I Got Your Back- Teflon & Tatiana’s Love Story

by Shvonne Latrice

  “Agreed,” he nodded as the waitress set down our drinks. “So it’s a wrap between Kayla and me.”

  “For how long? A day or two?” I scoffed and sipped my drink. Them niggas were always breaking up and the longest they’d stayed apart was about three days. I didn’t take the shit seriously any more; I don’t even think they did.

  “Nah it’s for real this time. I walked in and she had my shit packed up in boxes.”

  “So, fuck does that mean?”

  “I’m fucking serious man. And I think it’s for the best. Usually I would try to sweet talk her and shit but this time I just decided to let go. I feel like I’m wasting her time.”

  “If you love her why can’t you just act right?”

  “Nigga, I’m wondering the same thing.”

  “That’s why I stay single. I already know what type of nigga I am, and I know I ain’t ready. But unlike you, if I do find the one I’m gonna straighten the fuck out.”

  “I’ll get her back.” He half smiled as he stared off slurping his drink.

  My phone buzzed in my pocket and I looked down to see it was my little brother’s homeboy, William. What the fuck is he calling me for? I wondered as I hit the green button to answer.

  “Merce man, come to the crib! Yo’ brother is getting arrested!” he hollered into the phone, making me stand up instantaneously.

  “On my way.” I quickly hung up and stormed out to the car with Teflon on my heels.

  “What happened? Who was that?” he cranked the car up and backed out in a hurry. He didn’t know what was going on, but he knew to put a move on it.

  “Go to William’s crib on Slauson and 54th!”

  He did as I asked and peeled out of the Hilton Hotel parking lot. After dipping through the streets, speeding through yellow lights, and cutting niggas off, we were finally hooking a right onto 54th street, which was swarmed with police cars.

  “What the fuck is going on?” Teflon yelled as he swooped into an empty park across the street from William’s home.

  “Sebastian man,” I sighed, climbing out. I heard Teflon suck his teeth as he did the same.

  My little brother Sebastian had always been a fucking troublemaker. It seemed like from the time his ass was born he was getting into shit. Back in Ohio, where we grew up, he was always fighting and shit, or getting expelled from school. Now Teflon and I obviously weren’t any stand up kids, but Sebastian took it to a whole new level, and to make matters worse he was stupid about the shit.

  When he begged to come to California with me, my mom and dad protested, but I convinced them to let him go so that he could start fresh. But when they got word about this, they were gonna fly down here and kill my ass. They already blamed me for every damn thing he did or got caught up in.

  “Stand back!” an officer shouted as he walked my laughing brother to the police vehicle. This nigga found it funny that he was being arrested.

  “Call Luis or some shit!” he had the nerve to yell out to me before being placed in the back seat of the car.

  “Shit! Call me as soon as you get a chance!” I stormed onto the sidewalk as the police car sped off the street with others following him.

  “What happened, Will?” Teflon frowned.

  “He got caught trying to sell coke to an undercover police officer man. I told his ass old boy was suspicious.”

  “How did he even get ahold to that product?” I questioned William further.

  “Beats me. But can’t y’all get him out quickly or some shit? Don’t Luis have pull with law enforcement?”

  “Luis is dead, Will. And mind ya fucking business, aight?” I grimaced and then headed back towards Teflon’s car.

  “Call Diego and see what he can do,” Teflon suggested once we were back in the vehicle.

  “I will.” I nodded.

  Was this shit really happening right now?

  * * *

  Some hours later…

  I sat on my couch in my condo with Teflon as we smoked our own blunts. We had three more rolled up, and we planned to get high as hell with them. Today had been stressful as fuck for us both and it seemed like California had been a bust. Yeah it was good for a bit, but now it seemed that everything was blowing up in our faces.

  I tapped Diego’s number and then placed it between my shoulder and cheek as I took a pull on the blunt. By the fifth ring, he picked up and I heard bitches in the background and him chuckling. This nigga surely wasn’t acting like his brother had just been burned to death.

  “Merce, what can I do for you?”

  “Aye man, I was wondering if you could handle something for me. My brother got arrested today and I need you to—“

  “Umm, I have a lot going on right now my friend. I can’t really think about your brother when my brother is dead. I will see what I can do but it won’t be immediate assistance. Okay?”

  “It only takes a phone call.”

  “I have to go.”

  “Fuck you Diego.” I hung up and when I looked over at Teflon, his eyes were bucked, making me laugh. He eventually joined me before taking a huge pull on his blunt. “I can’t rock with his fraud ass dog.”

  “Well if you ain’t then neither am I.”

  “So now what then?”

  “We’ll think of something,” he blew the smoke out and then began ordering pizza from the app on his phone.

  Working for Diego Abarca was not gonna happen.

  8

  Tatiana

  One week later…

  It was around 8pm and I was just getting home from doing some planning for this football player’s party. My feet were killing me, I was hungry, and I was tired. All I wanted to do was lie down and eat; I didn’t even care about what or who Brevin was doing with his stupid ass.

  I tried to be sympathetic since his homies died, but I was realizing that he was using that as an excuse to act even funnier than he was acting before. I loved the baby in my body already, but a tiny part of me wishes that I had gotten away and made it with another nigga.

  “Welcome home love,” Brevin walked up to me, taking my coat and bag. He hung my jacket up and then grabbed my hand to lead me to the kitchen. On the table were two plates of food, candles, and a small gift box.

  “Brevin,” I whined, on the verge of crying.

  This nigga was smart. He knew how to work me if he thought I was getting fed up with him. I guess he could sense the distance I was trying to put between us because he’d gone all out. On the plates, he had my favorites, lobster tails, macaroni and cheese, cornbread, and greens. His mother must have cooked this shit because he couldn’t make a pot of top ramen.

  “Sit down beautiful.” He kissed my lips and pulled the chair out for me.

  “What is all of this for, Brevin?”

  “For you. I wanted to do this as an apology for the way I’ve been acting. I’m just stressed about the fact that my homies are gone and the fact that I don’t have my killers. But I shouldn’t have taken that out on you, Tati.”

  I smiled widely as we held hands to pray. Once we finished, I immediately started digging in. My eyes were closed as I took a few bites of the macaroni because it was just that good. Brevin’s mother could cook like no other.

  “Thank you for all of this honey. It lets me know that you still think about me and want to please me.”

  “Of course, Tatiana. All I care about is you, the baby, and making my money. All of the other shit really doesn’t mean anything to me.”

  “It better not, especially the hoes.”

  “Nah, I don’t even pay them any mind. I mean I look because I have eyes but I don’t touch and that’s what’s most important, right?” He flashed his pretty smile.

  “I guess so, yes.” I nodded.

  We finished eating our food and then had German chocolate cake for dessert. It was so good that I ended up getting two pieces. After I opened my gift to see a beautiful diamond bracelet, we retired upstairs to have a bath together, before going out into the bedro
om to lie down. As soon as we were in the bed, Brevin rolled over and got between my legs. His head immediately connected to my opening, and I threw my head back as he entered me slowly while kissing me deeply.

  “Breviiinnn,” I moaned, caressing his back.

  “You love me?” he questioned and I just nodded, knowing I was about to cum. “How much, Tatiana?”

  “So much,” I whispered.

  He continued moving in and out of me as I touched the sides of his sexy face. I loved Brevin, I really did but I wasn’t sure if I loved him as much as I used to. He’d done so much and it was hard to forget it all just because of one nice night. In a couple of days or so he would be right back on his bullshit, telling himself that another nice night would have me back on his side again.

  “Fuck,” he grunted, so I knew he was about to cum.

  He sped up, and just as my pelvis tightened, he let loose inside of me. I came right after him and we laid there kissing for a little bit. For some reason, I felt weird as he rolled off me and fell asleep. Usually after we made love, I felt good, refreshed, happy… but I felt disgusted with myself in this moment. He’d done nothing to earn my forgiveness but have his mama cook for me and yet I let him fuck me.

  Sometimes I felt like I was just existing in this relationship and not really making anything of it. I mean yes we had a baby coming, but I wasn’t even as excited as I felt I should have been. I almost despised the fact that I was having his child. I should have just thanked my lucky stars when I lost the first baby and moved on. That’s not to say that I was happy to have had a miscarriage because I definitely wasn’t. It’s just that I felt like God was giving me a sign and a chance to break free from this union but I didn’t take it.

  I could pray to him right now for things to get better between Brevin and me, but I wasn’t sure if that was what I wanted. If I was being perfectly honest, I wanted to date and see what else was out there, but I couldn’t. I was pregnant and a part of me did want to stay with Brevin and be a family. I had these same damn conflicting thoughts every night.

  “What you thinking about?” He woke up and rubbed his luminous curly hair.

  “Nothing,” I whispered.

  He smirked at me and then went under the covers, putting his head between my legs. My body immediately responded to his soft lips and tongue toying with my clit. Biting down on my lip, I let out a soft moan as he continued to feast on my center. I hated that he could control me with his sex game, I really did.

  “Mmm, aaah!” I gasped and quivered once I released. Planting kisses on my lower lips, he licked between my folds a few times before coming up for air.

  After brushing his teeth, he got back into the bed, kissed my cheek, and then dozed right back off. I was about to do the same, but I heard his phone chime. I was gonna ignore it, but my mind wouldn’t let me. I got out of the bed slowly, because I didn’t want to move too much and wake him. Creeping around the bed to his side, I picked his phone up to see it was a text from someone named Amanda. I didn’t know his password, nor was I aware of what finger he used for the scanner, so I just grabbed his iPad. There was a lock on the iPad, but he had the preview feature on, unlike with his phone.

  Amanda: Hey baby, what happened to you coming by this morning?

  Shaking my head as I read the text over and over, I laid the device in my place and went to sleep in the guest room. Brevin and I were a done deal; I just needed to figure out my next move.

  9

  Teflon

  “Groove what’s good? What you doing out here?” I let my paternal cousin from Ohio in. He was looking a bit distressed, so I knew it must’ve been important for him to come all the way out here.

  “Now that Luis is gone, who are you working for?” he questioned as he sat down and dapped Merce up.

  “We were gon’ rock with his bitch ass brother but fuck all of that shit,” Merce scoffed as he lit the blunt. “Why?” He blew out smoke.

  “Because my boy needs some killers back in Ohio, and I told him I knew some people who could handle the job.”

  “What’s his name? And what does he do?” I quizzed, taking a seat. Kayla caught my eye as she sauntered through the living room and out the door, not bothering to say goodbye.

  “Brevin. He’s a drug dealer but not the low level kind. Brevin holds the reigns in Cleveland, therefore he needs people to protect him and of course handle enemies.”

  “Who was he using before?” Merce frowned.

  “Remember Mook and Tone? Them, but they recently were killed over some bullshit. We had a minor territory war and Brevin fucked some guy’s bitch.”

  “You call that bullshit? I would’ve shot at his ass too if he touched mine. But what’s the money looking like?” I took a gulp of my water, waiting for Groove to answer.

  “Depends on the severity of the job y’all know that, but I told him you two were the real deal and it wouldn’t be cheap. He doesn’t care, he just… he just wants y’all.”

  “You mean he’s just scared. So we’re fucking with a bitch ass nigga in a sense,” I chuckled along with Merce.

  “He ain’t a bitch, he just has his priorities fucked up at times. All he cares about is fucking hoes. And he’ll not take care of his shit if a bitch calls,” Groove explained.

  Now I was a nigga who loved women, but I never put that shit over business. That was some hoe ass nigga shit. My bread always came first, unless it had something to do with Kayla. But I would never postpone getting paid for one of these random hoes out here.

  “I don’t know about working for a nigga like that.” Merce shook his head, reading my mind. I wasn’t in the business of doing shit for a nigga who couldn’t do it himself. Especially when it sounded like he started problems and was reckless.

  “Look just meet with him and see if it’s a good fit. Brevin has a lot of money and he needs y’all. I’m sure he would be willing to pay whatever. And y’all niggas know you miss Ohio.” Groove smirked.

  “How you meet this nigga?” I furrowed my brows.

  “His mom and my mom are cool so I used to hang with him here and there. He came up though because he was smart about the way he moved. Brevin is an intelligent ass nigga, but with all the money and women in his face, it’s hard for him to focus.”

  “We’ll meet with him but no promises,” I sighed and Groove smiled widely as hell.

  Brevin didn’t sound like a nigga I wanted to work for, but outside of that there were plenty of reasons why I wanted to go back to Cleveland. My family was there and it sounded like Brevin would be willing to pay anything to protect his life. There wasn’t nothing like a nigga in need. I smiled as I thought about it.

  Two weeks later…

  Cleveland, Ohio

  We were now out in Cleveland, ready to meet with this Brevin Williamson cat. Groove had been keeping in contact with me since the day he flew back out here to make sure I hadn’t changed my mind.

  Merce and I talked to Diego and let him know that most likely we’d be moving, and I guess you can say he wasn’t fucking with that idea at all. He threatened us, but that shit didn’t faze me one bit. No nigga pumped fear in my heart and Diego would have to learn that the hard way. Nobody told me what the fuck to do, nor did I look to anyone for permission. Diego could go fuck himself.

  As Merce and I were waiting outside of the airport, a black Escalade pulled up and the back door opened. Groove stepped out grinning, so we dapped him up before letting the driver put our luggage in the trunk. We brought enough clothes for a month just in case, and if we decided to stay we would fly back out and get the rest. I didn’t really need my furniture and shit, and I told Kayla she could have it if and when she moved.

  Speaking of Kayla, she was highly perturbed when she found out I was planning to move. I didn’t know why, since we discussed that we were going our separate ways. We spoke as if we planned to get back together, but over these past few weeks, I hadn’t been feeling that idea. I was enjoying the fact that I was free and could w
ork as late as I needed to, or party as late as I wanted to without getting blown up or cursed out. It’s childish I know, but it’s also the truth. Plus, she made sure to let me know that she was gonna be entertaining other niggas, so how could she expect me to stick around for that? I was good and I wished her the best.

  “We’re headed to his crib in Ohio City.” Groove snapped me from my thoughts as he popped open a bottle of Bourbon for us.

  “Oh yeah. I’m guessing his crib is nice as hell,” I replied.

  “Very nice. Have y’all looked for any places to stay?”

  “Nah, we’re gonna do the hotel thing until we’re sure about the move. We need to get through this meeting first before anything,” Merce answered.

  “I’m telling y’all this shit is a go. Y’all belong in Cleveland, not uppity ass Cali.” Groove chuckled and so did we.

  “Cali was cool, but like I said, we will see how this goes. From what you told me Brevin sounds soft, so I need to feel him out myself.” I stared out the window, admiring my hometown.

  After a while, we finally made it to a nice ass crib in Ohio City. I was sure it was at least eight bedrooms in that bitch and I could tell it was built at Brevin’s request. It didn’t look like the others on the block, it stood out, which I’m sure was the purpose.

  The driver pulled into the driveway on the side and then hopped out to let the three of us out. Groove led us to the front door, slipped his key in, and then we followed him in. As we were walking through the kitchen, a girl came in dressed in a sports bra, tights, and tennis shoes. Her hair was up in a ball on her head, and she was sweating a little. Her stomach was poking out, not too much, but I could tell it was a baby in there because of her little frame. I swear my heart stopped for a little bit as she and I made eye contact. I had never seen someone as pretty as her and I’d seen a lot of women in my twenty-eight years.