by Sasha Ravae
“Not me, punk, you.”
“Is that right?” he asked as a wide smile spread across his face.
“Don’t be looking like that. I already shut that shit down.”
“First off, I’m a grown-ass man. I don’t need you shooting bitches down for a nigga. Give me the chance to tell lil mama that even though I’m flattered, I’m good.”
“You’re good?” Trina asked giving him the side eye.
“Yes, I’m good. I’m too handsome to have to share some pussy with one of my niggas, so that’s not my get down.”
“Well, good, I’m glad I didn’t have to start tripping.”
“You ain’t nobody’s mama, Trina.”
“Keep thinking that.”
Yari was a very beautiful girl, and she had guys throwing themselves at her on a regular basis, but Ron saw past all of that. The more time she spent around Jonah’s people, the more she realized why he went so hard for them.
“Alright, Mama T, we’re here.”
Trina looked out the window and was happy to not see Renee’s car parked out front.
“Let me get in here. You coming to the club opening tomorrow night, right?”
“Yessir.”
“Alright, I’ll see you then.”
“Yep.”
Trina grabbed the few bags she had in the back and headed towards the house. Ron waited until she was inside before he pulled off. After putting her bags upstairs in her room, she hurried to change clothes. She knew that as soon as Jonah’s kids arrived, she wouldn’t have a single moment to herself. As she washed off her fully made up face, the doorbell rang, but she took her time wiping the left over mascara from her eyes before she walked downstairs. When she opened the door, Tiana and Jo flew inside.
“Walk,” Renee yelled after them, “Where’s Jonah?”
“Obviously, he’s not here,” Trina said not appreciating the attitude she was already giving her, “He asked me to watch the kids until he gets back.”
Renee just stood still and stared a hole through Trina. She hated the fact that Jonah had a female he found in a strip club around their kids. She was convinced that Trina was only using him for his money. She knew that she made a mistake in the past by leaving him and the kids, but despite everything they had been through together, Renee never wanted to see him get played.
“You look like you have something to say.”
“Not really, I’m just confused as to why you’re still here.”
“Excuse me?”
“I mean I get it. Jonah used you to try and get over me, but we have kids together. I know him, and he’ll finally realize that his cheap replacement is just a money hungry hoe.”
“It’s one of the things he loves about me,” Trina smiled, “Listen, if it wasn’t for Jonah, I wouldn’t even be dealing with you or your kids to be honest. Me and him have no secrets, so everything you think you know about me, he knows for a fact, and if I’m such a bad person, why would he leave them with me? You’re old news, Renee. A baby didn’t make he stay then, and two won’t make him stay now.”
Renee couldn’t say anything. Jonah had made it more than clear that his relationship with her had been long over, and he was happy with Trina, but Renee was convinced that they would work it out one day.
As Trina stood with a smirk on her face, Renee ran up the walk way and charged her. They both fell to the ground, and Renee grabbed a fist full of Trina’s golden blonde hair as she tried to slam her face into the concrete.
“You think you won, huh?” she yelled over and over again. There had been other females in Jonah’s past, but Trina was the worst one.
As Renee continued to punch and scratch, Trina tried to pull herself away until she was able to loosen her grip. Suddenly, Ron’s truck smashed up the driveway, and he hurried to hop out.
“Trina, Renee, stop,” he yelled, “What the fuck is going on?”
“This bitch doesn’t know her place,” Renee spat as she tried to rush Trina again.
“Place? Bitch, you’re standing in front of my house. This is my place, and yours is outside.”
“Trina, stop it,” Ron said, “Renee, you need to be having this conversation with Jonah. Don’t be all out in front of his shit making a scene.”
“Fuck that, Ron. I’ve put up with as much as I’ma take. This bitch doesn’t mean shit to me, and I know she really doesn’t mean shit to Jonah.”
Trina knew that Renee was only trying to provoke her, but it was working. She was tired of Jonah telling her to be the bigger person when Renee insisted on constantly being petty. She wanted to show Renee that she could be petty too, so she picked up a brick from off the grass and beat it against her windshield until the glass cracked.
“Let Jonah tell me that, bitch. Until then get the fuck off my property.”
All Renee could see was red, but with Ron standing in between them, there wasn’t much she could do.
“Bitch, all this belongs to Jonah. You didn’t have shit when he met you, and you won’t have shit after. Ron, go get Tiana and Jo please. There’s no way that I’m leaving my babies with this trick-ass broad.”
“Okay, Renee, go get in my car, and I’ll go get the kids and take you guys home, but please promise me that you’re gonna stay there. I don’t want ya’ll fighting in front of them.”
“I promise cause best believe I want Jonah to see that weak-ass shit. Bitch, you’re hella dumb. You actually helped me out. I’ll have a new car before the end of the day tomorrow.”
“I doubt it,” Trina said walking inside the house. She stood off to the side as Ron gathered the kids who had already made themselves comfortable in their rooms.
“But I thought we were coming home to Daddy’s house today?” Tiana asked.
“You will, but you’re gonna stay with your mom for a little bit longer until your dad comes and gets you guys. He had to stay late at work, but I’m pretty sure you’ll see him tomorrow. He’s gonna take your mommy to go get her car fixed.”
“Okay, Uncle Ron,” she said, “Bye, Trina.”
“Bye, Trina,” Jo repeated.
She smiled at them as Ron led them outside to his car. He opened the door and made sure they were both buckled in before he made his way back into the house.
“Trina, what the fuck?”
“Don’t try and say shit to me. I was here like I was supposed to be, remember? That bitch always wants to pop off at the mouth, but if I do anything then it’s, ‘Trina, what the fuck?’”
“You threw a brick through her windshield.”
“And? That hoe deserved it. You see these scratches?” she asked showing him her face, neck, and arms, “Just like a white bitch. She just better be glad that I didn’t bust the brick through her face.”
“Chill, Trina.”
“Anyway, why did you even come back?”
“You left your phone in the car,” Ron said handing it to her, “Listen, I’ma call Jonah and let him know that I’m taking them home.”
“Be my guest.” She knew he was going to have to find out sooner or later.
As Ron passed Renee’s car, all he could do was shake his head. Trina closed the door trying to avoid the jumbled obscenities Renee kept spewing at her. Unbothered, she walked back upstairs and turned on the hot water to fill her Jacuzzi tub. She knew that she had Jonah wrapped around her finger, and there was nothing Renee could do about it. As steam filled the bathroom, she allowed her body to submerge into the water. She needed to relax, but two glasses of Moscato and a half of a Sade CD later, her spa-like bath was soon interrupted.
“Trina? Trina?”
She could hear Jonah’s booming voice echo from the first floor. “I’m upstairs,” she yelled back. She knew that she was going to have to answer for her actions, but she felt justified.
“I asked you to do one thing, right?”
“Yeah.”
“So tell me why I get a call from Ron saying he’s taking Renee and the kids back to her house, and Renee’s car
is sitting outside with a brick smashed into the windshield?”
“Ask your BM.”
“Come on, man. I asked you to do one thing.”
Jonah knew that Trina wasn’t really the motherly type, so asking her to take an active role in his children’s lives was a stretch, but he hoped that she at least had enough love for him to try.
“Don’t blame this shit on me. That bitch all of a sudden was feeling a little froggy, so I smashed a brick through her windshield. What, I’m not supposed to stand up for myself?”
“Stand up for yourself? Trina, I’ve never put you in a position where you had to stand up for yourself. You already know what the situation is with me and my baby mama. Have I moved on? Yes. Has she? Obviously not, but that doesn’t have shit to do with us.”
“It has everything to do with us. That bitch doesn’t know her place. I’m quiet on a lot of shit, Jonah, but I refuse to let Renee disrespect me, period. Baby mama or not.”
“That shit is real childish, man. How you think it makes me look to have two bitches literally fist fighting on my front lawn? I know that me having kids might take some getting used to, but it’s been a year already, Trina. How much more time do you need? I try to keep shit civil with Renee not for me, but for the sake of my kids. They don’t know what happened between us in the past. They just know that I’m their dad, and that’s their mom. Now I’m the one that has to go fix this shit.”
“Here we go with this save-a-hoe shit.”
“What else can I do? My kids aren’t about to be riding around with a brick through the windshield. I’ma have to replace Renee’s car tomorrow.”
“Replace? If you don’t just call Safelite and call it a day.”
“Renee has been complaining about needing a new car anyway.”
“That’s not your job anymore.”
Jonah didn’t say another word as he pulled his phone out of his pocket to call Renee hoping to diffuse the situation.
“I’ve been calling you for like an hour,” she screamed into the phone barely giving it the chance to ring.
“I know. I just got home, so what’s up, man?”
“Ask your bitch.”
“Renee, I’m asking you.”
“Jonah, I’m tired of you holding me leaving three years ago over my head. You have been punishing me this entire time. I thought that maybe one day, you would honestly forgive me, and we could finally work on getting back together, but now I know that’s never gonna happen. You let this prostitute around my kids and expect me to just be cool with it? Fuck that.”
“Listen, I’m not trying to justify anything that Trina did, but I know that you played a part in the shit too. Nonetheless, I can’t be having my kids riding around like that, so tomorrow, we can go car shopping. You pick the place, and I’ll meet you there.”
“What about the kids?”
“With all this drama in the air, why don’t you keep them until tomorrow, and you can drop them off at the drive.”
“Okay, I’ll call you later with the details,” Renee said hanging up.
As Jonah put his phone back in his pocket, he was hot. He loved Trina, but he loved his kids more. He had his father around when he was growing up, and he didn’t want that to change just because he and Renee were no longer together, but especially not because Trina and Renee refused to get along. When he walked back into the bedroom, Trina was laying down on the bed wrapped in a minx white robe.
“So what the bitch have to say now?”
“Listen, I’ma only say this once, and I expect to not have to repeat myself. I fuck with you because I choose to, but if at any moment, you felt like I would choose you over my kids, you are out of your rabbit-ass mind. Me and Renee are not together, nor will we be in the future, but that is the mother of my children, and nothing or no one can change that. If at all you forget your place, you know where the door is, right?” he said before disappearing out of the room again.
Chapter 3
The next morning, Trina woke up with the sun shining in her face, but as she rolled over, she realized that Jonah’s side of the bed was empty. He left the night before without saying a word, but she just knew that he was coming back home. She quickly sat up and grabbed her phone that sat beside her on the nightstand, but she had no missed calls or texts from Jonah.
He can’t be that mad, she thought. She dialed his number and waited for his excuse, but he never answered. He sent her straight to voicemail.
Over the next few hours, Trina tried to call Jonah, but he didn’t answer once. Needing to occupy herself, she decided to call Yari. She needed someone to talk to because her thoughts wouldn’t slow down.
“Hello?”
“What you doing?”
“Nothing, I just got back from the mall. I needed something for tonight since I didn’t find anything yesterday. You still going, right?”
“Yeah, of course I am. Why wouldn’t I?” Trina asked defensively.
“No reason.”
“Yari.”
“Okay, Jonah was over here this morning. He asked Omari to make a run for him, but um, while all that was going on, I overheard about your little outburst,” she said smacking her lips.
“What fucking outburst?” Trina asked knowing then that Jonah was ignoring her on purpose.
“Bitch, you smashed a brick through his baby mama’s windshield.”
“Ya’ll weren’t there. I look like the bad guy, but I have scratches up and down my arms. I bet you she don’t come at me sideways again though.”
“I doubt it. Jonah was on his way to her house after he left here. He told Omari that they was gon’ link up later to go to the club or whatever.”
“Bitch, you acting like you’re telling me something I don’t know. Me and Jonah talked about all this last night,” Trina lied, “He’s going to take Renee to get a new car.” She almost choked on her own words.
“Excuse me? Your man is taking who to get what? Bitch, you are better than me I swear. Let Mar tell me he’s buying his fat-ass baby mama a cheeseburger, and I’m ready to flip.”
“That girl is not fat,” Trina said laughing.
“She’s one Dunkin’ Donut away, but my point is that if it’s not about the kids, money should not be spent. What I look like having my nigga pay another bitch’s bills? Jonah really could of gotten that windshield fixed and called it a day.”
“That’s what I said, but he said he wants his kids to be riding in something a little nicer I guess, so I gotta respect it, but enough about that bullshit. Why don’t you come over, and we can get dressed here before we go out.”
“You got some Henny?”
“On ice.”
“I’m on my way,” Yari said hanging up.
Trina got up and prepared for the day, but she couldn’t get the fact that Jonah was ignoring her off her mind. She grabbed her phone and texted him, I love you. Her heart dropped as she pressed send. It was the first time she had ever said it to him in the whole year they had been together. She cared about him a lot, but she had closed her heart off long before, and it was proving to be hard to open up again, but Jonah was worth her trying. She stared down at her phone and waited for his response. He always made her aware of his feelings for her, but at that moment, she needed affirmation, but none came. She threw her phone down on the bed. She couldn’t imagine Jonah leaving her to be back with Renee. The thought alone made her sick to her stomach.
For the next thirty minutes, she stood in the shower and played every worst possible case scenario in her head as the water cascaded over her. When she finally got out, she hurried back to the bed to check her phone, but he still hadn’t responded. She looked around at the home they had created, and she didn’t want to lose it. As Trina became lost in her thoughts, the doorbell rang. She threw on her robe and quickly walked downstairs; the marble tile felt cool on her bare feet. By the time, she got to the door, Yari was already inside.
“Do ya’ll ever lock this door?”
“I gu
ess not.”
“What time was you tryna leave?”
“Shit, probably like 10-10:30 p.m.”
“Okay, cool” Yari said walking into the living room, “We got hella time. Where the Hen at?” She sat down and pulled out an eighth from her bag.
“Let me go get some glasses,” Trina said walking into the kitchen. She pulled a fifth of Hennessy out of the freezer and grabbed two shot glasses from the coke-colored cabinet that sat above her head.
“You talked to Jonah yet?” Yari asked breaking down a swisher as she carelessly dropped brown tobacco fillings onto the plush white carpet.
“No, but I knew he had some shit to take care of tonight.”
Yari stared at her friend searching for any sign of insecurity, but Trina never took off her poker face.
“If I was you, I would be tripping out right now. You know I love you and Jonah being together, but don’t be stupid, bitch. You know he’s fucking her, right?”
“Who?” Trina asked slamming her empty shot glass down as her throat caught on fire.
“Renee.”
“Yari, miss me with all your bullshit please. Jonah is not Omari. Renee is only around because they have kids together. Jonah isn’t worried about her, and if he was then he wouldn’t have my pretty-ass all up in this fat house. She would be here, right?”
“Trina, you know how these niggas are. They always wanna have their cake and eat it too like they baked the mothafucka. Jonah is out here publicly tricking on his BM, and you over here drinking and smoking with me. Bitch, you do the math.”
“Yari, you’re fishing. Jonah isn’t going anywhere.”
“Okay, I’ma leave it alone, but if I was you, I would be on my toes. These niggas cannot be trusted.”
“I appreciate your concern. You know after Los left, I never thought that I would find someone else who would just click with me like he did, but after I met Jonah, I knew that he was the one. We go through our problems or whatever, but he has my heart, and I know I have his,” Trina said trying to reassure herself.
For the rest of the day, she and Yari chilled by the pool and basked in the sun until it set. The Hennessy had them relaxed, so they enjoyed their time talking and catching up. Since they both were in relationships, they didn’t spend as much time together as they used to. They used to be stuck at the hip, so Trina missed having her girl around. Later that night in the midst of brown shots and purple smoke, they began getting dressed for the night. In a haze, Trina paced the room as Yari occupied the bathroom down the hall praying that Jonah would call. Her phone had been dry all day; he refused to answer any of her texts or calls, and she felt lost in his silence, but she was determined to make things right again. Finally ready to start preparing for the night, she walked over to her closet and scanned through the various racks of clothes that sat inside. She picked out a black tube dress with a pair of black satin t-strap Giuseppe sandals. She stood in the mirror and watched as the dress melted onto her frame. She pulled her hair back into a loose ponytail letting her bangs swoop across her face.