Down With the King of the South 3

by Diamond Johnson

  “I couldn’t help but feel like both him and Marissa were sick in this entire thing. They played like they didn’t even know each other. I’m just thinking back to times when we were younger and he would either drop me off to Marissa’s house, so that I could be with Mahogany or Marissa would drop Mahogany off to be with me at my grandmother’s house. That’s crazy.

  “Even in death, I felt like I couldn’t hurt Jackie like that. You don’t think this shit bothered me, though? You don’t think that I felt bad, knowing that I had another daughter out here who I wasn’t even helping to raise? That shit would eat at my fuckin’ soul damn near every day. When you and Shae were younger, it was plenty of times that I should have stepped up, but I didn’t. I couldn’t. All I can say to you, Mahogany, is that I’m sorry—”

  “Damn right you’re sorry! I would have rather my mama stuck to the story of not knowing who the fuck my daddy was. You’re worse than these new generation of ain’t shit ass niggas. Talking about you didn’t want to hurt Jackie! Nigga, you hurt her the first fuckin’ time that you stuck your dick in my mama. She just wasn’t aware of that hurt! How you let your own child be in your presence for twenty-five years, and you didn’t say shit? You didn’t even throw a bitch a hint that you were my daddy. Ain’t even send my mama a fuckin’ dollar. That was the least that you could have fuckin’ done. I’m not buying this fuckin’ story. Shae might, but I’m not. This sounds like a story of a sorry ass nigga who was still living at home with his mama and didn’t want to deal with the responsibilities of having to financially take care of two children and—”

  “Mahogany, I get it! You’re mad, but this is still my daddy. Please watch your mouth,” I warned her.

  Hell, I was mad at him too, but I wasn’t going to disrespect him.

  She spun around and looked at me like I was crazy.

  “I don’t give a fuck if he was your fuckin’ granddaddy! He’s wrong, Shae, and he needs to know that! Then again, you had him in your life, so I wouldn’t even expect you to feel me right now. Stay out of it, Shae,” she voiced.

  “Bae, let’s go,” Jabari said, trying to pull her, but I stepped up.

  “I may not feel you, but like I said, please watch your fuckin’ mouth. The same way you said earlier that you’re willing to say fuck this friendship, just know that I’m on that same type of time. I’m mad too. I was lied to as well. This is new news to me too, but ain’t no amount of information about my daddy is going to have me disrespecting him. Now, am I going to stay over here and laugh and talk with him? Hell no, I’m about to get my shit and go, which is what I advise you to do before I pretend that I don’t even see that bump on your belly, and I swing on your ass. Mahogany, follow your man and get the fuck out of my face,” I said because she was indeed pissing me off.

  Mahogany and I hadn’t fought like this in years. Back in middle school, we were verbally and physically fighting just about every day. We both had mouths that would unleash at any minute, so it wasn’t even a surprise that there were times when we would come to blows.

  “Any fuckin’ thing you ever dealt with in your life, Shae, secondhand, I dealt with that shit too. Although I couldn’t stand Trip, when he went to prison, I was right there with your ass, crying in that bed with you over his stupid ass. When Vonte died, Shae, I was willing to quit my fuckin’ job just so I could be over there at the house, protecting you, making sure that you were straight. I missed nearly two months of work, just so I could be there for my best friend. Although this pain doesn’t compare nowhere near to the pain that you felt when you lost Vonte, it still don’t mean that I’m not hurting, Shae.

  “I don’t expect you to disrespect your daddy but take my fuckin’ feelings into consideration! Think about the loss that I took for the past thirty years. If you can’t feel where I’m coming from, Shae, then fuck you! I swear this is not my hormones talking. This is all me. Fuck you!” With that, she pushed past Jabari and was out of the house.

  A minute had gone by, and I heard both car doors slam outside, and just that fast, Jabari took off.

  “Shae, I—”

  “No! Not right now,” I said, putting my hand up, not really wanting to hear anything that my daddy had to say.

  I was crying because, just that fast, I had lost my best friend. Mahogany and I had plenty of arguments, fights, and disagreements over the years, but nothing like this. We both were angry. We both said some things that we probably shouldn’t have said and that we regretted the moment it left our mouths. After this, I knew that we were going to need space from each other.

  In two minutes, tops, I had grabbed Maya, and the two of us walked out of the door together. What started off as a good day had quickly gone down in shambles.

  Giovonni “Trip” Young

  “What’s the guard’s name again who works the entrance? The shit y’all go through when y’all have to get scanned in and scanned out?” I whispered into the phone to Raynell.

  It was almost one in the morning, and I was in my cell, putting her on to a little bit of the plan that I had drawn up for her when it came to this whole escaping from out of this shit thing. For the past few weeks, this had been my life. This shit had consumed me. I couldn’t care less about the fact that I was locked up in my cell for the majority of the day because with plotting this, I now felt like I had a little bit of hope getting out.

  “Tim? That’s who you’re talking about? Trip, I don’t want to add nobody to this plan. No! What if somebody snitches on me when I come to them with this? You got to come up with something else,” she said, not even allowing me the chance to tell her what I had planned.

  “Hear me out first before you knock it. Ain’t you tell me that he be flirting with you all the fuckin’ time? Complimenting your hair and shit?” I asked.

  “Yes,” I heard her say, and then she sighed.

  “Let him fuck then,” I nonchalantly said.

  She sucked her teeth when I said that so bluntly.

  “What? Giovonni, are you serious right now? Do you even give a fuck about me? You can’t possibly care about me, if you’re going to tell me to go and fuck another man. If this is the plan, I’m out!” she bitched.

  I was getting frustrated because Raynell wasn’t being that down bitch that I thought she would be. Krystal would have easily done this shit for me without asking any questions. That was one of the things that I missed about her sorry ass. That bitch would jump if I told her to and ask me how high after she had already did it. That was the type of shit I needed Raynell to be doing for me, but she was acting so fuckin’ scary.

  “Yes, I give a fuck about you, but sometimes we gotta do shit that we don’t want to do in order to get something done. Pussy rules the world, and you know that because you have one. I ain’t telling you to suck the nigga’s dick or no shit like that, just let him fuck. Pussy will cloud his judgement. Reel him the fuck in. Let the nigga take you somewhere to dinner and then go back to his house. Put the pussy on him, and when he goes to sleep, search his house. Every nigga got a few demons where they lay their head at, that they don’t want nobody to know about. Find his demon and blackmail him with it. After all, he gotta be the one to let us out when we escape. That nigga controls entry and exit, ain’t it?” I asked.

  “And how the hell do you suppose you’re going to get out? I know you don’t think that you can just casually walk out and not get your ass shot? I need something else, Giovonni,” she said.

  “I’m glad you asked. Your homeboy, Officer Craig. The one everybody swears up and down is my twin,” I said.

  “Okay, what about him?” she asked.

  “I gotta find a way to knock the nigga out and get his uniform,” I said, and she laughed.

  “Yeah, because everybody will swear with his uniform on that you’re Craig. Giovonni, let me put you in on something because it sounds like you don’t have a damn clue. You’re not in some little run-down ass jail. Baby, you are in prison. Highly secured, cameras that are properly working, and c
ops who are ready to bust you at any time type of prison. The shit that you’re talking about could have probably worked a few decades ago when the technology wasn’t as advanced as it is now, but things have changed. I can’t afford to be gullible when it comes to the way that you are planning to escape because it’s my life. Hell, it’s our lives.

  “I’ll tell you what. I’m off tomorrow, so I’ll use the first part of my day to draw up some things too. I’ll call you back tomorrow, around this same time, and we can discuss what I came up with. I’m going to let you go now because they should be coming around soon to do a walk-through. Please don’t get caught with that phone and don’t forget to clear your phone history, and if you have any text messages in your phone with me, delete them, please. I love you, Giovonni. I’m looking forward to this life after prison with you,” she let me know.

  “Aight. I love you too,” I lied and then hung up the phone.

  I was so fuckin’ annoyed that I wanted to just fuckin’ scream. I actually thought that the shit I came up with was pretty good. Then again, this was a big prison, and I could see why Raynell wanted to take the proper precautions, but at the same time, I was ready to get out of this bitch. I didn’t want my eagerness to get out of there be the cause for this escape to be reckless and we fuck around and get caught, so if I had to slow down a little bit, then I would just do that.

  I knew that they planned to do a walk through pretty soon, so before I turned my phone off and hid it under the mattress, I checked Instagram from the fake profile that I had to spy on Jashae. I hated that I had to go to these fuckin’ lengths just to see about her ass, but I was forced to do it because she wouldn’t pick up the phone. Even when I called her collect from the prison phone, she still wouldn’t answer. I missed the fuck out of her. I missed her coming down here to see me, her kisses, her smile, all that shit.

  I hadn’t gotten mail from her in months with pictures or letters of her. I noticed that she’d posted a new picture five hours ago. The picture turned my fuckin’ stomach. It was a picture of Miami laid up between her legs, with his head resting damn near right on her pussy, and her hands were playing around in his hair. I never thought I would see the day when my bitch moved on. Moved on to an ex homie at that.

  Let me have fucked one of her home girls, and I would have been the dirtiest nigga in the world. I wanted to comment some crazy ass shit under the caption, but I knew that she would know that it was me who posted it, so I didn’t do it. I’d try calling her again tomorrow because I knew for a fact that if I downloaded one of the fake phone number apps, she wouldn’t answer. Plus, I didn’t want Miami to answer the phone and I get into a fuckin’ hollering match with his ass. I couldn’t stand his bitch ass!

  Jabari Brooks

  “Where you going?” Mahogany asked, sitting up in the bed.

  It was almost ten in the morning, and I was getting dressed to go and check on my store. I’d been up since seven. I actually just got back about an hour ago from my morning run. I’d showered and everything, and I purposely made a lot of noise in the bathroom so that Mahogany could get the hint and join me in the shower, but her ass never came. Now, she wanted to wake up, when I was damn near fully dressed and on my way out the door.

  I watched my wife lay there for a few minutes, and I knew she wasn’t at her happiest. It had been almost a month since that shit happened between her and Shae at Jahir’s house. Two people who had been in each other’s lives for the past twenty-five years, who didn’t go a day without talking on the phone with each other, had now ended a friendship. Well, they felt like they’d ended a friendship. Me, personally, I felt like all they needed to do was go to a fuckin’ spa, drink some fuckin’ sparkling water out of a champagne glass and pretend that it was wine, since neither of their pregnant asses could drink, and just kiss and make the fuck up.

  I swear I was even trying to downplay the whole situation and make it seem like it wasn’t a big deal, but to me, the beef shouldn’t have to be between my wife and Shae. That shit fully needed to be on Jahir’s ass because he was the one who did all that fuckin’ lying. All that animosity and shit that they were directing toward each other needed to be fully reloaded on his ass.

  Since the two of them were beefing, I had to step up and be the best friend to Mahogany. Not that I didn’t want to be best friends with my wife, but fuckkkk, a nigga needed a break. Yesterday, she had me sitting in a fuckin’ nail salon with her for damn near two fuckin’ hours, and prior to that, we went to have brunch. What the fuck is brunch anyway? I didn’t do no shit like that. I throw a a Garcia sausage in the oven, put it between some Nature’s Own bread, and I call it a fuckin’ day. Plus, I was tired of pretending to be interested in her boring ass work drama.

  She came home every day, telling me new stories about who was sleeping with who at her job, and I had to sit there and pretend that I was interested. When she and Shae were cool, all that story time went to Shae’s ass. I was trying to force her damn near every day to call Shae, so they could make up, but she wasn’t listening. Two stubborn ass bitches who knew they were missing the fuck out of each other but just didn’t want to be the one to make the first move.

  Granted, Mahogany had every right to be mad, and she was entitled to her feelings, but damn. Hell, even I was shocked behind that shit. Out of all the people who could have been her daddy, it ended up being Jahir. This was the type of ghetto ass shit that you saw in a Tyler Perry movie. It was crazy, though, because if you watched Mahogany and Jashae’s relationship, I think anyone would say that they just clicked like blood sisters. I would have never in my life thought that, though, because while Jashae looked like Jahir, Mahogany didn’t look shit like his ass. That woman was the spitting image of her mother.

  Speaking of her mother, I still didn’t know yet if it was a good thing that I’d reached out and had her come down to the beach where we’d gotten married. I didn’t know because, on one hand, I’d opened up a can of worms, but then on the other hand, at least I got the two of them to face each other after so many years had gone by without the two of them being in any type of relationship.

  Hitting up my wife’s mother wasn’t even to be malicious. I knew my woman, and I knew that she craved to have her mother in her life. It was little shit that she would say during the day that led me to believe that she was missing her ole girl in her life, but just like me, Mahogany was stubborn as fuck and would have probably never in her life admitted that shit.

  “To check on the store. She kicking your ass in there, ain’t it?” I asked, pointing down to her stomach.

  I could tell from the way her stomach was moving that our daughter was in there kicking. Mahogany was showing in full effect now, and I loved that shit. I didn’t think I could be more in love with her, but man, when she got pregnant, and I started watching all the natural changes that were taking place with her body, it made me fall even more in love. All she wore was a sports bra and some boy shorts, so I saw everything. I saw her breasts that were fuller and the perfect, round stomach, that I loved to lay up under her and kiss every chance that I got. Although she was sitting, she had more ass now and a nigga loved that extra shit to hold onto. All things that didn’t make her more beautiful because she was perfect to me before; it just enhanced it.

  “Yes. That’s what woke me up. Lay down with me. Why you can’t get somebody else to go and check on the store?” she asked and patted the empty spot next to her, but I wasn’t about to fall for that shit.

  She’d have me in this bitch watching the Lifetime Movie Network, just like she had me last night.

  “Nah, shorty. I got shit to do. You need to call your girl, with your stubborn, funny acting ass. You miss her. That’s why you keep trying to get me to do the shit that you used to do with her,” I let her know.

  She sucked her teeth and waved me off.

  “What you going to do when it’s time for the baby shower? Not invite her?” I asked because I honestly didn’t think that the two of them had thought t
hat far ahead.

  “Well, whose side are you on?” she whined, looking up at me with those big ass, light brown eyes of hers.

  “Do you even have to ask me that shit? I’m on your side, whether you’re right or wrong—”

  “You think I’m wrong? And don’t spare my feelings either. Tell me the truth,” she said.

  “Bae, I would have told you if I felt like you were wrong the moment we left from over there and got back in the car. You handled that shit like any other woman would have handled it. You got every right to be mad at Jahir. That nigga kept an ongoing lie for thirty years. You been around that nigga damn near your whole life and had your ole girl not told you to go and talk to him, you probably still wouldn’t have found out the truth. When it comes to you and Shae being mad at each other and not speaking, I think y’all both wrong in that sense. You know you want to talk to her. You don’t have to have your pride in front of me. This me. Your husband. I done already seen your flaws, shorty,” I let her know.

  “I’m not calling her first. She was going to try and fight me while we’re both pregnant,” she said with a pout, and all I could do was laugh and shake my head.

  “I don’t know what to tell you, shorty. Better go find you some new friends then,” I let her know.

  “What about you? You supposed to be my homie, my lover, and my friend,” she said with a smile on her beautiful ass face.

  “You be using me, man. You know damn well that you would have never asked a nigga to go with you to the nail salon if you and Shae weren’t beefing,” I joked, but I was dead ass serious.

  She laughed because she knew it was true.

  “I probably wouldn’t have, but I like it. I enjoy spending time with my husband. Don’t you like spending time with your wife?” she asked.