by Natavia
“You want to hear something?” I asked Janae.
I stabbed Angela in her chest, “You hear that shit? Listen to this shit!” I stabbed her again.
“What are you doing to her?” she screamed.
“The same shit you did to my family!” I told her then I gave Angela the phone. I took a seat in the chair across from her. I pulled out my blunt then lit it up. “You want to hit this shit? It will open your lungs up, so you won’t die so fast!” I said to her. She had tears falling from her eyes as her breathing slowed.
“Tell your daughter you love her and she will see you when I send her to wherever the fuck you are going!” I told her.
“I’m sorry, Janae! I’m so sorry!” she said into the phone.
“What did he do to you, mama? What the fuck did he do?” she screamed through the phone.
I snatched the phone from Angela.
“Now you can watch her casket drop like I had to watch my mother’s, you crazy bitch! I will find your ass! And when I do, I’m going to have you beg me to kill you!” I said hanging up. I put the phone in my pocket then walked downstairs to the basement. These houses were old, so the walls were very thin. I knocked some of the wall down from the vacant row house next door and that’s how I got into Angela’s house. I went the same way I came in. When I got inside of the vacant house, I climbed out the basement bathroom window. I ended up in an alley.
Beans picked me up from around the corner. If it wasn’t for Beans, I wouldn’t have found out about Angela helping Janae out.
“You need to be a detective or something instead of working at Geek Squad!” I told him.
“I know man but just because I’m not a hood nigga doesn’t mean me and police and all that other shit is going to mix. As long as my skin is black, I’m staying away from all of them fuckers!” he said.
“You want to hit this?” I asked him.
“Naw, I’m good! I got a date in a few and I’m not trying to be all high when I pick her up!” he said.
“Awwwww, shit now! Nigga, you got a date?” I asked him then he smiled.
“Yeah, this woman I met at the grocery store! She looks like Kelly Rowland! Shorty is bad!” he said.
“Oh, yeah? I used to smash a broad that looked like Kelly Rowland! What’s her name?” I asked him.
“Melah!” he said then I choked off of the smoke. I pounded my chest.
“You good?” he asked me.
“Yeah, so are you feeling shorty?” I asked him. If he wasn’t then I would tell him I used to fuck her. Besides Latavia, she could’ve had my mind gone but she was too clingy and wanted me to knock her up. She used to take ovulation tests and all of that.
“Yeah, I think she is the one! She wants kids and all of that! When you get yourself together, I want you to meet her,” he said pulling up in front of the hotel I was staying at.
I gave him a few stacks. He held the money looking at me. “Come on, man! We are boys, I don’t need this!” he said.
“Buy your girl something nice! Take her shopping!” I said getting out. I laughed to myself because when I was fucking Melah I didn’t take her ass shopping even when she used to beg me to. Looks like she finally got her wish.
I got to my room then grabbed my Henny out of the mini freezer. I downed it then popped a Zanax. I had been taking them heavy lately. I woke up on the floor this morning because I blacked out from them especially when I mix it with liquor.
My phone rang then I finally answered it. “Yooooo!” I said into the phone.
“This is Shaw! I was locked up with your pops and he told me to holla at you!” he said into the phone. I forgot all about this nigga my pops was telling me about. He was supposed to be some big-time nigga from Baltimore. But, then he caught a murder charge and just recently he had been released because he was found not guilty. The evidence was mysteriously lost.
“I’ll meet you tomorrow, nigga, at the basketball court off Jefferson. You familiar with that area?” I asked him.
“Yeah, somewhat,” he said.
“I’ll be there by 2pm and, nigga, if you show up two seconds late don’t even bother coming and lose my number!” I said before I hung up.
I finished my bottle and images of my mother popped into my head. I missed her telling the story of how she dropped me on my head. I would give anything right now to hear her tell me again.
I hadn’t talked to Latavia but O’Shea called me earlier saying that Britain been spending time with her and had even got her out of the house. That’s a good thing because I almost killed her ass yesterday.
I woke up to knocking on my hotel room door. I looked at the time and it was ten in the morning. Usually when I took a Xanax it kept me sleep longer. I opened the door and it was the housekeeper. She pushed her cart in. She looked to be around twenty or a little older. She looked at my chest then she eyed my morning wood and I smirked.
“Do what you got to do, shorty, then get the fuck out! Y’all shouldn’t be coming in this damn early anyway!” I told her then she rolled her eyes.
“I hope they get stuck too!” I said.
“You are too handsome for all of that attitude!” she replied.
I laughed. “You want to take care of this then?” I asked pointing down to my hard on. I was still drunk from last night!
She gasped. “If you are not going to make my attitude any better then shut the hell up!” I said adjusting my dick. She turned around, bending over grabbing clean towels.
“Shorty, your period came on through your pants!” I said to her. She was wearing light khaki pants.
“You are such an asshole!” she said taking the towels into the bathroom. She rushed back out then grabbed a towel wrapping it around her waist. I started feeling sorry for her.
“You good?” I asked her.
“No! This is so embarrassing!” she said. She had a cute face and was on the slim side. But she was cute.
“Yeah, it is but fuck it! It happened! I got a shorty and I know how y’all bleed like a slaughtered pig! Where is your car at? Want me to get something out of there?” I asked.
She walked closer to me, grabbed my face then smiles, “Kenjay?” she asked me. I smack her hands away.
“Yo, don’t be putting those nasty-ass fingers on my face!” I told her.
“You don’t remember me?” she asked.
“No, but I’m sure your retarded ass is going to tell me!” I said then she laughed.
“Manessa! I came over your house a few times with Takera!” she said.
“Oh, yeah! I remember you! You got cuter!” I told her.
“You still rude as fuck!” she said.
“Give me your keys so I can get your shit! You standing here trying to play catch up and your period came through your clothes! I hope you’re not this ratchet!” I said smiling at her then she blushed.
“Where is it parked and what kind of car is it?” She reached inside of her pocket then gave me her car key.
“It’s a white Camry parked in the back of the hotel in the employee parking lot. My bag with my change of clothes is in the trunk,” she said.
I grabbed my Rolex and a few other things that were sitting out. My money was in the hotel room safe. She didn’t know the code so I left it in there.
“I don’t steal!” she said.
“Shorty, I don’t trust any woman who doesn’t know when her period is about to come on!” I told her then she rolled her eyes and pouted her lip. I actually found that cute, though. Latavia did that when she wanted her way. I missed her spoiled ass already.
I walked out of my room then got on the elevator. I walked out of the lobby and into the parking lot in the back of the building.
I chirped the alarm. It was the car all the way at the end. “Her simple ass would be the only one parked this far!” I said out loud. I popped the trunk then grabbed her “Hello Kitty” duffle bag.
I walked back into the lobby then got on the elevator. I pressed “5” but it stopped at floor three. When the doors ope
ned, I was greeted by Latavia. She cut her hair short with a short bang swooping down. It was still dyed red. I thought the style looked good on her. I could see she put on make-up to cover the bags that she had under eyes.
“What the fuck are you doing here? Why the fuck are you not at home?” I asked her.
“I moved out! Who are you here with?” she asked starring at the pink bag. This is what I get for being nice.
“You moved out? Yo, don’t fucking play with me, shorty! I put this on my life, I will drag you back home! Are you here with a nigga?” I asked her grabbing her shirt.
“Get off of me! No, I’m not here with a nigga! Have you forgotten that I was shot! It hasn’t even been two whole weeks yet! What bitch bag is that? You fucking a little girl? You have a daughter I don’t know about?” she asked.
“Can you please just go home? I need my shorty home!” I told her. Shorty was stressing me out!
“I need to get away for a while! That house hurts me! I can’t even walk past our son’s room! I need some air!” she said wiping her eyes.
I pulled her off of the elevator when the doors opened on my floor. Manessa was coming out of my room with one of my t-shirts on covering her ass.
“I was wondering what happened to you!” she said.
“Who the fuck are you? Did you just come out of my man’s room?” Latavia asked her.
“I work here!” she said.
“Why the fuck are you wearing his t-shirt?” Latavia replied.
“Calm down! It’s not even like that!” I told her.
Manessa grabbed her bag. “One of the employees will get my cart out of your room! Thanks for getting this for me!” she said walking off.
“Your car key!” I called out. Latavia snatched it from me then threw it at her.
Manessa picked it up then hurriedly got onto the elevator.
“That was rude!” I told her.
“Who is that?” she asked.
“A broad I know from back in the day. Her period came on through her clothes while she was in my room. I offered to get her bag!” I told her.
“Umph!” she said.
I hugged her tightly, almost lifting her up from off of the floor.
“Are going to leave me? When I need you?” I asked her inhaling her fruity scent.
“I just need time, Kenjay!” she said.
“Can I talk to you for a few minutes?” I asked her.
Latavia
I followed Kenjay into his room looking around. I checked the trashcan then lifted up the toilet seat.
I pulled the covers back. “What are you looking for?” he asked me.
“Evidence! I don’t trust that bitch! I remember telling you the same shit about Janae and look what she did!” I told him.
“I only kept her around because she was plotting on me! I needed her close to watch her moves!” he finally confessed.
“I know all about that! She told me everything!” I told him.
“So, you was going to leave me and not tell me right?” he asked me.
“You left me!” I yelled throwing my purse at him.
“You was trying to kill us! What the fuck you wanted me to do? Stand there and let you talk to me any kind of way, pointing guns at me and shit?” he asked me.
“I was going through something!” I told him.
He charged into me, pushing me up against the wall. “What the fuck you think? I wasn’t going through something, either? I fucking needed you! I still need you! You are not walking away from us! You wanted me to fall in love with you and I fucking did! Everything you wanted, you fucking got!” he shouted in my face.
“It’s my fucking turn to want something and I can’t get it! I want my fucking shorty to have my fucking back! I’m your fucking man and all you have been doing is trying to belittle me and make me take the blame for what that bitch did!” he said to me.
“I got everything I wanted from you except the truth! I asked you were you still selling drugs and you told me you quit! Those two small restaurants you opened up isn’t bringing that much money in! You pay all of our bills and tell me to save my money! Where is all the money coming from, Kenjay?” I asked him.
“I’ve been saving! What the fuck!” he said with frustration written across his face.
“Why is there a safe behind the picture in the basement? I caught you one day taking stacks of money out of a duffle bag and placing them inside of the safe! I’m not a dumb bitch! I graduated from college and all of that! I know what drug money looks like!” I told him.
“I don’t know what the fuck you are talking about!” he said backing up.
“We can’t have a relationship if there is no trust! You are lying to me about that and I don’t know what else you are lying about!” I said.
“Okay, fuck it! I’m still hustling! I will never stop hustling and the only reason I agreed to quit is because you forced me to. You told me I couldn’t be in my seed’s life if I didn’t stop! So, I lied to you!” he told me.
“You will never stop?” I asked.
“I will never stop! Kenjay is taking over and if you don’t like that shit go ahead about your business! I grinded too fucking hard to let a bitch come into my life and try to run me! Especially a bitch who can’t even have her man’s back! I’m not saying that I wanted you to pat my back and all of that! But you shouldn’t have said the shit you said to me! I didn’t want any comforting words or none of that shit! All I wanted you to do was respect the state of mind I was in!” he said.
“I fucking hate you!” I told him. He grabbed my face then kissed me, sucking on my lip. I tried pushing him off but he pressed his body harder against mine. He then opened the door then pushed me out of his room.
“Get your dumb-ass on!” he said shutting the door in my face.
I went into my purse then popped a pain pill. My body was still sore. I was moving better than before but still not like how I wanted to.
My phone rang for the hundredth time from an Unknown caller. I answered it.
“Who the fuck is this?” I asked.
“What’s happening, baby girl? I know you miss daddy!” he said.
“Dayquan?” I asked.
“Yup! Now come and see your husband! I miss you!” he said to me. This could not be happening to me right now. If Kenjay found out I was married all hell would break loose.
Carla
It’s been three days since my mother was killed. The investigators discovered it was her that set that fire. The day she visited me, she snuck inside of the linen room setting it on fire. For some reason the linen room didn’t have smoke alarms or sprinklers, so by the time the alarms went off, it was too late. She proved to me that she really loved me and Kenjay took her away from me.
They had her crime all over the news and when they went to arrest her they discovered her dead body. She died from multiple stab wounds to the chest.
I had Nathan tied up as my father worked to put together my new identity. I sat next to Nathan with a gun to his head as he had piss everywhere. The smell of piss mixed along with Veronica’s body and her dead dog was starting to fill the house.
“It stinks in here!” my daddy said.
“Good! Keep working!” I told him.
“You are going to die and I can’t wait until you do!” Tammy said to me from the corner of the room.
I threw something at her but she disappeared. I banged my head with my fist, “Leave me alone! Please, leave me alone!” I yelled at her.
“Eat your peas!” I heard my grandmother say to me. I hit my head harder as more voices whispered then they all started getting louder. My head started spinning then I burst out in tears. “STOP IT! STOP IT!” I screamed. They started laughing at me then a baby started crying.
“Take your pills!” my brother said to me. I reached inside of my combat boot grabbing my knife. I jabbed my knife into his leg then twisted it. “Shut your ugly ass up! Our mother is dead and you need to have some respect for her when she whispers
to me!” I said licking his face.
“LEAVE HIM ALONE!” my daddy said.
“Oh, shut up! I been here for three days and I’m getting bored! Hurry the fuck up!” I told him.
“It’s okay, son, I’m going to save us!” he told my brother. I smiled to myself.
“Please, don’t hurt them!” Janae cried into my head.
“Bitch, don’t tempt me!” I told her.
“If you take your pills, you wouldn’t be hearing those voices or seeing people who aren’t here!” my daddy said to me.
“Nigga, are you a psychiatrist? Shut the fuck up and stop talking to me!” I told him.