by Untamed
She took a deep breath. “If you could . . . you know . . . like . . . let me borrow some money to get a car, and we could pay y’all back in installments? I promise to make monthly payments to you guys. I just really need the help, y’all, for real.”
Pooch sat back, contemplating. “So how much you talking?”
“Well, Charice took me down to Hennessy Auto Sales, and they have a used Envoy that is still under warranty. It’s only thirteen grand, and it has only forty-eight thousand miles on it,” she explained.
Pooch looked at me. “It’s on Trinity. I don’t mind.”
LaMeka smiled. “You don’t?”
“Nah. I trust you. Besides, you know the deal if you cross me, so having said that, it’s on Trinity. If she says to do it, I’m all good. You just pay us whatever you can afford until the debt is settled. I’ll call my dude Rick. He’s the finance manager at Hennessy. I’ll get it for eleven grand, cash,” Pooch said.
LaMeka looked at me. “So can you help me?”
This was her decision, but I knew that she really didn’t want to ask Pooch and me. “If you are comfortable with it, I don’t have a problem with it.”
Without a second thought, she smiled and hugged me tightly. “Thanks so much, Trinity. I really appreciate this.”
“Ain’t no problem,” I said.
Pooch got up and called Rick. Just like he’d said, Rick told him he’d have the car ready for her in a couple of hours, and he would take the eleven grand.
“So everything is set up. You need us to take you down there?” Pooch said.
“Nah, I got Charice’s truck. I’m going to pick her up, and we’ll head on down.”
“Cool,” Pooch replied, then walked to the back of the house. When he returned, he brought the money in eleven stacks of ten one-hundred-dollar bills in a brown envelope. “You fuck me, I’ll fuck you. Remember that shit,” he warned, offering the envelope to LaMeka.
LaMeka took it. “I won’t, I promise.” She stood up and hugged Pooch. “I appreciate you, Pooch.”
“Let’s just say I’m giving back to my community.” He laughed. “I’ll let you and Trinity chop it up among yourselves for a minute, but listen, you enjoy that ride.”
“I will, Pooch. Thanks again,” she said.
“It’s all good. If Tony needs a job, tell him to stop by. I got some work he can do,” Pooch advised.
“I think he’s straight.”
He laughed. “A’ight. The offer is on the table,” he said and then turned to me. “I’m going to my suite.” He kissed me and left the room.
“So do I need to get the title and bring it over here?” she asked me.
“No, you keep your title, honey. Just handle your business, because Pooch don’t play about his money,” I warned.
“Okay. How’s three hundred dollars a month?” she asked me.
“Make it two hundred, because I know that’s a stretch for you.”
She let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you, girl. With everything going on, I’ma have to get a job, and when I do, I’m gonna give you a good chunk when I get my income tax money too.”
“However you want to handle it is cool with me. Just make them monthly payments.”
“Thanks, Trinity. I owe you big-time. Every tenth of the month, I got you,” she said, hugging me.
“You don’t owe me shit,” I replied. We walked to the front door, and as I opened it, we said our good-byes.
Though I was worried about LaMeka owing Pooch that type of money, I was happy that Pooch had let LaMeka get the car. She needed it for those babies, and I knew how her mom could trip out. I just prayed shit would get on track for her and Tony.
After LaMeka left, I went back into the room and finished up the design for Terrence’s tattoo. The tattoo was fresh. The main part of it was a cross with praying hands inside. Then there were two rings, one on each side, with a crown on top of the cross. There were streaks indicating a light shining off the cross, as if it were standing in the reflection of the sea. The cross, of course, represented the place where you bore all your sins and cares; the crown represented keeping God at the head of your life; the two rings represented family and wealth; the praying hands represented everlasting love; and the waves in the sea subtly had the word forgiveness in them and thus represented sins being washed away. By the time I finished the design, it was time to go and pick up the kids. I was putting on my tennis shoes when Pooch walked in the room.
“You about to go get the kids?” he asked.
“Yeah. Can you watch Princess for me?”
“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that.”
“Thank you, babe,” I said, smiling at him. Pooch hated watching the kids, so the fact that he would so graciously do it now, without a battle, made me happy.
“’Cause I’m coming with you,” he said boldly.
I looked up at him. “Why? For what?” I asked, confused.
“Is there a reason I can’t go?” he asked, eyeing me strangely.
I put my hands up. “No reason. I just know that you don’t care for Terrence, and I’m just going to pick up the kids. You’ve never wanted to go before.”
He smiled as he grabbed his jacket. “I ain’t got no problems with Terrence. We are all good. Why wouldn’t we be?”
“No reason,” I responded.
“Well, in that case, I’m going. I just want to roll with my babe. I can do that, can’t I?” he said, grabbing Princess’s diaper bag.
“Yeah,” I said solemnly.
“Good. Get the baby and let’s go,” he ordered.
When I picked up Princess, we headed out. I didn’t have a good feeling about this, but I couldn’t argue. That made me look guilty, so I went along with Pooch’s demands. Once I strapped in Princess, I got in the driver’s side, and Pooch popped in a CD once we had pulled off. When the first song began to play, I knew what the CD was. Whenever he was going into a confrontation of some sort, he played this CD. The first song was “Tear the Club Up,” by Three 6 Mafia. Pooch had his head leaned back, with his eyes closed, and he was bopping his head to the beat of the music. He really got into his zone when the next song, “Whoop That Trick,” played. As it played, I couldn’t take it.
“Can we please listen to something else?” I asked.
He looked at me. “Fine.”
I turned on the radio, and Mary J. Blige’s song “I Am” was on.
He laughed. “That’s a good selection too. Sing it, Mary! Ain’t nobody gonna love you better, boy, than I am. Than I am,” he hollered at the radio.
I loved Mary, but not tonight. I just settled back and let the music play. Pooch was happy as hell listening to Mary for the remainder of the ride to Terrence’s house. Once we got out of the car, Pooch stepped in front of me and knocked on the door. I fell back. I wasn’t gonna argue with this fool.
“What’s up, Trinity?” Terrence said, smiling, as he opened the door. But when he saw Pooch standing in front of me, his smile quickly faded.
“What? You ain’t happy to see me?” Pooch asked sarcastically.
Terrence smirked. “You just caught me off guard. Usually, Trinity comes solo.”
“Yeah, well, not tonight,” Pooch replied.
“Come in,” Terrence said through clenched teeth.
Pooch and I walked through the door.
“Y’all want something to drink?” Terrence asked.
“Nah, we straight,” Pooch answered.
Terrence turned to me. “And you, Trinity? Do you want anything?”
“I just said we were straight,” Pooch said before I could answer.
Terrence reared back on his legs and swiped his hand over his chin, then cuffed his beard. “I know what you said, Pooch, but I thought you were referring to yourself, since Trinity didn’t say anything,” Terrence said. Then he walked into the kitchen and grabbed a beer from the refrigerator.
“No, I was referring to both of us. We straight. I know my girl. She ain’t thirsty, and she
don’t need nothing from you,” Pooch said sternly when Terrence reappeared.
“Is that right?” Terrence asked, turning to face Pooch.
“Yep, that’s right,” Pooch replied angrily.
Suddenly the kids ran into the room and hugged me. Their timing couldn’t have been more perfect if it had been planned.
“Hey, babies. Let’s get ready to go quickly,” I instructed them.
“Okay, Mama,” they said in unison and then went to collect their things.
I put Princess down, walked over to Terrence, and handed him the tattoo design. “Here you go.”
He took the paper and smiled. “Hey, yo, this is so tight. Man! You are so creative. Let me see if I can figure it out. The crown is God. The sea is forgiveness . . . That was hot. The rings are love and family. So what’s wealth?”
I smiled. “You’re welcome. But actually, one of the rings is wealth and the other is family. The praying hands represent everlasting love,” I said. Then I turned to see if the kids were getting their things together. “Kids, hurry up, please.”
Terrence nodded. “I get it. I almost got it completely correct. I swear, you should own your own shop or some shit. Tattoos by Trin. That sounds hot right there.”
Pooch walked up behind me and wrapped his arms around my neck, then pulled me into a backward embrace and kissed me on the cheek. “My baby don’t have to work, Terrence. That shit there is just a hobby, a pastime. It’s just shit she does for niggas who want to give up their money to her.”
Terrence laughed. “Well, she’s got a true talent and deserves to be paid for it.” He placed the paper on a nearby table.
Pooch let me go and smirked, rubbing his hands together. “She’s got plenty of talents, and trust me, she gets paid like a muthafucka for all of them.”
“Kids!” I yelled, sensing this shit was about to escalate. I was too afraid to go and check on them and even more afraid to leave those two in the room together.
“Damn, Trinity! With a man like Pooch, who needs dreams and aspirations? Your man has your whole life planned out for you. Just sit around and be eye candy.” Terrence looked me directly in the eyes and continued, “I mean, that’s cool too, if that’s what you really want.” He sat down on a barstool and drank his beer. “This beer is good and cold, Trinity. You sure you don’t want one? I remember Michelob being your favorite. You could never turn one down . . . when we were together.”
The situation had officially escalated! The entire time I had been looking at Terrence, but as soon as he made that last comment, I nearly blacked out! Suddenly, the air in the room felt thick, like the smoke from a California wildfire. I could barely breathe or move, because I was afraid of what was going down. I couldn’t force myself to look at Pooch. My insides began to tremble, and my heart was racing a mile a minute. Terrence looked as if he was on ready, set, go, and his expression was stone cold. As he looked past me, or rather through me, he was daring Pooch to make a move. He took a slow, deliberate sip of his Michelob and hissed the rough aftertaste away . . . waiting.
If there was one thing Pooch could not stand, it was the thought or mere mention of my old relationship with Terrence. The kids were reminder enough. Pooch had wanted me since forever, and while I had had little puppy love crushes—you know, “check the yes or no box” type relationships, Terrence had been my first true boyfriend. Pooch had always . . . always . . . been jealous of that fact, even before we’d hooked up. For the most part, he had kept it under wraps, until Terrence was locked up. Once I’d given him a chance, he’d felt like he’d beaten Terrence in a sense. Although Pooch would never admit it, I knew in the back of his mind he’d always been fearful of any feelings that Terrence and I had for each other. So to have Terrence bring up our old relationship was like opening a lifetime wound. Pooch would definitely remember that shit.
If there was one thing I knew at this moment, it was that it was most definitely time to go. Hell, it was half past time to get the hell out of Dodge. For my kids’ sake, I had to make a move. Sweat beads began to form on my forehead as I stood in silence. I slowly turned to look at Pooch, who had a scowl so big on his face, he looked like he could chew Terrence for breakfast. His stare at Terrence was hard enough to burn a hole through him. His jaw was clenched so tightly that I thought it’d break from the pressure. Mostly, it was that stare—that cold, hard, serious, emotionless, damn near evil stare—that kept fucking with me. Pooch’s reaction was downright frightening. Pooch was the type of nigga who reacted and did it quickly. The mere fact that he was standing there and staring at Terrence as if he could kill him, instead of trying to fight him, spoke more volumes than anything. When Pooch was contemplating his actions, it meant he was considering serious consequences for that person. Two words: toe tag.
Terrence’s actions were no better. He did not scare easily, especially if the perceived threat was Pooch. Pooch had something he wanted . . . me. He didn’t give a damn what he said to piss Pooch off, nor did he respect my relationship with Pooch. I wasn’t afraid for Terrence when it came to Pooch, because I believed Terrence could match Pooch toe-to-toe and pound for pound. What made me afraid for Terrence was Pooch’s entourage. He had niggas everywhere who were willing to do anything for him to get that right-hand-man seat, and for every nigga in his crew who would go to battle for Pooch, there were ten more niggas trying to get in his crew who would do it just to have the opportunity to be down.
Terrence sat there, cool and collected, with a smirk on his face, knowing he was taunting Pooch. I didn’t know what was going to happen, so I tried to intervene before Pooch set off Terrence or vice versa. The fact of the matter was Pooch could stare at Terrence like he was crazy, could talk crazy and, hell, could even act crazy all day, because Terrence did . . . not . . . give . . . a . . . fuck. Terrence wasn’t afraid of Pooch or any of his family, friends, or “employees.” He was a man through and through, but I was afraid enough for both of us.
I stepped up to Pooch. “Baby, why don’t you just wait in the car? I’m going to the room to get the kids right now, and we’ll be coming out the door before you even get settled in the car. Wouldn’t that be better?” I said as I held his face between my hands and forced him to look at me.
Pooch stared at me for a moment. As his nose flared, he bit his bottom lip. Those were the things he did when he was ready to tear up on some ass. Suddenly, he smiled and kissed me on the mouth.
“Damn. I love those lips. I can’t wait to get home with them too,” he said, then looked up at Terrence as he gripped my ass. “And with that too, because it’s all mine. I’m so glad that everything about you is all mine, from your ass to your aspirations.”
Terrence’s nose flared as he glanced away.
Pooch began walking toward the door. “See, Terrence, I can afford to pay for her dreams. Every last one of them. And she don’t hurt for shit. That shit is for people who need to come up. She’s arrived. She’s already got a six-bedroom, six-bathroom home, a Hercedes-Benz, designer clothes and shoes, spa treatments to keep my body . . . my bad . . . her body tight, and anything else she wants. I can afford to make her my eye candy, because I made her a five-star chick.” He put his index finger up to his temple, as if he’d remembered something, then snapped his fingers. “Matter fact, I made your kids five-star children. So you don’t have to worry about nothing concerning her anymore. Just concentrate on coming up for yourself. I know you still trying to come up after that bid, bruh. It’s cool, because everybody got to have a dream,” Pooch said disrespectfully.
With my hand covering my mouth, I had absolutely no idea what was going to happen, especially with Pooch bringing the kids into this shit. Terrence didn’t play that shit about his kids, but Pooch wasn’t finished.
“Damn, bruh, that beer does look mighty good, but I’ma let you hold on to it so you can have your memories. But check it, if you need work, come holla at me. I can help you out. Oh, and, um, if you ever need a place to stay,” he said, looking around t
he apartment as if it were beneath him, “I can help you with that too. Give you a room or something. Maybe we could put a bunk bed in your son’s room for you.” He walked over to the front door and yanked it open. “I’ma be in the car, Trinity. Five minutes. You be easy, Terrence.”
Unlike Pooch, Terrence wasn’t the type to do a lot of talking, so he had sat there idle as Pooch had gone off on his rant. The more Pooch had talked, the more Terrence’s eyes had narrowed. I knew . . . absolutely knew . . . that the only reason Terrence didn’t have it cracking and popping up in here yet was that the kids were there. Thank God for small favors.
Terrence took a long swig and laughed. “You too, Pooch. We’ll have to chop it up again one day, you know, man-to-man. That’s how I roll. You know, away from the lady and my children. You understand, right?”
Pooch chuckled sinisterly. “I see you.”
“I need you to feel me on that one.”
Pooch’s jaw twitched. “I feel you, bruh.”
“Good,” Terrence replied. “I hope you have a good night, bruh. I’m going to grab me something to eat after this. What are you having, man? Leftovers?”
“Oh Lord,” I said, throwing my hands up. “Kids!” I yelled as they ran into the room.
Pooch laughed. “I’ma be in the car. Enjoy your dinner, Terrence, and nah, bruh, I don’t do leftovers. I eat five stars every night,” he said before shutting the door.
“Say good-bye to your daddy right now,” I said hurriedly to the kids.
Terrence grabbed me by my elbow and pulled me into the kitchen. “Put your jackets on,” he shouted to the kids. “Is that what you want? A muthafucka who degrades you and acts like you’re only there for his pleasure and enjoyment?”
I rolled my eyes. “Pooch said that only because he can sense that you want to be with me, Terrence,” I whispered. “You have to end this shit. Don’t be trying to meet up one-on-one with Pooch. He’s dirty.”
“I’m not afraid of Pooch and nobody he is affiliated with. You know that. Besides, that muthafucka is gonna pay for that comment about my kids. Nah, who I’m afraid for is you. You’re losing yourself in this relationship. You are a five-star chick, but you were five stars before you got with him, and you are also an independent dime. Don’t let him do this to you. He’s turning you into a high-paid mistress,” Terrence pleaded.