“Y’all so damn stupid. I’m not drunk and y’all ain’t getting me drunk either ’cause my father gonna kick my ass. Especially yours, LaRhonda, ’cause you supposed to be taking me to Applebee’s and a movie.”
“Keisha, can you roll the weed? I don’t wanna mess my nails up.” LaRhonda fanned her fingers out in front of her face, showing her newly airbrushed acrylic tips at their best.
“Now you know you ain’t even supposed to be drinkin’ and smokin’ anyway. Ain’t you knocked up again?” Keisha asked, pointing to her bulging stomach.
“Why don’t you mind yo’ motherfuckin’ business, a’ight?” LaRhonda threw the weed at Keisha. “Here.”
“LaRhonda, are you pregnant again?” Shawna asked, surprised.
“That’s what I’m sayin’, yo’ fuckin’ ass can’t keep shit to yo’self.” LaRhonda spat out, pointing her finger in Keisha’s face.
“Why y’all keepin’ shit from me all of a sudden? Is that what we doin’ now?” Shawna’s liquid courage started to spill secrets. “You know what? I ain’t tellin’ y’all nothin’ no more. That’s why yo’ ass gonna get get yo’self killed when Eric find out that ain’t his baby in yo’ belly!” Shawna let out a burp.
“You fuckin’ bitch!” Keisha shouted at LaRhonda.
“Yeah, she ain’t tell you that one huh, Keisha? Don’t feel good do it?” Shawna reached into the black plastic bag next to the crate and pulled out another wine cooler. Shawna stared at Keisha. “Don’t act like you all innocent, too, mami. You know what I’m talkin’ ’bout . . .” She blew a kiss to Keisha and giggled.
Keisha jumped from the crate and into Shawna’s face, almost causing her to spill the wine cooler all over herself. “Stop runnin’ yo’ fuckin’ mouth, Shawna. I ain’t gonna feel bad givin’ you a black eye for yo’ motherfuckin’ birthday!”
LaRhonda quickly stood up and tried to get in between the two. “Yo, Keisha, chill! What the fuck is wrong wit’ you?”
“Oh, so you just gonna start beatin’ on people now? I wish you would—”
“Shawna don’t, ’cause yo’ ass gonna get thrown off this fuckin’ roof. Keisha, just calm the fuck down. She ain’t mean nothin’. It’s the three bottles she guzzled down in the fifteen minutes we been up here. Just roll up some weed and chill the fuck out. I don’t know what she talkin’ ’bout so ain’t no need to get all fuckin’ feisty. It’s her fuckin’ birthday; let’s try to enjoy ourselves. Can we get back to gettin’ fucked up and talkin’ shit?” LaRhonda waited for Keisha to sit back down before she did the same. “I got way more issues to deal wit’ than y’all bickering fools. Keisha, you ain’t spark up yet. I need a pull right about fuckin’ now.”
Keisha sat there for a moment, inhaling the moment. She pulled out some weed and another Dutch Master, then proceeded to roll the blunt. They sat in silence with looks of resentment on their faces.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said nothin’,” Shawna said almost in a whisper.
“Now what you gonna do ’bout yo’ little situation?” Keisha passed LaRhonda the blunt.
“You better think of something real fast ’cause Eric tried to ask me the other day when I was taking out the garbage,” Shawna said.
“Damn, Shawna, when was you gonna tell me that?” LaRhonda asked.
“Ain’t nothin’ to tell you ’cause my father came out before he finished his question. The only thing he got out was your name and ‘is.’” Shawna started laughing hysterically.
“I’m happy you find that so funny, Shawna,” LaRhonda shot her a look to kill.
“So who’s baby is it?” Keisha asked.
“Why you all in my business?” LaRhonda turned her face, avoiding eye contact with any of them.
“By that question alone I know who. Why in the world would you fuck wit’ that nigga again? He ain’t beat yo’ ass enough the last time you saw him?” Keisha questioned with anger in her voice.
Shawna could see it was getting to Keisha so it was her turn to calm the waters before it got out of hand. “Okay, Keisha, just relax; here, take the blunt. She love that man and she don’t care. No matter what we say she ain’t gonna ever stop lovin’ him.”
“That nigga ain’t no fuckin’ man. He a fuckin’ scrub; nah, he the fuckin’ turd that comes out my ass every fuckin’ mornin’. I’m tellin’ you, Ronnie, if I gotta come save yo’ ass again from him I’ma kill him.” Keisha stood up and lit a cigarette, then walked to the edge overlooking the park in the projects. “Yo, Ronnie, Eric know where you at?
“Why you . . . askin’?” LaRhonda asked with hesitation in her voice.
Shawna and LaRhonda quickly stood up and walked over to Keisha.
“Ain’t that his boys over there?” Keisha questioned.
“Fuck!” LaRhonda started to panic.
They heard the door to the roof bang against the wall. They all jumped.
“Damn, y’all plottin’ a hit or somethin’? Why y’all jumpin’? You expectin’ somebody else?” Vincent stood six foot three, with milk chocolate–colored skin and curly brown hair. He was a brick house; muscles toned and weighing over 250 pounds made him an intimidating figure in the hood.
“Oh shit, Vinnie, what you doin’ here?” LaRhonda asked, walking toward him with all smiles.
Vincent laughed. “What the fuck you mean? I’m here to see my baby.” He pulled her closer to him and planted a kiss on her lips and gripped her round ass.
LaRhonda quickly thought about what she was supposed to do two days ago. Fuck, I hope no shit pop off. “I thought we was gonna see each other tomorrow.”
“C’mon now, you know I can’t stay away from you . . .” Vincent looked at LaRhonda, confused.
LaRhonda’s eyes kept darting away as she tried to loosen his arms around her.
He grabbed her by her arms and squeezed, then whispered into her ear, “You ain’t tell yo’ punk-ass boyfriend I’m back yet, did ya?”
“Vinnie, I . . .” LaRhonda’s voice started to tremble.
Shawna and Keisha looked at each other, then at the empty bottles next to the crate on the floor. They could see LaRhonda’s uneasiness. Keisha walked closer to the crate.
“Congrats, Vin. I heard you gonna be a daddy again,” Shawna quickly belted out before Keisha could pick up the bottle and throw it in his direction. Moving quickly toward Keisha, she pulled her away from the crate, showing her pearly whites and announcing the newsflash to Vincent, hoping to delay the slap her best friend was about to get.
LaRhonda turned toward Shawna with big eyes and mouthing the words, “Fuckin’ bitch.”
“What? When was you gonna tell me?” Vincent asked, releasing his tight grip on LaRhonda’s arms.
“I’m not sure . . . I was gonna go to the free clinic in the mornin’. I wasn’t gonna say nothin’ ’til I knew fo’ sure.” LaRhonda stepped back a bit from Vincent.
“Well, if you is then let me handle that nigga Eric. ’Cause ain’t no way he gonna think that’s his kid.”
“Okay, we all happy for you, aaagain. Now, can you leave so we can get back to celebratin’ our girl’s birthday?” Keisha shouted out, annoyed at his macho shit.
“Keisha . . .” LaRhonda’s voice was stern, eyeing Keisha with I’ma-slap-the-shit-out-you look.
Keisha walked away like a child scorned. Shawna followed suit, not wanting to get into any trouble in her condition.
“Let her say what she want. Like I told you, it was gonna be different. I can’t be out in these streets. I . . . We got Diamond to think ’bout. I got this one shit I gotta do and then we straight. We can go down South.” His tone and words were sincere; his voice was calm and his eyes were different.
Days before LaRhonda didn’t see this side of him. She wouldn’t tell her besties that he slapped her again.
“Where the fuck is all this comin’ from? Since when you wanna leave here?” She put her hand on her hip and stepped all the way back, staring at him up and down. Even with his sincere words, in the
pit of her stomach she felt it; he’s being sneaky.
Keisha and Shawna looked out over the edge to see who was gathering in the park. They saw Eric walking toward the building when he looked up at them. “Oh shit, I hope this don’t turn out bad,” Keisha whispered to Shawna.
“We gotta tell her he comin’ up here,” Shawna said, looking toward LaRhonda, trying to get her attention. She didn’t want to interrupt their special moment, but she knew warning her would be better than nothing.
“Ronnie, come here. Shawna’s mom is callin’ my phone. You gotta answer it. Hurry up.” Keisha made up anything that would make her move.
“Are you serious?” LaRhonda walked over with an attitude. “Vinnie, gimme a sec.” She took the quick steps toward her girls. “I didn’t hear—”
“Eric is on his—” Shawna pulled her close and tried to talk fast, but didn’t get the words out quick enough before they all heard the roof door slam against the wall.
“Wow . . .” Eric rubbed his chin and chuckled a bit when he saw Vincent. “You was havin’ a party and didn’t invite me . . . That’s all good.” Eric looked over to Vincent. “We can play nice. I know how to share.” He blew a kiss toward LaRhonda. Eric only stood five ten, 150 pounds at the most, with almond-colored skin. His hair always cut close to his scalp. Eric’s looks weren’t the best, but his eleven-inch dick made up for it every time.
Vincent took a baby step before hearing LaRhonda’s voice stopping him from just slamming Eric’s body against the rooftop floor or even worse. “Nigga, I should slap the shit outta you.” Vincent stepped closer toward Eric, leaving the only opportunity for him to make a move.
Eric showed his Glock 9 tucked into his waistband. “Nigga, I ain’t stupid. You think I’ma be out here slippin’?”
“Yo, Eric . . .” LaRhonda tried to get his attention.
“She’s prego wit’ my seed, nigga. What you got to say ’bout that?” Vincent folded his huge arms across his chest.
“Vinnie . . . Don’t—”
“Don’t what? This nigga need to back the fuck up like the real bitch he is. What’s the problem?” Vincent watched Eric’s hands real close. He knew he could cut the distance between them quickly and probably knock his lightweight ass before he could let off one shot.
“Oh my God! Oh my God!” Shawna shouted in fear. After years of sneaking around her parents she just knew this was going to disappoint them to the extreme. She heard the stories and knew this wasn’t going to end good. Her breathing started to shorten. Spit started to build in her mouth; she bent her head over trying not to vomit. The fear of disappointment to her parents was more her concern than the gun he just showed. “I gotta get outta here. Ronnie, you gotta take me home, now!”
“I knew you was fuckin’ wit’ this motherfucker again. I thought you ain’t like gettin’ smacked around. Let me ask you this then, is it his baby?” Eric looked at LaRhonda.
There she stood with her head down and fiddling with her nails as if she didn’t hear the question posed to her. She didn’t want it to end like this. Eric was always nice to her and never even raised his voice to her even if she was the one yelling.
“She don’t need to answer that.” Vincent cocked his head to the side and inched a little closer.
Eric took his hand off his gun and bent over with uncontrollable laughter. “Look . . .” He placed his hand on his stomach, trying to get back to the seriousness of the current situation. “Whew, I’m sorry, my nigga, but you tryin’ to tell me even if that my child I don’t got nothin’ to do with that. All I’m sayin’ that bitch pussy ain’t worth two cents to me, but I wanna know if that’s my child or not. Serious talk my nigga, I’m comin’ to you on some man shit. You feel me? ’Cause at the end of the day if you was in my position you would want the same respect.”
Vincent wanted to knock his jaw out of place because it didn’t matter if the baby was his or not. He was going to be her man regardless. Stepping closer to LaRhonda Vincent asked her, “And what you got to say?”
The sounds coming from Shawna throwing up made everyone stop for a moment.
“Ronnie, we gotta get her out of here. She fucked up.”
Hoping Keisha’s voice of concern was enough to settle this for now and get Eric’s sudden act of courage to die down, LaRhonda looked at both men and shook her head. “Listen I don’t even know if I am prego. So y’all niggas arguing over nothin’. Look I gotta get my friend home before shit get real serious.” She was mad and those words hit them both with a sting. “Y’all really know how to fuck up somebody’s night.” LaRhonda walked over to Keisha and helped Shawna to the door.
Eric stepped in front of LaRhonda when she was near the door. “Tell me whose is it. You fuckin’ know how long you been fuckin’ both of us.”
“Yo, son, you need to back the fuck up before I show you how to use that toy,” Vincent intervened not liking the small space between them.
“Move, Eric,” Keisha shouted, vexed that she would probably have to cancel her plans for later to deal with this bullshit. She couldn’t understand what LaRhonda did to these niggas. Her looks weren’t Halle Berry and her body definitely wasn’t an appeasing full-figured hourglass. “Eric, just fuckin’ leave. It’s finished. It’s done. She chose him. Get over it. Now move so we can get the fuck outta here before—” Keisha held her tongue.
LaRhonda stared at Eric, hoping he would just turn around and leave.
Eric wasn’t scared of Vincent’s size; it was his five-year bid upstate. He heard stories about niggas like him; niggas with his size was being fucked on the regular. Putting his hand on LaRhonda’s stomach he asked her the question again, “Is it mine?”
Vincent’s hand reached for Eric’s throat. The quick movements made Keisha pull Shawna to one side, separating them from LaRhonda. Eric ducked and Vincent stumbled a bit. Eric jumped back and reached for his gun, pulling it from his waist. Vincent’s heart began to beat faster as he secured his eleven-inch Tims to the rooftop. As he turned around to face Eric, his eyes met the Glock up close and personal. He eased back slowly, not wanting to make any sudden moves because LaRhonda was near.
LaRhonda called out to Eric, pleading for him to just leave it alone until she had her doctor’s appointment to confirm that she even was pregnant. It was evident that this wasn’t going to end reasonably. She stepped in front of the gun. “Eric, you ain’t doin’ nothin’. That is the father of my firstborn and you are not gonna take him away just ’cause I’m fuckin’ him. If you gonna shoot him then make sure you shoot me and Diamond ’cause he the one who been feedin’ us. Let’s be real ’bout that shit. The only reason I started fuckin’ wit’ him again was ’cause yo’ ass was too busy runnin’ wit’ yo’ dime-bag hustlers. Nigga, don’t you see shit need to be better, not the same ol’ same ol’? Get the fuck outta here wit’ this I-got-a-big-gun-and-I-need-to-show-it-off complex. It’s fuckin’ lame.”
Eric’s ego was crushed. He lowered the gun, not posing any threat, but still held it in his hand. He was calm when he asked, “You willing to let this nigga use yo’ ass as a punchin’ bag anytime he feel like it?” He waited for a moment, then looked to Vincent over LaRhonda’s shoulder; she took too long to answer. “You know what, my nigga, you could have this bitch. She like gettin’ hit, y’all belong together!” Eric put his gun back into in waist and exited the rooftop.
With a sigh of relief, LaRhonda looked to Vincent. “If you serious then you do whatever you got to do to make it right, ’cause you know how me and Diamond livin’.” She faced Keisha and Shawna. “C’mon let’s fuckin’ go.”
Stunned at LaRhonda’s unexpected request Keisha almost let out an “Amen.” Keisha grabbed Shawna’s arm and helped her to the door.
LaRhonda aggressively grabbed Shawna’s other arm and exited the rooftop, leaving Vincent standing there. She began to rant as they slowly descended the stairs, “What the fuck is wrong wit’ ya ass? You think I need yo’ mama yellin’ at me? You know you ain’t supposed
to drink three coolers in under twenty minutes. What the fuck, Shawna?”
Shawna shrugged both of them off her, almost stumbling down the stairs. “Fuck you, Ronnie,” her words spilled in a slow slur. “’Cause of yo’ hot ass any one of us could have been shot. Stupid bitch!”
“Girl, you lucky yo’ ass drunk and it’s yo’ birthday.” LaRhonda grabbed her arm again, helping her down the stairs.
“Why we walking down these fuckin’ stairs?” Keisha asked.
“’Cause if her ass step in the elevator she gonna throw up,” LaRhonda replied, annoyed. “How we gonna get her ass sober in two hours?”
“I don’t know. But what I do know we all gotta get outta here. I’m sick of this shit. Stupid niggas, stupid bitches.” She stopped for a moment and looked at LaRhonda.
“Don’t look at me like that. I know what happened. I was there.”
“You almost got us in some shit, bitch!” Shawna blurted out.
Keisha and LaRhonda laughed at Shawna’s drunken words.
“You know she right!” Keisha continued to laugh.
Finally, after getting Shawna’s slow, intoxicated ass to LaRhonda’s mother’s apartment, they hurried her into LaRhonda’s room, then dumped her on the bed. Diamond was with Mary upstairs.
“Why we here?” Shawna slurred.
“’Cause yo’ ass drunk as shit and you can’t go home like this. We gotta sober yo’ ass up quickly; yo’ papi gonna be callin’ soon.” LaRhonda laughed.
“Call Vincent. See if he’ll go get some coffee and food,” Keisha suggested, secretly wanting LaRhonda to leave.
“Now you know he ain’t doin’ that shit. I’ma have to go get that shit from the chicken spot down the block. Damn, Shawna, fuck it. I’ll go get it. Don’t fuckin’ leave her alone in here,” LaRhonda said, pointing to the wall. They all could hear the noise coming from her mother’s room.
“I ain’t leavin’ the room. I don’t want to bump into nothin’ crazy. Trust me. I think we had enough action for the night.” Keisha took a seat next to Shawna on the bed.
Girls From da Hood 8 Page 9
