by Mikal Malone
He closed the door and I closed mine too. I watched my friends circle around my car inspecting it from the outside.
“I know shit gets rough, baby, don’t think I don’t know. But do you know how good it feels, to have a woman by my side who can hold shit down? I know a lot of niggas who dealing with females who would be scared as shit to do half of the things ya’ll do out here. I need you to know I appreciate everything you do, Ma. I will get you out of these projects, the moment we get shit right. But you valuable right now baby. You more valuable than you realize. We’re building a dynasty! With Dex and Stacia killed, we have to watch each other’s backs. Are you with me, Ma? Can you be that down ass bitch I know you are?”
I was still trying to formulate words, but I knew my heart and my eyes told him exactly what I felt.
“Yes, baby. I can be anything you need me to be. I’ll lay down my life for you, Cameron.”
“That’s what’s up. With that being said, Mercedes Johnson, will you do me the honor of being my wife?” he asked as he pulled out a four-carat, princess cut FLS diamond ring.
“Yes, baby! Yes, I will!” I said as I kissed him.
“You made me the happiest man on earth.”
“And you made me the happiest woman.” I kissed him and he wiped the tear that fell from my eye.
“Well…let me let ya’ll do you. I got something in the glove compartment for you and the girls to chill off to celebrate. We’ll get into the details of our wedding date when you get back.”
“Thank you, baby! I love you so much,” I said, meaning every word I said.
When he opened the car door, my girls flooded in.
“Girl, let me see!” Yvette screamed as she claimed her spot in the front seat.
“Oh shit! Cameron out did them niggas major, girl! Thick better get his game up,” she laughed, secretly saying what she really felt.
“What you do to Cameron, girl?” Kenyetta asked. “I need to take lessons.”
“Yeah I wanna know too!” Carissa said.
“Well for starters, I take it in the ass,” I laughed.
“Fuck you!” Carissa laughed back. “But if it’s like this, maybe I should apply extra KY Jelly.” We all laughed.
When we opened the glove compartment, I saw three Morning Fresh air fresheners, which were my favorite, and a stack of money.
“Got damn, C!” Yvette yelled out the window. “You want two wives?”
“Naw, I’m good.” He chuckled on the top of Unit C.
“Don’t worry, baby! I’ma do something bigger and better than this nigga!” Thick laughed with his boys.
“I just want you to come home more,” Yvette yelled slightly ruining the mood with her sincerity.
He winked. “I got you, ma.”
“I love you, Cameron!” I said starting my engine.
“I love you more, wifey!” His show of affection in front of his boys added to my ego. For that one moment, I couldn’t imagine life without him.
As we drove off, headed to Tyson’s Corner in Virginia, I realized that I was willing to stand by Cameron even if we were on our way to hell. I needed him, and if he was willing to make me his wife, I knew he needed me. At least I hoped.
Chapter 9
Leadership Stricken
January, Monday, 7:15 p.m.
Doctanian
“You know the Lord don’t like what you doing, son. You gonna have to answer to somebody sooner or later.”
“Yeah I know, Ma, but right now, I gotta do what I gotta do.”
“You ain’t got to be in the streets, son,” his mother said as her butter soft hands gently touched his face. “You don’t have to do nothing you don’t wanna do, baby.”
Doctanian hated when his mother reminded him of his life in the streets. She had been questioning him repeatedly about what happened to CJ and Charles. He felt she had a strange way of knowing everything. Although he wasn’t the culprit, he knew exactly what happened and it had been eating him up ever since.
Mrs. Madelyn Bright was an active member in church and she hated living in Emerald City. But with the money she earned from Social Security, she couldn’t afford to move. She ran an active “War on Drugs” campaign at church, even though she was unable to prevent what was happening in her own home.
“Ma, look around you? All the food that comes in here, I buy. We wouldn’t have nothing if I didn’t get out in them streets. If it’s not me, it would be somebody else selling drugs to them people.”
“But, baby…you got the gift of leadership. You can make anybody do anything you want ‘em to do. You ain’t nothing like yo mamma. I didn’t have nothing past a sixth grade education, but you went all the way. Straight A’s and all! Instead of leading them young men into a life of crime, you could be helping them get out.”
Doctanian knew what his mother was saying was true, but he was too deep into things now. He had seen too much. How could he turn back now?
Doctanian was twenty-years-old and had a beautiful golden brown complexion. His 6-foot 2-inch height quickly made him appealing to all the girls in EC, but Doctanian was true to only one. That was his eighteen-year-old girlfriend Jordan.
Jordan was light-skinned with beautiful long hair and a distinctive mole on her upper lip. Her body was well developed, and she chose the right clothes to accentuate her thick ass, and curvaceous body. From the moment he laid eyes on her, she had him. Unlike a lot of niggas in the hood, Doctanian had a heart. The moment he let her know he ran for the Emerald City Squad, she sealed her position by his side by sexing him in ways he never imagined. Although younger than him, she had way more experience in the sex department. Now that he’d gotten her pregnant, he was even more loyal to her.
“Ma, I ain’t nobody’s leader. I can’t take on that type of responsibility,” he said not realizing that by commanding six men every day, he was doing just that.
“I gotta go, Ma. I’ll talk to you later.” When he saw the sorrow in her eyes he said, “I love you. But I’m nothing if I don’t take care of you.” He placed a kiss firmly on her face and walked out the door.
“Lil C, come here, man!” Doctanian yelled, as he continued to watch over his soldiers. After being reprimanded the night of CJ and Charles’ murder, he micro-managed their every move.
“What, man!” Lil C yelled back, letting off the vibe that his father ran the hood, and he didn’t have to answer to anyone.
“Just come here for a second, man!” Doctanian yelled back.
Lil C stopped talking to one of Derrick’s workers, and made his way to Doctanian. He looked so much like Cameron that whenever Doctanian saw him, he immediately had respect for him.
“What you want, nigga!” Lil C responded with arrogance. He knew the power his father had and he made sure everyone else did as well.
“I wanna know why you keeping time with Trey and them?” Doctanian responded. “Them niggas ain’t nothing but trouble.”
“No reason. We just kicking it. Why you in mine anyway?” he responded as he laced his Timbs, and brushed off the little bit of dirt that snuck up on them.
“I’m in yours ‘cause it’s not cool to be out here right now, man. Where your moms at anyway?”
“She with my aunts and them. They rolling ‘round in her new ride.”
“Word? What she get?”
“A new Mercedes!”
“Oh for real?” Doctanian responded, really feeling happy for her.
“Yeah, but I’m bored as shit!” Lil C said.
“Well let’s do this. You chill from out here, and I’ll see if your pops will let me take you to Dave & Buster’s later.”
“For real?” Lil C said as his face lit up.
“For real, lil nigga!”
Without another word, he took off toward his grandmother’s house.
Doctanian was happy because he liked the lil guy and he didn’t want to see anything happening to him. He knew that far too much was happening in Emerald City, and it was best that he stayed
somewhere safe. When his tour was over, he called Cameron and made sure it was cool, then he scooped up Lil C and they headed to Dave & Buster’s in his black Camry. These were the best of times, but the worst of times were sure to come.
Chapter 10
Scarred For Life
January, Monday, 9:15 p.m.
Yvette
“Girl, I hope you don’t mind me hugging your man when we get back!” Kenyetta yelled from the back seat. “He really looked out with the money he gave us today for shopping.”
“Yes I do mind you hugging my man!” Mercedes yelled.
Everyone got quiet. I couldn’t believe she was acting funny already. Hell, they weren’t even married yet and already she was acting territorial.
Mercedes started laughing. “But I don’t mind you hugging my fiancé.”
Everyone laughed.
We were out of the parking lot, and on our way back to DC, when I remembered I left my Tiffany charm bracelet at the store.
“We gotta go back, Mercedes,” I yelled.
“Why what’s up?”
“I left my bracelet in that damn shop,” I said looking in my empty blue Tiffany box.
“Girl! I knew you were gonna do that shit,” Kenyetta said. “That’s why I told you to put it back in your box after she finished polishing it for you.”
I told her, “Hindsight is twenty-twenty.”
When we got back to the Tiffany’s parking lot, I tried to hurry inside to get my bracelet before they closed. But the person I saw coming out the door, stopped me in my tracks. I saw the same girl the day of Stacia and Dex’s funeral. The same girl Thick consoled as if she belonged to him. The exact same girl I had several nightmares about ever since I saw her face.
“Oh….Hello, Yvette,” she said as if she saw a ghost.
“Hi,” I responded surprised she knew my name. “I’m sorry, do I know you?” I added hoping she would provide some info about herself, like who was she, and what her relationship to my man was, especially since it was obvious that she knew so much about me.
“I’m a friend of Stacia and Dex. My name is Zakayla.” She smiled as she reached out her hand to me.
“A friend of Stacia and Dex?” There was no way she was a friend because any friend of Stacia’s was a friend of mine.
“Yes. I met you at the repast, remember?”
Not only was her presence threatening, but she was also a liar. I never formally met this bitch. I took notice to the diamond rings on her fingers. They were huge and I could tell whoever she was, she was definitely being taken care of. What stood out the most was the scar she had on her chin. I couldn’t help but feel a little jealous that she and Thick shared a similar flaw.
“Oh…yeah,” I smiled slightly. “Well…Hello, Zakayla,” I said trying to pull myself away from noticing how beautiful she was. “It was nice to meet you again, but I really have to go now, my boyfriend is waiting on me to get back home,” I lied. “Maybe I’ll see you around.”
“Yeah…Maybe,” she said as she walked out the door.
When I grabbed my bracelet and rejoined my friends in the car, I was out of it. Prior to seeing that bitch, we were having such a good time. I didn’t bother telling them. Besides, I didn’t want them telling me I was tripping. Not to mention, I wasn’t trying to ruin the evening. But all I could think about was whether there was something going on between her and my man that I needed to know about.
Unfortunately, the answer had just stared me right in the face but I wasn’t trying to see it.
Chapter 11
What About Me
January, Thursday, 9:22 a.m.
Kenyetta
“That’s tight that they’re getting married. You think we could ever make a move like that?”
“Baby, stop trying to follow behind everybody else. The only reason Cameron is marrying that girl is ’cause they got like twenty kids together.” He laughed as I helped him pack his clothes to leave me for the weekend.
He and the other captains of the EC squad were going away to look after the other shops. They had spent so much time at Emerald City that the other places were starting to suffer. We weren’t as mad as we thought we’d be because we never expected them to stay so long to begin with. On a regular week, they came home three days.
“I’m not following behind anybody, baby. It’s just that I know we haven’t been together forever, but I still want a commitment, Dyson.”
“Listen,” he said as he threw his packed bag next to the door, “I can’t be pushed into doing nothing. When I put a ring on your finger you’re gonna know I’m ready and it won’t be four carats like Cam gave Cedes. It’ll be a carat for every year we been together.”
Looking at Dyson’s muscular body made me want him all over again but what he said about not wanting to marry me got in the way of how I wanted to express that.
“What’s wrong with my little Indian girl?” he asked as he pulled me to him. “Did I tell you how sexy you look today? My man was telling me the other day how these niggas be trying to get at you and Carissa. Don’t let nobody come near my pussy!” he said.
I thought that comment was ridiculous. Why would I want the jesters when I had a king?
“I won’t, baby,” I said, smoothing my hair back with my hands. “Call me later.”
When he walked out the door, I looked through the mail and sat in the living room with my grandmother. She was far too nosey and lately I’d been doing everything within my power to avoid her.
“Hey, Granny. How you feeling?” I asked courteously.
“Oh now that your little boyfriend is gone, you wanna stop neglecting your grandmother. Well don’t waste your time! If you ain’t spend no time with me then, don’t worry ‘bout me now.”
“Granny, what are you talking about?” I asked not really wanting to know.
“I’m talking about you sending me away for the past few weeks so you could be a whore!” she yelled pointing her wrinkled finger in my direction. “And what’s this I’m hearing about Mercedes marrying that Cameron boy?” Without waiting for an answer, she continued, “All ya’ll ain’t nothing but a bunch of criminals terrorizing what used to be a nice neighborhood.”
“Bye, Granny,” I said realizing even more why I shipped her off whenever I got a chance.
I walked in my bedroom and lay across my bed. My mind went through all the events that happened over the past few weeks, including Cameron’s marriage proposal. Maybe Cameron and Mercedes would be the next Stacia and Dex.
I missed Dex so much. He was there when I needed him the most a little over a year ago and it’s only because of him that I’m even still living. I don’t know what I would’ve done if he hadn’t shown up the night he did.
Dyson had just left out of the house, after threatening to end the relationship again. He did that from time to time, whenever he wanted an excuse to see other women. My grandmother was gone on an overnight convention at church. Dex had come up to see Dyson regarding a new shop opening up in Oxon Hill, Maryland, but he had just missed him. When he noticed my front door open, he walked in.
“Kenyetta, what are you doing?” Dex asked me, as I sat on my apartment floor with a gun in my hand, preparing to take my life.
“Nothing,” I sobbed. “Why are you here anyway, Dex? Your friend broke up with me and left again! I hate my life!”
“Don’t say that shit!” he said staring at me with concern, his eyes fixed on the weapon.
“It’s true! Why can’t I make him happy?” I asked as I began to cry harder.
“Kenyetta,” he said as he took the gun out of my hands, carefully. “That dude may have a lot of shit going on but one thing’s for sure, he loves you.”
“How do you know? All ya’ll are probably the same anyway,” I said as he helped me off the floor and to my bedroom.
“What you talking about, girl?” he said flashing the smile I was sure won Stacia over.
“I’m talking about if a girl is not a supermodel type,
ya’ll don’t want to be bothered.”
“Have you seen yourself, Kenyetta?” he asked as he sat on the chair next to my bed.
“Yes… And?” I said, not feeling up for bullshit.
“And you’re fucking beautiful! I’m telling you right now, if I wasn’t fucking with Stacia, you woulda been my girl a long time ago.”
When I lifted up off the bed to look into his eyes, I noticed they had changed from when he first came through my door. For the first time ever, I could tell that Dex, the one man every woman lusted after, wanted me.
“But why? What’s so good about me?” I asked hoping he could convince me that I was worthy of anybody, let alone him.
“Well, I’m a sucker for that soft hair and chocolate skin. It’s not often you see a beautiful woman with both. Plus, that ass, I’m telling you, shawty. Dyson has caught me a few times checking you out. You a dime, Kenyetta, It’s simple as that. I don’t know what’s going on with you and Dyson, but he’d be a fool not to want you.”
I was beginning to feel better. Dex thought I was attractive but I figured he had to be lying about wanting to sleep with me. He had to be saying all of that, just to prevent me from pulling the trigger. But I could tell he was willing to go as far as he had to, to save my life.
Lie or not, I felt better about myself and it was all because of Dex, but now there was another problem. I wanted him. I wanted him in my bed and I wanted to feel him inside of me. I knew I was wrong for having these feelings. Stacia was one of my best friends in the world. But I needed him…Just for one night, I wanted to know how it would feel to be with the chief of Emerald City. Above all, I needed to feel loved.
My wish was granted when he moved toward the bed and gently kissed me on my lips. His kiss was gentle but passionate, something I’d never gotten from Dyson before. Softly and as if he loved me, he moved his soft lips all over my face while removing my nightgown.
“I’m afraid, Dex.”