by Tiana Laveen
That frog kept jumping, strewing odd thoughts, ideas, and words together… making an uncomfortable mess.
“Sometimes people say things out of anger that they don’t mean.”
“Oh, he meant it.” The woman’s eyes darkened, then she slowed down on the shaking. “He always meant what he said because he hates me. Now I have to die knowing that, since it’s too late to fix this now.”
Nita refused to go down this road. She did not know this woman, had no idea why she was saying these things to her, but she damn sure recognized the odd outfits of grief when the heffa wore them in her latest fashion show. She pulled the woman in an embrace, feeling her bowed back, and before she knew it, her small head with the thin white ponytail was buried against her shoulder. Maybe this was what people meant when they said she was easy to talk to? Practical strangers would come up to Nita and spill their guts, even when she tried to sport a resting bitch face or didn’t wish to be bothered.
Moments later, Olive came out from behind the curtain, face flushed with red splotches, eyes pink and puffy like pastel marshmallows. Poor baby. Nita swiped a tear off her eye when she saw the girl, but kept one arm around the old lady, just in case. Another tear slipped and she swiped again, then more. Olive looked like someone whose hopes had been dashed, her unanswered prayers crashing from the sky and her whole world wet with sorrow. The girl raced to her, wrapping one arm around her grandmother and the other around Nita, bawling her eyes out. Nita could feel her shirt getting soaked, her knees weakening, and her nonstop tears flowing. The old woman released her and took Olive into her arms. The two embraced and cried together, while Nita walked to one of the couches where she’d set her coat.
She slumped down on the thing, crossed her legs, and closed her eyes to send a silent prayer. When she opened her eyes again, the two women were gone, but Hunter was there, staring at her with his arms crossed. He looked fine, but she knew better.
“We can go.” His voice boomed, breaking through the silence. “Kylie will bring Olive back to your house later tonight.” She nodded and started to slide on her coat. Hunter came up behind her and took the garment from her grasp, then helped her get her arms inside of the sleeves. She reached for her purse and slung it over her arm. Walking by his side, they slid out the front door to her car. She immediately turned on the heat. Hunter reached over and switched on the radio. Cheat Codes’s ‘No Promises’, ft. Demi Lovato, played on the airwaves. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see him shifting in his seat, then reclining into it – legs outstretched, his eyes hooded as he latched his fingers together, as if ready to doze off.
As she continued to drive, her cellphone rang. She answered the call via Bluetooth so she could be hands free.
“Hey, Lance.” She turned the wheel.
“What’s up?” Tisha’s father, her high school sweetheart, stated. “Tisha still comin’ by this weekend?”
“Oh, that’s right, you wanted her this upcoming weekend. Uh, I don’t know. Olive’s father is—” She glanced at Hunter, but his eyes were now closed. She knew better than to think he wasn’t listening. “Olive’s dad is about to pass away, Lance, he’s been ill like I told you, so I think they should probably stay together this weekend. Sorry, I just found out.”
“Oh, damn, that’s too bad. Hey, you got a minute?”
“Yeah, just driving back home. Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, everything is fine. Loni got a job offer in Arizona so we were discussing moving there.”
“Oh, really? Doing what?”
“Human Resources at some box company. The pay is good. With them cuttin’ my hours and everything, I considered it, but most of my family is still here. Honestly though, Loni and I have been having some problems, Nita.” Loni was Lance’s wife, Tisha’s stepmother. Nita had nothing bad to say about the woman, except for the fact that she acted a bit stuck up as if she were more refined than others, had more class, when she had no right. The woman had three different fathers for her four children and still talked about her past as a football cheerleader as if it was a current affair. She was a pretty woman though, and was still riding that notion until the wheels fell off.
“I’m sorry to hear that. You two have been together for so long. Maybe you can go to marriage counseling?”
“We’ve already been.” He sighed. “I might not, uh, go to Arizona. Plus, I don’t want to leave Tisha.”
“But Lance, Tisha will be going to college soon so please don’t let that stop you. I’d be concerned if she were still a little child, but everything will be different in a year or two anyway. It’s not that she doesn’t need you anymore, but you get what I’m saying.”
Hunter shifted in his seat again. He cracked the window and lit a cigarette.
“Yeah… yeah. That’s true… She, uh…” He chuckled nervously. “Hey, check this out. Loni thinks I still have a thing for you.” She swallowed and noted that Hunter just kept smoking his cigarette, looking straight out the window.
“Tell her that’s silly, and wrong. What you and I had was years ago. We were kids. She should be happy that we get along so well, especially for the sake of our daughter. Loni is making problems where they don’t exist. Y’all will work it out, Lance. Just give it some time.”
“…But I might not want to work it out anymore, Nita. There’s been some shit going on and I’m just sick of it. I’ve tried. It was never this hard when you and I were together. Man, Nita… I’ve been really going through it. I know we were young when we were together and I was irresponsible and silly back then, but I loved you… I still do.”
Shit. Lance, shut up! She screamed the words in her head…
She blinked a few times. Hunter hadn’t moved a muscle. Truth was, she was good friends with her child’s father and they often vented to one another. They’d grown up and changed a lot over the years, but they were always happy to see one another and both wanted the best for their daughter.
“Have you ever thought about us gettin’ back together?”
“NO, MOTHERFUCKER, SHE HASN’T.” Hunter slammed his finger on the END CALL button of her phone resting in the cup holder, frowning.
“Hunter, that was totally unnecessary. I was handling it!” The phone rang again and before she could reach for it, Hunter grabbed it and turned it off. “You have lost it! Keep your hands off of my phone. Now I know you’re upset about Noah, but—”
“Don’t try to bring Noah into this! This doesn’t have shit to do with Noah. I have been very respectful all of this time about this meddling, bitch ass pussy ex of yours.”
“Don’t do this. He’s a good man and father. You’re being horrible and actin’ crazy! He’s just having a rough day.”
“A rough day? I’M HAVIN’ A ROUGH FUCKING DAY!” He pointed at himself. “He married that chick, that was his choice. It’s not your problem! Now he wants to call you and journey down memory lane because he has buyer’s remorse. He calls and texts you late at night plenty of times, and what do I do? I don’t say shit. I kept trying to be respectful because that’s Tisha’s father but I’m done with being nice. Last night he even called while we were fuckin’, several times. I saw his name on the caller I.D.! He has a wife, yet he’s calling my girlfriend at midnight.”
“But did I answer?!” ‘Humpin’ by The Gap Band started to play, almost mocking her as she and the ridiculous bully got into it.
“I don’t care about that! It’s the fact that he thinks you’re accessible all the time. He needs to be contacting you about Tisha and only Tisha, period! Callin’ you with that forget-me-not crap… I’m sittin’ right here and you think I’m just going to keep quiet and let it happen? Fuck that!”
She huffed and rolled her eyes. With the horrible day Hunter was having, she simply bit her tongue… for now.
“Does he know about us, Nita? Does he know we’re together?”
“No, but—” The man smacked his gums as if he had a bad taste in his mouth. He rolled the window down further to bl
ow smoke out then reached for his crotch, adjusting his nuts. “You’re overreacting, Hunter. I was going to tell him. I mean, he knows I’m seeing someone but you act like I have to post a billboard right in front of his house. He’s never said anything like that to me before. It’s got to be stress related.” He looked out the window, ignoring her. “Lance is just in a low place right now, so he’s seeking comfort. He isn’t really trying to get back with me. I know him; I know how he thinks. I had no idea you were the jealous type!”
“Well, now ya know,” he snapped. “And how the hell would you like it if my ex-girlfriend rung me up a hundred times a fuckin’ day, then said some shit like that?”
“You don’t have children. It’s not the same.”
“No, answer the question.” He waved his cigarette about as his voice grew impossibly louder. “How would you like it if my ex-girlfriend was trying to get me back and called all the time? Would that make your day? Would you invite her ass over for tea and motherfuckin’ crumpets?” His eyes were wild, his head cocked to the side and his eyebrows dipped so low, she was surprised they didn’t fall to his chin.
“…I wouldn’t like it.”
“That’s what I thought. And for the record, I have had several of my exes try to get me to fuck them again once they heard I was out. You know I’m great in bed. I’ve got great dick, I don’t cum too fast, I’m open to almost anything and I know my way around a pussy. They may not want my ass back, but they sure as hell want the D.”
This motherfucker right here…
“Women are addicted to me sexually.”
She burst out laughing. “Hunter, I swear fo’e God, if this wasn’t such a depressing day, I would cuss your ass out right now and kick you out of my car!”
“Nita, you know it’s true. You can’t get enough of it now. I have women all over Michigan that hate my damn guts for one reason or another.” Oh, I can’t imagine why… “But they would still let me fuck ’em in a heartbeat. Like I told you though, since our first date, I stopped screwing other women because you were my main focus and I knew you wouldn’t think I was serious about you if you found out I was still sleeping around. It was hard for me. I’d been locked up for four years with no pussy and I could finally get some. I was making up for lost time when I was first released, but I quit, cold turkey because I figured you were probably worth it. You were.”
“How sweet of you.” The old Nita wanted to come out, the one that cursed a bastard out without a second thought. I can’t do that. I know he’s had a horrible time, his best friend is dying. Nita, just end the conversation. “Let’s just stop talking for a minute before we both say something we regret, Hunter.”
“This is the last thing I have to say,” She shot him a glance and his eyes were practically black, like narrowed slits of revenge. “If he calls you again, JJ, with that bullshit of being reunited and it feels so good, he’s going to be sorry. I mean that. That’s a motherfuckin’ promise.” He roughly yanked the volume up on the radio, so much she was surprised the knob didn’t break off. Third World crooned, ‘Now That We Found Love’, mocking her day once again. Her heart nearly beat out of her damn chest.
I’m crazy. I am sitting here driving this lunatic back to my house, with his insane ass, and am somehow turned on that he is this damn possessive of me! He never screams and hollers like this. I have never heard him even raise his voice to me. He is really mad! He wants me all too himself… I know better than this… but I can’t help it.
Her arousal grew by the second. She swallowed a smirk. Minutes later, she pulled into her driveway to see the roof workers were gone. The two got out of the car and Hunter trudged ahead, moving as if he were mad at the damn world. She wanted to speak to him about Noah, see how he felt, but he was so wound up now about Lance’s ill-timed confessions, it felt as if everything she should and could be doing was completely derailed. He grabbed a duffle bag he had containing tools and what not, and slung it over his shoulder.
“I gotta go home.”
“Your apartment or back to Saginaw?”
“My apartment.”
She didn’t like how he looked. He was frazzled, as if he were about to blow his top.
“Let me drive you over.”
“I got it.” He reached for the door. She grabbed the back of his duffle bag and gave it a tug, causing him to glower back at her. “What?”
There was so much pain in his eyes. She wanted to burst out in tears.
“You don’t have it. I don’t trust you on the road because you’re not thinking straight. I’m driving you. Tisha is still not home. I’ll send her a text message so she won’t worry when she gets here.” He opened the door to leave as if nothing she said meant anything. Walking away, she followed him, slamming her own car door and locking it as he got into his vehicle. Chasing after him, she knocked on the driver’s side window for him to roll it down.
“Can I help you?” he asked with a smirk.
“Boy, I’m not doing this with you. Playin’ these games. You just saw your best friend alive probably for the last time. You couldn’t even stand to sit in there with him! You were already angry, then the smallest thing ticked you off. You know damn well there’s nothing going on between my ex and me and now you’re stomping around, angry at the world, grabbed your toys like some brat, and hauled ass. I’m afraid you’ll have a car accident or something.”
He kept a blank expression, then switched to pensive, chewing on his lower lip.
“I’m going back to Noah’s tonight. I wanted Olive to have time with him alone. She rarely ever got it before.” He was speaking so calmly, it spooked her. “I’m good. Now, if you wanna ride along with me, that’s fine, but I don’t need you in the driver’s seat.”
She inhaled the double meaning of his words like exhaust fumes, and choked.
Not wasting another second, she swung the passenger’s side door open and slid in. He reached for his stereo and Dayton Family’s, ‘Real With This’ practically made her ears bleed. Hunter loved the Michigan born and bred rap group; he played a lot of their music and had spent almost an entire day putting a stereo system in his car that amplified his favorite tunes. He must’ve played this song a million times. She kept her eyes on the road as he bobbed his head to the beat and made his way through the streets. His driving was smooth as he leaned back in his seat. No cigarette. No going off. No nothing. She could practically smell his hatred, rage and sorrow, but at the moment, he kept it under lock and key. ‘Flint Town’ came on then, from the same group. She recognized the songs well for she had heard them when she’d been young and wild.
Once they arrived at his apartment building, the sun was setting. As she walked up behind him to the complex, she took out her phone and called her daughter.
“Hey, Mama…” She could tell the girl had been crying.
“Hey, baby. You got my text message I take it?”
“Yes…” Sniffles.
“I have some leftovers in the refrigerator for you. Olive is supposed to be home later tonight, but either way, you make sure you stay in the house, eat, and do whatever you need to do for school.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I know you hurt for her. It’s going to be all right. I’ll call you when I’m on my way back home, okay?”
“Ok.”
“Who’s bringing you home from basketball practice? Do I need to come and get you tonight?”
“No. Rasheeda is driving me home. I love you.”
“I love you too, baby.” She disconnected the call and as they walked inside the building, she could immediately smell incense and hear the muted sounds of a television set from a nearby apartment. The jangle of his keys brought her back into the moment and she stepped inside behind him. He flicked the living room light on.
“Hunter, do you know that I’ve never been to your apartment?” She chuckled. “I never even really thought about it for some reason until now. Lately, you’re either at work or my house.” She shrugged. He placed
the chain across the lock.
“I told you it was messy because I had a lot of boxes from Noah over here.” He tossed his keys on the black dinette set and removed his coat. “I didn’t want you to have to try and navigate through all of that but then we started on your roof so I didn’t get a chance to get you over here last week when I finally had everything together. Anyway, I won’t be but a minute. Make yourself comfortable.” He pointed to a black leather couch.
The apartment was small but full of nice, quality furniture. Some of it didn’t seem quite his style, then she recalled him saying he’d gotten most of it out of Noah’s storage. She sat down on the couch while he shuffled about in his bedroom.
She jumped when he turned on some blaring music: Bone Thugs n Harmony’s ‘Thuggish Ruggish Bone.’ She smiled and bobbed her head to the music. She hadn’t heard that song in forever. She stood and began to snap her fingers, going back to her youth within the rhythm of the beat. Hunter entered the room standing in just his boxers.
“I’m jumping in the shower.” He motioned in the direction of the short hall that led to his bedroom.
“All right.” She kept dancing, twirling, rocking her hips and singing the lyrics. When she faced the other way, he was still standing there, this time with his underwear off and balled up in his hand.
“I said I’m jumping in the shower,” he hollered over the loud music.
“I know, I heard you.”
He marched up to her, looking pissed, then grabbed her by the wrist and practically dragged her down the hall. Once in his bedroom, she noticed the nice bed with a quilted black headboard that took up most of the space. On the side wall hung a huge painting of a pool table with the damn dogs. She laughed at the sight. He fiddled around with his stereo until LoveRance’s, ‘UP!’ featuring 50 Cent played through the speakers.
“You talk about me and my old music. You love songs from ten and twenty years ago.”
He glanced at her from over his shoulder then messed around with the volume. Her pussy pulsed at the sight of his ass muscles flexing… the dimples in his hips made her shudder as he moved to and fro. The song stopped abruptly, and Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Swimming Pools’ poured out the large speakers in the corners of his bedroom. He turned to her, swaying to the music. The motherfucker had rhythm. But of course, with the skillful way he made love, that was no surprise.
