My Shawty: An Original Love Story

by Twyla T

  “This shit getting on my fucking…” Babyface started saying, but his words got caught into his throat after he looked up and locked eyes with Chyna. He licked his lips and started smiling. “Third times gotta be a muthafuckin charm,” Babyface said after staring at Chyna for a few moments. Chyna laughed and asked him what he needed help with and he told her. Within five minutes, she had everything printed off for him. “Thank you Miss Chyna. Let me repay you by being your man,” Babyface dared.

  “I don’t even know your name,” Chyna replied, trying not to stare him in the eyes.

  “Babyface is my name,” he told her.

  “You fine and all, but I know your mom didn’t name you Babyface,” Chyna said while blushing. Damn, did I really just say that out loud? Chyna thought to herself.

  “I don’t tell people my real name, but if you end up being my lil shawty, I’ll tell ya,” Babyface asserted while licking his lips.

  “What’s your number Mr. Babyface?” Chyna asked as she pulled out her Rose Gold iPhone 6s Plus.

  “708-253-8492,” he told her.

  “So, you’re from Chicago… I knew you weren’t from anywhere in the south. What are you doing here?” Chyna asked. “I use to live in Chicago,” Chyna continued by saying before Babyface could ask her anything.

  “Word? It’s a long ass story why me and my cousin here. Shit is slow as fuck here, but we tryna make the best of it,” Babyface told her.

  They sat there talking and covering a lot of ground with each other. An hour had passed before either one of them knew it. Chyna told Babyface that her family lived in Chicago and moved to Mississippi when she was ten years old. She told him it was a decision her dad made and her mom had no choice but to roll with it since she didn’t work. Babyface told her about events of his life that led him to Mississippi. He was surprised by how comfortable he felt with her. He reached over and grabbed her phone and dialed his number before she could protest. “Now I got yo number, in case you try not to call a nigga,” Babyface chuckled.

  “Chyna! Are you done with everything?” a male voice hollered from behind Babyface and Chyna as they were laughing and talking. Chyna jumped at the sound of Pete’s voice.

  “What are you doing here Pete? Are you stalking me?” Chyna asked annoyed.

  “I should ask what you are doing,” Pete said while staring at Babyface. Babyface stood up, showing no fear whatsoever and stared down at Pete.

  “You got some type of problem nigga?” Babyface snidely asked Pete. Chyna hopped up and stood between the two of them.

  “Nigga? Chyna, what kind of people are you hanging out with?” Pete asked while shaking his head.

  “Pete! Just leave… I don’t even know why you’re here,” Chyna pleaded.

  “I’m not going anywhere. I came here to surprise you and take you to lunch, but it looks like I’m the one who got surprised,” Pete replied.

  Chyna stood there not knowing exactly what to do. She had never been in a situation like she was in before. She was really enjoying Babyface, but she didn’t want to embarrass Pete any more than he already was. “Your papers should have printed out over there,” she said, pointing to an area of the library that house multiple printers. “It was nice to meet you. See you around,” Chyna turned around and said to Babyface.

  “Come on Pete, let’s go,” she demanded while walking off sadly.

  “I’ll see you soon!” Babyface called out to Chyna while smirking at Pete, whose high yellow skin was now red. Babyface watched Chyna walk away in her black and blue Jackson State Tigers tee, ripped boyfriend jeans, and blue chucks. “Damn, shawty sexy than a mu’fucka!” Babyface happily exclaimed.

  ******

  Later that night, Babyface and Vice were in Brown Bottom with a guy named Blue that Skeet hooked them up with. “There’s enough money out here to be made and, if Skeet putting y’all on, I know y’all good people,” Blue told them. This was their third time meeting up with Blue, in different locations, but each time he said the same thing. He showed them around Washington Addition and Georgetown the week before, and they were learning the ins and outs of each hood. Babyface was ready to take over some shit and so was Vice, but they knew they had to be patient.

  Skeet didn’t set them up to be some niggas on the blocks, but they still had to learn everything from the bottom. It was up to them to get out and form their own team, and they already had two guys who seemed to have heart like them. When the time was right, Vice would be the one to put them through the test. “How long you been in this area?” Vice asked Blue after he finally stopped talking.

  “This place is my life. This all I know homie,” Blue replied. “Y’all lil niggas ready for this shit?” he asked them.

  “Hell fuckin yeah!” Babyface and Blue replied together.

  “Eagerness, that’s what the fuck I’m talmbout… I see y’all got heart! Y’all gon be just fine. I give y’all two, no more than two months to have a solid ass team,” Blue jousted.

  “Shiiidddd, it ain’t gon take us that long… just watch,” Vice elatedly replied. He met a dude from work that would be a perfect fit, and he would allow Babyface to pick one more. The key was to look for hungry niggas who was ready to come up.

  After riding around for a few more hours and talking business, Blue took Babyface and Vice back to their car and told them to get up with him whenever they needed to. On the way home, Vice told Babyface more about the cat named Vinny that he wanted to add to their team. “This nigga been through a lot, and he’s the type we need to roll with us. His moms died from an overdose; he been living here and there, so he knows the struggle. He just got his own lil spot, but you know got damn well a check from McDonald’s ain’t gonna keep him straight. I know he will be down,” Vice said right before Babyface passed him the Kush.

  “The nigga sounds like he’ll be a fit. What you think about the lil nigga Sean? I talked to him twice and he got a story too. His moms works two jobs to provide for four kids. He’s the oldest and been doing a little nickel and diming to help her out, so I know he’ll be willing to make some extra money,” Babyface grimaced.

  “I think he’ll be straight. We’ll start out with just those two and, as we grow, we can add,” Vice belted as he gestured for the blunt. They both smoked and talked the rest of the ride home and felt confident about the progress they had made and the direction they were heading in.

  “Things bout to start looking up… it’s bout to be our time to shine,” Babyface told his cousin and Vice dapped him up and agreed wholeheartedly.

  Chapter 6

  “Candy, when you gon tell Corey what yo real got damn job is?” Ki asked while laughing and getting ready for work.

  “What Corey don’t know won’t hurt him. It ain’t like his ass is ever gonna pop up at Black Diamond anyway,” Candy answered salty.

  “You never know girl!” Ki grumbled while applying her makeup.

  “His ass works all the damn time. I never knew a nigga who takes a delivery job so fucking serious. I guess Fed Ex pays damn good because that nigga stay at work and when he ain’t working, he sleeping so I’m good,” Candy retorted.

  “If you say so… it’s funny how you got the nigga thinking you a bartender though,” Ki said while laughing.

  Kierra and Candy were roommates, as well as coworkers who shared an apartment in The Grove. They met two years ago while auditioning at the Black Diamond and had been tight ever since. Ki didn’t mind letting people know that she danced because she loved her body and she always loved dancing. Getting paid to do what she loved was an absolutely bonus to her. Her mom didn’t care what she did because she broke her off with money every week to help out with her little brother and sister. Candy, on the other hand, lied to her whole family about what she did. Her dad was a preacher and would have a heart attack, right along with his wife, if they knew what type of work she was really doing on the weekend. They assumed Candy was in college and they gave her money weekly, but it was chump change to Candy. She danced
for the thrill and loved it. Corey was her high school sweetheart, and he broke her off with money on the regular as well.

  “So, what’s up with you and that nigga Vice?” Ki grilled her girl.

  “Girl, we just been kicking it. It’s so easy since Corey works all the time ya know… but what’s up with you and Mr. Babyface?” Candy asked Ki, who started blushing at the mention of his name.

  “I sucked the skin off of that nigga’s dick and had him squirming. He seems mad cool, but I ain’t tryna get caught up in no relationship and he ain’t either, so we just decided we gon’ kick it from time to time,” Ki said while brushing her long weave. Once Ki was done getting ready, she stood in her floor length mirror and admired her smooth creamy cocoa skin tone, slung her twenty-six-inch wavy Brazilian hair, and smiled her picture perfect smile and snapped a selfie for Instagram.

  “Yo yellow ass better not get too caught up in this Vice nigga. You know Corey is a good guy,” Ki insisted. Candy told her that she had everything under control, winked, and told her she was ready after putting on her big hop earrings and touching up her lip gloss. “I’ll drive tonight,” Candy said.

  When Candy pulled into the parking lot of Black Diamond, both her and Ki smiled and said, “DAMN!” It was more packed Saturday than it was the night before, and they were happy just thinking about the tips they were about to make. After finishing off the Pineapple Cîroc and the blunt they had been consuming, they got out and headed inside.

  “Candy Cane!! You gon’ make that ass clap for me tonight?” one of the security guards asked as soon as they walked inside.

  “As long as you throwing that green!” Candy replied and winked. The same guy smacked Ki on the ass when she walked by and laughed. They were both used to the attention from everyone, and they always capitalized off of it.

  “Look at these bitches,” a girl named Peaches mumbled to her friend.

  “Excuse you! What the fuck you say?” Ki argued.

  “I said look at these bitches… you heard me!” Peaches refuted back while rolling her neck and eyes.

  “Bitch, you so muthafuckin jealous it don’t make no got damn sense. You still mad because we got chose for the bomb ass private party. Get it over it, you raggedy bitch!” Candy said.

  “You two bitches gonna get what’s coming to ya! Just wait on it!” Peaches retorted.

  “Who the fuck you think you threatening?” Ki asked as she walked up to Peaches with her fists balled up.

  “I ain’t threatening, hoe, I’m stating facts,” Peaches stated and walked towards Ki. Peaches raised her hand to swing on Ki, but Ki was quicker and ducked, then stood up and punched her in the left jaw.

  “You been wanting yo ass whooped for months now, and I’m the bitch that is about to deliver you your wish,” Ki panted between dishes out blows. Candy kept her eyes on the friend Peaches was talking to, making sure she didn’t try to jump stupid. When Peaches fell to the floor, Ki jumped down on her and commenced to beating her ass while talking shit. Blow after blow after blow… Ki was punching Peaches any and everywhere. Peaches tried to use her arms and hands to protect her face, but Ki still found a way to blacken those eyes. No one tried to stop them and all Peaches could do was fold up and take each blow. Someone must have hit the panic button because a few moments later, two of the security guards ran in broke up the fight.

  “Damn Ki! Why yo fine ass always gotta be fighting?” the security guard who grabbed her asked.

  “Bitches always fuckin wit me, man!” Ki replied.

  “You bitches always tryna jump somebody!” Peaches screamed while the security guard had her thrown across his right shoulder.

  “Bitch, ain’t nobody jump yo weak ass! Learn to keep your fuckin mouth closed and you just might be aight!” Ki fumed.

  That was the first time Ki got a chance to lay hands on Peaches. Every other argument they had, someone always intervened and stopped them from fighting. Ki was happy to whoop her ass because she was tired of the back and forth. “Anybody else got a muthafuckin problem?” Ki asked. No one replied. It was clear that Candy and Ki ran the place. They got requested for all of the private parties in and outside of the club, dances, and they got all of the special treatment. Everyone hated them, but they all smiled in their faces.

  When the night was over, Ki had a total of twenty-eight hundred dollars and Candy had three thousand dollars for the past two nights. “Hell fuckin yeah!! This what the fuck I’m talkin bout. Fuck some school or working a nine to five, when we can make this kinda money!” Ki beamed. Candy silently agreed, while she was scrolling though Instagram. A few seconds later, she started laughing her ass off. She passed Ki the phone to look at the fight that one of the girls had recorded and posted using the hashtag #stripperhoessquareup #blackdiamonds #fightnight

  “Her wack ass friend was the one who posted this shit too,” Candy said, still laughing after Ki handed her phone back to her.

  It was almost four o’clock in the morning by the time they made it back home. Candy talked to Corey briefly while at work and told him that it was a busy night. He expressed his concerns about her working late night shifts at a bar, but she sweet talked him and told him that everything was fine. He must have been preoccupied because he didn’t fuss with her too long, and it was easy for her to get him off of her line. When she stripped out of her clothes, she was about to text Corey, but changed her mind and started thinking about Vice and how he made her laugh. They had talked a few times since they met at Freelon’s and met up once, but she hadn’t given him any pussy yet. She told herself it was only a matter of time. “Ima hit him up later,” she told herself while heading to the shower. She bumped into Ki in the hallway with her overnight bag and she knew she was heading to one of her niggas crib.

  “I’ll be back later!” Ki said without breaking her stride. She was gone before Candy could reply.

  Chapter 7

  When Babyface received the text from Ki telling him to meet her at the Holiday Inn on Ridgway in Flowood, he wasted no time hopping up out of the bed. Just the thought of how she sucked and handled his dick made it hard as fuck. Just as he was about to walk out of his room, he heard Big Mama up in her room going to the bathroom. It was Sunday, so he knew she would expect for them to go to church, so he closed his door back and climbed out of the window so she wouldn’t hear him. I’ll be back in time, he thought to himself as he got into the car and backed out of the driveway and headed to relieve some stress.

  Just as Babyface was about to turn off on Lakeland and onto Ridgeway, he heard sirens and looked in the rearview mirror and saw two cop cars with their lights and sirens on turning right behind him. Thinking they were only trying to get around him, Babyface pulled over but was surprised when the cop cars stopped directly behind him. “Fuck!” he said to himself, while silently praying that Vice took the pistols out of the car the night before.

  “FREEZE! DON’T MOVE!” one of the officers said as Babyface was about to reach for his wallet that was in his back pocket. He knew from watching and being involved in different shit in Chicago, as well as watching the news with the recent killings of black men, that he had to comply if he wanted to live to see another day and, even then, it wasn’t guaranteed.

  “STEP OUT OF THE CAR SLOWLY!” the officer said loudly, while walking towards the car with his gun drawn. Babyface bit his lips and tongue and complied slowly.

  “What did I do officer?” he asked the cop that started patting him down.

  “We’re asking the questions here!” the officer replied sternly.

  “We’re searching a subject that fits the description from the robbery on Ridgeway at the moment,” Babyface heard the officer near the car saying into his radio.

  “Ain’t this some bullshit!” Babyface mumbled to himself.

  “He’s clear. Name is Jaleel Harris. Run him. I’m gonna check the car now!” the officer said to his partner after he finished patting Babyface down and looking through his wallet and retrieving his ID and exam
ining it.

  “Damn!” Babyface irritatingly expressed.

  “Something you need to say before I look in here?” the officer stopped and asked before searching the car.

  “You gon’ look anyway, so let’s get this shit over wit. I got some pussy waiting on me,” Babyface announced, becoming frustrated with the entire situation. The cop stared at Babyface for a few moments, then finally proceeded to search the car. After about five minutes, he told his partner that the car was clear and his partner notified him that the name came back clean.

  “You’re free to go. We have to check everyone that fits the description of these incidents around here,” the officer who searched Babyface told him. Babyface wanted to pop off, but he was just happy that Vice had cleared the car because he knew he would’ve been in some deep shit if they would have found any guns or drugs. He just rolled his eyes at the cops, hopped in the car, and left. Babyface almost turned around and went back to the crib, but he really needed a stress reliever after that and since he was almost at his destination before the bullshit, he decided to go on to meet Ki.

  A few minutes later, Babyface pulled up to the Holiday Inn and called Ki to see what room she was in. “Damn, it took you forever to get here nigga,” she said as soon as the call connected.

  “What room?” Babyface asked, totally dismissing her attitude. As soon as she told him, he hung up the phone and headed inside. “Y’all racist ass cops just pulled me over, thinking I robbed a muthafuckin store!” Babyface roared as soon as he walked in the room.

  “They do that shit down here all the time. Come here and let me relieve that stress for you,” Ki said while smiling. She couldn’t get his dick off of her mind for shit. Ki had a towel wrapped around her body, with her weave up in a ponytail. Babyface could tell she had just got out of the shower. For a brief moment, he was disappointed that she shrugged the incident he had just gone through off so quickly and thought about Chyna, but his dick got hard as soon as she dropped the towel and all thoughts were gone.