by Rukyyah
July 2008 had rolled around and Timmy Jr. was one. Curtis and Alexandria had been together for a little over a year. He was definitely thinking about making her his wife since she had his back for so long. He loved how loyal she was and didn’t trip when it came to him being out all hours of the night to bring money home.
After dropping Timmy Jr. off with his father, Curtis and Alexandria went on a date. They went out to dinner where he planned to propose to her. He was nervous. Once they ate and Alexandria had dessert, Curtis popped the question and she happily accepted. She jumped up and down, and gave Curtis a big hug. Everybody at the restaurant congratulated them and wished them well. A few older folks even told them that they were a handsome couple.
Alexandria smiled from ear to ear, and she couldn’t wait to get home and show her man how pleased she was. She couldn’t wait to show off her ring to her friends. It was five carets, princess cut, and wrapped in white platinum.
When Mike greeted the couple at the car, he opened the door so they could get in and congratulated them as well. Curtis never thought he would be the marrying type, but it was something about Alexandria that made him want to keep her around for a long time.
Moments later, a car approached them and blocked their car in. Mike didn’t know what was going on, so he got out and went up to the car.
“Move that shit up outta here, mafucka! I’m about to be out!” he yelled.
A big, 6’5 nigga got out of the passenger side of the Escalade and punched Mike in his face three times. He fell so fast because the big nigga came out of nowhere and didn’t give Mike a chance to defend himself.
“What the fuck is going on?” Curtis asked while pulling his gun from his waistband. “Stay right here,” he said to a shocked Alexandria.
“Be careful, baby.”
Curtis jumped out of the car and rushed over to the big nigga with his gun cocked. “We got a problem nigga?”
He didn’t respond, but he backed away from the aim of the gun. Then, a bitch about 5’3 stepped out, and walked over to Curtis and the big nigga. She pointed a gun to Curtis’ face. It was obvious to Alexandria that he knew her.
“Nigga, I told you to pull the bitch out of the fucking car. You don’t listen for shit!”
“How the fuck I’m gon’ get at her without handling these niggas first? You get the bitch and I’ll handle this nigga.”
“Curtis, I bet you thought shit was cool, huh? I told you, you can’t play a bitch like me.” She laughed.
“Karen, put the fucking gun down. Let’s talk about this shit.”
“It’s me or that bitch! Choose one!”
“That’s my wifey, we ready to get married. Just move the fuck on.”
“Move on? Fuck you, nigga!” She smacked him with the butt of the gun and when Alexandria saw blood drop from his mouth, she jumped out of the car to help him out.
“What the fuck are you going to do?” Karen said while pulling out a smaller gun and aiming it at Alexandria with her other gun still aimed at Curtis.
“Please, just let him go. I love him.”
“What the fuck does love got to do with it?”
Karen pulled the trigger and without a thought, Curtis jumped in front of the bullet. He coughed up blood while Alexandria screamed out for somebody to help her. Mike came to after being knocked out and he quickly kneeled down with Alexandria as she held her lifeless fiancé in her arms. She cried and couldn’t believe a hatful bitch took the one true love she ever had.
When the reality of what had just happened hit, Karen and the big nigga sped off, but thanks to witnesses being around the police found them within five minutes on I-95 going toward New York. They tried to skip town, but they were locked up and the cops told them they shouldn’t worry about bail because it would automatically be denied with a murder charge.
A week later, Curtis was buried and Alexandria was sick with grief. She could barely take seeing his body being lowered into the ground without feeling the urge to throw up. That week, she barely ate. She never left their home that they shared together, so Erica kept Timmy Jr. to give Alexandria time to heal.
Erica felt so sorry for her daughter, but she warned her over and over that something like that would happen. She never thought it would be by a scorned woman, but she knew something wasn’t right and it would come to light.
Alexandria laid on the couch in the living room as she cried while listening to Foolish by Ashanti. She wanted to go back a week ago when she was happy and ready to marry her man. She looked down at her blinding engagement ring and thought she would never love another man the way she loved him.
Before the song ended, there was a knock at the door. Not expecting any company, she rushed to the door to see who it was. When she noticed Catherine, Curtis’ mom, through the peephole, she opened the door to let her in.
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t expecting you.” She tried to gather a smile on her face. “Come on in.”
“Thank you.” Catherine walked past Alexandria. She was face to face with her. “Alexandria, I’ve grown to like you and your son, but this house and the cars in the driveway are in my name. I want them now,” she bluntly said.
“Excuse me?”
“I want you and your son to move because I’m moving in. I’m keeping the cars as well.”
“But, where am I supposed to go? This is my home and Curtis bought the Mercedes for me. It’s in my name.”
“Well, you can keep that. I’ll take the rest of the cars.”
“Why are you doing this? I love this home. It was mine and your son’s. I really did love him. Don’t doubt that.”
“I know you did. It’s nothing personal, but my son didn’t have insurance and I don’t know if he left any money for me, but I had to pay for that big ass funeral and burial out of my pocket. That was not cheap. So, I’m selling my house and moving in here. I’m retired and it’s time for me to live worry free. My son would have wanted it this way.”
“No disrespect, Ms. Catherine, but Curtis would have wanted me to live here. He really did love me. We would have gotten married.”
“I know that my son loved you, but he was easily infatuated. So, who knows what he really felt for you. He brought so many girls home claiming that he loved them that I stopped listening to that madness.”
Alexandria’s feelings were hurt because Catherine thought the love that she and Curtis shared wasn’t real. She wondered if she was telling the truth because if mothers don’t know anything, they knew their children better than anybody.
Alexandria broke down and cried. “Can you please give me some time to get myself together?”
“A week.”
“Okay.”
There were no goodbyes shared between the two. Alexandria quickly grew hate for Catherine and she couldn’t believe she would take what she had left of Curtis. She never thought that she would have to move. She thought she would be able to take care of the mortgage with the money she put away for a rainy day. She went into the office and got on the computer to check her bank statement. She realized she had about twenty thousand saved. She was pleased with that amount, and she thought she could survive off of that for at least a year. She went into the guest room and opened the closet. She realized there was no money laying around, so she had to search for the key to the safe. After finding it, she returned to the room. When she retrieved the money, it was only fifteen thousand and three hundred left.
She threw it at the wall and the bills fell out of the band. “Where the fuck did all of that money go?” she asked out loud as she gathered the money.
Alexandria looked down at her engagement ring and knew Curtis probably blew through that money for the ring, thinking he could easily replace the money. That was exactly what happened. He paid almost thirty-seven thousand dollars for a Tiffany engagement ring. Being that it was the last lovely gift Curtis got her, she promised herself that she would never sell it.
The following day, she found a luxury apartment in Glen Burnie. S
he loved it because it was not too far from her family, but it was away from the city. Alexandria had to come up with phony paystubs for credit purposes, and gave Liz’s number to confirm employment. She paid two thousand up front when she got approved for the apartment for the first month’s rent and security deposit. They told her the apartment would be ready in two days so the day after that, she rented a U-Haul and to piss Catherine off, she took every damn thing out of the house. She even took shit she knew she wouldn’t use. She just didn’t want her to have it.
It took almost the whole day for Liz and Sofia to box up everything. They were happy that Alexandria hired some niggas to load every box on the truck and the next day, they got the keys and moved everything in. She made one last trip back to her house that she shared with Curtis to reminisce over the good times. She made sure she got everything. She took her key off of her Mercedes key ring and put them next to the door on the table. She wrote a note on a piece of mail. It read:
Enjoy our home, you might need to buy new shit.
She smiled at the note, and then left out of the empty house feeling satisfied, knowing taking everything would piss Catherine off. Alexandria thought that was what the fuck she deserved for putting her out.
On her way to her new apartment, she knew she would still miss Curtis and would think about him often, so she figured it probably was the best thing for her to do by getting out of the house that had so many memories. She had enough memories to last with his gifts, her SUV, the ring, and all of the things she took from his house.
At that moment, she felt like she needed to only look out for her and her son, so she didn’t give a fuck about who she hurt or walked over on her journey to getting money.
Chapter Thirteen
It took three days for Alexandria, Sofia, and Liz to fix up her three bedroom apartment with a den, which Alexandria setup like an office. She was happy her friends helped her out. They spent the first couple of nights in her guest room. Alexandria was cool with it because she needed the help and was a little nervous about living alone. By the next month, she was settled in and enjoyed living with just her son again.
It was obvious to Alexandria’s friends that she was still hurt over Curtis’ death, so three months after she moved in her apartment, Liz and Sofia took her out to the club. Alexandria wore a fly outfit that Curtis bought her during one of their many shopping sprees. She wore a charcoal v neck tiered dress by Vera Wang that Curtis got from Neiman Marcus. She wore Jimmy Choo charcoal snake skin pumps with four inches heels. She wore her hair in loose curls, makeup, and silver jewelry.
When she looked in the mirror for approval, she smiled at how sexy she looked and knew Curtis would have loved to see her in her outfit. He was the kind of nigga that thought that no matter where you went, you had to look fancy.
Liz and Sofia’s outfits weren’t anywhere near as fancy, so when they saw what Alexandria was wear to the club, they both felt like they were out shined. Liz wore a short jean skirt with a purple low cut ruffle shirt, which was cute against her dark skin. She wore purple heels and a purple bracelet, which was cheap, but cute. Her hair was shoulder length and she wore it straight back. Sofia had on a dark orange short dress that she paired with gold heels. Sofia always looked cute with any color against her honey skin tone. All of them were cute, but Alexandria stuck out.
It was October, so all of them took jackets, but didn’t plan to wear for more than a few seconds. Once the heat warmed the car, they all got out of their jackets and didn’t plan to wear them into the club.
In the club, the ladies enjoyed themselves. They partied, drank, and had a good time. Alexandria was happy to get away from her home because she kept worrying about what she would do for money. She wanted an office job, but she wasn’t qualified for anything. She was damned if she would work for fast food again after living like royalty with Curtis. She wasn’t ready to be laid up with another dude, so she knew she had to do something.
The ladies danced to Swagger Like Us and Alexandria missed feeling like the center of attention at the club. She bounced her ass to the beat and when A Milli started playing, the crowd went crazy. She bent down, grabbed her ankles, and bounced her ass on her way back up. Liz bounced so hard to the beat, she felt like her titties would fall from her low cut shirt. Sofia’s ass bounced up and down to the beat. She kept checking to make sure her ass was covered in her short dress. Alexandria enjoyed dancing and even though she was ready to kick her heels off, she kept her face pretty and danced for three hours straight.
When Jockin Jay-Z played, a cute, light skinned nigga approached Alexandria and she knew he thought he was sexy. He stood in front of her and for a moment, he ain’t say shit. He posed like he wanted her to see how fine he was. She giggled to herself. At first, she thought it was some bitch shit he pulled, but when he laughed, she knew he was fucking around.
“What’s up, sexy?” he asked with a smile.
“Ain’t shit, baby.” She smiled back.
“What’s your name?”
“Alexandria and yours?”
“I’m Lamont.” He reached out to shake her hand and quickly noticed her engagement ring. “You married?”
“No, I was engaged, but my fiancé is dead.”
“Oh, my bad.” Lamont didn’t know if he should roll out being that she still wore another nigga’s ring.
“It’s all good.”
Liz and Sofia knew that he wouldn’t stick around once seeing the ring. They may not have been dressed in designer shit, but the both of them had niggas buying drinks all night. Alexandria got two drinks from different niggas. Before, she used to get five drinks or as many as ten, depending on how long they stayed at the club.
“I’m gon’ get up with my niggas. You enjoy your night, pretty girl,” Lamont told her before he left.
About an hour after that, another nigga approached her. “Yo, where your husband at? He got his wife out here looking good as shit!”
“I’m not married.” Alexandria rolled her eyes at his drunken rudeness.
“What the fuck I look like?” He laughed. “Get the fuck outta here,” he rudely said as he stumbled a little as he walked away.
“What the hell was that all about?” Alexandria asked Liz and Sofia.
“I know you ain’t sweating that drunk mafucka,” Sofia stated.
“Hell nah!”
“Good. You don’t have to tell anybody about your ring. Most mafuckas will fuck you with that shit on,” Liz said while shaking her head.
“I know that’s right.” Alexandria laughed.
After the club, both Liz and Sofia went to grab a bite to eat with niggas they met that night at the club. Driving home solo made Alexandria miss Curtis even more. Her mother offered to keep Timmy Jr. overnight, but she wasn’t ready to sleep in the apartment by herself just yet. She picked up her son and headed home.
The following weekend, they all went to the club again, but Alexandria was sure to wear her ring on her necklace. Before they got dressed, they puffed some weed on the balcony. Alexandria was ready to party, especially since she was high. She was sexy in her designer shit once again. They all were laughing at anything, funny or not. That night, they went to a lounge in D.C. The niggas from D.C. dressed like they had money and walked like they had big dicks.
Alexandria thought she wasn’t ready to fuck with anybody, but when she saw a nigga looking good enough to suck, she danced real sexy to get his attention. When he looked in her direction, she knew she would fuck him.
“Damn, you sexy as shit. This your first time here?”
“Thank you, and yes.”
“Where you from? What’s your name?”
“My name is Keisha and I’m from V.A.”
Liz looked at Alexandria with narrow eyes. She and Sofia looked at each other and both thought, what the fuck? But, she approved of giving niggas fake names. Sofia shook her head because she didn’t get why Alexandria wasn’t honest.
“Oh, you a V.A. chick. That’s w
hat’s up. Keisha, my name is Ronald, but most people call me Ron.”
“I’ll call you Ron.”
“Cool. Can I buy you a drink?”
“Sure, I’ll take a Sex on the Beach.”
“You promise?” Ron asked with a wink.
Alexandria laughed. “Maybe.” She had a naughty grin.
“Bitch! I hope you ain’t gon’ dip off with that nigga. You know we rode with you,” Liz said.
“For real,” Sofia added.
“Chill out, bitches! I ain’t gon’ leave y’all in D.C.,” Alexandria said.
When Ron returned with their drinks, he handed Alexandria her drink and that was when she noticed that he wore the same Cartier watch that Curtis had. She knew it cost over ten thousand because Curtis kept all of his watches in the box they came in. She knew she found her match being that he had that kind of money to spend on a watch. She wondered what she could get out of Ron’s fine ass.
After Ron and Alexandria exchanged numbers, her and her friends went back to Glen Burnie. They stayed at her apartment, so she didn’t bother to pick up her son.
The next day, Alexandria agreed to meet up with Ron for drinks. Since she gave him a fake name, she got a rental car for the evening. She rented a black Cadillac STS. She wore a short gray Robert Rodriquez cowl neck cashmere sweater dress. She wore a satin bra and panty set, gray heels, and her hair was in a big bun. So, she wore tear drop diamond earrings.
When she pulled up looking like a celebrity, Ron knew she would be a high maintenance chick. He didn’t know what she would be all about, but he was interested to find out.
“Damn, girl. You are wearing the hell out of that shit!” Ron greeted her with a hug when she stepped out the car.
“Thank you. You’re looking good yourself.”