by Tiana Grover
I gestured around my dining room. “Do it look like I’m thinking bout that shit right now man?”
He nodded. Even though I knew he wanted to probe further, he had the good sense not to. “Aight well get at me.” He left out.
Mr. Daniel left soon after that, leaving me alone with Red.
She went to work cleaning my dining room. “Before you even start Prince, that bougie bitch asked for it.”
I looked at her skeptically. “How? You was flirting with her husband the whole time they were here and you basically said her daughter was nothing!”
Red waved her hand. “I ain’t never said no shit like that. You so damn sensitive when it comes to that girl, it’s sickening. And I’ll tell you how she asked for it son.” She stopped picking up the broken dishes for a second and put her hand on her hip. “She threw a drink on me like she don’t know who the fuck I am! I done fucked bitches up for much less than and you know it Prince. Bitch better check my resume,” she fumed before going back to cleaning.
Any other time I would have laughed. Red’s O.G. status was well known. She had put in more work in these streets than most old heads. Still, there was no way that Sierra’s college graduate, schoolteacher mother knew anything about all that.
Right now, I wasn’t in the mood to laugh though. True, Ms. Felicia tossed the drink but Red had been nit picking with her the whole time. That shit was just childish.
I was pissed at both Red and Sierra.
Chapter Sixteen
“I don’t think it’s meant to be…”
Jay Z “Lost Ones”
Sierra
I walked up the steps to my off campus apartment severely pissed off. I couldn’t believe that Prince didn’t see the fault of his mother’s ways and how she alone had ruined our Christmas. She had been in my father’s face all night! Everyone saw it.
“I told him he needed to control her if she was gonna come!” I snapped to myself, pissed. “I knew she was gonna fuck shit up! That’s all she does!” I put my key in the lock, turned it… and couldn’t believe the mess that greeted me when I stepped inside.
There was shit everywhere. Clothes, food wrappers, dishes, glasses… it was piled up all over the place. I slowly made my way to the living room, kicking a trail through all the clutter. When I saw food stains all over my white suede couch, I damn near went through the roof. That couch had cost me damn near two thousand dollars! I kept it in the best condition the whole time I was staying here. I leave for a few months, come back and it looked like Bebe’s Kids had their way on my shit.
Steam was coming from my ears, I was so pissed. I had no problem letting Trina stay here after Andrew ditched her but this was unacceptable. She was taking advantage of me, from wearing my clothes to turning my apartment into a pigsty. She was ungrateful, plain and simple.
Each room I walked into was worst than the last. Every step I took made my temperature rise more and more. I didn’t understand why she would do this to my spot when she had to pay for nothing. The automatic withdrawals for the lights, gas and cable still came out of my checking account every month, the reason being that I didn’t want to have to go back to my parents just in case things with Prince didn’t work out. I wanted to have my own space to go back to. I was glad that I had kept everything on with the way things were going between us. It looked like I was going to be here for a while.
I grabbed some garbage bags, Lysol and bleach and cleaned until it was spotless. The whole time I thought of Prince. I was starting to think our relationship just wasn’t meant to be. He made me so happy but so sad at the same time. I didn’t know if I was coming or going when it came to him. One minute we were moving our wedding up to Valentine’s Day, the next minute I was walking out on him and he was letting me. Being happy with someone shouldn’t take this much work and have this many ups and downs. I was about to be over it, him and the whole damn relationship if this was all I was going to get out of it.
I thought of his face as I left and sighed out of frustration. He’d known I was mad and didn’t give a fuck. That was the part that pissed me off. He had let me go! I had been gone for going on two hours now, on Christmas no less, and he had not sent one text or made one phone call to try and get me to come back home. He didn’t even seem to care that I left so fuck it, I would stay gone. I wasn’t the one in the wrong here, but I never was. Prince was constantly messing up. I was sick of breaking up to make up every other month. Maybe this time we needed to stay broken up.
A key turned in the lock. Trina walked in, saw me and rolled her eyes like the sight of me in my own apartment made her sick. “I’m only here to change my dress.”
I scoffed. “You mean my dress.”
“Whatever, I need to get out of it. I’m exhausted.”
I glared at her with my hand on my hip. “Oh yeah? And where were you going to sleep, Trina? In the bed that was piled high with clothes and crumbs? The couch that had everything under the sun on it? Tell me, where were you going to sleep?”
Trina sighed dramatically. “Okay so it was a little messy. So what? You know I was going through something when Andrew left me at the altar like that, Sierra.” Her voice started to tremble. “I could barely get off that couch to wash my ass, let alone clean this house.”
For a second, I felt sorry for her. Just for one second. That situation had changed her. There was no denying that. My sister definitely wasn’t the same person she was before that happened. Then that pity turned into irritation. Andrew had left Trina at the altar over six months ago. At this point, I felt like she was using that as an excuse for everyone to continue to feel sorry for her.
“How long are you going to use that an excuse, Trina? I let you stay here rent-free and you in here messing up my furniture, dirtying the place up… It’s time to get your life back on track and move on! Andrew ain’t thinking about you!”
The moment the words left my mouth, I felt bad. Yes she needed to hear them, but not the way that I said it and especially not after the dinner at my house.
Trina’s facial expression went from sad to utter disbelief.
“Trina, I didn’t mean it like that …” I started but she held her hand up to stop me.
“No its cool, you been saying smart shit to me all day so I’m gonna take it as that’s the way you really feel,” she cut me off. She picked up her bag she’d set on the end table when she first walked in –which, upon closer inspection, was also mine- then turned and looked at me. “You wanna know something Sierra? You think you are so perfect. You’re going to graduate from college in the spring, you stopped taking Mom and Dad’s handouts, you’re an independent woman…” She laughed. “And I guess you think you got the perfect man too. I mean you must. Up here telling me how Andrew ain’t thinking about me, right?” When I didn’t respond right away, she chuckled.
“Sis, no I don’t. And I’m so sorry, I should have never said that,” I said genuinely. “I’m just upset with the way everything happened with Prince earlier and…”
“Prince ain’t perfect, Sierra,” Trina went on, like I had never spoke. “You wanna talk about Andrew, well how about I tell you how Prince was out looking real cozy with some Puerto Rican looking bitch right after your birthday and guess what? She looked pregnant to me,” she spat.
A pregnant Puerto Rican chick? Right after my birthday? Quick as a flash my mind flashed back to my birthday when I pulled up to my house and stopped the “judge” from confronting my man. I had noticed she was built like a porn star but now I tried to think back really hard to see if I could remember a small bump in her stomach.
I couldn’t.
“Merry Christmas sis,” Trina said sarcastically as she walked out the front door.
I barely heard her. All I could think of was Prince and that Maria chick… lying to me to my face about who she was and why she was there… to confront my man at my house on my birthday!
Prince…. His smooth ass had done it to me again.
Chapter Seventeen
; “Rebel for the hell of it…”
T.I. “I’m Illy”
Javon
It had been a month since that crazy dinner at Prince’s house. My cousin was still upset bout that whole thing. I don’t know why. The way Red drug ole girl across the table was gangster to me. What did Prince expect? She threw a whole drink on Red. He had to know his moms wasn’t letting that shit slide. That whole scene actually made me proud to call Red my aunt. I was happy to see she still had it after all this time.
In the mean and in between time, I had been entertaining baby girl I met over there. Sierra’s sister Trina. Fucking with her proved to beneficial for the both of us. I can admit that I needed a nice girl to help me keep it all together. The money that I spent tricking on these hoes was ridiculous. Meeting Trina and getting to know her made me realize that I would much rather invest all that money into one bitch. I thought I’d be able to do that with Lissa at one point, but the bitch started to shoot up. She was losing mad weight and her looks were starting to fade away. The bitch was on her way to looking like trailer trash. I couldn’t have that on my arm.
Trina, on the other hand, was just right. She was pretty, thick in all the right places, and ready to wait on me hand and foot. She basically showered me with attention. I knew how ole boy had left her high and dry so I knew her insecurities were part of the reason why she treated me the way that she did. I was the first nigga she liked since that happened. I guess she ain’t wanna lose me too. I didn’t mind a bitch giving me all her attention; matter of fact I loved it. It helped that I was feeling the hell out of her. She was cool as shit, could cook her ass off, and we could chill together with no problem. I found myself liking her so much that I didn’t even want any other bitches. She would do just fine.
My love life was going well but everything else was a different story. Every time I turned around one of Kas’ niggas were approaching me. They wanted the money or the product. I was out of product and had no plans of paying him back with the money I had on deck so they were shit out of luck. Even though they were putting the pressure on, I still didn’t take them serious. This was Kaseem, the same nigga that got sent to the store on blunt runs. How much of a threat could he be?
I had planned on paying him back with the money I would get from the partnership we would do with Nas just so they could get off my back; the only thing was, a month had passed since I told Prince he wanted to do business with us and he still hadn’t made no moves yet. So I decided to take matters into my own hands and meet with the hood Donald Trump my damn self, which was why I was now pulling up in front of the rec center on Paulson up Lincoln.
It was Nas’ idea to meet here. He seemed to really have love in his heart for that center. He poured money into the after school programs, the hoop leagues, the summer camps and a bunch of other shit. Personally I didn’t see why he would waste his time putting so much money into a place that wasn’t making him a profit but fuck it. To each his own.
Nas was sitting in a black Porsche Panemera. He hit the locks and let me in out of the bitter cold. I sat inside and looked around in awe. The inside of the car had so many gadgets the shit looked like a spaceship. This nigga was doing it big for real… and with legal money. He could ride around and floss confidently, knowing that he could prove he had the income to have those things. I needed to get like him. I mean don’t get me wrong, I flossed, but it was always me spending my last because I knew more was coming in. I was tired of living like that.
“Wassup,” Nas greeted me, putting his phone in his pocket.
“Shit, wassup with you?” I responded as I got a closer look at him. He had on a black Nike hoodie with some black jeans. The only jewels he sported were the diamonds in his ears. He reminded me of Prince, looking all low key when he had the money to blow.
In a complete contrast to him, I had on Tom Ford jeans with a matching Tom Ford shirt, Balenciaga sneaks and black diamonds in my ear. My Hublot watch sat nice on my wrist.
“Ain’t nothing,” he responded casually. “I see you doing well for yourself,” he said with a nod towards my wrist.
“You know me, nigga. Every time I go out, you know I gotta show out,” I joked as I quoted Jeezy, popping the collar on my leather coat.
“Yeah you got that. So what’s good? I was surprised you wanted to meet up with me today.”
My demeanor changed from jokes to all business. “Yeah man. I want to get this show on the road. I know you had some ideas for us to expand and go into bigger business than just the dry cleaners and the Laundromats and I’m all for it.”
Nas didn’t respond for a minute. When he did, he shot me a confused look. “I know you are. I already sat down with Prince and we made a blueprint. I thought y’all was partners. He didn’t tell you that?”
Instantly, I grew angry. Here I was ducking punk ass Kaseem cause I was waiting for the money from this partnership to pay him, and Prince had went behind my back and talked to Nas without me?
“Naw…” I said slowly. “I ain’t talked to him.”
Nas’ facial expression didn’t change. “Well you need to. You know I fucks with you, Javon. I like the way you got shit running. Y’all need to be on the same page if this shit is gone work, feel me?”
I nodded, even though I was getting angrier by the second. “What did y’all discuss though? What’s the plan? How we moving forward? Did y’all sign any paperwork?”
Nas shook his head repeatedly at each one of my questions. “I ain’t bout to tell you nothing that went on in that meeting, come on now. You know better. Go talk to your partner.” He shifted his car out of park and into drive, a sure sign that this meeting was over.
I wanted to pressure him to ask more questions but I knew better. He wouldn’t give me any more information than he had already given me, but besides that the nigga had a calm aura about him that just warned you he was not to be fucked with. He had a rep now of being a great businessman, but I remembered how people would whisper his name when a few bodies came up missing. Nothing was ever proved, and he was such a likeable guy that people gave him love out of respect, not fear, but still. Those in the know knew he wasn’t one to play with.
I got out his whip and climbed back in my own. I couldn’t believe that this nigga, my own flesh and blood, had went behind my back and snaked me like that. The nigga wouldn’t have an empire if it wasn’t for me! Who the fuck did he think he was to take business meetings without me?
The whole ride back to my house, I blew Prince up. He didn’t respond to any of my texts or phone calls. That only pissed me off even more.
When I walked in the house, Trina was walking out from the kitchen with nothing but a g-string on and some heels. I was so hot I barely looked at her as I rushed back to my room, opened my nightstand drawer and pulled out my stash.
She walked in the room as I was opening a bundle. I put it on the copy of Essence she had there and sniffed away.
“Baby…” She sat next to me, her eyes wide. “What are you doing?”
The whole time we’d been together I’d never gotten high in front of her. She was a good girl and I didn’t want her to know what I was into. I was so mad at Prince right now though that I needed something to bring me down before I drove over to his house and did something stupid.
“Taking my medicine,” I responded as I leaned back against the headboard. That euphoria was starting to come over my body and I instantly started to feel relaxed.
Trina looked at me, then at the remaining bundles on my nightstand. Then she looked back at me again. “Can I try some? It looks like it makes you feel so good.”
I reached out to grab her, looking at her perfect body. Her titties were full and perky, her nipples were hard, and her waist was small. Her stomach wasn’t completely flat but I didn’t mind it all; more to love. Her hips were round and that ass was poking. I was ready to do some damage to her fine ass and forget all about Prince.
“Can I baby? Can I try some?” she repeated in my ear before
sucking on it. “I wanna feel good too.”
I hesitated for a second. I didn’t want her to become another Lissa. That thought left my mind as soon as it entered it. Lissa was a junkie. She shot up. She was addicted to this shit. I wasn’t; I did it for fun or whenever I was truly stressed out. I could stop anytime. If Trina did it with me, I could make sure she only used it for recreation. I wouldn’t let her get strung out, because I wasn’t.
Slowly I put another bundle on the Essence magazine. “Take it slow baby,” I warned her as she leaned down and snorted it. “This some good shit.”
Chapter Eighteen
“Making you them promises/ Then breaking your heart again/ Telling you she wasn’t who she was then we arguing/ But baby… I love you”
Mario ft. Gucci Mane “Break Up”
Prince
“When are you coming back Prince?”
I sat on the edge of the bed and paused before I slid my pants and shoes on.
“Prince? Did you hear me?”
I sighed heavily. “Yeah. I heard you.” I got up then slid my T-shirt and North Face hoodie on. I grabbed my keys then turned to face the bed.
Chloe was laying there with a sheet barely covering her body. I looked down at her and wondered for the millionth time why she couldn’t get her shit together. If she had, I would have been able to be with her. We already had the time and history in with each other.
Yet Chloe’s laziness refused to let me wife her. She never finished high school; didn’t even have her GED. The whole time I dealt with her she hadn’t seen fit to get a job; I guess me making sure she was taken care of gave her no desire to make money of her own. I’d never known her to do anything except clock my movements, which was why I was surprised to see her when I ran in the Sunoco on Negley late one night, working.
I can’t lie, I felt a little bad when I saw the scar Sierra had left on her face. Chloe had only been trying to look out for me by telling me Sierra was down Art’s all over some nigga. She’d gotten her ass beat and stomped out by Sierra in return. To make matters worse, when I left with Sierra, I let it be known loud and clear that she was the only one I wanted and that Chloe meant less than nothing to me. At the time, I hadn’t felt an ounce of guilt. Sierra’s feistiness turned me on and we “made up” all night.