Complicated 3

by Chenell Parker

  “Honestly Amber, Derrick ain’t all that experienced either. It’s probably like the blind leading the blind up in there,” Zyra said as she and Rylee laughed.

  “This is just great. I come to my two best friends for help, and this is what I get. I knew y’all were gonna laugh at me. That’s why I didn’t want to say anything,” Amber pouted.

  “Awe, I’m one your best friends. I’m flattered,” Zyra gushed. “Okay boo, let’s talk. What do you want to know?”

  “I wanna know everything. Well, almost everything. I don’t need to know about how to please a woman,” Amber replied.

  “Oh no, this non-experienced bitch didn’t. Baby trust me when I say that niggas and hoes be blowing my phone up daily. I must be doing something right,” Zyra argued.

  “I didn’t mean it like that Zyra. I’m sorry. I just need some pointers,” Amber begged.

  “Calm down Amber. I’ll show you a few tricks to help you get his mind right,” Rylee offered.

  Amber watched patiently as her cousin got up and made her way around her huge kitchen, grabbing various items. After sitting a few items in front of her, she went into the bathroom and came back with a few more things before she returned.

  “What is all of this for?” Amber asked.

  “You want to please your man or not?” Rylee questioned.

  “Yes,” Amber eagerly replied.

  “Okay, so let’s start with oral. I’m about to show you how to give a hot/cold blow job, so pay attention. First, you drink the hot tea and let it sit in your mouth for a while,” Rylee said a she slid the piping hot cup of raspberry tea over to her cousin.

  She watched intently as Amber picked up the mug and sniffed it to see what was inside. Rylee wanted to jump across the table and strangle her soon after that. Amber had to get it together or prepare to be single.

  “What the hell are you doing Amber?” Rylee yelled when Amber started blowing the tea to cool it off.

  “It’s hot. I’m trying to let it cool off before I drink it,” she replied.

  “Ughh!” Rylee yelled in aggravation. “Just give me the damn tea. You won’t be satisfied until Derrick is fucking somebody else.”

  “Why did you pour it out?” Amber yelled when Rylee dumped the liquid down the drain.

  “I gotta take baby steps with you, Amber. How can you give a hot/cold blow job with cold tea?” Rylee fussed as Zyra doubled over with laughter.

  “Now what?” Amber inquired.

  “You see these Halls?” Rylee asked as she held the minty cough drops up for her to see.

  “Yeah,” Amber answered.

  “Okay, well suck on one of these about a minute before you go down on him. It’ll probably feel weird to him at first, but he’ll enjoy it if you do it right. The key to this is to blow on his dick every so often after you suck it for a while. It’ll drive him crazy,” Rylee coached.

  “Does that really work?” Amber questioned.

  “You see this big ass ring on my finger and this big ass house that you’re sitting in? Of course, it works,” Rylee responded.

  Amber felt like she was back in high school as she sat there and listened to Rylee and Zyra tell her what to do to keep Derrick entertained in the bedroom. She really liked him, and she was hoping that their advice worked. The first thing she would have to do was get rid of the nerves that seemed to overtake her every time they were intimate.

  “Now listen Amber. You might be a little nervous about trying something new, but a shot or two will calm you down,” Rylee said as if she was reading her mind.

  “Okay. Now I have a few questions. Don’t laugh at me because I really want to know,” Amber said looking at both women seriously.

  “Aww shit, let me pour myself a drink for this,” Zyra said as she walked over to the bar and poured herself a glass of Patron.

  Like a student preparing for her lesson, Amber sat up straight and gave both women her undivided attention. She knew that both of them were experienced in the bedroom, and she needed all the help she could get.

  Chapter 8

  Janice felt like shit on top of being tired, but nobody seemed to care about that. Mekhi was too busy worrying about his new club and making sure she got Tommy to sign the contract. She was supposed to do that over a week ago, but her morning sickness and busy days at work didn’t allow her to. Getting over on Tommy and getting back at Rylee seemed to be all that he thought of lately. Rylee and her husband still hadn’t done anything with MJ’s, and that was pissing Mekhi off. He felt like he was losing out on money and they didn’t even care about the place. Janice even overheard him on the phone with somebody talking about burning the building down. She hoped he didn’t go to that extreme, but Mekhi was a man scorned.

  “Can you tell your mama that I’m here?” Janice said to Kendra when she opened the door for her. Kendra was dressed in her Waffle House uniform heading down the street to the bus stop.

  “Her lazy ass ain’t even dressed yet. You can go inside and wait,” Kendra said with her usual attitude.

  “Is Mena in there?” Janice asked.

  She hated both of Mekhi’s sisters, but Mena was first on her list. She was always making little smart remarks about how different Janice was from any other woman that Mekhi had ever been with. Janice knew that she wasn’t supermodel thin or what the world would consider beautiful, but she didn’t need a broke bitch with nothing going for herself to remind her.

  “Didn’t Mekhi tell you? Mena doesn’t live here anymore. She put her name on the waiting list for a project apartment, and they called her the next week. She moved out yesterday, and I’ll be going right behind her,” Kendra snapped right before she walked away.

  That explained why Janice was there to pick Carolyn up for a job interview. Her kids were tired of taking care of her, and she had to fend for herself. Janice laughed it off when Mekhi told her that his mother was looking for a job. Now she knew that he was telling the truth. After walking into the house, Janice frowned at the mess that surrounded her. A disaster was the only way for her to describe the place. Toys, clothes, and dishes were everywhere, and Janice barely had a place to sit. When she did move some clothes to sit down, a few roaches had beat her to the seat. Opting to stand up while she waited for Carolyn, Janice looked through a photo album that rested on the coffee table. She smiled when she came across a few pictures of Mekhi throughout high school and college. He was even more handsome now than he was back then. Her smile faded a little when she saw a few pictures of him with Rylee doing various stages of their relationship. Mekhi didn’t seem like the affectionate type, but he was all over his ex-wife in every picture that she came across.

  “Yep, she’s pregnant too. Her ugly ass is too old to be trying to have a baby now,” Carolyn said as she gossiped with someone on the phone. She was walking around upstairs, but Janice heard her conversation clearly. She didn’t know who Carolyn was talking about, but she listened hard to try and see.

  “Everybody is trying to trap my son with a baby. At least Shay was cute. This other bitch Janice looks like a grown ass man with all that facial hair. Ain’t no telling how my poor grandbaby gon’ look,” Carolyn blurted out followed by loud laughter.

  Janice’s heart sunk to the pit of her belly once she realized that she was the brunt of the jokes that Carolyn was telling.

  “Mekhi don’t even want no more babies, but he can’t tell her that. She’s helping him with his new business, so he needs her right now. You know he’s opening up a new nightclub, right?” She asked the person on the other end. They must have been replying because Carolyn was silent for a while.

  “I wish he would have had babies with Rylee, but she’s pregnant by somebody else now. He’s only making shit worse for himself. Once he gets his club up and running I know he’s gonna drop Janice like a bad habit. That’s gon’ be another child support disaster waiting to happen. Shay already got them people on his ass now,” Carolyn said.

  Janice had heard enough. She put the photo al
bum back where she found it and made her way to the front door. Her feelings were hurt, and her heart had been shattered into pieces. It was an all too familiar feeling that she was sick and tired of experiencing. Unlike the times before, she refused to sit around and be another man’s fool. And despite what Carolyn might have thought, she didn’t want or need Mekhi for anything. She was prepared to be a single mother and take care of her child alone. He didn’t have to worry about child support and he damn sure didn’t have to worry about her baby. Once she got Tommy to sign the papers that she had drawn up, Mekhi didn’t have to worry about seeing her ever again.

  ***

  Nakia pulled up to her mother’s house and parked in front of her door. Just like always, Leslie was on the porch yelling at the neighbors across the street. The same dingy bonnet covered her head, and the same dirty duster covered her body. A small part of Nakia felt bad for not seeing her for months, but the thought of how low down and dirty she was, quickly erased those thoughts. Aside from speaking to her on the phone a few times, Nakia hadn’t seen Leslie since she left her house months ago. She hadn’t seen or spoken to her sister since she left, but she would always hear things about her. Grim and Snake told her several times that they’d seen her sister working at the strip club. According to them, she did more than strip in the private dance rooms. Nakia didn’t know if it was true or not, but she wasn’t surprised. Nicole was all about a dollar, and she didn’t care what she had to do to get it.

  “Hey ma,” Nakia said when she stepped onto the porch near her mother.

  “Look at my baby. I’m so happy to see you,” Leslie squealed as she stood up and hugged her. Nakia held her breath to keep from smelling the stench of stale cigarettes that came from her mother’s body. Leslie yelled to her neighbors, telling them that she would be back shortly.

  “Is that your car?” Leslie asked once she and Nakia were inside of the house.

  “Yeah,” Nakia answered.

  “It’s nice. I like it,” Leslie smiled.

  “Thanks, Rylee got it for me,” Nakia announced.

  “How is she?” Leslie asked referring to her niece. She never apologized, but she felt like shit for how things went down between them. Rylee was her only living niece, and she did her wrong. Nicole messing with Mekhi was bad enough, but her condoning it was even worse. As a result, she pushed away her daughter as well. And she did it all for nothing. Rylee and Mekhi got a divorce and Nicole was out at the strip club doing anything to earn a dollar.

  “She’s fine. She got married again, and she’s about to have twins,” Nakia replied.

  “Twins!” Leslie repeated in shock. “She sure didn’t waste any time.”

  “I know you didn’t call me over here to talk about Rylee. What’s up?” Nakia asked ready for her mother to get to the point.

  Leslie nodded her head and reached into the front pocket of her duster. She handed Nakia a paper and sat down on the sofa while she read it.

  “You’re being evicted?” Nakia questioned while looking over at her.

  “Yeah, Nicole ain’t been here in over a month. She was supposed to pay the rent for the last two months, but she never did. People are saying that she’s been using drugs, and I’m starting to believe it. It’s bad enough that she’s working at that strip club in the first place,” Leslie answered.

  “But you’re on housing assistance. The rent is only like one hundred dollars,” Nakia asserted.

  “I know, but I don’t have it. I used my disability check to catch up on the lights and water bills, but I’m broke now.”

  Nakia never did understand how her mother was able to get disability when she never remembered her having a job. Most of the time the money went to the casino and bingo anyway.

  “So what are you gonna do?” Nakia asked her.

  “I don’t know. I was hoping that maybe you could loan me something just to catch up.”

  “I’m sorry mama, but I don’t have it. I’m paying for school, and I have my own bills to pay. That’s why I always tried to encourage you to get a job. Depending on other people gets old,” Nakia responded.

  “Where are you staying now? You think I could stay with you while I look for a job?” Leslie asked almost begging.

  “No, I’m living with somebody else too. I really don’t know what to tell you. I know that there are a few organizations that could probably help you out, but I don’t know how long that will take.”

  “What about Rylee? I know she won’t give me anything, but maybe you could ask her for a loan. You can just act like it’s for you,” Leslie said desperately.

  “You can’t possibly be serious. After the way you did my cousin, I would never,” Nakia frowned.

  “You keep talking about your cousin, but I’m your mother,” Leslie yelled as she stood to her feet.

  “Mother or not, me asking Rylee for anything to help you out is not happening. You should be ashamed of yourself for even suggesting it after what you did. Sorry, but it’s a no from me,” Nakia said as she headed for the door.

  “You always did kiss Rylee’s ass. She got you a lil car and now you’re turning your back on your own mama for her.”

  “And I used to think that it was only Nicole who was jealous of her. You were jealous of her mother, and you’re jealous of her too. It’s sad because you were supposed to be one of the few people who looked out for her after her parents died,” Nakia said in disgust.

  “Look out for her? She should have been looking out for me. Rylee had thousands of dollars in insurance policies,” Leslie yelled.

  “She didn’t have to do a damn thing for you, but she always did. That was her money to do whatever she wanted to do with it. Nobody told you to drop out of school and get pregnant by somebody else’s husband,” Nakia shot back.

  “Get out!” Leslie yelled. “Get your ungrateful ass out of my house.”

  “Ungrateful? Aside from the gift of life, I can’t recall one thing that you’ve ever done for me. Auntie Leela paid all of the bills up until the day she died. Clothes, Christmas presents and everything else came from her too. The minute Nicole and I got a job you had your hand out begging for bill money. I’m not surprised if my sister is on drugs and shaking her ass in the club. You drove her to it. You didn’t care what we did as long as we came home with some money. That’s exactly why you were okay with her screwing her first cousin’s husband.”

  “I wouldn’t be going through none of this shit if I would have aborted y’all like your daddy and his wife wanted me to,” Leslie scoffed angrily.

  “Wow, and you wonder why that dark cloud follows you around all the time. But I’m happy that I know how you really feel. Good luck on getting your rent paid,” Nicole said right before she walked out and slammed the door behind her.

  She tried to stop the tears before they fell from her eyes, but it was too late. Her mother’s words hurt, and she couldn’t even act like she wasn’t affected by them. It was one thing to feel a certain way about your child, but it was an entirely different story to actually say it. Until now, Nakia never understood what people meant when they loved someone from a distance. That was how she felt at the moment, though. She loved her mother, but she didn’t have to be around her in order to do it.

  Chapter 9

  “Life is good my nigga,” Mekhi yelled to Tommy as he downed the rest of the brown liquid in his glass. It was the grand opening of their new nightclub, “The Velvet Rope”, and he was beyond excited. They had a huge turnout proving that all of their promoting and hard work wasn’t done in vain. They were on the upper level looking down at the crowd. The club wasn’t as nice as MJ’s, but it was his. The establishment wasn’t located in the best area, but that didn’t stop people from coming out.

  “Yeah, I just hope your people don’t scare everybody off,” Tommy replied referring to the bouncer that Mekhi had hired. Dude looked like a Suge Knight replica and was rumored to be just as deadly. He acted as Mekhi’s personal bodyguard, moving only when he told him to.r />
  “Big Moe is alright. I just need him to make sure that nothing pops off up in here tonight. I don’t need no baby mama drama or nothing else in my place of business.”

  “Our place of business,” Tommy corrected. “And speaking of baby mama’s, what’s up with you and baby mama number two?”

  “Ain’t shit up with us. Her services are no longer needed as far as I’m concerned. I don’t even want any more damn kids. I barely see the one that I got now.”

  “So now what? Is she keeping it or what?” Tommy inquired.

  “Stupid bitch claiming that she don’t believe in abortions. She trying to trap a nigga just like Shay did. At least she’s not on no child support bullshit. She just needs some attention every now and then. I slide through and dick her down twice a week just to keep her happy,” Mekhi laughed.

  “If you don’t want her then why play with her feelings?” Tommy questioned.

  “Everything I do is for a reason. It might not make sense now, but it’ll benefit me in the end,” Mekhi said avoiding the question that was asked.

  “What about your daughter? When’s the last time you saw her?”

  “When I choked her mama out for showing up to my house to confront Rylee. But seriously, I need to do better with that. Even though I didn’t want kids with anybody other than my wife, Mekhya is here now. I can’t keep making her suffer for my wrong doings. Shit, she’s three years old now, and she barely knows who I am,” Mekhi admitted.

  “Damn, that’s messed up,” Tommy acknowledged.

  He remembered when he and Zyra found out that she couldn’t have kids. They were both devastated, but it took a lot out of him emotionally. He loved Zyra more than anything, but to know that they wouldn’t be able to have a family together was hard on their marriage. He knew that Zyra was willing to do anything to save their union, which was why he decided to bring a third person into their bedroom. That was a decision that he was still regretting. With that one stupid move, he ruined his marriage to the love of his life. He didn’t hate Zyra because he had no reason to. He actually owed her an apology, and he planned to deliver it very soon. She didn’t deserve what he had done to her, and he wanted to clear his conscience.