Roman stood up from his seat, walked to the edge of the bed where I was sitting, and stood between my legs. After placing his fingers under my chin, he raised my face up toward him, and wiped away the few tears that had fallen from my eyes.
“I understand if you don’t want anything to do with me after everything I’ve just told you. Us trying to be together would probably be crazy, right?” I said.
“It might be, but like my uncle Kazimir told me, crazy is how you define it.” He laughed and placed his forehead against mine as his hands palmed both sides of my face. “If crazy means I fell in love with a blackmailing stripper, whom I unknowingly got pregnant on the night that she gave me some of the best sex in my life, then I guess I’m crazy. What’s even crazier is that after telling me that she was in on a scheme to set me up and kill me for my money, I still can’t help the way my heart skips a beat whenever she smiles.” He paused and licked his lips. “Or the way my dick gets hard whenever she pouts her full lips or flashes me that thick, sexy ass whenever she walks to the bathroom.”
Roman kissed my lips, and the taste of him sent those electric jolts down my spine. I could feel my nipples pressing against the hospital gown, screaming to be touched. My lips parted slightly, and his tongue swept inside my mouth, causing a low moan to escape from the back of my throat. I’d been waiting all week for us to connect like this, and finally it was happening. Pulling him closer, I deepened the kiss, hoping he could feel the love behind it. A cool chill swept across my chest when Roman pulled the hospital gown down and exposed my breasts. His fingers lightly trailed down my skin until they found my nipples and tenderly squeezed, causing a little of my breast milk to trickle out.
“You are absolutely breathtaking. I hate that I wasn’t able to experience the changes in your body when you were carrying my child. You don’t know how bad I want you right now, Melonee,” he breathlessly whispered in my ear. “How hard you got my dick right now.”
My eyes immediately focused on the bulge between his legs. The blue sweatpants he had on gave me the perfect view. “I . . . I’m ready right now,” I responded, lips already missing the softness of his. Small lump was stuck in my throat from it being so dry. “I want you just as bad, Roman. . . .”
He drew his bottom lip into his mouth, and I swear I felt the walls in my pussy collapse from the tidal wave of juices that just came flooding out. When he brushed his lips faintly against mine, I couldn’t stop my short intake of breath before he pressed his mouth to mine again.
“Well, well, well, I see baby number two is in the works,” Aunt Bree announced as she walked into my room. The overnight bag I had asked her to pick up from my house was on her shoulder, a bag containing her food and my Jeanne Jones Omelette and side waffle from Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles was in one hand, and my big-ass pile of mail was in the other. “You got me out here running your errands when your baby daddy looks well enough to do them for you.”
Roman laughed and buried his face in the crook of my neck. The stubble on his face tickled my skin as he inhaled my scent.
“Hey, Bree. How are you?” he said, his voice muffled. The smile that I could feel on his lips as he kissed my shoulder caused me to smile.
“Like you really care,” Aunt Bree joked and placed my things on the chair next to my bed and my food on my nightstand. “What have you guys been up to, besides dry humping in the hospital? Have you come up with a name for my nephew yet?”
“Yes and no, because we haven’t made it official yet, but I want to name him Mason since that’s the name that Madison likes,” I replied.
“And I wanted to name him Kazimir, after my uncle,” Roman added.
“So to compromise, we came up with the name Kason Zamir Black. What do you think?” I said.
Aunt Bree sat in the chair Roman was in earlier and opened the Styrofoam container with her food in it. The smell of fried chicken and syrup filled the air. After taking the lid off her souffle cup, she drizzled melted butter over her waffles and then two packs of syrup.
“I like the name Kason. What did Mama say?”
“She likes it too. Said he looks like a Kason Black.” I laughed, thinking about the conversation I had had yesterday with my granny, when I told her about the baby’s name. “Where’s Madison? She’s the only one who doesn’t know her new brother’s name.”
Aunt Bree had just taken a bite of her chicken but still answered my question. “Proof came and got her before I came back here. Said he wanted to spend some time with her before he went to meet up with y’all’s little crew. He said he’ll drop her off at Mama’s and I can pick her up there.”
Fiona sure hadn’t wasted any time in finding a new mark. If the clique had a meeting today, that meant information on the next lick was about to get passed around. Although I wasn’t a part of the crew anymore, I was still in my feelings a little, knowing Fee had called a meeting but had yet to call me or come see me. Wiz, Mouse, and Banks had all stopped by this week, with gifts and everything, but not Fiona.
“I’m about to go check on my dad real quick, and then I’ll go by the house to change. I’ll be back in a few hours,” Roman said, breaking me from my thoughts. He kissed my cheek. “You need me to bring you back anything?”
I shook my head no, got up from the edge of the bed, walked over to the opposite side, where my phone was, and picked it up. “I’ll see you when you get back.”
He nodded. “All right then. See you later, Bree.”
“Bye, Roman,” she said and then watched him leave. “With your fine ass,” she mumbled after he was out of the room. “That man knows he sexy as hell for a white boy. I don’t see how you do it. Especially with him being here damn near every day, looking like that. I would’ve fucked the shit out of his ass the minute I could start walking again. Popped a few extra pain pills just in case and would’ve been popping my ass on a handstand.” Aunt Bree shook her head and stuffed a forkful of waffles in her mouth. “What you doing on your phone?”
I found Proof’s name in my contacts and sent him a text.
Me: What’s up? There’s a BWC meeting today?
“Texting Proof.”
Proof: About to drop my baby off at your granny’s, then head out to meet up with the crew. Why?
“What you texting him for?” Aunt Bree asked.
Me: I wasn’t informed about the meeting.
Proof: Didn’t you quit?
Me: Yeah, but still. I guess I’m just in my feelings, because it seems like Fee is talking to everyone but me.
“I just had a question about Madison,” I lied to Aunt Bree.
Proof: You know how your girl is. She’s probably still mad that you don’t want to fuck around with us anymore. To be honest, I’ve been thinking about falling back too. Getting into some legit shit. Don’t want my baby growing up without me if something happens.
“Have you decided if you are coming to my house after you get discharged or going to your place?”
Me: If something happens? What’s going on, Jaylen?
Proof: Nothing, Mel. Stop tripping. I just know we can’t keep doing this shit forever. Someday the shit might catch up with us, and I’d rather get out before it does.
“Mel?” Aunt Bree called, touching my shoulder as she stood over me. “Is everything okay? Your whole attitude has changed. Are Proof and Madison okay?”
I licked my lips and looked up at my aunt, a forced smile on my face. “Yeah, everything is okay. He and Madison are all right. I was just thinking about something, that’s all.”
By the look on her face, I could tell that she didn’t believe what I’d said, but instead of pushing the subject, she changed it. “So have you decided where you’re going to stay after you leave the hospital? You know my house is always open. I love having you and the munchkin there.”
I sent Proof one last text before responding to Aunt Bree’s question.
Me: Well, be careful, Jaylen. And if shit doesn’t seem right, you need to walk away. Mad
ison and I both need you.
“Um . . . I think I’ma stay at your place until Kason is able to come home, since your place is closer to the hospital than mine. Once he’s well enough to leave here, then I’ll go to my house.”
“So you’re not going to take Roman up on his offer to stay at the beach house with him? His house is close to the hospital as well.”
Roman had asked me to come stay with him, but I felt like it was too early. And although I knew that he wasn’t the one who had attacked me, just being in the place where it had happened might be a little too much for me. Memories of that night had been flashing in my mind a lot in the past couple of weeks. To the point that I had got a few glimpses of the man who actually beat me up. The man’s identity was still fuzzy to me, but something about the way he moved was familiar. And the way he caressed my hair a couple of times while he was on top of me. I could taste his scent in my mouth sometimes, and I would know that smell from anywhere if I smelled it again.
“I don’t think that would be a good idea right now. Plus, Roman hasn’t officially been introduced to Madison yet. I can’t move her into his house if she doesn’t have some type of relationship with him.”
Just then my phone pinged. Another text from Proof.
Proof: Didn’t think you did, what with your Russian-mafia lover now in the picture
I laughed at Proof’s hating ass.
“I can understand that. Well, the guest rooms are yours whenever you need them.”
I thanked my aunt, then texted Proof.
Me: Regardless of who’s in my life, Jaylen, you will always be the father of my firstborn. And for that, I will always love you.
“Will I run into Chasin while I’m staying in your guest quarters, Your Highness?” I asked with my fake British accent.
Aunt Bree blushed and shook her head. “No, you will not. Chasin and I are just friends right now, that’s all.”
“Friends who seem to be together damn near every day.”
“Like you’re one to talk. Roman hasn’t left your side since Joc took us to the delivery room when you were in labor.”
It was my turn to blush. “And I thank Joc for that every time he drops by to say hello.”
My phone pinged. It was Proof again.
Proof: I love you too. Just pulled up to your granny’s. I’ll hit you after the meeting.
Proof: And keep my baby away from that white muthafucka. The only man she needs in her life is me.
Me: LOL. Bye, Proof.
I shook my head and placed my phone down on the nightstand. While my Aunt Bree finished her fried chicken and waffles, I opened my Styrofoam container from Roscoe’s and dug in. After I had eaten all my omelette and waffle, my aunt headed out of the hospital, and I went to visit Kason in the nursery, where I got to hold him and feed him again. When my baby was finished with his meal, burped, and then changed, I stayed in the nursery and just watched him, with happy tears in my eyes. I thanked God for allowing him to get better and better with each day.
I must’ve been tired, just like Kason was after filling his belly, because I ended up dozing off in my wheelchair at the same time he did in his bassinet. It wasn’t until Roman gently shook my shoulder and rolled me back to my room that I woke up. But my eyes were still heavy, and my body was still in need of sleep, so Roman picked me up from the wheelchair and tucked me into my hospital bed. After taking his jacket off, he pulled the covers back a little and slid into bed with me. He pulled me closer to his chest and kissed me on my forehead before closing his eyes and joining me in the first comfortable sleep I’d had in a long time.
Fiona
My mind was going a mile a minute right now as I tried to figure out what my next move with this Melonee shit was going to be. The plan that Julia and April had come up with was sure to get us a boatload of money, but once we split it between the three of us and then gave some to the new heads that April was bringing in to help with this shit, I didn’t see the point. Doing everything by myself seemed like a much better idea to me, since I would get a fat nest egg, but with this bitch clocking my every move now, it was kind of hard for me to put my plan into motion.
“You talk to your brother yet?” April asked me as she sat on the passenger side of my car, playing on her phone. We were on our way to the small warehouse out in Rancho Dominguez that we used whenever the clique met up to go over the details of this plan.
“Nah, I haven’t seen or spoken to Cowboy in weeks. The last time we went to see Daddy was the last time I saw him.”
“And that doesn’t seem weird to you?”
I cut my eyes at her. “Why would it be weird? Cowboy does this sort of shit every now and then. Cuts himself off from the world and resurfaces after some time. But you would know this had you been around us when we were younger.”
“What does me being around have to do with knowing when a nigga is moving funny?”
“Nigga? You talk about your own son like he some regular Joe Blow off the street. Like you didn’t give birth to him. Like he’s not family.”
“Family is who you make it, baby girl. I may have pushed that nigga from my pussy, but that doesn’t mean we have any sort of ties to one another.”
I stared at this coldhearted bitch for a minute. Although I hated to admit it, she did kind of sound like me. I didn’t use the word family lightly, but when I did, it meant something to me. Her talking about Cowboy the way she just did further let me know that she really wouldn’t have a problem putting a bullet in my head if it came down to that. Regardless of whether I’d come out of her pussy or not. Uncle Dro wasn’t lying when he said the apple didn’t fall too far from the tree. Now I could see where I had got some of my vindictive ways from, but I would never tell her that. We sat in silence for a few minutes before April placed her phone in her pocket and then turned her attention to me.
“I see that your brother is a sensitive topic for you. What about your dad? How is he doing?” she said.
I looked out the window at the traffic surrounding us and shook my head. I hated the fact that I had to sit in the car with her for this long. Now she wanted to ask questions about my father, knowing damn well she didn’t really give a fuck. She was probably just trying to get in my head to see if I had any weak spots. Funny thing was, I had only one, and she would never figure out what it was. I turned the radio up, hoping she would see that I wasn’t really in the mood to talk, but she just turned it right back down and waited for me to answer her questions.
“Why don’t you go and see for yourself? I’m sure he would be delighted to hear from you,” I snapped.
“Because I’m asking you.”
“That doesn’t mean I have to tell you shit,” I groaned and licked my lips, aggravated at this whole conversation. After looking over my shoulders to switch lanes, I cut off the car next to me and pressed my foot down on the gas, trying to hurry up and get to our destination.
I continued. “Look, April, why don’t we go back to acting like we don’t know shit about each other? Like you’re not my mother and I’m not your daughter. We are coworkers, with one objective right now, and that’s to get this money. Don’t ask me about my father. Don’t speak on my brother, and definitely stop trying to get in my head. You don’t care for me, and I’m starting not to give a fuck about you. Because my father did teach me to be respectful, I won’t disrespect you as my mother, but don’t get shit fucked up. Now that I know all bets are off with any type of mother-daughter relationship with you, please know that I won’t hesitate to put a bullet in your shit, either.”
She laughed. “Oh, someone grew a pair, I see. But if that’s the way you want it, Fiona, you got it, baby girl.”
“And please stop calling me baby girl. You lost that privilege.”
“Didn’t really want it,” she said before pulling her ringing phone out of her pocket and answering it.
Ten minutes later, we pulled up to the warehouse and were greeted by my crew—with the exception of Melonee and Cow
boy—and the six niggas April had called in to come help out. Didn’t think we really needed all these bodies, but we would see. I was going to be making cuts during this briefing session, and if I felt like they didn’t fit the bill, then they were out. Fuck what April had to say. After making sure my gun was tucked in the back of my jeans, I grabbed my purse, keys, cranberry juice, and went inside.
* * *
“Aye, Fee, you know I’m down to ride with the clique and shit, but what you talking about right now, I’m not down with that at all. Mel ain’t been nothing but loyal to us. How the fuck we gon’ sit here and turn on our own?” Wiz said as he stood up from his seat. “Then you got these new niggas in here, like they a part of the fam. Where these gorilla-looking muthafuckas come from, anyway? You really tripping, Ma . . . hard.”
“Sit your ass down and shut the fuck up, son,” said one of April’s men, who was introduced to me as Rocko. He laughed.
“What the fuck you gon’ do if I don’t, goofy-ass nigga?” Wiz lifted his shirt to show his gun. Banks, Mouse, and Proof all sat up in their chairs, ready for whatever.
“Yo, Fiona, you really work with these clowns? No wonder y’all ain’t getting money like y’all should. Muthafuckas all in they feelings and shit,” Rocko commented, then turned his attention to Wiz. “Y’all ain’t the only niggas with guns in here, B. Understand that. And if you pull that shit out on me, make sure you aim right here.” He pointed between his eyes. “Make sure a nigga really dead.”
“Don’t temp me, nigga,” Wiz growled. Proof touched Wiz’s shoulder and said something in his ear, causing Wiz to sit down in his seat.
The Black Widow Clique Page 26
