by T. Styles
“We live here.”
“For now, little girl. And just so you know, you got chicken pox. You better get it checked out before you end up dead. You look a little too old for that shit.”
Everybody who is around Gucci backs up and covers their noses. She frowns at her friends, rolls her eyes at the aunts and yells, “Olive, can you tell Jayden she has company!”
Jayden comes down the stairs with Olive and Hadiya behind her. When she sees her aunts she knows there’s a problem. She opens the door wider. “Hey. What’s up?”
“Jayden, we’ve been trying to reach your mother for a while.”
“I know because you stay threatening us.” She crosses her arms over her chest.
“That’s not what I’m talking about.” She pauses. “I don’t know if she told you but we have a right to bring an appraiser here to check on the current condition of the house.” Laura points to the man.
“Why?”
“Because sooner or later this house will be ours and when it does, we don’t want it returned to us destroyed. We don’t trust your lying ass mother.” Ramona responds.
Jayden looks at her girls and says, “Can you give us some privacy please?” Gucci is angry that she can’t eavesdrop on what was going on, but made mental notes to find out the “T” later.
When they are gone Jayden says, “I thought the judge said we have a chance to come up with the money.”
Laura laughs. “Jayden, let’s not be wasteful of time. We lived here for a while,” her face grows dark, “that is before your mother lied and said we stabbed her. Anyway, you and I both know you won’t be able to come up with that sort of cash. You on welfare. Now if you play fair, we may let you stay here to clean up our house, and clean behind our dogs but even that is up for discussion.”
Jayden turns burgundy. “I’m going to come up with that money and when I do you gonna remember this shit.”
“Sure we will little girl. Like I said, we’re here to check on the condition of this house. If it is destroyed in any kind of way when this is all over, as I’m sure your mother has explained, you’ll be held liable.” She looks at the man. “Go in and do what you have to, make it quick.”
As the stranger enters her home, Jayden is more motivated than ever to get money.
HARMONY
HARMONY ROULETTE
I’m walking down the street from my house on my way to get a beer from the liquor store. I can’t afford vodka right now because I’m broke. The moment somebody stops next to me, I’m all the way in, willing to do whatever they want for a bottle. Things are going good, until from my peripheral vision, I see the blur of a car pull up in a hurry. I haven’t been shot at before but I know a bullet whizzing by my head when I see one. I take off running as fast as I can and my feet feel like sandbags are tied to each of my toes.
Up ahead I see a house with the gate open. It’s like a sign telling me to come inside. I make it to the yard but fall at the threshold. I bump my lip on the concrete and pop up like a corn kernel. Whoever was firing stopped briefly, opened his car door and fires in my direction again. Windows at the house shatter and the white fence is crumbling. Eventually I reach the backyard and over the fence. Don’t know how I hopped so high but I did. When I’m done, I’m on the opposite street and guess who drives by, Kreshon.
“Harmony, is that you?” He asks pulling up alongside of me in a silver Lexus.
Even if it wasn’t me, I jump in his car so fast he doesn’t have a chance to change his mind. “Drive, anywhere.” I look behind me for the shooter. I don’t see him. “Please.”
“What’s going on? Somebody after you?”
I lie. If I’m going to get shot at, I don’t want to be alone. “No I’m good.” Something felt off. One minute I’m getting shot at and the next minute he’s here. “Where were you on your way too?” I ask looking out the side view mirror.
“You really want to know?”
I finally look at him. He’s wearing a black Polo shirt and he’s so handsome. “I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t want to know. What’s up?”
“I’m about to see Jayden.” He turns at the stop sign and my stomach aches. Why is he trying to fuck my daughter? “Don’t worry, I haven’t fucked her.”
“You mean you haven’t fucked her yet.” He shakes his head. “What are you doing with my daughter, Kreshon? Be honest. She’s so young.”
“Jace asked me to look after her.”
“So you think I’m that stupid? Jace is dead, the nigga not giving you no medals for shit you do.” He makes another left. “I know you. And you love pussy. My pussy. I also know how you look at her, she reminds you of me doesn’t’ she? That’s why you doing it.”
“Fuck out of here.” Now he’s driving like he doesn’t know where he’s going. I got to him. “Kreshon, pull over.” He doesn’t. “I want to talk to you. Please.” Finally he parks on the side of a house. I turn and face him. “You can’t have my daughter. She’s young but she’s not me. I know you, you’re probably remembering the times we use to share, and Jayden will never measure up. Her looking like me and fucking like me is two different things.”
He eyes me. “Will you keep our secret?”
“What you mean?” For a second, I think I smell gunpowder.
“I don’t want you to tell her about us. I’m not going to lie, I care about her, a lot and I’m asking you to hold fast on messing things up.”
“What’s in it for me?”
“As long as I can keep her, anything you want.”
I hate him. It’s nothing I can do now, Jayden is the apple of his eye. Plus, I think it’s not a big coincidence that I was shot at and he’s in the neighborhood. He may kill me if I don’t give him Jayden and keep our secret. “I want to buy a bottle of vodka. What you got on you?” He frowns and gives me a hundred bucks from his wallet. “What you want for the money?”
“What you talking about?”
“I know you, and there are always two angles. So what else do you want?”
He unzippens his pants and pulls out his dick. I spit on it first, and suck him like I never have before. At the end of the day, he will never be able to confuse anybody for me, not even my daughter.
JAYDEN
PUSSY PLAN
After that shit that happened on 16th street and my aunts coming over, I stayed in my room until I came up with a plan. I wouldn’t even go out when the girls were fighting. I needed to get my mind right and I finally did. With the captions on while I watched the movies, I saw two that changed the course of how I viewed my business. They were The Mack and The Game. The Mack made me realize that I wasn’t a pimp with silky suits and long nails. I was out of my league trying to bitch slap somebody to sell pussy for me on 16th street. The best idea I got came from the movie The Game. On that movie people would pay for experiences they wouldn’t have otherwise. Isn’t the same true for prostitution? Men don’t pay to bust a nut but for having the experience to make a bitch do so.
After taking a long bath and smoothing olive oil all over my skin, I slip into some fresh jeans and a white t-shirt. Then I spray Bvlgari perfume on my neck and wrists. Lastly I place the hearing aids in my ears and comb my hair over them. I hate these things but I don’t want to miss a question or response today.
When I’m done, I had Passion get the girls together and told Olive to see to it that everyone was on time. For whatever reason, they didn’t respect Passion and it was making it harder to do her job. I think because she doesn’t get drunk and high anymore. But that wasn’t my problem and I wasn’t going to make it. If she wanted to continue to be a part of this team she had better learn to be a team player.
Before I go downstairs, I grab my strategic handbook, which includes my Thirteen Flavors Business Plan. Since I have school Monday through Friday, I work every night on it to be sure it’s correct, and I finally believed that it is. I also grab a plastic bag I need for an exhibit, and head out my room. When I get downstairs everyone is in the living room
looking at me. Everyone but Olive, Hadiya, Tywanda, Blaq and Passion are scratching themselves.
“Why is everyone itching?”
They all look at Gucci. “She gave us chicken pox.”
I’m enraged. “Are you serious?”
“Don’t worry, we know how to get rid of it.” Gucci says. Her face is as red and pusy as a diseased vagina. I swear I hate this bitch but kicking her out now will be the wrong time.
Right before my meeting starts, there’s a knock at the door. “Give me a second ya’ll.” They stir a little in their seats. I guess they’re irritated. I sit my book and bag down and hurry to open the door. When I do, I see Sebastian’s blue eyes peering into mine. His wild-eyed brother is to the left of him and he looks like he isn’t up to any good. Sebastian and me haven’t had a chance to play in a while and seeing him now makes me realize I’m long overdue.
With my hands on my hips I ask, “What you want, Sebastian? I’m busy right now.” I focus on his lips. It’s a habit even though I hear okay with the hearing aids on.
“Too busy to give me a few minutes of your time?” His voice is strong and confident, like his overall attitude. He stuffs his thumbs in the loops of his belt as usual and stands like a hood cowboy.
“You know how we go, but right now is not good.” I’m still mad at him for leaving the way he did the last time I saw him.
The door halfway closes in his face until he says, “So I guess you don’t want your phone back then.”
I open the door, step out and close it behind me. “What phone you talking about?”
He looks at Luh Rod and says, “Give it to her, man.”
With an attitude, Luh Rod rolls his eyes, dips his hand into his pocket and hands me the phone I tossed out the window like a cigarette butt months ago. The moment I see it, I count the money in my head. Sebastian doesn’t realize how much seeing my phone made my day. Prior to this moment, we were going to have to start all over from scratch to get the business off the ground. Not a problem anymore. This was probably what Luh Rod was talking about when he said, “I know you ain’t coming all this way about that shit.” The day I walked over their house to stab him.
“Here. I think you dropped this out of your window.” Luh Rod says, holding my phone out of reach.
I lean in and snatch it so quickly, I yank him a few inches forward. “How you get this? I hit the power button but it doesn’t come on. Please don’t let it be broke. Maybe it needs charging.
He shrugs. “Why you need to know how I got it? You want it or not?”
“He got it from your bushes.” Sebastian offers. “Said he saw you throw something out a while back and figured you didn’t want it. He ain’t hard up for no phone though, so I made him give it back. It’s yours right?”
I feel like hurting him, but the ice in Sebastian’s eyes tell me it wouldn’t be a good idea. I’m preparing to go inside when an all black Mitsubishi Diamante pulls up in the driveway. The moment I see the car, the blood feels like it drains from my body. I have the door open an inch, when a black nigga with a basketball player physique and killer eyes jumps out leaving his car door open. He’s so close to me now, my nose is tucked in the pit of his underarm. “Your name, Jayden, bitch?”
I swallow air. “Who the fuck are you? And why are you pulling up in my driveway like you police?”
“Bitch, I’m asking the mothafuckin’ questions. Are you Jayden or not?”
I’m about to lie but something tells me he knows the truth already. So in a low voice I say, “Why?”
He grabs both of my shoulders and pulls me toward him. My breasts are pressed against his stomach and I can feel his stiff dick on the side of my hip. I look up at him and can see spit leaking out of the corners of his mouth. Was he foaming? “Where is my girlfriend? I know you know so don’t even think about lying to me.”
“I don’t know who you talking about.” I’m being honest. “I think you got the wrong person. Maybe you looking for my neighbor down the street.” I’m willing to put this crazy nigga on anybody else but me.
“Do you know a bitch name Tywanda or not?”
The moment her name rolls off of his tongue, I know it’s over for me. When I laid eyes on her, I knew she belonged to somebody. But I never thought they’d come looking for her. “Yeah, I know her, but she ain’t here.”
“Bitch, you think it’s a joke? Her mother told me she gave her this address. So either tell me where she at, or I’ma blow your eyebrows to the back of your head.”
When I look down at his waist, the dick I thought was poking me in the stomach is actually the brown handle of a gun. “Please, I don’t…”
My words are halted when he yanks me by my hair, forcing my head backwards. The cartilage in my neck snaps, causing a cracking sound. He moves his head closer to my face and I swear he’s about to chew my nose off. The spit leaking out of the corners of his lips, are threatening to drizzle on my face and I want to faint and wake up on another day.
“Before you open that mouth you better know that I’m not fucking around with you. I been with Tywanda for five years and I’m gonna marry her. I was gonna put a baby in her and everything.” How romantic. “But now she telling me she not coming home because she tired of me hitting her.” He continues and the juice in his mouth finally touches my nose. Yuck. “Now I don’t intend on letting you or nobody come in the way of that. So I’ma ask you again, where…is…she?”
“She not here. Why don’t you leave me your number that way if she calls, I can give her your information.” I smile hoping he’ll believe me, but the way his nose waves up in the middle, I figure he doesn’t.
His eyes turn a shade blacker as he reaches for the dick on his hip. I’m about to say goodbye, when the evil in his eyes turns to fright. He releases my hair and when I back up, I see sprinkles of blood on the gray of my doorstep. He moves away from me, holding his side and blood oozes between his fingers and over his nails. He looks down at the wet mess coming from his body and then at me. “What did you just do to me?”
“Don’t worry about all that,” Sebastian says, no weapon in hand, “why don’t you go back to where the fuck you came from. She says your bitch ain’t here, so it mean she ain’t here.”
He must’ve realized it was either Sebastian or his brother because he’s about to go for his gun, when both of them draw their weapons quicker than a bird can flap his wings. Sebastian’s voice is deep but sure. “My man, why don’t you get back in your car and get yourself checked out. You not gonna last much longer leaking like that.”
The monster gives them looks that could’ve meant anything from, this ain’t over to when I see you again, I’m plucking your teeth out. Either way he gets the picture because he speeds off. When his car is out of sight, I look at the blood on the pavement and back at them.
“What did ya’ll do?”
Sebastian flicks a blade. “Saved your life.” He hands it to Luh Rod who turns the water hose on connected to my house, rinses the blood off and hands it back to Sebastian. They do this type of thing all the time. A light bulb immediately goes off in my head. I need their help and am willing to pay. “Sebastian,” I step close to him, “I have a business proposition for you.”
“What kind?”
“Do you think you and your brother would be interested in doing security for me? I got a business and I need somebody like both of you to look after our backs. Plus I’ll pay you a lot of money,” since I’m relatively broke right now I say, “well, I’ll pay a lot of money once my business gets off the ground.”
“I don’t need no money.” Sebastian’s voice is masked with disappointment. He taps Luh Rod on the shoulder and says, “Let’s roll, man. We got some place to be.”
I feel my temperature rise. Not because I’m angry, but because I realize without them, anything is liable to happen to us on the streets. To my point if they weren’t standing here a moment ago, I would’ve been fertilizer for my mother’s bushes. And what was to stop him from comi
ng back?
I walk in their direction. I have to swallow my pride because they are the last pieces to my puzzle. When I get close enough to Sebastian in my softest voice I beg. “Please don’t leave. It ain’t like ya’ll can’t use the money, I be seeing you running around here all the time with nothing to do. But I need you Sebastian and I’m begging you to help me out.”
“So because we be rolling around here that makes us desperate?” He seems insulted. “You think that little of me?”
“I’m not saying that.”
“You not saying nothing I want to hear.” He taps Luh Rod on the arm. “Let’s go, man.” I watch them walk away, taking my sense of security with them.
****
Thirteen Flavors is sitting on the floor in my living room while I go over my plan. The scratching shit is making my skin crawl. Fuck Gucci! Anyway, I’m still on edge and every time I hear a car near my house, my heart jumps. I didn’t bother telling Tywanda that her crazy boyfriend tried to kill me, because for my plan to work, I need all of the girls on dick. I mean deck. And I got something for her nigga anyway.
“First off I need everybody who doesn’t have the chicken pox to stay the fuck away from Gucci and the rest and sit over here. At least until I can be sure the shit is gone.” The house divides into the diseased and pure. “Good. Now that that’s done, we’re changing things up a little. First we’re going to be working out of the house.” I see a few of them sigh in relief. “We’re also changing the business model a little. We’re not selling sex, we’re selling the experience.”
I knew Gucci would be the first person to flap her jaws. “What is the experience, Jayden?” She scratches her face, which is usually very pretty. “Because you and I both know the only thing niggas paying for these days is pussy. If they get an experience out of that, so be it.”
“That’s not true, Gucci! They can get sex anywhere, from there own mothers if they tried hard enough. What we’ll be offering is a chance to make their fantasies come true.”