“Fuck!” I roared, as I dialed her again and again. The shit was crazy. I didn’t know what the fuck to think. And honestly, I was too afraid to call anybody else. Jasmine not answering her phone was a red flag, giving me this funny feeling in the pit of my stomach.
My mind was all over the place, as I snatched my keys off the counter. Everything was a blur as I hopped in my car, and skirted out of the garage. When my phone vibrated in my hand my heart nearly leapt out of my chest. “Hello,” I answered.
“Say, nigga, where you at?” Hurt questioned.
“Headed to the hood. What’s up?”
“Shit, you tell me. Everybody blowing me up, asking me who got shot at unc’s. Everybody like ‘Is it Black Reign?’ And I’m like Ion know what the fuck is going on.”
My heart began to race. “So…so…so…so, you aint seen her?” I stuttered.
“Naw, I aint seen her ass,” he said with obvious sadness.
I couldn’t even find the right words, as my breathing became erratic.
“What did he say?!” I heard Monay in the background bawling.
“He aint seen her,” he told her.
“That gotta be her. And he aint talked to her, either? Oh my Goooodddd!” she boohooed.
“Girl, calm down, man. That could be anybody. Stop that. Calm down before you lose my fuckin’ baby, man.” He consoled her, but I could hear the uncertainty in his voice.
Me…I was about to lose my fuckin’ mind. I had to pull over on the side of the road. I was trying to gather my composure, as my line beeped. Without warning I clicked over. “What’s up, mama?”
“Kaydoa,” Red Reign cried into the phone. “Please tell me that my child is with you, Kaydoa. Please!”
“N…no mama,” I sniffled, trying my best not to break down. “She aint wit me,” my voice cracked.
“Oh lawd, oh lawd,” she hyperventilated. “Let me, let me go over there. I…I gotta go.” She hung up.
After a few minutes, I pulled myself together, and headed to unc’s. When I pulled up to the street, I saw so many familiar faces standing around. I knew that they had all seen the news, and rushed over, because none of them actually lived in the hood, anymore.
“Kaydoa, what’s going on? These bitch ass laws aint sayin’ shit, right now,” Trace frowned, as he approached me.
“Man,” I gripped the tip of my nose. “Ion know what the fuck is going on.”
Just then Red Reign pulled up with her friend, Peaches. “Kaydoa!” she shouted, as she hopped out of the car. She jogged over to me. “Did you find out anything?”
I waved my head, as a car strolled down the street. It was Jasmine’s Lexus. I exhaled so loudly that people on the next block probably heard me. We watched her park on the curb, and ease out of her car.
She glanced around. “What’s going on?”
“Baby!” Red Reign gasped, as she rushed her, putting her ass in bear hug.
Right on cue, Monay came out of nowhere, running to Jasmine, wrapping her arms around her. “Bitch, you okay!”
“Yeah,” Jasmine looked around confused. “Yall…yall thought it was me who got shot?”
“Yeah,” both Red Reign and Monay said at the same time.
She looked at me. “Baby, you aint think that did you?”
I shrugged.
“What does that mean?” she stepped to me.
I shoved my hands in my pockets, looking at everything but her. “We’ll talk about it.”
I was feeling a variety of emotions, and I didn’t want to go off on her, so I decided to wait until we made it home.
Once everybody realized that it wasn’t Jasmine who’d been killed, slowly the crowd trickled down. Eventually, we found out that it was some bitch ass nigga that tried to rob the house. He’d kicked the door in, and shot the bitch my uncle had in there with him. Unc was shook, because they’d shot at him, but his ass jumped out of a window, and jumped the gate into the neighbor’s backyard. What was crazy was that the lady had died for nothing. There was no work there. We had transformed that house into a cooking spot, and being that unc smoked we didn’t leave product behind.
I won’t lie, that shit had me rattled. When we got home Jasmine was just sitting there looking crazy. I know that she had to think about how easily she could’ve been there.
I wasn’t about to sit there, and not talk about the obvious. “This shit was wild tonight.”
She nodded, “It was.”
I waved my head. “I keep thinking about how I thought that was you,” I looked at her. “I was about to go crazy.”
“Aww, daddy, but I’m right here.” She wrapped her arms around me.
“By the grace of God, Jasmine.”
“I know,” she rested her chin on my shoulder. “He was with me.”
“You know I been thinking…we getting plenty of money. This the big leagues…and the more I think about it…the more I feel like I can take care of us.”
She pulled away from me. “Wait, what exactly are you trying to say?”
I licked my lips. “I’m saying…you can still shop, and spend all the money you want. Just consider leaving the hustling to me for a little while.”
She frowned, “Kaydoa, you didn’t do this shit by yourself. In fact, you was hustling just enough to make it,” she snapped, as she pointed at her chest. “I came around and changed that shit. And now you want me to just walk away from something that I helped build? This shit is crazy!”
“Man, lower your voice!” I boomed. “I never said that you wasn’t a part of this. That would be crazy, but you are a female, Jasmine. Niggas see you as a easy target. They just killed a broad, probably thinking that it was you. I can’t be there to protect you when you making your own moves, and shit. You still a female, and niggas will prey upon you. Please believe that shit.”
“So, what am I supposed to do?” she opened her arms. “What…wait on you to take care of me like Farrah? Hope that you never decide to turn your back on me?”
I waved my head. “I would never leave you out in the cold. And you can still invest your money and let us flip it. It would be more of you not being right in the mist of the bullshit.”
“But that’s not how I’m built!” she slapped her chest. “I’ma big girl, and I don’t need you to hold my fuckin’ hand!”
I sat glaring at her. “Man…you know what?” I stood up. “Fuck this shit,” I grumbled, as I stomped upstairs. I was done arguing with her ignorant ass.
Black Reign
“Nigga put the money down!” Big Bear shouted.
“Shit, I got mines, nigga. Yo fat ass need to put up or shut up,” Kaydoa spewed as they shot dice outside of the local game room.
I was sitting in the driver’s seat of Kaydoa’s Cadillac, with my feet planted outside on the ground. I had been feeling a little woozy, but I refused to go home and go to sleep. Honestly, I had been running myself ragged, trying to prove Kaydoa wrong. I was built for the game, and nah nigga was gonna tell me different. The fuck I looked like sitting at home, waiting on him to come through? That shit was for the birds.
“Uh, nigga!” Kaydoa tossed the dice onto the ground.
I shook my head, as he talked shit. It was damn near one in the morning, and those niggas were showing no signs of calling it a night. I saw a few bitches hanging around, and I know they wished like hell that I wasn’t there. Especially Lani’s freaked out ass.
“Kaydoa is getting all the money, huh?” she flirted, while she stood hovering so close to him that her pussy might as well been in his mouth.
I shot to my feet. “Uh, baby girl, I’ma need you to back the fuck up.”
Everybody whipped their heads around, eyeballing me.
Lani smiled, “Black Reign, what is ya crazy ass talkin’ about now?”
“Bitch, I’m talking about you,” I stepped over to her.
Her mouth dropped. “What’s the problem? Me and Kaydoa been cool, and I aint gotta fake that for you!”
Kaydoa gla
nced up at her, waving his head. “Say, let that go.”
“So, you and this bitch good?” I fumed, as I shoved his head, causing him to lose his balance.
“Ay,” he scowled, as he scrambled to his feet. “The fuck is yo problem?!”
I pointed a finger all in his face. “Keep that bitch out your face!”
“Black Reign, I aint gon be too many mo’ bitches!” Lani threw her drink down like she was about that life.
I spun around. “Bitch,” I seethed, gripping her weave. I lost it, whaling on her face.
“Kaydoa, get her off me!” she screamed, infuriating me. I smashed her head into my knee.
“Uh!” I heard bystanders howl.
“Stupid bitch!” I gritted, as I shoved her to the ground. For good measure I kicked her. Twirling around, I zeroed in on Kaydoa. “The fuck this bitch calling for your help for?!”
He waved his hands. “Jasmine, get the fuck outta my face. Real talk.”
“Or fucking what?” I bucked him.
Abruptly, he yoked me up, slamming me against the brick wall. “Sit yo dumb ass down somewhere!” he roared.
I sniffled a bit, but I refused to let him see me cry. “Get the fuck off me!” I growled, slapping his hands away. I was furious, as I attempted to stomp off. I was seeing red, when it dawned on me that I’d come to the hood with Kaydoa, leaving my car at home.
I turned around, “Lil’ Hurt, can you take me to my house?”
Lil’ Hurt glanced at Kaydoa, and Kaydoa’s bitch ass slightly waved his head. “Nah, Black Reign, I aint goin’ that way.”
“Well, fuck you too,” I snapped, as I tugged at the zipper on my shorts. They were so tight that I couldn’t even bottom them up, which was new for me. I’d been picking up weight, stressing over that nigga. Kaydoa had been on some dumb shit, staying out late, hanging in the hood longer, and treating me differently. It was like he was punishing me for deciding to keep hustling.
I was beginning to feel like he was cheating. Maybe it was with Lani, or perhaps some other bitch, but I wasn’t going for it. If it came down to it, we could go our separate ways. Because Black Reign was nobody’s fool.
Standing in the parking lot, I called my sister. She always had a house full, and I knew somebody around had a car. So, she hustled up a ride to come and get me. Kaydoa didn’t know who I was talking to, until Ryah pulled up on the passenger’s side of a Tahoe. The driver was ole boy that kept trying to holla every time I’d visited my sister.
I wasn’t gonna say shit, as I walked around the truck, and attempted to climb in. In a flash, Kaydoa was standing at the door, grabbing my hair. “The fuck is wrong with you?” he growled.
“Let me go!” I belted, struggling to escape his grasp.
Ryah jumped out of the truck. “Kaydoa, let her go!”
With fury, Kaydoa literally dragged me away from that truck. “Get yo stupid ass in the car!” he spoke venomously into my ear. “You ever call another bitch ass nigga to come get you, and I’ll kill you.”
A chill eased up my spine, as I listened to him threaten me. “Fuck nigga, I called my sister!”
“And she came with a nigga that’s been trying to get at you. You think I aint see them fuckin’ text messages?!”
My heart beat wildly, realizing his ass had been snooping through my phone. It was crazy, because I had a lock on it, and I thought that he didn’t know the code.
“Black Reign, you coming or what? Cause he aint ya fuckin’ daddy!” Ryah shouted.
Kaydoa kept me pinned against his car, as he faced her. “Ryah take ya ass home. She aint goin’ nowhere, and me and you are gonna have problems if you ever bring another nigga to come get her. Now, take ya ass on, before you get that nigga’s life took.”
Grumbling to herself, my sister stomped back to the truck. I don’t know what she said to ole boy, but he was damn near skirting on two wheels, getting the fuck out of dodge.
“Move!” I shoved his ass off me.
He calmly backed off, and went right back to shooting dice, as if nothing had happened. Lani and her girl had long ago disappeared off the scene, and I was sitting in the car, pouting. I thought about walking around the corner to my mama’s, but I couldn’t bear another embarrassing moment right then. Kaydoa was really being a dick.
Eventually, my stomach began to growl to the point that I was feeling nauseous. I was still mad at Kaydoa, but I wasn’t about to sit there, and starve. Therefore, I eased out of the car, and stepped over to him and his boys. “Uh,” I gulped. “I’m hungry. Can you please take me to my car?”
Without looking my way, he said, “Say, I’ma fuck wit yall boys tomorrow. We about to retire in.”
“Yeah, you would quit after you don won all the money, nigga.” Toke sucked his teeth.
“Don’t hate the playa, hate the game, nigga,” he stood up. “I’ma fuck wit yall.” He sighed, as he headed to his car.
Slowly, I strolled around to the passenger’s side of his car, and slid in. I didn’t say a thing, as he backed out of the lot. We’d been arguing more often, and I just wasn’t in the mood to even go there with him.
Without bothering to ask me what I wanted to eat, he drove to Jack-in-the-Box by the crib. “Say, let me get four tacos, three egg rolls, a potato wedge with bacon and cheese, a number five large, with a orange soda, and a Oreo milk shake.”
I rolled my eyes, hating that he always knew what I liked. I rode in silence, after he copped our food. We made it home, and stepped into the spot without uttering a word. I flopped down on the couch, as he placed the food in front of me.
I was attacking a taco, while he glowered down at me. “Can I get a thank you or something? Damn.”
I snarled, “Fuck you.”
“Keep talkin’ and you gon be wearing that fuckin’ food,” he nodded.
I kept eating, deciding not to say anything. I could tell that he was serious, and I wasn’t about to go there with him.
With a attitude, he sat next to me. “You and ya fuckin’ rat ass sister gon make me go dumb in this bitch.”
I cut my eyes at him. “I know damn well that you aint sitting there mad, when you was disrespecting me.”
He scrounged. “Disrespecting you how? What, for minding my own fuckin’ business, shooting dice?”
I threw my head back, gazing at the ceiling. “Oh my God. Niggas love to play stupid. So, that bitch wasn’t all in yo face? You wasn’t too comfortable with the shit? That wasn’t you talking to her like she done had your dick down her throat on a regular basis?”
He shrugged, “Maybe she have.”
Losing my cool, I reached back, and slapped the shit out of him. “So, you been fucking that bitch?!”
Furiously, he grabbed my hand. “Have you lost ya fuckin’ mind?!”
“You been fucking that hoe?!” I swung with my free hand, going crazy on him. “Huh?!” I beseeched, feeling hot tears stream down my face.
“Calm down,” he gritted, grabbing both my hands, and pushing me back on the couch.
“Get off me. I hate you!” I bawled, feeling too emotional.
“You so damn stupid, Jasmine!” he raged. “When the fuck do I have time to fuck wit that hoe? You know where the fuck I’m at throughout the day. I aint fuckin’ around, but yeah she have had my dick down her throat on several occasions,” he revealed. “Before I was dealing wit you.”
“Get off me!” I pushed him back. “But I’m crazy for picking up on that vibe, though. Fuck you,” I clapped my hands. “And fuck that bitch!”
“Fuck her!” he barked. “You aint saying shit. The fuck we sitting here arguing over a bitch that I aint thinking about?”
I stood up. “Like I said, fuck you and her. You can keep fucking that bitch, cause Black Reign don’t need you,” I snaked my neck.
He glared at me. “Oh so, you don’t need me?”
I paused, because he knew what I was trying to say.
“Answer the question!” he snapped, causing me to flinch. “Standi
ng there in these little bitty ass shorts. You can’t even button them up wit ya fat ass.”
My jaw dropped. “With my fat ass?”
“Yeah,” his nostrils flared. “You heard me. Ya damn belly pressing against the zipper and shit…” he spoke slowly, as if he was having a realization. His handsome face contorted. “What’s up with that? You done picked up some weight. I mean,” he turned me to the side. “You still fine, but you…you sure you aint pregnant?”
I squinted, “Fuck you. You trying to talk about me. Hell no, I aint pregnant!” I couldn’t believe that nigga was saying that I was pregnant. I mean, yeah, a bitch was eating good. But I was on birth control, taking the pills now because those shots had too many side effects, and I had been having regular periods. So, pregnancy wasn’t even a possibility.
He gave me a funny look. “You sure?”
“Hell yeah, I’m sure!” I lashed. “I can’t believe you called me fat,” I huffed.
He chuckled. “I wanted to piss you off. You had me hot with that bullshit. Don’t ever call your damn sister around on some dumb shit like that. And she should know better. What…she trying to hook you and that nigga up or some shit?”
“Not that I know of. I think it was just easy for her to convince him to give me a ride, because she knows that he likes me.”
“So, what was he doing texting you, anyway?” he interrogated.
“He wanted some work,” I revealed. “But why was you going through my phone? And how did you know that it was him texting me?”
He deviously smiled. “You’d be amazed at what and who I know.”
I frowned. “So, are you gonna keep going through my phone?”
He shrugged. “I’ma do whatever I feel like doing.”
“But that’s my phone!”
He waved his head. “I don’t give a fuck, Jasmine. Ion know why the fuck you call yourself locking the phone in the first place. In this house we aint got shit to hide.”
“Whatever happened to privacy?”
He scrounged. “Aint no such thing. Privacy? For what?”
I sighed, waving my head. “Let me go through your shit, and then we’ll see how you feel.”
Shooting Blindly in the Dark Page 16