by A'zayler
It took him a minute, but he finally looked up some so that his eyes were on mine. “When we made love last night, and the other day, your pussy felt different.”
I shrank back some. I hadn’t been expecting anything like that. Furthermore, what was that to even say to somebody? It was such an outlandish statement that I didn’t even know how to respond to it.
“You been fucking off again? Because if you have, tell me now so I can go get checked. I been raw dogging you for a while now.”
“I know you fucking lying!” I stood to my feet and paced the floor. “I’ve been with you morning, noon, and night. Even traveling to an entirely different state and crashing with people I barely even know just to make sure you straight. You tell me when has your fucked-up ass given me any time to fuck?” I put my hands on my hips and bucked my eyes. “Don’t get stage fright now, nigga. You had a bunch of shit to say a minute ago.” I began to pace again as he sat quietly looking at me like a damn lost child. “I should punch you in your fucking throat for even trying me on some shit like that.”
“Don’t you know I’ll slap the shit out of you?” his raspy voice was low and sounded a little more ominous because of his current condition. The bass made him seem more rugged. He chuckled lowly. “You really letting this li’l injury make you forget what I’m capable of.”
“No, nigga. It’s making you forget what the fuck I’m capable of.” I might have stopped fucking off, but I’d go back to flipping tricks if that’s what he wanted to accuse me of anyway. “You the same nigga I’ve been secretly in love with for years. Do you really think I’d fuck off at a time like this? What kind of fool would I be to have dreamed about you all this time, only to have you leave me for a nothing ass trick?” I sucked my teeth and walked to the bed.
I got in, pulled the covers to my neck, and closed my eyes. After a few deep, quiet minutes, I realized he wasn’t going to be the bigger person and decided to make the proper amends myself.
“My pussy feels different, as you so eloquently put it…” I got an attitude all over again and rolled my eyes, even though he couldn’t see it. “Because I’m pregnant, Egypt.” I sat up in the bed because I knew what was coming next, and I was about to check that shit before it even slipped out. “And yes, it’s yours. I’m one hundred percent sure, and you can get whatever test you need done once it gets here, because I’m not having an abortion.”
I cleared the air of any cliché ass scenarios that could be played out. I had read and watched enough niggas in the streets play with women about babies they knew they’d played around and got. Egypt and I would not be one of those couples because I would knock his ass out. Plain and simple. He could try me if he wanted to. I would go upside that nigga’s head so fucking quick that he wouldn’t know what hit him.
“Egypt?” I sat up behind him and stared at the back of his head when he didn’t respond. “I know you heard me.”
I was watching him ignore me when someone knocked on the door. I could safely assume it was Logan, but I couldn’t be positive because her husband, Yeshi, stopped by every so often too just to make sure Egypt was straight and didn’t need anything.
“Come in,” I yelled when that mute ass muthafucka didn’t open his mouth.
The door opened, and Logan and one of them little bad ass twins walked in with her. Her kids were cute as buttons, but they were bad as shit. At first, I’d thought I was the only one who thought that, but after hearing her friend, East, say it every time she came over, I felt better. They were the spitting image of Logan and Egypt but had a temper like their daddy.
I hadn’t known him long, but after the way I’d seen him challenge a hospital room full of bloods with no regard to their reactions, I could tell he was probably with it.
“Good morning, y’all. Y’all slept good?” her bright smile matched her spirit.
Logan was so peaceful and sweet. She was fully dressed in what I assumed was her work clothes and looked radiant even though her attire was limited to spandex shorts and a cotton shirt.
“I slept fine. Thanks for asking, baby. Your brother over here is another story.” I rolled my eyes at him, and she snickered.
“Egypt, you okay? You look like you have something on your mind.”
Again, the little handicapped retard sat there and acted like he didn’t even hear the girl say anything. When his silence got on my last nerve, I stood up and went near the bottom of the bed so that I could see his face. It was straight like it had been, and he didn’t even bother trying to fix it.
“See, he’s been acting crazy all morning,” I told Logan while looking at him.
“You started it with your dumb ass.”
Logan gasped, but all I did was shake my head. Egypt talked like that all the time, so his rudeness didn’t offend me at all. She, on the other hand, I could see why. Yeshi waited on her hand and foot. He cursed and had a rude mouth, but it was nothing like that when he was speaking directly to her.
“How I start it?”
“Sneaking in the bathroom to talk to that nigga Master.”
“Master? What? That was not Master. That was my daddy. I already told you that.”
Egypt sucked his teeth and stood up slowly. I almost reached to help him but stopped myself. Fuck that nigga. He’d handled himself just fine when he’d snuck up on me so he could do it again this time. Logan just had to be the angel of help and ran straight to him to make sure he wasn’t putting too much pressure on his body by standing on his own.
“I got it.” He pushed her hands off him, making me happy that I hadn’t helped him.
“Told you.” I shrugged when she looked at me for some sort of explanation.
“You ain’t told nobody shit but a bunch of lies, with your hoe ass.”
Whoa! That comment took me there. I looked around, mortified because Egypt hadn’t talked to me like that in a long time. I think it actually hurt worse this time because I was under the impression that he and I were past that stage of my life.
“Egypt, don’t you dare talk to her like that. That girl has been here helping you all day every day. You should be ashamed of yourself. Mama did not raise you like that.”
“Well, Mama ain’t here, is she?” Egypt walked slowly out of the room.
Logan and I both stood there looking crazy, trying to digest that nigga’s horrible attitude. She eventually left the room with a shake of her head and a mumbled prayer. Me, on the other hand, climbed right back into the bed. My eyes had been closed for a while as I lay there in deep thought when something hard hit my back. I flipped over to see what it was and noticed my phone on the bed.
I looked up into Egypt’s angry face. “You been fucking that nigga Pat?”
My body dropped even worse. Lord, this was about to get out of hand. I’d heard Egypt mention Pat’s name a bunch of times when talking to BB, but every single time, it wasn’t in respectable regards, so I already knew this wasn’t about to go over well.
“No, Egypt.”
“That ain’t what them messages said. You meeting up with the nigga and shit!” His voice was at its loudest since the shooting.
“I said I’m not fucking him, Egypt. It’s not like that with us.”
“It’s like something. You got the nigga buying you trucks and shit.”
I instantly palmed my forehead. I’d forgotten all about the messages between Pat and me. He’d texted me a few times, making sure everything was okay with the truck, but I hadn’t thought about it that deep then. Oh, how I wished a thousand times that I had.
“Egypt, please believe me when I tell you it’s not what you think. Sit down and let me tell you about it.”
“Fuck nah, fuck you,” he fumed. “Fuck you and that crab ass baby.”
Oh, Egypt had me all the way fucked up if he thought he was about to insult my unborn child. I might not have been very far along, but I’d already formed a bond with my growing baby, and nobody was going to disrespect it, not even the daddy.
“You kn
ow what? You can believe what you want. I’m not about to beg your ass.” I was out of the bed and out of the room before he could say another word to me.
I made sure to bump his ass on my way out. I felt him try to push me, but due to his lack of strength at the moment, it wasn’t shit. Logan and her boys were in the kitchen when I entered.
She looked at me while handing the babies a square of waffle. “What’s wrong with him?”
“He caught me in the bathroom talking on the phone to my daddy this morning and doesn’t believe it was him. I understand that because it’s a long story that I haven’t had the chance to tell him yet because of all of the stuff that’s happened, but he is really tripping right now.”
“You tell him about the baby yet?”
“Yep, that’s why he was so quiet when you came in, but now he’s saying it’s not his.” I rolled my eyes in annoyance. “He obviously went through my phone and read the messages, so now he thinks my baby is by my father.”
Logan stopped pouring juice and looked at me sympathetically. “Oh no, Azayna.”
“I know, right.” I sighed. “It’ll be cool, though. I can handle your brother. He’s not as bad as he likes to pretend. He actually has a really soft side.”
“Not for your lying ass.”
Logan and I both looked at Egypt. He was standing there with the same ugly frown he’d had all morning.
“You’ve got problems.” I was about to walk past, but he grabbed my arm.
Even with the fight in me boiling over, I didn’t buck back because I didn’t want to hurt him. A part of me was also hoping he would say something nice to override all of the mean things he’d already said. We stood staring at each other, not saying anything.
“Did you set me up?”
Again, with the outlandish stuff. “What? Why would I do that?”
“Did you?” he gritted, his words cold as ice.
“You really think I would set you up?”
“Hell yeah, I do! It all makes sense now. You’ve been pretending to like me, I fell for your dumb ass, then I get shot up. Out of all of the years I’ve been slanging, I’ve never once had my car to get sprayed like that.” Egypt angrily looked me up and down. “It’s mighty funny that your ass didn’t get hit.”
I was utterly flabbergasted. Did he really think I would do something like that to him? I was a lot of stuff, but I’d never been grimy enough to try and take someone’s life. Egypt had really reached an all-time of high of rudeness today.
“Dream, did you or did you not set me up?”
I scoffed and grabbed my chest. “Oh, I’m Dream again?”
Egypt didn’t bother acknowledging my shock, he just went even harder.
“Bitch,” he squeezed my arm tightly, “if I find out you set me up, you’re dead.”
“Egypt, let her go.” Logan tried to pull his hand off me, but he pushed her back and shot her the same murderous glare.
How did he get back to old Egypt so fast? I’d seen this side of him plenty of times in the past, but it was always directed toward gang niggas and crack fiends.
“It’s fine, Logan.” My eyes never left his.
My stare matched his because if I was nothing else, I was a standup woman. I’d own anything that I did, and that was on my grandma’s grave. The streets had toughened me up in a way that I would never run from. He and I both felt strongly about our thoughts, and just because he was a man, it didn’t scare me or make me back down.
“Kill me then.” I took a step closer to him so that my chest was touching his arm. “You’ve always thought the worst of me anyway.”
I could feel his breath on my mouth as we stood face to face. Poor Logan was in our peripheral, probably unsure of what to do.
“You better pray that I don’t get to the bottom of this shit.”
“Fuck you, Egypt.” I squinted my eyes as my nose twitched from anger. “You know where to find me.” I paused for a few more seconds before turning to look at Logan. “Sorry for cursing in front of your babies.” I looked down at the little boys who had been playing quietly with their breakfast.
Upon exiting the kitchen, I gave Egypt one last look before continuing down the hallway. The room we’d been staying in was in a bit of a mess, so I went straight to cleaning it up. In the midst of tossing out trash, folding clothes, and stripping the bed, I swiped the constant tears. Egypt’s thoughts of me really hurt, but then again, I’d been fooling my own self for thinking that he or any other man would have taken me serious enough to see the real me.
When the room was finally clean, I gathered the pile of sheets, blankets, and pillowcases that Egypt and I had been using and took them to the laundry room. I stood there for a minute trying to figure out to operate Logan’s washing machine, but as soon as I did, I got it started. After taking care of the linen, I threw away the small bag of trash that I’d cleared out of the room.
“Azayna, don’t leave.” Logan was back in the room kid free.
I sniffed hard. “I have to. I’m not about to stay here with your brother like this. He’s got me fucked up.” I stuffed all my things back into my bag minus what I was about to put on right then.
She giggled. “Yeah, he does, but he’ll come around.”
“No, he won’t.” I finally looked at her. “One thing about your brother is, he’s a street nigga to his core. They take that loyalty shit to heart. On top of that, he’s stubborn. Egypt is going to believe what he wants to believe, and I’m not about to let him mistreat me in the process. It took a long time for me to change the way I view myself, and I’m not about to let him or nobody else interfere with that, so I’m leaving his ass.”
Logan took a seat on the bed and sighed heavily like our problems were hers. I smiled at her because she was truly a sweetheart, but she needed to stop that shit. People didn’t care for you outside of what you could do for them. The moment you no longer benefited their life, they’d toss you to the fucking wolves. Just like her punk ass brother had done me.
“Why would he think you set him up, though? That’s crazy.”
I zipped my bag and dropped it on the floor next to my foot, “Because my daddy is a Crip. One that Egypt can’t stand. Since he clearly thinks that I’m involved with the nigga, he’s assuming I set him up to be shot.” I shook my head. “I mean, I understand where he’s coming from on some street shit, but intimately, he should know me better than that.”
Logan nodded in understanding.
“So, like I said, fuck your brother.” I gave her a fake smile before getting dressed.
When I was completely ready to leave her house, I went to the bathroom and styled my hair the best way I could, grabbed my bags, and headed for the living room. Egypt was on her balcony talking loudly on the phone. I contemplated telling him that I was leaving, but after I heard him tell whoever he was talking to that he’d been set up, I just left. I didn’t have time for that shit.
I was tossing my bags into the backseat of my truck when I heard that nigga calling my name. Taking a page from his book, I kept my back turned and acted like I didn’t hear him. I was in the front seat of my truck and about to close the door when he stepped between my door with his gun drawn.
“Get the fuck out.”
I frowned at that nigga so fast. What the fuck did he have that damn gun for? I hadn’t even seen him bring it from Florida.
“Egypt, go on now. I don’t feel like being bothered with that crazy bullshit.”
“Get your ass out and give me your phone.”
“I’m not about to do either of those things.” I shook my head adamantly. “If you gon’ kill me then go ahead.”
Egypt raised that raggedy ass Mac 10 that he took everywhere. I looked at the part where the bullets came from and waited.
“Get out!” he yelled, clearly frustrated with my defiance.
This time, I didn’t say anything. I sat there quietly, ready for whatever he felt the need to do. It wasn’t like I had any serious family who would
be hurt to see me die. I mean, there was always Zebrina, but she had BB, and he’d make sure she was straight.
“Move, Egypt. I’m about to go.” I grabbed my door handle and began pulling at my door.
He used all of his body weight to keep me from closing the door on him. He pushed, and I pulled, both of us prohibiting the door from doing pretty much anything.
“You an ole scamming ass bitch. I should have known from the beginning.”
“Yeah, you should have, now move.” That time, I snatched the door so hard that he stumbled forward.
He must have known I meant business when he fell into my truck and yelled in pain. My heart wrenched, hoping he hadn’t hurt himself too badly, but I didn’t dare open my mouth. He wanted to act a fool, then I’d do just the same. To check his neck, he had to drop his gun into the grass. One hand was on the outside of my truck steadying him, while the other went to the bandage that now had blood on it.
“Look what the fuck you did,” he whispered.
“Egypt, fuck you.”
“Oh, you bad today, huh?”
His voice was obviously back low due to whatever pain he was in, and I didn’t give not one fuck. The moment he stepped back enough for me to slam my door, that was what I did. He wasn’t in the grass a good two seconds before I was backing out of the driveway. Egypt had the wrong woman if he thought I was going to kiss his ass.
If he thought I set him up, then so be it. I’d be waiting when death called my name, but if he thought he was going to mistreat me based on some cheating assumptions, then he could go be with somebody else. I most definitely would not wait for him to come back from that.
Chapter Six
-Azayna
Five months worth of lost dreams…
“I told you, you ain’t got to cook for us.” Pat’s voice made me jump as he entered the kitchen.
I continued shifting the bacon around in the frying pan, not paying anything he’d said any attention. I’d been telling Pat over and over that I wanted to do something to help him for helping me out the way he had. Not that I owed him, or that he’d asked me to, but I just wanted to.
