Rent Money

by Natavia

  “What about the baby?”

  “Blood test, shorty. You ain’t gettin’ a dime from me,” he said. Governor grabbed his key off the desk and just like that he was gone. Ms. Linda stared at me with a frown on her face.

  “I just knew one of you little fast ass girls was going to try and trap that man. Do you understand you won’t win like this? Women like you will never win anything but babies and STDs. Here you are, tryin’ to ruin a good man’s character when you don’t even put this much effort into the baby daddy you got. I don’t see you runnin’ around here tryin’ to make his life a living hell, but I guess he ain’t rich enough,” she said.

  “You don’t know me!”

  “Oh, sweetie, I do know you. But anyways, here you go,” she said, handing me a yellow piece of paper. The red stamped, Eviction Notice, was definitely hard to miss.

  “You have thirty days to clear the property. And by law, we’re allowed to do that. You have thirty notices when you were supposed to be out by fifteen. You signed off on every notice you received so I have proof you were aware. Have a nice day,” she said. She turned her computer back around and began working as if I wasn’t there.

  “Where am I gonna live?”

  “You should’ve thought about that before you violated your lease. Let’s not include the late rent. Governor is not returning to this property so I’m fully in charge. This is my doing and I want you and that prostitute you live with gone!”

  “Old bitch,” I said when I got up.

  “That’s employed and in charge! Have a nice day, Sinner!”

  I slammed the door when I left out of the office. Governor was standing next to his truck talking to someone when I walked out the building.

  “You’re gonna let her kick me out? I have a daughter and a baby on the way!” I yelled at him.

  “Sorry, shorty, but Ms. Linda collects the rent now. It is what it is,” he said.

  “You know we made love that night,” I replied.

  “I’ll get up wit’ you later,” he said and the young man he was talking to walked away.

  “We both know I didn’t fuck. You’re crazy as fuck if you think I’ll smash you raw. Nothing you can say or do will make me change how I feel. This whole situation is childish. You want me to be your baby father so bad you’re willin’ to pin a baby on me, which is fucked up, shorty. I hope you find whoever that nigga is but it ain’t me,” he said. Governor walked out of my face and got inside his truck.

  “I have nowhere to go!”

  “That ain’t my problem, shorty. None of it is, and truthfully, it never was,” he said before pulling off. I balled up my piece of paper and tossed it onto the ground. My eyes welled up with tears and I was beyond angry. I ran up the street to my building. Chelsie was on the phone laughing about something. I went inside her purse and dumped everything out. She was taking a pill before I found out about my STD, but I never questioned her about it.

  “What are you doin’?” she asked.

  I picked up the pill bottle and read it. We were taking the same thing to treat our STD. I was pregnant by a pimp! I burst into sobs and Chelsie kept asking me what was wrong.

  “What happened?” she asked.

  “Why did you let him come into my apartment and take advantage of me? Why would you leave him here wit’ me?”

  “What are you talkin’ about?” she asked.

  “WAYNE! It was him that came into my fuckin’ bedroom! He fucked me, gave me an STD and now I’m pregnant!”

  “He wouldn’t do that to me! Stop lyin’, bitch! Governor doesn’t want you and now you’re blamin’ this on my baby’s father?” she asked.

  “You left him in here wit’ me!”

  “I wasn’t gone long! I just went up the street to get a blunt. When I came back, he was on the couch asleep. We smoked a blunt then we had sex. There was no way he did anything wit’ you. He might be a lot of things, but he’d never betray me like this,” she said.

  I ran into the kitchen. Chelsie was yelling and screaming at me about lying on her man when the proof was in her face. I grabbed a butcher knife then ran towards her. We tussled around while Chelsie screamed for help.

  Someone ran into my apartment since the door was open. They tried to pull me away from Chelsie, but I couldn’t focus on anything else. All I kept picturing was Wayne touching me. Chelsie screamed when I stabbed her in the stomach. Wayne could’ve had herpes or even AIDS and I blamed her for it. I wouldn’t have let her move in if I had known she was selling herself.

  “Get off of her!” I heard Ms. Linda’s voice.

  I backed away from Chelsie when blood came out of her mouth. Ms. Linda called someone into my apartment and told them to call 911 while Chelsie bled out. I went into my bedroom in a daze while Ms. Linda and another older woman who lived in the building tried to help Chelsie. A lot of things were running through my mind. What did I do to deserve what happened to me? Nobody cared about me, not even Governor. He didn’t care that I was getting evicted. I heard sirens and saw police lights flashing through my window.

  “She’s in the bedroom,” Ms. Linda said.

  The police barged into my room with their guns on me. One of them tackled me onto the floor and almost yanked my arms out of the socket when they handcuffed me. The only thing I was thankful for was my parents having Ranira. She was better off with them anyway. People were outside looking at me as police escorted me out of the building covered in blood. Chelsie was being put into an ambulance and Ms. Linda was holding her son. Building 1077 was nothing but hell for me, the worst part of my life.

  “You’re next!” I threatened Essa while she and her cousins watched on through the crowd.

  “You’re going to jailllllll, bitch!” Tinka replied back.

  The officer pushed me into the back seat of his car.

  I banged my head on the cage in the squad car.

  “Make them stop! Make them stop! Tell them to leave me alone! They’re chokin’ me!” I cried, banging my head harder until blood dripped down my face.

  Y’all asses must be stupid if y’all think I’m going to jail.

  The officer got on his radio then turned his sirens on. Just like I thought, they were taking me to the hospital. Pleading insanity was the out for me. They took me to the hospital and escorted me through an entry way I guess for criminals. I kicked and screamed about the demon who was latched onto my soul. Nurses rushed over to me and the police tackled me onto the floor when I kicked one of them in the stomach.

  “He’s tryin’ to kill me. He said I had to sacrifice her blood if I wanted him to be free from my body!” I shouted. I banged my head on the floor again despite the excruciating pain, but anything was better than jail.

  “Hold her down!” someone yelled.

  Someone stuck something in my arm and my eyelids grew heavy. Everything went black…

  Kitty

  Meanwhile…

  “A re you serious? That hoe stabbed her roommate?” I asked Essa while pulling up in my driveway. I was with them earlier, but I left as soon as Mayor told me he was on his way home.

  “Girlllll, they were bringin’ her out the building when we pulled up. That crazy hoe had the nerve to tell me I’m next,” Essa said.

  “Yeah right. We’ll take turns killin’ that hoe if she tries.”

  “Remember what we talked about? Just come out and tell him the truth,” she said.

  “I know but I’m so nervous my hands are shakin,” I replied.

  “Don’t be nervous. You and Ian didn’t have sex and you didn’t know he was tied into that bullcrap wit’ Mayor being robbed. You’re innocent,” Essa said.

  “Who’s innocent?” I heard Baby Head Poo ask in the background.

  “Mind yah business!” Essa replied to Baby Head Poo.

  “Girl, we’re over Baby Head Poo’s grandmother’s house because of the crime scene in my building. I’ll be happy when they clear the building so I can get some rest,” Essa said.

  “Go to Ti
nka’s apartment.”

  “No, I can’t stand Cooley. Now, get off this phone and talk to your man,” she said and hung up. I hadn’t been home in a few days, afraid that someone would break-in. If Ian knew about me and Mayor, he knew where we lived. I got out of my car, looking around to make sure I didn’t see anything unusual before unlocking the door. The house was just the way I left it. Mayor wasn’t home yet so I headed upstairs to our bedroom to take a shower. I used the iPad on the wall to play music through the speakers built in the ceiling over the shower. The song, “Weekend,” played by Sza. I kept asking myself how did I get here? In the beginning, I wanted to hurt Mayor the same way he hurt me, but I ended up hurting myself. Once I finished with the shower, I stepped out. I heard the TV. It wasn’t on when I came home. Mayor was sitting on the bed smoking a blunt when I walked out the bathroom. I noticed the wound on his side was uncovered and it didn’t look as bad as it did a few days prior.

  “I didn’t hear you come in.”

  “Yeah, I know,” he replied.

  I got on the bed and sat behind him to massage his shoulders. He didn’t relax like he normally did, he was still tense.

  “We have to talk.”

  “I know,” he replied and took a long drag from his blunt. I pulled away from him and he turned around to face me. Mayor’s attitude was too calm—he’s never this calm.

  “Is that baby mine?” he asked.

  “How do you know?”

  “Cause of these,” he said, holding up my prenatal vitamins. I bought them a few hours before I came home. Essa told me I had to start taking them since I decided to keep the baby.

  “I was gonna tell you, but I didn’t know what to do.”

  “Why hide it? Either the baby isn’t mine or you were plannin’ to get rid of it,” he said.

  “Why were you in my purse?”

  Mayor stood up and paced back and forth across the room.

  “Why was I in your purse? We talkin’ about a baby and you want to know why I was in your purse? I went in there because your dumb ass phone was ringin’ as soon as I came into the house. That muthafucka is always ringin’,” he said.

  “Can you just sit down before you do sumthin to your wound?”

  “Bitch, naw I’m not sittin’ down. Tell me what’s good, Kitty! You out here keepin’ the pregnancy a secret. You thought I left to handle business? Naw, shorty, I left to see what my bitch was up to. I got too much shit to lose. You ain’t gonna be walkin’ around me all giddy and shit wit’ your face glued to the phone and not think I’m gonna find out who else you’re fuckin!” Mayor yelled.

  “I’m confused! What are you sayin?”

  “I’m sayin’ you got a trackin’ device on your whip. You haven’t been home since I left. I got a hotel room just to see what was up! Bruh, on everything, I’ll knock yah dumb ass out if you tell me the baby ain’t mine,” he said.

  “The baby is yours.”

  Mayor sat on the bed and breathed a sigh of relief. I thought he was going to blow up about me and Ian, but he thought I was out roaming the streets with another man.

  “Are you sure? I don’t like surprises, Kitty. Tell me what’s up now so I won’t look stupid for takin’ care of another nigga’s seed,” he said.

  “You’re the only one I’ve been sleeping with!”

  “So, you were talkin’ to another nigga? Yo, I got niggas out here tryin’ to rob me and shit and my bitch can’t even be loyal,” he said.

  “Let’s not forget how bad you treated me!”

  “Then you should’ve never came back if you couldn’t forgive me!” Mayor yelled.

  “You’re makin’ this hard for me. I’m tryin’ to tell you sumthin important!” I yelled back.

  “Aight, bruh. Go ahead and make it quick. I better not know this nigga neither!”

  Mayor sat and listened while I told him about Ian and the remark he made after I broke everything off with him. After I was done, he was quiet. At that point, I didn’t know what to do.

  “Governor told me about that nigga. He lives with Rochelle’s mother,” he broke the silence. Mayor got up off the bed and went to the bedroom’s window which overlooked the pool behind the house.

  “Those niggas were following Governor a few nights ago tryin’ to rob him or even kidnap him the same way they tried to do me. Yo, this shit is unbelievable, Abreesha. You a hood chick and you ended up talkin’ to a fuckin’ cop! You should know better!” Mayor said, turning around to face me.

  “I’d rather you fuck a nigga I’m beefin’ wit’ before fuckin’ a cop! I can’t merk a cop in peace. You know how much attention it would bring if I merk a cop? It’s gonna make the blocks hot and hot blocks will fuck up my money! The same nigga that tried to get me could’ve fucked my bitch is what you’re tellin’ me? And you were gonna get an abortion without tellin’ me? What in the fuck does that have to do wit’ us? You judged me as a father when you’re the one who only wanted my bread. Yeah, shorty. I heard yah dumb ass tellin’ your friends about me. The only reason I stayed so long is because the pussy is good, but I ended up fallin’ for it. Too bad it’s attached to a cruddy bitch. You treat me like the bad guy and want me to respect you? But you don’t even respect yourself! You love me though, but you were thinkin’ about killin’ my seed? Tell me sumthin, did you decide to keep it after realizin’ Ian was on some bullshit? What’s this, a guilty baby?” he asked.

  Is it a guilt baby? Did I make my decision for us or to save myself from Mayor’s wrath?

  “Answer me, shorty! Is this a guilt baby? You usin’ this pregnancy to save your ass?” he asked.

  “I don’t know!” I sobbed.

  Mayor’s eyes watered. Pregnancy was a sensitive topic for him especially after what the last woman did to him.

  “You really hate me?” he asked and wiped his eyes. I reached out to him, but he moved away from me.

  “I don’t hate you, but you really hurt me. You hurt me so bad I felt like I hated myself. But I decided to keep this baby because deep down inside I knew you’d be a good father. We both made mistakes and hurt each other but I don’t want anyone else. When you pulled up on me that day, I automatically assumed you wanted me for sex because that was what I thought I was only good for. What did I have to offer? I roamed the streets, stole from stores, got into a lot of fights, had many one-night stands and couldn’t keep a job. But I want to be a better person.”

  “You were gonna kill my seed and not tell me? Yo, that’s wild. I’m gonna leave out for a little bit. I’m stressed the fuck out,” he said. Mayor grabbed his hoodie off the chaise in the bedroom then pulled it over his head.

  “Are we over?” I asked, wiping the tears from my eyes.

  “Seems like we never started. We hurt each other too much. I’ll be here for you no matter what though because I’ll never wanna see my seed go without, but me and you just ain’t right, bruh. Maybe neither one of us is ready for a relationship,” he said.

  Mayor grabbed his keys off the bed and left out of the bedroom. I buried my face into the pillow and cried my eyes out when I heard the front door slam. Our issues were deeper than Ian—it was about us.

  ************

  It had been five days since I saw Mayor. He didn’t call or text me. I even called his mother and she hadn’t heard from him herself. So, I found myself sitting on Tinka’s couch eating peanut butter ice cream drizzled with syrup. Baby Head Poo was sitting at the kitchen table cleaning off her old rusty gun and Tinka was polishing her toenails.

  “We should do sumthin tonight,” Baby Head Poo said.

  “Do what? Bitch, I’m pregnant.”

  “But you were just drinkin’ a few weeks ago,” she chuckled.

  “I’m keepin’ my baby.”

  “What are you gonna name the baby? Senator? Republican or Democrat?” Baby Head Poo replied.

  “What are you gonna name your baby when you have one? Cause we both know that head gonna be smaller than a nipple, Beetle Juice.”

 
“Now why do you gotta go there?” she asked.

  “Cause you tryin’ me when I’m not in the mood. Be like Tinka and let me have my space!”

  “Y’all hoes evil,” she said.

  “It’s in our CNA,” Tinka replied.

  “I’m gonna assume you meant DNA, Tink,” I said.

  “Yeah, that, too. Anyways, I am tired of sittin’ here. Cooley doesn’t get off until midnight and my little side piece is locked up. I might as well go out and spend my forty dollas,” Tinka said.