address? If you wanna be difficult, I can get it the same way I got your number,” he threatened.

  “I know that nigga Pierre gave you my number with his ugly ass. I’m only giving it to you because I know how she feels about you and I’m about to go to work. I swear if you don’t fix this shit, I’mma hurt you for real this time. Ya little chick already got that work, so don’t be on nothing stupid.”

  Shemel wanted to chuckle at her empty threat, but decided against it. He was already in the doghouse and didn’t need to dig himself a deeper hole.

  “I’ll fix it man or at least try to. You gotta make shit work with my mans though,” he joked.

  “Nigga please. Don’t make me change my mind,” she said.

  “Nah, nah. I’m playing. Gone head and send me that address real quick,” he said, getting back to the original conversation.

  “Mhm. Be here in the next thirty minutes,” she said, disconnecting the call.

  Two minutes of them being off the phone, a text came through with the address. Pulling up his GPS, he copy and pasted, then headed in her direction. She was exactly twenty minutes from the warehouse, but he planned on cutting that time down by at least five minutes. If this was going to be his only chance to talk to Brix, he was going to make damn sure he was on time. Grateful for Carissa giving in to his pleading, he smiled but it quickly dropped once he thought of how he was going to explain himself. He had never saw Brix upset for real and he thought for sure she was going to spazz on him. Little did he know, Brix was going to be cool as a fan. She had no choice but to be. Sure, she was mad about him lying, but could she really stop him from doing that? If he wanted to fuck up a good thing, that was on him.

  * * * * *

  Shutting his car off, Shemel sat outside Carissa’ apartment complex. He hadn’t been nervous the whole ride here, but as soon as he pulled in, he felt his palms begin to sweat. Rubbing them against his jeans, he hopped out being sure to grab his phone out the cup holder. Jogging up the few flights of stairs, he stopped in front of her door and knocked softly remembering that Brix was sleep. Carissa pulled the door open with a mug on her face and her arms crossed. Even with the thirty minutes that had passed she was still annoyed at the fact that Pierre gave her number out. Standing there with his hands tucked inside his sweats, Shemel spoke up.

  “Are you going to invite me in?” he asked.

  Without saying a word, she held the door open while he waltzed in. Taking a look around the nice sized living room, he thought to ask where she worked but decided against it. It was not the time for questioning, at least not from his end. Standing in the middle of the room, he peeked down the hall trying to decipher which room Brix could be in. Seeing how anxious he was, Carissa cleared her throat.

  “Well that was quick,” she said, with a smirk.

  “Yeah. You said be here in thirty minutes, so shit. Here I am.”

  “Unfortunately you are,” Carissa said with a roll of her eyes. “So look, she’s still sleep. I would wait with you until she gets up, but I have to be at work. You can wait out here until she wakes up. She’ll probably be hungry, so the kitchen will probably be her first stop.”

  Unbeknownst to the two, Brix had been wide awake for the last hour or so. After Carissa peeked in on her, she couldn’t go back to sleep. Her body was still tired so she simply lounged around. Throughout the day, she had woken up to eat and shower, but other than that the bed was her safe haven. Her phone was on Do Not Disturb and she had received some of the best sleep she had in a while.

  Hearing the deep baritone of a male’s voice, she grinned thinking of how stubborn Carissa thought she was. She isn’t that upset with Pierre since he is over here, she thought. Grabbing her phone, she checked her missed calls and text messages. Like it had been for the last two weeks, Shemel was about the only name visible through the others. He was standing out like a thumb tack and it was poking her, causing annoyance. Going to her email, she responded back to Nicole about rescheduling their appointment. Brix was going to only give herself one day to be down on the dumps and after that it was back to business as usual.

  Thinking of the number of cakes she had to bake this weekend, she sat her phone down. The thought of slaving all day was exciting because it was something she loved, but it could sometimes get hectic inside her mom’s kitchen. It was one of the main reasons she held a tasting. It was time to branch out and get her own spot at least. Even if it was something small to start off with, she wouldn’t have to occupy her mother’s space all of the time. It was no problem for Mrs. Carla, but Brix wanted to do it out of respect. She knew her mama probably wanted to have friends over on weekends instead helping her clean up frosting, food coloring, and more.

  Hearing the front door close, she scrunched up her face. Carissa could have at least told me she was leaving, she thought. Deciding to give her a call, she hopped up to go brush her teeth and handle her hygiene. It was already dark outside, so she planned on spending the night and eating up all her junk food. It had been a while since she got the chance to just relax and she was going to soak these hours of freedom up. Grabbing her cell, she saw Carissa had sent her a text.

  Carissa: Don’t be mad at me. I love you and I think you should hear him out. See you when I get off!

  Furrowing her eyebrows, Brix frowned. Who was the he she was talking about is what confused her. Once Carissa had left out the door, Shemel sat quietly for a few minutes. Once h
e heard the water running, he made his way down the hallway. As much as he would have liked to obey her “rules” he didn’t. He was planning to wake Brix up if she hadn’t woken on her own. Before Brix could respond to the text, the bedroom door squeaked open. Turning around like the speed of lightening, she grabbed her chest when she heard the intruder. She had been so in tune with her phone, she hadn’t even heard him walk down the hall.

  After quickly sending Carissa tons of middle finger emoji’s, Brix locked her phone and tossed it on the bed. With the back of her knees pressed against the mattress, she stared at Shemel and willed herself not to bite her lip. The braids he had when he left for Atlanta were long gone and his crinkly dread locs swung softly as he shut the door behind him. Standing in some gray sweats—a woman’s creep attire— a simple white tee, and a red pair of Jordan Futures, he looked damn good. He had on a gold cross necklace, but that was the only jewelry he rocked majority of the time, including his diamond encrusted watch.

  Brix figured he had went through a lot of trouble to get here, seeing as though Carissa didn’t like anyone to know where she lived. She definitely wasn’t expecting him to be standing in front of her, while she was basically half-naked. Although she had on a big t-shirt and some shorts, her smooth caramel skin thighs looked inviting to Shemel underneath the moonlight. On any other day, he would have been nestled between them with his arms wrapped around her waist, laid back chilling. Today wasn’t that day, and he didn’t know when the next one would be.

  “Why are you here?” she asked, with a mug on her face.

  Shemel flipped the light switch on, needing to see her face. Licking his lips, he couldn’t stop the smile that spread over his face. Even though it looked like she had been crying all day, she still looked as beautiful as the first time they met at Walmart. Clearing his throat, Shemel began to answer her question.

  “To clear some shit up. I don’t know the key details of what happened while I was out of town, but that’s no reason for you to ignore me. I was worried about you.”

  With a chuckle, Brix rolled her eyes. In less than twenty-four hours, here it was another man who supposedly cared for her trying to explain himself. She didn’t have the energy or time to deal with him right now.

  “Worried? About little ole me? I find that quite funny.”

  “And how is that funny Brix? Please, enlighten me. I go out of town and you basically disappear from the face of the earth. No replies back, no returned phone calls or nothing. I understand if you mad about some shit Rei told you, but you didn’t even give me a chance to see things from my side.”

  “Why should there even be a reason to hear your side of anything? Just answer me this one question and you can leave.”

  Smirking, Shemel nodded his head for her to continue. He had no plans of leaving anytime soon.

  “Did you know she was the one who messed my car up?”

  Shemel started to nod his head, but Brix stopped him. She wanted to hear him say it, loud and clear.

  “No. Say it out loud,” she told him.

  “Yeah, I knew,” he mumbled, shaking his head.

  The tears that Brix dried hours before had surprisingly resurfaced. She was so tired of crying; it didn’t make sense. She couldn’t control it though. Hearing it straight from his mouth was a stab to the heart. While she knew some women could be downright conniving, there was no reason for Reilyn to just show up at her tasting and make up a complete lie and make a fool of herself. Surely there was some truth to her harsh words, and low and behold, there was. Seeing the tears fall from her eyes, Shemel quickly stepped in her direction to hug her. As much as she didn’t want him to touch her, Brix didn’t put up a fight like she did with Drew. Wrapping his arms around her small frame, he held her tightly as she cried.

  “How could you know that and not say anything? Why would you do that?” she said, hitting his chest, demanding answers.

  “I didn’t want to hurt you. It was stupid man, and I’m sorry. I should have told you.”

  Hearing him say he was sorry triggered something inside of Brix. Removing herself from his embrace, she took a step back and wiped her face. She was so tired of hearing sorry come from niggas’ mouths. It was sickening. To her, they were never sorry until they were caught up in a lie. Where was this remorseful feeling when they were unintentionally breaking her heart?

  “That’s all y’all ever are. Fucking sorry and for what? You knew what you were doing. You know it’s funny,” she said with a chuckle. “I had my ex tell me to my face this morning that he played a role in murdering my father and made every excuse in the book as to how he was protecting me when he left. Claiming he didn’t want to hurt me and then here you come with the same shit. I have heard enough excuses in one day to last me a lifetime. So you can save whatever speech you had prepared and walk right back out that door. I do not have the time,” Brix concluded, trying to hold her ground.

  Shemel listened in with wide eyes. He had never heard her curse before and damn did she sound sexy when she was pissed off. What he heard had put his lustful judgments on hold. All he could think about was her seeing her ex this morning and what she meant by murdering her father.

  “Your ex? I ain’t like him, so don’t be comparing me to no nigga. You mad I get that, but I’m not leaving. Not until you talk to me and tell me what’s going on?” he said, taking a step closer.

  “Talk? You wanna talk now Shemel! Why weren’t you trying to talk when that bitch busted out my windows and scratched my car up huh? You knew this whole time she was behind this mess and you took up for her. Do you know how humiliated I was! She came to my first event ever and ruined it, all because of her obsession with you. You’re the reason behind all this,” she said shaking her head.

  Silent tears graced her face, even though she didn’t want them to. As bad as she tried to put on a façade to mask her feelings, it wasn’t working. The incident with Reilyn she was over, but Shemel confessing his involvement with the scandalous act made the ill feelings resurface. Grabbing her hands, he began to speak, whether she looked at him or not. He had to let her know shit wasn’t how it seemed.

  “I knew the truth would have hurt you, especially because I dealt with her. Then you mentioning it being a gift from your dad only made it worse. I couldn’t do that to you man. I know you don’t believe me, but it’s the truth ma. On my mama, I wouldn’t do no grimy shit like that to a female I care about. If I didn’t give a fuck about you, I would have told you straight up who it was when I found it,” he said lifting her chin to make eye contact.

  Brix looked at him and could see the sincerity in his eyes. Hell, even in his voice she knew he was truly sorry. Unlike Drew, who honestly had no excuse, she wanted to hear Shemel out. Brix didn’t know if it was because she was in desperate need of validation or because she knew that, deep down, he had unintentionally meant to cause her pain. With her head lifted high and lips poked out, she sniffled then spoke.

  “That’s why you bought me the car?”

  “Yes and no. I did feel bad about her fucking your car up, but it was time to upgrade you to some flyer shit. If you want me to pay for the damages I can,” he offered.

  “I don’t want you thinking I need you, because I don’t. You can gladly have that car back. And no, the only damages needing fixed are the ones done to my heart. You really hurt me Melly,” Brix confessed, calling him by the pet name she gave him.

  Hearing her say his nickname brought some calmness over Shemel. The fact that she announced him damaging her heart is was made him grit his teeth. He knew going along with Rei’s deal was wrong, but at the time it sounded like the best thing to do. Shemel wanted to ask more about what happened with her dad, but now was not the time nor place.

  Gliding his hands up her neck, he replaced them with his lips as he engulfed her body with his. Gracing his fingertips was the softness of Brix’s curls as he massaged her scalp and left wet kisses all over her face and neck. He wanted to make it up to her in another wa
y than just saying he was sorry, he needed to show her.

  “I apology for hurting your feelings baby. You think I’d ever want to hurt you after I worked so hard to get you? Nah ma. I ain’t never been in love, so I don’t know how this pain feel, but I understand it and I wanna make this right. Us right. I may have fucked up this one time, but I can promise there won’t be another time. Let me just make it up to you alright,” he said, rubbing his hands down the arch of her back.

  Brix’s breath was caught in her chest. They had been this close before, when they were chilling, but not at the magnitude. She was practically naked and vulnerable as hell. Gripping the back of his shirt, she tried to stop him from going in further.

  “I don’t think—”

  “Sshh. Don’t think. Let me just make love to your body. Let me take the pain away baby,” Shemel whispered, before kissing her cheek.

  Overwhelmed with emotion, Brix brought her small hands to his dreads and gave them a tug before colliding her lips against his. Slipping his tongue in her mouth, Shemel picked her up with one arm and went to turn the light off. Before he could make his way back toward the bed Brix grabbed his free hand and placed it at her center. She was beyond horny and wanted him to do exactly what he asked to do. She needed him to make love to her mind, and fuck the shit out of her body. The pain was almost unbearable and only he could eliminate it.

  “P-Please, take the pain away,” she breathed heavily, choked up.

  The look in her eyes was so serious, Shemel had no choice but to respond to her command. With her back against the door, he flicked the light off. As bad as he wanted to taste her sweet essence, his dick had other plans. His hard wood demanded to be set free and Brix knew it. Using her feet, she helped him slide his sweats and boxers to drop freely around his ankles. Wrapping her arms around his neck, Shemel tugged the small shorts from around her waist right along with the lace underwear. Tossing them behind him, he began to remove his tennis shoes that were tied loosely.