by A'zayler
“Work harder.”
“I’m just saying, the nigga is fine,” Alex tried to say under his breath. “Let me go, bitch. I’m finna’ send Jacorey in here after your fast ass. Got that man out there holding that heavy ass baby while you’re in here flouncing your fast ass around with your ex.”
Summer laughed while Jerrico finished cooking. When Summer reached out and touched his arm, he looked at her.
“Call her.”
“Aight, but if she comes over here wilding on me, you better help me out.”
Summer’s smile grew bigger. “I got you.”
Jerrico watched her walk away before washing his hands and calling Goody. She answered on the first ring.
“Hey, baby, what you doing?”
“Laying at home bored.”
Jerrico’s heart warmed at the sound of her voice. He hadn’t even given himself credit for the way she made him feel. He literally felt like smiling, and she wasn’t even there. All she’d done was answer the phone, and he felt warm on the inside.
“You want to pull up where I’m at?”
“I don’t know. I don’t really want to crash someone else’s party.”
“It’s not a party, and plus, it’s just Summer and her people. You know her.”
The phone went dead quiet. Jerrico momentarily got nervous as he waited for her to say something. When she didn’t, he knew he had to.
“Paradise, you there, baby?”
“Um, huh.”
She was mad. It was all in her tone. Summer had been right.
“Paradise, you coming?”
“Nah, I’m good.”
“Come on, baby, please. I want to see you.”
“So, you dipped on me to cook for your ex-girlfriend? Nah, I’m good. You go ahead and finish doing what you’re doing.”
“Paradise,” Jerrico called her name. “Paradise?” he called it again with no answer.
When he pulled the phone away to check the screen, he realized she’d hung up. He knew when she didn’t respond, that was what had happened. He tried to call her back twice with no answer. Although he’d thought he had everything under control, he was starting to see that he didn’t.
The way his heartbeat had sped up and his stomach began doing flips showed him just how big of a hold Goody had on him. He was real live nervous that she was mad enough to stop dealing with him. At the speed of light, Jerrico finished cooking and began to prepare the platters so that Summer and her friends could set everything up.
He’d just finished when Summer and her younger sister, Rain, walked in with a tall, dark-skinned man. He had long, neat dreads and was apparently with Rain because he was so close up on her that she could barely move without brushing against him.
“Is there anything I can help you with?” the man asked Jerrico.
“Uh yeah, I was just about to put the food out. Summer, if you can show us where it goes, that’ll be good.”
Summer disregarded him and took the platter from his hand. “Did you call her?”
“Yeah, and after I told her it was you, she hung up in my face.”
Summer shook her head. “I told your ass you should have told her from the beginning.”
“Either that or told Summer no,” Rain suggested. “I told her this was short notice anyway. We could have ordered pizza.”
“It’s cool. It was no problem. I just should have brought my girlfriend along with me.”
“Yeah, you should have,” Rain agreed. “You’re with Slim Goody, right?”
Jerrico nodded with a bright smile.
“Why you all in this man’s business?” Dreads asked her.
“Dakota, leave me alone. I follow her on Instagram. I saw y’all pictures from the pool party, and the interview almost made me cry. It was so cute,” Rain gushed.
“Too cute to mess up on our account. Go fix her before she sits there and makes herself even madder. We got this.”
The man Rain called Dakota nodded while picking up some of the food. “Listen to Summer. She ain’t told no lie. The longer your girl sits, the more shit she’s going to imagine you doing, and the next thing you know, she been dun’ broke up with your ass.”
“Run, Jerrico, run!” Rain joked as she and Dakota left with the food.
“For real, Jerrico, go. I appreciate all of this, but you need to check on your girl. We got it from here.”
As bad as Jerrico hated to leave things undone, he needed to adhere to their instructions more. It took him nearly ten minutes before he was ready to leave. As soon as he got into his car, he headed straight for his baby. Hopefully, he hadn’t allowed her too much time to make up too many anger evoking scenarios.
When he pulled up to her house, he spotted her car, so that gave him a little bit of hope. Jerrico hopped out of the car like it was on fire and took off for the stairs. He knocked as hard as he could without sounding like a mad man. When she didn’t open the door, he knocked harder.
“Stop beating on my door.” She snatched it open with her eyes slanted in anger.
“What took you so long to open it?”
“I had no plans to let you in, but since you refused to quit knocking, I had no choice.” Paradise stood at the door holding the tip of it as if ready to close it at any minute.
“Can I come in?”
“No, thanks.”
Jerrico took a step forward, and she took one back. “Come on, baby, please.”
“Summer must be tired of you?”
He tilted his head and exhaled. “It wasn’t like that, I promise. I just didn’t want you to think I was trying to hide something.”
“You were! Not once did you tell me that she was the one you were with. Then you had the audacity to cancel on me to go be with your ex-bitch? You have lost your mind.” As if growing angrier by the thought, Paradise pushed the door hard, trying to slam it in his face.
Jerrico caught it before that could happen. “Paradise, I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”
“You sure as hell wasn’t, but you got it. I’m not doing this again.” She walked toward her bedroom with him hot on her heels. “I was a fool once, but twice, hell no. You got me fucked up. Get out of my house.”
Jerrico listened to her fuss but disobeyed everything she said and walked right into her bedroom with her. He watched her climb beneath her covers and turn her back to him before he moved. Jerrico undressed as quick as he could and tried to slide in behind her, but she stopped him.
“Get your dirty ass out of my bed.” She pushed him back.
Jerrico slid out, but only because she was right; he did need to shower. Versus engaging in any more arguing with her, he went into her bathroom and showered. Once he was clean and dry, he was back out and climbing into the other side of the bed with her. She kept her eyes on the television, not even blinking in his direction.
“I really am sorry. It meant absolutely nothing to me. I just figured I could do that really fast for my friend, and then have the rest of the night to spend with you. If I’m in trouble for anything, it was merely a bad judgment call. I’m truly sorry.”
“Whatever, Jerrico.”
“I don’t want you to be mad with me.”
“Well, I didn’t want you to be somewhere parlaying with your ex-girlfriend, but it’s too late for that, right?”
Jerrico wanted to beat himself in the forehead but controlled himself and just lay back on the pillow instead. His eyes were closed, and he could feel her staring at him as he lay there thinking about what to say or do next.
“Paradise.”
“Shut up.”
His eyes popped open in her direction.
“I’m serious. Just don’t even say nothing. There’s nothing you can say, so don’t.”
“I can say that I love you, and not her. That, I can say.”
Paradise looked at him with a frown on her face. “What does that have to do with anything? Love is what it does, not what it says. You’re telling me you love me, but you were just with y
our ex, cooking and serving for her. Now, you tell me who it sounds like you love.”
Jerrico’s heart began to beat funny again as the flips in his stomach started to get worse. He could even feel the way he breathed getting a little off kilter.
“Paradise.” He reached out to touch her in an effort to make himself feel better. Just the feel of her skin soothed his racing mind.
“Just go to sleep, Jerrico. I don’t feel like listening to nothing else you have to say. Just be glad I’m not putting your lying ass out of my house.”
Jerrico lay there, trying hard to think of the right thing to say, but nothing came to mind. He could easily take her advice and go to sleep like she’d said, but nothing in him really wanted to do that. The millions of thoughts racing through his head would only be calmed if he knew she wasn’t mad at him.
“What can I do to make you feel secure?”
Paradise said nothing. She just continued to watch the TV screen as if he hadn’t spoken. When he couldn’t take it anymore, Jerrico took the remote from her hand and climbed on top of her. With her not bothering to put up a fight, it was easy for him to gain control over the situation. Or so he thought. He might have had the upper hand, but control was still the furthest thing from what he had.
“Summer and I are over, I know that.”
“Do you? Because your actions prove otherwise.”
“Yes, I promise.”
“Good for you since she’s married and not thinking twice about your stuck on stupid ass.”
Jerrico could feel the personal jabs she was trying to make, but he deserved them. “Just like I’m with you not thinking about her. What I did for her tonight, I would have done for any of my friends. The only reason I didn’t tell you is that I know how you are.”
Paradise rolled her eyes. “How am I?”
“Damaged.”
“So, if you know this, why do things that only make it worse? Shouldn’t knowing how I am make you a little more cautious?”
“It should, but like I said, tonight was just a really bad judgment call.”
Paradise didn’t say anything, but he could feel her relaxing beneath him. Jerrico took full advantage of that and rolled back over, pulling her with him. Once she was stationary on his chest, he hugged her tightly. When she hugged him back, he breathed easier. The ringing of his phone disturbed their silence.
He shifted some so he could reach it. When he saw his mother’s name, he answered immediately. She never called that late at night.
“What you still doing up this time of night?” he answered.
“Jerrico, I need you to meet me at the hospital.” Her muffled voice and sniffles shook him.
He jumped up and out of bed so fast that he hadn’t even allowed himself time to find out what was wrong. It wasn’t until he was sliding his feet into his shoes that he gave himself time to think.
“Hospital? Which one? What’s wrong? Money and Cal okay?”
She sniffed again. “It’s Clarence, he had a heart attack.”
Jerrico closed his eyes and nodded. “I’m on the way. You okay?”
“Yes, just please get here.” She was still crying when Jerrico looked over his shoulder at Goody.
She was zipping up a gray hoodie and sliding her feet into a pair of flip flops. His outstretched hand brought her to him, and they were on their way.
“I’m on the way now. Give me a few minutes.”
Sofia told him where she was, and they ended the call. Neither Jerrico nor Goody spoke until they were in his car and headed to the hospital.
“My mama said Mr. Clarence had a heart attack.”
“Oh, no! That’s her boyfriend, right?”
Jerrico nodded.
“Aw, I hope it’s one he can recover from.”
Jerrico held Paradise’s hand up to his mouth as he drove. “Yeah, me too.”
The rest of the ride was quiet. When they finally pulled up to the hospital and ran into the emergency room, he found his mother seated in the corner alone with a wet face. She jumped up as soon as she noticed them. Jerrico thought she was about to hug him first, but she grabbed Goody instead. They embraced. When she pulled away and smiled, it gave Jerrico a little bit of hope.
“It’s so good to see you again, sweetheart.” She then looked at Jerrico. “I’m happy she’s with you.”
Jerrico pecked the side of Goody’s head before hugging his mother. “I am too. How’s Mr. Clarence?”
Sofia’s crying broke his heart and actually made him feel bad for giving her and Mr. Clarence such a hard time for so long.
“I’m not sure. They haven’t come to tell me anything yet.”
Once they all took their seats, Jerrico sat between both women and relaxed some. They were all fresh in their seats when Jerrico noticed Marcellus walking quickly into the emergency room as well. Jerrico was somewhat surprised to see Forever behind him. They weren’t holding hands or anything like that, but even if Jerrico hadn’t known them both already, he could tell by the possessive way that Marcellus stood near her that they were together.
“You see this?” Goody whispered to him. “She ain’t been in town a good hour yet, and she’s back up under him.”
“Hell yeah. I knew they still had something going on. Didn’t she just land this morning?”
“Yep, she didn’t even stay at my house that long. She dropped her bags off and dipped. I haven’t seen her since.” Goody’s smile grew when she made eye contact with her sister.
Jerrico nudged Goody’s arm while watching Marcellus and Forever walk toward them. “I knew Money was going to get her.” Jerrico chuckled. “Watch they try to lie when they get over here.”
Goody snickered and waved when they got close. Sofia was out of her seat and greeted them both as she’d just done Jerrico and Goody, hugging Forever first then Marcellus.
“Well, would you looka here.” Jerrico stood to embrace his brother.
“Don’t start.” Marcellus waved him off.
“He ain’t start, y’all did.” Goody smirked while pushing Marcellus’ hand away from her face.
He’d leaned in and tried to pinch her nose. “Here you go.”
“Yep, here I am. Just like there goes Forever with you,” Goody teased.
Forever sat next to her sister and nudged her arm. “Shut your mouth, Paradise.”
“I will not.”
“Neither one of us will.” Jerrico threw his arm around Paradise’s shoulder with a wide grin on his face.
Marcellus and Forever both ignored them and made themselves comfortable. Marcellus on the other side of his mother, at the opposite end of the chairs. Still seated by Forever, Paradise began to whisper in her ear. Jerrico tried to listen discreetly because something told him that she was informing her of his earlier mishap.
When Forever peeped around Paradise’s head, he knew he’d been right. Her eyes didn’t linger long, but her head nodded every so often before he heard her mumble something under her breath. He hated to be made out to be the bad guy, but they were sisters, so he should have expected that.
“Mom, what have they told you?”
Jerrico looked at his mother and brother. His mother’s hands were shaking, and she was in clear discomfort.
“Not much. They just said they would come out and let me know.”
“I’m looking for Clarence Henry,” a female voice carried from the desk. “I got a call saying that he was here.”
All their heads went to the girl, but Sofia was the only one who stood up. She walked to the girl and touched her arm. She spoke softly but judging by the way the girl had snatched out of her grasp, she didn’t like what had been said. Which was fine and well, but her aggressive behavior had Jerrico’s defenses rising.
“You see that?” Paradise asked?”
“Man Hoe,” Marcellus called softly.
Jerrico nodded at them both to let them know they were all on the same page.
“You don’t have to touch me to tell me where my d
addy is. You’re probably the one who caused the heart attack anyway. You’re always making him do things he’s too old to do!” she yelled at Sofia.
Sofia was still trying to talk to the girl when Jerrico saw Paradise stand from her seat. He would have asked her where she was going or what she was about to do, but she had moved too fast.
“Jerrico, you better go get her.” Forever tapped his arm just as Paradise stopped next to his mother.
All her weight was leaned on one leg while her arms crossed over her chest. Combat was all over her. Jerrico exhaled and prepared to stand to his feet, but Marcellus tapping his arm stopped him.
“Give her a minute. She’s good.”
Jerrico didn’t know what Marcellus was looking at, but absolutely nothing about Paradise’s stance, attitude, or temper was good. He may not have known her extensively, but he knew her enough to know that fighting was her go-to thing. They’d be all over the blogs if she actually decided to fight the girl who was obviously Mr. Clarence’s daughter.
“Clarence has been complaining about shortness of breath for a few days now. I took him to the acute care a couple of days ago and had been encouraging him to come to the emergency room since then, but he didn’t want to. I can’t make him do something he doesn’t want to do, sweetheart.”
“Lady, for real, you better get out of my face. I am not in the mood.” The purple bonnet she was wearing leaned to one side of her head as she fussed with her hands in Sofia’s face.
That was it for Jerrico. That hoe had lost her mind thinking she was about to talk to his mother any kind of way. Women like her were the ones who made it hard for the rest of the black women. She was in public wearing pajama pants, a bonnet, and a too small shirt, with the nerve to be yelling and calling attention to herself. Jerrico was probably the biggest black woman fan in the history of the world, but right then, he could hardly contain the disgust he felt toward the young woman. Apparently, neither could his baby Paradise.
“Mrs. Sofia, go sit down. You don’t need to hear this.”
Sofia looked from the girl to Paradise and patted her arm. “It’s okay, baby.”
Paradise shook her head adamantly. “No, it ain’t. Go ’head and sit down.”
