No Matter What

by Nicole Jackson

  Realizing that they were helping Nunnie into the back of an ambulance, Mix stood up. “Aye, where you going?” he questioned, as he stepped over to the ambulance.

  Dreka glanced back at him, as she was about to climb in the ambulance with her sister. “We going to the hospital, nigga. What you thought?”

  “But why yall aint stop to say shit?” he opened his arms.

  Dreka glanced back at Nunnie. “You hear this nigga?”

  Nunnie nodded, tucking her lips into her mouth.

  Dreka rolled her eyes and sucked her teeth. “I aint got time for this dumb shit. You wanna ride up there with her? I can catch a ride up there later?”

  “Yeah,” he answered shortly, but with no hesitation.

  “Move,” she griped, as she jumped down. “Go ahead, and get ya bitch ass in.”

  “Damn, you in ya feelings, huh?”

  “Nah, I’m just letting her have her way, cause she all fucked up, right now. It’s clear that the hoe want you to come, over me, so whatever. She just better remember what side of the bread her butter is on. That’s all.”

  He shook his head. “A’ight, Dreka. I’ma text you when we get up there,” he promised, as he climbed into the back of the ambulance.

  Dreka gave him the finger in response.

  Nixing her off, Mix sat down, and locked eyes with Nunnie. Seeing her pretty face in that condition angered him in ways that he never thought were humanly possible. There were several knots and gashes on her forehead, causing him to fear that they’d all never completely heal, leaving her permanently scarred. “He caught me slipping.”

  She frowned in confusion. “Huh? What are you talking about?”

  “Save’s bitch ass. This day wasn’t supposed to go like this.”

  “What do you mean?”

  He swallowed hard. “Nunnie, that nigga was gonna find out about us. I had already decided that. You didn’t realize that shit? And since you was shuffling your feet, I forced your hand.”

  The ambulance had begun its journey to the hospital, and the paramedics were supposed to be asking Nunnie questions, but they were too enthralled in this conversation to interrupt it.

  Nunnie didn’t know what to say, so she just stared at Mix unblinkingly.

  “You should’ve known after we left Chubby’s party that it wasn’t no turning back. The fuck you thought was gonna happen after that?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. I never imagined all this.”

  “Well, I left that party ready for whatever,” Mix confessed. “That’s why I say that nigga caught me slipping. After I beat his ass on the corner today, I should’ve just came through and picked you up, like my mind told me to. Instead, I waited, and this shit happened.”

  “But he basically held everybody hostage, after they told him that I was gone, Mix,” she admitted. “So, he probably would’ve done something to my family if I would’ve left with you.”

  Mix stared at her intently. “I’ma let you in on a little secret.”

  “What?” she narrowed her eyes.

  “That nigga thinks he’s smart, but he’s really a lame. He’s weak as fuck, when it comes to you. Weaker than you really know. He been knew that I was fucking you. Way before Chubby’s party. I just used Chubby’s party to put the shit out there to the hood. Make the nigga react. He had no choice.”

  “How do you know any of this?”

  “Because he tracks your locations, Nunnie,” Mix revealed. “That nigga be knowing exactly where you at. At all times. Even when you with me. I knew that. I just didn’t give a fuck. I was always ready for him, but he never bucked. Anyway, he ran up in that house, pointing that gun, cause he knew your people were lying. And peep how his pop-ups align with the few times I made you leave the phone at home. My shit was always calculated.”

  She swallowed hard. “Well, why not let me in on this?”

  “Cause. My mama always told me to never let your right hand know what your left hand is doing.”

  Chapter 4

  After receiving four stitches in her hairline, Nunnie was released from LBJ hospital at nine in the morning. She’d literally been in the hospital overnight, although much of that time had been spent in the emergency room. Surprisingly, both Mix and Dreka had been there with her the entire time. And now after hitching a ride from Tink, they were headed home.

  “I’m so sleepy,” Nunnie yawned, while Mix unintentionally rested his head on her shoulder. He was knocked out and snoring loudly.

  “Yesss,” Dreka drawled. “I just wanna crash and burn. But I was supposed to go to the outlets today.”

  Tink cut her eyes at her friend, while gripping the steering wheel of her Toyota Camry. “Bitch, them stores will be there. Aint nobody trying to go to work with your tired ass. No sleep means you’re off your note. And that is no good for me. So, aht aht.”

  “Hoe, please. I bet your ass wait on me, while I get ready. Period,” Dreka shot back, while Tink pulled in front of their house.

  “No, if anything, I’m finna go up in there and get that outfit you grabbed for me,” Tink corrected her.

  “Yeah, uh huh,” Dreka sighed, as she eased out of the car.

  Nunnie shook Mix’s shoulder, until his eyes popped open, while Tink hopped out of the car. “Come on, let’s get out,” she told him.

  Confusingly, he glanced around. “Damn,” he wiped his mouth. “We back in the hood?”

  “Yep.”

  “Oh, shit,” he yawned, before taking a stretch. Nunnie slid out of the car, and he followed suit. Towering above her, he gazed down at her. “What you about to do? Go in there and lay down for a while?” he assumed.

  “Yeah,” she nodded, while catching his gaze. “You’re coming in, right?”

  He scratched the back of his neck, as he glanced back at his Impala, which he’d left parked at the curb. “I mean, I don’t know, Nunnie. Your auntie probably don’t want no company after yesterday. Maybe we should let everything die down—”

  She wrapped her arms around his waist. “Please. I don’t wanna be by myself, right now. I need you,” she pouted.

  He whispered. “You need me?”

  “Yes,” she nodded coyly, while unconsciously clutching his shirt. “I need you with me. I’m tired of you having to go. I hated it had to be like that. Yesterday, I was punished for it ever being at all. So, now, I just want it. With nothing between us.”

  “Yeah?” he breathed, before lowering his head, and sliding his tongue into her mouth.

  For a few moments, they took the time to indulge into one another.

  “Okay,” Nunnie giggled, once she eventually came up for air. “Let’s go in this house.” She grabbed Mix’s hand.

  Together they traveled into the house and stumbled across a living room piled with trash bags. “What the fuck?” Nunnie mumbled, as she glanced around and realized that Dreka and Tink were stuffing clothes into random bags, while Marie stood in the living room’s entryway like a prison guard, watching smugly. “What’s going on?”

  “We’re packing our shit. That’s what,” Dreka spat.

  “What?” Nunnie keyed in on the lady of the house. “Aunt Marie, what is she talking about?”

  Marie shook her head. “Like I told Dreka, yall gotta go, Nunnie.”

  Nunnie gulped. “What? But I just paid you to be here.”

  “And your boyfriend just caused three times that in damages to this house,” Marie rebutted. “The rent man done came by here last night, talking about evicting me. I’m praying to God that he changes his mind, but he swears that he wants us off his property. I feel like, at least with you gone, we stand a fighting chance. We can’t afford to move nowhere else. You know that, Nunnie. And with my background, you know I can’t move into no apartments. So, I’m just all fucked up. So, yall just gotta find somewhere else to go.”

  Tears clogged Nunnie’s throat. “But I aint got no money. What am I supposed to do? Where am I supposed to go?”

  Dreka’s head shot up. “N
unnie.”

  “What?” Nunnie’s bottom lip trembled.

  “Don’t do that. For real. The bitch said that we gotta go, so we going. Period. Don’t stand here and beg her to stay in this roach infested muthafucka. Being here been equivalent to being homeless any fucking way. We sleep where ever we can, while muthafuckas step all over our heads. So, we aint missing shit by leaving. Really. If anything, this shit is telling us that we need to get on our shit. Hustle harder, and get our own fucking place. That’s it. Now, quit fucking talking to her broke ass, and grab your shit. Besides, she gon be feeling the burn when you gone, cause you was the only one throwing some dollars her broke ass way. We gon see how shit roll around here when her sorry ass daughters won’t even help her buy tissue around this bitch.”

  Rolling her eyes, Marie didn’t bother to address Dreka, because she knew that her niece was volatile enough to lay hands on her. Therefore, she stood in silence, watching them, as they loaded their clothes in both Tink and Mix’s cars, before driving away from her house for good.

  While riding shotgun in Mix’s car, Nunnie was a rambling mess. “I can’t believe she fucking put us out with nowhere to fucking go. I hope Tink’s mama don’t be tripping. I don’t even know if she got enough room in her closet for her, me, and Dreka’s shit. I can’t believe this shit, man. Save fucked me all the way over. What if he bonds out?”

  “Fuck that nigga,” Mix gritted, while gripping his steering wheel.

  Focusing on the road, Nunnie realized that Tink’s car made a sudden right at the light, while Mix continued going straight. “Wait, where are you going?”

  Ignoring her, he reclined in his seat.

  “Mix, you don’t hear me? Why did you stop following Tink? Do you know how to get to her mama’s on your own?”

  He glimpsed at her. “Is any of your shit in her car?”

  “No.”

  “Okay, then. You good.”

  Taking a deep breath, Nunnie said nothing, until he pulled into his grandma’s driveway. She lived in a Habitat for Humanity’s home, which was in pretty good condition. She was the only homeowner in the family, so everyone in between homes would stay with her. The wooden three-bedroom home was less than 1800 square feet, and always housed no less than eight people at a time, but somehow Mix had his own bedroom…that people still utilized the moment he’d leave the house.

  “What are we doing here, Mix?” she questioned, as he killed the ignition of his car.

  Mix licked his lips. “Let me ask you this.”

  She arched a brow.

  “How often do you spend nights at Tink’s mama’s?”

  “I really don’t.”

  “Okay. What about Dreka?”

  “She really don’t, either.”

  “Okay, so, how are yall gonna go from not even spending nights at the lady’s house, to living there? From what I see, Tink be floating around from pillow to post, like Dreka. So, she must got one foot in the door her damn self. But you think that yall finna really go pile all yall shit in that lady’s house? And if she do allow it, I’m pretty sure that it won’t be for long. I’m talking about a few days, at the most.”

  “Okay, I get what you’re saying. Tink’s mama’s house probably aint gonna be a place to live, but it’s probably gonna be where I lay my head tonight. Your grandma keeps a house-full, Mix. There’s no room for me here, and you know that.”

  He nodded. “Yeah, whatever. Let me worry about all that. Let’s get out and go holler at her.”

  Sighing heavily, she dipped out of the car. Allowing him to lead the way, they traveled into the house. As expected, the living room was overrun with Mix’s little cousins; five children in total. Lounging on the couch, with her head buried in her cell was his older cousin, Creeky, not paying a lick of attention to anything going on around her.

  “Aye, sit yall bad asses down somewhere, man,” Mix fussed, as he stomped through the house, dragging Nunnie along with him. “Creeky, get ya kids.”

  Nunnie shook her head, as she tucked her lips into her mouth. “That girl gone cuss your ass out.”

  “I aint worried,” he mumbled, as they stepped to his grandma’s bedroom door. He tapped twice, before pushing the door open. “Granny, you decent in here?”

  “Yeah, boy,” his grandma responded from her bed. “What’s going on?”

  Mix and Nunnie ambled into the room, laying eyes on his grandma, who was a medium built fair skin cigarette smoking, 60-year-old woman. “Hey, grandma Gertie,” Nunnie spoke, as she always did.

  Gertie’s neck jerked back. “What the hell happened to your face?”

  Nunnie’s gaze fell to the floor. “Save.”

  “Save? Well, I’ll be damn. He finally addressed yall fucking on each other, huh?”

  Nunnie nodded.

  “And seeing as how yall standing in my room, I’m guessing he showed out over there at Marie’s house,” she guessed. When no one spoke up, she continued. “That’s not surprising. Everybody’s been talking all morning long. So, I heard all about how he shot that girl’s house up. It’s fucked up, but I aint got too much to say, cause I let yall carry on plenty of days over here, just like Marie did.”

  Mix nodded. “So, it’s cool if she crashes here, right? Cause Marie on that bullshit.”

  “Uh, yeah, I’m fine with that. Nunnie, you know you always been my baby, so you’re more than welcome. Hell, one more body aint gone kill me, for damn sure.”

  “Cool,” Mix breathed.

  “But Mix, baby,” Gertie called out to him.

  “Yeah?”

  “Now, you know I mind my business around here, but the one thing that I gotta let you know is that I don’t want none of that shit that Save was just on in my house, ya hear?”

  “What shit?”

  “You know what I’m talking about. Keep ya hands off that girl. I don’t want no fighting in here. I’ll call the laws on ya ass. With no hesitation. You know I don’t play that shit.”

  Mix sucked his teeth. “Granny, chill out. You know that aint even my style. You aint never seen me put my hands on a broad.”

  “Ion know shit. What I do know is that you real sweet on Nunnie, and you ghetto muthafuckas be thanking that loves equals violence. So, don’t get violent if she hurt ya lil’ feelings is all I’m saying.”

  Nunnie tittered, garnering Mix’s attention. “What’s so funny?” he asked her.

  “I’m just laughing at granny saying something about hurting your feelings. That would never happen. So, chill out,” Nunnie giggled.

  “Hehe, yeah, keep laughing,” he mocked, poking her side.

  “For real,” she smiled.

  “Yeah, okay,” he mumbled. “Now, come on. Let’s go get your shit out the car.”

  She nodded, as they both turned and headed out of the room. Nunnie ended up in front of Mix, and he found himself studying her. Quickly, he was reminded of yesterday’s events as he noticed her walking with a slight limp. Clenching his jaw, he silently wished that he could get ahold of Save all over again.

  “Say,” he grabbed Nunnie’s hand, halting her in the hallway. “Go in the room and lay down. I’ma go get the bags.”

  She squinted. “That’s a lot to carry on your own, Mix. I can help.”

  “No, man, I got it. You just go ahead and lay down,” he insisted.

  She exhaled. “Okay.”

  “Good,” he breathed, before tapping her butt, sending her on her way.

  Trotting to his room, she collapsed in his king-sized bed. With plenty on her mind, she didn’t immediately fall asleep. She was exhausted but was trying to process it all when her cell rang.

  “Hello,” she answered her phone.

  “Hey, where yall at?” Dreka questioned.

  “Over here at Mix’s.”

  “Well, why you aint say nothing? I thought yall was still behind us, until we pulled up at Tink’s.”

  “Girl, I been playing this by ear. Mix decided to do something different, and we just reached an
understanding, honestly.”

  “So, what’s going on?”

  “Um, he asked his grandma if I could stay here for a while.”

  “Yeah? And what did she say?”

  “She said that it was cool.”

  “Well, that’s good,” Dreka respired.

  Nunnie cleared her throat. “Yeah, I’m kinda surprised that she’s being so cool about it. And I feel bad about getting you put out of Marie’s, Dreka. I apologize for that—”

  “Girl, you aint get me put out of nowhere,” Dreka cut her off. “Marie’s scary ass aint tell me that I had to leave. She was more so talking about you. And I only put up with that situation for your sake. You know me. Ion really be giving a fuck. But you don’t fuck around like I do. You like staying in one spot. So, I tolerated them hoes for you. But now that I know that you good, it’s whatever. Fuck them. Period.”

  Nunnie laughed heartily. “Bitch, you truly a nigga at heart. The fuck. You’on care about shit.”

  “That’s a lie, cause I care about your pissy ass. But it’s whatever to everything else. Beyond that, this shit will be easier on me. I can bounce back and forth between my two niggas houses, without giving none of these hoes some clothes for crashing at their house…or pretending to crash, so they’ll let you stay…” Dreka rambled, while Nunnie watched Mix amble into the room with one of her bags. He dropped the bag on the floor, before leaving out to grab another.

  Absently, Nunnie chattered, while Mix piled up bag after bag. She wrapped up her conversation, once he sat at the foot of the bed, signifying that he was done unloading the car. She then rested her head on his pillow and gazed at his strong back.

  He huffed, while sleepily rubbing his eyes. “You got a lot of shit, girl.”

  “I know,” she yawned. “You got everything?”

  “Yep, that’s everything.”

  “Thank you.”