Down With the King of the South 4

by Diamond Johnson

  “You alright? Did he hit you?” Jahir asked me.

  I heard the worry and concern in his voice.

  “No, I’m fine. Thank you,” I mumbled.

  I hated having to thank a man who I was so angry with, but I had to do it.

  “What you want me to do with him? I can call the cops. Just say the word,” Jahir said.

  I thought about it long and hard. I was in six-inch Christian Louboutin heels, and I quickly took my right one off and bent down, slapping his ass twice in the face with the heel. Blood instantly poured out of his nose and his mouth.

  “That’s for pointing a fuckin’ gun at me. A fake one at that. Let him go,” I told Jahir.

  He removed his foot from his chest, and as fast as he rolled up on me is as fast as he stood up from the ground and took off. I put my shoe back on, and for almost ten seconds, there was silence between Jahir and me.

  “Look, Mahogany, I—”

  “Don’t. Don’t do this. Nothing’s changed, but I do thank you,” I let him know.

  “Let me at least go in the store with you and make sure you’re protected. You don’t even have to talk to me, and if you don’t want me to say shit, I won’t say shit to you. Alright?” he suggested.

  I thought about the fact that my baby needed more formula and the fact that I needed other things for the house. As stubborn as I wanted to be, I couldn’t because then, I would be depriving my daughter of her necessities. Plus, I wouldn’t lie and say that I wouldn’t be a little shaken up when I made it back to the car by myself, especially after what had just taken place.

  “Okay. I don’t want to talk about nothing, Jahir. We don’t have nothing to talk about,” I said to him.

  Granted, there was probably a shit load of things for us to talk about, but I just didn’t want to do that right now. I felt like it wasn’t the time. When would the perfect time be for Jahir and me to have a conversation? I honestly didn’t know. This news was still fresh to me, and I didn’t want to just jump headfirst into forgiving him. I felt like I would come off as weak, and I wouldn’t show any regards to my real, true feelings.

  “You got my word,” he let me know.

  Jahir picked up the two grocery bags that he’d left in the street, and then he brought the stroller over to me while I sat Jamaria’s car seat in it. It was so awkward walking into the store because we really weren’t speaking. I would almost have rather he said something to me. Like, I was really in the grocery store, shopping with my dad. How strange was that? A dad who I had pretty much known my entire life.

  “I know I agreed not to say shit, but damn, she’s beautiful,” he said, looking down at Jamaria while standing a few feet away as if he was afraid to come too close to her. He probably thought that I was crazy and would cut his ass.

  As mean as I wanted to be, I ended up smiling as I watched him look down at my baby; his grandbaby. After that, there was nothing else said between the two of us. He pushed the shopping cart while I pushed the stroller, and anything that I needed from an aisle, I would drop it into the cart that I had him pushing.

  “I got it,” he said the moment we got to the checkout lane.

  I watched him as he went into his wallet and tried to get his card out, but I shook my head no.

  “I don’t need you to pay for my groceries, Jahir. I got it,” I said, digging in my purse and trying to get my own card.

  “Mahogany, I know you hate me. Shit, you have every fuckin’ reason to, but let me do this for you. This the least that I could do for you anyway,” he said.

  I wanted to argue him down, but I didn’t. I kept quiet and allowed him to pay for my groceries. We made it outside and to my car, where he’d placed all the groceries in the backseat along with the stroller. I placed Jamaria in the back, who’d slept through all of this, and once I was done, I closed the back door.

  “Thank you, Jahir,” I said as I walked over to the driver’s side.

  “Can me, you, and Shae meet up one day next week for lunch or something? Only if you up for it,” he called out.

  His voice shook as he talked to me as if he just knew that he’d fucked up, and he didn’t need anyone else there to rub it in his face.

  “I’ll think about it. I’m not making any promises,” I let him know.

  “I respect that. Drive safe getting home,” he said and stepped back a little bit so I would be able to open the driver’s side door.

  “Thank you. You too,” I replied right before I got in the car.

  This new relationship, or in our case, I should say lack of a relationship with Jahir and I was so different from how it used to be in the past. Before all this shit had come out, I loved Jahir as a person. He was like the only man who had been in my life before I got with Jabari, so whenever I had some sort of car trouble, it was him who I went running to. Whenever something broke at my house, like the toilet, the sink, or anything that required a man, it was he who fixed those things for me.

  All this time, I thought Jahir was just nice and looking out for me, but in reality, he was doing those things because he was actually supposed to be doing it.

  On the drive home, I thought about if I should have called my husband and let him know what happened when I got to the grocery store. Telling him something like this over the phone, I knew that it wouldn’t do a damn thing but stress him out, so I figured that I would let him in on what happened when I got home. From the backseat, I heard Jamaria behind me making gurgling noises, and that’s when I realized that she was waking up. I smiled as I watched her little body try to stretch in her car seat.

  “We’re almost home, mama,” I called out to her like she knew what I was saying.

  It didn’t take me but ten minutes to make it home because the grocery store that I’d chosen to go to was right by our house. As I neared the house, I saw my husband standing outside talking to someone who had their car pulled into our driveway. A car that I didn’t recognize, so I really wasn’t sure who the car even belonged to.

  I slowly pulled my car into the driveway and parked it on the side of the other car that I still didn’t know who it belonged to. I could hear Jabari’s voice, even with the window rolled up, and whoever he was talking to, he didn’t seem to be in the best of moods. That’s when I saw her get out of the car, and I sucked my teeth loud as hell.

  It was his fuckin’ mama! I should have known it was her ass. I honestly didn’t have the slightest clue why she was here because I made it very clear that she couldn’t be around my baby. I didn’t like that bitch, nor did I trust her, but out of respect for my husband, I’ve played nicely. Upon meeting her, I didn’t like her. Our very first phone conversation, we didn’t say that much to each other for me not to like her, but I could tell that her vibe was off.

  As petty as I wanted to be and stay in this car with Jamaria until she left, Jamaria was getting fussy in the back seat. I ended up shutting the car off, and I went around to get Jamaria from the back. At the same time, Jabari came behind me and let me know that he would get Jamaria.

  “I didn’t even know she was on the way over here, shorty. A nigga hadn’t even been in the house for ten fuckin’ minutes before she was out here blowing the fuckin’ horn like a maniac. Let me get the baby. Go in the house. I got her,” Jabari tried to reason, but I shook my head no.

  “No, Bari! So, you can take her over there? I meant what I said about not having her around my child. She’s disrespectful, and I don’t like her. Until she gives me an apology, then no, she can’t be around her!” I said and pushed him out of the way, so I could get the baby.

  The whole time I spoke, his mom was within eight feet of me, and I didn’t lower my voice because I actually wanted her to hear me. Her hair was fixed nicely. She was in a very pretty Dolce & Gabbana dress with the matching heels, and I even noticed that she wore a little bit of makeup on her face. There was no doubt that Jabari’s mother was pretty, but what was on the inside made her ass so ugly.

  “Girl, please, with your dramat
ic ass! Ask yourself what you are really mad at, Mahogany. I’m trying to play nice, but your ass is being ignorant for real. You still carrying on this fuckin’ grudge for some shit that happened months ago? Just be honest and say that you didn’t want me around the baby from the get-go. You using me having Kenyatta at the house as a fuckin’ excuse, and you know it,” she yelled, getting closer.

  I tried to walk over to her, but Jabari’s hands went on my waist, and he squeezed.

  “Don’t do this shit out here with her, shorty, aight? Chill the fuck out for me and take the baby in the house—”

  “Jabari—”

  “Yo, it wasn’t a fuckin’ question! It was a fuckin’ demand. Go in the house with her, Mahogany. Damn, I’ll be in there in a second!” he barked at me.

  Instead of responding to him, I got Jamaria out of her car seat and headed for the front door. I wanted to tag that old bitch the same way I did Kenyatta, but Jabari would probably never forgive me for beating his mama’s ass.

  Once inside the house, I took Jamaria upstairs to her room, so I could change her diaper. In the midst of me doing all of that, I was talking so much shit in my head and mentally getting my words in order for the many ways that I was going to curse this nigga out the moment he came into the house. Just as I was putting Jamaria’s pants back on, he walked into the bedroom.

  “Look, Mahogany, she’s downstairs in the living room. I told her that she owes you an apology, so just hear her out. Let her see Jamaria. If you ain’t comfortable with her touching her, then damn, at least let her take a fuckin’ peek at her or something. Y’all putting me in a fucked up position right now. I got my wife going at it with my mama. How you think that shit makes a nigga feel? I’m trying to defuse this shit, but I don’t feel like we getting anywhere. She done came all the way down this way, at least let her see the baby,” Jabari pleaded with me.

  I didn’t even say anything. Once Jamaria was all cleaned, I handed her to her dad. He thanked me right before he kissed me on the lips, then went out of the room with the baby. Let me make it clear that I can be petty all fuckin’ day if I wanted to. The only, and I mean the only reason I gave Jabari the baby is that he was right about being in the middle, and I didn’t feel that it was fair to him.

  After I put Jamaria’s diaper in the trash, I used some hand sanitizer on my hands, and I headed downstairs. I went into the kitchen and quickly made my baby a bottle. Once it was ready, I joined the three of them in the living room. I won’t even lie and say that my body didn’t tense up when I saw Jabari’s mother holding my baby.

  “She is so tiny. How much does this baby weigh? Are y’all feeding this baby? I don’t think she’s supposed to be this small at three months,” his mom judged as she held Jamaria.

  “She’s fine. She just went to the doctor last week, and she’s a well baby,” I let her know as I set the bottle down in front of her.

  She quickly picked it up and then started feeding it to Jamaria. I had to mentally question whose side Jamaria was on because her little butt started drinking that damn bottle like we really weren’t feeding her.

  “Listen, Mahogany, I’m sorry. I had no right to bring Kenyatta over to my house. I spend a lot of time with her because she does my hair, and we became pretty close outside the salon. I knew about the history that she had with my son, and the more I was around her, the more I felt like she would be a good pick for Jabari. I honestly didn’t know the two of you were so serious about each other until I watched the way you two interacted when you came to my house. Now, the two of you have a child together, and you’re married. I guess it was poor judgment on my side, and for that, I do apologize,” she said.

  All I did was nod my head at her. She could fool her son, but she wasn’t fooling me. Her apology wasn’t genuine, and that bitch was lying, talking about she didn’t know that Jabari and I were serious with each other. She knew because she knew about us living together, and Jabari has never had a girlfriend a day in his life, so she knew. So that I didn’t put myself in a position to curse her ass out, I started putting the groceries away that Jabari had brought inside the house. Almost two minutes into me doing that, he joined me in the kitchen. He posted up against the wall with his arms crossed.

  “The moment we got off the phone earlier, and I got out of the car, do you know that somebody tried to rob me?” I questioned. He quickly uncrossed his arms and gave me a look, basically telling me to continue what I was saying. “I was getting Jamaria out of the back when somebody came behind me and put a gun in my side. They wanted my purse, the diaper bag, and my ring—”

  “Yo, you bullshitting!” he said, cutting me off.

  “I’m serious, Jabari—”

  “Then why the fuck you just now telling me this shit? You say that shit so fuckin’ casually and like it’s no fuckin’ big deal! You been in this bitch almost twenty minutes, Mahogany. How you let something like that just slip your mind?” he questioned.

  “It didn’t slip my mind, nigga! I didn’t think your mama would be in the fuckin’ driveway when I pulled up. I planned to tell you the moment I walked in the door, but then all of this happened!” I yelled.

  “Your purse and the baby bag are with you. You wearing your ring still, so what the fuck happened? If a nigga is going to rob you, he’s going to rob you. Ain’t nobody going to say never mind to a 4,000 dollar Chanel bag, a 2,000 dollar diaper bag, and a 60,000 dollar ring, so what happened?” he kept questioning.

  “Jahir was coming out of the store, and he was able to stop him. The gun wasn’t real anyway. He was just using it to scare me. Damn, nigga, you don’t think you could be a little more comforting and vulnerable toward me right now? What if Jahir didn’t come out of the store, and what if the gun wasn’t fake? Fuck it, Jabari. You’re in a fucked up mood, and I’m in an even more fucked up mood because I have a woman that I don’t even care for out there holding my baby. So, let me just get the fuck from around you,” I said and slammed the water bottle down on the kitchen counter that I’d just taken out of the refrigerator.

  I tried to walk past Jabari, but he grabbed my arm and pulled me into him.

  “You want me to be comforting and vulnerable to you right now, but in the same sentence, you telling me how a pussy nigga tried to rob you while you were with our fuckin’ daughter. Excuse a nigga as I process this shit right now, shorty. You and Jamaria are two of my most prized possessions, and a nigga even holding a fuckin’ water gun to your head is enough for me to see red. It ain’t that I’m not trying to comfort you right now, but I’m picturing the many ways that shit could have ended for you tonight, that’s it. Damn, yo. You remember what he looks like?” Jabari questioned.

  “No, Jabari, I don’t! It’s over. Jahir handled it. I don’t need you going out and doing anything stupid,” I said because he would leave the house right now and try to find the dude who had done it.

  “Your ass ain’t going nowhere else. I swear you ain’t,” he said and pulled me tighter into him.

  “You going to keep me locked up in the house? I think not,” I said and wrapped my arms around him as well and kissed his lips.

  “Watch me. It’s about to be lockdown around this motha fucka. You can’t go nowhere without me, especially when you go somewhere with the baby. I’ll lose my fuckin’ mind if something were to happen to either one of y’all. Just thinking about some shit like that just stressed me the fuck out. Go start the shower. I’ll meet you in there. I need to release some stress right quick,” Jabari said, making me laugh.

  “Nigga, you are full of shit.” I chuckled. “You find any excuse to bust a nut. You hit your toe on the edge of the bed last night, and you convinced my dumb ass that me fuckin’ you at two in the morning would make it feel better, and you have the nerve to call me slick,” I said as I pulled away from him and walked out of the kitchen, leaving him standing there.

  “Seriously, shorty. Run the water. I’ll meet you up there in two minutes,” he yelled as I made my way up the stairs.
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  His pleas fell on deaf ears. Jabari wasn’t stressed; he was just looking for any small reason to bust a nut.

  Jashae Johnson

  “Look at him waving. He’s… I mean, the baby is waving,” my doctor said, quickly trying to correct himself and say the baby is waving instead of him.

  We were at my eighteen-week doctor’s appointment, and they were performing an ultrasound on me. As soon as we left the doctor’s office, we would be heading to the airport to get on the private jet to Jamaica, and Lord knows that I couldn’t wait for this vacation. I needed this vacation. The last time that I went on vacation was months ago when Miami had taken me to Orlando with him and Taniya.

  This is like my first bae-cation ever, and I couldn’t wait. Mahogany and Jabari were going with the baby, Miami’s friend, Boss, who was actually the one who had put this entire trip together was going as well, along with his fiancée. I believe I heard Miami say that Boss’ sister was coming as well with her husband. It was a trip that I was actually looking forward to. We needed this. Our home has pretty much been in shambles since we’ve all stood there and witnessed Krystal being murdered right there in that parking lot.

  Maya was pretty much back to behaving like she did when she first moved in with us, which was constantly crying all the time. Now, she was too afraid to even sleep in the room by herself, so these days, she had been sleeping in the bed with Miami and me.

  Having to take Maya to her mother’s funeral last weekend was easily one of the hardest things that I ever had to do when it came to Maya. As much as I couldn’t stand Krystal, and as bad of a person as I thought her to be, even I can admit that she didn’t deserve what had happened to her. I mean, no, it wasn’t right on her part to fuck her cousin’s man, especially after that same cousin allowed her to move into her home, but damn, I didn’t agree that she had to lose her life in the end. Even I found myself sometimes waking up in a cold sweat as I thought back on that day. I couldn’t get those damn gunshots out of my head. I couldn’t get the images of Krystal out of my head from when I turned around and saw her lifeless body.