by Shan
I looked Cuba over and sucked my teeth, as I grabbed my phone and looked to see if Dae had made any more calls to me. He hadn’t, and that had me worried. He was speaking on some suicide shit and was terrified that he was going to be locked up. Knowing that he’d been violated as a kid and neither of us had done anything to protect made me feel bad as shit. I understood his fear, and I hoped that Khi hadn’t done what Dae was claiming.
“You talked to Dae?” I asked Khi, as I slid my phone, and then my hands, into my pockets. Khi sucked his teeth, and went back to feeling on his bitch like I hadn’t just asked him about our fuckin’ brother. I stepped a few steps closer to them, causing Cuba to look up at me. I expected her to fold under my stare like most, but she didn't. Just looking into her eyes, I saw what Khi saw. I could tell that she was a real one. She was pure, but thorough. He’d struck gold for sure when it came to her, but Khi was too muthafukin’ kind and was only going to fuck this up. Looking from Cuba to Briana that stood idly in the corner of the room with eyes of hatred let me know that Briana was on some fuck shit, and Khi was too damn dumb to care that she was going to be the downfall of his relationship.
Khi was a captain save a hoe ass nigga. He always had been…his heart and his need to help others was the very reason I had been mad at him about Dae. He gave Dae too much room to keep fucking up and should’ve never allowed that nigga back in after we’d cut him off the first time. My only regret with how I handled the situation was that I didn’t listen to Khi when he said that Dae needed help. I ignored it, and now we were here. No matter how thorough Cuba might’ve been, if she had anything to do with what Dae was claiming, all that shit wouldn’t matter to me and neither would how Khi felt about her. There was a thin line between hoes and bros and for the moment, Cuba was just another hoe.
“Nigga, did you speak to Dae or not?” I asked, feeling myself getting pissed. I stepped back and sighed.
“I heard you the first muthafuckin’ time you asked me and you saw how the fuck I ignored you. Step the fuck back questioning me about that bitch.”
“That bitch is your brother, and that nigga claiming you snitched on him about this bitch,” I shot out, testing the water on this one. “He called me talking about the police was on him, and he was thinking about some suicide shit.”
“What?” Cassidy questioned. “Call him!”
Khi sucked his teeth and stared at me with anger-filled eyes. He didn’t have to say shit to me for me to know that what Dae was claiming was true. Damn, I thought as I shook my head. I pulled my phone from my pocket and dialed up Dae’s number as I turned my back to Khi and his chick.
“What the fuck is he talking about, Khi?” Cassidy questioned, but Khi remained silent. I knew he would never admit to it one way or the other.
“His phone is going straight to voicemail,” I stated, as I put my phone back up. I turned back around to see Briana biting down so hard on her lip that she had blood dripping from her mouth. “You gonna send this broad to jail too over lil mama?”
Khi removed the hold he had from around Cuba and glanced into Briana’s direction. She turned around and left the room leaving Cassidy and I staring Khi and Cuba down.
“KaeDee…Khi, Dae just called and said that he’s in Colorado and have been arrested. KaeDee he wants to know if you can come to Colorado before they try and transfer him back here,” Amber said, and for the first time, I remembered that she was even in the house. I looked down at her, as she sat in her wheelchair in the middle of the doorway. I could see her lips trembling, and I shook my head knowing that I was going to have to deliver more bad news to her. She hadn’t even been aware of Deonna’s passing, and I knew that it was going to kill her to find out. Deonna had been Amber’s support system since she’d been shot and when Dae walked out on her, leaving her to die.
“A’ight,” was all I said before I looked back at Khi. The guilt was clearly written all over his face. He couldn’t even look at me or Cass and that alone spoke volumes about what he’d done. “We going to Colorado to see about our brother.”
“I’m not going no muthafuckin’ where,” Khi stated, and both and Cass and I stepped forward.
“Yes the fuck you are,” Cass told him, and Khi looked at him and frowned. He pulled Cuba away from him and took a couple of steps in our direction.
“Nigga, fuck Dae, and fuck you two bitches if you think I give a fuck about that nigga anymore. I gave that nigga my muthafuckin’ all, and he fucked me over in the end. I ain’t got no more to give. Y’all handle that shit while I’m out here trying to keep these Arabs from burying all of us over more shit that Dae has caused,” Khi yelled, and I sighed.
“You got this nigga locked up, Khi? Over a bitch nigga?” I questioned.
“Watch your muthafuckin’ mouth nigga. I ain’t did shit…yet…but don’t stand here and act like you ain’t tell me to put that nigga in his grave. I should’ve listened to your ass, though, cause that nigga is for damn sure dead to me.”
“Khi..”
“Man fuck him,” Khi stopped him. “Bae, I’m a drop Bri off somewhere and then take you and the kids to Tangie’s. I got some real live shit to handle, and I ain’t got time to give no fucks about a dead man.”
“You gonna regret you said that shit,” I told him, and he shrugged and grabbed Cuba’s hand.
“Aye,” Cassidy told him. “Let me take them where they need to go, and you go handle what you need to.”
Khi and I both looked Cassidy over and shrugged once we realized what he was up to. Khi kissed Cuba on her lips before he told her bye and walked off.
“I’ll be back and then we leave,” Cassidy told me, and I nodded my head and walked away.
Chapter 4
Cassidy
“Are you sure you know how to drive?” Cuba asked, as she sat in the passenger’s seat and sighed. I chuckled and glanced in her direction. She shot up and placed her hand on the dashboard, as I sped down the dark streets.
“You trying to say my driving bad or something?” I asked and laughed some more.
“I mean, we do got kids in the back, shit. Slow your ass down.”
“You right.” I nodded and let off the gas a little. We had just left from dropping Briana off at some of her folk’s house and was now headed to drop Cuba off. She had been quiet for most of the trip not saying much and only speaking when spoken to. I wasn’t really tripping though cause the quietness gave me time to think. Something I really hadn’t had a chance to do since I stepped into the free world.
I lost four years of my life behind some shit that till this day, I still wasn’t clear about. All I know is that them Feds had came for me like I had sent for them niggas. They caught me and my girl just as we were leaving the parking lot of her favorite restaurant Razoos. Life was so grand back then, and it seemed like it was the day that everything that I had ever done in my past had begun to catch up to me, too. The Feds had a list of shit on me that they were claiming that I had done, and not only that, they caught a nigga with a zip that I know for sure wasn’t mine, but who the fuck was I going to blame? I had that tool on me and a bag of that good gas. Them bitches railroaded a nigga and bruh hadn’t been on his law shit long enough to really get a nigga off like he had wanted. But I was thankful that all I had to do was four.
I lost my girl behind this shit. She was down to ride for the kid, but it was like the moment I caught that charge, every bitch I had fucked around with while me and shawty was together showed up. Some home came around claiming that she was about to have my baby and other hoes talking about promises that I had made to them. All of it had stressed my shawty out to the point where she had walked out on me and never returned. I had hoped that she would at least come back around after time to cool off, but on sentencing day, when she didn’t show up, I knew I was doing that bid all by my damn self. It was some real live bullshit going down then, but it is what it is. I was back now and ready to claim everything that I had lost.
“Turn right here,” Cuba said, breaking me
from my thoughts. I nodded, as I slowed down and turned right on the next street that we had come to. Cuba then pointed to the left, and I took that turn and pulled into a nice little apartment complex. I followed Cuba’s instructions until we pulled up to where Tangie lived. I parked and got out to help Cuba with the kids.
“You always keep lil’ mama like this?” I asked, referring to Skylarr, being that I could’ve sworn she was Briana’s kid. Briana got out the car earlier like she had not a care in the muthafuckin’ world, and that shit confused the hell out of me.
“Yea…she’s my baby.”
“I thought she was Briana’s baby.”
“She birthed her, yea, but lately, she’s been my baby.”
I nodded and pulled little man up into my arms. He was knocked out with slob dripping down the side of his mouth. I followed Cuba as she walked towards where Tangie lived and took her time as she went up the stairs. She stopped midway through, like she was out of breath, and I grabbed Skylarr from her and tossed her over my other shoulder.
“Sorry,” Cuba said, nervously.
“You good. Go ahead. I got them,” I told her, as she took in a deep breath and went up the remainder of the stairs.
“You and Khi met through Tangie?” I asked her. “Or you know Tangie through Khi?”
“Tangie is my cousin.”
“Ohhhh…oh okay.”
“You sure do ask a lot of questions. Nosey ass,” Cuba cracked, and I chuckled.
“Yo, I like you,” I told her, and she looked back at me and smirked.
“You seem a’ight. Hopefully, not as crazy as Dae’s ass.”
“Depends on what you mean by crazy. All of us Prince brothers aren’t wrapped too tight in one way or another.”
“I guess you right about that,” Cuba smiled and giggled. She used her key to open the door, and standing right on the other side was Tangie, and damn, she looked good as fuck. The short spiky haircut she rocked looked good on her round brown face. She had some suckable lips that caused me to bite down on mine, especially when I ran my eyes across her thick thighs.
“Girl, what happened? You seem upset in your…” Tangie said, but stopped when she saw me.
“It’s a long damn story, and I’ll fill you in as soon as I take me a shower and change out these clothes. Khi’s brother brought us. Is it okay if I brought the kids with me?” Cuba asked, but Tangie was too caught up with me to hear anything that she’d said.
“Where you want me to lay them?” I asked, and that was when Tangie snapped out of the daze she was in.
“Don’t you step one foot further nigga! Why the hell would you bring this nigga to my house?” Tangie yelled, and Cuba shot a confused glare at her.
“Damn, I’m sorry. I didn’t think you would mind being he was Khi’s brother,” she told her, as she pulled Skylarr from my arms and walked over to the sofa to lay her down.
“I know who he is, which is why I don’t want his ass in my damn house.”
“Chill out, Ma, and let me talk to you for a minute,” I said, as I handed off BJ and reached for Tangie’s hand. She slapped my hand away and threw her hands up.
“Chill out nothing. What the fuck made you think it was okay to come to my house?”
“I thought maybe after four muthafuckin’ years of not seeing your ass you would wanna see a nigga.”
“Well, you thought wrong. I don’t want to see you…I don’t ever wanna see you again, Cass. Leave.”
“We can’t talk? I know you got my letters and shit, Tangie. Can’t believe you abandoned me like that. I don’t give a damn what nan bitch claimed; me and you had history and was supposed to be better than that.”
“Cass leave…get the fuck outta here,” Tangie yelled, as tears began to fall from her eyes. I reached for her again, and this time, she brought her hand up and slapped me across my face. I gritted down on my teeth, but quickly tossed my hands into my pockets. “Leave! Now! Before I call the police on your ass!”
I nodded my head and backed away. I took one last look at Tangie to see more tears fall from her eyes before I hurried down the steps and to the car. I sighed, as I got inside and turned the keys in the ignition. Losing Tangie had felt like I died inside and made them muthafuckin’ four years feel like eight. She was love and what a nigga like me needed by my side. I had done things to her that wasn’t right for damn near the entire time we were together, but when I realized that I would be a fool to fuck up a good thang, I ceased everything. I cut off any chick that wasn’t business and had even purchased a house and an engagement ring. I was ready to give shawty my last name and be that man that she needed me to be. I swear, I hated the day the FEDs walked into my life.
Tangie had already hated the life I lived, but I had always promised her that I would never let it affect us and what we had. That promise was broken when that case against me ripped through my life, and them hoe ass bitches came through at the wrong muthafuckin’ time for revenge. Tangie ended up losing a child that neither of us even knew she was pregnant with. The same day I had to turn myself in was the same day she had given birth to a little boy when she was only 4 ½ months along. The doctor had told her prior to her giving birth that his little heart had stopped beating all because of the stress I had caused her. When I had heard that shit from Khi, I knew that I had lost her, but it didn’t stop me from trying and holding out hope. I knew she was out here fucking with niggas while I was down, and no lie, that shit had a nigga fucked up, but karma was a muthafucka, and I knew I wasn’t exempt from that shit. Even then, Tangie was mine; she would always be mine. I wasn’t gonna stop until she knew that and until I put that ring on that finger and gave her my last name like I had planned before.
About thirty minutes later, I was pulling back up to KaeDee’s home. He opened the gate for me, and I drove right in. He was already loading the trunk of his Bentley with bags as I pulled right next to him. I placed the car in park and tossed him the keys.
“What happened?” KaeDee asked, and I sighed. I guess he knew that when I volunteered to drop Khi’s bitches off that I was up to something. Shit, they knew how I felt about Tangie. Every time them niggas came to see me, she was always the first person I asked about.
“She slapped the fuck out of me and told me not to come back,” I said and shook my head.
“Give her time, bruh. I’m sure she still hurt behind all that shit that happened.”
“Nigga, four years isn’t enough time? I said sorry a thousand muthafuckin’ times, and I know shawty got my letters. I know she did because Khi said he personally handed her a few.”
“You think cause it’s been four years that you gonna come home and all is gonna be forgotten. The same way time freezes for niggas when they sit down and do that time, it’s the same for the outside world man. She remembers you how you left and not the way you came home, bruh. Like I said, give her time.”
“Man, fuck that!” I hissed and walked around to the passenger’s side of KaeDee’s ride and got in. I slouched down in the seat and sucked my teeth.
“I tried texting Khi again to see if he’s changed his mind, and he didn’t text back.”
“Let me see your phone. I’ll call him,” I told KaeDee and held out my hand. I stared at the phone for a moment before KaeDee took it out my hand and called Khi before handing it back over to me. I placed my ear to the phone and went straight to his voicemail. “Send him a text and tell him it’s me calling.”
“That nigga still ain’t gonna answer.”
“Man just do it. Y’all niggas worse than these bitches.”
“Here,” KaeDee laughed, as he tossed the phone into my lap. I picked the phone up and veered at the phone.
Khi: Man fuck you and Cass.
Me: Ans d phne n say dat shit 2 my face.
Khi: LOL
Me: Fuck is so fnny nigga. Ans!
Khi: Your dumb ass texting me like you on a flip phone or something. Stupid ass bitch.
Me: Man fuck u! Ans!
Kh
i: Lmaoooooo!
“Man call this nigga back. He pissing me the fuck off,” I said. I handed Cass his bitch ass phone back, and that nigga had the nerve to laugh too. “Man fuck the both of y’all.”
“You do realize that this a full ass keyboard right? What kinda phone you had before you got locked up?”
“Fuck does it matter,” I said, with attitude, and KaeDee laughed before I heard Khi finally answering the fuckin’ phone. I snatched the shit out of KaeDee’s hand and yelled into the speaker. “You niggas got me fucked up if you think I’m about to play with either of you bitches. I done been shot at, bodied a nigga, Dae locked up, and Tangie acting like we almost wasn’t married, and it ain’t even been 24 hours yet. I ain’t got time for these hoe ass games you niggas playing. Where the fuck you at so we can go pick Dae up and squash all this beef?”
“Man, I’m not playing with you and KaeDee either. I said I’m not going. I don’t give a fuck about Dae right now. We almost lost our muthafuckin lives this morning and ain’t no more work coming in. That’s what I’m out here working on. Fuck what y’all talking about.”
“We can all handle that together when…”
“That nigga hung up man,” KaeDee said and snatched his phone back.
“Call his ass back,” I told him.
“Hell no. It takes twelve hours to get to Colorado, and I’m trying to get there and back. You forget I lost my wife and got a fuckin’ funeral to plan?” KaeDee asked, and I sighed.
“Damn…my bad, bruh. You right. Let’s go,” I told him and sat back in the seat.
I bit down on my bottom lip as KaeDee turned up the stereo and peeled off down the driveway. I shook my head as I thought about everything that was going on. This was not how I had planned to spend my first day back. My brothers wasn’t supposed to be at each other’s head, Dae wasn’t supposed to be going to a muthafuckin’ place that I just left, and shit, I had prayed like a crazy that I would be laid up with Tangie right about now. I closed my eyes the moment KaeDee entered the expressway and allowed my mind and body to rest. I had a feeling that all the chaos that I thought I left behind when I got locked up was only beginning to get started again. I was ready though.