She stood before him, shaking her head. “Your shit finally hit the fan today, huh?”
Slowly, he nodded. “Yeah, it did.”
She pursed her lips. “Umm, well, I think that I deserve a trip to the mall for this. What do you think?”
His head fell back with laughter. “You’re funny. And yes, I do have some making up to do, but first, we’re going to put everything on the table today.”
She folded her arms over her breasts. “And what’s that?”
“For one, let’s talk about the obvious.”
She arched a brow. “What obvious?”
“The obvious big belly you have in front of you, Naveriah.”
Chapter 13
Somewhere in Miami, Florida 8 months later…
“Yeah, you can snooze if ya wanna, but not on me, baby. And no I ain’t taking no losses, yeah I got heat, baby. No I don’t know nothin’ ‘bout dozin’, no I don’t sleep, baby. You niggas ain’t gassing me, nigga, yeah I’m on E, baby. Got all designer on me!”
Smoke filled the small motel room, as the rap music boomed from someone’s personal wireless speaker. The three occupants were kicking back, lounging on a king-sized bed, passing around a blunt.
“Say, when are yall gonna take some’ off?” Rumpy questioned. He’d traveled from Texas to have a good time and handle a little business, and they were dragging their damn feet. They knew exactly what they’d come to that room to do.
The two girls, both thick and light skinned gave each other looks. Finally, one glanced his way. “Nigga, you flauging, acting like you can handle two bitches, but still got on them clothes. Let me see that big dick.”
“Shit,” he stressed, while unbuckling his belt underneath his protruding belly. “You aint saying shit.”
While he was preoccupied with that, one of the girls sat texting away on her phone.
“Its time to put that shit away,” Rumpy breathed, referring to their cells, once he managed to undo his pants. “Yall need to come handle this.” he pulled his hard-on out of his boxers.
It literally took everything out of the girls not to laugh, as he looked to measure about four inches long.
“So, what’s up?” he questioned.
Without warning, the door of the room was violently kicked in, before a tall hooded cat crossed the threshold, aiming an AK assault rifle.
“Ahhhhh!” the girls screamed in unison, hopping off the bed.
Wasting no time, the intruder stomped over to Rumpy, loudly backhanding him. “Stand your bitch ass up.”
With his dick still out, Rumpy nervously obeyed the commands. “Alright, alright, man. Just, just, take whatever you want.”
“Where the money at, dough boy?” the intruder questioned.
“I got a thousand…in my pocket.”
“Pull it out, then.”
Nervously, Rumpy produced the money, before it was snatched from his palms. He sighed with relief, thinking that this would soon be over.
“Okay, now where’s the fucking rest?”
“What?” Rumpy’s heart rate sped up. “That’s, that’s all I got, man.”
Flipping the AK, the intruder bashed it across Rumpy’s head. “Lie again,” he dared him. “You must wanna die tonight. The pussy you was probably finna buy cost more than that. And hand me the keys to your rental.”
Rumpy’s eyes bucked, knowing that he’d stashed most of his cash and jewelry in the trunk of his rental car. “Aww, come on, man—” he pleaded, before he felt another blow to his head. That’s when he scrambled to grab his keys.
There was so much blood dripping into his eyes that he could hardly see what was going on. He’d fumbled around to find his keys and hand them off, with his eyes still obscured. With so much fear racing through him, it took a moment to realize that the room had fallen completely silent. Using his shirt to wipe his face, he cleared his eyes, before glancing around, finding that he was now in the room alone.
“Them dirty bitches,” he grumbled, as he pulled his pants up, before jogging outside to scan over the lot. Just as he suspected, his rental car was gone, and so was all his fucking re-up money.
***
“Alright, bitch, I’ll catch up with you later,” Cat promised, as her girl Sam hopped out of the backseat of the Chrysler 300.
“Okay,” Sam responded, as she jogged up the sidewalk.
By then, Mix was already heading down the street.
“Whew, I’m tired,” Cat yawned, as she reclined in the passenger’s seat. “But I can rest easy, knowing that we just got a bag.” She shimmied in her seat.
Mix shrugged. “We did alright. I wouldn’t call that shit a bag, though.”
Cat snapped her neck around. “Then what do you call it? Cause I recall snatching a chain, a watch, and you just got about twenty-five bands off that nigga.”
He nodded. “Yeah, we did, but let’s not forget that we had to give Sam three thousand. You get five, so what that leaves me with?”
“Seventeen racks.”
“Exactly,” he concurred. “And that really aint shit, when you think about the chances a nigga be taking…and that’s why I’m heading back home tonight, man.”
“What?!” she blurted. “You heading back home? Where the fuck did this shit come from?”
Gripping the steering wheel, Mix licked his lips. “It’s been on my mind for a minute now. But it fucked me up the other day when I got word about what happened to my granny. She was laid up in the hospital and I was way out here. She could’ve died and I wouldn’t have known shit, because nobody had a number on me at the time. That shit been eating me alive.”
Cat sat with her lips pursed. “Yeah, okay, boy. The lies you fucking tell. Skrate up,” she mispronounced as usual. “You aint finta sit in my face and bullshit me. Yeah, you might be fucked up about ya granny or whatever, but this is about that gurl.”
Mix sucked his teeth, as he shook his head. “Here you go.”
“Yeah, nigga, here I fucking go. Since we met back in Atlanta I been by your side, riding it out with you. Doing whatever. Letting you feed me that foolie ass story about you being from Arizona some fucking where, when I know damn well you from a way more gutter place. I never pressure you about that bullshit. Instead, I bring you to my city, and help you live off the land. But you been on the fuck shit. Like I didn’t hear you asking about that bitch Nunnie, whoever the fuck she is, for the millionth time when you was asking about your granny. And now since people can’t give you no update on her, you ready to run back to where you came from.”
He smirked. “Is that right? I guess you got me all figured out, huh?”
“Oh, I know enough,” she scoffed. “While you tryna bullshit me.”
“Nah, Cat, you got me wrong. Real g-shit. I’m saying, I aint never gon fix my problems out here. I make a play, but then gotta use that money to live. It’s never enough to really do both. After I grab some clothes, a few pair of shoes, and pay for somewhere to rest my head, this aint gon be enough money to go back to my city and handle business with. It never is. So, I gotta just say fuck it. I gotta take what I got. It’s more than I had. At least I’ll be back in the city with my people and got bond money, if them folks catch up with me. I mean, shit, it’s better than nothing.”
Cat narrowed her eyes. “Nigga, all this time, you been saying that you wasn’t heading home without thirty or better, but now seventeen is better than nothing? That’s just a little more than half of what you swore that you needed.”
“And what the fuck is thirty or better if I go back to my granny in the ground and I didn’t say goodbye? Huh? Tell me that?”
Again, she pursed her lips. “Then if that’s the case, let me go with you.”
He frowned. “Nah, that aint gon work, Cat. I’m not even finna bullshit you. I don’t know what I’m finna walk back into, once I go home. I been stressed out here, living from day to day. I don’t wanna go back out there, still feeling like this, because I gotta worry about you. I gotta get
my shit together, and you got your people out here. You good. I’ll be in touch.”
She closed her eyes, as shook her head. “I can hear that shit all in your voice, nigga. You lying. You aint staying in fucking touch. You won’t even fucking tell me where you’re really fucking from. So, the moment we part ways, that will be it for us. You’ll be gone, like we never happened, and that’s fucked up,” she became choked up. “Cause I’ve been riding with you, through whatever,” her voice cracked.
He nodded. “And that’s why I’m telling you the truth, Cat. I could’ve picked up and left, while you were sleeping, without saying a word. But I can’t do you like that. I fuck with you too tough. You gon always be solid in my eyes. Real g-shit. But I got some unfinished business to handle. On all levels. So, there aint too much that me and you can do. I’m stuck, right now, until I go handle this.”
Staring straight ahead, tears slipped from Cat’s eyes. “Yeah, okay. I hear you. Well, you go do what you gotta do. I’m skrate. It was good while it lasted.”
***
“Girl, look at you,” Nunnie whispered to herself, as she gazed at her naked reflection in the full-length mirror in the middle of her bedroom. Turning to the side, she admired her flat stomach, small waist, and round ass.
Slowly, Levi crept up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist, before leaning in to kiss her neck. “Yeah, look at you,” he whispered. “Looking like a goddess. Why don’t you come back to bed and let me feel you again…without the rubber?”
Sucking her teeth, Nunnie stepped out of his grasp. “There you go, killing the vibe. I already told you about that, Levi. Damn.”
Levi shook his head, as he marveled at her sexy frame. He himself wore merely a pair of boxers, and a rock-hard dick. “No, there you go. This is ridiculous, Naveriah, and you know it. I got the damn divorce just like I said I would, and you still won’t let me have you completely. What the hell I look like using a condom with my woman?”
Nunnie paused and glared at him. “Like Levi. The fuck?”
He laughed despite himself. “I just can’t win with you, girl. I swear.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know.” She waved him off, as she sauntered into their spacious closet.
He furrowed his brows. “Wait, where are you going now?”
“To Dreka’s and Tink’s,” she responded, while sifting through her rack of clothing.
“Should’ve known,” he mumbled, while stepping up behind her. “That’s all you know. Hopping up to run the streets with your sister.”
In no mood to argue, Nunnie simply nodded. “Yup.”
Standing behind her, Levi stared at her backside. With Nunnie he always managed to feel like a chump. He’d never craved someone’s love the way that he thirsted for hers; to the point that he was sometimes disgusted with himself. No matter how much he seemingly poured into her, she was still always so nonchalant that he was convinced that she honestly didn’t give a damn. It all could be over tomorrow, and she’d be perfectly fine with it, and that burned him up internally. Of course, she’d tried to blame her cavalier demeanor and hesitance to open more on his earlier deception in the beginning of their union, but he knew better. It was something else. Somebody else. But she’d never clue him in.
Feeling his presence, while he said nothing, Nunnie spoke up. “Levi, how long are you just gonna stand there watching me?”
For a split second, Levi pondered on questioning her about her feelings, and why she refused to love him the way that he felt he deserved. However, he stopped himself. Never in his life had he done such a thing, and he wasn’t about to start now. He wasn’t cut like that, but she had him about to lose his mind.
“Whatever,” he uttered, instead, slapping her ass in the process. “You just remember to behave yourself, while you’re linking up with the wild ones,” he referred to Dreka and Tink.
Nunnie nodded. “Yeah, no worries.” She plucked a Balenciaga sweat suit from the rack. “I got you.”
Levi stood back, feeling like she’d say anything to get him out of her face and herself out of the door. But sadly, there was absolutely nothing he could do about that.
Chapter 14
“Smoke somethin’, trick,” Nunnie boasted, loudly announcing that she was in the house, after using a key to gain entry.
Surprising to many, her sister and Tink had copped a spot out in the burbs that was spacious, high tech, and pricy.
“What’s popping, sis?” Trigga, Dreka’s boyfriend questioned from the couch, while puffing on a blunt.
Alongside Trigga, sat Tink’s nigga, Sass. Somehow Dreka and Tink had managed to link up with two best friends, and the foursome were the rowdiest pairs Nunnie had ever seen. Trigga and Sass were notorious jack boys with very extensive rap sheets, and had only given the sponges Dreka and Tink more insight on how to become master criminals.
The two were medium built chocolate cats. They were handsome, average in height, but had undeniable swag. Like Dreka and Tink, Trigga and Sass would kill to stay draped in red bottoms and Louie, but in their case it was literal. They were designer whores and were going to do whatever to keep the shit on their backs. And now that Dreka and Tink were at their sides, they’d do the same for them.
“Aw, shit, young Nunnie is back in this bitch to get on a nigga’s nerves,” Sass groaned.
Nunnie gave him the finger, as she glanced around the living room. “Where Dreka and Tink?”
“They in one of them rooms, probably scheming,” Trigga spoke up. “You know how they do. Probably texting some lames, begging for a nigga to pop ‘em.”
Nunnie rolled her eyes. “Boy…anyway.” She made her way to the back of the apartment. Hearing voices coming from Dreka’s room, she headed there. “The fuck going on in here?” she abruptly pushed the door open.
As expected, Dreka was tapping away on her laptop. “Nunnie, stop fucking playing.”
“Well, get to it,” Nunnie teased, as she stepped into the room. “Them hoes need their CPNs now,” she referred to the fraudulent packages people would use in order to obtain new apartments.
Tink sighed, as she stared at her laptop’s screen. “No bullshit.”
“Damn, so, yall been in here working all day?” Nunnie quizzed, as she joined them in the bed.
“Pretty much,” Dreka yawned. “Trigga act like he don’t understand what the fuck is going on here. Orders been coming in back to back. They wanna do some mall runs, but this money is calling, right now.”
“Oh,” Nunnie jerked her neck back. “So, I guess that’s my cue too. We aint kicking it today?”
Both Dreka and Tink lifted their heads, giving her a look.
“What?” she enquired.
Dreka sucked her teeth. “I just can’t with you. I aint finna waste my breath.”
Tink tittered. “Nunnie, where is Levi?”
Nunnie shrugged. “Probably at his mama’s.”
“And I bet that he was begging your ass to stay at home.”
Nunnie’s eyes wandered around the room. “Not that I recall.”
“But I bet he wasn’t too thrilled about you leaving his ass behind,” Tink offered.
Nunnie bit her bottom lip. “Okay, but what are you getting at?”
“We’re getting at the fact that your ass could’ve spent that time with the nigga that pays for everything, down to your socks. Instead you’re over here, watching us work, when we see ya ass damn near every day. On the flipside, that man works like crazy most of the time, yet you still run your ass over here on his off days,” Dreka lectured.
Nunnie rolled her eyes to the ceiling. “OMG, if I knew that I was going to hear all this damn preaching, I would’ve just stayed with the nigga today. Cause this aint it. You bitches is blowing me.” She hopped off the bed. “So, let me get the fuck.”
***
Stepping up to his aunt’s front door, Mix was going through an array of emotions. He’d felt gutted like a fish when he’d traveled to the home he’d grown up in, only to discov
er that no one lived there, anymore. Apparently, somehow his grandma had lost her home, and no one had bothered to tell him shit. He didn’t know if he was more disappointed in his family or himself. Nevertheless, an old neighbor had given him the heads up about his grandma now living with his aunt. So, there he was. Taking a deep breath, he rang the doorbell.
After the a few seconds, the door snapped open, and he was greeted by the stern face of his aunt Ruby. “Yeah?”
“Aye, my granny here?” Mix questioned.
“Uh huh,” she responded, while stepping back to allow him in.
Crossing the threshold, he glanced around the living room, noting how junky it was. All his grandma’s furniture was now hiding underneath the pile of junk and had he not been so familiar with it, even he would’ve missed it.
“Maizun!” his granny blurted, as she came shuffling across the living room with her arms open wide. “My baby!” she cried, as they embraced.
“Hey, granny.” He wrapped his arms tightly around her.
“You’re back.”
“Yeah,” he whispered. “I’m back.”
“He aint staying here,” Ruby rudely interjected.
Mix released his grandma. “Who said that I was trying to?”
Ruby frowned. “Well, I’m just letting you know. Mama is here at my house now, so all that bullshit yall used to have going on over there at her house don’t go here, baby. That’s why she aint got a house now. All the damn people she took care of, and nah cock sucker bothered to pay the damn mortgage, while she was laid up in the hospital. Just swindling the money away.”
“Well, that aint got nothing to do with me,” Mix scoffed. “I wasn’t around, and it definitely wouldn’t have happened on my watch.”
“But you too busy in them streets to handle her business, boy. So, I doubt that. Last time I checked, them laws was still looking for you, and that’s why you can’t lay ya head here. You my nephew and I love you, but I can’t have all that at my house. Hell, no,” Ruby proclaimed.
“Yeah, a’ight,” Mix shrugged her off. “Granny, I’m finna burn. I was just stopping by to let you know that I’m back in the city.”
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