Nobody Can Love You Like Them Roughnecks Do 2

by Shvonne Latrice

  I leaned over to kiss her cheek, and when she looked to me, I pressed my lips against hers. She froze up at first, but I kept pecking her until she relaxed, returning the gesture. Once our tongues came in contact, I climbed on top of her and started pushing her dress up.

  “Manny, move.” She tried to turn her face, but I followed, still trying to kiss her as I grabbed onto her panties. “No, I don’t want to.” She grabbed my hand. “Let go.” She stared up at me, referring to my death grip on the waistband of her panties.

  “Come on, Alivia. I like you.” I kissed on her neck. “It won’t be like it was with that other nigga.”

  “Manny, stop.” She nudged me off of her neck. “I didn’t say it would be. I just don’t want to have sex.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I literally just said it needs to be someone worth it, meaning I feel like it could go somewhere. We’re cool, Manny, but not close enough for me to be having sex with you.” Hopping off the bed, I snatched up my shoes and booked it to the door. “So our conversation is over now because you can’t fuck me?” She called after me, propping herself up on her elbows.

  “I been letting you live in my fucking house, running up behind yo’ ass at events, and taking you out, yet you can’t let me get no pussy! What type of shit is that?”

  “You offered for me to stay here! And when you offered, you promised it was just to be helpful! And running up behind me? You mean stalking me at my gigs and distracting me with your immature efforts to get me in bed! Plus, you took me out to brunch once, then to get a burger, yet now I owe you?

  Newsflash, Manny. Women do not just sleep with you because you bought them some food twice and popped up on them. We have to want you in that way. If you want a relationship, or in your case, some pussy, you need to realize that we’re all different! You can’t treat me like these groupies you meet at the club and expect the same response. I am a different type, and if you want me, then you need to take a different approach. I am not interested in having sex with you.”

  “How long did it take for Yono to fuck?”

  She simpered, getting off the bed to remove her jewelry.

  “You know, at this time in my life, I don’t too much care for Yono, but at least I can say he was much more mature about these types of things. You sound like a hormonal high school boy trying to lose his virginity. If you want some pussy, be a little less thirsty, and you just might get it without having to go through half the changes you did to get me to even go to brunch.”

  “Where the fuck you going?” I hissed, seeing her pull her suitcase from under the bed.

  “I’m going to a hotel since clearly the only reason you wanted me here was to move in on me.”

  “Alivia, stay. I was tripping.” I ain’t want her to leave, because I needed time to try again.

  “I don’t think so.”

  Saying fuck it, I closed the bedroom door and took my ass to my own room. In my eyes, if I spent money on you, I was owed some pussy; that was the game. Maybe it was best she left, because if I couldn’t fuck, then she’d need to pay rent.

  I shook my head as I started to undress. I’d been doing the most for no fucking reason.

  A few days later… Wednesday in particular…

  “Thanks for coming to help him again… It’s the least you could do.” Jasmine put all of Jasiel’s worksheets into his folder.

  “Here you go. Be lucky I’m not like most niggas who don’t even come around or provide financially.”

  Jasmine paused, staring down at the table Jasiel and I had been working on.

  “Manny, I do appreciate what you do, but I’m praying one day you see how much harm you can cause Jasiel by keeping him a secret.”

  “It’s yo’ damn fault. If you wasn’t out here fucking everything with a dick, then it wouldn’t be a problem.”

  “Right, because I convinced you to fuck me raw.”

  “I asked if you were on the pill!”

  “No you did not! You told me to take a fucking Plan B afterwards, and I told you I forgot! You’re just pissed I didn’t want an abortion!”

  Waving her off and sucking my teeth, I barked, “You ain’t forgot shit! This was a trap! You saw I was a handsome nigga with some bread and wanted me to be your baby daddy!”

  Jasmine guffawed so heavily that I flinched a tiny bit.

  “Nigga, you think you’re the richest and best looking nigga that I’ve had? Well you’re not. Get over yourself. And honestly, I hate that you’re Jasiel’s father. I wish I’d made him with a real man who didn’t give a fuck what a bunch of other niggas thought about him to the point where he couldn’t acknowledge his own offspring in public.”

  “You watch yo’ fucking mouth, Jas.”

  “Fuck you! You must be gay, worried about what all these niggas think of you!”

  WHAM!

  Out of reflex, I went across her face.

  “Jasmine, my bad. I ain’t mean—” I tried to touch her, but she shoved me.

  “Move! Say goodnight to Jasiel and go,” she whimpered.

  “Jasmine.” I stared down at her, but she wouldn’t give me eye contact. I attempted to bring her close to me, but she swatted me away.

  Declining to tell my son goodnight since I felt like shit for popping his mother, I left out the door. My balls shriveled up, seeing Belly across the way, chopping it up with this nigga named Dexter. Dexter was a mutual friend of ours but more of Belly’s since he was into all that hood shit Belly was into.

  “Fuck,” I mumbled, trying to be low key as I walked down Jasmine’s steps. It was already suspicious that I was here in the early evening.

  Belly’s back was to me, but Dexter spotted me then pointed. Bitch ass nigga.

  “Fuck you doing over here!” Belly shouted before making his way over. “You still dipping in Jasmine, huh?” He grinned widely as he dapped me up.

  “Yeah, you know how it is.”

  “That uppity groupie pussy ain’t as good as hood bitch pussy, bruh. I already know.”

  “Blaise ain’t uppity?” I chuckled nervously. My feet wouldn’t move because I was so damn skittish.

  “Nah, she’s from the hood but bettered her life, so she’s the best of both worlds. But don’t worry about my girl’s pussy, that’s… mine.” His last word trailed off just as I heard the screen door to Jasmine’s home fly open.

  “Jasiel!” Jasmine called after him. Fuck. I forgot to lock the door because seeing Belly had caught me off guard.

  “Daddy, stay!” Jasiel shouted, rushing to me.

  I wanted to scoop him up, but I couldn’t, so I stayed silent. Belly looked away from Jasiel and to me, obviously confused as fuck.

  “Jasiel, come here.” Jasmine walked out of the house.

  “Daddy!” he called me again, tugging the end of my shirt, but I was paralyzed.

  Squatting down, Belly tapped Jasiel’s shoulder and said, “What’s up, man?”

  “Hi.” Jasiel let go of my shirt to look Belly in the eyes. “I’m Cortez, but they call me Belly. Nice to meet you, Jasiel.”

  “You’re welcome,” Jasiel replied, making Belly laugh. “I seen you on TV before,” he added bashfully, as Jasmine walked up behind him, glancing at me temporarily with worried eyes. Still I felt like a statue.

  “Oh yeah? You like boxing?” Belly asked, and Jasiel nodded. “I tell you what, next time I train, I’ll have ya daddy bring you by to watch, aight?”

  “Okay!”

  “Can I get a hug?” Belly reached his arms out, and Jasiel rushed into him. As Belly hugged him, he looked up at me with a somewhat disappointed expression, which confused me.

  “Okay, come on.” Jasmine took Jasiel’s hand to take him back inside of the house.

  Once the door was closed, I laughed.

  “Man, these hoes got their kids calling every nigga they fuck their daddy.” As I continued to chortle, Belly just looked at me with a blank expression.

  “Why you lying?”

  “Ly
ing? Nigga, come on now! Me, having a son with that hoe?” I used my thumb to point over my shoulder.

  “After all the shit you dealt with from being denied by our pops, you turn around and do the same shit to ya own kid.”

  “He ain’t mine, aight!” I roared from the pit of my soul. I was ready to punch this nigga.

  Belly chuckled then nodded.

  “If I had any doubt that you didn’t belong to my pops, this is confirmation right now. You are definitely that nigga’s son. Y’all both some bitch ass niggas.”

  “Oh yeah, and what the fuck is you? The way that nigga dogged ya mama out, and you do the same shit to females you claim you love.”

  “You right. I ain’t the best nigga when it comes to relationships, but I would never be so muthafuckin’ weak that I’d ignore my own kid, begging for my attention right in my face.”

  “Fuck you, Cortez.”

  “That’s cool.” He started off toward his car. “Oh, and I’m gon’ tell you like I tell these other muthafuckas, don’t mention my girl no more. You don’t know shit about what we got going on. And I’ll beat yo’ ass, bruh, siblings or not.”

  I was so perturbed I couldn’t say shit as he slipped into his car, yelled bye to Dexter through his passenger window, and sped off, giving me eye contact. I felt like my life was over, and I wanted nothing to with Jasmine or my son as of right now. I needed some time and space.

  7

  Priscilla

  Blaise and I were out shopping but decided to stop for a second for some vegan frozen yogurt since we didn’t eat dairy. The sun was out, shining brightly, so the weather was nice today, despite it being fall season.

  As we sat down at a table outside to eat, I saw Belly’s name pop up on Blaise’s iPhone screen, indicating she had a text. I watched as she picked it up, replied while wearing a smile, and then set the phone back down.

  “What’s that look?” she questioned, shoving a spoonful of the yogurt into her mouth.

  “Nothing. I just, I like seeing you this happy, but I’m worried it’s going to be snatched from you again.”

  “Well it won’t. I wouldn’t have taken him back if I thought it was going to be the same thing, Priscilla.”

  “I know. I just wanted to be sure. You’re not just taking him back because you love him and because you’re pregnant, right?”

  She cocked her head to stare me down.

  “I took him back because I believe he understands that he made a mistake, and also because yes, I do love him. But I love how he makes me feel as well, and I think he and I were meant to be together.” She ate some more. “No man has ever protected me or cared about me more than himself. I feel like I really mean something to him, which is new.”

  “I understand. That’s really good too, and like I said, I believe he does love you. And that big ass ring he gave you does help his case.”

  We chuckled in unison.

  “Plus, I was carrying Jelani’s baby once upon a time, and that didn’t convince me to take his ass back. Give me some credit.”

  “True, I’m sorry. I’m convinced.”

  “Good. Was everything okay at the doctor?”

  “Huh?” I played dumb.

  “You said you had a doctor’s appointment yesterday afternoon and couldn’t go to the nail shop. Or did you just lie to me because you didn’t want to see me.” Blaise grinned, showing her pretty smile.

  “No.” I chuckled very lightly. “It was fine. I just had a little problem down there is all.”

  “What kind of problem?”

  “You’re eating, I will tell you once we’re done.”

  “No. I’m pregnant, but my stomach is like iron. I can take it. Tell me.”

  I looked away briefly, staring at the white woman with her two kids, while trying to manage holding her shopping bags.

  “So for the past week and a half, I’ve had a little odor down below. I was caught off guard at first but figured it was just a yeast infection. However, it kept getting stronger, and even when I was fresh out of the shower, when I would test to see, it was still a strong smell.”

  “Ummm.”

  “Exactly. So I went to the doctor, and I found out I had trich.”

  “Excuse me? And what the fuck did Rafi have to say about this? I hope you beat his ass.”

  “No, I haven’t said anything yet. I think I’m still floored about it. I mean, how could he give me this if it’s just been us two?”

  “Because it hasn’t been, Priscilla.” She kept her eyes strongly on mine. “I bet you he got it from Yesenia.”

  “Blaise, don’t start that again. I believe her when she said she wasn’t fucking with him.”

  “You need to bring it to his attention ASAP.”

  “I will, trust me.”

  “And Priscilla, I know you love him and want to be with him, but just know that he gave that to you from fucking around. He didn’t get it from a toilet seat or a pair of dirty boxers. He fucked another woman, a dirty bitch at that. STDs are grounds for termination.”

  I didn’t want to believe what Blaise was saying, but she was right. I was just baffled because Rafi wasn’t the cheating type. As I said before, I never had any problems with him in that department. The only issue we’d had regarding any type of infidelity was the Yesenia stuff. I was just afraid to find out the truth, and I knew asking Rafi about it would cause some harsh facts to surface. Him cheating was bad in itself, but like Blaise said, an STD was a whole other ballgame.

  “I love how honest you are.” I smiled at Blaise.

  “Well, I love you, so I’m not going to let you get played.”

  “Likewise.”

  We finished our frozen yogurts, shopped some more, and then hit the nail shop before separating.

  When I got home, Rafi wasn’t there, of course. He was working, so I cooked dinner for my kids and aunt before my aunt went home. Once my son and daughter were bathed and in bed, I took my own shower, downed a glass of wine, and then drifted off to sleep.

  Hours later… Around 3 a.m.…

  I felt Rafi’s cold lips on my neck, as I struggled to wake myself up. But when his big hand went between my legs, my brain and body finally connected.

  “No, Rafi, not tonight.”

  “How many times you gon’ tell me that this week, Prissy? I’m horny as hell.” He turned me onto my back, kissing the exposed parts of my breasts.

  “Rafi, I had an odor, and I went to the doctor.”

  His head popped up, and after gazing into my eyes for a couple seconds, he burst into laughter.

  “I’ve been fucking you for years and ya pussy has always smelled good to me. Fuck is you talking about?”

  “I’m talking about the fact that you gave me an STD.”

  “I ain’t never had shit in my life. So I don’t know what the fuck that quack ass doctor got you thinking, but the shit ain’t true. My dick is fine.” He got off of me and began removing his jewelry.

  Sitting up, I asked, “Rafi, where did I get a damn STD from then?”

  “You don’t have one. I’m sure there’s other shit that causes odors or whatever the fuck you had going on, but it ain’t no damn disease.”

  He was going in so, that I almost believed him. But there was no way around this. There was no way I could internally convince myself that Rafi hadn’t cheated and given me an infection.

  “Who is she? Or is it multiple bitches? What hoe gave you something that you brought back to me, you nasty muthafucka.”

  Rafi pulled his shirt off, tossed it to one of the chairs, and then started toward me. I was now sitting up with my feet hanging off the side of the bed. Leaning down into my face, he pressed his fists into the bed on each side of me.

  “This is the last time I’m gon’ tell yo’ ass this, Priscilla. I don’t have shit, and I ain’t never had shit. Only female I’m fucking is you. So if you got any type of diseases, you must’ve got that shit from another nigga. Now I don’t want to hear shit else about this unless you g
on’ come clean about yo’ extracurricular activities.” Rising up, he turned to walk off, snatching his Hermès belt from the loops of his jeans, and tossing it, before heading into the bathroom for a shower.

  Rafi and I had been sleeping in separate bedrooms ever since our argument a week ago. We didn’t talk, and it made me feel some type of way. This nigga had cheated on me and given me an STD yet didn’t feel the need to apologize or come off the least bit remorseful in any way. And this evening, I was fed up with his bullshit, so I was showing up to his studio to let him know we were over with and not to come home. Hell, had he come home last night, I would have told him then.

  Only reason I even knew he was here at the moment is because he went live on Instagram, and I recognized the background.

  “Oh, hey, Yesenia.” I was taken aback seeing her in the studio room.

  Turning to me, she looked surprised, mouth open, with no sound coming out for a few seconds.

  “Hey, Priscilla. I didn’t know you were coming.”

  “Yeah, me neither.” I set my purse on top of the counter in the room. “Where is Rafi?”

  “Oh, he went to get us some food.”

  We just looked at one another for a little while, before she turned away, rubbing her palms up and down her jeans.

  “I will wait for him to come back. How long ago did he leave?” I sat down.

  “About fifteen minutes ago.” She got up. “I’m going to go to the bathroom. Be right back.”

  I said nothing as I inspected my mink nails. I heard a ping in the midst and saw it was coming from Yesenia’s computer. Another one came in, so I stood up then made my way over to it. Staring down at her laptop, I spotted another text message from some man named Damien.

  Glancing over my shoulder to make sure she wasn’t in the window of the studio door, I clicked the text message, pulling up all of her conversations. My eyes went right to Rafi’s name in the list, so I tapped it to read their conversation. The last text he’d sent was asking her what kind of chips she wanted with her food, so I scrolled up a tiny bit until something caught my eye.