Crazy In Love

by Yoshe

  After seeing that her things were properly placed inside the storage area she was renting, Yadi paid the movers generously for their work. She watched them drive off then she made her way back to Vanita’s house in Queens. Yadi sighed thinking about Sean, wishing that she were on the way to his house instead of Vanita’s. She needed his companionship but tried to wipe that thought out of her mind.

  Yadi turned up the radio in her car and tried to hum along with the music. She finally called Sean’s phone several times but he wouldn’t answer. What really had her tripping was that she observed Sean talking to some female visitor, a visitor with whom he seemed extremely comfortable. She’d seen the woman visiting inmate Wallace on a regular basis.

  Their familiarity with each other had Yadi extremely curious about the connection they had with each other. Yadi overheard Sean apologizing to the visitor about something. What reason did he have to apologize to her?

  She would hate to have to put Sean on blast if he was involved with the woman. Would Sean be stupid enough to push her to the side for some bitch coming to visit her lowlife son in jail? Yadi felt that he knew better than that. He knew that having a personal relationship with an inmate’s family member was against the rules.

  When she walked into Vanita’s house, Yadi was shocked to see Devin sitting in Vanita’s living room, playing with Jada. Yadi looked out the window and cursed herself for not paying attention to his truck that was parked across the street from the house. She would have kept it moving. Yadi saw Vanita and made an angry gesture. Vanita had a confused look on her face and walked out of the room. Yadi followed her.

  “What the fuck is he doin’ here, Nita? I thought I told you that it was over between me and him!” Yadi whispered, peeking at Devin from the kitchen.

  Vanita eyes darted all over her neat kitchen. She needed a shot glass for the Patron she was about to drink. “He came over to see his daughter, what was I supposed to do? Not let him in?” Vanita asked.

  Yadi looked at Jada, who was more than happy to see her father. She began biting her nails. “How the hell this mothafucka even know where you live, anyway?”

  Vanita shrugged her shoulders. “I dunno, Yadi! I was gonna ask you the same thing. I guess he must have followed you over here one day. But when he rang the doorbell, Jada was standin’ there and I didn’t want to make a scene in front of her. She was actually very happy to see him.”

  “Why didn’t you call me and at least warn me, Nita?”

  “’Cause you would have came in here, doin’ the same shit you tryin’ to do now, and that’s flip out. Your daughter is happy to see her father so let’s just leave it alone for now, okay?”

  Yadi looked at Vanita and rolled her eyes. She walked into the living room and sat in a huge armchair. Devin looked up at Yadi, immediately wiping the smile from his handsome face.

  “I’m playin’ with Jada, alone, if you don’t mind,” he stated. “Can we be alone?”

  “No, you can’t. I’m not botherin’ y’all. Go ahead and play with your daughter.”

  Devin glared at Yadi. He felt like smacking her ass all over Vanita’s living room but refrained from doing it in front of Jada. She had been through enough already. Yadi sucked her teeth and when Devin stood up, so did she. He looked at Yadi then looked at Jada and smiled.

  “Jada, Daddy has to leave now. I’m gonna see you later, okay?” Devin told his daughter.

  Jada nodded her head and jumped up. Devin swept the little girl up into his arms and kissed her all over her chubby face. He then put Jada down and walked toward the front door. He turned around and faced Yadi.

  “It ain’t over yet, you little bitch,” he whispered. The tone of his voice sent chills through her body.

  “You threatenin’ me?” she whispered back.

  “No, I’m promisin’ you,” he replied, repeating exactly what she had told him a week ago. Devin walked out the front door and hopped in his truck. Yadi stood in the doorway with an evil expression on her face until he pulled off.

  “You’re lucky I don’t kill your black ass,” she said, under her breath.

  Chapter 22

  Later that night, Sean tossed and turned in his bed. He didn’t know what to do or who to call. Yadi wouldn’t go away and Brandi wasn’t fucking with him at all. He wanted to see Brandi badly but he decided to sit it out for a few days, hoping she would at least calm down and call him. Suddenly, Sean hopped out of bed and got dressed. He decided to hit Brown Sugar for a couple of drinks to get his mind off Brandi Wallace and Yadira Cruz. Hopefully, he would run into one of his boys.

  When Sean pulled up to the lounge bar, he was surprised at the amount of cars parked out front. It was a Wednesday night and a couple of cats were standing outside, smoking cigarettes and talking shit. Sean gave them all a pound and walked inside the bar where people were singing karaoke.

  When he got inside, his boy, Unique, was playing pool and trash talking. Unique was a childhood friend of Sean’s, who was also a successful accountant in Atlanta. They had been through hell and back with each other and Sean was happy to see him.

  Unique got one of his balls in the hole. “Yeah!” he screamed at his opponent, lifting his hands in the air. “You about to pay up, my dude!” Unique shouted at the man, while continuing to play. He looked up to see Sean standing nearby and smiled. “Yo’, Shiz, what up, homeboy?”

  Sean walked over to the table and slapped the men five. They all hugged each other, too. “What up, Unique? When did you get back in town?” Sean asked. “Better yet, when was you gonna tell me that you was back in town, motherfucker?!”

  Unique concentrated on his game while talking to Sean. “I came up this past Monday,” he replied, with a smirk on his face. “I had a few meetings in Manhattan this week and you know how we do, homeboy! I had to get that monkey off my back and then I came here and got caught up with this pool game. Niggas act like they don’t remember how Big U.E. gets down on some pool!”

  Sean laughed. “You’re a fool, kid! How’s everybody doin’?” he asked

  Unique smirked. “They’re all good, man. Moms and Pops is movin’ to Atlanta in a few months. They bought a house not too far from my condo. Oh, yeah, my brother just left outta here a minute ago.”

  Sean laughed aloud. “Oh, word? Damn, I ain’t seen Wise in a minute.”

  Unique chuckled. “Yeah, well, Wise ain’t seen himself in a minute. That dude is a dope fiend. He sniffin’ that shit like crazy.”

  “Oh, word? Wise is on dope? Not fly-ass Wise!”

  Unique continued to play his game. “Yeah, man. Found out a few months ago that he’s been doin’ that shit for a minute. Thought we had got through all that mess, the drugs . . .” Unique wandered off into deep thought for a brief second. “But, he gotta deal with that. I got my own problems, nah mean, Shiz?”

  “Yeah, I know, U, I know. I got an asshole full myself.”

  Sean sat on the side and watched Unique’s opponent finally lose the pool game. The man paid Unique his money, gave them a pound, and walked out the door. Unique sat next to Sean, counting money. “What’s poppin’, my dude? You look upset.”

  Sean folded his arms. “Yeah, man. My dick done got me into some trouble once again. I got these two chicks and I can’t call either one of them to come over and take care of me, man.”

  “What happened, boy? Don’t tell me that you lettin’ some chicks stress you out, son. You must be gettin’ old!”

  “Nah, man. I got this one bad chick at work that I was cool with, right. She had some problems with her baby daddy so I let her and her daughter stay with me for a few days. We had sex with each other and now this heffer thinks that I’m her man!”

  Unique took a swig of his Corona and shook his head. “You playin’ that Captain Save a Ho shit again, Shiz?”

  “Then I got this female I met while she was visitin’ her son on Rikers.”

  Unique looked at Sean. “Damn, son, you messin’ with old visit broads now? How old is she?”<
br />
  Sean laughed. “Brandi is like thirty-five and her son is nineteen years old. He’s a little bitch made dude, too. I wanted to fuck this dude up the other day because he was tryin’ to play Billy-bad ass in front of his boys. He’s lucky I wanna holler at his moms or else I woulda lay his silly-ass out!”

  “Yeah, man, he don’t know that them things is registered weapons?” Unique said, pointing at Sean’s scarred-up hands. “Don’t kill the little young whippersnapper now! You tryin’ to get in his mama’s drawers!” They both laughed loudly.

  Sean got back on the subject. “C’mon, nigga, I’m stressed over here! Both of these women are bad as hell. They ain’t no regular chicks. But chick from work is stressin’ me. We got into this big argument at work the other day while my visit chick was sittin’ right outside in the waitin’ area. She was comin’ to see her son. She overheard everything me and my coworker was arguin’ about! Now she ain’t really fuckin’ wit’ me!” Sean banged his fist on the bar. “Damn!”

  Unique ran everything down in his head. “Yo’, I can’t believe you’re messin’ with a visitor broad! Can’t you get into trouble for that shit?”

  Sean shook his head. “Yeah, I can, man. Homegirl at work ran up on me while I was trying to talk to my visitor honey. I felt like a piece of shit, man.”

  Unique was getting impatient. “Yo’, man, what are you gonna do, then? You can’t be sittin’ around feelin’ sorry for yourself! You don’t have no girl or no kids. You a free agent to do what you wanna do. Actually, why don’t y’all all have fun in the sack? Have a threesome!”

  Unique’s suggestion sounded like a good idea but Sean wouldn’t disrespect the two women like that.

  “Nah, man, I wouldn’t do that. They’re both cool but they are two very different women. My coworker, Yadira, is a sexy half black, half Latina, who, I’m not gonna lie, everytime I see her, she makes my nature rise. She was straight, at least I thought she was, until we started havin’ sex with each other. Brandi, on the other hand, is very attractive, mature, and she’s got it goin’ on, too! She has a master’s degree, and she’s a good woman. She got street smarts, too. She may have a son whose locked up in jail but she dealin’ with it. I guess what I’m tryin’ to say is that I like Brandi. Yadira is turnin’ into a crazy bitch, man.”

  Unique looked at his friend and ordered some more Coronas for the both of them. Unique was no stranger when it came to drama; he already had his share of it.

  “Damn, Shiz, I dunno, man. If you really like Brandi, what’s stoppin’ you from fuckin’ with her? I know you’re not going let her son stop you from messin’ with his moms.”

  Sean looked around. “Hell no! It ain’t the son that’s the problem. It’s Yadi, man. This broad has been givin’ me grief at the job and I don’t know what’s gonna happen next. I don’t trust that bitch.”

  Unique laughed. He could see the fear in Sean’s eyes. “What? You scared of a chick, Shiz? I never thought that I would see the day that my man got fear in his heart over some broad!”

  “Yo’, U, man, you don’t understand. It’s somethin’ about Yadi that makes me real uneasy. She used to always complain about her baby father and shit but now that I dealt with her myself, I don’t think it was the baby father that was the problem. It’s her ass that’s crazy!”

  Unique took a swig of his beer. “I don’t know what to tell you, Shiz. I ain’t never had that problem with none of my women.”

  Sean laughed. “I know you ain’t had that problem ’cause you ain’t no fly-ass dude like me, nigga, that’s why.”

  They both laughed but Sean was still uneasy. There was something unsettling about Yadi and he knew that he would have to be careful with her.

  At work the next day, Yadira watched Sean’s every move. Sean made it his business to ignore Yadi and talk to everyone except her. At one point, Yadi was so desperate for his attention; she stomped out of the control room and walked out onto the visit floor. She didn’t know what else to do and everyone was starting to notice her fixation with Sean Daniels.

  The gossip mill began and tongues were wagging all through the jail. Some male officers in the male locker room even prodded Sean for information about Yadi’s sexual prowess, by asking questions, like “How was the pussy?” or “Does she give good head?” Sean was annoyed with all the queries from his male coworkers but he managed to keep his temper in check. Yadi was only making it worse with her erratic behavior. Secretly, Sean still had an insatiable urge to sex Yadira again, but at what cost?

  Sean walked into the officer’s lounge area and sat at a table with a few female coworkers he talked to from time to time. While they were sitting there having a good laugh, taking a break from the stress of their daily routine, Yadi walked in. She walked over to the table and stood there, staring at Sean.

  “What are you doin’?” Yadi asked, pointing her finger at the two female officers, like they weren’t supposed to be around there.

  Sean looked at the women and they looked just as bewildered as he did. “What are you talkin’ about?” Sean asked.

  “I’m talkin’ about you sittin’ here, talkin’ to these bitches!” she exclaimed, loudly.

  The women looked at each other but only one stood up. “Wait a fuckin’ minute, bitch, I will—” one of the female COs yelled and attempted to come at Yadi.

  Sean stood between the Yadi and the woman. Inmates stopped serving the food and the kitchen staff rushed to the front to observe the ruckus.

  “Yo’, Cruz, step outside. We don’t need nobody in the business!” Sean said.

  “In the business? You don’t want them in the business?” she yelled. “Should I tell them about us, Sean? Should I?”

  Sean began to get angry. Yadi was making their encounter into a relationship that never was. “What the fuck are you talkin’ about, man? Why are you actin’ like this?”

  The crowd grew. Everyone was anticipating a big finale and wanted to be around to watch. Yadi pointed her finger in Sean’s face. “How you gonna fuck me and you’re fuckin’ with a visi—”

  Sean grabbed Yadi’s face and pushed her out of the lounge area and into the corridor. Some officers followed them to watch and some intervened. They managed to separate Sean and Yadi before any supervisors walked up on them. Sean struggled to get away from his coworkers’ vice grip and some females pulled Yadi away. They continued to yell down the corridor but were long gone before one lone captain stepped into the hallway to see what the commotion was about.

  After the altercation with Sean, Yadi walked to the female locker room with two of her fellow coworkers. They were tenured officers and had seen many fights and arguments over the course of their lengthy careers between officers who decided to hook up with each other.

  “Cruz, you need to get yourself together, baby!” stated a female officer named Cook. “You done lost your rabbit-ass mind approachin’ that man like that! What is wrong with you, girl?”

  Yadi was pacing back and forth. She felt like she was losing her rabbit-ass mind. “I dunno, Miss Cook, I just want to get outta here right now!” she replied.

  The other woman spoke. “Do you need some kinda help, because you can’t be comin’ to work with this kind of drama, sweetheart. Trust me, we all have been there before. You gotta have some self-respect!” she said.

  “You ain’t lyin’, Mayes!” Cook replied. “Shiiit, I done had me a few men back in the day. We came from a time where mothafuckas would come to your post and whip your ass over these sorry people up in here, man or woman. But you are a beautiful young lady; you can’t let no man take you outta your character. It ain’t worth all that, ma.”

  “I know but I really am in love with Daniels. He just isn’t payin’ me no attention right now and I feel like a fuckin’ fool,” Yadi said.

  Cook looked at Yadi, with a frown on her smooth, brown face. “Why? I mean, have you looked at yourself lately? You can have any man you want, in this jail, on Riker’s Island, and out in New York. Why are you
limitin’ yourself to Sean Daniels? A man that you claim isn’t givin’ you the time of day?” Cook paused. “Girl, please, if I had your looks, mothafuckas would be payin’ me just to sniff it, let alone fuck it. You got some serious shit to think about, sis!”

  Mayes shook her head in agreement. “Don’t play yourself, Cruz! You know these women are already hatin’ on you and the men are hatin’ that they’re not with you. You can’t get mad at Daniels ’cause you gave it up to him. Y’all were friends and you know you messed up when you lay up with him and caught feelings!”

  Yadi sat on the wooden bench. “You ladies are right. It’s like I can’t control myself. Me and my man broke up and it’s like, I’m scared to be by myself. I ain’t never had to be by myself.”

  Yadi began to cry and the women comforted her. They both had been where she was and it took maturity and experience to get to where they were now.

  Shortly after, the women left and Yadi stayed in the locker room by herself. She went into the bathroom to look at her face in the mirror, which was beginning to swell up from rubbing her tears away.

  An hour later, Yadi managed to walk through the corridors of the jail without any incident, knowing that people were probably talking about her and calling her crazy. Yadi didn’t feel that she was crazy. She was just in love with a man named Sean Daniels and no one could tell her that she was wrong for that. When she finally made it back to her post, Vanita looked at her sideways and shook her head. There was an uncomfortable silence between the two friends, as they continued to work side by side.

  Chapter 23

  In midtown Manhattan, Brandi arrived at work, emotionally drained from thinking about her personal problems. She spoke to her coworkers and casually strolled into her office and shut the door. When Brandi closed her door, it was the message to her staff that she was in no mood to be bothered. She looked out the window, staring at the weathered buildings that faced her office. The people below were scurrying around on the streets like roaches, but for some reason she would have rather been down there with them than in her office. She swiveled her chair around toward her desk and sighed as she stared at the mountains of paperwork she had to look over. She had to make sure that the clients of Administration for Children Services were given the services that they needed. As she put on her Prada spectacles and began to do her work, she heard a knock on the door. It was Mrs. Pritchard, the septugenarian, who worked at the front desk. She was holding a giant bouquet of colorful roses in a glass vase.