Real Love

by Alexandria House

  “Mm-hmm, and how is Hasaan going?”

  I smiled so hard, I was afraid I’d break my own face. “I don’t know what to say, Trevia. He’s...he’s wonderful.”

  “Well, that smile says it all. You’ve been together, what now? Two months?”

  “Mm-hmm, and you know I told you he’s good in bed, right?”

  “When you said he was better than Kevin, I almost fainted because I know Kevin had you sprung for real.”

  “Trevia, I’m telling you. Hasaan is so good, I think if he asked me, I’d marry him right now today, and not just for his sex. He’s such a good man, hardworking, considerate, mature.”

  “I’m happy for you, girl! I could tell he was a good one the moment I met him. Now that brother of his? That’s a different story.”

  “I know, but at least Hasaan laid the law down so when I go to the shop he’s not all up in my face anymore. I thought I was gonna have to swat his ass like the mosquito he is.”

  Trevia laughed. “Well, let me go. Nyles and I are gonna grab something to eat before it’s time to get ready for his show.”

  “Okay. Y’all are in NYC, right?”

  “Right. All this traveling is wearing me out, but there’s no other place I’d rather be than right by my baby’s side.”

  “I know that’s right! Bye, girl.”

  “Bye, ’Nise.”

  I was back at the stove, checking on the marinara sauce I had made from scratch when I heard the front door open. When I felt him wrap his arms around my waist, move my hair, and kiss my neck, I said, “Aren’t you supposed to be at work?”

  “Yeah, well, one of my clients rescheduled, and I kept sitting in my office thinking about this fine little short woman who was at my place, so I had to come home. Quan’s gonna handle the walk-ins.”

  As I set the spoon down on the stove and placed my hands over his, I said, “Hmm, what were you thinking about this woman?”

  “About how beautiful and sexy she is.”

  “You know I’m crazy, too. I’ve just been on my best behavior so I can rope your fine ass in.”

  He laughed as he kissed the other side of my neck. “I’ve met your crazy side, baby.”

  “No, that was my angry side. My crazy side is on a whole ‘nother level.”

  “Damn, then I don’t wanna meet her.”

  “You have to really piss me off to meet her. Like, if you cheat on me, she might get violent and she and I both’ll be done with you. I’m a one-strike-and-you’re-out woman.”

  “Now why the hell would I do something as stupid as cheat on you?”

  “I have no idea. But stranger things have happened.”

  “Well, you ain’t got to worry about that. I’m tryna build forever with you, Denise. My goal is to change your name from Buhari to Peterson.”

  “Hmm, I like the sound of that.”

  *****

  We were in his bed that night, his head resting on my breasts, his arm around my waist, when the buzzing of a cell phone awakened me. At first I thought it was mine, so I decided to ignore it. If it was an emergency, whoever it was needed to call nine-one-one, because I wasn’t about to get up and answer that phone. I was tired, sleepy, and cozy with my man in my arms. A damn earthquake couldn’t have gotten me out of bed at—I glanced across the room at the clock sitting on the dresser—two-thirty in the morning. The buzzing stopped, and I closed my eyes. Less than a minute later, it started up again. This time I groaned softly, and with my eyes still closed, stretched my short arm as far as I could without disturbing Hasaan and grabbed my phone. I was going to curse whoever was calling out if they hadn’t at the very least been shot in the head and couldn’t remember how to call the police or something, I didn’t even care if it was my mama. The buzzing had stopped again, and when I checked the phone, I found no recent missed calls on the call log. I frowned, but when I heard the buzzing again, I realized it was Hasaan’s phone, not mine.

  “H,” I whispered, shaking his shoulder.

  He didn’t stir at all, so I called his name a little louder. Still, no response.

  “H!” I yelled.

  He popped up. “What is it, baby? You gotta let Big Daddy rest a few more minutes and I’ll give you some more...”

  “I’m not tryna screw! Your phone is ringing.”

  “Huh?” he asked, flopping onto the bed beside me and rubbing his eyes. “Phone?”

  “H, someone keeps calling you back to back, and I swear to you, if that’s a woman calling you, I’ma beat your ass right where you lay. I will make you regret ever meeting me.”

  “What?”

  “Answer your phone, nigga!”

  That woke him up. He rolled over, grabbed his phone, looked at the screen, and muttered, “Shit.”

  I sat up in the bed and glared at him. I mean, I was shooting daggers, steak knives, and damn Katanas at his ass.

  He glanced at me as he pressed a button on his phone and put it up to his ear. “It’s not a woman, baby. It’s my brother.”

  “If you think I believe that—”

  He snatched the phone from his ear and put it on speakerphone, his eyes glued to me. It rang once, and then I could hear a very drunk Rafiq slur, “H...H, man. Shit is fucked up. I’m out here and-and-and this ho’ won’t give me my keys. Tell Mama I was tryna make it home on time. I called and told her I was on the way ‘cuz you know she be worrying and shit, but this damn THOT—”

  “Who the hell you calling a ho’ and a THOT, ’Fiq? Huh?” a female voice shouted in the background.

  “Rafiq, is that Thalia?” Hasaan asked.

  “Yeah...that’s her ole trifling ass, done took my keys talking ‘bout I’m too drunk to drive. Bitch thinks she’s my mama. Your name Bettina Peterson? Hell, naw!”

  “Put Thalia on the phone, Rafiq,” Hasaan said.

  “Yeah, okay, hey...hey, come here, girl. My brother...shit, I said come here! Damn! H wanna talk to you.”

  “Hey, Hasaan, it’s Thalia.”

  “Hey, Thalia, he tryna drive drunk?”

  “Yeah...I took his keys, though. We at Frenchy’s. Can you come get him? He acting a fool with me. I ain’t tryna take him home with me like this.”

  Hasaan sighed. “I don’t blame you. I’ll be there in a few minutes. Can you just stay with him until I get there?”

  “You know I will. I love his sorry ass too much to leave him out here alone. You know they stay robbing folks around here.”

  “Okay, thanks, Thalia. I’ll be right there.”

  I hopped up and grabbed the clothes I’d discarded on the floor earlier.

  I was halfway dressed when Hasaan looked up from pulling his basketball shorts on, and said, “What are you doing?”

  I pulled my scarf off my head. “Going with you.”

  “It’s too late. No sense in both of us missing sleep. I’ma take him home and be back as soon as I can.”

  “No, I’m going with you. I’ll even drive.”

  “Denise, I really want you to stay.”

  I pulled my t-shirt on. “I’m going.”

  “Baby—”

  “Look! I don’t know this Thalia chick, so I’m going!”

  “You think I’m messing with Thalia? That’s Rafiq’s girlfriend, I guess. At least she thinks she is. I ain’t messing with her or anybody else but you.”

  “So it shouldn’t be a problem for me to come.”

  “Damn, you know what? Just come on. But we’re taking my truck in case he has to throw up or something. He can sit his ass in the bed.”

  I shrugged. “Fine with me.”

  Thirty minutes later, we were pulling into the parking lot at Frenchy’s, which was just as dilapidated as it was years ago when me and Greer and Trevia snuck our hot asses into it back when we were in high school. It might have actually been in worse shape. The Eiffel Tower fountain out front was as dry as a bone now. Cars crowded the lot in no type of order, and seeing no defined space for driving, Hasaan parked on the street, pulled out his cel
l phone, and called Thalia who still had Rafiq’s phone. A few minutes later, both Rafiq and Thalia, a short, skinny little thing, approached Hasaan’s side of the truck. Hasaan thanked Thalia and then climbed out of the driver’s side, and said, “Get in the back, Rafiq.”

  “Nah, nah, let me sit up front. I ain’t gon’ throw up this time.”

  “Front’s occupied. Get in the back, man. Come on,” Hasaan said.

  “Occupied?” He leaned in the open driver’s door. “It’s thick-ums! Shit, why you bring her?”

  “Because she’s my woman. Now get in the damn back, Rafiq!” Hasaan was losing his patience. So was I.

  “Okay, okay. Let me just apologize to her first. Hey, Denise? Denise, how you doing? Shit, you still fine. Hey, I’m sorry if I stopped y’all from fucking. I bet you got some good pussy, too.”

  My mouth fell open, and Hasaan hit him so hard in the back of the head, I think I felt it. Then he shoved him toward the back of the truck, and yelled, “Get your ass back there or walk! I really don’t give a damn which one you choose. But if you disrespect her one more time, I’ma kick your ass and leave you on the ground!”

  I think that smack in the head did him some good, or maybe it was Hasaan’s threat, because he climbed into the bed of that truck without another word. He had passed out by the time we arrived at a nice, two-story home near Trevia’s house. An older woman, probably their mother, was waiting in the doorway as Hasaan basically dragged Rafiq into the house. Once back behind the wheel of his truck, Hasaan fixed sad eyes on me, and said, “I’m sorry, baby. I really am.”

  I shook my head, believing in my heart that Rafiq had caused his entire family many sleepless nights, and said, “Don’t be. It’s not your fault.”

  26

  I walked into my place that morning with two breakfast trays from Haley’s Kitchen, trying to be as quiet as I could and not wake Denise up. But honestly, she was better off than me. She fell right back to sleep after we got back from dealing with Rafiq. I knew that, because I’d spent the rest of the night wide awake, watching her sleep.

  “Hey, I missed you when I woke up.”

  As I placed the trays on my kitchen table, I looked up to see her standing by my sofa wearing nothing but her panties. I smiled as I walked over to her and kissed her. “Good morning, baby. I was tryna let you sleep. I see you’re wearing my second favorite outfit.”

  She wrapped her arms around my neck and returned my kiss. “What’s your favorite outfit?” she asked.

  “You naked, showing all that brown skin. Speaking of, when you gonna let me actually do that tattoo?”

  “Um...”

  “Chicken. You know what I think?” I asked, as I took her hand and led her to the table.

  “What?”

  I pulled a chair out for her. “I think you pretended you wanted a tattoo just so you could seduce me.”

  She sat down and grinned up at me. “No, I actually wanted the tattoo at the time. Now, the only thing I want is you.”

  I sat across from her and sighed. “Even after last night?”

  Her expression grew serious. “That wasn’t you. That was Rafiq, and he was drunk. People do stupid shit when they’re drunk, baby. He’ll probably be apologizing for it today.”

  “Yeah, I guess…”

  “Hasaan, how often do you have to break your rest for him? Is this a pattern with him?”

  I dropped my eyes. “Not as often as I used to. I mean, we’ve been spending the night with each other for weeks now and this is the first time I’ve had to leave you, or try to leave you, to help him.”

  “Is he always drunk when he calls like that?”

  “Not always, but most of the time he is. Sometimes his mouth gets him into some shit he can’t handle when he’s sober and he calls me.”

  “And you always answer? You always help him?”

  I frowned as my eyes met hers. “Yeah...he’s my baby brother. What else am I supposed to do?”

  She leaned back in her chair and rubbed her arms.

  “You cold, baby?” I asked.

  “Yeah, the AC is kicking. Let me go grab a shirt.”

  I pulled my t-shirt over my head and handed it across the table to her. “Wear mine.”

  She pulled it on and sighed before asking, “Does Rafiq have a job other than apprenticing under you?”

  “Uh, no.”

  “Has he ever had a job?”

  “No.”

  “And he still lives at home with your parents?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Who bought his car?”

  “My folks.”

  “Who buys his clothes, food, gives him money to go out?”

  “My folks, and I help him out sometimes.”

  “Is he in college?”

  “No. He refused to go.”

  She leaned forward and grabbed one of the trays. “He’s twenty-one, right?”

  “Yeah,” I said, as I grabbed the other tray.

  “Well, then I know what the problem is. Y’all need to let his spoiled ass grow up, that’s what you’re supposed to do. Your folks need to put him out, and you need to stop letting him hang around Elite Ink pretending to learn your trade. And more than anything, stop answering his calls late at night. That’ll break him of that shit real quick. He’ll never do any better if he doesn’t have to.”

  “I know you’re right, but I just feel obligated, you know?”

  “Not really. I love Greer and Trevia to death. They are truly my sisters, but if they called me repeatedly with some stupid shit, expecting me to climb out of bed and rescue them, our friendship would probably be over. Rafiq is taking advantage of you, because he knows he can. Is it that you feel guilty for how you lived in the past? You think he’s trying to be like you?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, actually. He’s always looked up to me, and I was really fucked up back in the day, Denise. When I was in my twenties, he was a boy and I was his hero. I’m the reason he’s like this.”

  “No, you’re not. Baby, Rafiq has a brain. He’s very clever. He’s making these decisions himself.”

  “I just don’t see it that way.”

  “Okay...my mama ain’t slept with a single man ever, so by your logic, I need to break up with you and go find me someone’s husband to be with. I saw how my mama was living and I made the choice not to be like her. This is a free country, nobody’s making Rafiq do the things he’s doing. Y’all are just making it easy for him to do them. Didn’t you ever tell him you regret the things you did in the past? I mean, I don’t see you walking around bragging about it.”

  “Yeah, he knows I regret it.”

  “Then, H, that’s on him.”

  I opened my tray and stared at my food. “You’re right, I know you’re right.”

  “And H, look, I care about you. There’s no other place I’d rather be than with you, whether that’s here at your place or at mine. I wish I could be with you all day, every day, but if this calling in the middle of the night shit is gonna be a regular thing, I’m not gonna be able to spend the night with you anymore. I’m a real bitch if I don’t get enough sleep.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “Is that a threat? You want me to choose between you and my brother, Denise?”

  “No, it’s not a threat. It’s the truth, and I’m not asking you to choose between anything but common sense and stupidity.”

  We both sat there in silence for a full five or six minutes before she stood from the table. “I think it’s time for me to go. When you figure things out, call me.”

  I just sat my stupid ass there, and ten minutes later, watched her walk out my door.

  *****

  “The hell is wrong with you?” Rafiq asked, as I sat at my desk staring at him sitting in a chair in front of me. I hadn’t seen Denise in three days. I wanted to call her or drop by to see her, but I knew I needed to fix things with my brother first. She was right about…everything. I already knew the things she said were true, but coming from her, they just felt heavi
er, more real. And when she left, well, that shit hit me like a ton of bricks. I cared about Denise. Shit, I was possibly falling in love with her and wanted to one day have a family with her. As much as I loved Rafiq and as close as we were, I realized it was time for both of us to grow up.

  I leaned forward and folded my hands on my desk. “We need to talk.”

  “Yeah, you told me that…that’s why I’m here, but you ain’t doing no talking,” Rafiq said, pulling his cell phone from his pocket and pressing a button. He smiled and started typing something on it.

  “Put the phone up, ’Fiq.”

  He looked up at me and smirked. “Oh, so you ready to talk now, huh?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Give me a second. Let me hit this girl back. I’m tryna set something up with her for tonight, if you know what I mean. Everybody ain’t got access to it all the time like you do with thick—” He looked up at me and corrected himself, “With Denise.”

  “Put the damn phone up!” I yelled. I was tired from all the sleep I’d miss turning this situation over and over in my mind, my woman was mad at me, and shit, I was horny, too. I didn’t have time to play with his juvenile ass anymore.

  “Okay, fine…damn.” He laid his phone on my desk, facedown. “What’s up, H?”

  “The other night is the last night I’m answering calls that late.”

  “Look, I’m sorry. This is about what I said to Denise, isn’t it? Hey, I’ll apologize to her, too. I’ll go across the street and apologize right now if you want me to.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “No, what I want you to do is stay the hell away from her. I want you to grow the hell up, Rafiq. It’s time, man. Grow up, stop getting drunk and trying to drive. Stop screwing all these random women, or if you can’t control that little dick of yours, at least pick single women to fool around with. And stop getting in fights all the time, writing checks your ass can’t cash, because big brother ain’t coming to the rescue no more.”

  “My dick ain’t little. It’s probably bigger than yours.”

  “I seriously doubt that shit.”