by Lady Lissa
“Malcolm get the fuck out the way dude. Since it seems like you can’t keep yo bitch in line, lemme show her how a real nigga gets down. I’ma punch that bitch right in her fuckin’ eye dog. Get out the fuckin’ way!” He says shoving Malcolm again.
I’m standing there because I ain’t scared of this bitch ass nigga. All of a sudden outta nowhere, Ronnie, Stasia and Courtney show up with a few of Courtney’s friends.
“Hey sis, you alright?” Ronnie asks, which shocks me because I didn’t even notice her. When I look up, I was surprised to see all the people that had stepped on the scene. I am so fucking mad that I didn’t notice anyone but this stupid gold tooth wearing motherfucker.
“Yea, I’m good.”
“What happened?” She asks, concern written all over her face.
“I’ma kill you bitch!” The dude screams from behind Malcolm. His dudes are trying to calm him down, but he still wants to come for me.
“FUCK YOU! You need to kill that mouth of yours, you stink bitch! Malcolm you let this nigga disrespect me and shit, so FUCK YOU TOO!” I said and walk off with my little sister and her friends.
“What was that about? Are you okay?” She asks as she puts her arm around me.
“Yea, I’m fine. Malcolm and his friends were being jerks, so I hauled off and punched that disrespectful muthafucka in the mouth, so he got mad. You know damn well we don’t play that shit,” I said to Ronnie and she nods her head. If it’s one thing our mom always taught us, it was to defend ourselves. She always said if someone came outta pocket with us, male or female, snatch their fucking asses and let them know who we really were.
That night I went over to Malcolm’s and he was entertaining that bitch, who threw money at my feet. I was disrespected then and wanted nothing more than to get even with his ass. I was sitting in my car crying because I was so mad. I was trying to think of a way to get even with him when I saw the girl he was with come running out of his apartment, cussing his ass out. That let me know that they had gotten into it, which worked in my favor. I went in the trunk of my car and grabbed my tire iron and punched his tires until the shit popped. I left all his tires on flats that night and I felt so good.
I wanted to hang around and wait until he came out and saw them, but I didn’t want him to know it was me. As mad as that chick was, it could have been either of us. So unless he actually seen someone do it, he couldn’t point the finger. I still can’t believe he just stood there and let his friend do me like that in front of all those people. I may have to get some spray paint and fuck his car up again.
“Yo did you really hit that dude?” Stasia asks.
“Fuckin’ right! I don’t give a fuck who comes outta pocket, if you come for me, I will come for you. I ain’t afraid of no nigga or bitch. Anybody can get it,” I said.
Stasia is looking at me with fear in her eyes. I ain’t trying to scare Ronnie’s lil’ friend, unless she fucks over my little sister. I don’t have time for people to disrespect us and I don’t tolerate it. People who allow others to disrespect them are pussies. Our mother, as whorish as she is, did not raise three pussies. She raised some bad bitches and people was gon’ learn just how we got down.
“Damn! Ronnie I didn’t know yo sister get down like that,” Courtney said.
“Shit, we all get down like that, all three of us. If it’s one thing our mom taught us, it was to defend ourselves and be respectful of others, so they will respect us. She said if they intentionally disrespect us, KNOCK THEIR MUTHAFUCKIN’ TEETH OUT!” Ronnie and I finish together as we all burst into laughter.
“Anyway, where y’all headed?” I ask.
“We were going to McDonald’s to eat and chill. Wanna come?” Ronnie asks.
“No, I have another class in about a half hour. Have you heard from Cruz? I’m really starting to worry about her because she’s been gone for almost a week,” I said.
“No, I haven’t and neither has Vega and he is pissed,” she says.
“Well, let him be pissed. He had no right keeping that information from her and he deserves to suffer. She will call us when she needs us,” I said.
“Yea, I guess you’re right.”
“Well, let me get to class. I will holla at you later. Love you,” I say as I pull her in for a hug.
“Love you more,” she says with a smile.
I turn and walk in the opposite from them and head to my last class for the day. What the fuck is up with Malcolm? All this shit could have been avoided had he not gotten in my way. For him to purposely put me in that situation means he needs a little reminder about how cruel I can actually be. When we first started kicking it, he used to think I was mean because of how much I would pop off. It didn’t take much to piss me off or for me to let him have it. After a while, I stopped going off so much because I realized that, he wasn’t for the drama and bullshit.
But for him to do me like that, he was going to get his, soon.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Malcolm
Now, when I saw Van heading my way, I didn’t have any idea things would go the way they did. I just thought I would pick on her for a few minutes, then we would chat a little. I miss her more than I thought I would. I was still a little pissed that her dude put his hands on me, but I miss my girl. I miss her friendship, our quality time, and her pussy clinging to my dick. I stepped in her way and just saw things going differently. I figured she would be mad about me invading her space, since she always popped off for that shit.
Maurice is a bitch for starting that shit. I can’t stand that nigga and he knew it. The only reason he was with me in the first place is because his cousin Brad, is one of my best friends. If it wasn’t for Brad, that nigga would not be hanging with me. But Brad or no Brad, friendship or not, I have to set that nigga straight because that shit was not cool.
I am trying to get Vanity back and he is fucking shit up. I mean, of course I was pissed finding out that she was stripping at that club, but I really care about Vanity. I didn’t know that dude Rico was out of jail though, but I guess since we weren’t talking anymore, she didn’t feel the need to tell me. The night that nigga jumped my ass, he blacked my left eye, fractured my cheek bone and cracked a rib. I didn’t get the chance to put up a fight because he took me by surprise.
It took me a whole week to heal up, and sometimes my jaw still hurts when I bite down too hard on something. My doctor said it would take about another two weeks before it completely heals. I don’t know who that nigga think he is or why he thinks he can put his hands on me like that, but his turn is coming. I could have locked his ass up for assault for what he did, but I ain’t no snitch and a real nigga like me can handle that shit. I have plans for that nigga and I’m going to start by taking my woman back.
Maurice is still laughing about that lil’ incident but soon as we get to the park, I’ma show him what the fuck he did wrong. You don’t do no shit like that to a nigga’s chick. I don’t care what she used to do. Van is my girl and he needs to respect her. That bullshit performance he just put on to embarrass her, embarrassed the fuck outta me. She punched that nigga in the mouth though. I wanted to crack up laughing at his ass, and had it been another bitch, I would have died laughing. Because it was Vanity, that nigga will have to pay for his disrespect.
We all get in our vehicles and headed to the park. My bud, Nikko is riding with me and soon as I start the engine, he looks over at me and asks, “Yo, why you so quiet nigga? Every time yo ass get this quiet, I know something finna jump the fuck off, so talk to me.”
“Naw, it’s cool and I’m good yo, believe that shit.”
I know my boy knows I’m lying because we been friends for the longest time. He knows how I feel about Vanity and I know that what happened with Maurice pissed him off too because he know I’m fixing to come at that nigga hard, with both barrels blazing.
“I know you better than that man. You may as well tell me what’s on ya mind, because I already know it got something to do with Van. Speak,
” he said.
“I’m good yo,” I said as I clench my jaws.
“A'ight,” he said as he rolls up a blunt, lights that shit up and starts smoking.
“Pass that shit yo,” I say.
He hands me the blunt and I take a pull, making sure to inhale it deep in my lungs. I pass the blunt back to him while I hold that smoke in for a few minutes. I wait for him to pass the shit again and when he does, I inhale deeper than before and hand it back to him. By the time we pull up to the park, I am filling fine as fuck and ready to fuck that nigga up.
I park the car and we walk over to where the others are sitting, smoking their own blunts and drinking some Bud Light. Soon as I get close enough to Maurice, I punch that nigga as hard as I can. He falls off the picnic table he was sitting on and I jump on his ass. I lift his head up using his shirt and begin punching him in the face. He tries to swing at me but I guess with the weed and liquor, he has trouble focusing. It takes four of them niggas to pull me off his ass. Brad gets in my face and I’m not sure if he’s mad with me or not, but I could care less if he is mad. He knows how I feel about Vanity also and out of all my niggas he should have known that I was gon’ come after Maurice’s ass.
“Look, I know what this is about Mal, but couldn’t you have just talked to his ass?” Brad asks as Maurice jumps off the ground and tries to run up on me. Chris and Wale grab his ass before he can reach me.
“What the fuck wrong with you nigga?” Maurice screams as he wipes the blood that is spilling from his mouth and busted lip.
“You know what the fuck muthafucka!” I yell trying to get at him just as bad as he’s trying to get at me.
“I don’t know what the fuck is yo problem! And right now I don’t even give a fuck! Y’all let me go niggas!” He is yelling for Chris and Wale to let him go.
“Let that muthafucka go so I can finish him off!” I say as Brad and Mark hold onto me.
“Finish me off? Nigga please! You caught me off guard before. You ain’t gon’ catch me slipping again bitch. I promise you that!”
“Bitch? I got yo bitch!” I said.
“Oh I know you do. You got everybody’s bitch. Matter of fact, I bet that’s what this shit is about. You fighting me for that fuckin’ trick ass bitch!”
That was all he needed to say for me to break free and get at his ass. I grab his ass and start throwing punches everywhere, not caring where they land. If my boys are smart, they would get the fuck out the damn way and just let us handle this shit. I need to teach this nigga some respect, so we don’t have to have this conversation again. I’m punching and punching and finally my niggas are able to get me away from Maurice.
The nigga takes a little longer than the first time to get up and I’m wondering if I killed his ass. He finally gets up but he has to hold onto the pole because he looks disoriented and shit. He’s holding his side like as if I cracked some fucking ribs or something, which would serve his bitch ass right.
“You a'ight man?” Brad asks his cousin.
“Fuck you man! How you gon’ call yourself my cousin and not help me out when I needed you? You so busy kissing that nigga’s ass that you forgot who yo fuckin’ family is!” Maurice yells at his cousin.
“Fuck me? If it wasn’t for me and Chris dem, he woulda killed yo ass. You knew how he felt about Van and you gon’ run yo mouth like a bitch! Naw nigga, not fuck me. FUCK YOU!”
I can clearly see that Brad is upset, but he’s right. If Maurice had kept his fuckin’ mouth closed, none of this would be taking place right now. I didn’t mean for Brad to get in an argument with his cousin behind the shit that went down, but it is what it is. Maurice drags himself to his truck and speeds out the parking lot. Nobody says anything else as we return to the table, light up the blunts and start drinking our beers again.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Laura
“Don’t do something, and then feel bad about the shit Cruz,” I tell her as we sit in the living room of the Extended Stay Hotel, where we’ve been staying for the last week.
“Ma, I’m not saying I feel bad about it. All I’m saying is I miss him. What? I can’t miss him?”
I can tell she’s trying to be sarcastic and I almost go off on her muthafuckin’ ass, but I bite my tongue and try to think of something a mother would say.
“Yes Cruz, you can miss him. What you can’t do is forget why you’re in this shit to begin with. That’s all I’m trying to tell yo stupid ass.”
Gotdammit! That was not motherly at all.
She snakes her neck and I can tell she wants to say some smart shit that’s going to make me wanna knock her teeth down her throat, but she doesn’t. Instead, she rolls her eyes and hops off the couch. I watch her storm off into the bedroom and slam the door. I let out a sigh, thanking God silently that she done took her lovesick ass on somewhere else. She has gotten on my last gotdamn nerve since we’ve been here. I’m trying to be supportive and shit, but this bitch and her in love ass feelings is about to drive me up the got damn wall.
When her ass showed up at my door at four o’clock in the morning, I started to just lay there and not answer. But since I’m trying to be a better mama to these lil’ hoes I got my tired ass up and opened the door for her. I sat on the sofa, puffing on my cigarette as she ran down her little plan. I had to admit I’d taught my baby well because the shit she was planning to do was some real bitch shit. I respect my baby for taking charge, but I’d respect her more if she would man the fuck up and handle this shit like a woman whose man has a gotdamn baby on the way.
I know my profession ain’t got no retirement plan attached to it, or got me in the running for the mama of the year award, but hell, I’m alright with that because I know I did my job as their one and only parent. I taught my girls the best I could. I encouraged them to do all the shit I’ve never been able to. Turning tricks with these raggedy ass niggas was the easiest way to provide my kids with a good life. I was fourteen when I got pregnant with Vanity. People had all the negative shit in the world to say to me about having my baby so young, but I didn’t give a fuck.
That was my baby. I laid my fast ass down and got her, so I was going to raise her my way. Shit, at fourteen I didn’t know Vanity’s ass from her damn forehead, but I figured that shit out. I was determined to be the best mother I could be to her. While learning my way, I slipped up and got Cruz. By the time I felt like an expert, I’d added Ronnie’s lil’ ass to the bunch. Life slapped the fuck outta me then, but I took that shit like a woman and kept it moving. Once they sorry ass daddy decided he didn’t want me, my kids, or the shit I had to offer, I packed all three of their little behinds up and left.
We stayed in a shelter for women and children for a while, until I was able to get on welfare. After that came through for me, I did what I had to do to survive. I know y’all might not believe me when I say this, but I love my daughters. I love them more than anything, always have. That’s why I do the shit I do. Yea, I can find a more respectable career, but this one pays faster and it’s all I know. In the beginning, I started sleeping with random men because I didn’t trust people with my kids. I’ve never been the one to just drop my kids off on any ole body, and since I couldn’t afford daycare to find a real job, I did what I did, simple as that.
I don’t give a fuck what nobody has to say about me and the decisions I’ve made regarding my kids, because I’ve done damn good and so have they. Selling pussy gets on my last muthafuckin’ nerve, but seeing my girls go without is worse. So what the fuck ever. As long as I live when it comes to my babies, I’m doing whatever I have to do, no matter how old they get. I don’t give a damn if I have to get on all fours and fuck butt naked in front of the White House, with a marching band playing behind me. If Vanity, Cruz, and Ronnie need something, then that’s just what the fuck I gotta do.
They probably feel like I’ve neglected them since they’ve been grown because I don’t nurture them the way I used to, but truth is, I’m embarrassed. They have grown i
nto such beautiful girls with morals and shit, which my hoe ass has instilled in them, and now I’m ashamed to look at them sometimes. Sound crazy, right? Yea I know, but that’s how it is. When they were young, they didn’t know what I was doing for money, but now they’re grown ass women and they know what’s up. That shit has been eating me up for a while now, so I decided to get help.
My babies don’t know about me going to counseling yet, but I’ll tell them soon enough. When I’m sure they’ll understand where I’m coming from. Right now, I’ll just handle this shit on my own. Plus they have their own damn problems. Which brings me back to the matter at hand, Cruz has drug me down to Puerto Rico with her ass to run up on that little immigrant’s baby mama. She explained that she didn’t want to come alone, but she didn’t want to put her problems on her sisters either.
That’s another thing I taught them; to always stick together. They love each other and that shit makes me happy as fuck. They’ve stuck together against my ass a few times. I laugh to myself as I think about it. They think they so bad, running around here fighting. They just don’t know I’ll knock the dust off all their young asses. They might can throw them thangs, but I’m the fucking champ in this bitch. They got them hands straight from their mama. Cruz’s ass refuses to listen to me when I tell her she can’t put her hands on that pregnant girl.
Every time I say something, she’s rolling her eyes, blowing her breath all hard, mumbling under her breath and shit. It’s taking everything I have in me not to elbow her ass in the face. The only thing keeping me off her ass is that I know she’s just hurting. Acting out of pain will have you fucked all the way up. She is dead set on going to this girl’s house to beat on the damn girl until she talks, but I’m not going to jail down here in Puerto Rico. It’s hot as the devil’s front porch and I’m not getting stuck in these dirty halfway built ass jails.
“So what you think I should do?” Cruz flops back down on the sofa next to me.
