by Candi B
Tangie walked in my office and immediately started crying. "I swear, I can't stand these punk motherfuckers around here. Black people can't have shit without someone trying to tear you down or rob you. I'm so sorry, Zane."
I walked up to her and consoled her. "This is just a building, sis, and you know I can't be stopped. This won't stop me, or you, that's for sure. I'll call up the insurance company tomorrow to get the ball rolling, but we gon’ bounce back ten times harder."
"You damn right you are, baby." Ivy and Sunjai came in the office.
"Where the fuck is Berg at? I've called that nigga like ten times, and he's not answering." Sunjai stated.
"Probably laying up with somebody’s baby mama or wife. You can never depend on that nigga for shit." Tangie chimed in.
Me and Ivy looked at each other, and turned away. Tangie had no idea how on point she was, and I could feel my temperature rising. Ivy put her arms around me, and I held on to her hand as I took a look around my shop. I had worked so hard for this, this was my dream, and cans of paint and broken windows wasn't going to stop my hustle. I had overcome worse shit than this, and this was nothing.
"Let's get the fuck out of here. We can't do shit about any of this right now." I told everyone.
The on-duty officer told me he would be patrolling the area, and would keep an eye to make sure no one else tried to come in the building and take anything. Sunjai told Ivy she would call her tomorrow, and Tangie told me she would see me in the morning. I told Ivy to get in the passenger seat and I would drive.
"Zane, I think Xavier did it. That was the same paint that was inside my apartment. Tomorrow, I'll go to every pawn shop there is in Detroit to see if he sold anything."
"I need to find that nigga quick. Where does his mama live? Who the fuck raised that nigga?"
"Xavier’s mama died a year ago, from cancer, and he has a sister who lives in Atlanta. His baby mama used to live over on Livernois, but she moved out the hood. I can check for a new address when I go to work, and maybe she's been to the hospital lately."
"Yeah, do that. That nigga gon’ pay with his life."
"Zane, I don't care what happens to him, but I do care about what happens to you. You can't tell me anything right now that would make me think you are close to ok. From experience, the sooner you let that hurt go, the quicker you can move on."
"Tell how you did it, Ivy. Tell me how you were able to get the hate out of your heart."
Ivy stared out the window. "I haven't. The hate is still there, and it's caused me to walk away from the people I love. When a person has been cut so deep, the hate manifests inside you. It takes over you, and at some point, you act out on it, because that's the only way to feel relief. In the beginning, it took me a lot of alcohol and pills to get through the night. It wasn't even about what Xavier and Sharaya had done to me anymore. I was trying everything I could to make the pain go away. I started slacking at work, I wasn't taking care of myself, and I had cut the world off. Xavier came home one day, and he was so happy. I mean, he was smiling, dancing, and full of life. I got my ass of the couch went in my room, fixed my hair, and got dressed. I felt like I had been knocked in the head, and all of a sudden, I was thinking rationally again. He did me dirty, and he didn't have a care in the world. At that point, I stopped feeling sorry myself, and I was going to laugh, dance, and get even. In so many words, I got smart on his ass, and I've been smiling and dancing ever since."
"So, you saying I just need to smile and dance?" I looked at her stupid.
She giggled. "Yep! We still have an hour until Club Celebrity closes, so let's go."
"Hell no, I'm not dressed, and I don't club."
"Zane, go over to the club, and I'm not going to say it again."
I don't know what she was up to, but I followed her lead. I wasn’t ready to go home anyway. Club Celebrity wasn't crowded and smoked out like on Saturday nights. We went to the bar, and Sunjai was there getting her drink on. She was excited to see us, like she hadn't seen us ten minutes ago. I ordered a shot of Henn straight, and Ivy got a shot of Patron. I bobbed my head to the ol school music and watched Sunjai and Ivy dance on the dance floor.
"No, Ivy, gangsters don't dance." I laughed. She pulled on the dance floor anyway.
Every person in here was doing the electric slide to Cameo’s "Candy." Sunjai’s tipsy ass was adding extra steps, but she was keeping up. I remember doing this dance with my mama in our living room, those were the good times. I smiled, watching Ivy shake her butt a little and the hit the next step. Ivy, that damn Ivy, what can I say? She was really something special, and if it wasn't for her, right now I would be on the streets doing something stupid. The song changed to a slow song, and Ivy refused to let me leave the dance floor. Sade’s "No Ordinary Love," serenated the club. Sade’s music had a way of making you feel like everything was going to be alright. I felt Sade when she sang, “you took my love.” I felt when I she said, “I gave you my love.” There wasn't much that could break me, but being betrayed by my blood was breaking me, man. I held on tight to Ivy as she sang the lyrics in my ear. She sounded good and we swayed to the music.
"I know you are hurting, but you are so much stronger than you realize. Killing Berg and Timeka won't do anything but cost you more pain. You have a beautiful daughter and sisters who need you. Whoop his ass, beat him into a pulp, but soon, you'll get over it and he'll have to live with the realization that he made the biggest mistake of his life."
I stared into her brown eyes and I could no longer ignore the feelings. I took her hand and walked back to the bar. I asked the bartender for a napkin and pen. After I wrote on the napkin, I handed it to her.
She laughed. "Yes, Zane, I'll be your girlfriend."
I kissed her, and we ordered another round of drinks. This shit was corny as fuck, but Ivy thought it was sweet, and it worked. Ivy was right, a little laughter and dance would make you forget about a whole lot of shit.
Two days later
I owed my baby girl and Ivy some make up time. I called my mama and asked her could she go over to Timeka's to pick up Zanaya. Timeka and Berg both had been calling me, and sending me text messages, but I blocked both of them. My mama questioned the hell out my ass, because I very seldom asked her to go get Zanaya, so she knew something was wrong. Zanaya would be staying with me from now on, and if Timeka didn't like it, she can take me to court. I called the electricity company, cable company, and phone company, and disconnected everything. I even had the car that was in my name towed over to the shop. She would have to get a job now, or have Berg pay her bills. Either way, I didn't give a fuck about her livelihood.
I was back at the shop helping the window tech install the windows. Big Rick caught wind of what happened, and sent some of his workers to help with the cleanup. With the help of them, myself, and Tangie, everything was looking back to normal. Berg came around to help for a few hours, and I closed myself in my office. Whenever I looked in that nigga’s face, I didn't see any remorse, and it was possibly because he didn't know I was on to him. But him walking around like he wasn't a dirty and disloyal motherfucker, made me sick to my stomach.
"Daddy." Zanaya ran into my arms. "I missed you so much."
I swooped her small frame up. "I missed you too, baby. I love you."
"I love you too."
"Now, where the hell you been? And why the fuck you have me go to that bitch house?" My mama threw her purse on my desk.
"Damn, hey, Mama, to you too!"
"Hey, son, now what the hell is going on? You remodeling the place already?"
"Yea, you can say that. I've been in Miami working on a big project. I got back into town, and came back to this, someone broke into the shop and vandalized it."
"I swear, this don't make no damn sense at all. You kids don't tell me nothing! What the hell is Timeka’s problem? I thought you said she was pregnant?"
"I don't know what be going on in her head, Mama, but she is pregnant. I saw her stomach."
"Well, her stomach is flatter than a washboard now. Sitting on the couch looking like a long mouth duck, something ain't right with that chile."
Timeka was at the bottom of the barrel. I thought girls stopped lying about babies years ago, and had a baby instead, to trap a nigga. All this was starting to make sense. That’s why Berg lied and said he was going to Auto Zone. That nigga left to go see was he the pappy.
"Ivy!" Zanaya jumped out of my arms and ran over to Ivy.
"Hey, Zanaya, girl. Where have you been? You missed our nail date."
"I know, but Daddy went out of town."
"Ivy Rose?" My mama said. She had her hands on her hips and was looking at Ivy.
"Yes, ma'am, hey, Mrs. Viola."
"Girl, you better get your fine ass over here and come give me a hug!" She beamed.
I watched Ivy and my mama hug. They started talking about how Ivy’s mama was doing, and my mama started telling her how she had been sick and how I was a bad son for not checking on her.
"Boy, why you ain't tell me this was your girlfriend? Berg used to be so sweet on you when y’all were kids, and now, he's just humping everything that moves."
Berg walked into my office, and I gave him a mug. He hugged my mama, but the whole time, he was looking at Ivy. Ivy grabbed my hand and told me to show her what we had done. He picked Zanaya up, and I lost control. I grabbed Berg by his shirt collar, and threw him up against the wall. I hit him in his stomach, and put my hands around his neck.
"You ever touch my daughter again, I’ll kill you, bitch." I looked him right in the eyes. My fingers were itching to grab the gun that I had in my pants.
"Zane! Let him go!" My mama shouted. I loosened my grip on his neck.
"What the fuck is your problem? Ever since you started dating that bitch, you've changed." Berg looked at with me with cold eyes, and then looked at Ivy.
I drew back and punched Berg in his mouth. Just a month ago, he was happy me and Ivy were together. Ivy took Zanaya out of the room, and Tangie ran in trying to get the situation under control.
"What the fuck are y’all in here fighting for? Y’all cousins," Tangie asked, confused.
"Fuck this nigga, he ain't no blood of mine." I grabbed my keys off the table and left out my office.
“Zane, get your ass back in here, now! Somebody better tell me what the fuck is going on!” My mama shouted behind me.
I didn’t want my mama to feel disrespected by me walking away from her, but it was best I did, or she would be delivering the news to her sister that her only son was murdered. Ivy and Zanaya were outside sitting in her car. I got in and told Ivy to get me as far away from the shop as she could. My mama and Tangie were calling me back to back. I turned my phone off and put in the glove compartment.
"Daddy, are you ok? Why where you and Uncle Berg fighting?"
"I'm sorry I hit Uncle Berg in front of you, baby. We had a disagreement, but it still doesn't make what I did right. I'll call him later and tell him I'm sorry, ok?" I wasn't calling that nigga if he was the last person on earth. Zanaya bought my story, and that's all mattered.
"How does ice cream and pizza sound, Zanaya?" Ivy suggested.
Man, I was starting to fall in love with this girl. Ivy could take any negative situation and turn it into a positive one. My daughter was in the backseat sad as fuck, and now she had a big ass Kool-Aid smile.
"Yayyy, and can we watch a movie too?'
"We can do anything you want to do." I told her.
I wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone, so I was happy when Ivy stopped at the store and ordered pizza on the way home. Seeing my baby girl frightened was still on mind, and I hated she had to see that. Berg didn't understand the trickle effect of his actions. Nobody in my family fucked with Timeka. So her actions would be overlooked, but Berg, once the secret was out, it would rip family apart, because we were raised to have each other's backs at all cost. Ivy went home to freshen up before she came over, and Zanaya said she had to smell good like Ivy, so I let her take a bubble bath. I had to explain to my daughter again that I was sorry for my actions and that she should never hit someone just because she is angry. The door opened, and Ivy came in, looking and smelling good.
"Ivy, what movie do you want to watch first?" Zanaya held up Frozen and The Lion King.
"Are you kidding me? The Lion King is my all-time favorite."
"Mine too," Zanaya lied. Her ass could sit and watch Frozen all damn day.
The pizza delivery guy came, and I paid for the pizza. Once Ivy put a slice of pizza on a plate for Zanaya and sat her in front of the TV, I asked her to come in the kitchen. I picked her up and sat her on the counter and stood between her legs.
"Thank you for looking out for me earlier. I lost it, I was about to kill him."
"Didn't I warn yo ass? It was the right reaction, at the wrong time. I can see this taking over you, and you have to let him know that you know. You have to let your family know too, or you'll push them away, and everything you've worked hard to build is going to start to crumble. You have to handle things differently then how I did."
"I saw how uneasy you were when my mama mentioned your mama. What's up with that?"
"Let's just saw my mama didn't have my back when everything went down. She blamed me for everything that happened, and we haven't talked in nearly two years." She got teary eyed.
"Damn, what's the odds of this happening to the both of us?"
"I know, I thought the same thing."
"Daddy! Ivy! Y’all are missing the movie." Zanaya yelled.
I chuckled at her bossy ass. "Ok, baby, we'll be in there in a minute."
"She is so cute and smart, just like her daddy." Ivy leaned in and kissed me. She pulled away and I brought her mouth back to mine.
Having my daughter here with me and my girl, made me feel like I was going to make it. I was much calmer and more settled around the both of them. Ivy made a good impression on Zanaya, and my heart felt good knowing I could trust Ivy around her. Ivy made effort to put in the time to get to know my daughter and build a bond. Any woman wanting a place in my life had to have the approval of my daughter, and Zanaya had approval stamped Ivy the first time they talked at the nail shop.
“Thank you for being vulnerable and trusting me. So many men would push a woman away, but I love how you are keeping me close. You make me feel needed.”
"I can never stop kissing your lips. Them motherfuckers so juicy and soft."
"Which lips you talking about?” We laughed.
"Boffum."
"Well, maybe when Zanaya goes to sleep, you can kiss the other pair."
I licked my lips. Just thinking about Ivy’s pussy made me want to give Zanaya some Benadryl. I helped Ivy off the counter, and I couldn't help myself. I just had to rub on her booty a few times before we went to watch the movie with Zaraya.
"Stop!" She giggled. "Oh, I forgot to tell you, I found a new address to Xavier’s other baby mama. She lives off Washington."
"Good looking, babe."
All three of us crashed on the couch and watched the movie. I've watched this movie a thousand times, and every time Mufusa dies, I get a lil teary eyed. There was a knock on the door, and Tangie walked in.
"So, you just gon’ leave me hanging, and not tell me what the hell is going on? Why did you call me over here anyway? Oh, hey, Ivy."
"Hey, Tangie. I'll go in the back so y’all can talk." Ivy responded.
"No, you about to go with me. Tangie, I need you to watch Zanaya until I get back. I need to handle something really quick."
"Nigga, you called me over here to babysit? I was chilling with my boo."
"Fuck that nigga! Chill with your niece for an hour. I'll give you a bonus." I bribed her.
"Scoot over, Zanaya, baby, let Auntie sit down." Tangie got on the couch with Zanaya.
Ivy followed me to my room. "Where are we going?"
"To the address you found. I ain't gon’ be able to sleep tonight, or bang that pussy right
with this on my mind."
I couldn't get into the movie because my mind was clouded. All I could think about was getting to Xavier’s baby mama. If he thought he could rob my girl, and come after my business, I was going to hit him where it hurt. There wasn't no rules when it came to protecting what’s was mine, so we were about to see how this nigga got down behind his family. Ivy went to her condo to change and met me down stairs. I put the address in her navigation system. I made sure my gun was loaded, and we rode out. It baffled me how these lil niggas played tough in the streets, but left their family vulnerable. Since the break-in at Ivy's place, I had someone sitting out watching. My mama’s house was even guarded, because niggas were on that good bullshit every day. Just because I was out of the game, didn't mean the game was done with me.
"Baby, are you sure this is the right address?" I looked around.
"Yeah, I got it out of the hospital database, it was updated a month ago, why?"
"Because Berg’s car is parked in the driveway. That's the car he let his baby mama drive. What the fuck is going on?" I wondered.
"Well, there is only one way to find out." She unlocked her car door.
We both got out the car, and I knocked on the door. If Berg was inside this house, he was going to die tonight. I wasn't sparing him no more. The door opened, and imagine the look on my face when I saw it was Berg’s baby mama, looking at Ivy with a scowl on her face.
"Bitch, what the fuck are you doing knocking on my door?” Monique had a worried look on her face.
“Where is Xavier?” Ivy asked, with a smirk on her face.
Berg appeared in the doorway, and I pulled his ass outside. My daughter wasn't here, and my mama wasn't here to save his ass. I picked up where I left off, and started dropping these hands on him. Ivy had a smile on her face, while Monique was screaming and yelling that she was about to call the police.