Juice

by Nako

  She read the message almost immediately and responded, “I’ll check the times.”

  He wanted to ask her where she was but didn’t even bother. He had shit to do today. On top of that, Tia must’ve unblocked him just to ask for ten tickets to Mahogany’s show. But little did she know, he would give her whatever the fuck she wanted.

  C H A P T E R 8

  About to get busy, I’m back on my shit – Dave East

  Coop double stuffed a Backwoods as he bobbed his head to the tunes of 6lack, East Atlanta Love Letter was his shit. He and Tia went to the concert and sat on the front row, but not on no groupie shit. He just really fucked with the dude’s songs. A Facetime call came through and he looked over his shoulder to make sure the chick who he finally let spend the night was good and sleep before answering the call.

  “Yo, Yo!”

  He sealed the blunt, grabbed a lighter and then sauntered into the foyer of his place where he had a gray sectional, mirror and a few pieces of local art.

  “Surprised you’re not at the gym,” was how she greeted him once their call was connected.

  “Good morning to you too, beautiful.”

  Coop was always flirting with her, yet keeping it extremely respectful because that was the kind of woman that Tia was…she demanded that from him.

  “How did you sleep?”

  Tia always asked him thoughtful ass questions that no other chick ever did, and it was because she cared. Simple as that.

  “Good…” he thought of the nasty sex that he partook in just a few hours ago.

  “What about you?”

  She stifled a yawn, “It was cool, tossed and turned a lil’ bit.”

  “Where you at now?”

  She told him, “Brunch. Solo.” She turned the camera around so that he could see her plate which consisted of two blueberry pancakes, chicken sausage and egg whites with a few slices of tomato.

  “Cheat meal?”

  She giggled and put the camera back on her. “Nigga, you see them egg whites and tomatoes. That’s called balance.”

  Tia picked and chose when she was on a diet.

  “Girl please.”

  He inhaled the smoke, closing his eyes to savor the burn before exhaling.

  “When am I seeing you again?”

  Tia shrugged her shoulders. “How soon can you take off work and pay me a visit?”

  He took a deep breath, tired of hiding his truth from her but extremely insecure and sadly, unsure that she’d still be his friend if she knew what was really up with him. Coop never had a friend. She was his first and their friendship meant the world to him.

  “I’ll surprise you.”

  She blushed, “Well, honey let me know. May have a man over here, I don’t know.”

  Coop grew jealous at the thought of another nigga pushing up in them guts that he knew was untouched.

  “Oh yeah?” he kept it cool though.

  “Hmm-hmm… I’ve been thinking about getting back out there. My ovaries gon’ rot soon,” she teased. Tia was a healthy, vibrant young woman… she had plenty of time to become a mother.

  “Take your time,” he gave her the advice of an older brother.

  Tia changed the subject, “What are you doing today?”

  Coop wanted to tell her the truth…again, but instead he said, “Not much, probably some laundry until I go out later.”

  “Cool, cool. Well, I was just calling because I haven’t heard from you in like-”

  “Two days, Tia?” He shook his head.

  “Yep, two days too damn long. Hit me later.”

  They ended the call and his music instantly resumed, so he finished his blunt as 6lack sung about stanning for the woman he loved. Something he would gladly do for Tia.

  Once he was done, he went to take a shit and then showered. The beautiful vixen was now up and probably horny again.

  “You’re an early bird,” she commented, as he walked into his bedroom with a towel draped around his waist.

  “Sometimes.”

  Coop wasn’t a morning talker or an afternoon one either. He was extremely shut off to people that he didn’t really trust which is why for the life of him, he had no clue on to how and why he let this chick spend the night.

  “Last night was fun.”

  He nodded his head, “Oh yeah?”

  Like most men, hearing that he had put that shit down, swelled his ego and chest.

  “Yep, how about one more round before I head out?” She laid back and spread her legs.

  Coop licked his lips as he weighed his options.

  “You still gon’ drop that off for me?” he wanted to be sure that they were on the same page.

  “Yeah daddy, whatever you need me to do.”

  He closed the door although they were alone in his place.

  “Cool, and what did I tell you to do?”

  She wasn’t no slow broad and he treated her like she was which irritated the heck out of her sometimes.

  “Drop the bag off and pick up the money but wait ten minutes until I leave out of the shop.”

  He dropped the towel and grabbed a glove out of the top drawer in his dresser before he climbed onto the bed.

  He kissed her forehead. “Good.”

  “You gon’ bring my money right to me?”

  She nodded her head but didn’t offer a verbal response.

  Coop slid right in, skipping out on the foreplay.

  “Are you?” he asked again, once he opened her right up to receive all of him.

  “Yes, Daddy! Yes!” she whimpered, as he stretched her insides out.

  He picked up her voluptuous thighs and threw them over his shoulder as he dug her out. This was a morning quickie and she wasn’t no one he cared about, so there was no passionate love-making or slow-winding going on. His mission was to nut, so she could get the hell on and handle his business for him.

  The streets were hot right now and he pulled all his soldiers out the trenches until things died down. Minutes later, she was screaming, shaking, and begging him to stop and that’s when he climaxed.

  They laid there, panting, trying to catch their breath.

  Coop’s phone rang again, and he saw that it was his brother calling.

  “Yeah?”

  “It’s there.”

  He ended the call and tapped shorty on her thigh. “Shower,” he commanded. “So, you can go do that for me.”

  η

  “I talked to Juice,” she blurted out to her small yet power-packed, spirit-filled, amazingly inspiring and encouraging gang of girlfriends. Tia picked up the champagne flute and downed the last of her mimosa before looking for a waitress. “Can I get another one? Add St. Germane, please,” she asked the waitress.

  A mimosa without St. Germane really wasn’t an experience.

  Her line-sister looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “Talked to him or fucked him?” It was a huge difference.

  Tia was astonished. “I haven’t seen him to fuck him.”

  “Oh, but you would fuck him?”

  “Wait, someone catch me up. Who is Juice?” the last addition to their tribe asked.

  “The ex-boyfriend.”

  “Don’t forget to add millionaire ex-boyfriend.”

  “Pockets are loaded, ya hear me?”

  Tia rolled her eyes. “I absolutely hate when you do that,” she eyed her best friend.

  “Didn’t he buy you that truck?”

  Juice’s financial status did nothing for Tia, so she hated when people made it seem like it was the big bang. He was a good guy before the money and most importantly, she was with him before the fame and fortune.

  “It’s called stating facts. I don’t see how we can talk about him without mentioning that he’s famous.”

  “Well, his famous ass broke my heart, now what?” She was offended at this point and being half-drunk wasn’t helping either.

  “Are you in your feelings?”

  The rest of the table looked at each other before simult
aneously agreeing. “Yep, she’s in her feelings.”

  Tia sat back in the booth, feeling defeated.

  “Why do I talk to y’all?” she said, shaking her head.

  She mumbled under her breath, “I need new friends.”

  “Okay, all jokes aside. Y’all talked. He clearly had to have reached out to you first, so now what?”

  She took a deep breath before saying, “He got us tickets to see Mahogany. Said...we can either pick between front row or a private suite. It’s up to y’all.”

  They all squirmed, happily. If you didn’t know who Mahogany was, you were living under a rock because she was if not the biggest star out right now. Even after pushing out babies, she still constantly won at life. Tearing down the charts, sold-out tour dates and snagging every award possible. The girl was on her grind right now and couldn’t be stopped.

  “I don’t know what I’ma wear,” they all said in different ways.

  A cute outfit was the last thing on her mind. “Uh, can we talk about me here and my problem.”

  “What’s the issue?”

  “Juice! The nigga that broke my heart…he reached out to me and he’s ENGAGED.” It was still something that she needed to process. Him and marriage… For some odd reason, she assumed if it wouldn’t be her then it wouldn’t be anyone. Sadly, she was mistaken.

  Jaws dropped across the round table where they were brunchin’ and sipping on bubbly. “ENGAGED?”

  “Yes, to the same hoe that made him stop paying my tuition.”

  They were familiar with her story which one day, little did she know, would one day become her testimony.

  Tia had to take a deep breath. The thought of what she went through and what she lost during that time made her angry.

  “Girl, now this is a lil’ messier than I expected. How do you feel? What does he want?”

  The questions began to pile on.

  “I don’t know,” she shrugged her shoulders.

  Tia honestly didn’t have a clue on why he moon-walked back into her life, and as much as she tried to tell herself that she didn’t care or wasn’t concerned. She was. Juice couldn’t disturb her peace and think that it was okay.

  Minutes passed and they all sat in silence while staring at Tia, who was visibly overwhelmed. The goofiest one in the group, tapped her stiletto nails on the table and slowly said, “Well… when is the show?”

  She wasn’t fooling with these chicks today, “Y’all are so annoying. Oh my God!” she shrieked.

  “Check please. I need to get out of here. I’m drunk and y’all don’t care about my poor little broken heart,” she pouted.

  “Drunk? Yes. Broken heart? Girl please. You ain’t been stunting that nigga, so don’t start now. Give him your ass to kiss. We are going to have us a fun night on his dime, then block his number and go back to being the boss bitch that you’ve been.”

  The good thing about having a variety of friends is that the advice is seasoned. They all were around the same age but had come from different walks of life. Individually, they brought something to the table and that’s what she loved about her girls.

  “You’re right, Ari,” she gave her a smile full of hope.

  “Okay, so are we doing another round or what?”

  They would never let Tia sit in her misery. Life was short, and she was the prize. Her friends had no problem constantly reminding of her that very important fact.

  When she made it home, she thanked God because it was Him and only Him that got her there safe and sound. Making it to her room would be too difficult, so she slid out of her heels and laid down on the couch.

  “Ooh,” she groaned as she flipped over and propped her head on her arm.

  Tia was going to regret mixing her liquors in a few hours. She could feel the nausea forming already in the pit of her belly.

  Her phone rung and she shook her head as if whomever was calling could see her dodging the call. She fumbled to get the phone off her coffee table.

  It was Juice calling.

  She answered for the hell of it.

  “Shouldn’t you be at home playing with your fiancée’s toes,” she said sarcastically.

  He chuckled, “You are so fucking shady, it’s ridiculous.”

  She didn’t protest.

  “How can I help you, sir?”

  “I was calling to let you know we will be there Friday morning, the show-”

  She cut him off, not needing to know their itinerary, “Is the next night. Yes, I’m aware.”

  “And I wanted to know if you and your girls wanted to come out with us the night before? We have about four sections and normally only fill one.”

  Juice knew he was rolling out the red-carpet treatment.

  “Sure, they’ll like that,” she put it on her friends since she’d been around Mahogany a million times and didn’t really care to go out with Juice or his crew.

  “Cool, okay.”

  They held the phone. Breathing.

  “How was your day?” he asked.

  Tia rolled her eyes at her damn self. This was one of those days that she wished she had man. Someone to say in the background, “Babe, your bath water is ready!” Or “Honey, dinner is done. Red or white wine?”

  And then she would say, “Juice, let me call you back. Thanks for the tickets.” Leaving him to wonder who was the mysterious man that had her attention.

  But no, that wasn’t her life.

  She was at home, alone and drunk as shit with nothing to do.

  “It was fun. Much needed outing… What about you?”

  He rarely was asked that question, so his answer was loaded, “Where should I start…”

  Tia had always been a good listener and vice versa. They used to sit up and talk all night.

  “I’m tired as hell. I need a vacation or a getaway, but what does that even mean when you literally travel for a living? I don’t want to see a plane. A bus. A ship. None of that shit. My mind doesn’t stop racing. If I’m not working, I’m working. I don’t even know if that makes any sense. I keep having the same bad dream. Someone is going to die or get into an accident. Still not sure because it’s so foggy.”

  Once he finished rambling, Tia didn’t know what to say.

  “Hello?”

  She slowly sat up. “Yeah… Juice, can I ask you a question? Promise me you won’t get mad.”

  He asked her, “You can ask me anything you want. Why would I get mad?”

  Tia wanted to be sure, “Promise me.”

  He exhaled loud enough for her to hear, “I promise.”

  She still waited about forty seconds before speaking again, “Did you ever make the appointment, the one I suggested that you make?”

  He knew exactly what she was talking about.

  “What made you ask me that?”

  “I’m assuming that’s a no.”

  “It is.”

  She held the phone, wrapped up in her thoughts. Tia was concerned with his well-being.

  “Tia.”

  She called his moniker, “Juice.”

  His heart swelled. “Talk to me.”

  This wasn’t her job anymore. She no longer played the role of concerned girlfriend and therapist.

  “I’ll do something even better and that’s pray for you.”

  Juice was grateful, however that’s not what he needed from her right now.

  A listening ear. Talking to someone who he knew wouldn’t dare judge him…that’s what he desired.

  “Can we act as if nothing bad ever happened between us?” he proposed.

  Tia giggled, “If dreams could come true then yeah, but that’s not our reality, sir.”

  “It can be for one night. I want one good ass conversation, like we used to have,” he causally threw the idea out there.

  “Bet you do,” she mumbled under her breath.

  He could literally feel her holding back.

  “I hurt you, didn’t I?”

  Tears that she would easily blame on the liqu
or threatened to fall.

  “Juice, I don’t want to go there with you…not tonight.”

  He challenged her, “Why not?”

  “Because I’m drunk.”

  He thought about the millions of nights when he had his way with her while she was under the influence.

  “Used to love the fuck out of your drunk ass,” he shared with her.

  “Key word- used.” Tia had the comebacks lined up. He couldn’t win her over if he wanted to.

  “But for real, what made you ask me that?”

  She was sure he was referring to the therapist question.

  “I’m worried about you. Not worried worried, but concerned.”

  “No need. You asked me how my day was and I answered your question. I’m good. I thrive under pressure,” he defended himself.

  Work had gotten the best of him.

  He was already a workaholic, but she was quite sure it’d increased since they went their separate ways.

  “Yeah, but how long will you allow work to take you there until you stress yourself out and have a heart attack?”

  The line went dead again.

  Thankfully, they both weren’t uncomfortable in silence. It was something they often did to avoid an argument.

  “Trying to find a few words to say without pissing me off?” she asked the obvious.

  He couldn’t do anything but laugh, “You think you know me?”

  She did. Tia knew him very fucking well.

  “I’m good, T. Seriously.”

  Tia wasn’t about to beat a dead horse. She had one more thing to say then she would end the conversation and try to catch some Z’s.

  “Remember what I used to tell you? About taking care of you first?”

  “Does it look like I give a fuck about Mahogany? You’re sick!” she yelled at him.

  Juice hurriedly, turned the volume down on his phone because she was literally screaming in his ear and he was quite sure that the other people on the tour bus heard her saying that she didn’t care about the woman that he worked for.

  “Babe, why you doing all this?” he spoke to her in a calm tone, but it was unmatched.