A Trillion to One

by Chenell Parker

  Cathy’s husband seemed to have come out of nowhere and started going off on them. When she still refused to leave with him, he went to his trunk and pulled out a stainless-steel bat. When Dallas ran back into the shop, he busted out the windows before he got into his car and sped away.

  “The fuck you be doing to these hoes?” Amore asked.

  “Trust me cousin, you do not want to know,” Dallas laughed as she stuck her tongue out and made it move at lightning speed.

  “No, I really don’t,” Amore noted.

  “Thank you so much,” Chanell said when one of the officers handed her a report and shook her hand.

  “Don’t worry about nothing baby. I already got somebody on the way to fix this shit,” AJ assured her as he wrapped his arm around her waist.

  “Fuck the glass. I want the nigga who broke it,” Abe fumed.

  “Oh, his bitch ass gon’ definitely see me,” AJ nodded.

  “Nah lil brother, let me handle that. You got too much to lose to get your hands dirty,” Abe reasoned.

  “Y’all leave that street shit alone. He’s an attorney and the law needs to handle him,” Chanell said.

  “Fuck the law. If he’s an attorney, he should know better,” AJ said, right as another unfamiliar car pulled up.

  “Now what?” Chanell sighed, hoping that it wasn’t more drama.

  “Relax sis. That’s my boy, Skip,” Abe said. Amore knew when he said that name that it was time for her to go.

  “Man, look at my muthafucking wife,” a familiar voice that Amore never wanted to hear again said. She’d heard that voice for years and she never forgot it.

  “The fuck,” she hissed when she turned around and saw Viper walking over to her. As far as Amore knew, he still had a little more time left on his sentence.

  “What’s good beautiful?” he asked as he walked up on her.

  “Stay the fuck back nigga. We ain’t cool like that.” Amore frowned.

  “Since when? Shit, last time we talked, you promised to wait for me. You out here having babies with white boys and shit. Doing your lil book stuff and all that. So, when can I expect my cut?” Viper asked.

  “Your cut of what?” Amore asked.

  “The book money. Shit, you wrote a book about my life so I should at least be good for half. Where’s my cut?” Viper asked her.

  “Run up nigga. Cutting you is very doable,” Amore said as she pulled a small blade from her purse and flipped it open.

  “Chill out Viper. You know Amore be on that rowdy shit just like you,” Skip laughed.

  “That’s exactly why we were so good together. I need my bitch to be gutta just like me,” Viper replied as he licked his lips.

  Time had been kind to Amore and her baby did her body good. She was thicker than she was before they got locked up, but her body was sick. Her ass looked like she’d paid a top surgeon to hand craft it but it was all natural. Her hips were sharp and her thighs were thick and juicy. It pissed Viper off that she was giving all of that away to a white boy. Viper was slowly beginning to show his face more but he didn’t expect to run into Amore so soon. That’s the reason why he hadn’t gone to see his grandmother yet because he knew that she would tell her that he was home. Since he was looking good and riding fly, he didn’t mind running into anyone. The place they were standing in front of was obviously her cousin’s spot judging by the sign that was up top. Amore’s entire family was doing the damn thing and he couldn’t even hate on them.

  “Nigga please. You could never be looking for a gutta bitch if you fucked with that scary hoe Ciara,” Amore noted.

  “Oh alright, that’s what this is about. You got in your feelings about that Ciara shit but I don’t know why. That bitch came at me but it was nothing. She knew just like everybody else that you had my heart then and you still got it now,” Viper said, not caring that he was expressing his feelings in front of everyone.

  “I didn’t want it then and I damn sure don’t want it now. I’m good and I’m happy. I’ll see y’all later. I gotta get home to my family,” Amore said as she walked away.

  Her cousins and everybody else said goodbye but that was too much like right for Viper. Amore kept her blade in her hand as he jogged behind her and kept talking.

  “Damn girl. White boy got you riding fly huh. I see why you acting all brand new and shit,” Viper said.

  “There’s nothing brand new about me. I just don’t fuck with you,” Amore replied.

  “But why though? Shit was sweet before we got locked up,” Viper had the audacity to say.

  “Shit was never sweet with us Vaughn. If you call black eyes, busted lips and side bitches sweet, then you’re more fucked up than I thought you were,” Amore fumed as she opened her car door. Viper used his arm to block her from getting in and Amore was getting impatient.

  “Man, fuck Ciara! You keep bringing that bitch up like it was that serious,” Viper fumed. Amore didn’t say her name that time but he knew that’s who she was talking about.

  “Nigga please. Ciara is just as irrelevant to me as you are. I never had beef with none of the hoes that you dealt with and she was no exception. She better be lucky that I didn’t fuck her up for stealing all my shit and trying to sell it online,” Amore fumed.

  “What?” Viper asked as he looked at her in confusion.

  “You heard me. The same bitch whose face you were smiling in was the same one who doubled back and robbed your stupid ass. I know you didn’t think it was a coincidence that all our shit came up missing the exact same day we got locked up. But you’re a street nigga though. The fuck away from my car before I run you over,” Amore snapped as she slammed the door and pulled away.

  She was having a good day after her counseling session and now it was ruined. Seeing Viper put her in a bad head space and triggered some not so pleasant memories. Hate was such a strong emotion but there wasn’t another word in the English language to describe how she felt about him. All the mental and verbal abuse was what did it and it took a while for her to recover from it all. That’s why Amore loved Trillion so much. He showed her the kind of love that not even her mother had ever shown her. Where he led, Amore was sure to follow, no questions asked.

  When she got inside, she heard Trillion and Tristyn talking in the living room. Trillion was sitting there holding the baby while Tristyn held the bottle up to her mouth. Trinity was filling out nicely and her appetite was nothing to play with. Amore pumped milk for her daily and she also drank formula.

  “What’s up Love? How did everything go?” Trillion asked after she kissed him and took a seat on the sofa next to him.

  “Everything was good up until Chanell called me,” Amore replied.

  “Why? What’s up with her?” Trillion asked. He listened as Amore told him about what happened at her cousin’s bakery. He was happy to hear that everything was good and it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.

  “But that’s not all,” Amore said as she looked at him.

  “What’s up?” Trillion questioned.

  “I saw Viper,” Amore answered.

  “He’s out?” Trillion asked in shock.

  “Unfortunately,” Amore said as she proceeded to tell him about their entire conversation.

  “Fuck that clown. You don’t owe him shit,” Trillion whispered so that Tristyn didn’t hear his use of language. Trinity was done eating, so he put her on his shoulder to burp her.

  “He’s a nonfactor and he always will be. Hey, mean girl,” Amore said as she kissed Trinity’s tiny hand.

  “Go play with your mama and be nice,” Trillion said as he handed Trinity over to Amore. As soon as he did, the baby started squirming in Amore’s arms.

  “Here, take her mean ass back,” Amore said when Trinity started whining.

  “Why you do your mama like that? Huh?” Trillion asked as he kissed Trinity’s cheek.

  She yawned, so he knew that she was about to go back to sleep. Tristyn threw the baby’s bottle on the sofa and walked off to he
r bedroom.

  “What’s wrong with her?” Amore asked.

  “I don’t know but I’m gonna go find out,” Trillion replied.

  “I can go talk to her,” Amore offered.

  “No Love, I’ll do it. We’re not raising no future serial killers up in here. That’s just how shit starts,” Trillion replied. Tristyn was fine a minute ago and he didn’t know what the sudden change was about.

  “I hope she’s not jealous of the baby. I try my best to include her in everything that we do,” Amore noted.

  “She loves her baby sister, so I know that’s not it. Hell, you spend more time with her than anything since you’re scared of Trinity,” Trillion laughed.

  “I’m not scared of that mean heifer,” Amore replied as she watched him lay Trinity down. He walked down the hall to Tristyn’s room and found her lying in bed on her tablet.

  “Hey daddy,” Tristyn said.

  “What’s up baby? Put your tablet up and come talk to me,” Trillion requested.

  “Okay,” Tristyn said as she put her tablet down and sat on his lap.

  “What’s wrong baby? Why are you always getting mad and walking away?” Trillion asked her.

  “Why does Trinity get to call Amore mama and not me?” Tristyn asked, rendering her father speechless.

  Trillion knew that something was wrong but he wasn’t expecting to hear that. It all made sense to him now though. It seemed as if Tristyn got upset whenever he referred to Amore as Trinity’s mother. He would never build bridges with his kids and he was trying to find a way to address the situation in a way that a four-year-old would understand.

  “Baby, Amore loves you to death and you know that. She is Trinity’s mother and Leah is your mother,” Trillion reasoned, hoping that his daughter would understand.

  “But that’s not fair,” Tristyn whined.

  “What’s not fair Tristyn?” Trillion asked her.

  “You get to have two mothers, why can’t I?” Tristyn asked, surprising him once again.

  She was smart as hell and very observant for her age. Once again, Trillion didn’t know what to say and he was happy that he didn’t have to say anything.

  “You have two mothers too and you and Trinity can both call me mama,” Amore spoke up from the doorway. She was standing there holding the baby and Trillion was surprised to see that too.

  “Really?” Tristyn asked excitedly.

  “Yes, really.” Amore smiled as she walked over and kissed her cheek.

  “I see you finally got your mind right and gave my baby a chance,” Trillion said as he nodded towards Trinity.

  “Hell no, I did not. Her mean ass was whining again, so I was coming to bring her to you. Come on Tristyn, let’s go get dinner started,” Amore said as she handed Trillion their newborn.

  “Don’t listen to your mama baby girl. You’re not mean,” Trillion said as he kissed his daughter’s forehead.

  He and Trinity sat in the kitchen while Amore and Tristyn cooked dinner. Once they ate and cleaned up their mess, they put the girls to bed and went to sit on the balcony. Amore pumped enough milk, so she enjoyed a glass of wine while Trillion smoked.

  “I finished another book,” Amore said as she sat on his lap and sipped from her wine glass.

  “That’s what’s up Love. I can’t wait to read it.” Trillion smiled. Amore had published the first two books in her second series and was almost set to publish the final one. Her second series did even better than the first and that gave her a boost of confidence.

  “This is still so unbelievable to me. I never imagined that this would be my life. People always say that your life is over once you go to jail but I feel like mine was just starting,” Amore said.

  “And it’s just the beginning Love. Just wait, it’s only gonna get better,” Trillion promised.

  “I’m ready for whatever,” Amore replied.

  “You really mean that?” he asked her.

  “Definitely,” she nodded.

  “Cool, well, let’s do this shit then,” he replied as he shifted slightly and pulled a ring box out of his pocket and opened it.

  “It’s so pretty,” Amore gasped when he slipped the ring on her finger.

  “You trying to spend forever with me or what?” Trillion asked.

  “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Amore smiled before she hugged and kissed him.

  “The beach, right?” Trillion asked.

  “Aww, you remembered,” Amore said excitedly.

  “I remember everything about you Love,” Trillion noted.

  “Yes, I want to get married on the beach. I hope we don’t have to wait,” Amore said.

  “We can do it as soon as you want to. I’ve been ready,” Trillion replied.

  “Yes! I’m so excited!” Amore yelled.

  “Let me take a picture of your finger. You already know what it is,” Trillion said.

  He snapped a few pictures of Amore’s finger and a few of the two of them together. He waited until they called and told their families first before he posted anything. Everybody promised to clear their schedules to be a part of their special day whenever they wanted them to. They decided to do a beach wedding on a Saturday night and have a local reception the day after. Since no one worked on Sundays, that was perfect for everyone. Chanell wanted to do their wedding cake the morning of the reception so that it would be fresh. Trillion made a post and he already had people begging to decorate and cater their event. All he and Amore had to do was get their marriage license and choose a date. They were hoping to get it done within the next two weeks since they didn’t have a reason to wait. Trillion knew that drama was coming once Leah found out but he was prepared and ready for whatever.

  “ Where is your man? I’ve been over here three times since he’s been home and I haven’t seen him yet,” Meadow asked as she looked at Ciara.

  “Girl, you know the life of a dope boy. The streets see him more than I do,” Ciara replied as she sipped from her wine.

  Truthfully, she hadn’t seen Viper in days and he never answered when she called. Ciara felt played and she was pissed. All those years she spent holding him down while he was locked up, only for him to get released and shit on her. She was hearing through the wind that Viper was fucking everything that moved but she wasn’t surprised. She’d seen him do the exact same thing to Amore. Ciara used to talk about females who were in her position. Now, she had become one of them.

  “Can I ask you something and you won’t get offended?” Meadow questioned.

  “Yeah, what’s up?” Ciara questioned.

  “How do you and Amore know each other?” Meadow asked.

  “I told you that she was my neighbor,” Ciara answered.

  “You did but you never told me that she was living with Viper at the time,” Meadow noted.

  Amore and Chanell didn’t fuck with her at all but she did talk to Dallas frequently. Meadow had never acted brand new with Dallas like she’d done with the other two because they’d never run into each other. Dallas was always the friendlier of them all and she didn’t hold grudges like Chanell and Amore did. She was the one who told Meadow all about Ciara and her conniving ways. Meadow was shocked when she learned that all the items from Ciara’s boutique were items that she’d stolen from Amore and Viper. The same man who she now lived with. She wondered why Ciara closed her online boutique and Dallas solved that mystery too. She had nothing else to sell since Amore took all her shit back.

  “That was years ago.” Ciara shrugged, pulling Meadow out of her thoughts.

  “But, y’all were friends, right?” Meadow asked. After talking with Dallas, she knew why Amore didn’t fuck with Ciara anymore and she didn’t blame her.

  “Okay, and? Stop acting like Amore is so perfect. If she was, your boutique wouldn’t be closed because she would have helped you promote it,” Ciara snapped.

  “It’s cool boo. At least I still have all my merchandise. I can always open another store or I can sell it online,” Meadow
said, taking a cheap shot at her. She and Ciara had never passed words before but she had Meadow fucked up. As clean cut as she appeared to everyone else, she was still a hood bitch at heart. She tried to change over the years but it was still in her.

  “I have a lot of shit to do Meadow. I’ll see you at work tomorrow,” Ciara said, asking her to leave as nicely as possible. She and Meadow always got together for lunch or drinks but she wasn’t in the mood to be in her company any longer.

  “No problem,” Meadow said as she downed the last of her wine.

  As soon as she did, she heard keys being inserted into the front door. Ciara got excited when Viper walked through the door. He looked at her and Meadow but he didn’t say anything. He kept straight down the hall to their bedroom. Ciara forgot all about Meadow being there as she jumped up and followed right behind him.

  “What are you doing?” Ciara asked when she saw him grabbing his items from the closet. It wasn’t much because he hadn’t been home from jail that long. He must have gone shopping because Ciara had never even seen the outfit that he had on before that day.

  “The fuck it look like. I got my own spot. Here you go,” he said while handing her the house key that she’d given him. When Ciara didn’t take it, he shrugged and threw it on the floor.

  “What the hell is going on with you, Viper? First, you stay gone for days and don’t answer your phone. Now, you come in here packing your shit without even talking to me,” Ciara ranted.

  “I don’t have to tell you shit. You’re a fraud ass bitch Ciara. I thought about coming here and doing you dirty but I changed my mind. I appreciate the way you held me down when I was locked up, so I gave you a pass,” Viper replied.

  “I don’t even know what you’re talking about,” Ciara said.

  “I’m good on you fam,” Viper replied as he threw some more stuff into his duffle bag.

  “Can you please stop what you’re doing and talk to me?!” Ciara yelled while grabbing his arm.

  “Bitch, you touch me again and I’ll lay your scandalous ass the fuck out,” Viper gritted.

  “Scandalous?” Ciara questioned in offense.