Side Chic 3 (The Ratchetness Continues)

by West, La'Tonya

  “Tre! Tre!” I called reaching down to shake him. “Tre wake up!”

  He rolled over on his back wiping drool from the side of his face. He looked up at me blinking his eyes and trying to focus. He squinted.

  “Kisha…” He looked around like he thought he was in the wrong house or something. He looked back at me. “What are you doing here?” He asked sitting up. “Ain’t nothing wrong with the boys, is it?” His eyes were huge and I could see fear in them.

  “No, the boys are fine.” I assured him, trying to keep my cool. “I came to talk to you. Do you have a few minutes?”

  “Yeah…” He stood up adjusting his sweats. I couldn’t help but notice the erection that he’d waken up with. I quickly diverted my eyes in the other direction. “Give me a minute to take a piss, wash my face and brush my teeth.”

  I took a seat on the loveseat while I waited for him to handle his business. My eyes roamed around the room. The place was nice and neat. I cringed at the thought of Lala moving about the house cleaning as if this were her home. This was my home…the home that Tre and I had built…together. I thought back to the day that we had moved into this house. How happy we were. How excited we’d been to finally be on our own. Just the two of us and our two boys. I shook my head as I thought about all of the events that had transpired between that day and the present one. I couldn’t help but become angry at how Tre had allowed temptation to tear us apart. I felt the tears stinging my eyes but I held them in. The sound of his footsteps coming back down the hallway tore into my thoughts. I looked at him as he walked into the room with a fresh Newport dangling between his lips, rubbing his hand across his bare chest. He took a seat on the sofa and picked up his phone from the coffee table.

  “So what’s up?” He asked not bothering to look up from his phone which annoyed me.

  “Can you tear yourself away from your phone for five minutes so that we can talk…please?” I sucked my teeth.

  He sat his phone down on the sofa beside him and looked up at me. “Yeah, I can do that. Anything for my babymoms.” He replied taking the Newport from between his lips and allowing a cloud of smoke to escape from his lips and nose. He smiled at me and I rolled my eyes. “What’s all the attitude about? What have I done to piss you off now?”

  I scooted up to the edge of the loveseat and began. “Listen, I understand that the two of us aren’t together and I also understand that you are going to be dealing with women and you have that right. However, I do not want you having a lot of different women around my kids…”

  “Whoa…” He interrupted me taking a pull of his cigarette and then placing it in the ashtray on the table. “What are you talking about? I haven’t had but one woman around them and that is Lala.”

  “Hmph…that ain’t what I am hearing.”

  He shook his head and I saw the irritated expression that covered his face. “See that’s your problem right there. Listening to everything that someone runs back and tells you. I’m telling you that no other woman has been around my kids except Lala. And she and I ain’t like that so it’s not like they are seeing us all hugged up and kissing or anything. So I don’t know what you’ve heard but someone has told you wrong!”

  I wasn’t buying that bullshit. “So you haven’t had Mina staying over here?” He burst into laughter like he found something to be funny. I jumped to my feet ready to smack the hell out of him because I didn’t find shit funny! “What in the fuck is so damn funny?”

  “You are funny!” He continued to laugh. “You really need to stop listening to this bullshit that these folks around Boykins are putting in your ear. I swear yo, these people see you talking to someone and they take that shit and run with it. For your information, Mina has never even been here before and she has never met the boys.”

  “I want to be sure that you and I are talking about the same Mina. I am hoping like hell that we aren’t but just to be sure, who is Mina?” I asked. I stood there waiting for his answer and praying that for once I was wrong. Hoping that he’d met some other bitch named Mina.

  “Mina, owns the salon in town right down the street from the Red Barn.”

  I started seeing red and before I knew it I’d swung on him! “You sorry motherfucka! You will stick your dick in anything! That is my motherfuckin’ cousin, Tre!” I shouted. “Is there any bitch that’s off limits to you?”

  He grabbed a hold of my arms and pinned me down on the sofa. “What are you talking about? And I am not fucking anybody!”

  I was out of breath and tears were streaming from my eyes. “I hate you!” I cried looking up at him. “I swear, I fuckin’ hate you Tre.”

  “Why? What did I do? I am not fuckin’ Mina. Yes, I’ve been talking to her but we are not fuckin’.”

  “You couldn’t find anyone else? She’s my cousin. Out of all of these nasty little rats that you could’ve chosen to deal with, why my folks?”

  He was still holding onto my arms. “I had no idea that she was your cousin. We stayed together for eight years and I’ve never known you to mention her being related to you. I’ve never known the two of you to kick it but now when someone runs back and tells you that I am talking to her you want to run over here screaming that I am fucking your cousin.” He shook his head. “The funny thing about this is, me and Skeet have been boys for years. He has been in the picture since before I met you. Still that didn’t seem to matter at all when you started fucking him! Please tell me the difference between you fucking a nigga that I grew up with and me dealing with Mina?”

  “The difference is that she’s my blood. That’s my family!”

  “Shit, Skeet was like my family. Blood isn’t the only thing that makes you family.”

  I struggled against him trying to break free of his grip and get up. “Let go of me!”

  “I’m going to let you go but keep your hands off of me.” He warned as he let go of my arms.

  I sat up on the sofa, the tears still flowing from my eyes. “You ain’t shit.” I shook my head. “You want to throw Skeet in my face as an excuse for what you are doing but you are forgetting that all of this shit is your fault! There would be no Skeet if you hadn’t been out in the streets slangin’ dick on every end and making babies!”

  He sat across from me on the arm of the chair. “You’re right. I did fuck up. I fucked up big time and if I could change it I would but I can’t. I can only learn from the shit that I’ve done and try to do better.” He paused for a few seconds like he was trying to gather his thoughts. “I know that I’ve hurt you badly and I know that saying I’m sorry doesn’t make the pain go away…”

  “It sure as hell doesn’t.” I interrupted wiping my tears with my fingertips.

  “I don’t know what else to say because regardless of what I say it won’t change what I’ve done or how you feel. It hurt the fuck out of me to know that you are with Skeet and it has crossed my mind a million and one times to drive over there and beat the fuck out of him. The only reason that I haven’t is because I realize that if I hadn’t done the things that I did you wouldn’t be with him. You’d still be home with me but I fucked up and so now I have to live with the consequences of my actions. I sit back sometimes and I can remember Skeet telling me on numerous occasions how he felt that you deserved better.” He shook his head and let out a chuckle. “I had no idea he was talking about him.”

  I sat there not saying a word for several minutes, then I looked over at Tre. “So does this mean that you are going to continue to deal with my cousin?”

  “I didn’t know that she was your cousin, Kisha.” Was his reply.

  “Nigga, you know now!”

  “Are you going to stop fuckin’ Skeet?” He raised his voice. “If I can accept you fuckin’ a nigga that I grew up with then Mina and I shouldn’t be a problem.”

  I got up and stormed towards the door. Tre was on my heels. “Where are you going?” He called after me but I kept walking. “Kisha…I know you hear me talking to you.” He grabbed my arms and pulle
d me back to him.

  “Turn me a loose!” I pushed him in the chest but he still didn’t let go. “Let go of me! I don’t have shit else to say to you.”

  “Gotdamn it Kisha! What do you want from me?” He yelled.

  Just as I was about to reply, the door opened and Lala walked in carrying a shopping bag. She looked from me to Tre. “Ummm…hey…my bad…I didn’t mean to interrupt y’all.”

  I could tell that she was trying to figure out what was going on before she’d walked in judging by the confused expression that she was sporting. Being that I was already pissed seeing her only elevated my anger. “Bitch, you are always interrupting!”

  “Kisha chill out. Let’s go outside and finish our conversation.” Tre suggested pushing me towards the door.

  “I’m not going outside to finish shit!” I said eying Lala, who was trying to get past us. “Tell her to go back outside and wait until we are finished. This is my home. The home that I spent years making not hers or the next bitch’s. So again no, I will not go outside to finish shit. These hoes need to learn their position! Whether we are together or apart, Kisha will always be number one! Not Mina and damn sure not your side slut!”

  Tre

  I watched as the expression on Lala’s face went from confused to pissed. I can’t say that I blamed her because she hadn’t said anything to Kisha, like always, yet Kisha was throwing jabs.

  “Kisha chill!” I told her again trying to avoid the altercation that I saw about to pop off. I was beyond sick and tired of all the arguing and fighting back and forth. Whether Kisha liked it or not Lala was going to be in the picture because she was the mother of my children. It wasn’t like I could just cut her a loose.

  Lala let out a sigh. “It’s cool Tre. Can I get past y’all?” That’s one thing that I liked about her. She always tried to keep a level head no matter what and she wasn’t the type to just pop off.

  “Kisha, step out of the way so that she can get through.” She didn’t budge she just smacked her lips and rolled her eyes. By now she was starting to get on my nerves. I couldn’t deal with her when she acted like this. “Kisha…”

  “I’m not moving so stop asking.” She snapped.

  “You know what, forget it. I will just leave and come back later.” Lala turned to walk back outside.

  “Yeah you do that.” Kisha called after her.

  Lala stopped walking and turned around. The expression on her face told me that there was about to be a problem! I could see that she was fed up and that Kisha had just pushed her last button. She dropped the bags in her hand and came charging towards me and Kisha. I pushed Kisha out of the way and grabbed Lala.

  “No…uh-uhh…walk away Lala!” I told her!

  Kisha was behind me. “Nah let that bitch go Tre! She must didn’t get enough with the last two ass whoopings that I gave her! Let her go!”

  “Shut up Kisha!”

  “Let me go Tre!” Lala struggled against me.

  “Yeah let her go!”

  “Kisha, I said shut up!” I yelled to her while still trying to hold onto Lala, which was proving to be difficult. She was more upset than I’d ever seen her. “Lala, calm down yo! Let the shit go! What is fighting going to solve. Y’all are too old for this shit.”

  “Nah, I am sick of her. Every time that we are in the same space she want to come out of her mouth all wrong! Fuck that!” Lala spat! “What gives her the right to disrespect me every time that she sees me?”

  “Because you don’t deserve any respect bitch! Hoes don’t get respect!” Kisha yelled from behind me. “Did you give me any respect when you were fuckin’ my babydaddy behind my back? You will never get any respect from Kisha!”

  That made Lala even more upset. She struggled even harder against me. “Tre, please let me go, please!”

  “No.” I told her, out of breath from struggling against her. I was tired and had worked up a sweat.

  Kisha laughed taunting Lala even more. “You don’t really want him to let go of you. Please believe me. He is doing you a favor.”

  “Nah, bitch he’s doing you one because I promise you that if he turns me a loose. I am going to beat the breaks off of your ass today. I am sick of you. I have tried to be the bigger person…”

  “The bigger hoe…” Kisha interjected. “You’ve tried and succeeded at being the bigger hoe!”

  “I’m a hoe?” Lala questioned. “Bitch, you laying up with his best friend! So what does that make you? You want to keep calling me a hoe and making like I am the only fucked up person in this situation but common sense should tell anyone that you ain’t just started fucking his boy! Ain’t no way y’all broke up and you moved in with his boy in less than two months if that shit wasn’t already going on!”

  That seemed to hit a nerve. “Bitch, you need to get your motherfuckin’ facts straight! I didn’t move in with Skeet in less than two months! And I wasn’t fucking him before Tre and I broke up! Everybody ain’t a jumpoff like your nasty ass going around fuckin’ other people’s men!”

  “Correction bitch, I only fucked your man!” Lala shot back wearing a smirk on her face. “And just so you will have your facts straight, I was more than a jumpoff! I’ve been in the picture for nearly three years now! Jumpoffs don’t stay around that long! I’m more like the clean-up woman, I was picking up your slack. Where you failed to make him happy, I did! Honestly with your ignorant ghetto attitude. I can see why he cheated. What man would want to be around that shit all the time?”

  I felt like I was trapped in the middle of a fuckin’ nightmare. Up until that moment Kisha had never known how long I’d been dealing with Lala. She was thinking that we’d only jumped off a few times and that Lala had ended up pregnant. I hadn’t told her because I knew that it would only hurt her more and I’d already done enough damage.

  “What you ain’t got shit to say now do you? With your mouthy ass!” It was Lala’s turn to taunt Kisha. “Go ahead and pick your face up off the floor!”

  “Lala, be quiet.” I demanded calmly but she could tell that I meant business. I didn’t even want to turn and look at the expression on Kisha’s face but I did anyways. She looked like someone had just knocked the wind out of her. “Kish…”

  She held up her hand. “Save it.” Her voice was soft unlike a few minutes ago. The blow that Lala had just delivered had hit her really hard. Her eyes reflected the pain that her heart was feeling. She looked me in my eyes as she spoke. “I’m good. You can go ahead and fuck Mina and whoever else because it doesn’t even matter anymore. Even when I thought that it mattered it really didn’t. You’ve been living a double fuckin’ life all of this time. Talking about you loved me more than anything in this world and that me and your boys come first. Were you telling her that too? Did you mean anything that you’ve ever told me? Or was everything a fuckin’ lie Tre?”

  I let go of Lala, at this point it didn’t even matter what happened. I was just tired…drained. “No, everything that I’ve told you haven’t been a lie. I did love you, I still do, and always will.” She smacked her lips and wiped the tears that were streaming down her cheeks. “I know that I have done a lot of shit to hurt you and I really, really wish that I could change that. Seeing you hurt and seeing you cry makes me feel like shit and it should because I know that I am the cause of it. I never intentionally meant to hurt you. To be perfectly honest, my reason for sleeping with all of those different women that I’ve slept with was because I felt like I was missing out on something. You and I got together when we were in high school, the next thing I knew you were pregnant. I called myself doing the right thing by getting a job and a place so that I could take care of my family but I wasn’t really ready for all of that. Especially not a committed relationship because I hadn’t really had a chance to date and experience life. I was a fuckin’ kid myself taking on a lot of responsibility and trying my best to make grown up decisions. I mean, that’s a lot to go from dating to living together and raising a family in only a short period of
time. I started to feel trapped and so I cheated with different females. I know it may sound fucked up and to be honest it is because I should’ve just let you know how I was feeling but I couldn’t. I didn’t want to lose you either. I didn’t want to lose my family.”

  “So in other words you stayed with me out of obligation?”

  “Somewhat…yes but not completely out of obligation. I did love you and I did want to be with you.” I let out a frustrated breath because I knew what I was trying to say but I felt like she wasn’t understanding me or that I wasn’t delivering it properly. “I just feel like if things hadn’t happened so fast and I would’ve had time to get all of the running the streets and playing games out of my system. I could’ve been a better man to you. I could’ve been faithful and I would’ve already known that I wasn’t missing anything out there in the streets. I never had a chance to find out.”

  “Cool…now you have a chance to find out.” Was her response, before heading for the door. I followed her outside.

  “Kisha, say something.” I said once we had reached her car.

  She opened the car door and then turned to look at me. “Bye.”

  “Huh?” I asked confused.

  “Bye. I’m done. Now that I know everything, you don’t have to worry about me or my kids anymore. You’re free! Isn’t that what you’ve been wanting all this time? No responsibilities…to go out and see what the world has to offer?”

  I shook my head because I realized that out of all of that talking I’d just done, trying to be honest with her. She hadn’t really listened to anything that I’d said. “Kisha, that’s not what I said or what I meant. I meant that by me being young and thinking that I was missing out on something. I ended up making a lot of stupid decisions and in the end I realized that I wasn’t missing out on anything at all. Almost losing my life changed a lot for me. It made me realize a lot of shit. Made me see things a lot more clearly and regret a lot of the decisions that I’ve made.”