Sippi got between Roc and Ronnie, but from the way he was gazing at Roc, I could tell he had Ronnie’s back. Lord knows I didn’t want to get into the middle of this, but I had to put forth some effort to calm the situation.
“Look, Ronnie, I apologize if my presence makes you uneasy. I will do my best to stay out of your way and I don’t want you and Roc arguing—”
“Shut the fuck up talkin’ to me, bitch,” he spat, keeping his eyes on Roc. “I see you done got some extra balls in prison, but you’d betta cut them suckers off and get back to just havin’ two. Watch yo’ tone with me, youngblood, and the next time you slip up at the mouth, I will bust you in it.”
Roc tapped his lip with his finger. “Are you threatenin’ me? Right here, old school, go ahead and put it right there.”
I witnessed the mean mug on Ronnie’s face and saw his fist tighten. My stomach dropped when he slammed his fist into Roc’s mouth, staggering him backward. In no way did he fall, but as he quickly charged forward, Mississippi stopped Roc dead in his tracks. He placed his gun on Roc’s heaving chest.
“Don’t touch him, Roc!” Sippi yelled. “Back the fuck up!”
There was no way for me to just stand there, and when my eyes shifted over to the phone, Sippi turned the gun toward me. All I could think was, Not again.
“If you move, you die.”
“Y’all muthafuckas trippin’,” Roc said, wiping a dab of blood on his lip with his hand. He seemed calm as ever, but I wasn’t. My stomach was rumbling and my hands had a slight tremble. All kinds of things were roaming in my head and all I could think of was my dream. Why did I continue to inject myself into this mess? I didn’t know.
“Put that shit down,” Ronnie said, giving Sippi an order. “You need not act unless I ask you to. As long as that fool got my blood running through his veins, don’t you ever pull a gun on him! You got that shit?”
Sippi nodded and had already lowered his gun. Ronnie turned to Roc again, poking at his chest. “You and me gon’ holla later. We don’t do this, Roc, ’cause you ain’t bigger than me yet. A wise man can go a long way in this world, and he also knows to never put pussy before partna. I hope you understand what I’m sayin’, and don’t you ever bite the hand that feeds you and feeds you well.”
Roc cocked his neck from side to side, saying not a word. Ronnie and his goon headed down the stairs and I was relieved when I heard the door shut. Roc stormed by me, making his way down the hallway and into his bedroom. When I got to his room, he was laid back on the bed, looking up at the ceiling with his arm across his forehead. I figured it was time for me to go.
“I’ll be out of your way in a minute. I had a nice time last night, but I’m discouraged by what just happened. You know how much Ronnie despises me, so why didn’t you just wake me up and ask me to leave?”
“Good-bye, Dez. I’m not up for a bunch of your irritatin’-ass questions.”
Roc was as stubborn as stubborn could get, but so was I. I was also a person who had to have answers when I wanted them. I walked over to the bed and lay sideways next to him. To put him at ease, I dabbed the blood on his lips with a Kleenex, then pecked his lips and put his arms around my neck.
“Listen, can we please not get off on the wrong foot? You just made that suggestion yesterday and I don’t want my feelings for Ronnie to get in the way of what I feel for you. I hope you don’t either, and for the sake of our child, let’s do our best to get along. It would really mean a lot to me, Roc, and I promise that I will not pressure you about our relationship, or about what you decide to do with your life. I just want to be happy and have fun. I can’t think of a better person I would enjoy myself with more than you.”
Roc turned his head, then used his finger to touch the side of my face. “You’re right. I’m sorry that happened in front of you, but shit like that happens all the time. We’ll be drinkin’, smoking herbs, and laughin’ about that shit tomorrow, so no big deal. I apologize for how Ronnie is, and I really need to make sure the two of y’all keep your distance.”
“Please,” I laughed. “And how can you laugh, drink, and smoke blunts with someone who treats—”
Roc placed his finger on my lips. “Let it go, Dez. Puttin’ my hands on Ronnie would be like fightin’ with my own father. He’s dead and you know Ronnie’s been like a replacement. So sometimes I gotta chalk that shit up and take it. You would never understand and I’m not goin’ to waste my time explainin’ it to you. Now, if you’re leavin’, good-bye. If you prefer to stay, I have some other suggestions.”
I smiled, wondering what his other suggestions were. “You’re right. I don’t understand, but tell me about your other suggestions. I have some idea, but I just want to be sure.”
Roc rolled on top of me, playfully kissing down my neck. “I have to straighten out my closets, get my kitchen in order, bring my dinin’ room table up from the basement, and unload a few more boxes. Will you help me?”
“Hmmm, don’t know yet. I thought you may have something in this for me.”
Roc stopped kissing my neck and pecked my cheek. “I always got somethin’ for you. Once we get finished with the house chores, I intend to tackle some of your sweet pussy all night long and into the next morning.”
“Wow. Are you sure about that? If my memory serves me correctly, you were the one who threw in the towel last night because you were tired.”
“No, I wasn’t tired. I was just givin’ you a break. You were startin’ to lose your voice, and I assumed you got tired of screamin’ my name.”
“That’s because your dick is sooo good and I love hearing myself say your name.”
Roc blushed. “I like hearin’ you say it too. Hearin’ you say ‘Ohhh, Roc, baby’ is like music to my ears. Let’s go ahead and handle our business with the unpackin’ first, then I’ll let you turn on your music. I’ll turn on mine too, and the way your snatch talks to me, my music may get a bit louder than yours.”
“Tuh, it always does. You just don’t know how loud ‘Daaaamn, Dez, baby, keep fuckin’ me like this’ is. Your words are way louder than I could ever get.”
Roc chuckled. “I don’t be sayin’ no dumb shit like that. And if I do, that’s because I be under the influence.”
“Under the influence of what?”
“A sexy-ass, lovin’ woman who I couldn’t stop thinkin’ about while I was in prison. We gon’ do this shit, ma, and before all is said and done, I’m goin’ to make you my wifey. For better or worse, no doubt.”
“And I’m going to enjoy watching you try.”
We kissed, and before I made another move, I got up to take a shower. Roc left me at peace and I stood in the shower thinking just how much of myself I was willing to give. In no way did I know, or even want to predict my future with Roc, but being with him again felt special—with the exception of my setback with Ronnie.
For the next several hours, I helped Roc get his place in order. Like I’d said before, it in no way compared to his penthouse, but his new place was nice. It was shaped like an L, with the living room, dining room, and kitchen being on one side, and his bedroom on the other. He had two bathrooms and a basement that had to be shared with the other tenant. Not much furniture adorned the space, and Roc said that was because he wanted to keep it simple. He wasn’t sure how long he was going to live there, but it was imperative that he removed himself from his previous location.
Around 4:00 P.M., I took a break to eat some barbecue from Red’s that Roc had gone to get us on West Florissant Avenue, and to call Monica. She didn’t answer, so I left a message on voice mail, telling her to call me soon. I wasn’t sure if she was trying to avoid me, but I was a little worried since I hadn’t heard from her all day. Roc was still going from room to room, making sure everything was to his liking. He had no organization skills at all, and since he kept stopping to answer his phone calls by hitting the Bluetooth on his ear, I gave up. The loud hip hop music was working me, too, and I could feel a headache coming on. I plopp
ed down on his bed, and turned on the TV to watch the news. I could hear Roc talking to someone on the phone, cursing and laughing some more. I closed my eyes, trying to soothe my headache, but that’s when he came into the room.
“Uh, what are you doin’? I thought you were supposed to be helpin’ me.”
I yawned. “I was, but I got a headache, plus I’m tired. You’ve been slacking anyway, and you have talked on that phone more than you’ve done anything else around here.”
“Nigga, let me get at you later,” he said, then hit the button on his Bluetooth. “I ain’t talked to some of my boys in a while, so they were just callin’ to see what was up. Sippi out runnin’ his mouth about me and Ronnie, too, so everybody just wanted to make sure everything straight.”
“Is it?”
“Yeah, I already talked to that fool. We good.”
I had no comment, but I did ask Roc to turn down the music. He did as I asked, then sat on the bed next tome.
“Say. If you don’t mind, I want to take Chassidy and Li’l Roc to a picnic with me. They need to get to know each other and I hope you don’t have a problem with that.”
The thought of Chassidy being anywhere near Roc’s crew in no way sat right with me. I didn’t know how to say it without offending him, but Chassidy wasn’t going anywhere with him, without me. “I don’t mind Chassidy getting to know her brother or relatives, but where is this picnic supposed to be? Am I invited?”
“It’s next weekend at Fairground Park. He havin’ a barbecue bash and I want to bring my kids to show them off. I don’t care if you come or not, but you don’t really click with my peeps. You know how we get down, and I don’t need you there watchin’ my back and rollin’ those pretty eyes.”
“Yes, I witnessed today how you get down, and unfortunately, Roc, I don’t want Chassidy exposed to that kind of foolishness. Have all the fun you want, please, but I’m not comfortable with her being surrounded by a bunch of people getting high, drinking, pulling guns on each other . . . You know what I mean. I would love for us to have a picnic, and the kids can join us. How about that?”
Roc got off the bed, seeming a bit irritated. “Chassidy is my daughter too, Dez, and whether you like it or not, she will get to know her peeps. All of them ain’t ghettofied Negros and plenty of them are down-to-earth, normal people. I have a serious problem with people who look down on others, so correct yourself on that, all right? I’ma do this picnic thing with you, but there will come a time when you gon’ have to ease up on our daughter.”
I was already getting to a point when I knew it made sense for me not to comment. This was one of them, but Roc was so wrong about me easing up on Chassidy. No way, no how would I subject her to anything like what happened today. Roc would have to come to grips with it, and this was the one thing I wasn’t willing to budge on.
After I took two aspirin, I lay back on the plush pillow to take a nap. Roc let me get some rest and I was glad about that. I was still puzzled why Monica hadn’t called me back, but when I checked my phone, she had. She said that they were having a good time, and she’d see me tomorrow. The only reason she’d missed my call was because she couldn’t hear her phone ringing, due to the loud arcade games at Incredible Pizza. I smiled, thinking of my daughter having fun, and fell asleep.
What seemed like hours later, I was awakened by a loud boom. I jumped from my sleep, noticing that Roc was lying next to me, asleep as well. His arm was around my waist and the room was partially dark. I looked at the alarm clock on the dresser, and it showed 9:45 P.M. Since Roc was still sleeping, I figured I was just hearing things. My eyes searched the room for a while, then I lay back to watch the TV. A few seconds later, the booming sound happened again. This time it was constant and sounded like someone banging hard on the door. I shook Roc’s shoulder to wake him.
“Roc, wake up. I . . . I think someone is knocking at your door.”
He was groggy as ever and all he moaned was, “Huh?”
“Someone is at your door. Don’t you hear that?”
Roc forced his tired eyes open, listening for a knock. He heard several, and that’s when he threw the covers aside.
“Wait right here,” he said, slowly getting out of bed. He turned on the lights, causing me to squint. Wearing nothing at all, he grabbed his housecoat, and then opened up a drawer. I noticed him put his gun in his pocket and then he made his way down the hallway.
“Who is it?” he yelled. “And why in the fuck you bangin’ on my damn door like the police?”
I had already started to bite my nails, and being with Roc at his place was starting to become a problem. I had never spent the night with him in his territory. In the past, we always stayed at my house. There was a possibility that I would resort to staying at my house only. I was trying to give him the benefit of the doubt, but this was getting ridiculous.
As I was in thought, I could hear a female’s voice yelling and screaming. Yes, Roc told me to stay where I was, but I was never one to listen to his orders. I got out of bed, wearing his white long T-shirt I’d changed into before taking my nap. His white socks were on my feet and I teased my hair to straighten it. I made my way to the top of the stairs, looking down to see what was up. The door was wide open. Roc stood on one side, and his son’s mother, Vanessa, was on the porch. She looked up at me, causing Roc to turn his head in my direction as well.
“Good-bye, Vanessa. If you don’t stop all of this clownin’ and shit, you gon’ regret it.”
She tried to come inside, but Roc held up his arm to block her from entering. “Nigga, move your damn arm! Let me in! I see why yo’ ass ain’t been answerin’ your stupid-ass phone.”
Roc slightly shoved her back, but she kept charging forward to get inside. “I haven’t answered my phone because I told you I don’t fuck with you no more. What’s so hard for you to understand about that?”
Vanessa ignored Roc, and when she ducked underneath his arm, she made progress to the second step. Roc grabbed her waist and tossed her back out the door like a paper doll. I felt bad for her, and in no way was I going to stand by and let him go overboard with her.
“Roc,” I said. He turned his head toward me. “Just come inside and close the door.”
As his attention was on me, Vanessa lifted her foot like a punter in the NFL, kicking him right between his legs. When he doubled over and grabbed himself, she slapped the shit out of him. He was caught off guard and she ran inside again. This time, she almost made it up the stairs. She lunged out at me, but immediately went tumbling back down the steps. Roc grabbed her ankles, and she hit the steps so hard, I knew she had to have broken something. Roc reached for her hair, squeezing it tight and jerking her head.
“Bitch, didn’t I tell you to exit? I can’t be nice to yo’ ass for nothin’! You just ain’t satisfied unless I got my foot up yo’ ass, are you?”
“Let me go, muthafucka! I hate yo’ ass, Roc! I hate your fuckin’ guts!”
Roc slammed her face into the wall, and I swear that every breath in my body left me. I could in no way watch things go down like this, so I hurried down the steps to pull him away from her.
“Is this what you want?” he said, turning her around and holding her in a headlock. She couldn’t say a word, as his grip was too tight. “What’s that?” he said, seething with anger. “I can’t hear you. You was just talkin’ all that shit, but yo’ ass ain’t sayin’ nothin’ now.”
Tears were pouring down Vanessa’s face and she couldn’t open her mouth if she tried. I reached out, trying to remove Roc’s arm from her neck.
“Don’t touch me, Dez! Go back upstairs and stay the fuck out of this!”
I ignored Roc, still trying to loosen his grip. Finally he let Vanessa go, and her body was so weak that she dropped to the floor. I was so angry that I turned around and headed upstairs to go. With my back turned, Vanessa rushed up and grabbed the back of my hair, pulling me backward. Thank God for the banister, as she moved so quickly that I would have been on my
butt. Roc grabbed her again, this time twisting her arm hard behind her back.
“I will break this muthafucka off! Let her fuckin’ hair go.”
The pain must have been too much for Vanessa to bear, because she let go of my hair in an instant.
I pointed my finger in her face, fuming. “Touch me again, and Roc won’t be the only problem that you have. And trust me, he’s not nothing compared to me,” I spat. I kept it moving up the stairs and didn’t even turn around to see what would happen next. If Vanessa thought that I was her problem, she was sadly mistaken. Her problem was with Roc; then again, so was mine. I went into the bedroom, closing the door behind me so I wouldn’t have to listen to what was happening. I wondered why Vanessa wouldn’t just leave, and if a man said that he didn’t want to be bothered, then why force the situation? My mind went right to Latrel, and I wondered if he had ever been in a situation where a woman had hit on him like Vanessa had done to Roc. Would Latrel do what Roc did? I seriously doubted it, but his father and I had taught him to always defend himself. No matter what, I didn’t like what was going down with Roc and Vanessa, and as soon as they settled their differences, I intended to leave.
About ten minutes later, the bedroom door flew open and Roc came inside. I was sitting against the headboard with my knees pressed close to my chest. Roc looked at me, and then went over to the dresser to put the gun back inside.
“Before your mouth starts goin’, Dez, I don’t want to hear it. You know nothin’ about my situation with her, so keep your comments to yourself.”
I got off the bed, and reached for my keys and purse on the nightstand. My flip-flops were already next to me, so I slid into them. I made my way toward the door, but stopped before exiting.
“Enjoy your evening, Roc. No, I don’t know much detail about your relationship with Vanessa, but I do know this, a man should never hit a woman, but I guess you felt as if you had to do what was necessary. That’s your decision to make, but through my eyes it makes you look really bad. I can’t help the way I feel, even though she works the hell out of me.”
Full Figured 3: Carl Weber Presents Page 3
