Hoodwinked

by Desiree Granger

  The morning doves made their usual cooo noise that you could only hear early AMs in the south. I studied the mint leaf in my water swirling about before taking another sip. Most peaceful thing about nature was the sound of natural water rippling. I could close my eyes, and just feel like I was one with the environment. The two cats I owned made themselves comfortable in Georgia, and only came home once a week or so. Just for guaranteed food before disappearing again into their own unique cat life. I opened my eyes and studied my partner, seeing he was quiet.

  “Ben?” I called out again.

  “Yeah baby?” Looking over his shoulder at me.

  “You okay?”

  He didn’t say anything, but he sighed.

  “Taking it all in. That’s all. Each time you pull off a layer of yourself to present to me, I’m taking it in. When you talk to me like this, you unloading and unpacking to let go, and sometimes I wanna help you let it go. Other times, I decide I’ma carry that baggage for you as my own. This is one of them times…” He nodded as I tried not to smile. “Had I been there, that whole cornfield woulda been set on fire.”

  “It wasn’t a cornfield----.”

  “Cottonfield, whatever backward shit y'all do in South Carolina.”

  “You’re from Alabama,” I reminded. Wondering why people assume one southern state is worse than the other.

  “Don’t matter. I woulda lit that whole place up. I think it was one of them side niggas you said kept staring at you. One of them white boys?”

  “Mmmm,” I smiled, amused by his anger of a childhood incident. “Thank goodness we’re having a son. I can’t imagine what you would be like with your own daughter.”

  “Sheeeit...I’on care what we having. We ain’t letting nan hoe come and ruin our boy’s life, deal?”

  “Deal,” I laughed, watching him nod. “Is that the thing we finna go to? What’s it called?”

  “The Moon Run. We don’t have to if you don’t want to,” I said. “It's a family tradition, and the boys still want to participate. The ones that are chosen that is. It would be nice to see it as an adult for once.”

  Ben nodded, giving me his answer on it without saying it.

  “You talk to Pia yet?”

  “She won’t answer my calls,” I shrugged. “I heard about what happened with Dre, and Homer fighting. It was bound to happen, and it won’t be the last.”

  “What you mean it won’t be the last?” He pressed as I leaned back on the boat. “Ain’t this one of yo lil plans you done conjured up? You should know what’s going on, how it goes down, and why---.”

  “And now she won’t…”

  I paused, hearing my phone ring for the first time since Friday, and smiled when I looked to see it was finally Pia Mia herself calling me. Hopefully to apologize for throwing a drink in my damn face. I’m pregnant after all.

  “Hello?” I answered innocently, placing her on speaker.

  “I blame you for everything that goes on with Homer, you know that?” She immediately started as I braced myself for the drawn out complaints. “First he skips out on a chance to be with Violet for a damn club! You’re so ready to be a father to this girl, and the moment I give you an inch, you take several steps back?! On top of that! You know what he told my boyfriend?! Did I even tell you what happened with him, and Dre at the country club?!”

  “What are black people doing at a country club in the first place?” I asked. “Pretentious, and so needy of validation----.”

  “SHUT UP!” She snapped as Ben whipped his head around with wide eyes. “Just shut up Delilah! I’m serious! If you’re my friend, supposedly the friend you claim to be! Just shut up!”

  “I never claimed to be your friend Pia. I tolerate you because our men are close----.”

  “And I’m one of the reasons you’re with your man till this day so shut the hell up! Your cousin! Your stupid cousin told Dre that he, and I had sex after that one time! He made it seem like we were still messing around! Do you know what type of explaining I had to do?! Almost begging with Dre to get him to see Homer, and I never...Your---!”

  Beep. Beep.

  I looked at the screen seeing Homer’s incoming call as I showed Ben the phone. He quickly shook his head, turning away from the drama I suddenly craved for.

  “Don’t answer that bih----.”

  “Pia, honey, I have another call coming in from Homer, hold on----.”

  “Don’t you dare click over! I’m not done talking to----!”

  “Hello?” I answered with just as much innocence as Ben shook his head, flinging the rod back into the river.

  “You gon learn baby,” he warned. “You gon learn one day.”

  “I’m sure, hello? Homer?” I called out.

  “If you ever gave a fuck about me or family, you would tell Pia to answer her phone and let me see my daughter before I leave. Now---.”

  “Is that a threat?” I laughed. “I’m not Deandre---.”

  “That nigga swung on me first! Tell her to get out of her feelings, and think about Violet for once! I want to see my daughter before I get on the road! It’s not fair!”

  “Lemme ask you something Homer, after you got into a fight with Dre? Did you call Pia to explain your side?”

  “No, I---.”

  “Did you go over there to see your daughter and explain your side in person? You spent the night right? At her place?”

  “He whaaaat?” Ben gasped, turning back into the drama like a bad reality show you couldn’t turn away from.

  “I stayed with my family because Pia was on that bullshit after that! He---!”

  “Pia is on the other line, hold on,” I said dryly before clicking back over. I could hear Pia going off to someone, ranting about the situation.

  “And Delilah! Don’t get me started on her! She’s so freaking fake! Playing both sides of the fence! I’m done with her! Two-faced, and all! I’m done with her! That entire family! My mother warned me about women like her---.”

  “And what did she say?” I asked, feeling my body grow tight with anger. “What did your mother say?”

  I assumed Pia would backtrack or suddenly grow nervous and trample on her words, but to my surprise, she was finally coming into her own.

  “She told me to stay away from bitches like you!” She spat. “You knew he was going to be at the club!”

  “I did,” I smiled. “Found out the same night---.”

  “You knew he was supposed to be watching my daughter! You knew I was dancing on him! You knew about Violet before I did, and told ME! Not to tell him! Yet, nobody is coming at you with hate messages, and slander online! Calling me a whore, slut, and horrible excuse for a mother! I have a whole family, weirdo family that thinks magic is real, and my daughter is some she-demon monster! Coming after me about OUR choice to keep Violet a secret! Dre refuses to talk to me! I… I----.”

  Beep beep

  I looked at the screen seeing Homer was calling with a series of texts coming from him, demanding I click him over to the call with Pia.

  “Pia hold on---.”

  “If you put me on the phone with your cousin, I swear to God I will never talk to you again. I mean it Delilah! I will never----.”

  “I’ll be alright with that,” I let out before clicking over. How I know Pia was full of shit, she remained on the phone. Somebody that was so certain they didn’t want to speak to another person would have been hung up by now.

  “Hello? Homer?”

  “Put me on the phone with her. Have my back for once cousin---.”

  “I don’t want to hear about that family shit Homer. Save that speech for someone who needs it,” clicking him into the call for one big merge. “Now,” sighing.

  “He better not be on this phone---.”

  “Pia? All I’m asking is to see Violet before I leave. I don’t care how you feel about me or what I did to yo punk ass boyfriend---.”

  “I WOULD NEVER! GO TO YOUR GIRLFRIEND AND DO WHAT YOU DID! You had NO RIGHT!”


  “I didn’t like how he came at me! Nigga tried to size me up! You---!”

  “We never slept together after that Homer! Either you have some unresolved sexual feelings for me, and you----.”

  “Mannn you out yo rabbit ass mind! Lemme see my damn daughter before I go! Let me talk to her! Let her know that I’m still---!”

  “Still what?!”

  I sat back, placing the phone on the seat beside me, and just stared at the open river before me. Ben quietly fishing to himself, occasionally shaking his head in shame.

  “She’s coming with me to South Carolina! You already know this! I been told you I’m taking her to see my family!”

  “You couldn’t even take her for a night!”

  “Because you won’t let her see my sisters who live less than 20 minutes away from you! Look, we got this lil get together we always do. She’s a part of me, therefore she’s apart of this family. It’s her right to be there, and partake---.”

  “I said NO! I’ve been said no! Delilah, we have nothing further to say. Homer, drive home safely. I’m not wasting my breath anymore. You’ll see her when I say you can see her from now on. You think you can play games with my relationship that have nothing to do with you---.”

  “You can’t do that!” He cried out as my brows came together, hearing a tone that was rare to Pia, but she hung up on her end, and a sense of vulnerability from my cousin I’ve never heard before. Homer must didn’t realize he was still on the line because I could hear him talking with Michael.

  “Shit ain’t fair! It’s not fair!” He screamed. “I want to see her! It ain’t even about Pia, and her lil boyfriend no more! I just want to see my child!”

  “Calm down man… Just try again when you come back to Atlanta…”

  The phone clicked, ending the call as Ben stared at me.

  “Is that what you was hoping for? When you came up with this crazy ass plan a few years ago? That? You lost a friend in Pia---.”

  “I’ll be alright.”

  “You finna lose family,” he continued just as my phone rang once more. I looked down at the screen, seeing a number I wasn’t familiar with before answering.

  “Hello?”

  “Hi um… This is Jasmine. You gave me a reading a while back, and we went out Friday night to that---.”

  “I know who you are,” I said, picturing the pretty dark skinned girl with the long naturally curly hair. What a waste of beauty with absolutely no personality to back it up. “What can I do for you?”

  “I want another reading, a do-over. I think you have it wrong about my fiance, and I. I just… Maybe some things have changed.”

  “If you think I have it wrong, why would you come to me a second time?” I asked, curiously. She was afraid I might be right, that was her problem. “I’ve never been wrong before, but in any case, we can schedule you an appointment to see me. 600 deposit, 600 when it's over---.”

  “Excuse me?” She choked. “Last time it was---.”

  “What I am, and what I do is not cheap. I’m pregnant, I’m stressed, and I’m tired. Dealing and taking on other people’s problems comes with a price. Email me when you’re ready to schedule your appointment.”

  I hung up, and nearly tossed the phone in the water when Ben got up to take another fresh caught fish into the cooler. I could tell by his sharp movements, and pinched face he was now, pissed.

  “You done being in everybody’ business, and stirring shit up, or nah? You see how this shit starting to take a toll on you,” he fussed, slamming the cap shut. “If it's starting to affect you, it’s hurting my son so you need to stop all this shit. Let that reading be the last time until after you give birth.”

  “I’m not really stressing over----.”

  “The last time! I’m not with it no more. Let all this shit go Delilah, for real,” sitting back down as he aggressively flung the rod into the water. “Gon have me worked up over this Days of Our Lives bullshit. Baby comes first, our family comes before all of this.”

  “And what about our bills?”

  Ben cut his eyes back at me with raised brows like I offended him in the worst way possible.

  “What about our what?” He asked, turning all the way to look at me as I grew quiet. “You barely paying shit now. Lemme worry about that. Stop fucking with these people. Ain’t with it no more, you hear me?”

  I leaned back in the seat with a roll of my eyes, and pinched mouth. So much I could say and do to go against Ben, but my respect for him ran deep. If he said leave it alone, it was already out of my hands.

  “I hear you. No more.”

  Pia, and Homer were on their own from this point on. My job was done anyway.

  Tallulah Skye

  “Are you sure about this?” Indigo whispered as I popped my bubble gum at my reflection in the compact mirror.

  “D.A Got that Dope! That dope!”

  “Positive,” I said with a cluck of my tongue as I began to bop to the beat, turning the volume up on my boyfriend’s radio. “Go bitch, go bitch, go bestie,” I rapped. Flipping my fresh waves of hair from one shoulder to the next. “Can’t fuck with these hoes cuz they messy.”

  “I really don’t know if we should interfere---.”

  “Go bitch, go bitch, go bestie!” I sang louder, palms of my hands pressed against my knees as I popped in the passenger seat of my boyfriend’s Crown Victoria. Channeling my inner Aaliyah with the side swoop covering one half of my face, I looked back at my timid cousin, seeing she was picking, and biting at her nails with nerves. Snow white hair braided back like a thug with the braids shriveling up with curled ends just on the back of her neck.

  “Don’t give me that look Tallulah, you know I don’t want to do this. Especially with y'all two---.”

  “Girl, it's gonna be quick,” waving her off. “In, and out. Jasmine needs our help---.”

  “She doesn’t need our help like this. Why not be there for her, or…”

  “Indigo? We have a woman hurting over an ain’t shit man who is openly doing her wrong. We also have an ain’t shit hoe who was once apart of our pack, and smiled and laughed in our faces while she was messing around with this same ain’t shit side nigga. Do you understand what’s at stake here? What we have to do? Do you know what will happen if his sisters find out Nasia has been cheating on Homer with Percy? If Homer finds out? That messes everything up because he’s supposed to be with that Pia girl which is Percy’s sister. I like Jasmine. She belongs with us, she just doesn’t realize it yet though. I don’t want the family to turn against her because they think she knew Nasia was in on it---.”

  “But she did! She was the first to know, and did nothing!”

  I turned back in the seat to look at my cousin again. Unmoved.

  “We have to do something. No exceptions---.”

  “But this? This isn’t taking it too far to you?”

  My decision was final. I sat back in my seat, facing forward as I thought back to Jasmine. I could see her sitting in that apartment by herself now. Laying on the bed surfing the dating apps, looking for something that didn’t exist in any other man, but Percy. Unfortunately Delilah was right, and I knew it the moment I realized it was his dumb ass in the club staring her down. The problem is… Percy wanted Jasmine to want him so he could have permission to want her just as much without looking like a rejected fool. She thought she was too good for him. He didn’t see a reason to pursue her if she already counted him out. So of course he would seek attention elsewhere, but if he could have Jasmine the way he had these other girls, he would be a different man.

  They just needed an extra push or a shove in the right direction is all. Best believe my sis was going to have her fun, but the love she was looking for hasn’t been tapped into yet with Percy. That’s why I’m here. Make quick cash while I’m in Atlanta, have a little fun, and meet the girl I’ve been hearing about in my dreams for years now.

  “Can’t fuck with you hoes cuz you messy,” I bopped randomly, watching my b
oyfriend walk out of the gas station with one leg cocked in front of the other in his strut. Hair, cut low on the sides with the dark blonde laid just right on the top. He had one thick diamond stone in his right ear as he gripped the middle of his fitted jeans, honey brown eyes cutting low towards someone calling out to him. I reached to turn the radio off, and looked back at the windows to see a few guys trying to talk to him about something.

  Why does he always have that lower lip hanging like he’s dumb?

  “I should have just stayed my behind home,” Indigo muttered, leaning back in the seat, pouting. I smiled at my cousin, ready to annoy her as I looked her white prison braids over.

  “Anybody ever told you, you look like Storm?” I asked before bursting out into laughter when she started to open the door. “I’m playing! Playing Indie! You don’t look like a mutant---.”

  “Tallulah,” she warned as I laughed, sitting back in my seat when Travis dropped down in the driver's seat with a small black bag, and a brown paper bag holding a drink.

  “What they want?” I asked, looking back at the guys who walked in the store.

  “Shit,” he muttered, distracted. We all dug into the bags, getting our snacks, and drinks before I took his phone. Seeing he was getting untimely text messages.

  “Who is Tiffany?” I asked, scrolling through their text history. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, but I didn’t care for the conversation in general. “I know her?”

  “Man, go’on now girl… Ain’t studin’ these girls outchea no more. Where we going?” He asked as I aggressively texted her back like I was him. No shame at all, especially with him looking over my shoulder and sucking his teeth. He had no choice but to deal with my paranoia, not after what he put me through, but I eventually plugged in the address of where Nasia lived. Not too far from the gas station, her apartment complex that she supposedly let go after the breakup with Homer. The apartment he was paying on so when he came to see her, he would have a place to stay like it was his. Their whole set up used to be cute for a long distance relationship, but now?