by A'zayler
“Nothing for real. I was about to tell you to come grab a beer with me, but shit, you already eating.”
Marcellus looked at his watch. “What time? I can probably squeeze one or two in.”
Bridges moved around on the sofa. Marcellus looked at her and could tell by the look on her face that she wasn’t feeling him about to leave. All he could do was drop his head. He’d known before coming in the house that when it was time for him to leave, she was going to pout. It was what she always did, and being that he’d only been there for a little over twenty minutes, could he really blame her?
“Now. I have a few things I need to handle before going in to work tonight.”
Marcellus checked the time on his watch. “Aight, give me ten minutes. Shoot me the address.”
The call ended, and Marcellus tucked his phone back into his pocket. He practically choked himself, pushing the rest of the food down his throat before standing to his feet.
“Leaving so soon?” Bridges’ sarcastic commentary followed him to the kitchen.
“I have a quick meeting to squeeze in before going back to the office. I’m sorry, baby.”
“Sure, you are,” she spoke loud enough for him to hear.
In the kitchen, Marcellus washed his hands and stuck his plate into the dishwasher before rejoining them in the living room. Baby Bridges had hopped up from his chair and ran straight to Marcellus. As he always did, he wrapped both of his little arms around Marcellus’ leg and hugged it.
“Come here, little man.” Marcellus picked him up and kissed the top of his head before pulling his hair free of the ponytail. “Your mama needs to cut this shit off.”
“Don’t curse at him, and his hair is just fine.”
Marcellus’ nose turned up at her, but he kept his words to himself. Instead, he placed a few more kisses on the little boy’s head before putting him back on the floor.
“Lock the door. I’ll call you in a little bit.”
Bridges said nothing, but she did follow him to the door and outside to his truck. Once they stopped, she stood in front of him with an unreadable expression on her face. The pads of his thumbs ran over the side of her face before dropping to her neck and pulling her closer to him. Both of his arms immediately circled her waist and held on tightly.
“I’m sorry things aren’t the way you want them to be.” He exhaled while looking everywhere but at her. “It’s hard for me too.”
“Why? What do we need to do? I want to be with you, Marcellus, just you.”
He felt kind of bad as he listened to her, but the part of him that didn’t love her anymore, which was relatively all of him, didn’t allow him to get too far down on himself.
“I don’t know, Bridge. It’s like we’ve done all we can. I know you feel it too. It’s not just me.”
She shook her head. “It’s not. I do too, but I think I’m actually the only one who wants things to go back to the way they used to be. We were so happy, Marcellus, so young and free.”
He smiled when he thought about the times they used to rush the city, doing any and everything they could with each other. It had indeed been one of the best times of his life, but that was no longer. Life and careers had gotten in the way of that. Not to mention the distance in their friendship. So much had transpired, and Marcellus just couldn’t look past it.
“We were. We will be again.” He pecked her forehead. “One day, we just have to keep at it.”
A glimmer of hope flashed in her eyes. “I hope so. I love you.”
“You too, darling.” He kissed both of her cheeks before getting into his truck.
Bridges was on the porch watching him pull away when he turned around. He honked the horn once and drove away. In his car filled with silence, Marcellus drove to the local bar to meet Calvary. The drive would have been peaceful had he not had so much clouding his mind. Everything from the Bridges and little Bridges to Forever and his career weighed him down.
A lover and protector at heart, it did his mind no good to think about little Bridges. He was such a sweet baby with so much potential. He had good parents and a really good chance at life. All he would need was consistency and guidance. Both of which Marcellus had vowed to be for him. If only there was a way to do that without having his mother along for the ride.
“Damn,” Marcellus cursed while getting out of his truck.
The lock horn beeped behind him as he entered the building. The short hostess walked to him with a smile.
“Hello, sir. How many for you today?”
Marcellus looked around the building but didn’t see Calvary. His truck had been in the parking lot, so he knew he was there.
“I’m actually meeting my brother. He should be here somewhere.”
“Dreads and gold teeth?” She smiled.
Marcellus’ eyes went to her before he released light laughter. What a description. “That would be him.”
“He and another guy are already on the patio. Follow me, and I’ll take you to them.”
Not sure who the other guy was that Calvary had brought with him, but almost positive it was Jerrico, Marcellus followed patiently. Friendly and somewhat polite, Sofia had raised the three of them the best she could, but they were all still very antisocial. Growing up in a house with two other boys who liked the same things you liked, didn’t leave too much room for friends.
Anything they wanted to do, they did with each other. A habit that had been formed during childhood but stuck as adults.
The warmth from the outside breeze brushed against Marcellus’ face, alerting him to just how cold the inside of the building had been. Once outside, they rounded the corner, and like he’d figured, there were his brothers.
Calvary in his traditional black gym shorts and plain V-neck shirt, with his dreads wrapped up in the large ponytail thing he loved to wear and a mouth filled with gold teeth shining back at him. Jerrico was seated right next to him in a pair of red cotton Nike shorts and a red and black shirt to match. His shoes and haircut were fresh as always, with gold jewelry here and there.
They had been leaned toward each other in a deep conversation but looked up when they heard Marcellus coming.
“Money Mars.” Calvary held his hand out for a dap.
Marcellus slapped fives with him before doing the same to Jerrico. “Look at this shit here. The man hoe and the death angel.”
“Nigga, fuck you.” Calvary laughed.
Marcellus and Jerrico laughed with him because they’d been calling him the death angel since he’d gotten his new job. A sniper for the special ops, Calvary had earned that name wholeheartedly. He had a superb shot and handled guns better than anybody Marcellus had ever known. Although he didn’t kill every person he shot at, he definitely could if he wanted to.
“What took you so long to get here?” Jerrico questioned.
On the opposite side of the table from his brothers, Marcellus had a good view of them both as they did him, so he couldn’t really lie.
“You know me.” He smiled. “Duty called.”
Calvary picked up one of his chicken wings and bit it. “Should have known it was a woman.”
“You ain’t lying. That’s the only time this man goes off the grid.”
“Jerrico, you’re the one to talk, my boy. Goody has had you missing in action like a muthafucka.”
A wide smile covered his chocolate face. The darkest of the three of them, Jerrico had taken after their father. He’d been an extremely tall, dark-skinned man with big features. Most of which Marcellus had gotten. He’d gotten his father’s height, nose, and lips. While Jerrico got his color and smile. Calvary was Sofia all the way. That nigga probably had his own daddy somewhere. He looked absolutely nothing like their father. Him being Mr. Clarence’s son had been an ongoing joke between the three of them for years.
“You a damn lie. I been around.”
Calvary looked at Jerrico just as the server came back with another round of beers. This time, she added Marcellus a bottle a
s well. The men thanked her and resumed their conversation.
“Bruh ain’t lying. You have been stuck up that girl’s ass, ole lover boy ass nigga, man.”
“What I tell you about calling me that shit?”
Calvary and Marcellus both laughed. “Not to, and I’m still gon’ do it. Fuck you mean.” Calvary laughed some more. “Trying to take the heat off your li’l fairytale making ass.”
“Don’t worry about me and my fairytale. Worry about your shit. I got this over here.”
“I ain’t got no shit. You know I’m in and out, face dive in the pussy and leave.”
Marcellus dapped Calvary up across the table. On that, he could agree with. “True shit, but you know Jerrico ain’t never been like that. First Summer, and now Goody.”
Jerrico shook his head for a minute, his smile dwindling. “I owe you an ass whooping for that meeting the other day too.” Jerrico pointed in Marcellus’ direction. “Had me up in there with them women like that.”
Calvary looked between both men. “What happened?”
Marcellus was all laughs as he sipped his beer. “Summer’s husband is a record producer in the city, and one of his artists did some music with Goody. She came to a meeting we had with them the other day.”
“Hell nah!” Calvary’s over the top antics had the three of them laughing again. “Money Mars, I know you ain’t set my boy up like that? Both of his women in the same spot?”
Marcellus held his hands up by his head. “I can’t let this man’s love affairs stop my money. Plus, I ain’t even know she was gon’ be there. Jacorey brought her with him. On some real shit, I forgot she was married to him. I’ve seen pictures of them on his social media, but I don’t be keeping up with stuff like that.”
“Had me sitting up in there not knowing where to look.” Jerrico bit into the chicken wrap that he was eating.
“What you mean not knowing where to look? You better had been looking at that mean ass rapper you go with. Girl is mean as a fucking snake. I don’t know how she even gave your sap ass a chance.”
Jerrico playfully pushed Calvary’s arm. “Boy, these women love me. Never forget that. I don’t care how mean, nice, tall, or short they are. If it’s a woman, she gon’ love me,” Jerrico boasted. “But, I guess it was just hard because I haven’t seen Summer in years. I used to follow her on social media, but once she married that dude, I cut her off. I ain’t want to see that mess every time I got on my phone.”
Marcellus looked intently at his brother. “You still love her?”
Jerrico nodded.
“Damn,” Calvary chimed in. “You want her back?”
Jerrico shrugged. “I don’t think so. It’s not like I could get her if I did. That girl has moved on with her life. She’s got a baby and everything.”
“I hope you don’t think that baby is a problem, it’s stepdaddy season out here.” Marcellus smiled and momentarily thought about Bridges. “You could probably get her if you wanted her. I could tell by the way she looked at you that she loves you too. It’s definitely something there.”
“What about Goody, though? You ain’t feeling her?” Calvary waited for an answer.
Jerrico ran both of his hands over his face. “Hell yeah, I’m feeling her. That’s my love thang for real. I think I love her too.”
“Shit.”
“Damn.”
Calvary and Marcellus said at the same time. After hearing each other’s response, they cracked up laughing before looking back at Jerrico with his stuck ass.
“You all fucked up right now,” Calvary told him with a hard slap to his back.
“Gotdamn, boy! Hit me like that again, and we gon’ be breaking all these people shit up.”
Marcellus laughed as he watched his brothers bicker playfully back and forth. Jerrico scooted his chair away from Calvary before he started talking again.
“Let me move before I knock his ass out. But like I was saying, I don’t think I want Summer back, I just hate that I missed our chance.”
“So, if you could choose right now, who would you choose?”
Jerrico looked at Marcellus while thinking about his question. When he was too quiet for too long, Marcellus nudged his arm.
“You for real right now? You really don’t know?” Marcellus shook his head. “That’s no good, Man Hoe. Goody ain’t even for that type of uncertainty.”
“I know, but I didn’t know I felt like this until I saw Summer. I thought I was over her.”
“Thought? What you mean thought? In order to move on, you have to know you’re done with a person. Especially when you’re talking about loving another person.”
Jerrico said nothing, just listened to Marcellus.
“Damn, you might need to stay away from Goody until you figure this thing out,” Marcellus told him.
“Nah, hell nah, what he needs to do is stop acting like the star of a Lifetime movie. These ain’t no white women you’re dealing with. You’re not about to just play the confused game with them. Black women will fuck you up about their feelings. Your time is up with Summer. Let that shit go. You got a fine ass girl right in front of you. Work on that,” Calvary spoke adamantly. “Anything you thought you had with Summer is dead. She’s married. You could be sitting here pining over her, fuck up what you have with the rapper, then Summer gives you her ass to kiss. Don’t be dumb. I ain’t even in love with none of these women, and I know that shit. You tripping.”
Marcellus agreed with Calvary wholeheartedly, but he could also see where Jerrico was coming from. He knew how tough it was to make your heart stay on the same page as your brain. That was one issue that wasn’t to be toyed with.
“I feel that but what if I can’t give Paradise what she needs because my mind is with Summer?”
“Paradise? That’s her government?”
Jerrico and Marcellus both nodded.
“With a name like that, you’d be a fool to fuck off. Hell, she’s the one.” Calvary laughed goofily. His brothers eventually joined. “For real, though, from what I saw at that dinner with Mama, and from her music, you fuck with her, and you gon’ die.”
Marcellus and Jerrico both frowned before they all burst out laughing again.
Marcellus picked up some of the chicken from Calvary’s plate. “Man, I thought he was about to say something profound.”
“Me too. He plays too much,” Jerrico cosigned.
Calvary looked between the two of them with a serious face. “I’m not playing. She’s mean, she’s black, and she’s been fucked over in the past. I’m sure she’s told you about her ex-nigga, so you already know better than to play with her, yet here you are.” Calvary grabbed Jerrico’s shoulder. “Don’t do it. She gon’ kill you and smile in her mugshot, then guess what?”
“What, fool?”
“You asked for it. You grown as hell. You know this mess you on is fucked up. We don’t have to tell you that. Let them grade school ass feelings for Summer go and be with Paradise.” Calvary’s face lit up with a smile. “Paradise, I like that. That’s what I’m calling her. It makes me feel good.” He shivered dramatically.
“He’s ignorant.” Jerrico smiled.
“Aye, Cal, you know what her cousin’s name is, don’t you?”
“Which one? The li’l thick one?”
Marcellus nodded.
“Nah, what is it?”
“Eternity,” Jerrico and Marcellus said in unison.
Calvary dramatically dropped his head on the table before drinking a mouth full of beer and closing his eyes. Marcellus and Jerrico watched him cut up with smiles on their faces. When he finally opened his eyes, he was pulling his phone out of his pocket.
“Aye, give me her number. I need to holla at her about being my li’l girl mama.”
Laughter resonated around the table before Marcellus interrupted.
“You know she be checking for you too.”
“What? Hell nah, I ain’t know. I thought she just be flirting and shit. Why y’all ain�
��t never tell me?”
Marcellus shrugged. “I forgot.”
“Me too,” Jerrico said.
“Give me her number now then. I think I love her already.”
Jerrico smiled. “We ain’t about to give you that girl’s number.”
“I don’t have it, or you know I would,” Marcellus added.
Calvary picked up Jerrico’s phone from the table and scrolled on it before it rang. Marcellus could tell it was a Facetime call by the way the ringing sounded. When Goody’s voice picked up, he and Jerrico both shook their heads.
“Aye, sister-in-law. What you doing?”
Goody’s giggle made Marcellus and Jerrico both smile. “Hey, Calvary, I’m writing. What’s up?”
“I’m mad at you.”
“Mad at me? For what? I haven’t even done anything to you. Where my baby at anyway, while you’re calling me with this foolishness.”
The smile on Jerrico’s face told his whole life. Whether he knew it or not, Goody had him way harder than he was giving her credit for. He could make himself believe he wanted Summer if he wanted to, but that was most definitely not the case. The bashful smile on his face right then was one of a man in love. Niggas didn’t just walk around smiling all girly and shit like that.
“We ain’t talking about him right now. We’re talking about you and me.” Calvary pushed some of his locs from his face.
“Look at you looking like a Florida boy, with your hair and golds, I like it brother,” Goody told him.
Calvary’s smile got even bigger as he touched the hair on his chin. “Appreciate that li’l homie, I be trying,” he and Goody laughed some more, “But for real, where your cousin at? Tell her I said hit my line.”
“Whatttt? Look at you now.”
“Cut that shit out and do what I told you.”
“Okay, I got you. I don’t have your number, though.”
Calvary picked up his phone. “I’m about to text you.”
“Okay. She finna’ be happy.”
“Tell her I’m happy too and don’t be taking all day to text me either. Hold on, here goes the man hoe.” Calvary extended the phone to Jerrico but pulled it back before he could take it. “Aye, what y’all be calling her again? It wasn’t Eternity. Y’all said something else.”
