Rent Money

by Natavia

  “I miss that woman,” he said about my mother.

  I saw pictures of my mother but never met her in person. She refused to see me or my father. We didn’t even know what prison she was in. Years ago, my father told me it’ll kill her knowing she couldn’t be with us so if he loved her, he wouldn’t torture her by visiting her.

  “You want to watch some movies? Remember me, you, Tinka and Essa used to spend Friday nights watching old movies? I miss those days.”

  “You want to spend time with the old man?” he asked.

  “You’re still young. I’ll find a movie and you can pop us some popcorn.”

  “I’m on it,” he said then rushed into the kitchen.

  I went into the living room to search for a movie on Amazon prime. My dad came out the kitchen with a bowl of popcorn and hot sauce. I turned my phone off and enjoyed movie night with my father. Mayor needed time to himself and if we didn’t work out, I was fine with him just being there for our baby. At that point, that’s all I could ask for.

  Governor

  The day after…

  “Y o, you listenin’ to me?” I asked Mayor. He was sitting in the passenger seat of my whip, smoking. I wanted to knock his ass out. We were supposed to be taking care of business, but his head wasn’t in the game.

  “What, nigga? Damn. You keep buggin’ me and shit,” he said.

  “Muthafucka, I can take my black ass home. Your shorty was fuckin’ wit’ a cop, not mine! And didn’t you just tell me the nigga tried to kidnap you?”

  “I can handle this by myself, bruh,” he said.

  “But you ain’t goin’ to, so get over it. You think I’m gonna let you walk in there by yourself?”

  I didn’t know he was messing with Essa’s cousin, Kitty, but I kind of suspected it when we were at the casino. Mayor’s whole attitude changed that night when he saw Kitty talking to a random dude. I was glad he was finally opening up to me again about relationships because he was cold-hearted for a while.

  “This is my beef,” he said.

  “You talkin’ dumb right now. What’s really good, bruh? Talk to me really quick. Ma is worried about you and she keeps tellin’ me to have a talk with you. She doesn’t want you snappin’ and gettin’ locked up again.”

  “Bruh, I’m stressed,” he said.

  “We still makin’ money. Your shorty didn’t fuck the cop dude and you got a baby on the way. What else is happening?”

  “Broads can’t hurt you when you don’t give a fuck. It’s plain and simple. Kitty was loyal to me when I dogged her out. Soon as I started suckin’ on her toes and makin’ her cum, she turned savage on me. She livin’ good, fam. I put money to the side just for her in case sumthin happened to me but she ungrateful. You should’ve seen how she was walkin’ around the crib, lookin’ at me like she hated me and the whole time I’m kissin’ her ass. But check this out, she the one who wanted to use me, so I showed her a nigga like me ain’t neva gonna be used. I been there before and I’m not goin back. That leopard-wearin’ bitch tryna use me wit’ a baby now,” he said.

  They must got sum some kind of magical dust in their pussy because I’m missin’ the hell outta Essa right now.

  “How do I know if it’s real? You think I wanna have a baby mama who just wanna have a baby by me because she feels guilty about bein’ disloyal? Naw, bruh. I want that shit to be like a real family. I’m not with that fake shit. Life is too short to be halfway. You know what it’s like growin’ up without a father. It was just me, you and Ma. You can’t tell me that doesn’t bother you. Do you ever think we would’ve turned out differently if we saw a solid foundation? You know what I’m talkin’ about, too. That’s why you be out here helpin’ broads with their kids,” he said.

  “You gotta suck it up and deal wit’ the outcome. Just be a better father than our father.”

  “No doubt but I want my shorty. Kitty isn’t one of those bougie-ass broads. She ain’t afraid to be her. I just want her to be loyal to me the same way she loyal to those animal prints, bruh,” he said.

  “Shorty loyal to you. You just don’t want to see it. I’d be mad, too, if I was you but at one point you failed as her man. We human and we react off emotions so y’all both just trippin’. Talk then work it out.”

  “But you haven’t talked to Essa yet?” he smirked.

  “Naw, she needs to hit me up on that note. She accused me of some bullshit and I’m not wit’ that. If you’re wrong, I’m gonna let you know you’re wrong. Bottom line. If she can’t see that then I’m not down for it. If I let this slide, she’ll accuse me again then the cycle will keep on repeating itself.”

  “You always gotta be on that smooth shit but I fuck wit’ it,” he said, slapping hands with me.

  “You feel better now, baby boy?”

  “Yeah, but I’m grown, muthafucka,” he chuckled.

  My phone beeped, and it was from that unknown number again.

  “This broad keeps sendin’ me messages but I don’t know who it is. The videos are wild. She is stickin’ shit up her pussy and all that, but she never shows her face.”

  “Let me see,” he said. I passed him the phone and he opened the video. Mayor stared at it for a while before he started cracking up.

  “Yo, you don’t know who this is?” he asked.

  “Naw, nigga. I don’t.”

  “This is Malorie,” he said.

  “Stop playin’ wit’ me.”

  “I’m dead ass. I used to see that hoe strip every day and I fucked her once. I couldn’t tell Ma though. It was before Ma brought her home. She looked happy, so I didn’t say nothing and I’m not goin’ to. I think Kitty knows because shorty was ready to go ham on Malorie when I took her to meet Ma,” he said.

  “Females be knowin’ stuff. That’s why I’m trippin’ cause Ma don’t.”

  “Ma got that twelve-inch strap. She doesn’t give two fucks about a female’s intuition. She livin’ her life like a nigga,” Mayor chuckled.

  “There he goes right there,” Mayor said.

  We’d spent a few hours following Frost, waiting to catch him slipping. We ended up in a neighborhood in Severna Park, Maryland. We followed him from Nucci’s strip joint. If it wasn’t crowded outside, we would’ve snatched him up. He was also with a shorty, so we waited until he walked her into the crib where he spent an hour inside. It was almost four o’clock in the morning. I pulled the mask down over my face and Mayor followed suit. He got out of the truck and crept up on Frost. He took the butt of his gun and hit him more than twice until Frost was stretched out on the ground. I got out and popped the trunk then helped Mayor put him inside, lying him on top of a bed of plastic. Frost’s head was bloody. Mayor duct taped his mouth, wrist and legs. We got back into the truck then pulled off.

  “I’m gonna cut that nigga up. He got on my watch. That means he was one of the niggas that robbed me,” Mayor said. He pulled out a long machete from his pants leg.

  “You can do what you want. I hope you throw his parts in the water or sumthin so the fishes and crabs can get to it. You don’t want his bitch ass to be identified.”

  “I already had it planned out,” he said.

  Fifteen minutes later, we pulled up at an old fish house. It was by a dock. Leray gave us information on the property and it was pretty much abandoned. I stepped out of the truck and lifted up the trunk. Mayor grabbed Frost by his ankles and his body hit the ground with a loud thud.

  “You gonna kill the nigga before you find out more information.”

  “Yo, he aight. I do this shit almost every day, especially if someone owe me money,” he replied.

  I couldn’t fault Mayor for the way he moved because I used to be like him when I was younger. Looking at my brother was like looking at myself, but time matured me. Hopefully, it’d do the same for him. He dragged Frost across the ground and into the fish house. I helped him put his body on the table and taped him to it. He took the tape off Frost’s mouth and the nigga started screaming. Mayor struck
him in the face, knocking his teeth out.

  “What you want, yo? What did I do to you?” Frost cried.

  “How did you get my watch, bruh?” Mayor asked.

  “This ain’t your watch!” Frost said.

  Mayor stabbed him in the knee cap and Frost almost went into shock.

  Mayor lifted his mask and Frost sobbed.

  “You know this nigga, don’t you?” Mayor asked, holding a picture of him and the cop, Ian.

  “That’s my cousin,” Frost said.

  “And what else?” I replied.

  “Listen, I had nothing to do wit’ that. I didn’t know they were plannin’ on robbin’ you until we pulled up. Come on, bruh, I thought we was cool,” Frost pleaded with Mayor.

  “How many cops? And I want names.”

  “It’s only two cops. The rest are friends of Ian’s. The other cop is Joshua. He’s Ian’s partner. Ian wanted the rest of the squad to look like cops, so it would intimidate people,” Frost cried.

  “What did my shorty have to do wit’ this?” Mayor asked.

  “Nothing! He was diggin’ Kitty. He said sumthin about likin’ her in school. I don’t know too much about them! I swear I don’t. I didn’t even know she was your shorty until he told me why she broke it off wit’ him. Listen, bruh. I was broke, and I have a girl and a kid that depend on me. I didn’t know, man. I swear I didn’t know,” he cried.

  “Naw, nigga. We ain’t fallin’ for that bullshit. You knew what was up. How you gonna wear a nigga watch you ain’t mean to rob? Stab his ass again, bro,” I said. Mayor stabbed Frost in his other leg and he screamed.

  “Okay! Okay! Please, just let me go home to my family,” Frost cried.

  “Get to talkin’!” Mayor said.

  “Ian knew who to rob because he kept an eye on Rochelle and her circle. I wasn’t down for it at first, but I needed the money! He was followin’ Rochelle around, so he knew y’all names. Then from Rochelle he started followin’ you. That’s how it happened. I’m tellin’ the truth. Ian got with Rochelle’s mother, so he could keep tabs on her. He scoped her out at Nucci’s strip club when she was a stripper. He was gonna use her for information, but he found out Governor was smashing her, so he backed off. He said it was too hot. He messes wit’ older women who have daughters that’s involved wit’ hustlas so he won’t be too noticeable. Ian feels some type of way behind Kitty cuttin’ him off. So, he’s been tellin’ Alexi things to share with Rochelle, hoping to make you mad enough to confront him. He wants to kill you and use self-defense. Now, please, let me go,” he replied.

  I knew that shit had Rochelle tied to it somehow whether she knew or not.

  I pulled out my silencer and shot Frost in the head twice. He should’ve known we were going to kill him. I guess fear distracted him away from what happens when you get snatched up.

  “You were right. I guess I just wanted to hear Kitty didn’t have nothin’ to do wit’ it. I’m takin’ my ass home after this,” Mayor said. I left out of the fish house, so Mayor could finish handling his business.

  I’m done with this bullshit. I got enough money to chill for the rest of my life. It’s time for me to settle down.

  While sitting in the driver’s seat of the truck, I thought about Essa. I know I said I wasn’t going to say nothing first, but I had to push my pride to the side. It had been almost a week since I saw her. I called her cellphone. It was early in the morning, but Essa wasn’t a heavy sleeper. She answered and sounded wide awake.

  “What you doin’ up?”

  “I can’t sleep,” she said.

  “We need to talk, Essa.”

  “I know we do. I’ve been wantin’ to call you, but I embarrassed myself. You never had a reason to lie to me and I should’ve trusted you,” she replied.

  “You must’ve gotten those test results back.”

  “That, too, but I’m serious. Those results made me feel worse. I didn’t know what to say so that’s why I haven’t called,” she said.

  “Can I pick you up?”

  “I’m getting ready now,” she said in excitement. Essa hung straight up, and I wasn’t done talking. Mayor walked out the fish house an hour later sweating. He got into the truck and rested against the head rest.

  “You straight?”

  “Naw, I’m sick,” he said.

  I grabbed some plastic from the back and Mayor hurled into it.

  “You gettin’ soft now?” I joked.

  “Neva that, muthafucka. I think I got Kitty’s symptoms. Now I want my head rubbed. Her ass betta be home, too.”

  “Yeah, cause you gotta bounce. You been at my crib too long. Essa comin’ over and you can’t be there,” I replied.

  “You kickin’ me out?”

  “You got your own crib,” I said.

  Mayor closed his eyes and fell asleep seconds later. My next step was ditching the truck then pick up Essa. The sun was peeking over the clouds, as I rolled the window down to get a feel of fall’s breezy mornings. Mayor woke up when I ran over a ditch in the road.

  “I was dreamin’ about gettin’ my wood sucked. You couldn’t go around? Now I gotta tell Kitty to buy a pink panther costume,” he said.

  “Nigga, what?”

  “She was wearin’ one in my dream,” he replied and closed his eyes again.

  While driving the rest of the way to Roy’s crib, I thought about Essa. I fell for shorty. It wasn’t just about chilling and fucking. Life was too short to wait for something you know you wanted. I was ready for it all, including her son.

  Essa

  T wo hours passed, and I was falling asleep on the couch waiting for Governor. It was almost eight o’clock in the morning. When he called me, I was thinking about calling him. I sat up all night wondering if we could move on from Sinna’s mess. Chelsie was in the hospital fighting for her life. The building wouldn’t stop talking about what happened that day. Sinna’s apartment still had tape on the front door. The rumors were circulating as to why Sinna stabbed Chelsie. I heard Chelsie’s pimp raped Sinna and touched her daughter, but you’d never find out the truth through gossip. There was a knock on my door and I got up to answer it. Ricardo stood in front of me with Ke’Ari in his arms. I pulled my son away from him so fast and squeezed him.

  “Oh my God! Oh my God!” I cried.

  Ke’Ari whined a little bit. I realized I was holding him too tight. I couldn’t stop kissing his face. He wanted to get down and go to his room. It must’ve been my prayers because Ke’Ari didn’t resent me the way I thought he would, and he remembered his room. I was buying toys, shoes and clothes for him almost every weekend, so he had a lot of stuff waiting for him. We went into his bedroom and he started playing with blocks. I wanted to hug him some more, but he was at the age where he didn’t want to be held long. He just wanted to play.

  “He’s gotten so big.”

  “Yeah, he did,” Ricardo said.

  I still hated his guts, but I didn’t have the energy to ruin the moment by cursing him out.

  “I’m signing the rights back over to you. I was sick, Essa, and very selfish. I know the damage has been done but please forgive me. All I ever wanted was to make my father a proud man, but he wanted me to be a manipulator like him. I know there isn’t an excuse for this, but I grew up like this and never had a chance to grow out of it. I left Evelyn and I’m moving to Pittsburgh. I’m going to start my own firm down there. Once I get settled in, we can work out a schedule for me to see Ke’Ari,” he said.

  “You’re lettin’ him live with me because you’re moving?”

  “No. It’s because your boyfriend or whatever the hell he is exposed my father for the man he really is, and it made me wake up. I heard them talking and my father is a disgusting muthafucka. At first, I was jealous because he stood up to my father and protected you. He did something I couldn’t do. It’s hard but I have to let you go and be happy. I don’t want to pass this curse down to our son. My father took me from my mother, and years later she died from cancer. I
never met her and now I hate him. It’ll kill me if Ke’Ari grows up knowing what I did,” he said.

  “I’m not as forgiving as I used to be and I’m not gonna thank you for this because I will not believe for one second I was the cause of your behavior and should be apologizing for it. But I can appreciate your growth and I wish you nothin’ but the best.”