by Natavia
“Alright, nigga, just stop. I can’t breathe,” I said trying to catch my breath. Speedy came flying down the ramp then spun his wheelchair around. “Okay, I see you.” I said giving Speedy dap. Unlike No Hands, Speedy wanted you to feel sorry for his handicap and deprived himself from a lot of things. I looked up to No Hands for that because that was the happiest nigga I had ever met.
“Heyyyyyy, Dezzzz,” a voice called out to me. It was Keosha, she was visiting her parents. If she lived next door I wouldn’t have moved in with my grandmother. Being eighteen with no legit income wasn’t going to get me into a decent area.
“What’s up, Keosha,” I said, not making eye contact.
“Are you moving over here?” Keosha asked me.
“Yeah, he is,” Speedy answered. I kicked the wheel on his chair because that wasn’t none of her business.
“Hey, Osari. I haven’t seen you in ages. Look at you looking all grown up now. You working out, aren’t you?” Keosha asked him squeezing his arm.
“Something like that, but you speaking to me like you know me. Shorty, do I know you?” Osari asked her.
“Remember I used to watch y’all? I watched you once when you came and stayed with Dez summers ago. You was a little boy.” Keosha giggled.
“Oh, yeah. I remember you now. You called the police on me. I busted the window out of your car playing ball and you told them I tried to break into that raggedy car you had,” Osari said chuckling. Keosha playfully pushed Osari.
“You used to be a mean little boy,” Keosha said.
“Okay, shorty. You can bounce now,” I said to her, pushing her away from my grandmother’s fence. She almost tripped over the cracked cement on the sidewalk. I didn’t care though, Keosha is a sneaky type of broad, she was also crazy and emotional. Keosha rolled her eyes at me then walked towards her parents’ house.
“Look at that ass. I would like to have my legs for one day. I would do all types of freaky shit to her,” Speedy said.
“You moved from one crazy bitch to another one. I can’t believe you was fucking her old ass,” Osari said. Speedy dropped his cigarette out of his mouth.
“You fucking that? Say it’s a lie and shoot me dead,” Speedy said.
“I was and you ain’t missing nothing,” I told Speedy. After we put everything inside of the house, we chilled on the porch and smoked. My grandmother took Rayshawn with her to run a few errands.
“What happened with you and Mya?” I asked Osari.
“Not a damn thing. She was sucking me off using her teeth. That was the end of that. She been blowing me up, but I don’t respond to her at all. She flagged me down the other day when I was riding through the hood. I mean shorty was all in the street trying to stop my truck. I pushed that petal to the metal on her. She got ghost after that. Besides, Tassana been giving me the business lately. Shorty ain’t playing no games with me. She be bucking up on me and all of that. I used to slap her ass for that shit, but now I just bend that ass over and smack it a few times,” he said exhaling the weed smoke out of his mouth.
“I saw her on Instagram taking a gym selfie. Yo, you my nigga and all, but your baby mama stacked like old library books. Shorty got almost two thousand likes. Niggas be thirsty on her page,” I said to Osari. It looked like the life drained out of his face. He held his composure, but I could tell he didn’t want to. I pulled out my phone showing him Tassana’s Instagram.
He scrolled through her pictures nodding his head and biting his bottom lip.
“What the fuck?” Osari said jumping up. I snatched my phone from him and there was a picture of Tassana and what appeared to be her training instructor. She was doing sit-ups and the instructor had his hands on her thighs. I burst into laugher. “This nigga about to get your shorty’s goodies,” I said to Osari.
“Let me see that,” Speedy said, snatching the phone.
“Oh my heavens, she’s a thick one, real thick. Is that all of her ass?” Speedy asked, turning my phone sideways, almost drooling. Osari pulled out his cell phone then started dialing out. Speedy and I cracked up because we knew he was in his feelings. Osari got into his truck then left.
“That nigga don’t know how to handle his feelings when it comes to that broad. She be having that nigga like the hulk, captain-save-a-hoe and more super heroes,” I said shaking my head. Speedy and I kicked it on the porch. Shimmy pulled up with her music blasting. I walked down the steps to greet her when she was close enough. I hugged her then kissed her lips. She giggled then wiped her lipstick off my lips.
“What time is the movie?” Shimmy asked me.
“I don’t know yet, but I need to take a shower then get dressed. After that we can bounce. I also need to eat something first,” I said kissing her neck. She playfully punched me.
“Stop, Dez, you are all sweaty,” she said, waving her hand in front of her face like I stank.
“Awww, beautiful couple,” Keosha said coming out of the house. Shimmy knows all about her, I already told her everything.
“Aren’t we though? Excuse my rudeness, but aren’t you the babysitter that used to watch Dez?” Shimmy asked her.
“More like his instructor. Judging by the way you walk, I’m sure he practiced what I taught him on you, but anyways, you two have fun,” Keosha said, walking back inside of her parents’ house.
“Babe, I got a feeling I’m going to end up tagging her ass,” Shimmy said. There was always something going down.
Kyree
I sat on Pernell’s couch watching TV. He and I still haven’t worked out our problems yet. He has been on good behavior since I wasn’t hearing about different women. He has been spending more time with me, but I still wasn’t happy. Something was missing from my life and I couldn’t put my finger on it. Maybe it’s the fact that everyone around me is happy and in love. Shimmy and Dez are even blossoming, although she still presses his buttons every chance she gets.
“What’s his temperature, Rica?” Pernell asked his baby’s mother. I still have a hard time digesting that he had a baby on me. As long as I don’t hear about it then I’m fine, but his being on the phone with her, discussing their child, was irking my nerves.
“Seriously?” I asked Pernell.
“Shorty, would you shut the hell up for a second, this is about my son. If I was trying to hide something from you, I wouldn’t be taking this call in your face,” he spat.
“Okay, damn, I will meet you there,” Pernell said, hanging up the phone. He looked at me and I rolled my eyes at him. “Savian has a fever and I’m going to meet his mother at the night time Pediatrics’ office,” he said to me.
“You are going to miss Kauzie’s father’s birthday party?” I asked Pernell.
“My fucking son is sick, Kyree. I don’t give a fuck about that party. I don’t feel like being drunk around all of those island people anyway. The last time I partied with them, I woke up in the woods. I don’t know how I got there till this day,” he said. I almost let out a giggle because I was the reason he ended up in the woods. Pernell was so drunk that night when I picked him up from Kauzie’s twenty-second birthday party. Pernell and I got into it over a female he was cheating on me with of course. Pernell passed out in my car, so I picked up Shimmy and we put him in the woods.
I stood up. “Well, I guess I can go by myself,” I said to him.
“Come the fuck on, Kyree. Why does it always have to be sarcastic remarks. I’m trying to be the man you want me to be. It’s time for you to be the woman I want you to be. Have you ever thought about that?” he asked to me.
“Oh, fuck you!” I yelled at him.
“What’s really good, shorty? You mad because that blue-eyed nigga left you alone? I can’t blame him though. I’d rather take a loose bitch over a miserable, ratchet, bougie, hood bitch any day,” he said.
I charged into him. “I wish you would put your hands on me. I’m not that nigga anymore, Kyree, so sit the fuck down,” he said. I sat down then started texting Shimmy to see what she
was doing. Tokyo was at the party of course. I needed to have a drink. I wanted Pernell, but I was so scared to give back into him again. When I was with Osari, I found my dignity. I felt free and more secure. I was afraid to go back to that woman I once was when I was with Pernell.
“I want to give you my all again but I’m so scared,” I said.
“What’s really going on, Kyree? You mad because I’m not that nigga? What you love that nigga or something?” he asked.
“I don’t know. I don’t know,” I said.
“Figure that shit out then. I can’t give you what you want when I’m not the nigga you want it from,” Pernell said, punching a hole in the wall. He looked at his hand. “Damn, I always wanted to do that,” he said. His fingers were functioning regularly now that he’d been going to therapy. They were very stiff after his surgery, but now he could do everything.
“How am I supposed to know that you’re not still screwing your baby’s mother?” I asked Pernell.
“Have you seen her? I only did that on a drunk night,” he said. Shimmy texted me back telling me that she was going to meet up with Dez and a few other people. I told her to pick me up because I didn’t want to sit around the house doing nothing. I also didn’t want to go to the party and be a third wheel.
“Look, handle your business then call me when you get back,” I told him.
“Want me to drop you off at your house?” Pernell asked me.
“Shimmy is on her way,” I said to him. He shook his head then went upstairs. Five minutes later, Shimmy was blowing her horn. I told Pernell I was leaving and that I would talk to him later. He didn’t respond. I knew he was mad because of our argument.
“Where are we going?” I asked Shimmy.
“I’m meeting up with Dez and a few people at the pool hall. It’s Desiree’s birthday and the hood is having a small gathering for her,” Shimmy answered. I refreshed my make-up then sent Tokyo a message telling her that I wasn’t going to make it.
When we walked inside the pool hall, a big cloud of weed smoke hit me. The music played loudly and a few girls were dancing around, twerking for extra attention. I texted Ivanka to see what she was doing; she and I had gotten close over the months. When Osari and I used to go out, Lee and Ivanka used to come out with us. I missed all of that; I felt like I was in a relationship. I was exposed to things I had never experienced. I don’t know if I fell in love with Osari or fell in love with the idea of him. Ivanka texted me back telling me that she wasn’t coming out because she was sick. She had been trying to get pregnant, so maybe she finally got what she wanted. She had been sick for a few days now.
“Go, Desiree. Go, Desiree.” The crowd cheered her on as she started twerking her round butt. Desiree looked twenty-four. She was slim and thick at the same time. She kept her hair in thirty-inch weaves, her make-up was always flawless, and she always looked like she was going to a fashion show. Dez’s mama was bad and she was still young; all the hood niggas loved her. Desiree resembled the singer Vivian Green in the face.
Lee and Osari walked in. Seeing Osari brought back a lot of feelings. Like always he looked good and had that nice walk to him, the walk that let all the women know that he is packing. He gained a little weight, but it looked good on him. His beard made him look even better. It was trimmed to perfection, even his shape-up. His fitted hat was pulled over his eyes. He smiled showing his diamond-platinum grill.
“Damn, Kyree. You don’t have to look star struck. Close your mouth before one of these skank bitches’ STD’s fly into your mouth. This is a straight-up hood party,” Shimmy said. I didn’t understand her reason for complaining because she lived for those moments.
Osari and Lee headed in our direction. I rolled my eyes at Osari then he smirked. “You still got that attitude I see,” he said. His eyes were low and red, so I knew he was high and possibly tipsy.
“Don’t start with me, hoe,” I said to Osari. He waved me off then walked away, disappearing into the crowd.
“You still like him, don’t you?” Shimmy asked me.
“Girl, fuck Osari,” I said watching him mingling with the crowd. I would’ve been lying if I said I didn’t miss him. I missed him whole lot. It still disgusted me that he chose Tassana over me. Even if I wasn’t ready for a relationship, he could’ve waited. We never talked about being together, but the chemistry was there until Tassana came back into the picture. I knew Osari was in love with her, he never allowed himself to fully open up to me. I thought that what she did to him would’ve been enough to push him away. I should’ve known better though. Anytime a man takes you back after you stole from him it goes deeper than that. Osari was in love with Tassana before I even came into the picture. I can’t compete with that.
Tassana came switching in with the same girl I saw her at the Sushi bar with.
“Look at that bitch, I know she paid for that ass,” I told Shimmy.
“Don’t start no shit, Kyree. I’m not trying to hear Dez’s mouth about me messing his mother’s party up. You know if you and her get into it, I’m going to whip her ass,” Shimmy fussed. Tassana strutted past us with her fake bougie attitude. She was wearing ripped jeans, nude pumps, and an off-white leather jacket. Her make-up looked natural and her lipstick was skin tone. She walked to Osari throwing her arms around him because she knew I was watching. Osari’s eyes lustfully gazed over her curves, he even went as far as feeling on her ass.
“UMPH,” Shimmy said shaking her head. It was going to be a long night. I mingled with the crowd avoiding Tassana and Osari. Shimmy was flirting with Dez and I just sipped on my drink. The DJ started playing underground trap music and the hood went bananas. Desiree started twerking, Lee started smacking her ass and grabbing on her. My mouth dropped. “Don’t act like you didn’t know Lee is fucking Desiree. Word on the street is that he is leaving Ivanka for Desiree,” Shimmy said.
“Niggas ain’t shit,” I spat, disgusted. Ivanka relocated to be with Lee. Lee came to Maryland because Osari came to Maryland. Ivanka didn’t have any family in Maryland and her only friend was me. Lee got her five hours away from home just to do her dirty. That’s the foulest thing I had ever heard of.
“Ivanka is such a good woman,” I said to Shimmy as we watched Lee act a fool with Desiree.
“Y’all bitches trip me out with this good woman shit. Niggas don’t care about a woman being good, Kyree. Look at how No Hands did you. You are a good woman and he still didn’t appreciate you. Men care about a woman satisfying them at the end of the day and that’s it. They don’t give a damn if you are a prostitute, if you make a nigga happy they are going to rock with you. Maybe instead of you worrying about being a good woman, you need to just focus on making No Hands happy. That’s all that matters. If the nigga still cheats after that, then that’s when you can say you tried to work it out. Sometimes your way of thinking irks my damn nerves,” Shimmy spat.
“Shut the fuck up. I can still beat your ass,” I said playfully, pushing her.
“Shorty, if you beat my ass it’s because I love you and I let you. We both know that you ain’t bustin’ a grape in a fruit fight. matter of fact, I should start calling you No Hands too,” Shimmy said. I fell over laughing because she was dead serious. Shimmy was a bit too much at times, but she was all I had.
“Okay, okay. We got some thick broads in here tonight. Y’all know y’all can’t come to a hood party and not twerk those phat asses. Let me see those booty’s bouncing,” the DJ shouted into the microphone. He played the classic Juvenile “Back That Ass Up” and the crowd went crazy. One drunk woman got too excited and her fake ponytail ended up flying across the room, landing in the DJ booth. “Awwww, shit. I know it’s about to real. Bitches’ hair is flying,” the DJ announced.
Tassana just had to show off by twerking her ass cheeks with her big nasty ass. Osari reached out, grabbing her ass just before another man grabbed her ass. Osari pushed him. I couldn’t make out the words but Osari and the man started arguing. All of a sudden a Colt 45
bottle flew across the room and then a big fight broke out.
“Oh, hell nawl’. A nigga just hit Dez with a pool stick,” Shimmy said kicking off her heels. She handed me her purse and earrings then picked up a pool stick. She went into the crowd and started swinging. Osari and the guy he was arguing with was in a serious fist fight. Tassana took off her pumps and started clocking the man upside the head. The girl Tassana was with, I think her name was Kanae, got into a fight with a girl. Kanae was throwing combos like a man.
The crowd started spreading, pushing me into the exit door. I was trapped between Desiree fighting some man that was trying to hit Dez. A hood party ain’t a hood party if a fight doesn’t break out. I pushed them out of the way as I searched the crowd for Shimmy. When I found her I couldn’t believe my eyes. Shimmy had some big woman on the floor, dragging her by the hair. The woman was screaming for help, but Shimmy was yanking the woman’s braids out of her head.
“You want to put your hands on my nigga, bitch?” BAM. Shimmy popped her in the head with a closed fist. I pulled Shimmy off the woman and ended up falling in the process. All three of us landed under a pool table. Security started pulling people apart and slamming people. It turned into a war just that quick.