The Wild Child

by Nicole Jackson

  “How soon after?” I gritted.

  “From what I was told, it was like a week or something,” she revealed, breaking my heart. It took me months to finally let somebody else touch me. “And now they’re together on the regular. She’s been bragging to anybody who’ll listen about him paying her bills, and how his ex, meaning you, is stalking him.”

  “Wow,” I stressed. I was in complete shock. “If we’re supposed to be cool, then why didn’t you say anything before now?”

  “Because I felt caught in the middle. Not in between you and my cousin, because I don’t fuck with that hoe, period. Had it been just about her, I would’ve told you off the rip, but Jared was adamant about me not saying anything. He claimed that he wanted to respect his brother’s space, and it wasn’t our place to tell you about who he was seeing. Especially since everybody felt like you wasn’t going to quietly accept it.”

  “That’s fucked up, Cavalli,” I tucked my lips into my mouth, as I rocked back and forth. “If the shoe had been on the other foot, I would’ve told you.”

  “I know,” she sighed heavily, as her eyes casted down to her lap.

  “But you know how you can make it up to me?” I continued to rock.

  Her head snapped up. “What?”

  “Give me Jeremy’s key off Jared’s keyring.”

  ***

  For some reason, I couldn’t stop rocking back and forth. I had been staked outside of Jeremy’s for hours. I knew that there was a chance that he wouldn’t come home at all, since Cavalli had already told me that her cousin had her own spot. But I didn’t care how long it took. I was catching up with his ass, because I had time today.

  I knew that I had to be teetering on insanity, as I didn’t bother eating none that day, and had been taking pisses on the side of my cousin’s car. I’d traded with my cousin, Terio, taking his Cadillac, figuring that Jeremy wouldn’t immediately recognize it.

  I really needed to turn the music off, because Beyoncé wasn’t helping shit. Tears were literally streaming down my face, as I sang along with the song. “Something told me it was over. When I saw you and her talking. Something deep down in my soul said, cry, girl. When I saw you and that girl walking around. Ooh, I would rather, I would rather go blind, boy. Than to see you walk away from me, child, no, oo—" I crooned off key. “So you see, I love you so much. That I don't wanna watch you leave me, baby. Most of all I just don't, I just don't wanna be free now, ooh, ooh.”

  As if on cue, Jeremy’s Mercedes G-Wagon swooped into his driveway. That was a truck that he usually kept at his parents’, so I knew that there wasn’t enough room in the garage. So, he parked right outside of his garage, before hopping out of his truck. I was beginning to believe that he was alone, until the passenger’s door popped open. Then outstepped this tall stallion-esc broad. She had ass for days, and weave cascaded down her back. Looking good and cozy, she wore flip flops along with socks, and a t-shirt nightgown. Bitches didn’t move like that, unless they were with their nigga, and shit was serious.

  My heart nearly leapt out of my chest, when I saw Jeremy walk around the truck and feel all over her booty. Not thinking twice about it, I sprung out of the car. “So, this is what the fuck you do?!”

  Jeremy’s head snapped up. “Man, what the fuck are you doing here?”

  I hurriedly, I marched over to them. “What you mean what I’m doing here?! The fuck are you doing here with this homeless looking bitch?!”

  The girl placed a hand on her chest. “Homeless?”

  “Yeah, bitch, you heard me right!” I lashed. Before I could say another word, that hoe snatched me up by my ponytail.

  “Aye, chill out!” Jeremy shouted, while attempting to pry us apart.

  “Yeah, say that shit again, bitch,” she gritted, as she rammed her fist into my face. “Aint shit homeless about me,” she talked shit. “I’m just dressed down, after a long night of fucking my man.”

  I don’t know why she said that shit. I turned into Incredible Hulk on her ass. Picking her up by the legs, I body slammed her on the ground. She still had a grip on my hair, so I fell on top of her. So, with my head down, I pounded her face, busting her lips. I had too many brothers and cousins to go out like a weak bitch. She was gonna have to bring it…and truthfully the bitch was doing just that. We were exchanging blows, until I managed to place my knee on her chest. That’s when I unloaded on her, swelling her eye up. Seeing that she was losing momentum didn’t deter me, as I wrapped my hands around her neck, trying to choke the life out of her.

  “Bitch, I’ll kill you!” I cried. “You fucking my nigga?! Huh?!”

  “Jeremy!” she blurted. “Get her off me!”

  “Jhyrah, come on, man. Stop this shit before these people call the police on you,” he pleaded, but wasn’t doing much to stop me.

  “Jeremy, help!” she screeched out desperately, releasing my hair.

  “Okay, that’s enough,” he declared, as he lifted my body off hers. “Jhyrah, take your ass home!” he demanded, placing me back on my feet.

  “Go home?” my lips quivered. “So, you’re about to go in the house with that bitch?”

  “This is my fucking house!” he roared. “I’ll do whatever the fuck I wanna do!” he had the nerve to try to help his bitch stand up, and I shoved them both down.

  “I’ll burn this muthafucka down first!” I promised.

  Jeremy scrambled to his feet with fire in his eyes. I was ready for whatever and low-key wanted him to hit me. I was calling my daddy right after and he’d put a bullet in his ass. I considered throwing the first blow, when I heard police sirens in the distance. Knowing that staying on the scene could mean assault charges, I decided to let it go.

  Racing back to Terio’s car I knew that this shit was far from over, and Jeremy was officially dead to me.

  Jeremy

  I was pacing back and forth, as I listened to the phone ring on the other end. I was about to end the call when he answered.

  “What’s up, lil’ nigga?” Big Jahrein questioned.

  “Unc, I’ma come right out with it. I want you to hear it from me first.”

  “Okay,” he uttered evenly. “What’s going on?”

  “Your daughter done lost her mind. First, she came over here, cutting up. She ran up on me and my friend. I aint gone lie, my friend teed off on her.”

  “Wait, what? Your friend did what to my fucking daughter?!” he seethed, which wasn’t a surprise.

  “She teed off on her. You know I was trying to break it up, but before I could get them apart Jhyrah body slammed the girl on the ground. Otherwise, I would’ve dragged them apart. You know I aint finna let nobody dog her out, regardless of the fact.”

  I caught Vita glaring at me, but I didn’t give a fuck.

  “Anyway,” I carried on. “Eventually, I had to physically remove her off the girl. I didn’t have a choice, because if I didn’t, she was going to jail. You know them white people probably had called the laws.”

  “Well, Jeremy, you know how she is,” Jahrein sounded like he was trying to stifle a laugh. I knew that he wasn’t going to have a problem with a fight, as long as his daughter had won. Truthfully, Vita needed to be thankful that she had lost too. Jhyrah losing would’ve turned out much worst for her. “But why is she clowning, though? Yall been done for a minute. I mean, unless you been slipping back—”

  “I have,” I readily admitted. “So, I aint tripping on her acting up. I should’ve expected nothing less from her. I can take my lick, but then she took it to another level. I don’t know how she got in my house, but she destroyed everything in here. I mean, she even took a sledge hammer to my walls. She dashed bleach all over my closet. Busted the windows out of all my cars. And burned most of my clothes in the backyard. Then I think she took most of my jewelry.”

  “Oh, yeah, she’s definitely cutting up. I’ma have to talk to her. But yeah, send me the bill, Jeremy. We’ll get this squared away.”

  “Nah, I’m good. It’s nothi
ng I can’t handle. I just wanted you to know what’s going on, and maybe talk some sense into her. And I wanna at least try to get my jewelry back. That’s over a cool mil she smooth walked out the door with.”

  “Shit, he better pray she gives it back, cause I know I wouldn’t,” I heard Raven in the background. Clearly, I was on speaker.

  Big Jah chuckled. “Now, you see where your daughter gets that ignorant shit from. How you aint gon tell her to do the right thing?”

  “I do tell her all the time. I tell her to spank any bitch’s ass, if they wanna play with her. Period.”

  I shook my head, realizing that I was wasting my time. Hell, even if I called my mama, her response wouldn’t have been too much different, and she was my mama.

  “Alright, unc, I was just calling to let you know what’s going on. I’ll talk to you later.”

  “Okay, bet,” he voiced, before ending the call.

  “You just too fucking friendly for me,” Vita snapped. “Calling to kiss her daddy’s ass after his daughter fucked up your house.”

  I really didn’t give a fuck about what she was saying. Me and Jhyrah’s families were too close, and that shit wasn’t going to change just because she was in the picture. Calling her daddy was the best resolution, because he was probably the only person she’d listen to. Of course, this would be handled completely different, if she’d been any other broad. My cousins would be on her ass, tag teaming her. But she was family, and they were only down to beat bitches down on her behalf. Nobody would get involved when it comes to her and would simply tell me that we needed to work it out.

  “Look, man, I aint about to argue with you,” I spat.

  “Who’s arguing? I’m just tryna see what’s the hold up. Why haven’t you called the police, yet?”

  I gave her a look. “Girl, do you know who the fuck I am? Nobody with the last name Wiltz talks to the police. That aint how I get down.”

  She rolled her left eye, while the right one was closed shut. “Well, how the hell are you gonna handle this? She ruined everything. Besides, just because you don’t talk to police, don’t mean that I don’t too. I’m pressing assault charges.”

  I gave her a look of disgust. “I’d have no respect for somebody who stoops that low. You initiated that fight and was actually winning at one point. She just came back and finished the shit. So, take your lick like a woman.”

  She exhaled. “You know what? You’re right. I lost. It’s that simple, but I swear to God that she’s gonna have to see me again. Every time I see her, we thumping. On God.”

  “Vita, I really think that it’s in your best interest to let that shit go. She got people that will kill you for merely laying a hair on her. Don’t get yourself into some shit that I can’t get you out of,” I warned.

  “Whatever, Jeremy,” she sniped. “You sound like a captain-save-a-hoe. Defending that bitch at every turn. Then you’ve been lying to me. You said that you didn’t know why she was acting crazy, yet you just admitted that you’re still fucking her, over the phone. I guess you thought that I couldn’t hear that shit, huh?”

  I causally shrugged. “Fuck, what you want me to say?”

  “How many times has it happened?”

  I narrowed my eyes. “Why does it matter, man?”

  “Cause, I wanna know!” she lashed.

  “A lot, Vita,” I confessed. “Too many times to count.”

  “Is that why I haven’t been seeing you much during the week?”

  I nodded.

  “But why?” her lips trembled. “We’ve been doing sooo good,” her voice cracked.

  I rubbed the side of my face. “I don’t know, man. All I can tell you is that it aint got nothing to do with you. You’re a good girl. She’s just…she’s just different.”

  She frowned. “She’s different how? I mean, I know she’s pretty, but I am too. I’ve heard that she was a real freak for you, but haven’t I been too?”

  “Vita, let’s not do this. For real, man.”

  “Why not? I’ve been completely open with you. Shit, we’ve fucked bitches together, so you know that I’m not the jealous type. So, be real with me. I’m a big girl. I can take it.”

  I breathed. “It’s a lot of reasons, man. We got history. I was in love with her. And…I aint never had a girl to fuck me that way that she fucks me,” I admitted for the first time ever.

  Vita gulped. “Do you think that you can stop messing with her? Cause I know that she aint down with no poly shit.”

  “I honestly don’t know.”

  “You don’t know, huh?” she licked her lips. "Okay, well, let me ask you this. Out of me and her, who would you trust in a room full of niggas with money? Would I fuck up? Or would she?”

  I couldn’t even bring myself to answer that question.

  She smirked. “Exactly. That tells me everything I need to know. Yes, she might be the bigger freak, but pussy gets old. Trust and loyalty are the kind of recipes that forevers are made of. And I pray that you understand the difference.”

  Chapter 31

  Jhyrah

  Using a hundred-dollar bill and my credit card, I lined up my coke, before snorting it off the bathroom’s counter top. Each time I’d do a line, I’d chase it with a shot of Cîroc. I was getting lifted, and feeling nice, until I was rudely interrupted.

  “Jhyrah,” somebody spoke through the door, as they knocked. “I gotta pee.”

  Fuck! “Okay, here I come,” I announced, as I did the last line, before dusting off the counter top, and cleaning around my nose. I washed my hands, and stashed my bottle back in my purse, before pulling the door open.

  “About time,” Josairah fussed, as she rushed to the toilet to take a piss.

  Nixing her off, I closed the door behind me. Floating on a cloud, I traveled back to Keyasia and Wale’s living room. There Keyasia, Taraj, Mya, and Cavalli all sat on the sectional.

  “Damn, Jhyrah, I was beginning to believe that your ass had fell asleep on the toilet,” Keyasia kidded. “What the hell were you doing?”

  “I had a phone call,” I lied without hesitation.

  “It wasn’t Jeremy again, was it?” Taraj attempted to pry into my business.

  “Hell, no.” Everybody knew that I was done with his ass, although he was now calling me non-stop.

  “Why does he call, period?” Keyasia questioned. I’d been vague with her at best and hadn’t fully copped to dealing with Jeremy again.

  “Cause they were fucking again,” Taraj snitched.

  I gave her messy ass a look, while Key didn’t look too surprised. “So, are yall back together?” she asked with an unreadable expression on her face.

  I smacked my lips. “Really, Key? Are we gonna just sit here and pretend that you didn’t get the scoop from my mama or yours? I mean, they had to tell you about the fight and shit.”

  “Yeah, I heard,” she admitted. “But I wanted to hear it from the horse’s mouth. Did you get beat up? Cause you have a few scratches in your face.”

  Daynah tittered. “Key, you stupid. How are you gonna just ask that girl if she got beat up?”

  Keyasia shrugged. “Cause I wanna know. I’m tryna see if we gotta gather the squad up and roll over to Jeremy’s. I can’t fight, right now, but I know that Jazel is always down to start a fire. She’ll burn that muthafucka down with Jeremy and his bitch in it.”

  I shook my head. “You talking like that, when that girl’s cousins are sitting right here.”

  Mya’s eyes brightened. “Who? We don’t claim that hoe, so I don’t care about shit she got going on. But uh, I do have some pictures of her after that fight. It’s safe to say that Jhyrah spanked that ass.”

  “Ooh, let me see,” Keyasia requested giddily.

  I watched as Mya passed her phone around, and they all checked out the photos. Josairah came back from the bathroom and caught a glimpse too.

  “Damn, Jhyrah, you did all that?” Taraj asked in astonishment.

  “Yep. She was getting the best
of me, until she mentioned fucking Jeremy. That’s when I gathered the strength of three niggas and beat the brakes off that hoe.”

  Everybody laughed, while I gulped down the glass of wine I’d left sitting on the coffee table earlier.

  Keyasia gave me a side eye. “I think you need to slow down. That’s like your eighth glass, plus I saw you take multiple shots of hard liquor.”

  I shrugged her off. “So.”

  She rolled her eyes at me. “Anyway, what are you planning on doing about this situation between you and Jeremy?”

  “Nothing. It’s fuck him and that amazon bitch he’s dealing with.”

  She studied me closely. “Well, I hope you aint stressing yourself out over him. I believe that he’s being the typical egotistical nigga, trying to make you suffer, because you bruised his pride. Just do you, and he’ll eventually come around. And if he don’t? Then fuck him.”

  “Yeah.” I nodded, as I tapped my nose, which was running. “I got you. Fuck him.”

  “Uh, when will this bitch catch a hint?” Daynah groaned as her cell rang.

  “Who’s that?” I questioned curiously.

  “Roxy’s annoying ass.”

  I tittered. “I thought that she was your girl?”

  Daynah cut her eyes at me. “When did I say all that?”

  “Really, Daynah? You brought the girl around, had her in your house and shit. Shit, I thought that you half-way fucked with her and that’s why I gave her a chance.”

  “She was my associate, Jhyrah. That’s it. And correction, that bitch has never been to my house.”

  Mya smacked her lips. “Well, I only allowed her to come over to my house because she was hanging with you.”