by La Jill Hunt
“Get dressed and get out!” I yelled at him.
“I will as soon as she gives me my fucking money!” he yelled back.
“I don’t have it. I keep telling you,” Mama panted. She was completely naked, so I had to wonder if she was telling the truth.
“She doesn’t have it,” I told him.
“She’s a fucking lie, and I ain’t leaving here without it!” He went to grab her again.
Ashley screamed, “Averyyyyyyyy, noooooo!”
I turned and saw Avery with a gun pointed directly at Terry. Everyone stood and stared at her.
“Avery, it’s okay,” I said, my voice trembling as much as her hand that was holding the pistol was.
“Get your shit and get out of our house,” Avery told him.
“You heard her, Terry. Get the fuck out before she shoots your stupid ass,” Mama warned him.
I pleaded with him, “Terry, just leave, please. Before anyone gets hurt.”
Terry’s eyes stayed on Avery for a second before he said, “I’m leaving. I need the rest of my clothes and shoes.”
“See, Avery, he’s leaving. Put the gun down,” I told her.
“Not ’til he gets the fuck out,” Avery said, tears mixed with sweat on her face. I could see that she was just as scared as Terry was.
I reached down and grabbed Terry’s shirt that was near my foot and tossed it to him. Ashley snatched his Timberland boots and pushed them into his hand.
“You got your shit. Now leave, motherfucker,” Mama said.
“Mama, please.” I sighed.
Terry turned and ran out of the room and down the hallway. We all followed behind him, making sure that he continued out of the house.
“Go back in the house,” I told them as I stood on our small porch and watched Terry running down the street, still holding onto his shirt and boots. I walked back inside, making sure to lock the door behind me and praying that he wouldn’t come back with a gun of his own in search of his money.
I went back down the hallway. Ashley and Avery were huddled together in the doorway of my mother’s room. She was inside, sitting on the side of her bed, smoking a cigarette.
“Is he gone?” Ashley asked me.
“Yeah.” I nodded “He’s gone.”
“Mama, are you okay?” Avery asked.
“I’m fine,” Mama told her, then said, “I’m glad y’all had my back. Avery, where’s that damn gun?”
“I put it back in your drawer, Mama,” Avery said.
Mama walked over to the dresser and took out the gun, looking at it. “It’s a damn shame that motherfucker spazzed out like that. His ass ain’t have no damn two hundred and thirty-seven dollars. Lying ass. It was only a hundred and eighty-seven.”
“What?” My eyes widened in surprise, and I gulped loudly as I realized what her statement meant.
“See for yourself.” She reached under the mattress, took out some folded bills, and spread them on the bed. Sure enough, it was a hundred and fifty dollars.
“Mama!” Ashley gasped.
“Mama, do you realize what just happened? What could’ve happened?” I snapped.
“Kendra, don’t start with me. I ain’t in the mood. Avery, go get the broom and help me clean this shit up. After all, you’re the one who needed this damn money to get your hair braided.”
Diane
I spent the remainder of my days off hanging with my girl Ronda at her apartment. I tried to stay away from the house during the day in case Terry decided to pop up. I knew that as long as the girls were at the house, I was pretty safe, but while I was there alone, I wasn’t so sure. I also wasn’t sleeping all that great. It wasn’t the first time I had taken money from a guy, but this was the first time things had gotten crazy and involved my girls.
I couldn’t believe Avery had pulled the gun out of my nightstand and aimed it at Terry. She was truly my ride or die, and I had no problem handing over the two fifty-dollar bills and hugging her tightly after she swept the mess from my floor. As usual, Kendra and Ashley were treating me like a heathenous slut. I stayed out of their way, and they stayed out of mine.
And now, to top everything off, I was running late for work. Most of my clients didn’t mind me being tardy, but the latest one I was assigned to was a real bitch. She called the agency for the slightest infractions. The last time I was late, not only did I get a call from HR, but I was given a written warning. I was treading on thin ice, and I knew this might lead to me getting fired, if not suspended, and I couldn’t afford to have either one of those happen. I put my foot on the gas to speed up so I could make it to my client’s house faster.
“What the fuck?” I said out loud as my car began to jerk. I looked at the gas needle, making sure it wasn’t all the way on E. It was at almost a quarter of a tank, which normally would make me feel happy, but now caused me to become worried. The driver behind me began blowing the horn, and I pulled over to the side of the road. I turned off the engine and let it sit for a few minutes, then turned the key. It started right up with no problem, and I relaxed a little bit. I pushed the gas, and it took off, but as soon as I got in the middle of the street, it began puttering again, and I pulled back over.
“Shit!” I tried to think of what to do. I grabbed my cell phone and dialed Ronda, the first person that came to mind who would possibly come to my rescue. She didn’t answer, probably because she was just as hung over as I was from all the drinks we’d had at her house the night before. I decided to take my chances and dialed another number.
“What do you want?”
“Darnell, my car is tripping,” I told him, trying to sound as pitiful as possible.
“Yeah, right. I’m at work, Diane. I don’t have time for this,” he said.
“Darnell, listen to me. My car—”
Darnell interrupted me. “This isn’t gonna work. Celia said she ain’t giving you her car, and I can’t make her.”
“Fuck Celia and her car. I’m about to be late for work, and I need you to come and help me. I’m sitting on the side of the road,” I whined.
“Call Terry. Isn’t that your corny-ass boyfriend’s name?”
I knew Darnell was still a little salty about me bringing Terry to their house, but this was an emergency, and there was no way he was going to leave me in a bind.
“Darnell, please. I can’t be late for work again. I’m gonna get suspended,” I told him.
“Sorry. I’m not even nearby. I had a meeting two hours away with district management. They’re waiting for me now, and I gotta go.”
The call ended, and I screamed again and hit the steering wheel. I was fucked. I inhaled deeply and told myself to calm down and think. I closed my eyes and asked the universe to send help quick. For some reason, Terry kept popping into my head, which made no sense. He was the absolute last person in the world that would help me. Then, it hit me. Terry mentioned that his brother was a mechanic and the manager of the Jiffy Lube on Denmark Street, which was right around the corner. I restarted the engine and sputtered down the street, praying the entire way.
“Can I help you?” a guy in his early sixties asked when I walked into the tiny building. He looked old enough to be Terry’s father instead of his brother. The name on his uniform shirt said Hugo, and his hands were covered in grease, even though he constantly wiped them with a rag he was holding.
“Um, yeah. Are you the manager?” I asked, wanting to make sure he was the right person.
“Naw, that ain’t me. I just work here. Is something wrong with your car?” he asked. “I can probably help. I know more than him anyway.”
“No, I need to speak with the manager. Terry told me to come and see him.” I smiled.
“Oh, I shoulda known. Gimme a sec. I’ll go get him.” Hugo shuffled out a side door that led to a side garage that was attached. A few seconds later, a guy looking very much like Terry came walking in. They were the same height and had the same build, but this guy was a few years younger and more serious than
Terry, who was laid back.
“Hi, I’m having a little trouble with my car, and I was wondering if you could check it out for me. . . .” I spotted his name and added, “Ricky. My cousin works with Terry. He said to come through and you’d take care of me.”
“Oh, okay. What’s wrong with it? What’s it doing?” he asked.
“Well, it’ll start, but when I drive, it starts sputtering and jerking,” I answered, then pointed. “It’s the green Honda.”
“Okay, well, I can take a look at it this afternoon, but I have a couple of customers in front of you.”
“I have to go to work.” I smoothed out my scrub top as if to make a statement to let him know I had a job. “I don’t get off until seven.”
“We close at seven thirty, so you should be good.” He nodded.
“Cool. I appreciate it. I gotta catch an Uber, but I’ll be back.” I winked at him.
His eyebrow raised, and he softened a little bit and smiled back. That was all the reassurance I needed that I would be able to “persuade” him to fix whatever was wrong.
“A’ight, I’ll see you when you come back.”
I pulled out my phone and logged onto the Uber app, but for some reason, it wouldn’t let me request a ride. I began to panic even more when I checked my bank account and realized the reason the app wasn’t working was that my card was being declined. I had the cash I had taken from Terry, but I didn’t have enough money in my bank account. I hurried back inside.
“Listen, do you guys have some kind of shuttle or something that can take me to work right quick?” I asked the old guy behind the counter.
“Nah, we ain’t that fancy around here.” He shook his head at me.
“I’m gonna be fired if I don’t get there soon. Isn’t there somebody that can take me?” I pleaded.
“Well, I can’t leave, and neither can anyone else. But Josh over there is about to leave to go pick up a car. He might be able to give you a lift.” He pointed to a pickup truck that was parked outside. “Go ask him.”
I rushed into the parking lot and over to the truck, where a middle-aged guy was typing on his cell phone. “Excuse me, Josh.”
He looked over at me. “Yeah?”
“I was wondering if you could possibly give me a lift to work. Hugo said you would help me out. It’s not that far. I have to leave my car here, and I’m not trying to get fired,” I explained.
“Um, I don’t know. . . .” He rubbed the side of his head. “I’m supposed to go and meet another customer for a tow.”
I tugged down on my scrub top and leaned over a little, giving him my most pitiful look. “Can you please help me out? Hugo said you wouldn’t mind because you’re a really nice guy.”
“Hugo said that about me? That old fart normally talks shit about me.” Josh glanced over at the garage.
“Do you think I would’ve asked if he hadn’t sent me?”
“Well, I guess not. You sure it’s not far?”
“It’s only like ten minutes away,” I said, rushing over to the passenger side and climbing in.
Luckily, it didn’t take long for Josh to get me to my patient’s house, and I arrived to work only thirty minutes late. I apologized to the family, and after pointing to Josh’s truck that I had just hopped out of and showing them his card, I convinced them not to call the agency and report my tardiness. I made sure to remain extremely pleasant the entire day, just to make sure. I even promised to arrive early the next morning to make up the time.
Ronda picked me up when I got off. When we arrived back at the Jiffy Lube, it was seven forty. The lights were off, and my car was nowhere to be found.
“Are you kidding me?” I said, opening the door of the Ronda’s Ford Fusion. “Hold tight. I’ll be right back.”
I walked over and pulled the door, but it was locked. I was walking back to the car when I heard someone yelling, “Hey, hey! Over here.”
I turned around and saw Ricky coming from the side of the building.
“Oh my God, I thought you were gone,” I told him.
“Naw, I told you I would hang around until you got here,” he said. “Your car’s right over here.”
We walked around to the side of the building where my car was sitting. “What’s wrong with it?”
“A lot.” He rubbed his head and looked at the car “For starters, your fuel pump is shot, your carburetor needs work, and you need a tune-up and oil change.”
“Shit.” I was hoping it would be something simple, but the way he said it, I knew it would be more than the hundred and twelve dollars I had in my purse, fifty of which I had stolen from his brother days earlier. “Okay, I know about the oil change and the tune-up. That can probably wait. But the fuel pump and the carburetor, how much is that?”
“Parts and labor? About five hundred.”
“Five hundred dollars? Man, come on.”
“Yeah, and most of that’s for parts. I gave you a deal on the labor since your cousin works with Terry and sent you.”
I said, “I don’t have five hundred dollars.”
“I don’t know what to tell ya.” He shrugged. He got into my car and turned the ignition. The engine started up, but when he pushed the gas, it began sputtering as it had before. “See, there’s no fuel getting to the engine. That’s the main problem.”
“I believe you, but I still ain’t got five hundred dollars. I barely have fifty.” I reached into my purse and took out my wallet. I opened it up, and a picture fell out. He reached down and picked it up, taking a moment to look at it before passing it to me.
“Here you go. She’s pretty. Is that your daughter?” he asked.
I looked at Kendra’s graduation picture and nodded. “Yeah, that’s my daughter. And yes, she is pretty.”
“She get it from her mama, huh?” He laughed, turning the car off and stepping out.
I decided to try my luck and see if he was as gullible as his brother. “You think so, huh?”
“Mm-hmmmm,” he said, his eyes looking me up and down.
“Well, look, Ricky. Being that I don’t have five hundred dollars up front, is there any way we can work out some kind of payment plan?” I took a step closer to him and laid my hand on his chest.
“What kind of payment plan?” he asked.
“Well, what I got is worth way more than five hundred dollars, that’s for sure,” I said, taking his hand and slipping it under my shirt so he could feel my hardened nipples. Sure enough, I felt his thumb rubbing back and forth. I looked down and saw the bulge in his pants.
“So, we can do this one of two ways: I can fuck the shit out of you right here, right now, and then fuck you again when my car is ready.” I reached down and stroked the growing bulge.
“Or?” He moaned.
“Or I can give you five blow jobs. The choice is yours.” I smiled. “The choice is yours.”
We were standing there, rubbing on one another, when a pair of headlights came around the corner. He quickly snatched his hand from under my top, and I laughed as I recognized the car.
“Calm down. It’s just my girlfriend, Ronda. She probably drove around to check on me,” I told him.
The window of Ronda’s car rolled down, and she yelled, “What’s going on? You good?”
I looked over at her and said, “Yeah, my car’s not ready, but give me one second. I’m trying to make some payment arrangements.”
“Ohhhhhh, okay.” Ronda gave me a nod, then rolled the window back up.
“Well?” I said, turning back to Ricky.
He looked at me, licking his lips, and said, “Tell your friend you’re good. I’ll take you home.”
An hour later, we pulled up to the front of my house. I was sore and satisfied. I had bragged about fucking the shit out of Ricky, when in reality, he had fucked the shit out of me. He may have been younger than his brother, but he was definitely better in bed. Hell, I shoulda been the one paying him five hundred dollars.
“There’s your pretty daughter
.” He pointed to Kendra, who was checking the mail.
“Yeah, that’s her,” I mumbled, not wanting his attention on her, but on me. I turned his face to mine and kissed him fully on the mouth. “So, when will my car be ready?”
“Uh, three or four days. I’ll call you and let you know. Then you can make your final payment,” he said, running his finger along my neckline.
“I can’t wait,” I told him.
“I bet,” he said.
I got out of the car and waved as he pulled off.
“Mama, who was that?” Kendra, who was standing on the porch, asked me as I passed.
“None of your damn business,” I told her and continued inside.
“Mama, you’ve gotta stop this. You can’t keep bringing these dudes to our house like this. It ain’t right. Look at what happened the other night.”
“First of all, this is my house, and I can bring whoever I want up in here. Second, that was the mechanic who’s fixing my car that broke down this morning when I was on my way to work,” I told her.
“The mechanic, huh? Then why were you kissing him like that? And why are your braids all messed up? And why are there bruises on your neck?” Kendra asked.
My fingers touched the area where Ricky’s mouth had been a little while ago. I was too busy enjoying the way he bit my neck to think about whether he was gonna leave any marks. It was his hands that had grabbed my braids and pulled them down from the bun they were in as he was fucking me from behind at one point.
“Look, I have to get my car fixed, and I don’t have the money right now, so I gotta do what I gotta do, understand? Now leave me the fuck alone,” I grumbled.
“Mama, you don’t have to do this. You can have Aunt Celia’s car. I don’t need it, I swear,” Kendra cried out.
I looked at her and saw that she was being sincere. For a second, I felt guilty for what I had done. Then I thought about how she and Celia had laughed and talked with one another in the kitchen while they were preparing dinner. I couldn’t remember the last time my daughter and I had laughed together. She barely even talked to me because she was so busy being up Celia’s ass.