by Natavia
“Honey, having a little money isn’t the same as having an income. There is no need to report that to Governor. Without a job, that money is going to go fast,” she replied. They were angels at Manor Apartments, especially Governor. Who would’ve thought I’d run into the fine ass man I saw in the hotel lobby. I had the wrong impression about him. At first glance, he seemed like one of the ruthless street dudes because of his demeanor but talking to him was a different story. He was very passionate and that was a plus; I wonder if the other tenants felt the same way. If so, I knew drama was stirring around the neighborhood. But I couldn’t think about that. I needed somewhere to live until I found another decent job since the post office couldn’t hire me back.
“Okay, so it looks like everything is filled out. The apartment just needs a few fixings, but it should be ready by the end of this week, so I’ll say Friday,” she said. Linda was a sweet woman, but I could tell by her eyes she lived a hard life; she looked exhausted. She was yawning and could barely keep her eyes open while she made copies of my application. After she stapled everything along with a card, she handed me a folder.
“Now, I don’t mean to come off like this, but I treat Governor like a son. He helped me through a rough time in my life. I’m very grateful for all he’s doing but sometimes these women take advantage of his soft spot for us. So, with that said, please don’t do that to him. Most of the women in these buildings need groceries, their hair done, car note paid, cable bill paid and other things. It’s just not right. There are churches who help if you really need it,” Ms. Linda said.
Or maybe they just want some dick cause, honeyyyyy, that man is everything!
“I understand.”
I grabbed my things and shook her hand again for helping me go over everything. Instead of driving the Lexus, I left it at my cousin Kitty’s apartment and caught the bus. I was giving Ricardo his truck back and only kept it because I had Ke’Ari. While standing at the bus stop, I observed the area. It wasn’t too far from the hood, so a lot of hood boys and girls hung on the strip. The apartment buildings stood out in the area because they were new. I looked at my cellphone to see the time. The next bus wasn’t coming for another twenty minutes. A girl sat next to me with a baby carrier.
“You have to cover her face because the sun will burn her cheeks,” I told her. I was going to mind my business, but it annoyed me how she didn’t notice the baby squinting from being overexposed to the sun.
“Oh thanks,” she said and covered the baby’s face.
“My name is Sinna. You movin’ into building 1077?”
“Yes, and I’m Essa.”
“So, what do you think about the landlord, Governor? I’d watch out for him if I were you, he makes the tenants give him sexual favors when they’re late on rent. I’m just warnin’ you because a lot of women filed complaints on him. I’m movin’ out soon myself once I find a job,” she said.
“I didn’t get that from him.”
“I mean, he doesn’t walk around broadcastin’ it. Just pay attention to him and the bitch who lives on the third floor. Her name is Rochelle and quiet as it’s kept, they are foolin’ around. She doesn’t work and wasn’t locked up. Hell, she doesn’t even have any kids, so why is she livin’ in an income-based community? I’ll tell you why, she havin’ sex with him so she can live in our building,” Sinna said.
I knew it was a catch. He was too fine. Tuh, I’m not surprised after dealin’ with Ricardo. They’ll reel you in with their charm to take advantage of you. Well, it doesn’t matter to me anyways. I didn’t come here lookin’ for a man.
Me and Sinna made small talk while we waited for the bus. She was actually pretty cool despite asking a lot of questions about why I was in jail. I kept it short with her and told her I didn’t feel like talking about it. We weren’t that cool yet.
***********
“Where have you been? I was trying to call you!” my cousin Kitty said when I walked into her apartment. My cellphone went dead. The bus ride to her side of town was a long one because it took three buses to get there.
“My phone was dead. Where is Ke’Ari?” I asked, looking around.
“His father took him and your truck,” she replied. I didn’t care about the vehicle, but I wanted to at least give Ke’Ari a goodbye kiss.
“Let me see your phone,” I replied.
Ricardo answered on the second ring.
“Hey, my phone went dead but I was gonna bring him home. Why did you pick him up?”
“I just knew you was up to something and I’m not buying that bullshit about your phone being dead. You left my son with your simple-minded cousin to fuck someone else?” he asked.
I hadn’t talked to Ricardo yet about where I was going to be living. He thought I was going to live in his house while he was engaged. Evelyn still had her own house but I wasn’t a fool, Ricardo was trying to have two women in his life and wanted me to be okay with it.
“Tell that bitch I can hear his punk ass! He just smiling in my face but now he wants to talk shit over the phone! Tell him to bring that noise over here. Him and his bitch-ass daddy with their pressin’ charges-havin’ ass,” Kitty yelled over my shoulder.
“Tell her to spell everything she just said, but we’ll be all day! As for you, who is the man you’re seeing behind my back? You think I’m supposed to believe all this celibate bullshit?” Ricardo yelled into the phone.
“Is this because I don’t want to sleep with you? Nigga get over it! I don’t love you anymore, Ricardo, and I don’t owe you anything because you brought this on me! Be mad at yourself for bein’ a dirty-ass cheater!”
“Okay, cool, I’ll be sure to remember that the next time you want to see MY son!” he said into the phone and hung up. I called him back and he blocked Kitty’s number.
“Girl, I’m tellin’ you. You gave that nigga some bomb ass pussy cause I ain’t never in all my life seen a nigga so pressed. Let him cool off. You know he’ll call you tomorrow beggin’ you back,” she said. I slammed my purse down on her couch in frustration.
“I can’t catch a break! What if he really stops my son from comin’ around me? This hurts so bad, Kitty. I love my child and now I’m on restrictions because of his punk-ass daddy. I want to have him merked so bad. I’m thinkin’ about buyin’ a gun and killin’ Evelyn, Ricardo and Benjamin!” I vented. Kitty went inside her small kitchen and poured me a shot of Amsterdam vodka.
“We will figure it out. I’ll go to jail for you next time if you beat his ass again,” she said, and I cracked a smile.
“I think Ricardo is secretly workin’ with his father to sabotage you. You went from gettin’ locked up to having a child endangerment charge. He’s usin’ this against you because he can’t be with you and the only way you’ll work with him is if it’s about Ke’Ari. I hope I’m wrong, but Ricardo and his father are lawyers and they know how to get dirty. Hell, I don’t trust none of them,” she said.
“I was thinkin’ that the whole time I was locked up which is why I’ll never go back to him, but I hope to God we’re wrong.” After I finished taking a few more shots, I went into her bathroom to freshen up my face. I had to get out and do something, drink, party or even smoke because I was going crazy. I noticed a few things on Kitty’s sink like a man’s body wash, deodorant and cologne.
“You datin’ somebody?” I called out to her.
“I mean, we’re just talkin,” she replied, and I rolled my eyes. Kitty was so secretive I hated it.
“Is he beatin’ your ass or sumthin? You’ve been hidin’ this dude if it’s the same one for almost a year!” I called out.
“I’ll tell you when it gets serious. But thanks for bringing Ke’Ari over here. I missed him. We haven’t seen him since you got locked up,” she said.
“Let’s go out,” I replied when I came out of the bathroom.
“Are you sure? I’m too tired,” she said.
“Girl, get your ass up and come out with me. Welcome me home the right way,”
I replied.
“How about we wait until Tinka comes back from vacation?” she said.
“We can do sumthin then, too, but in the meantime, get dressed, bitch. We about to turn up!” Kitty was reluctant at first and she excused herself. She went into the bedroom with her cellphone and closed the door. I wanted to be nosey, so I put my ear to the door.
“I’m ready to go out with my cousin. Is that cool?” she asked the person on the other end.
“What’s the problem now? You just want me to sit in this small apartment and do nothing all day? Fuck you! I’m goin’ out!” she spat into the phone. I rushed back to the living room to make sure she wouldn’t catch me eavesdropping.
Let me find out you’re dealin’ with a nigga like Ricardo after scoldin’ me about lettin’ a man control me. I’m gonna find out soon.
Sinna
“W
ahhhhhh. Wahhhhhh…”
“Yo, go get the fuckin’ baby! Man, you trippin’,” Dade complained, as he buried his face in his pillow. It was summertime and the air conditioner was broke. It felt like the fan was blowing out hot air and my weave was stuck to my face with the stench of weave glue in the air. I climbed off the bed and went to the corner of the room where our daughter, Ranira, was screaming. I picked her up and she was soaking wet. I wasn’t working, and the bills were piling up. Dade wasn’t shit but a wannabe dope boy. He wasn’t selling real dope anyway, he was mixing unscented baby powder with baking soda then freezing it. How did I know? Because I helped him bag up on many occasions. After I cleaned my six-month-old baby off, I got dressed and went outside to catch a slight breeze. I knew Dade was going to be pissed but fuck him. I was sick of him, but his little money came in handy sometimes.
“Heyyyy, Sinna,” Essa said when I sat on the step next to her. Essa just recently moved into the neighborhood about a month ago. She had a two-year-old son but he was always with his father. Her baby’s father didn’t think Essa was capable of raising her son for whatever reason. She passed me a blunt and I took a long drag from it.
“Did you find a job yet?” she asked.
“No, and the shit is killing me. We are going to end up getting evicted,” I huffed.
“Report your income to the program and tell them you lost your job,” she said.
“I’m trying to wait it out because redoing those papers for Section-8 is annoying. I’m going to give myself another week. KFC is hiring but I’m not trying to work at a damn drive-thru,” I fussed.
“You gotta get it how you live,” Essa said.
While we were talking, a black Range Rover pulled up in front of the building. The owner of the building stepped out of his truck. I heard he bought properties to wash up his drug money. He had other buildings, but he didn’t accept vouchers for those ones because they were in decent areas and the rent was extremely high; the cheapest apartment started at nineteen-hundred.
“What’s up, Governor? What are you doing in these parts this late, bruh?” A man named Lee asked.
“Shit, making sure everything is straight,” Governor lied.
It wasn’t a secret that Governor was fucking Rochelle who lived on the third floor. I had never been in her apartment, but I heard it had wooden floors, a Jacuzzi and many other things we didn’t have. Governor was in his late twenties or early thirties and had the darkest skin. His hair was cut low but what gave him a rugged appearance was his neatly trimmed beard. He was around six-foot-three and weighed around two-hundred-plus pounds. He always smelled good and most of the time I fantasized about him; I think all the tenants in the building did.
“Damn, he’s fine,” Essa said.
Essa was somewhat chubby, so I knew damn well Governor wasn’t paying her any mind. I, on the other hand, was a certified brick house. I was a size six around the hips with a nice set of titties. Before Dade’s bitch-ass trapped me, I was always in the flyest gear.
“Get up with me lata,” Governor said to Lee when he slapped hands with him. I pushed my hair behind my ears and straightened out my camisole when Governor headed up the steps to the building.
“What’s up, ladies? Essa, why do you keep blowin’ trees in front of the building, shorty? I thought we talked about this shit before?” he asked.
“My bad, damn,” Essa flirted and I rolled my eyes. Governor’s eyes landed on my titties. I didn’t have a bra underneath my camisole. I didn’t need one because my breasts sat up perfectly. I heard babies made breasts sag but it only made mine sit up. Rochelle came outside. She wasn’t slim like me and she wasn’t thick like Essa, she was in between. She wore a maxi dress and I could tell the bitch had nothing on underneath. Rochelle was a bitch and nobody in the building liked her. I heard she was a well-known stripper, but I honestly think the hoe was a prostitute.
“I got the rent money for you upstairs,” she flirted.
“You pay rent at the rental office,” I said, and she smacked her teeth.
“I pay mine personally,” she spat, and I rolled my eyes. Governor followed her into the building and it pissed me off.
“That nigga too busy fuckin’ his tenants to fix my air conditioner,” I spat.
“Your air conditioner is always broke. You need to tell Dade’s ass stop playin’ with it every few minutes. Governor already told you the next time it breaks, he isn’t fixin’ it,” Essa said.
“Whatever,” I replied.
“Bitch, get your peezy head ass up here and get this crazy fuckin’ baby! I’m tryin’ to get some fuckin’ sleep!” Dade yelled out the window.
“Fuck you! With your broke ass!” I yelled. He left out the window and came back seconds later with a hamper of dirty clothes. He dumped my clothes out the window and it fell on the sidewalk.
“How about dat!” he said. He left and came back again with my food stamp card and a pair of scissors.
“How are we gonna eat if you cut my card?” I screamed.
“Bitch, we still gon’ eat! You just have to wait in a line for another one!” he said before he cut my Independence Card. I rushed upstairs to my apartment, but the door was locked. I banged on the door and Ranira screamed at the top of her lungs.
“Dade, stop playin’ and open the fuckin’ door!” I screamed.
“This is my crib!” he yelled back.
Ten minutes later, Dade opened the door for me and I slapped the hell out of him.
“Go downstairs and get my shit off the sidewalk before you end up on your mother’s couch again with your nasty-ass feet!” I screamed at him.
He rolled his eyes at me before he put on his dirty New Balances. Dade was always acting up when he couldn’t get his way. I couldn’t believe I fell for him. Dade was full of shit. He was stunting his cousin’s car and wearing his clothes and shoes while his cousin was locked up. So, yeah, I thought he had a little something. Well, that all changed when Dade’s cousin came home and whipped his ass for wearing his things. By that time, I was already a few months pregnant. Now, I was stuck with a broke, dingy and whining-ass nigga. After he left out of my apartment to get my things, I locked the door. He wasn’t going to do nothing but sleep in the hallway anyway. He had nowhere to go, he needed me more than I needed him.
The next day…
It was nine o’clock in the morning when I opened the door. My dirty clothes hamper was sitting by the door, but I didn’t see Dade. Maybe he was at his mother’s house. I checked my mailbox in the hallway and I had bills piled up, which was the norm.
“I’m sick of these bills!” I said aloud.
I heard footsteps coming from upstairs; it was Essa’s baby father. I’ve seen him twice since she moved in, but he never stays long. Essa never told me why she didn’t have her son, she just said his father had better living arrangements for him as if we lived in a rundown building. I wasn’t sure what he did for a living because Essa didn’t talk about him much, but I knew he had money. He drove a Bentley and wore expensive suits. It was my first time seeing him dressed down in shorts, a T-shirt and running
shoes. He had a Nike cap on his head, too. The man was fine as fuck.
“How are you doin’?” I asked, checking him out. He looked at me with a displeased look, but I wasn’t letting him off the hook so easily. I was neighborhood watch and had the scoop on everyone except Essa.
“I’m doing well. You’re Essa’s friend, right? I always see you two talking,” he said.
“No, she’s okay. The only time she talks to me is when she wants to get some info on our landlord. Essa’s practically in love with him,” I lied. I wanted to get on his good side, so I could find out more about Essa.
“So, you’re telling me Essa is screwing around with the landlord?” he asked. I could hear the sadness in his voice. He was definitely still in love with her.
