Hearing light snores, Zeek looked down to find Coco was sleeping. He smiled before he kissed her forehead and wrapped his arm around her and she snuggled up closer to him. Jayliah walked in the room but quickly walked back out when she realized that Zeek had gotten Coco to go to sleep. She hit him with a smile and a thumbs up before closing the door and leaving them alone.
Chapter Eight
Two months after the rape and Coco was trying to get her life of track. A week after the rape, she’d found out that not only was she pregnant, but she also had chlamydia. She wasted no time getting an abortion when she found out. If it was one thing she wasn’t strong enough to do, it was to bear a child of rape. Everyone around her understood except for her mother. The moment she found out Coco had an abortion, she damn near blew a gasket.
It led to them having a big argument and Coco had no problem letting her know that she was a hypocrite because she was all for abortions when it Jayliah. Bringing that up quickly shut her up. Coco let her know that it was her body and she was going to do what she wanted to do regardless of how anyone felt.
Zeek: Look up
Looking up, Coco couldn’t help but to smile. Zeek was standing there with lunch from Coney Island and he was right on time for her lunch break. Over the past two months, she and Zeek had gotten pretty close, especially after he opened up to her about his issues after his father passed. She knew it took a lot for him to open up to her about that; plus, he had been a great help on her road to recovery and she truly appreciated him.
“What’s up, Jacole, Miss RN?” Zeek smiled.
“Nothing, what’s up with you, Boss? What you doing in my neck of the woods?”
“Shit, I just came to give the baddest RN on shift lunch so if you don’t mind, could you tell Monique I’m here for her?” he asked.
Coco hit him in his chest while rolling his eyes. Zeek started laughing as he handed her the bag of food.
“Here, I shouldn’t give you shit. Don’t be putting your hand on me like that, girl. What the hell is wrong with you?”
“No, what is wrong with you? You play too much.” She fake pouted.
“Whatever. Fix your face and come chill in the truck with me until your break is over,” Zeek said as he grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the exit before she could protest.
When they got outside, Zeek hit the lock and instructed Coco to get in the backseat as he opened the door for her, slapping her on the ass as hard as he could while she was getting in.
“Ouch, nigga, damn!” she yelled at him.
“Quit all that damn yelling.”
Coco just shook her head as she dug into her food. While she eating, Zeek grabbed her foot and took her shoe off before putting it in his lap and massaging it. Against her will, Coco let out a small moan while she was chewing. She didn’t realize how much her feet hurt until Zeek got a hold to them.
“You know I’m still looking, right?” Zeek asked her.
“Leave it alone, Ezekiel,” Coco warned him.
Even though it had been two months, Zeek hadn’t stopped his search for Trae and he wasn’t going to until he turned up. He wasn’t going to just let him get away with raping Coco and go on with his life as if nothing happened while she had to live with the shit every day.
“Fuck outta here!” he spat. “I’m not leaving shit alone.”
“It’s been two months, Zeek, I’m over it,” Coco sighed.
“That’s bullshit and you know it. And even if you were over it, I’m not,” Zeek told her.
For some reason, deep inside, Zeek had a feeling that Coco might know where Trae may be hiding but she wouldn’t come up off his location just like she didn’t want to tell anybody that he was the who raped her. He didn’t know how to feel about that. He was hoping like hell he was wrong but he didn’t want to just come right out and accuse her and possibly be wrong. Fuck it, he thought.
“You know where he at, don’t you?” he said.
“What?”
“Just answer the question, Jacole.”
“Dead ass? You think I would be trying to protect the same nigga that raped me? Fuck out of here with that shit, Zeek!” Coco yelled as she snatched her foot from him and tried to get out of the car but Zeek had the child lock on.
“Chill out,” he said calmly,
“Fuck you, let me out!” she yelled.
“Calm down, Coco! I’m not going to tell you again,” Zeek said with bass in his voice.
Coco sat back in the seat with her arms folded, pouting like a child who had just been reprimanded. Zeek chuckled as he ran his hand down his face. The situation wasn’t funny but the fact that Coco was sitting there looking like big ass kid was.
“I’m sorry,” he sighed.
Coco ignored him as she continued to pout. Zeek grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled her head towards him.
“Stop acting like you don’t hear me,” he whispered in her ear, licking her earlobe.
“Stoooop,” she whined.
“Give me a kiss.”
“It’s time for me to go back in,” Coco said as she tried to move away from him.
“So I can’t get a kiss?” Zeek asked.
“You still kiss that girl with them lips?” Coco questioned with a raised eyebrow.
“Here you go.”
“Exactly,” Coco said as she put her shoe back on.
She didn’t know for sure if Zeek was still messing with Chanel or not but the streets were still talking and saying that he was. Technically, she and Zeek were not a couple so she had no right to be questioning him but she just had to know. She wasn’t about to be playing house with a nigga that already had a house with another bitch, that just wasn’t her style.
Zeek got out of the car and opened the door for Coco so she could get back to work.
“Aye,” he called out to her.
“Wh—“
Before she could get her words out, Zeek pressed his lips against hers. He parted his lips with her tongue and Coco had no choice but to accept it. After a few seconds, Zeek broke the kiss and backed up.
“I told you not to worry about her,” he said before hitting her with a wink.
Coco couldn’t even say anything after that kiss. She just nodded her head and went back to work.
___
Jayliah was getting things together to have family day with Tariq and her son Quaid. She was grateful that her son actually liked Tariq and looked up to him because she prayed that he would be in their lives for the long run. Ever since Tariq had come into her life, she knew what the true meaning of love was. She felt as if her family was complete with him and Quaid.
“Mama, somebody at the door!” Quaid yelled up the stairs to Jayliah.
“Don’t answer it; here I come,” Jayliah yelled back down as she put the finishing touches on her hair.
For the life of her, she couldn’t understand why Tariq was knocking when he had a key. Against her wishes, he was paying all the bills in the house, so Jayliah felt it was only right that she give him a key. She had no problem providing or doing for herself but he wanted to be the man and insisted and damn near forced her to let him pay the bills even though he didn’t live there with her and Quaid.
Hearing voices as she came down the stairs, Jayliah was about to light into her son for opening her door when she stopped dead in her tracks as soon as her eyes connected with an older version of her son.
“Quadir?” she whispered.
“What’s up, baby, long time no see,” Quadir smiled.
Jayliah stood there in shock. Standing in front of her, in her house, was Quadir. Her son’s father, her first love, the same nigga that had broken her heart and left her when she was six months pregnant.
“Why are you here? How did you find me?” she asked, confused.
She hadn’t even realized she was crying until Quadir walked over to her and wiped the tears that were falling. He pulled her into his arms and Jayliah just melted. After eight years, her body still surrende
red to his touch and it felt so normal being in his arms again.
“I missed you so much,” she said before she even realized what she was saying.
“Introduce me to my son,” Quadir told her.
Clearing her throat, Jayliah got herself together and beckoned her son to come to her.
“Quaid, baby, I want you to meet your—”
“My dad,” Quaid cut his mother off.
Even though he wasn’t a junior, Quadir was happy that Jayliah thought enough of him to at least name his only son after him. Bending down so that he was eye level with Quaid, he extended his hand for him to shake.
“What’s up, little man? I know I haven’t been around and you don’t really know me, but all that is about to change. I’m home now, where I belong.” Quadir told his son.
“Q, that’s not—”
Not giving Jayliah a chance to finish her sentence, Quadir grabbed her around get waist and shoved his tongue down her throat. Jayliah was so caught off guard that she didn’t hear the front door opening.
“The fuck is this shit?” Tariq’s voice boomed.
Jayliah jumped back and looked as if she had just seen a ghost as she wiped her lips.
“Uh oh, hey, Riq,” Quaid spoke before he took off for outside.
Jayliah stood there paralyzed with fear, she didn’t know what to say for she had just been caught lip locking with the very person she had cried and poured her heart out about to Tariq. Even though it wasn’t what it seemed, she knew exactly what it looked like.
“Who the fuck is this nigga? And he got a key?” Quadir questioned.
“Quadir, please do not make this shit any worse than it already is,” she begged.
“Oh, I see what it is now,” Tariq chuckled as he looked Jayliah’s baby daddy from head to toe, unimpressed.
“Riq, it’s…” she trailed her sentence off when Tariq held his hand up to stop her from talking.
Dropping the key from his hand, he turned around and walked back out the door without saying another word to either one of them.
“Tariq, stop! Baby, wait!” Jayliah yelled as she tried to run after him but Quadir stopped her and grabbed her up in his arms. “Let me go, Q, let me go!”
“I wish the fuck you would run after another nigga while I’m standing right here!” he barked at her.
Jayliah was lost and conflicted. She was standing there watching the man she gave her heart to walk out on her while being held back by her first love who she thought she was over and hadn’t thought about in two years.
Chapter Nine
Coco had just gotten in from work and was ready to crash. She had allowed Zeek to talk her into switching her schedule from working the night shift and her body was still trying to get adjusted. It seemed as soon as she got undressed to take a shower, her phone was ringing. Walking out of the bathroom, she answered the phone for Zeek.
“Hello?”
“Yo, Coco, I’m hungry as fuck, ma,” Zeek whined into the phone.
“Uhh, okay. And?”
“I want some nachos,” he told her. “We want some nachos.”
“Who the hell is ‘we’?” she asked.
“Me and Riq, you know that shit. We want the whole yadig on em. Jalapeños, sour cream, tomatoes, all that shit,” Zeek said.
“Zeek, I just got off of work and you expect me to cook?” Coco sighed.
“Don’t take all day, niggas ain’t ate shit all day,” he said, ignoring everything she just said.
“Are you asking me to cook for you or are you telling me to cook for you?”
“I’m telling you and when you’re done, bring it over to 7 Mile. Thanks, bae, you’re the best with your sexy ass,” Zeek said before hanging up.
“Oh, I can’t stand his black ass!” Coco yelled.
For the life of her, Coco couldn’t understand why she was performing all the wifely duties for Zeek when they weren’t even together. She would be lying if she said she hadn’t slowly developed some type of feelings for him in the time they had been spending together. Even though he was rude as hell and always wanted things done his way with no exceptions, he was always there for her when she needed him.
After taking her shower, she threw on a pair of leggings and a crop top so she could run to the store and get the items she didn’t have to fix the nachos. While she was in the grocery store, she was texting her sister and not paying attention to where she was going when she ran her cart into someone.
“Oh my God, I am so sorry,” she said as she bent down to pick her phone up that she had dropped. When she stood up straight, she was met with one of the sexiest men she had laid eyes on since Zeek. She didn’t even realize she was staring until he opened up his mouth to speak.
“Damn, mami, where you rushing off to that you couldn’t see me standing here?”
“I…uhh…”
To say that Coco was tongue tied would be an understatement. This man standing before her looked as if he was fresh out of a GQ magazine. She could tell by his looks and his slight accent that he was Latino or of Latino descent. He chuckled and extended his hand for Coco to shake.
“Elias.”
“Jacole,” she managed to get out.
“Jacole,” he repeated. “I like that. So, Jacole, you have a number I can reach you at?”
“Wait, aren’t you supposed to ask if I have a man first?”
“Only if I cared, which I don’t. Now back to that number.” Elias smiled.
Why do I always attract these cocky ass niggas? Coco thought to herself. “Let me see your phone.” She didn’t see the harm or the foul in taking Elias’ number. She was not in a committed relationship with anyone so she had the right to do as she pleased.
“I’ll be calling,” Elias told her.
“I’ll be waiting,” Coco countered.
After being slightly thrown off track, Coco continued shopping so she could get home and finish cooking for thing one and thing two.
___
Zeek and Tariq were on 7 Mile chilling with some of their workers. It was a nice day in the hood and everybody was out. Zeek had just passed Tariq the blunt they were smoking when Chanel rode pass in the candy apple red Beamer he had purchased her last month. Even though Zeek didn’t have feelings for her like he used to didn’t mean he was going to stop taking care of her or fucking her, at least, not yet. He had invested too much time in her.
“Nigga, you ain’t cut her ass off yet?” Tariq asked.
He never did like Chanel. Every time he was around her, he got a bad vibe from her and something to him something wasn’t right about her.
“Don’t worry about all that, you just worry about Jayliah,” Zeek told his cousin just as Coco pulled up. “About damn time!” he yelled out to her.
With her phone between her head and her shoulder, Coco got out her car with two Tupperware dishes for the guys. As Coco got closer to the house she noticed that all eyes were on her, literally.
“I’ll call you back,” she said as she handed them their food.
“Who the hell got you cheesing and shit?” Zeek asked with a raised eyebrow as he examined her outfit up and down and wasn’t feeling the leggings and top that showed all her assets. He was a jealous nigga and wasn’t afraid to admit or show it.
“Dang, I don’t be clocking your or your phone calls, do I?” Coco threw back at him.
“That don’t mean I’m not gone clock you or yours,” he told her.
“Whatever.” Coco rolled her eyes as she turned around to hit the lock on her car.
That was a mistake on her part because that gave everyone that was sitting on the porch a perfect view of what she was working with. Coco may not have had the body of a video vixen or a porn star but that didn’t take away from her beauty. Her body was just right.
“If y’all niggas wanna be able to continue to see, I advise you to point them eyes in another direction!” Zeek yelled as he pulled Coco to sit on his lap forcefully. “Fuck y’all looking at my girl like that
for?”
“Your girl? Since when?” Coco laughed.
“Since I said so. Here, feed me,” he said as he handed her his food.
Opening the Tupperware, Coco did as she was told and started feeding Zeek. Halfway through his food, Chanel rode back past but this time, she parked across the street when she noticed another bitch sitting in Zeek’s lap. Pulling out her phone, she sent him a text. Chanel sat there and watched as Zeek pulled his phone out, read her text, looked at her and ignored her. Not being the type to be ignored, she got out of the car.
“Aw, shit,” Tariq laughed when he saw Chanel headed in their direction.
“Who is this bitch?” Chanel asked Zeek as she pointed her finger in Coco’s face.
“I’m going to give you that one because you really don’t know me but don’t let that bitch word fly out of your mouth again and you damn sure better not point that crooked ass finger in my face,” Coco told her, unbothered.
“Or what?” Chanel challenged, with her hand on her hip.
She had always successfully ran away any bitch that Zeek thought he was going to entertain so she knew this one was going to be no different. This little bitch didn’t even look like she was on her level. He could have at least got one that don’t have Similac on her breath, Chanel thought.
“Alright, y’all chill the fuck out,” Zeek said. “Chanel, what the fuck you want?”
Chanel didn’t answer him because she and Coco were too busy having an intense stare down. She was looking like she wanted to bust a move and Coco was silently daring her to with her eyes.
“Chanel! What…the fuck…do…you…want?” Zeek asked again.
“Nothing, not a damn thing,” she answered this time.
“Just like I figured. Get the fuck on then.”
“No, you stay. I’m gone,” Coco said as she got up. “I don’t have time for this shit.”
“Toddles, bitch,” Chanel waved.
Before anyone could react, Coco had punched Chanel dead in her face. Before a full out brawl could take place, Tariq jumped up and grabbed Coco while trying not to laugh.
The Wrong Side Of Love: A Hood Love Story Page 4
