ADDICTED TO HIM

by Linette King

  “Candy. Leave,” I said through clenched teeth. I watched her walk out of Raphael’s office heading towards the front door. “No, go through the side underground exit. The code is 2243. There’s a dark green Honda parked with the keys in the ignition. Get in and drive south out of the club parking lot. Once you’re stopped by the wall, the code is 1143 and the wall will move. You will have 15 seconds to go through before the wall closes back up. Go home and I’ll call you later,” I said to Candy as I watch her do as she’s told. All the training I took her through did numbers on her once extremely hard headed ass!

  “Raph, do you have your vest on?” I asked Raphael once Candy was in the car.

  “Always,” he responded right before being slammed on the table.

  “On the count of three, roll to your right, pass three tables and crawl under the fourth one as fast as you can. Bullets are about to fly. When you’re under the table, push the green button and hold your breath. 1… 2… 3,” I explained.

  Slowly, I typed a series of codes into my computer, releasing sub machine guns from the ceiling. I don’t want to shoot any of my guests, so I keep them trained on the wall. I hit the yellow button, so only pellets will come out of them. I looked for Raphael on the monitors and saw the table slowly coming back up after taking Raphael underground.

  “Raph, you good?” I asked because he should have asked for a code by now. I pause, waiting on him to respond but he didn’t. His ass didn’t hold his breath. Fuck! I think to myself as I hit the blue button under my desk, sending oxygen throughout the underground area to wake him all the way up. I told him to hold his breath because I knew when he hit the button to go underground, it was going to trap him and suck all of the oxygen out of it. It also releases some type of chemical that can knock a bull out. All he had to do was listen to me.

  I glanced at the monitors and saw everyone that was chilling thirty minutes ago, running around frantically trying to escape without getting hit by a pellet. I searched each monitor looking for the remaining two gunmen, and one was out and the other ran out of the side door.

  I buzzed the VIP Booths’ intercom systems to pick up their frequency. “Bruh, you think all that is for you?” I heard a voice say.

  “Shit, probably so. Fuck! I hope whoever taking mufuckers down take all them bitches down,” another voice responded.

  “What if they kill all of the people stopping them and come in?” the first voice asked, sounding scared as fuck.

  “Well shit, they ain’t gone be able to get in here. You see all that shit ole girl had to do to bring us up here,” the other voice responded.

  I zoomed in on their booth but their backs were turned away from the camera. I’ll tell you one thing though, if they thought they were about to be saved on my damn time without putting in work, they had another thing coming. I sent the regular elevator through the elevator chambers to release the VIP guests without them seeing me. I watched them look around at each other after the elevators’ doors opened and nobody moved to get on.

  “These booths are going to blow up in five minutes.” I lied into the intercom system and everyone rushed to get on the elevators. I sent the elevators down to the dance floor, so everyone could get off and leave.

  I cursed myself for not checking with my team as I switched the surveillance to the outside cameras. All hell had broken loose. Bodies were everywhere! I scanned the monitors for Dre and found him off to the side, chopping bodies up. This nigga is beyond sick!

  “Man, what the fuck you do to me?” I heard someone ask. It took me a minute to figure out it was Raphael waking up.

  “You didn’t hold your breath,” I replied simply.

  “Shit, all the rolling took my breath man. You can’t hold shit you out of yo!” he screamed in my ear.

  “Then you should have caught it before you hit the damn button!” I snapped on him. “Say 1734,” I said to Raphael.

  “Man, you got contraptions and tunnels everywhere, bruh!” Raphael replied after being released from his holding spot.

  “It’s important to stay ready. That way, you never have to get ready. There’s a purple Honda right outside the door as soon as you crank it up repeat 1734. The parking spot will lower, taking you into a tunnel. Drive through and when you come out you will be on the opposite side of town. Go home,” I said to Raphael, disconnecting the call.

  Now that I got my people out safe, I need to get myself out. I head back the way I came in to hop back in my all black Honda. I know you’re thinking this nigga got Honda’s all over the place and yes, you’re right. It’s because the police will pull over a bubble Caprice, box Chevy, or something flashy long before they will pull over a Honda Accord. It’s the safest getaway car.

  Anyway, I drive back above ground to exit out the front entrance. As I’m driving, I see Dre fall to the ground and a gunman is heading in his direction. Without thinking about consequences, I hop out of my car and run full speed towards the gunman. It wasn’t until I got near him that I realized I didn’t grab my gun, so I tackled him. Once we were both on the ground, I sat on his chest and tried to beat his face in.

  All of a sudden I’m being lifted off the gunman and when I look back, it's Dre. He shoots the guy in the face and we both turn to see the fourth gunman from inside the club, hopping in my car and pulling off. Dre instantly started shooting. At first, he was missing because the nigga had blood dripping in his eyes! Not wanting him to let dude get away, I snatched my shirt off and wiped his face. The very next bullet hit the back of the car and then he shot the back tire and homeboy lost control. I sat there watching my car flip and a few minutes later, it blew up, pissing me all the way off.

  “Man, why the fuck you blow up my car?!” I screamed at Dre.

  “Nigga, it’s a Honda, go buy another one, hell. At least dude don’t get to steal it,” he said laughing as we walked away. I hopped in the truck with him and we drove out the back entrance heading towards my downtown three-bedroom condo.

  “This bitch nice!” Dre said and for a moment, I forgot he didn’t know I’m the boss. Shit, he should see my house! I’m here most of the time though. Each room has a walk in closet and full bathroom. The guest bathroom is in the hallway. The kitchen is huge! All I need is a bad bitch that can cook and we will be great! This place has a living room, dining room and den as well. I only smoke in the sunroom because I don’t want my shit smelling like weed. The walls are cream but every piece of furniture I have is black.

  I head to my room to take a shower and change after I showed Dre where he could go and do the same because it wouldn’t be long before we decided to head out. I needed to know who was in that VIP Booth and who wanted to kill him.

  The next day, I still couldn’t reach Chelle so she could do my damn dreads over but Tiffany’s ratchet ass been blowing my phone up, pissing me off. I haven’t even answered for her because I know she don’t want shit. If it was that important she would leave a voicemail or send a text message like normal people, but nooo. This bitch wants to call back to back, then take a break just to start calling again.

  I called my mom to see if she would do my hair and she said yes, so I headed to her house to jump fresh. My brother, Bo was there and I had to give him a quick rundown of what went down at the club, without telling him exactly how everybody escaped. I already don’t trust many people. Hell, I can name all of the people I trust and let’s just say, Bo didn’t make that list. He has too many shady tendencies in these streets and I know it doesn’t stop there. The only reason he has never crossed me is because I’ve never given him a reason to.

  It took my mom all of thirty minutes to retwist my dreads. I’m thinking about coming to her from now on because it takes Chelle’s ass a couple of hours each week! That’s time I can be chasing money instead of being cooped up in her place all that time.

  “Say ma, how about I come over once a week and you retwist my hair for me?” I ask.

  “No sir! I’m not trying to spend my Saturdays doing hair anym
ore. I spoiled you when I started them for you and when you moved out, that cleared me of those duties. Where is the girl that’s been doing it?” my mom replied.

  “I don’t know ma. Plus, I don’t want her to do it anymore,” I reply back.

  “Why not?” she asks with her hands on her hip.

  “Because it takes her hours to do it and it just took you thirty minutes,” I answered, and she laughed while walking away, shaking her head.

  I followed behind her into the kitchen. I watched as she seasoned the meat so it can marinate over night for Sunday dinner. “What’s funny?” I ask.

  “Hmmm, you don’t get it, do you son?” she answered, confusing the fuck out of me. I just shook my head no because I have no idea.

  “Son, are you dating her?” she asked.

  “No ma’am,” I replied.

  “Have you ever dated her in the past? Or have you slept with her before?” she asked. I took a second before I answered because these are trick questions coming from her. If I answer honestly, she might hit me but if I lie, she’s going to hit me.

  “It’s Michelle that’s been doing my hair,” I say, taking a seat on the stool. I was looking down when she walked up to me, slapping in the back in my head.

  See, back in the day I was seeing her heavy until she acted like she was pregnant by me. I knew good and damn well she wasn’t because I’ve always taken the necessary precautions, so I wouldn’t be a father before I was ready. This bitch decided to embarrass herself, trying to surprise me with some shit I knew was a lie. If she was actually pregnant, it was a 100% chance it wasn’t mine. Now, if she believed it was mine she would have kept it, but she knew like I knew, it wasn’t mine. See, a bitch will try to get over on you if you let her. I’m not that nigga though.

  After that, I realized I couldn’t trust her either because she was sleeping with more than me to get pregnant in the first place, so I all but cut her off. There were no more dates, quality time, talking on the phone or whatever. I still smash her from time to time but that’s because of how she dresses when I come to get my hair did. Not to mention, it’s always her trying to fuck me. I just give her what she wants. If I can get my mom to do my hair, I’d cut her off completely.

  “Why are you still dealing with her Rashard?” my mom asked me, clearly pissed off.

  “Because she does my hair,” I answered because to me, it was just that simple.

  “Baby, you can’t play with people’s feelings like that. I’d hate to go to jail for killing her because she killed you. If I’m in jail, who’s going to cook Sunday dinner?” she asked seriously, causing me to crack up with laughter.

  She didn’t even crack a smile and that shut me right on up. “Ma, I’m not playing with her feelings. I don’t even talk to her like that anymore,” I say to my mom.

  “Are you still sleeping with her?” she asked. “Exactly! You’re playing with her feelings!” she yelled before I could answer the question. “Baby, women don’t have sex without emotions. Well, most women won’t and that girl loves you. She’s doing whatever she can to keep you around, even if it's for a little while. It shouldn’t take anyone more than an hour to retwist dreads. It’s taking her so long because she’s using that time to spend with you,” she said before walking out of the kitchen.

  I didn’t follow her this time because I was sitting on the bar stool looking stupid thinking about what she said. I never thought it was taking Chelle that long because she didn’t want me to leave. I gotta cut this bitch off right now and I’ll just find a hair shop to go to. Naw, fuck a shop, I’ll find another bitch on campus that do hair as a hustle.

  I decided to crash at my mom’s place so I’d be here for Sunday dinner. Plus, I knew she would get up cooking and I couldn’t chance being distracted and not being able to make it. Bo stayed in his old room too. My mom has a five-bedroom house and we all had our own rooms. She left everything the way we left it and since we all occasionally stay over; we have clothes here. We are all two years apart with me being the youngest at twenty-three. Myra is twenty-five, Ashley is twenty-seven and Bo is twenty-nine. I pretty much help out the most because Bo ain’t doing much with himself.

  Ashley is dark skinned like myself and she works at Sears. She has two daughters, Iyanna who is three and Jamila, who just turned five. Myra has a caramel complexion and she works as a CNA at a local nursing home. Bo work’s at our uncle Leroy’s car shop and has a daughter named Diane, who is five and a son name Robert, who is also five. They aren’t twins, he has two baby mamas. I’ve met the kids and they look just like him but he has never brought their moms around the family at all.

  Myra and Ashley pulled up at the same time around lunch time with their kids. I haven’t seen them since last week and I missed them. My nieces and nephew, not my sisters. I walk out the door and as soon as Michael sees me, he snatches away from Myra, running at me full speed. Once he’s in arm’s length, I scoop him up, giving him a nuggie as he tries to squirm away.

  Ashley keeps Iyana and Jamila strapped down so tight that it takes her a minute to get them out of the car. Jamila makes it to me first and I grab her, spinning her around in circles before putting her down. She fell about four times before she gave up and sat on the ground swaying. Iyana finally made it to me and I couldn’t resist kissing and biting on her chubby cheeks. Iyana is my baby girl! I love all of them the same but I think Iyana likes me more than them. She follows me around every time we’re here and she won’t take a nap unless I’m holding her. It’s been that way since she was born.

  We all walk back inside, so the kids can speak to their granny. I have no idea why my mom wants them calling her granny when she’s only forty-nine. I walk in to my mom sitting in the kitchen looking at an old picture of her, my aunt Jennifer, and uncle Leroy. My mom, Monique, worked all of our lives so as soon as I got on, I started paying bills and depositing money into her bank account. I always paid the bank manager to tell her it was a gift from the bank for being such a loyal client. She would never spend the money though. She thought it was too good to be, so she activated a new account just for her gifts. She was working as a custodian and only bringing home about $700 every other week. Once the gifts got to 2 million dollars without her checking the balance, she quit her job. Her gifts are steady growing.

  “Hey Granny!” Iyanna, Jamila and Michael say, running past me into the kitchen.

  “Hey, Granny babies!” she yelled, hopping down to hug and kiss on them. “How are you guys liking school?” she asked them, climbing her short ass back on the stool.

  “I love it Granny!” Jamila said. Michael just nodded his in agreement and Iyanna made her way back to me.

  “You don’t want to talk to Granny?” my mom asked Iyanna.

  “I want Unc,” she replied softly, pulling at my shirt for me to pick her up. I looked at my mom and she was smiling. These Sunday dinners keep her sane.

  “Ma, where’s Bo?” I asked because I hadn’t seen him all morning and I know we both stayed here last night.

  “He’s up in his room. You know how he is. He will be down when the food is ready,” she replied. I just shook my head. Bo seriously need counseling the way he needs attention. It has to be someone that can help him get over that need.

  “I have a surprise for you guys. Follow me,” I said to the kids. My mom didn’t know about it either, so she yelled for Ashley and Myra to come to the backyard too.

  “Close your eyes.” I turned to them all to say as we rounded the corner to the backyard.

  “SURPRISE!” I yelled as I stood back smiling. The kids started jumping up and down before running off to go play.

  “Boy, who sold you a spacewalk?” Ashley asked yelling.

  “Yeah who and can you buy one for my yard too?” Myra joined in causing us all to laugh.

  “Some Mexicans were moving from a location and selling everything out of the old one. For some reason, they had this spacewalk and when I climbed in, I noticed it had a rock climbing side. I climbe
d up and that’s when I realized it was a slide on the other side. They only wanted $75 for it, so I bought it and put it in the shed,” I explained. When I looked at mom, her eyes were watery. “Don’t you start woman!” I said to her as we all laughed.

  We played until it was dinner time. After we ate, surprisingly without any arguments, everyone left and went home. I had to stay behind to put the spacewalk up for the night. By the time I got home, I was dead to the world.

  When I woke up the next morning, I had messages from everybody. I got out of bed, brushed my teeth, and hopped in the shower. I threw on a t-shirt and some sweatpants because I have class from 9 until 11 then from 1 until 2 and football practice at 3. I’ll be on campus all day today and I’m not too thrilled about it.

  Tiffany: So you ignoring me?

  Tiffany: Hello?????

  Tiffany: Rashard!

  Tiffany: Well fuck you then I won’t hit you up no more.

  Chardae: We need to meet up and talk about this Shard. I didn’t make this baby by myself.