It's Either Me Or Her: A Side Bitch Story

by Tiece

  “No Brooke, I can’t say that I can relate to that.” Toya responded.

  “Exactly, because nobody knows what it’s like to be me, but me.” Brooke said feeling hurt and brokenhearted. She started to pace the floor. “There’s no way I’m going to let another woman have what I worked so hard to keep.” She spoke.

  “So what are you going to do?” Toya questioned again.

  “I’m going to use every trick in the book I can think of to get him back.” Brooke responded. “I really don’t want to keep Mason away from Chase, but if I have to I will.”

  Toya let out an irritated sigh. “Brooke, how many times…”

  “I don’t want to hear it, Toya,” Brooke said holding up her hand to stop her from talking. “There is nothing you can say that’s going to change my mind. I’m not letting Chase see his son. Of course, I won’t take Mason all the way to California, but I’m not going to make it easy for Chase to see him. He’s going to learn that he can’t just walk out on us like that. Plus, his ass is not about to have my baby around his side bitch.”

  “Brooke,” Toya started again trying to convince her sister that it wasn’t a smart idea. “Don’t hurt Mason like that or Chase.”

  “Like I told Chase last night. I won’t be hurting Mason, but he will be by leaving us.” Brooke responded. “And who gives a damn about Chase’s feelings? He didn’t think about mine when he was walking out on me last night. So, I’m not thinking about his.”

  “That still don’t make it right,” Toya said as she frowned up her face.

  “Again, I don’t give a damn about what’s right.” Brooke snapped.

  “You know what,” Toya responded. “If that’s what you feel is right then do what you have to do. I’m not going to stop you.” She said in an irritated tone. She stood up and headed for the door. She was done talking to Brooke. She felt bad that Chase had left her, but she didn’t agree with how Brooke was acting now. It was obvious that she wasn’t going to get through to her. “I hope you know what you’re doing and that this doesn’t come back to bite you in the ass.” She said before walking out the door.

  Brooke wasn’t listening to a word her sister said. She already had her mind made up. She loved Chase with all of her heart and she wasn’t about to give him up without a fight. She knew it was probably wrong to keep Mason from his father, but she didn’t care. She was hurt and in her feelings. Chase had caused her a lot of pain. She wanted him to experience the exact pain that he had put her through.

  I got something for his ass. She thought as she wiped her face. She then headed for the bathroom to get cleaned up so she could pick up Mason while putting her plan into motion.

  Chapter 13

  Chase sat on the edge of the bed with his face buried in the palm of his hands. Two weeks had passed and he was beyond frustrated with not knowing what to do or who to call to locate Brooke and Mason. He sighed remembering the last time that he’d seen her. It was the night he broke up with her, and then walked out on her. He knew he’d hurt her, but not to a point where she would literally disappear on him.

  “Damn, I miss my son.” He whispered.

  The only person Brooke cared to call was her sister, Toya and that was only to let her know that she and Mason were okay. Other than that, no one else knew a single thing about her or their whereabouts.

  “Babe,” Rayne called as she walked out of the master bathroom into her bedroom. “I thought we’d agree that while I was in the shower you’d try to get some sleep. You need some rest, babe. You’ve been worrying yourself sick thinking about Mason and his whereabouts.”

  “That’s because I want him back home and not knowing where he’s at is driving me crazy. I think it bothers me more that Brooke won’t even call to let me hear his voice. I know he misses me, too.” He said not having gone a whole day or night without seeing Mason or even hearing his voice.

  “Well, that’s a given,” Rayne agreed knowing how much he loved his son. She walked over and stood in front of him. Chase pulled her by the waist so she’d be directly in between his legs, and then he buried his face in her stomach. “It’s okay, babe. Brooke will be back before you know it. This isn’t the first time that she’s left.”

  “Yeah, but the last time she didn’t take Mason with her. She left him with my mama.”

  “I know,” Rayne said as she stroked her fingers through the small curls that had grown in his hair since he hadn’t even gotten his hair cut. “At least she calls her sister and talks to her.”

  Rayne could feel Chase’s warm breath coming through the material of the black tank top that she was wearing. Something about him being that close to her had her feeling moist between the legs. Damn, she thought knowing that since he’d broken up with Brooke that they still hadn’t had sex yet. It was only because he couldn’t concentrate on nothing, but his son returning home safely.

  “Babe, please get you some rest. You’ve not been in the studio like that. We’ve not discussed anything concerning the song.”

  Chase looked up at her. “Don’t worry about the song, babe. It’s still a process that we have to go through to get it on the radio, ITunes, and other stations so you can be heard. Even though I’m not at the studio doesn’t mean that my business isn’t being handled. Jeremy has my front and back. He’s still working behind the scenes to make sure that everything runs as smoothly as possible.”

  Rayne smiled a little. “Okay, well now since that has be established let’s discuss you getting some rest.”

  Chase smiled at her and shook his head. Rayne had been nothing, but supportive since Brooke had left. She even let him crash in her guest bedroom a few times since they vowed not to have sex until the timing was right. And, with Mason being M.I.A. the timing was certainly off.

  “Do you know how it was for me growing up without a dad?”

  “Actually, I probably already know.” Rayne responded since she never knew her dad, either.

  “I’m sorry, babe. I wasn’t even thinking about how you grew up.”

  Rayne shook her head while still rubbing her fingers in his hair. “It’s okay. You have a lot going on.”

  “I just miss him. I don’t know what’s going on with Brooke. To me, she’s unstable and to have my boy out there in the streets like that bothers the fuck out of me.” He bluntly said.

  “Just calm down, babe. She’s apparently alright and so is he. Everytime she calls her sister calls you and tells you that she spoke with the both of them.”

  “Yeah, but I wanna talk to him. I wanna hear his voice.” Chase said. “Brooke acted like I never spent any time with them, but Mason knows that any chance I got I’ll spend time with him. I just took him to Disney World two months ago.”

  “Not to mention, to the movies last Wednesday to see the Ninja Turtles and then to Chuck E. Cheese afterwards.” Rayne laughed a little. “Hell, every time I turn around his butt is in Chuck E. Cheese with you.”

  “He loves winning the tickets so he can turn them in to claim certain prizes. I think he’s addicted to winning things.” They laughed. “He’ll end up being a gambler like his cousin James.”

  “Lord, please don’t tell me that. The way you said James used to fuck up money.”

  “He did,” Chase stated. “I could never understand how he picked up such an addictive habbit as gambling. It wasn’t like they ever wanted or needed anything. James and Jeremy always had it made if you ask me. They grew up with both of their parents and was spoiled rotten. They never got into trouble for anything and kept money all the time. Even my mom would call them spoil. Their mom and my mom would have disagreements all the time about her letting them do whatever they wanted to do.”

  “Aren’t they sisters?” Rayne questioned.

  “Yes, they have the same mom and dad.” He responded.

  “No wonder y’all look so much alike.”

  “People used to think that we all brothers, accept I was the good boy.”

  Rayne playfully frowned. “Chase Montgo
mery, I don’t see you being a good boy.” She teased.

  “Well, you know compared to what Jeremy and James was doing, I was a good boy.” He grinned. “Jeremy sold drugs up until we opened the studio. He did well for himself, too. That’s how he came up with his half of the money that we put down. James had his moments. One minute he’d be up and the next not so much so. Jeremy used to think that his brother was on powder, that’s why he had such hard luck.”

  Rayne raised a beffuddled eyebrow. “Cocaine?”

  “Yeah,” Chase responded. “Although, we never had any proof other than him being caught with some white shit under his nose once.”

  “How’d that go?”

  “He’ll swear till this day that it wasn’t what we thought it was. However, Jeremy was never sold on it; especially since some of his shit used to come up missing every now and then. Even though all of us were close, Jeremy always had an issue with James since high school. He always believed that James slept with his girl.”

  “What girl?”

  “Someone that he’d been seriously dating for about two years. She wasn’t just a groupie type chick. She was his main lady,” Chase explained. “When confronted, they both denied it of course, but Jeremy always believed otherwise since he caught them in a compromising position.”

  “What kind of compromising position?” Rayne nosily pondered.

  “Apparently, James was coming out of the bathroom where Jeremy’s woman was at taking a shower. James was drunk and acting beligerant as usual so getting to the bottom of it was out of the question at the moment. However, Jeremy always said that it was just an act and an excuse for James to do shit and get away with it. Hell, at times I believed it, but he never crossed me so I was cool with him. Anyway, after that incident, Jeremy broke up with his lady and he never really looked at James the same.”

  “Wow, that’s crazy.”

  “Well, because James was always so unpredicatable when he’d binge drink, I told Jeremy that if it did happen it couldn’t have been intentional, but he was never trying to hear that. He always said that whether James was drunk or not he should’ve never slept his girl.”

  “His girl must’ve just been hot in the ass and wanted James anyway.” Rayne chimed in thinking that James was definitely a sexy man and could get any woman that he wanted.

  Chase nodded his head agreeing. “I was thinking the same thing, but of course I would never tell my cousin no shit like that.” He said with a slight grin. “Jeremy and James fought over her some time later when they both were in their liquor and talking shit to each other.”

  “That shit was serious.” Rayne said with a shake of the head.

  “So serious that my cousin ain’t let another woman get that close to his heart since then.”

  “Guess you learn something new every day.” Rayne responded while thinking that she didn’t know that they’d fallen out before and that James was that cold hearted to do his brother like that.

  “He’s changed though. To my knowledge he doesn’t gamble anymore or make big bets on games that he can’t afford to pay if he loses. Plus, he hadn’t asked me for money in over two years, I know. And for James, that’s a good sign.” He grinned.

  “Speaking of James,” Rayne said. “He and Winter have been talking or flirting or something.”

  “Winter? Your sister, Winter?” Chase questioned with a frown.

  “Yeah, my sister, Winter. Can you believe it?”

  “No,” Chase said already knowing how uptight and hard Winter was.

  “Well, it’s the truth. Maybe they’ll be good for each other. I swear she ain’t never had a boyfriend. I’ve always said that she doesn’t know how to love.”

  “She loves you,” Chase said. “That’s because I’m her twin sister. She better love me.” She teased making Chase laugh.

  “Maybe they will be good for each other. James need a good woman in his life. He’s always been all over the place when it comes to women. I can’t ever remember him having just one.”

  “I don’t know if that’s good or bad, but I’m going to let my sister make her own decisions and feel this one out. She won’t listen to me, anyway. She’s too head strong.”

  “I feel ya,” Chase responded. “Let them figure that one out.”

  “Oh no worries, I will.” Rayne said as she leaned down and kissed Chase softly on the lips. “Now, you need to lay down and get some…”

  Chase’s cell phone rang before Rayne could finish her sentence. Chase immediately glanced over at it.

  “It’s Brooke,” he excitedly said since she hadn’t called or spoken to him in two weeks.

  “Well, answer it. I’m going in the kitchen to find something to eat.” She told him as she started to walk off, but then she stopped to look back at Chase before she exited the room. “And babe, be nice.”

  “I’ll try.” he responded, and then quickly he answered the phone. “Please, tell me that Mason is okay.”

  ***

  Meanwhile, over at Jeremy’s place, Toya and Jeremy sat on the leather sectional in his entertainment snuggled up watching TV. Jeremy liked Toya a lot, but he wasn’t rushing anything nor was he expecting anything more than what they already had. He was just chilling and enjoying her company as it came. More importantly, he’d been thinking a lot about Brooke and her whereabouts. Her disappearing act was causing all kinds of tension and stress with Chase which somehow fell back on him. Not that he ever minded having to step up, but knowing where Brooke was would make Chase feel a lot better. And, if Chase felt better then he’d feel better.

  “So, have you spoke to your sister today?” Jeremy questioned.

  “She did call me and I begged her to call Chase. I don’t know if she will or won’t, but I’m totally against her keeping Mason away from his dad.”

  “Yeah, she has gotta do something. She’s driving my cousin crazy. I know she’s in her feelings, but if she’s trying to get back at him she’s fucking up. The only thing it’s doing is causing him to hate her.”

  “Well, you gotta understand that my sister is hurt. Chase walked out on her to be with another woman. She doesn’t really know how to handle that. I’m not making excuses for her, but I can kind of understand where she’s coming from. I just wish that she would’ve left Mason here with us and took a little time to get herself together. My mom and dad are worried sick about her. This behavior is something that we’ve not seen in a long time.”

  Jeremy frowned. “What does that mean? Is there something up with Brooke that I should know about?”

  Toya glanced back over her shoulder at Jeremy. “There is nothing that you need to know or worry yourself with. Anything my sister had going on is in the past and the past is where we should leave it.”

  Jeremy sat quietly for a moment. He was becoming more and more concerned with Brooke’s past, but he already knew that Toya wasn’t telling him anything that he really wanted to know about it.

  “Are you okay?” Toya questioned sensing that Jeremy had gotten quiet and was probably deep in thought.

  “I’m good. I just hate that your sister has run off with Chase’s son. Nothing is really adding up about Brooke accept her unpredictable behavior. It kinda reminds me of James’s unpredicatable behavior back in the day.”

  “If James was anything like my sister then he was definitely hell and a piece of work to deal with.”

  Jeremy grinned. “Well, that part is true. However, my brother has grown a lot. He’s not the same guy that he used to be and I’m so grateful for it. Me and my brother have had some really bad disagreements and we’ve even fought before.”

  “Damn,” Toya said with a shake of the head. “We may not get along at times as siblings, but my parent’s would kill us if they knew that we were fighting.”

  “Well, our mom and dad never knew about it or they wouldn’t have been too pleased, either. Let’s just say that James has come a long way. We all live legit lives now and it feels good to have James work with us at the studio.�
��

  “Why is he just the security there?” Toya nosily pondered.

  “It started out with him having to prove himself and it has ended with him actually liking his position. His pay is above anything that most security guards get and he gets to be the first to meet and greet anybody that walks through those doors.”

  “So, he gets to see the ass first?” Toya questioned making Jeremy laugh.

  “If that’s the way you wanna put it.”

  “Ain’t nothing wrong with that. I like James. He’s a cool fella. I just hope that y’all never fall out about anything again. That’s not good. Family should always stick together. All that falling out and fighting is never good.”

  Jeremy nodded his head. “I can agree with that. We’re older now. We don’t fight no more. I don’t think we’ll have any more problems out of James. At least I hope we don’t.” Jeremy added with a concerned expression on his face. James had been acting strange the past couple of days and it certainly had Jeremy hoping that he wasn’t back up to his old tricks. The last thing he wanted to do was fall out with his brother, yet again, over some dumb shit that could’ve been prevented.

  Chapter 14

  James had been dining in for about thirty minutes alone at Indigo’s eating. He looked around the restaurant at the couples that sat nearby. Winter crossed his mind. He definitely wanted her to be a part of his life, even if it was just as a friend. He was hoping for more, but he wasn’t pressing his luck.

  Just that quickly his thoughts reflected back on a woman that he’d slept with. Someone that had certainly caught his attention. However, she was not someone that he could ever be with. For one, she wasn’t his type, but her pussy was so good that he could get past that. Then again, the situation was much too difficult to even think about. She was the only woman that had ever gotten to him in such a manner and many nights he craved for more of her even though he could never get it again. As he sat there eating while thinking about Winter and this other woman, he spotted Brooke sitting at the bar. He regrettably shook his head, and without hesitation he made his way over to her. Once there, he instantly sat down beside her.