See, this is why I hated living with him. Sometimes I wish Ryan’s ass would get out of his feelings about me calling him the wrong name and fucking up his couches. I wouldn’t have to go through this shit if I was over there.
“Yo, on some real shit, if you can’t start helping around here, you gotta bounce.”
Was he serious? I couldn’t believe this nigga. He wants to treat me like this after what he did to me? I don’t know where his mind was at, but it needed to get correct fast.
“Nigga, let’s not forget that you owe me for what you did.”
He blew out a breath. “Ah, hell, not this shit again. Mya, you need to get over it, because if anything, you gave that shit to me.”
“Are you serious right now?” I laughed. “I stay at the clinic religiously, so I know damn well I didn’t come here with any STDs. You, on the other hand, already knew you had it, then tried to put it on me.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Cassan, after you fuck someone for the first time without protection, who says, ‘If you gave me something, I won’t be mad because I know you were messing with other niggas before me. But anything after this day will be a problem’? It was like you were warning me already.” I got up and went into the kitchen. “That’s why I made an appointment at Planned Parenthood a few days later. And guess what I found out? Your nasty ass gave me chlamydia.”
“Man, I didn’t give you shit. If anything, you gave that mess to me. That’s neither here nor there, though. We’re both clean now, and that’s all that matters.”
See what I’m talking about? This nigga is always on some bullshit. If I had somewhere else to go right now, best believe I would sure be there, but since I don’t, I just gotta sit here and wait it out until my plan falls into place.
After I grabbed everything out of the fridge that I needed to make a little something for him to eat, I made my way to the living room and cleaned up a little. I really didn’t want to do it, but I needed him to be in a good mood before I asked him for a few dollars. And once I had his belly full and his dick empty, I knew that money would be as good as got.
Jerome
I’d been going out of my mind for the last few weeks. JaNair was still ignoring my calls and any other form of communications I’ve tried. The flowers I’ve sent were turned away. The “I’m Sorry” cards I mailed were returned. She even went as far as to block both Gerald and Toby’s numbers since I tried to call her from their phones a few times.
I was going crazy. Then to make matters worse, this crazy bitch Mya somehow got my phone number again and wouldn’t stop texting me for shit.
The only reason why I hadn’t changed my number again was because she claimed she could help me with getting JaNair back. Something on the inside was telling me that she was lying, but I was so desperate to get Jay back into my life that I’d do just about anything right now, including sleeping with the devil.
I pulled up to Toby’s house and honked my horn. We had some business to handle at Lotus Bomb, and I offered to swing by and pick my boy up.
When he opened the door, I was surprised to see Niecey walk out behind him. He walked her to her car and opened the door for her. Before she got in, he grabbed a big handful of ass and pulled her close to his chest. I couldn’t figure out what he was whispering into her ear, but whatever it was had Niecey blushing hard as hell. After kissing her a few more times and getting one last hug, he finally hopped into my car.
“Damn, nigga! Don’t be slamming my door like that. I don’t wanna have to sue your ass if you break my shit.”
“Dude, I can buy you ten of these little Transformer cars, so shut the fuck up. Now, when you move up to the level with us big boys, then you can talk.”
“Man, if I wanted a Range, Lex, or Benz, I could get one. But it would be a waste of my hard-earned money just to get a car and not drive it like your ass. I don’t come from money like you, so I can’t afford to have a showroom of luxury vehicles in my garage.”
“Fuck you, man!”
I just laughed. I don’t know why Toby hated to be reminded of his wealthy background. A nigga like me would be embracing the hell outta that shit.
Thankfully, there was no traffic on the freeway, so we made it to the lounge in thirty minutes.
After doing some inventory, unloading the alcohol shipment, taste testing the new menu our chef came up with and going through potential candidates for the waitress opening, we finally had a moment to sit back and catch up.
“Yo, have you talked to G lately? I haven’t heard from him in a minute.”
“Yeah, that nigga been spending all of his free time with that girl he was telling us about . . . Daya, Day Day or something like that. He finally made it official and wifed her up.”
Toby nodded his head.
“What’s up with you and Niecey? I see y’all been kicking it real tough lately.”
He smiled. “Yeah . . . That girl is something else right there. At first, I thought she was gonna be a hit-it-and-quit-it situation, but after getting to know her and what she’s all about, I can honestly say that I’m really feeling her.”
“Damn, that pussy that good?” I laughed.
“I wouldn’t know.” He looked at me. “We haven’t had sex yet.”
“WHAT! I just knew you beat them panties up already.” He shook his head. “Well, if it’s true what they say about twins having the same everything, then I’m pretty sure she has some nice pussy because LaLa’s was pretty good.”
“See, that’s your problem now, Rome, thinking with your dick and not your head. You think JaNair is tripping now? Just wait until she finds out that that baby LaLa’s carrying might be yours too.”
I spit my drink out of my mouth. “How . . . How do you know that?”
Toby went on to tell me about the family dinner he attended with Niecey a week ago and how LaLa revealed that she had three possible baby daddies.
“Your girl Mya was there, and Niecey put her ass on blast about fucking you behind JaNair’s back too.”
“Fuck!” I screamed out in frustration. This was all I needed.
“Yeah, man, fuck is right. Niecey’s mom told her that LaLa’s been at JaNair’s house for the last week; said something about not feeling safe in the house after Niecey smacked fire from her ass.”
I don’t know why, but at that moment, I started to become hot as hell. I had to unbutton a few buttons on my shirt and call the bar for a glass of ice-cold water.
“Man, calm your ass down,” Toby said laughing, but I didn’t see shit funny. “I already know what you’re probably thinking, and you shouldn’t even be worried. It’s obvious that if JaNair knew anything about the situation, LaLa would not be at her house right now. And she’s probably not going to know anytime soon. LaLa needs her friend right now since she and her sister are at odds.”
He was speaking some truth there, and to keep it all the way honest, LaLa would probably be in the hospital right now if Jay was aware. A lot of people didn’t know this about her, but JaNair had a really bad temper when pushed.
Toby and I sat there and finished up the rest of the paperwork that we needed to do, then called it quits. Because neither one of us were going to be there that night, I made sure to call both assistant managers into work for the night before we left.
“So, are you still going to throw JaNair her birthday party next week? If not, you need to let me know as soon as possible. There’s a couple of people interested in having their parties in the VIP section that night as well.” He paused for a minute, then continued. “I was thinking we can just section off half of the room for Jay’s party, then we can divide the other half in two parts, so they can have theirs. Just let them each have a twenty-five-guest limit, including themselves. That way, VIP won’t be too crowded. Then we can have bottle service standard and make a few extra racks off of that.”
Now do you see why I brought him on board? His white ass was always finding ways to make some extra
money.
“I’m cool with that. Just as long as the surprises I have lined up for JaNair go on without a hitch, it’s all good.”
He side eyed me. “Surprises? What kind of surprises?”
“Let’s just say that your boy is ready to get his life together and spend the rest of it with JaNair.”
* * *
“Thanks for watching him on such short notice, Jerome. I really appreciate it.”
“Unique . . . I mean Tangie, you don’t have to thank me for watching my own son. It’s my job too.”
“Well, I didn’t know if you had plans or anything tonight. And I didn’t want to interrupt them if you did.”
“Naw, you’re good. But if you don’t mind me asking, what are you about to get into?”
She kind of hesitated for a minute, then finally spoke, “Me and a few of my homegirls are going out for a little bit. One’s having relationship problems, and the other is having family issues.”
I nodded my head and followed her to the door to let her out. I had just locked the last lock and was getting ready to go catch up with some sports highlights when I started to really think about what she had just said: A homegirl having relationship problems and one with family issues.
Tangie was never one to make friends because a lot of chicks hated on her. They also thought she was really stuck-up based off of her looks when she was far from it. One of the reasons why I was attracted to Tangie when we first met was because of her sweet spirit. Yeah, she’d cut a bitch in a minute, but she also would give you the shirt off her back if she had to.
Going over what she just said in my head again, I hurried up and unlocked the doors and ran outside. I was just in time to see her getting ready to pull out of my driveway. I held up my hands and started to wave them around, hoping to grab her attention. When she finally noticed me, she stopped the car and rolled down her window.
“What’s up, Jerome?”
I asked somewhat out of breath, “These homegirls you’re talking about, they wouldn’t happen to be JaNair and LaLa, would they?” She didn’t respond, so I already knew my answer. “Look, Tangie, I know this is hella awkward because it wasn’t too long ago that you and I were together, but I was hoping you could put in a good word for me with JaNair. She won’t answer my phone calls or anything, and if you can’t tell, I’m really torn up about it.”
We both were silent for a few moments. I didn’t know what she was thinking. I just hoped she’d look out for me this one time.
“I can tell that you’re really feeling—”
I cut her off. “Love.”
“OK, love JaNair, but you gotta give her some time, Jerome. I mean, you did lie—”
I cut her off again. “Didn’t admit.”
She rolled her eyes. “OK, you didn’t admit that you had a child already. You need to understand, Jerome, that your whole relationship with JaNair is in question to her now. If you could easily not admit to having a son, what else are you not admitting to?”
I never looked at it from that point of view. I’d probably question our relationship as well if I found out she had a child she never admitted to either.
“Look, I gotta get going. But I’ll make sure to bring you up to see where her head is at now when it comes to y’all’s relationship, OK?”
“Thanks, U . . . I mean Tangie.” I shook my head. I needed to get used to calling her by her real name. “I know this might be kind of weird because of our past, but I really do appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome, Jerome, and I’m not tripping about you and JaNair. I realize that what we had wasn’t really what I thought it was. We never really got to know each other than sexually. A few months after we met, I ended up pregnant, which caused us to be together out of obligation. I had love confused with lust, and I know the difference now, so we good.”
We talked for several more minutes before Tangie left. I rushed back into the house and turned on the heat. Those San Fernando Valley winds were no joke.
I checked in on JJ, then went in search for my cell phone. I wanted to send JaNair my nightly good night and I love you text. When I opened the door to my bedroom, I damn near shitted in my pants at the sight before me.
“What the fuck are you doing here?”
Semaj
I was in my room packing the rest of the clothes I was taking with me for my stay in Texas. I’d be out there for the next three months or so, so I needed to have at least two suitcases full of clothes and one of shoes.
I couldn’t believe that I was finally about to catch a break with this music-producing stuff. The A&R rep I spoke with said that the album I’d be working on should take no longer than a few months, but depending on how well shit started to move, I might be out there longer than that.
When I get out there, I was basically set up for my stay already. The label was providing a three-bedroom, two-bathroom, fully furnished condo, rental car to get around in, and a nice hefty signing bonus that was already sitting in my account. To say a nigga was on cloud nine would be an understatement. I was way higher than that, and I’m not speaking literally.
There was a light tap on my door, followed by my aunt poking her head into my room.
“Hey, J, you almost done in here?”
I stopped folding clothes. “Yeah, I just got a few more things I need to get into my suitcase, Auntie. Why? What’s up?”
She came fully into the room and sat down on the edge of my king-sized bed. I could tell she was trying to keep from crying, but I knew that was about to be an epic failure.
“Semaj . . .” She put her head down, but not before I saw a tear roll down her cheek. “Semaj, you know you’re my favorite nephew and I love you as if you were my own. I just want you to know that I am so proud of the man you’ve become and are becoming. From taking care of your responsibilities and being a great father for Ta’Jae to getting your degree and going on to do what you love with this music thing . . . I just want you to know that on behalf of your father, God bless his soul, and your triflin’-ass mama, wherever she may be, that it was my complete honor to be given the task to raise you. I hope and pray that you go on down there to Texas and knock ’em dead.” She laughed. “I want a couple of them Oscars on my mantle above the fireplace.”
“You mean Grammy’s, Auntie?”
“Grammy, Oscar, a Steve Harvey Hoodie Award . . . Whatever it is, I just want one, gotdamn it.”
I smiled and walked over to my aunt Shirley and gave her the biggest hug.
“Thank you so much for taking me in and being there for me when my own parents didn’t want to,” I said into her ear.
“You’re welcome, baby, and make sure you go talk to that little girl next door before you leave.” She pulled back from our embrace and looked me in the face. “I know she’s still a little confused with things, but don’t leave without telling her good-bye or you’ll see her soon.” She raised her eyebrow up as if she was making sure I understood the difference between the two.
I nodded my head and went back to taking care of my to-do list. My aunt and I talked and joked around for a few more minutes before she gave me another hug and left to go fix lunch.
I looked down at my phone on the dresser and thought about calling JaNair, but figured a face-to-face would be better. Although we’ve seen each other and talked on the phone since the day me, her, and Ta’Jae fell asleep together, I still haven’t told her about my trip. Honestly, I was hoping she would go with me. She’d be out of school for the semester, and this would be a great way to celebrate her birthday coming up.
I placed the last pair of shoes I wanted to take with me in the suitcase, then zipped it up. After moving all three of these heavy bags into the living room, I headed out of the door and across the fence to go see JaNair.
Ringing the doorbell for the third time without an answer, I was starting to become pissed. I knew she was here because her car was. Then again, I do remember her mentioning that she, Tangie, and LaLa were going to go shoppi
ng for her birthday outfit. Maybe she rode with one of them. I was just turning around to leave from her house when I noticed the blinds to the side window were open. I don’t know why, but something was bugging me to go over and look inside.
My dick instantly got hard when I saw JaNair lying stomach down on the couch. The little dress she had on was raised up a little bit above her hips, causing you to get a real good view of that ass. She had on some purple silk panties that may have been a size too small because they weren’t covering any of that extra booty meat she had.
“JaNair!” I yelled as I knocked on the window. Her ass must’ve been sleeping really good because she didn’t move at all.
“JaNair!” I yelled again, this time knocking on the window a little harder. She started to stir a little bit, then finally shot up like a rocket when she realized someone was beating on the window.
“Semaj?” she asked, wiping the sleep from her eyes. Even with her hair all over the place and the dried-up drool on the side of her face, JaNair still was sexy as fuck to me.
“Open the door, Jay, we need to talk.”
She stared at me for a minute, then motioned with her head for me to walk back over to the front entrance of her home. Once the wooden door was opened, that intoxicating smell of peaches wafted in the air.
After yawning and stretching, she spoke. “Hey, Semaj, what’s up?”
I didn’t even wait for her to invite me in. I just brushed past her, sat on the couch, and went right in on what we needed to talk about.
“Look, Jay, I came over here to tell you that I’m leaving for Texas tomorrow, and I’m gonna be gone for the next three months. I tried to tell you a few times before, but something else always came up.”
She just stood there and stared at me. I couldn’t tell how she was feeling because there was a blank expression on her face.
I continued anyway. “I got a call a couple of weeks ago from Rap-A-Lot Records, and they want me to come out there and produce that nigga Kirko Bangz’s new album.”
What Bae Won't Do Saga Page 18