Married to the Game

by Chunichi

  “This will do for now. I have something more in store for these two,” I said with a frown across my face as I returned to my car unnoticed.

  I thought long and hard as I went back to my house. I was so hurt I couldn’t cry. I had too much anger. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do, but one thing I was sure of was that I planned to move slowly. Like a snake in the grass, I would sneak up on them and attack when they least expected it. This would be the sweetest revenge ever.

  When I got home, I couldn’t sleep. The thought of Duke and my so-called big sister fucking haunted my mind. I began to think maybe this was what I deserved for the fucked up shit I’d done to Gina years ago. I fucked Duke when he was with her, and now C was returning the favor and fucking him while he was with me. Now I knew how it felt.

  To this day, Gina had no idea I’d fucked Duke behind her back. I felt it was time to come clean. I tried calling her house again, this time from my grandmother’s line. I knew if she saw that number, she would definitely answer in fear that something may be wrong with RJ. But to my surprise, she didn’t answer. Now, that certainly was not like Gina. Something had to be wrong. I tried calling again and again to be sure she wasn’t just sleeping, but still I got no response. So once again, I put on my sweatsuit and headed out, this time to Gina’s house.

  I knew she was home because her car was out front. I banged on the door repeatedly, but there was no answer. I headed to retrieve the spare key she always kept under the welcome mat at the back door. I grabbed the key and quickly unlocked the door. I knew she would be mad, but this was a risk I was willing to take. Something was telling me Gina was not okay.

  “Gina!” I yelled from the back door.

  When there was no response, I immediately headed to her bedroom while continuously calling her name.

  I walked in the room to see Gina sound asleep. She was okay. I sighed in relief. I didn’t understand how someone could sleep so hard, but I was relieved just to see that she was okay. As I walked toward her bed, I noticed a bottle of prescription medication on the nightstand. I figured she’d taken her meds and that’s why she was sleeping so soundly. I grabbed her blanket and pulled it over her. As I pulled the blanket up, I noticed her body felt stiff and cold.

  “Gina!” I yelled in a panic while shaking her.

  There was still no response. She didn’t move. She wasn’t waking up. I grabbed the phone and dialed 911.

  “Please, God, help her. Please, God, don’t let her leave me. God, please!” I repeated over and over as I cried on the phone with the emergency operator.

  The EMTs arrived in no time. They quickly came in the room, forcing me out as they attempted to revive Gina. Minutes seemed like hours as I sat in the living room of her home, pacing back and forth.

  “Miss Smith?” the paramedic called as he walked from the bedroom, taking off his gloves.

  “Yes,” I answered, nervous about the news I may hear.

  “I’m sorry. She didn’t make it.”

  My body froze in disbelief. This was too much for me to handle. The words the paramedics were speaking to me began to slur, the room began to spin; there were spots before my eyes.

  Flop!

  I was out like a light, passed out on the floor.

  The past few weeks had been a living hell. I hadn’t gone out of the house once, not even for Gina’s funeral. I hadn’t seen sunlight or smelled the rain. I felt like my life was over. I didn’t know what I’d done to deserve such a bad hand in life.

  I hadn’t even talked with Duke or C, although the pain of their deceit had really set in by now. They still had no idea I knew their secret, and I had no plans of revealing it. They just figured my isolation was due to Gina’s death.

  As I got up to bathe I examined myself in the mirror. My hair was knotty and stood on top of my head. That beautiful, young, natural glow was gone, replaced with an elderly ash. I couldn’t stand the sight before me. I had to do something. In an attempt to make myself feel better, I filled the tub with hot water and aromatherapy bath beads, turned off the lights, lit candles all around the bathtub and soaked, while listening to the relaxing tunes of Usher.

  Thirty minutes later, I felt revived. I grabbed my phone and began to dial Duke’s number, but hung up before I hit the final digit. I still wasn’t prepared to speak to him. Yet, I desired the companionship of someone. My lover was gone, my big sister was gone, and now the only friend I ever had was gone. There was no one to turn to. As I sat on the bed, nearly back to the point of depression that I started from, I thought about Judah. What more perfect time than now to call him? I dialed his number slowly, hoping he would still remember me.

  “Hello?” Judah said in the baritone voice just as sexy as the first night I met him.

  “Hi, Judah. It’s BJ. I met you at The Mango Tree a few weeks ago,” I said, praying he would remember me.

  I really didn’t have the energy to play the “let me refresh your memory” game. Hell, if he didn’t remember me, then that would be an indication that he gave his number out a little too often for my taste.

  “Who gwan, BJ? I’m glad to hear from you,” he responded, sounding excited that I called.

  “I’m sorry it took so long for me to call, but I had to do a thorough background check on you before I called. I had to make sure you weren’t some sort of psycho or rapist or terrorist or something.” I lied, not wanting to let him in on all the drama I had in my life the past few weeks. That would definitely be a turn-off.

  “Mi tek it mi clear? Background check came back okay?”

  “Sure did. So now it’s safe for us to spend some time. Are you going to be at The Mango Tree tonight?” I asked, hoping that I could come out and have a few drinks on him to ease my mind.

  Since Duke and I hadn’t been talking, my money was looking kind of funny, which was just another motivator. I really needed to make some moves just on the strength of financial stability, if nothing else.

  “Every Thursday through Sunday. You coming out tonight?”

  “Sure, why not? I have nothing else to do. So, what exactly do you do there?”

  “I play music and throw different parties. We refer to it as a sound. The name of my sound is Macten Sound. We’re based here, New York, Florida, Atlanta, and Jamaica.”

  “Sounds interesting. I guess that’s why you’re so popular,” I stated, trying to inquire about his dealings with C and her girls without being too obvious.

  “Popular with whom? Your girls from the other night?” he said, picking up on exactly what I was trying to say.

  “No, not just them. I mean in general. But since you mentioned them, how do you know them, anyway? They seemed really interested in you,” I stated just to see if he would lie.

  “I know them from the strip club. They aren’t really interested in me. It’s just that I’m pretty generous with them at the club. And I hire a couple of them on a regular basis. You know how it is. It’s their job to get money, so they’re always on the grind. But that’s as far as it goes. No relationships or anything—strictly business. So, just how close are you and Cinnamon?”

  Not wanting to let him in on the grime of that little bitch, I pretended that things were still good between us.

  “Oh, C? She’s my girl! The way we met was wild, but we’ve been friends for the past couple of years. She’s like a big sister to me,” I lied.

  Just the mention of her name was pissing me off, and it took all I had to force those words out. In an attempt to end the conversation before the animosity began to show, I told Judah I had to run some errands and I would see him later in the night. I hung up the phone, feeling revived and eager to see him.

  CHAPTER 19

  HEAR NO EVIL, SPEAK NO EVIL

  UNKNOWN MAN

  The shit you see when you’re lurking in the night ... Seemed like C was making enemies, more and more by the day. I knew it wouldn’t be long before the young girl caught on. It had been nearly two years, and she was still at it. I had plenty o
f opportunities to do her in, but just when I was about to, she started calling again, popping shit about how much she miss a nigga. For a minute, I almost believed her. But as much as I wanted to trust the bitch, I knew she was still doing dirt. It was all game with C. I guess she hadn’t gotten Snake where she wanted him, so she still needed me by her side. Sure, I was going to holla at her and hit that ass when she was giving it up, but at the same time, I was still lurking.

  It was fucked up she was fucking that nigga, Duke, but I guess the bitch was so desperate to get at Snake she’d try anything. For some reason, Snake had laid off her. I wasn’t really sure why, but I expected it had something to do with that stalking wifey of his, Danielle. Little did C know she had four muthafuckers hot on her trail: me, Snake, Danielle, and now that li’l chick, BJ. One false move and things could easily turn disastrous for her.

  CHAPTER 20

  FAMILY FEUD

  SNAKE

  Duke just didn’t get it. I was tired of talking to this li’l nigga. I didn’t know what it was going to take. Every day it was a new word on the street about this nigga and the shit he was doing. Now I heard he was fucking that bitch, Ceazia. And I wouldn’t be surprised if his li’l shortie knew about it too. It was all over town that one of those project chicks he was fucking caught C at his crib one night and slit their tires. Between C, the chicken-heads and his li’l shortie, BJ, Duke was getting in over his head. I tried to tell that nigga Ceazia was dangerous, but he still wasn’t hearing me. This was just one thing I couldn’t stand back and watch. I fucked up one time by letting him move on his own, but I refused to do it again. I was going to call this li’l nigga over, so I could holla at him.

  Ring, ring ... ring, ring.

  “You have reached the voice mail box of 757 ...” the recording began to say.

  I didn’t even bother leaving a message. I just hung up and called him on his business line. One thing for sure, that was one phone that always got answered. Duke was unquestionably ’bout the paper.

  “What up, Unc?” Duke answered on the first ring. “Yo, nigga, I need to holla at you. Come by the crib.”

  “A’ight, give me like an hour. I’m in the middle of something right now.”

  “Nah, nigga, now,” I demanded, attempting to put Duke in his place.

  I was prepared for the usual power struggle argument, but surprisingly, Duke agreed to come right away.

  “What up, sexy?”

  I heard Duke greet Danielle as he walked through the door. To my surprise, Duke had arrived in less than ten minutes. I walked in the living room to see Duke lounging on the couch. He had the remote in his hand, flipping through the channels, but his attention seemed to be elsewhere. I turned my head in the direction he was looking. As soon as I turned, I knew exactly what he was admiring.

  “Danielle. Go to the back. Me and Duke need to talk business,” I instructed her.

  “And why don’t you put some clothes on while you at it?” I whispered in her ear as she headed into the bedroom.

  She paused at my statement and gave me an awkward look, but dared to challenge my request. From her expression, I knew she knew exactly what I was insinuating.

  My words interrupted Duke’s fantasy. The constant massage of his dick as he licked his lips was a definite window into his thoughts. That li’l nigga was getting off on my girl.

  “What up, li’l nigga?” I asked while flopping down on the sofa next to him and snatching the remote out of his hand. “You don’t need this. You ain’t paying much attention to the TV,” I said sarcastically, just to let him know I saw him peeping out Danielle.

  “Aw, come on, Unc. It ain’t shit for me to look at Danielle. I been checking her out for the past couple of years. Don’t tell me you getting all sensitive ’bout that shit now.”

  “Nah, man. That’s the least of my worries. I’m more concerned about the shit I hear about you and C fuckin’. So, what’s up with that? You knocking her off or what?” I asked sternly.

  “Look, Unc. I ain’t even gon’ lie to you. Since she stopped fucking you, she been coming at me strong. And you know me; I ain’t the one to turn down no good pussy.”

  It was obvious I was going to have to really break shit down to this nigga in order for him to really feel me on everything I was about to say.

  “Duke, I only fucked the broad once. You ever wondered why I didn’t continue fucking her after that one time?” I asked as my first attempt to bring some things to his attention.

  “Nope. Not once. That ain’t my concern, Unc. Evidently she wanted something different. From the looks of things, she was feeling me from the first time we met at the strip joint. The only reason she probably ain’t holla is ’cause you was throwing salt in the game ... hatin’ on a nigga and shit.”

  Duke’s comment about me hating was really burning me up, but I tried to stay focused and get my point across to his young ass. It was obvious his dick was getting a little too big for his Superman briefs. I stuck to my original point and continued the conversation.

  “Duke, she’s out of your league, man. The bitch has a hidden agenda. And just so that you know, she didn’t stop fucking me; I stopped fucking her. And you notice she ain’t even holla at you until I dissed her trifling ass. The bitch is shiesty.

  “In fact, you ain’t the only nigga she started fucking after I dissed her. Word is she back fucking with that nigga, Bear. So, you think that’s cool? That’s probably why that nigga been giving us such a problem with business and shit lately. Look, man, the bitch is bad news and bad for business.

  “And most importantly, I’m almost certain she killed Vegas. She’s on her way to a death sentence. All I need is one solid piece of evidence and she’s gone, Duke. I’m putting her to rest, so if for nothing else, at least drop the bitch for your uncle and my brother, Vegas,” I said, putting all my cards on the table.

  Duke needed to know the real. I had to open his eyes to shit, so he could know where I was coming from.

  “Look, Unc. I hear everything you saying, but ain’t shit popping. Vegas is dead. Let that man rest in peace. C is feeling me and I’m feeling her, so ain’t shit gon’ change. And as for that nigga, Bear, fuck him. He’s just one man on the team. One monkey don’t stop no show. As for you, all I can say is do you, Unc, ’cause I’m gon’ do me without a doubt!” he said while standing up and putting on his NY cap and tilting it to the side as an indication he was leaving.

  “Gone!” Duke hollered then closed the front door behind him.

  Shit went exactly as I expected. I knew talking to him was like talking to a brick wall. I didn’t even bother to go after Duke or force him to hear me. Fuck it. I was just gon’ have to let nature take its course.

  “What’s going on?” Danielle asked as she walked toward the living room, now fully clothed.

  “Nothing. Let’s go to bed,” I said, annoyed at the fact she was eavesdropping.

  “Duke is having sex with Ceazia?” She continued to inquire about our conversation.

  “Danielle, stop asking me about this shit. Everything’s good. Now, let’s go to bed,” I demanded, while grabbing her by the arm and leading her toward the bedroom.

  Of course Danielle wasn’t letting shit go that easily. Lately, she’d become very unruly. I wasn’t really sure what was causing it, but it was going to cause me to smack her ass one good time to let her know who the boss was. For some reason, she had this new attitude as if she was running shit. But in reality, she wasn’t running shit here but her mouth.

  Once in the bedroom, I dropped her arm and walked around her and headed to the bathroom, while she stood in the middle of the floor yelling.

  “I don’t want to hear this shit, Danielle,” I yelled from the bathroom before closing the door.

  It wasn’t long before she was quiet. No one likes to argue alone. Now that shit was chill, I stepped out of the bathroom, back into the bedroom. I noticed Danielle was no longer in the room, but that was cool with me.

  Relie
ved that the dragon was at rest, I rolled a blunt and watched a little TV before I prepared for bed. Once I finished smoking, I glanced at the time. It was midnight, and Danielle still hadn’t come to bed. I walked toward the living room to see what she was doing. It was completely dark. No lights were on, not even the television. I wondered what the fuck she was doing in the dark. I could faintly hear her speaking to someone. I walked a little closer then realized she was on the back porch. I could hear her talking, but there was no response, so I figured she was on the phone. I walked closer then stood at the door and listened.

  “I don’t know what’s up with him, but he really needs to start treating me better before someone else steps up to the plate,” I could hear her say.

  Then she began to give a flirtatious laugh and stated, “Boy, you are so crazy!”

  Boy? Who the fuck this bitch talking to?

  I backed away and headed to the bedroom.

  I had to move away quickly, otherwise I would have busted through those French doors and choked the shit out of her sneaky ass. Once in the bedroom, I turned off the TV then hit speaker on the base of the cordless phone. That bitch had no idea I was listening.

  “Damn, baby, I don’t know why that nigga tripping. You holding shit down at home? I mean, you know, in the bedroom and shit?” I heard a familiar voice say.

  “I guess. I mean, he doesn’t complain.”

  “You don’t sound confident. You deep-throatin’, taking it from the back, and riding that thang too?”

  “Yeah, I do all of that,” Danielle said without hesitation.

  The more I listened, the angrier I became. This conversation was definitely out of line. Only curiosity kept me listening. I wanted to see just how far the two of these muthafuckers would go.