“Don’t look at me like that baby. If I didn’t love you I wouldn’t be doing none of this shit. Hell, I’m just happy I calmed down because earlier I was seriously considering killing my own fucking brother. I mean damn, how was I going to face my momma after that?” he asked. I chose not to respond to him so he turned his attention to Harper. He kicked him in his side and Harper grunted. Hayden dropped down to his knees and pulled the duck-tape off of his mouth.
“All day I have been trying to understand why you would do this shit. It wasn’t like Inga fucked you or even loved you. She was nothing to you but a chick you wanted but couldn’t get. You wait until I’m married to her for you to find the balls to come at her again. You might still like her but nigga that’s my fucking woman now. My woman that had my kid that you’re trying to fuck!” Hayden yelled and started punching him in the face. I cried as Romelo leaned against the wall with his eyes on his cell phone.
“Hayden please….yes he fucked up but don’t kill your baby brother,” I pleaded looking at him beat Harper senseless. Hayden turned his cap back and untied Harpers hands. Harper jumped up and they squared off with one another. Harper’s lip was busted and his left eye was bruising.
“Yeah she’s your wife by default nigga. If you wouldn’t have gotten her pregnant she wouldn’t be with your ass,” Harper shot back at Hayden. Hayden chuckled and licked his lips.
“Nigga, do I look like I gotta trap some damn body to be with me? You chased her for months and couldn’t get it. How long you think I had to wait? I’m sorry nigga you just didn’t have what she was looking for. What I do know is that you’re going to leave her the fuck alone before momma have one living son,” Hayden said and punched Harper in the mouth. Harper fell back by our fireplace that was in our bedroom and Hayden jumped on top of him sending lethal punches to his face.
“Hayden! Hayden! Let him go, this is crazy!” I yelled struggling to get free. My hands were numb from being pulled up for so long and I had to pee really badly. I looked at Romelo and shook my head. How was he even condoning this bullshit?
“So you gone let him do this Romelo? This is fucking crazy!” I yelled and jumped as Hayden began to kick Harper in his side. Harper laid out on the floor near my fireplace with his eyes closed. Romelo let Hayden beat up their youngest brother for a few more minutes before he pulled him off of him. He pulled Hayden out of the room as he struggled to get free and I guess finish Harper off. I looked at Harper hoping he was okay. Yes he was crazy as hell, but I dint want Hayden to beat him to death either. Hell, a black eye would have been good enough for me but all of this was really uncalled for.
“He laying down in the basement. I got Elijah down there watching him. I’m sorry this happened but it was very necessary for him to do that to Harper,” Romelo said walking back into the room.
“How do you figure that?” Romelo began to untie my legs then he un-cuffed my hands. He walked over to Harper and shook his head as he sighed.
“Because you’re his wife and he had to show him that coming at you like that was like signing a death certificate. This was good because what that niggas was saying earlier made me pray. I really thought I was going to lose a fucking brother and shit. Hayden loves you Inga. Don’t let that shit with Tegan cloud your judgement. You and his kids is what he lives for and I have never seen him act like this before. Shit, he found out Tegan was cheating and we went to the bar. It was nothing like this. I mean he was wrong as fuck for tying you up but this shit here had to happen or else we would have been attending another funeral.” Romelo grabbed Harper and pulled him out of my bedroom. I rubbed my wrist and then my ankles. I scooted to the edge of my bed and looked at my cream carpet. Harper’s blood was all over it. The sight made me sick literally.
****
“So what exactly is going on Inga?” my mother asked. I laid beside her on her bed staring at the television. My parents were happily married and that was all that I wanted. They kind of messed me up because I assumed that being happy like them was a given. I had no clue that it was work you had to put into being happy with a person.
My mother spoiled all of her three kids and often still wanted us to come over to the house we grew up in and stay the night, even though we had families of our own. Since I had been with Hayden I hadn’t stayed over and she hadn’t been happy about that, but she understood that I was trying to get used to being a new mother and a wife. After Hayden damn near killed Harper and forced him to go live in California with their mother and her side of the family, I left and took my baby with me. Hayden had been blowing me up because he knew that his ass was wrong, but I just didn’t have it in me to argue with him. I was tired mentally and physically and I just wanted that love that only a mother could give. I was spoiled but I didn’t care. A lot of people didn’t have their mothers in their life anymore so I planned on cherishing mine and soaking up all of the love she had for me, until one of us left this earth.
“Mom, he is totally bugged out. Like he accused me of having sex with Harper then he brought Harper over and beat him up really bad. It was crazy,” I said leaving out the part about Hayden tying me up. My mom wasn’t judgmental at all but she wouldn’t like to hear how he tied her pregnant daughter up to a bed for hours.
“Inga…” my mom laughed." I mean, I’m happy he fights for you. It’s the least I could say about Dante. Hayden just has to find a better way to handle his anger because he could have seriously hurt his brother. Have you spoken with him?” she asked me as she ran her hands through my hair. Just her touch soothed me.
“No and I don’t wanna talk to him,” I said and pouted.
“How old are you Inga? You’re in a marriage; you can’t run from your problems just because your husband does something you don’t like. You must be a little happy with him considering you pregnant with your second child. You need to call that man and talk to him like an adult. Then you need to have him come over so I can feed y’all and we can play some Monopoly,” she said and smiled. I rolled my eyes because my mother wanted to play that shit every damn day. I loved the game and really enjoyed it when I was a child, but when your mother played it like she was making real money, it took the fun out of it. All she did was talk shit and what made it worse was that she always won.
“Ma…just let me stay here for about a week and then I’ll call him,” I pleaded. My mom laughed as she rubbed my stomach.
“Baby, your daddy works my damn nerves every other day. I wish I had somewhere I could run off to but now that I think about it, if I did we wouldn’t be married. Because we stay and not run away when we have a problem, we’re forced to fix the issue we have with each other. I know you’re worried about so many things right now, with Tegan being one of them, but you need to let it go. Hayden loves you. If I didn’t think he did I would have told you.”
“None of us are perfect baby. I miss Tegan so much because she was like a daughter to me and I hate what happened with you two but it did. It happened Inga and now Hayden is your husband. Are you willing to lose him over a problem as little as this? With the world wanting to pull you two apart the last thing y’all need to be is divided. Fight for your husband…fight for you family. Trust me when I say if he is treating you right and you love him then he is worth it.”
“Inga, sexy eyes is in your bedroom waiting on you,” my sister Ashtyn said stepping into my parent’s bedroom. I looked at her and frowned. I hated when she called Hayden that.
“Don’t call my baby sexy eyes,” I said to her sitting up. Ashtyn smiled and put her hands on her hips.
“You can’t talk all kinds of shit about him one night then love him the next.”
“Ashtyn! Watch your mouth,” my mom said glaring at her. I laughed as I got out of the bed.
“She talks like that all of the time ma, and she was drinking up all of your Cîroc last night,” I said and ran past my sister. She threw a book at me as I ran out of my mother’s room. The minute I stepped into the hallway I stopped smiling. Back to reality.
I took my time as I walked down my parent’s hallway and bent the corner. I walked past my sister’s bedroom and opened my bedroom door. Hayden looked up at me with his greenish, orange eyes. Dressed in all black like he was in mourning, he shook his head as he looked at me. His eyes seemed bigger than normal as they stared at me. I stepped into the room and closed the door. Hayden sat up in my pink, oversized leather chair and looked at me.
“I love you Inga. I love you so fucking much and I’m sorry. I know I been saying that shit a lot but I am. I’m sorry for tying you up and forcing you to watch me do that shit. I was out of line and I swear on you and my kids that I will never do that bullshit ever again.” I looked down at my feet that were covered in colorful socks. Why did men think sorry instantly made shit better? It didn’t take back any of the things that he had done. He still tied me up and he still hurt me. I didn’t know what the fuck he was going to do to me that day.
“Baby…when I saw that shit I lost it. The thought of losing you made me lose my damn mind. I know that shit don’t make sense to you but it did to me at the time. I know that we’ve been having problems over Tegan and so when I saw that shit I just jumped to conclusions. I later on read the messages and saw that you kept telling him to leave you alone, but I feel like you should have told me from the start. He’s my brother and you are my wife. I would have handled it then.”
“I missed you baby,” Hayden said walking up on me. He grabbed my face and slowly pulled it up so that I could look into his eyes.
“Did you miss me?” I bit down on my bottom lip trying to find the right words to say to him so that he could understand how I felt.
“Hayden…I love you so much. You are everything that I ever wanted in a man. When you asked me to marry you I cried because I felt so blessed to have you. Yes we go through our ups and downs but we still have love. What you did and how you handled me was not okay. I didn’t know what you were capable of doing to me and I don’t like feeling like that. As my husband you should make me feel everything but fear.”
“I’m not giving up on us or you, but I need more than I’m sorry to make this right. Between Tegan, you still selling drugs behind my back, and now this. I feel like we are on a road to destruction. I can’t even concentrate on my new baby because I’m stressing over bullshit. What are you going to do to make it right?” I asked him. Hayden let out the breath he was holding and his hands went to my waist.
“Whatever I gotta do ma.”
Chapter Nineteen
Tegan
Happy Birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to Harlow. With all of us showing up here, girl you know we love you!
“Hell yeah we do!” I yelled as we all clapped and cheered as Lee blew out the twenty-one candles that she requested that sat on her cake, which was designed like a pillow with a bejeweled crown on top of it. Harlow blew out the last candle smiling so hard it stretched her face then she hugged Jaycion. He handed her an envelope that she damn near tore open. She read it then looked up at him with wide eyes. The room inside of the exclusive new club in downtown Detroit was filled with our small crew. Lee’s aunt Kitty and her husband Ralph along with a few of Lee’s clients that she had worked with in the past that she was now good friends with.
The fact that her ass showed up to the club with her best friend on her arm was a fucking shock to us. I mean, we knew she left the twins and even divorced Marcos but J-Mac? They had been friends so long so it was weird seeing them together like this but I couldn’t miss the glow she had on her face. I prayed her ass wasn’t pregnant again. It seemed like once you had one kid you opened the gate for you to have a hundred of them.
“Oh my God, Jaycion referred me to two clients that want me to style them for the Oscar’s this year!” she yelled smiling. We all started clapping again because this meant so much more to her than a material gift, plus her spoiled ass had everything she wanted anyway. Eric stood behind me with his hands on my hips letting out a few whistles. Across from us stood Hayden and Inga. They came in looking a little mad with each other. I hope there’s trouble in paradise for their ass since Harper done fell off the face of the Earth. I don’t know what the fuck is going on with him. Inga was sporting a baby bump that was hanging low as hell. I was pretty sure it was a boy. I shook my head at the thought of her giving Hayden a son and I looked over at Elsie. She stood next to us with Elijah by her side. I wish I could say that Elsie looked to be in good health but that would be a lie. While her beauty was still there her eyes were dark and she was very thin. I clutched onto her hand, afraid to let it go for even just a second. I didn’t wanna lose her. Her hair was now completely bald but she wore a Louis Vuitton scarf wrapped around her head with a knot in the front and it complemented her lilac shift dress with her SJP pumps perfectly.
“Do you wanna sit down Elsie?” I asked giving her a once over. She was smiling but she was doing this sway that had me a little worried. I know that she doesn’t want us to worry so sometimes she over does things just so we can think that she is okay. Elijah looked down at her and his eyes saddened.
“Yeah beautiful, let’s sit down,” he urged pulling her away. I watched her walk off and disappear into the crowd. I rubbed my eyes that started to water.
“She’s going to be alright,” Eric whispered in my ear. I nodded falling back into his embrace. I locked eyes with Hayden and he actually smiled at us. He was looking sexy so that my mouth watered when I spotted him walking in with a black collared shirt on, black slacks and black LV loafers. Hayden wasn’t the dress up kind of guy so to see him in something other than Timbs had me soaking out my thongs. His greenish, orange eyes kept finding their way over to me and I knew it was because I was wearing the hell out of my black off the shoulder Versace dress that was see-through on the sides. Although Inga had gained some weight, she still didn’t have an ass; well, not the kind I knew Hayden liked. She had that TV show ass when I had the real woman ass. I licked my lips and winked at Hayden. He nodded to me and I damn near fainted. Was he flirting with me?
“Hey baby, I gotta go use the bathroom,” I said over my shoulder to Eric. He kissed me on the side of my neck before letting me go. I kept eye contact with Hayden until I reached the back of the club. I stood by the bathroom patiently waiting for him to meet up with me.
“Damn girl, you trying to get both of us killed,” Hayden said walking up on me. I exhaled just happy to be in his presence. I reached for his hand and he took a step back. “Nah Tegan, I wasn’t coming back here for this. I just been dealing with a lot of shit and I feel like this fighting with us is getting old. I hated you for playing me like you did but I forgive you, do you forgive me? I mean for the shit I have done?” he asked looking down at me. I nodded looking up into his eyes. He gave me a sexy smile. “That’s what’s up. Just know that it’s not personal and that I wish you nothing but the best. You looking good ‘T’ and I really am proud of how good you’re doing in school. It’s too late for us to work it out but we can be cordial for Hasan. Just remember that… it’s not personal,” he said. Hayden walked up on me and kissed me on my forehead. I closed my eyes and as quick as his lips touched me, they left and so did he. I stared down the hall lost in my thoughts.
I couldn’t help but to think about when Hayden made his first million. We was so damn happy off of that drug money.
“Ma do you see this shit! We got a million damn dollars,” Hayden said excitedly. I laughed looking at him. Damn, a million dollars. Wow. All of the damn clothes and shoes I could buy with that shit.
“And this just the beginning ma. I’m making so much money with them damn twins. Shit. I want you to wash that sexy ass of yours so we can go put this shit up then we taking a trip. Anywhere you wanna go.”
“Anywhere?” I asked sitting up on the bed. Hayden walked over to me and climbed on top of my body. I looked up into his beautiful eyes and he smiled.
“Tegan baby, the way you hold me down is incredible. I’m a take you wherever you wanna go. You still m
y favorite girl?” he asked. I nodded, smiling at him.
“Always Hayden.”
“Forever ma,” he said and kissed me.
“You lied to me,” I said to myself thinking back on the past.
“Tegan where you been? Harlow out there twerking for Jaycion. She said she need you to come pop that big ass!” Elsie said smiling at me. She gave me a once over and frowned. “You okay?” I nodded stepping off of the wall. The last thing I wanted to do was stress her with my problems.
“Yeah I’m good, let’s go.” I grabbed her hand and together we walked off. As we approached the dancefloor, I spotted Hayden and Inga standing right by the dance floor, with their eyes on Harlow who was on a thousand as she twerked for Jaycion while he sat in a chair in the middle of the floor. I laughed and shook my head.
“Can you please go dance with that girl? She know I don’t have an ass,” Elsie said laughing. I laughed and nodded before walking off. I stepped onto the dancefloor and Harlow jumped up. She seemed to be drunk which was fast for her because I hadn’t been gone long.
“Yessss, it’s my big booty Judy bitch!” Harlow yelled running up on me. Jaycion looked at her and covered his face with his hands. He was clearly embarrassed but also entertained with Harlow. Shit, he had known her longer than any of us, so he knew how she could get. Harlow hugged me as the DJ started playing.
“Somebody come get her, she dancing like a stripper. Somebody come get her she dancing like a stripper. Somebody come get her, she dancing like a stripper. Somebody come tip her, she dancing like a stripper. Somebody come get her she feeling all the liquor.
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