by A'zayler
“Girl, no. Stay here with BB. I’ll be fine.”
I wanted to object, but I also needed to stay with BB. I knew how fast his condition could worsen. When I faced him, his cup was up to his mouth again, giving me the time to focus on how swollen his hand was. I looked from it to him, and he looked away. He already knew I wasn’t about to let this carelessness carry on for too much longer.
“Walk with me right quick,” I told him.
He shook his head. “Let me just stay here for a minute, bae.”
“B.” I sighed. “You can’t move, can you?”
He tried to smile but winced instead. “Yeah, just not right now.”
The fact that he was in pain and went to the freaking park anyway irritated me to no end. I didn’t know when BB was going to learn to take his health more seriously. He was always pushing things to the limit.
“Egypt, can you get me a chair please, love?”
“For sho.” He walked off.
“I’m giving you thirty minutes, nothing more. You hear me?”
When he nodded, I knew he had to be in a serious amount of pain. Even though he ever really put up too much resistance when it came to me, none at all wasn’t to be ignored. Egypt came back shortly after with a fold-out chair. He set it up next to me and grabbed BB’s arm. Like I knew he would, BB pulled away.
“Chill, bruh. I got it.”
Egypt looked at me as if asking for permission, so I nodded, and he stepped back. I wasn’t going for that, though. I grabbed BB’s arm and helped him sit down. As soon as he did, he closed his eyes and lay his head back so that it was resting on my stomach. Now behind him, I stood with my arms wrapped loosely around his neck and rubbing his ear.
I looked down at him and had to look away to keep from crying. Seeing BB battle his sickle cell never got easier for me. Each crisis was just as hard for me as the last. He may have been the one suffering physically, but I’d bet my last dollar that my emotional turmoil could match his.
“B, let’s go home, baby.”
He opened his eyes and stared up at me. Such a strong man even in his weakness. He picked one of my hands up and kissed it before closing his eyes again. I blinked rapidly to push my tears away.
“Twenty-five minutes, B.”
He smiled with his eyes still closed.
To take my mind off BB’s pain, I called Egypt’s name. When he got next to me, I smiled. “Azayna looks so pretty pregnant, doesn’t she?”
He sucked his teeth and frowned at me.
I instantly died laughing. “Why you have to do all of that?”
“Forget her.”
“You don’t mean that. I saw you looking at her today.”
“Shid, I was only looking at her because I ain’t know she had got that fucking fat so fast. She needs to go back to eating for one because she’s getting big as hell.”
The smile left my face and obviously jumped on his because now he was the one laughing while I frowned.
“I’m just fucking with you, Zebrina.” He paused. “Yeah, she looks nice… I ain’t know the baby was a boy.”
“Yep, his name is Zon.”
He nodded. “That’s dope, who gave him that? His daddy?”
I nodded, and his face dropped. I didn’t rush to fix it either because he shouldn’t have been coming for Azayna the way he was.
“His god daddy, nigga. Fix your face. I gave him that shit.” BB’s speech was a little slower when he relieved Egypt of his discomfort.
I snickered and rubbed the side of BB’s face. “Didn’t nobody tell you to say anything. Egypt deserves to suffer.”
“What for? What I do?” He looked over his shoulder at the man who’d just called his name.
I watched them exchange words before the man walked away, and Egypt looked back at me. I knew he was waiting for me to answer his question.
“You know, I don’t even have to tell you.” I shrugged. “That’s your business though, not mine.”
Egypt looked so annoyed with me as he stood there staring without saying anything. I thought about sparking up the conversation again, but Azayna had just come back around the corner. There was a Gatorade tucked in the crease of her armpit while she carried a tray of French fries covered in ketchup. I could see a few pieces of chicken on top of the fries as she got closer. A smile curved across my face as I watched her enjoy her food.
“You smashing, ain’t it?” I asked as soon as she got close to me.
“This food so good, Brina.” She bit a piece of her chicken and moaned. “You want some?”
“No, thanks baby, I’m fine. You enjoy.”
“The man in the kitchen saw my stomach and gave me all this stuff for free, talking about my baby needs a good stepdaddy.” She laughed while licking ketchup from her finger. “I died laughing at his ass.”
“Well, if he gon’ feed you then hey, stepdaddy season it is.”
We were still laughing and being silly when Egypt stomped past us. Our eyes followed him and brought about another fit of giggles. He was playing right into Azayna’s hands, and I loved it. That was what he needed. He’d better get out of his feelings and scoop my friend before another man did. Blue was already waiting in the cut for her. He was a cute, and a very sweet dude too.
“Yo, Azayna.” BB tapped her leg, and she walked to him and squatted so that she could hear him.
I gasped when she lost her footing, but her grasp on BB’s arm helped steady her. I could tell by the way his veins popped out that he was using his strength to make sure she was good. See, even in his weakest, he was the strongest in my eyes. His eyes were on mine while a sly smile spread across his face. When he nodded his head toward me, Azayna looked up too.
“You’re going to kill her.”
The two of them were laughing at me, but I didn’t care. I couldn’t help thinking about all of the things that could go wrong. I was studying to be a doctor, so it was my job to assess injury while others took it lightly.
“Y’all get on my nerves.”
“I love you too,” BB said while straining to sit up in the chair.
Once he was upright, he went back to Azayna. “I need you to do me a favor.”
“I got you, tell it to me.”
“Go grab your truck and park it up here for me.” BB pointed to the large space of empty grass next to where we were all standing.
“Aight, give me a minute.” Azayna stood up and handed me all of her food before walking off without a second thought.
Solid. Period. I’d argue with anybody about my girl. When it came to me and B, she did whatever she could. I watched the men ogle her as she sashayed by. My girl just didn’t know how she had it. These men were loving her. Men hadn’t stopped staring at her since we’d gotten there. Belly and all, she was pulling attention. I smiled to myself because I’d bet they had no idea that was Dream. She looked totally different today than she’d ever looked in the streets.
“B, who brought you here?”
BB’s posture was really worrying me. He was slumped over with his head and arms resting on his knees. His pain was obviously worsening because he was no longer trying to hide it from me. It was like a cycle with him. He’d fight it as long as he could, trying to hold up a normal façade for me until it became unbearable, and he turned into the little baby who cuddled under me for comfort.
“Shit yeah. She whipping the hell out that muthafucka,” a male voice from the group of men standing behind BB and I said.
I looked away from BB for only a second to see Azayna driving all over these people’s grass like she didn’t care at all. I had to agree with the men; she was driving that truck like a pro and had been since she’d gotten it.
“I might need to holla at her when she gets back over here. If she can drive that truck like that, ain’t no telling what she can do on the dick.”
I frowned at his disrespect. He was a young boy, so I wasn’t too shocked by the vulgar commentary, but it was still so unnecessary.
“
Bae…” BB groaned.
I leaned down so I could hear him better. “What’s the matter, B?”
“Who said that?”
I was confused for a minute until I realized he’d heard the boy disrespecting Azayna too. “I don’t know his name, but he has black dreads, silver teeth, and a really big silver chain around his neck with the words Dade’s Finest on it.”
“That’s Jigga. Tell him I said to bring his ass here.”
I sat stuck for a minute because I didn’t want to do that. I was already in BB’s ear. He was going to know for sure that I had told on him.
“Right now?”
“Right fucking now.” BB turned his head toward me so I could see his face. “I know you ain’t scared?”
I shook my head and stood to my feet. Just as I was about to call his name, I was saved by the bell. Azayna had just parked and was about to jump out of that truck again. I yelled her name to stop her before she could.
“Wait!” I hurried toward her to help but couldn’t.
Blue had already beat me to the punch. Where had he come from? With the neck of a beer in one of his hands and the other one stretched out to Azayna, he smiled up at her while offering his help. Long locs flowed neatly down his back, swaying as he walked coolly over to her. Apparently, along with the rest of the men in the park, he’d noticed her too.
Unlike Egypt, Blue wasn’t afraid to show his interest in Azayna. A young thug with a mouth full of gold, just like Egypt, Blue’s swag was on a thousand. He was a brown-skinned cutie with tattoos everywhere, even on his face. I personally didn’t care for the face art, but Azayna couldn’t shut up about them, so I guess he was winning in that area. Blue’s stature reminded me of BB’s. Tall, lean, and made for expensive labels that they both easily sported.
His blue apparel was a drastic contradiction to our lives, but other than that, he was perfect for her. Then again, with her father being on the other side, I guess Blue was a contradiction to my life, not hers. By the way she was smiling and sliding down the front of Blue’s body all slow, he was definitely a win in her book. I loved it. He was so affectionate with her. The same way BB was with me. I adored how he touched her stomach and whispered in her ear once she was on the ground in front of him.
“This nigga tripping, ain’t it?” The man BB told me was Jigga spoke loudly while pointing at Blue.
My breathing sped up when Blue turned toward us and cut his eyes at Jigga. The threat in his eyes was loud and clear, giving Jigga and anybody else the notion that he wasn’t the least bit afraid of them. Jigga nor the other men around him appeared to be afraid either, but I was two breaths shy of suffocating. I hadn’t taken another breath since Jigga’s remark.
“BB.” I called his name because I knew he would calm things down before they got too far out of control.
“You alright, Breen, I got you,” he whispered to me without moving.
Was he aware of what was going on? I sighed. Of course, he was. He wouldn’t be who he as if he allowed things to get past him. The soothing tone of his voice gave me the reassurance I needed. After all, it wasn’t like he didn’t know Azayna was talking to Blue. I’d told him. Even with it not being his business, he was my husband, and we told each other everything. He didn’t favor Blue over Egypt, but he wasn’t moved enough to really express feelings toward it either.
“These niggas know better.”
“Know better than to do what?”
BB slowly sat up in the chair and looked back at his people. He shook his head once before looking over at me.
“Let’s get in her truck for a minute.”
I could lift BB myself with his help, but with so many people around, I didn’t want everyone to see that something was wrong. The only person I trusted to help me with BB, who actually knew what was going on, was Egypt, and he’d walked off. Furthermore, he may have acted like he didn’t care about Azayna, but I knew that would go out the window the moment he walked up and saw Blue all in her face.
“You need me to help you, BB?” Azayna asked as soon as she walked up to us.
BB shook his head, but I knew that to be a lie. He did need help.
“I know you probably don’t want his help, but I told Blue he was drunk. He said he’d help him into my truck.”
I held my breath because I didn’t even have to hear BB say anything to know he was about to object to that. As soon as his head raised, I saw the frown on his face. I smirked, awaiting whatever rudeness was about to come out.
“You losing yo shit, for real,” he slurred.
She and I traded smiles before laughing.
“He’s good, we can do it. B can walk, it’ll just be slow.”
Together, the three of us got BB to his feet and headed for her truck. I could see Blue still standing near the back of her truck drinking from his beer. I looked at Azayna, and she hurried toward him first. I wasn’t sure what she was saying to him, but he nodded and winked at her before grabbing her hand and holding it until he was forced to let it go so he could walk away.
The way BB sucked his teeth, you would have thought she was his woman. I was so tickled that I couldn’t even hold my laughter in, and as we’d been doing all day, Azayna and I were both laughing again.
“It’s all shits and giggles until Egypt kills that man,” BB warned us both as we approached Azayna, “because he will.”
Azayna rolled her eyes. “Fuck Egypt. He doesn’t want me.”
“Yeah, aight,” BB told her as he faced me. “I’ma get in the back, so I can lay down.”
My face softened. “Let’s just go home.”
He shook his head but didn’t say anything else as I helped him onto the back of the truck. He grunted a few times and squeezed his eyes shut tighter as he lay down flat on the bed of her truck. I scooted up behind him so that his body was resting between my legs and his head rested on one of my thighs. With his eyes closed and his body cuddled against mine, he rubbed the inside of my thigh as he relaxed.
“Breen?”
“Hmm?”
“I’m about to get some shit started, but it’s my only option.”
I gave him my undivided attention so that I could focus on what he was saying.
“Money is getting low, and to keep from spilling blood…” He sighed and squinted in pain.
I rubbed his back and the side of his face until he began talking again.
“To keep from killing niggas, I’m doing shit differently. I might be gone a little more, later nights and shit, but I promise I’m still always here, aight?”
I didn’t like the sound of that at all because I constantly feared for BB’s life and everything he was saying sounded like it was just about to make things worse.
“Breen, if you say no, then I won’t.”
I wanted to say no, but the hope in his eyes wouldn’t allow me to.
“I trust you, B. I won’t stop you from doing what you feel is necessary.”
He kissed the inside of my big, exposed thigh and closed his eyes. “Get Azayna.”
Since she was seated on the edge of her truck with her feet swinging from the open gate, I didn’t have to yell her name too loud. She scooted back until she was near us.
“B needs you again.”
“What’s up, BB?”
“Do me one last favor.” He looked over at her. “Hit that nigga Pat and let him know I want to holla at him.”
Azayna and I both looked at BB like he was crazy because we had no idea what that request was about. It had been set in stone that the gangs didn’t mix, so for BB to be contacting Pat, things were definitely about to change. All I prayed was that it would be for the best.
Chapter Eight
-Egypt
The smoke circling the air around me had nothing on the smoke coming from my ears as I stood across the park watching Azayna twist her ass back and forth past all of these niggas. She hadn’t sat her behind still since she’d got there, and it was starting to get on my nerves. I’d been doing my be
st to ignore her thirsty ass, but it was like everywhere I looked, that’s where she was.
To add insult to injury, she was looking good as fuck. Big, thick legs, small waist, titties moving like she ain’t have no bra on. I sneered as I watched her fluff her dreads. Them bitches were getting long as shit and looking damn good on her. The color she had her hair dyed made her skin glow. Then again, it was probably the pregnancy because she was glowing like hell.
She was so bad, I didn’t even mind her wearing the necklace with the E on it. If a nigga did assume it was for me, then so be it. Looking the way she looked, I’d claim her any day, especially since she was on some chill shit today. All of that fake street looking stuff she usually paraded around town in was nowhere in sight, and that was definitely for the best. I’d heard a few remarks about her today, and none of them had referenced Dream.
“Aye, where BB go?” I asked Quez as I looked around the park.
I had walked away from him earlier to keep from cussing Azayna out, and now I didn’t know where the nigga had gone.
“His wife on the back of ole girl’s truck. He has to be somewhere close by. You know he ain’t leaving her out here by herself like that.”
That was facts. BB wasn’t letting Zebrina out of his sight for nobody. I watched her for a minute as she sat on the back of the truck looking around and nodding her head to the music. I was just about to look away when she dropped her head and began talking. I could tell by her body movement, that there was someone else right there with her. That had to be BB. Only other person allowed to be that close to Zebrina was Azayna, and she had her hot ass over by the DJ booth talking to some of those hoes from Master’s crib.
“I know where he at. I’ll be back.” I hit Quez and walked away without waiting for an answer.
By myself, not afraid of nobody, I walked back across the park, passing by all kinds of people until I was back in the cut with my boys. Some of them called out to me, but I ignored them and went for BB. Just like I’d thought, he was laid out on the back of the truck up under his girl. She tilted her head to the side and gave me a half smile when I walked back around the side to talk to her.
