by T. Styles
He looks more scared now that I’m here. And I swear I heard him say, “Please sit down, stay out of this.” Except his mouth doesn't open.
“Why you hit him like that? He got feelings too in case you didn’t know.”
“Fuck are you worried about what I do to him for?” She says.
“Yeah, lil, nigga. Why you in our business?” I’m focused on her but the voice behind me causes me to turn around. When I do, I see a six foot-something man looking down at me. His baldhead seems to glow and his brown eyes darken. He throws something on the table but I keep my eyes on his. I don’t want to die right here. I rather die in front of the AMTRAK train.
“I was just…”
“You were just what, punk?” He frowns. This shit won’t end well, I’m positive.
“Look, I was just thinking that it was wrong for her to be hitting him like that.”
“Why is how she disciplines him, any business of yours?”
“It’s not.” I clear my throat and my voice cracks. “I’m sorry okay?”
He backs up. “Wait, you a girl?” He looks at the lady slapper and back at me. Before I can respond he snatches off my cap, exposing my wild curly hair. If he took my pants down, it would’ve had the same effect on me. I’m embarrassed and feel stripped. “You over here stepping like you a nigga when you ain’t nothing but a little ass bitch.” He gropes his dick. “I usually fuck little things like you.” What does that mean? He fucks dogs…cats…birds?
My mind goes back to Shaggy and I feel stiff. I feel like I’m scared all of the time. Like I can’t defend myself like I use too. “If you don’t care if she hit your kid, then I don’t either.” I try to take my cap from him but he won’t let go. “Please give me my shit back.”
He’s talking to his girl but stops to laugh at me. “Get the fuck out of my face.” He eases into the booth, taking my hat with him.
I can feel all kinds of rage brewing inside of me. I look at the lady slapper, their son and the man. Since dude is my size now because he’s sitting down, I decide to go for it. While he places a forkful of spaghetti in his pie hole, I swing on him, forcing it out of his mouth. It doesn’t look like it caused any damage, until I see his lip bust open and blood oozing on his jeans. I smile. Until he moves toward me like the booth is on fire.
Standing over top of me again, I brace myself for what he’s about to do next. Instead of knocking me out, he takes his full hand and mushes it in my face, forcing the back of my head into the edge of the table. The pain ripples across the back of my head, from my left ear to the right. Thinking he’s about to do it again, since he grabs two fistfuls of my shirt, I kick him in his dick forcing him to let me go. He balls over and screams out in pain.
He’s going to kill me now. I hop up, grab my hat, his keys and wallet, and hit it towards the door. I’m running so fast I knock over a little girl holding her mother’s hand. Once outside I hit the button on his alarm and see yellow lights bling in the back of a white Mercedes.
“Bitch, I’ma kill you!” He yells coming quickly behind me. He can’t get me. I can’t let him get me. “I promise I’ma get you!”
Once I reach his car, I hop inside and bump the truck in front of me trying to get out of the parallel parking space. When I’m finally free, he’s hanging on the driver’s side door causing it to fly open. I keep my hands on the steering wheel and raise my left foot to kick him in the face. He falls in the middle of the street and I pull away from the scene, looking at him in the rearview mirror.
I’m laughing the entire way until I look to my right and see somebody staring at me from the passenger seat. He’s Chinese and probably black, sporting a Mohawk. His jean jacket looks a little dirty and I figure he’s trying to find money for drugs.
“What the fuck you doing in here!” I yell hitting the steering wheel, looking from him to the road ahead of me. “Who are you?”
“Who are you?” Somebody says from the backseat.
I adjust the rearview mirror and see a black girl with big hoop earrings and even larger eyes. Her hair is pulled into a ponytail and soft loose curls round out her face. Who are these people? This is my lick!
“I’m not fucking around.” I yell. “Either tell me who you are, or get the fuck out of my car.”
“You tell us first!” The Chinese kid says, “We were here before you were.”
Not trusting them, I drive a few more miles up before pulling over and parking behind and abandoned convenience store. “Look, this is my car,” I say looking at both of them.” I tap the keys in the ignition. For the moment I believe the shit. “You see, I got the keys and everything.”
“You must think we crazy.” The dude says. “We saw the owner of this car the moment he went into the restaurant. That’s how we knew we could hit this Benz.”
“And we saw the same man hanging from the door before you kicked him in the face.” The girl adds. They had me. “So who are you?” She looks at me like she doesn’t trust me.
There’s no use in me hiding. I might as well come out with the truth. “The nigga who owns this car hit me back at the spot. So I took the keys to his car.” I’m keeping the possession of his wallet to myself. “Now since I’m driving and I don’t know you niggas, I want ya’ll to get out now.”
“We can’t leave.” The girl says, “We gotta bring…”
“Shut the fuck up, Gage!” he says to her. “We don’t know this chick.”
How did he know I was a girl?
“I know, but if she throws us out, we won’t be able to look through the car and find something useful to sell. We need the money, Spirit. We don’t have a choice.”
Now I’m completely interested.
“It’s like this,” Spirit says to me, “we have a situation back at our spot. So how about we go through this car, split what we find and part ways.”
“What if I don’t want to share shit with ya’ll? I got the keys so that makes me in charge.”
“Then I’ll do whatever you want me to do.” Gage responds rubbing my shoulders sexually. A sensation smacks me and for a second I lose it. But I don’t want somebody like this. Even if she’s pretty.
“You can take your hands off of me now.” She throws herself back in her seat. “If you want a business arrangement with me, I got an even better idea.”
****
We found his address from a piece of mail in his glove compartment. He’s stupid. He lives in a nice community, in a house somewhere in Bowie Maryland. Spirit looked at the GPS and was able to direct us here. Once we make it into his house, I park and we jump out. Using the keys I open the door and they’re right behind me. I know we don’t have much time because he’ll be on his way soon. I figure since he has to call the police, make a report and call a ride, we have at least twenty minutes to spare. Minimum.
Once we arrive at the door Spirit says, “Wait a second, let me check to make sure nobody is here.” He runs through the house and from the back he yells, “We good. Let’s hurry up, grab what we can and get the fuck out of here.”
I rush to the bedroom, find a pillowcase and stuff everything I can inside. After looking around, I steal a Rolex watch, a gold chain and five one hundred dollar bills. I’d pay to see the look on his face when he comes back to find all his shit gone. While I look for things I can sell, Spirit and Gage grab food and raid the medicine cabinets. What’s up with them?
Once we are loaded up, we walk into the living room and a beautiful tall black girl is staring at us. She’s wearing a navy blue suit, which shows her curves despite being professional. I know this bitch is going to call the police. “So it’s like that huh?” She asks, her gold purse drops to the floor. It thumps loudly. “I been calling him all day and it’s like this?”
Silence.
“I see he gave you his car,” she points toward the window, “so he must really not give a fuck about me no more.”
“I don’t know what you…” Gage says, the cans in the pillowcase she’s holding clank agai
nst each other.
“Ain’t no use in you lying,” she cries, interrupting her, “I’m just disappointed. I figured he’d at least be man enough to tell me he’s leaving me to my face.” She wipes the snot from her nose but a strand falls over her lips and doesn’t break. “So what did he do, pay ya’ll?”
I’m stuck but luckily Spirit is on it. “Yeah, Grant sent us,” he continues, remembering the name on the mail we found in the car. “Matta fact when we left him in the restaurant, he was with his kid’s mother.”
Her eyes widen and she stumbles back. “So those are his kids!” She cries. “He spent all night telling me that the bitch was lying when she called here last night asking for child support! He claimed that she was just another groupie trying to put kids on him, since he’s lead in a popular Go-Go band. I should’ve known after all of the things she knew about me, that he was lying. I feel so stupid!” She stomps in place. “So used!” She picks up her purse and throws her body into the green velvet sofa. “I fucking hate him! And I hate me, for giving him my heart.”
When she cries hysterically, Gage places her pillowcase on the table, jogs to the kitchen and returns with a bottle of water. She’s nurturing and I can’t help but like her. She hands the water to her and rubs her back. “Please don’t cry. I don’t like it when women cry over men,” tears roll down her face and I wonder what kind of evil went on in her life. “Don’t worry about him, he’s a dog anyway. Trust me, any man who cheats on you doesn’t deserve your soul.”
“You should take your own advice.” Spirit says. Gage frowns.
The woman looks at Gage and smiles through her pain. “You’re so young to be so wise.” She touches her hand. “Thank you for the water.”
This is all well and good, but the only thing on my mind is getting out of here before this nigga comes back.
“And don’t worry, I know what I have to do. You’re right, he doesn’t deserve me. He doesn’t deserve anyone.” She looks at Spirit and me. “I know he sent you for his clothes, but did he tell you about the money he has stashed under the floor in my laundry room? I bet he didn’t.” Fuck no. “Take that too.”
We waste no time rushing toward the laundry room. I look at the floor and immediately see a tile out of place. We lift it up and find a Gucci box full of money. “Wow,” Spirit says, “we haven’t had a come up like this since never.”
“We definitely going to be able to get the stuff for Fierce now.” Gage adds.
He shoots her a glare and then looks at me. “Not in front of her.”
Although we’re not friends, I feel like an outsider. “Look, I’m tired of you keep hushing her every time she talks to me. I’m not interested in what ya’ll got going on anyway. I got business of my own. We can part ways and be done with it.”
“I’m sorry, it’s not like that. It’s just that…we been burned before by letting people into our circle.”
“I’m not people and like I said I got my own shit. So ya’ll go your way, and I’ll go mine.”
We’re just about to leave until I hear a familiar voice. “How did my car get here?” He says anxiously.
“Don’t play games. I already know about everything and I know you sent them to help you move out. It’s cool though because I’m not taking it anymore. They had your keys and your car.”
“I don’t know what the fuck you talking about. All I want to know is how my car got here.”
The next thing I hear caused us all to jump. It was the sound of two gunshots followed by two thuds and then complete silence.
LONNIE J
PUSSY TRAP
Lonnie J parks his car in front of his tree-lined house in Maryland. His wife and daughter were probably inside waiting on him and he’s guilt ridden. He never wanted to cheat and he definitely didn’t think it would be on a regular basis, but there he was with the scent of Harmony Phillips still on his body in his driveway. He’d been fucking her on and off since they first met and he couldn’t get over how flexible she was in the bedroom. The biggest disaster was that he’d been married for only three months and she was a stay at home mom, taking care of their seven year old daughter who was stricken with diabetes.
He sighs and pops open the ashtray in his car. He slides on his wedding ring and grabs the two shopping bags in the backseat. Once he’s to the house, the alarm chimes. He opens the door and notices its extra silent. That is until he hears a blood-curdling scream. “Lonnie J, where have you been? I been calling you all day!” His wife yells from the back of the house. “Leila just went into insulin shock.”
He drops the bags on the floor and rushes to the back of the house. When he makes it to his daughter’s room, he sees her weak body. “You were supposed to bring the insulin pump home! Why didn’t you?” She’s sobbing.
Because he was fucking with Harmony but he couldn’t tell her that though. It would kill her. “I’m sorry, baby. I…I got caught up at work,” he lies. “Did you call 911?”
“They’re on their way but I’m so scared!”
“Don’t worry, baby. I got an idea, she can use mine!” Lonnie J who also suffers from diabetes runs to the bathroom to get his kit. And then he remembers, he hadn’t picked up his prescription either, which includes new needles. Since he gave one to himself earlier, he takes it out of the trashcan and washes it off. Then he grabs a bottle of insulin and with it firmly in his hand; he scampers back to his daughter’s room. He sets up the insulin and gives her what she needs through her veins. His wife is angry but relieved, had he not finally showed up, she would’ve lost her mind. The ambulance comes later, checks her levels and asks the family if they want her to go to the hospital even though she’s fine. There insurance coverage is low and he can’t afford the trip so they decline. While she recuperates in bed, he grabs the prescriptions and returns home. When he walks into the room, his wife is on the floor drinking coffee out of a red mug.
“Here it is right here.” He raises the white bag and places it on the table next to her bed. Then he eases on the floor and sits next to her. His wife places her head in his lap. “I’m so sorry, baby. I…I fucked up majorly.” He rubs her hair as she looks at her sleeping daughter in the bed.
“I know you’re busy, honey.” She wipes her tears. “I really do. You work hard for us and because of it, I’m able to stay home and take care of our sick child. But you can never let us down like that again. I almost lost the most important person in the world to me, next to you. If it happens again, I will leave you for good. My ex-husband proposes to me everyday and he will jump at the opportunity to take care of us.” That comment sends him over the edge. Her connection with her ex-husband was one of the reasons he fucked Harmony to begin with. “Never again, Lonnie J.”
He doesn’t respond. He makes a firm decision at that moment to leave Harmony alone. And it is a pledge he vows to keep.
****
A Month Later
Every muscle in Lonnie J’s body aches because he worked eighteen hours straight painting rehabilitated houses. When he opens the door to his house, he can tell something is off. He walks toward the back. “Janelle,” he calls for his wife, “Leila!” He yells for his daughter. He doesn’t get any answers. “What the fuck is going on?” He says to himself.
When he walks into the kitchen to grab a beer and opens the refrigerator, he sees a note on top of a six-pack of Budweiser. The letter says, ‘I KNEW YOU’D FIND ME HERE’. He smiles, takes it out and closes the refrigerator door. With the beer in his hand, he sits down and drinks half of it before even reading it.
Lonnie J,
I wanted to murder you. That’s what I told my mother I would do. But then I knew the thought of losing us and living with what you did would hurt even more. Before you lie to me, just know that I know it was you. You were the only man I’d ever been with since my divorce, the only man I wanted to be with. And for my loyalty, my daughter is now infected with HIV. I haven’t even gotten myself checked yet. I hate you.
The letter drops ou
t of his hand and falls to the kitchen floor. He can’t catch his breath. He looks down and reads the rest from afar.
That needle you used on her was infected with the virus. And for that you are as low as they come. I’ve taken your revolver with me. Stay the fuck away from me and her or I will kill you.
Your Possible Murderer
Lonnie J throws the beer down on the table, the suds from the can falls out and dampens the letter. How could she be infected? How could he be infected? Sure he fucked Harmony raw but she was the first person he stepped out with since he’d been married. Originally he wasn’t going to sleep with her at all. All he wanted to do was give her a bite to eat and drop her off home. He even told her he wasn’t interested when she tried to give him some pussy the first time he met her. But soon, like all men, he fell victim to her seduction. He knew nothing about her…outside of her name. He didn’t even know where she lived. But he would find her before it was all over and it wouldn’t be nice.
JAYDEN
ROCK A BYE NEPHEW
“Passion, open this fucking door!” My fist bangs so many times against the wood, my knuckles are throbbing and red. “We got a job tonight and I need you to get the girls ready.” All this bitch does now is wake up and get high before going back to sleep. The only reason I didn’t throw her out was because Olive begged me not too and her pussy still works.
“She not coming out,” Hadiya says walking behind me, “Passion has been out of it for a while, Jayden.” Her voice is soft but confident and I can hear it thanks to the aids I’m wearing. “You don’t have to keep asking her to do something she obviously doesn’t want to do. Let me get the girls ready, since all I do is watch the baby now anyway. I don’t mind doing a little extra around here.”
I back away from the door but I continue to stare it down like it’s her face. I can’t wait to see this bitch. And since she wants to stay in the bed and cry like a whore, I’ll treat her like one by putting her back on the books and giving her the worst jobs.