Mesmerized By A Street King 3

by Belleza

  “What else do you expect me to do? You’ve become so engrossed in getting back at your brother and those kids your forgot you have a wife at home!”

  “So what you want me to do? Sit at home with your ass? The bitch that loves clothes, jewelry, bags, and shoes? I do that, and we’ll be fucking broke. I bring in the money,” I told her pointing at my chest. “As long as you keep swiping that fucking card, driving the newest cars, rocking the latest clothes with the biggest jewels there ain’t shit you can tell me about the way I move. Either be grateful, or I’ll find someone to replace you that’ll be happy to have a quarter of what you get with no fucking headaches.”

  “Wow,” she laughed sarcastically shaking her head in disbelief. “Is this the woman that did everything to keep you happy? Even if it meant losing my self-worth and everything I stood for. I held you down all them years you did in jail.”

  I waved her off. “You act like I did a quarter century or something. What you did was normal. It’s fucking expected as a hustler’s woman. Tabitha did it as well with no fucking issue, and I’m sure there’s plenty other woman that’s still waiting after five years of their man being booked.”

  “You just love to bring that bitch up?!”

  “Fuck her. She’s sitting in a crazy hospital somewhere. I ain’t worried about her dumb ass. Either you shut the fuck up or I will turn this fucking car around, and I will do what I really want to do.”

  I glared at Karla’s annoying ass hoping she had the heart to part her red painted lips so I can drop her ass back on home. I had so much shit to worry about walking up and down King Of Prussia Mall was not on my agenda. I was only doing it to keep her happy, but my patience and generosity were running thin. The first thing I was going to do was go hook up with an old fling.

  Unluckily for me, Karla did shut the fuck up, so I was stuck being a bag carrier. I know she was being smart and just wanted to spend money because she started getting unnecessary shit like stopping at Victoria’s Secret to get a bunch of panties when her ass didn’t even wear underwear. She spent $300 in that store alone.

  “Ohhhhh baby! Let’s go in there!” she exclaimed excitedly.

  I was texting this shawty named, Tina, setting up my night since I had my mind made up to stay away from Karla. I lifted my head and realized she was pointing at Kay’s Jewelry Store. In my mind, I did a quick calculation of what was spent already. She spent a quick $15,000 already. I wasn’t hurting, but it was annoying watching her buy shit I knew her ass ain’t need or wasn’t going to wear.

  “For what?”

  She reared her head back and placed her hands on her hips. “I think I deserve a new ring. It’s been years.”

  “Whatever,” I snapped heading towards the jewelry store. “This the last fucking store and then I’m dropping your ass back off home.”

  Karla ended up ahead of me and went right to the counter where the diamond rings were. One look at all the bags we were carrying and the sales associates were on her like white on rice.

  I stood back and let her do her thing mentally preparing myself to pay some ridiculous price on a stone that wasn’t going to change how I felt about her. Yes, I loved her and appreciated all she did for me, but I didn’t want no more of a commitment than what we had. We don’t need a signed paper to make it real.

  “What do you think of this, baby?”

  “It’s cool.”

  “You didn’t even look!” she shouted.

  When I continued to ignore her, she got the picture and finished shopping for a new ring. It took her almost an hour to pick out one that was almost identical to the ring she already had but just a bigger rock. I paid for it and left out of the mall quick before I ended up snapping her neck.

  For the remainder of the ride, she didn’t say much, and I helped her with her bags into the house once we got home and then left to go see if Nyzie followed through with what I asked her to do.

  The only thing I could think about was how I was ready to be at the top. I spent five drawn out years sitting in a fucking jail cell thinking about this moment, and I was growing impatient knowing I still wasn’t where I needed to be. It angered me. I had no choice but to calm down because upset or not all it was going to do was drive me to make irrational decisions.

  Once I got to the trap in South Philly, I parked my car and got out. I did the secret knock to let them know it was me and I waited as the locks were undone and the door pulled open.

  “Sup Boss,” a worker greeted me with an extended hand. I dapped the youngin up and walked further into the house where Nyzie was sitting at a table with a bunch of females which wasn’t surprising because she always had bitches in the trap when I told her that was a bad look.

  “Get out,” I said, and the females looked from me to Nyzie unsure if they should listen. “Y’all heard me!”

  They jumped up and then scrambled for their bags and coats and left out of the house. I then dismissed the workers and took a seat at the table with her.

  She was my right fucking hand, but I swear sometimes she was fucking useless with the lack of sense she possessed when it came to bitches. They’ll be the main reason you get hit. The streets weren’t loyal to nobody. For the right amount of cash, they would easily line us up in a heartbeat.

  “When you gonna start thinking man?” I questioned her. “I told you to stop letting these hoes in here. I got money and product in here what if they sent someone to get at us.”

  “We good, Easy, that jail shit just got you paranoid.”

  “Nigga, I been this way before jail!” I snapped at her. “Man, fuck all that. Did you call one of them little niggas?”

  Nyzie grilled me and then slowly lifted her wrist to the check the time on her Breitling watch. “Johan should be here any minute.”

  “Johan? I thought I told you to call Zayne?”

  “I did, and he said Johan will be here to pick up the bread.”

  “Oh, a’ight,” I replied checking to make sure I still had my gun on my waist. I was far from a bitch, but I had to stay prepared. Not only because I planned on single-handedly snatching the Empire I built from them, but I had effortlessly took that man’s wife. Even though he has yet to show any animosity towards Tabitha’s affair, it didn’t mean he wasn’t in his feelings over it.

  “What’s going on?” Nyzie questioned me more than likely reading my body language. She knew about the entire triangle so that could’ve been the reason why she was asking.

  “Last night I killed the little nigga Joshua,” I informed her. “A week or two ago Burge and his little crew got messy and did some shit I didn’t ask them to do. It was only a matter of time before any of them found out what really happened and who shot the bitch, so I lined them up and gave Ern the video. Luckily for Burge and his stupid ass brother you can only see Joshua.”

  “Damnnnnnnnn!!!! So you snitched?”

  My eyebrows snapped together from her choice of words. I was far from a snitch. If I was one them brothers and Ern would be rotting away in prison. That would’ve been useless because my main goal was to reclaim what was mine not allow the government to take that shit.

  “No dickhead. I was just setting shit up so they wouldn’t figure out what’s really going on. Joshua was weak, and I’m glad I got rid of him, name dropping and shit. I can’t really trust Burge and his brother, so they’re next on my list. The only reason why we’re buying product now is because I need to get a feel to see what they know. Joshua said he ain’t say much, but you never know.”

  There was a knock at the door that had me snap my head around. My heart dropped to my stomach, and I eyed Nyzie.

  “You not gon answer that?” I questioned her.

  She got up huffing and puffing but still walked over to the window where she peeked into the blind.

  “It’s Johan,” she whispered even though she confirmed he was coming. “He’s alone. You think we can get rid of his ass now?”

  I shook my head. “Just because it looks like he�
�s alone doesn’t mean he is. Remember Ern raised them little niggas. Where’s the money?”

  “Upstairs.”

  “Let him in.”

  I went up the stairs to the middle room where I saw the duffel bag. I unzipped it and did a quick scan to make sure that the money was in there. I trusted Nyzie but I always had to double check.

  As I descended the stairs, I noticed Johan standing at the door with his hands crossed at his wrist.

  “What’s going on?” I said, and he just nodded his head. I extended the bag to him, and he took it before letting us know that we will get a message where to pick up the work.

  “Aye, did ya uncle let you know about the niggas that shot up Camille’s car?”

  “Yeah, why?” he asked turning around with his eyes focused on me.

  “Just letting you know that the little nigga Joshua ain’t no longer an issue. I took care of him for y’all.”

  “Oh. A’ight,” he responded turning the door handle and stepping out of the house with the cash to purchase more product I didn’t need.

  As soon as the door closed behind him, I rushed to the window and watched as he disappeared around the corner. About fifteen seconds later, five cars pulled off at the block.

  Imagine if shit would’ve went left. I’d be down for the count.

  “So thousands of dollars put to waste for that? Did you even get the answers you were looking for?” she questioned me holding her hands up in the air.

  “Chill out! I got this. Pretty soon everything will work out just the way I expect it to,” I told her, and she sucked her teeth and stormed off.

  “Yeah, we’ll see,” she grumbled heading back over to the table. I cut my eyes at her and shook my head. If she couldn’t do shit how I wanted her ass to, she could go too, best friend or not.

  TABITHA

  “Tabitha, do you hear me?”

  The monotonous voice of the psychiatrist went through one ear and out the other as I dragged my finger across the cut on my wrist.

  Why was I still here?

  She told me so many times that it was a miracle that I was still alive. Someone must’ve loved me and cared because I was still alive. The insane thing about it all is that Easy came back to the apartment and pulled me out the bathtub. That shit wasn’t a miracle. The devil himself wanted to make sure I stayed around longer to suffer.

  I was suffering staring at the blank, pale white walls 24 hours a day with people supervising me as if I was a caged animal.

  I was crazy.

  I was hurt.

  I was depressed.

  I had nothing. What was the purpose of me staying here?

  “Tabitha.”

  I snatched my focus to the woman in her crisp white shirt, and pleated pants with my eyebrows etched together. For five days a week for an hour, I was forced to speak to her. They thought talking was a way to cleanse my soul… along with the anti-depressant medicine.

  Now that, I preferred. It not only helped me escape mentally but not physically from this hell hole I was placed in.

  “Tabitha,” she was more firm not showing she was afraid of the menacing look I was giving her.

  If looks could kill, she would be dead. Luckily for her, it didn’t, and I had enough sense not to move from out of my chair. The nurses would be in here seconds later in my attempt to harm her and inject some substance in me that kept me from moving and forgetting what happened.

  “What?”

  “Are you going to answer me?”

  “I didn’t hear you,” I responded.

  I sighed heavily and crossed my arms over my chest sinking deeper into my chair. “I need a cigarette.”

  Pushing her glasses up closer to her face, Ms. Patkowski, leaned over and stopped the timer that was annoyingly ticking away on her desk. She crossed her legs, right over left and folded her hand on top of the portfolio.

  “We have all day, Ms. Brown. You will not leave this room until we have a decent conversation. I’ve let you slide already, I’m not here to play games with you.”

  “It’s Mrs. Moseley!”

  “Fine, Mrs. Moseley, I’m here to help you.”

  “Are you really?” I shot back. “Sitting in an office questioning me about my life isn’t helping me.”

  “It’s definitely a start in helping you.”

  I sighed and ran my hands down my face. This bitch definitely wasn’t playing with my ass. I’d rather be in my bed staring at the walls then to talk to her but it was mandatory and she proved that she was not going to let this be easy.

  “What do you want to know?”

  “Why aren’t you happy.”

  I fell quiet thinking about all the times I blamed Johan for my sadness when it was really me. I was living a double life stuck in this fantasy world thinking that the grass was greener on the other side. It only left my hands dirty and my heart heavy.

  Somehow I managed to let everything I needed out. I was so deep in my story, I didn’t realize Ms. Patkowski started the timer back up until it sounded.

  “I’m not done,” I told her dabbing my eyes with the Kleenex she passed my way. I had to have went through the entire box, and I wasn’t halfway through the story. I started off with my family life and how I met Johan. It was bittersweet of course because again, I no longer had the man I was in love with and it was my fault.

  “We have tomorrow. See, don’t you feel a little better?”

  I sharply lifted my shoulders knowing it did feel good to let it all out but the memories still hurt because it was no longer my reality. That shit was sad.

  Once I was able to leave out the first thing I did was go to the courtyard to smoke a cigarette. It was a nasty habit that came out of nowhere. That’s all everyone did here, so why not join in? The most exciting part of the day was getting our daily fix of medicine, cigarettes and television time.

  “Ms. Brown, you have visitors,” a staff member called out to me, and I threw my cigarette down pissed they insisted on calling me by that name.

  I wasn’t in the facility for long, but I was here long enough to know I haven’t had one visit.

  I walked over to the woman and followed her to the day room where visits took place. Being as though I never had anyone come and see me, I had no idea what the hell it looked like.

  It was pretty decent and had more color than the back of the unit. My face was screwed up from the bitch calling me Ms. Brown, but it dropped once I saw my sons. We met halfway, and the three of them embraced me tightly.

  My tears poured down my face blurring my vision. They were already swollen and bloodshot from my session.

  “I miss you so much!” I sobbed kissing them on their cheeks.

  It took me a minute to let go, but I did eventually and walked over to the table where their father was seated.

  The crisp scent of his Creed cologne wafted through the air covering the stale scent of the facility. My pussy throbbed as I nervously eyed him and sat at the chair. Johan was perfect. Always have been. It was a shame it took losing him for me to notice what I had.

  “Hi,” I spoke lowly after he greeted me.

  “How are you feeling?”

  “You want the truth or a lie?”

  He glanced at the boys who were now occupied on their phones.

  “I’m good. I wish I could get out of here,” I said knowing I was lying about being good. I was just a shell of myself. If I could, I probably would have tried to kill myself again. This was not the life I wanted to live.

  Johan leaned over and pulled out his wallet. I glanced at the thick stack of money he had in the fold. He fished out $20 and gave the boys a list of snacks to bring back from the vending machine which was down the hall at the front desk. I knew he was just buying us time to talk alone.

  “So what’s the deal?” he questioned me once the kids left of the room.

  “I don’t even know anymore,” I replied dropping my head to my chest.

  “It’s not worth it Tabitha. You have your whol
e life ahead of you and your sons that need you and love you.”

  “What about you? You don’t love me anymore.”

  “We both decided to give that up.”

  I lifted my head back up and stared at him. My emotions went from hurt to anger in seconds.

  “It’s because of that fat bitch?”

  His entire demeanor changed, and I knew for a fact he had feelings about that woman.

  “Watch ya mouth. She didn’t disrespect you, so don’t disrespect her.”

  “Wow!” I said throwing my hands up in the air. “So you expect me to be ok with my husband being with another woman?”

  “We’re not married anymore.”

  “Of course! Everyone reminds me of it every chance they get.”

  “Look, I ain’t here for this. I want to support you and make sure you know that you aren’t alone. The boys miss you, and I want to help you in any way.”

  “Give me back my family! I swear Johan I will do anything you want. I will cut off Easy. Just come back to me,” I begged.

  Johan shook his head, and I waited for a response, but the boys returned with a load of candy and chips. I can feel his energy that he was no longer into me. When he looked into my eyes, there were no longer love but sympathy for the life I created. At this point, there was no point in Johan loving me. He’ll hate me for everything he didn’t know.

  JOHAN

  I watched in amusement as Natavia left out of the lounge and peered around the lot for her car. I got it towed to my house hours ago knowing that was the only place she was going to be once our night was over.

  I was done playing nice, and it was time for me to get what I wanted. The kids were over Zayne’s house more than likely being bossed around by Za’naa. It’s been forever since I had a night alone, and I’m sure what I was about to give Natavia was needed.

  I stepped out of my car and approached her before she frantically ran back into the club thinking her car was stolen.

  “Let’s go,” I told her extending my hand.

  “Johan! Someone stole my car!”

  Now wasn’t the time to chuckle from her outburst but she looked cute.