Down With the King of the South 2

by Diamond Johnson

  First day back and the bullshit was already starting. I wasn’t even supposed to be fuckin’ that bitch; I had a whole ole lady at home, and Raynell could lose her job and face time behind this shit, yet I still fucked around and got her ass pregnant. I needed to slow my ass down. This was the type of shit I went through when I was a free man. Bitches weren’t running down on me and telling me that they were pregnant though because I only blessed my girl with raw dick.

  Only woman of mine who ever got an abortion was Shae, and that was a decision that we both had made because we weren’t ready. I was barely there for her or Vonte at the time. Now that it was over, I could admit that the real reason I made Shae get an abortion years ago was that I was heavy in the streets doing gang shit, robbing, selling drugs, all that. I didn’t want to be dead or in jail and leave her with two kids because I knew that those were the only two options with the lifestyle that I was living. Never thought that I would get a life sentence, though.

  I was punching the air like a motha fucka these days because had we never killed that baby, at least we would have had a piece of us still here, especially now that Vonte was gone.

  The rest of the day pretty much flew by, and I was happy for that because I was waiting for nighttime so I could sneak and use the phone. Although the shit that happened with Jeff kind of put a damper on my heart, I wouldn’t even lie and say that I wasn’t happy that I had some privacy in the room tonight while I made a few phone calls. I laughed to myself because when Shae and I were on good terms, I would literally lay in this bitch having phone sex with her while praying to God that his ass wasn’t eavesdropping to what I was saying to my girl. I couldn’t have him stealing my game and telling what I say to my girl to his.

  Once the coast was clear and all the lights were pretty much out in all the cells, and I knew the officer who was going to walk the floors wouldn’t be making her rounds anytime soon, I pulled the phone out.

  First things first, I needed to call my mama because I knew that she was worried sick about a nigga. Back in the day, my mama and I were close as hell. As I got older and served more years behind these walls, our relationship had started to fade a little bit. I felt like she resented me in a lot of ways since she would preach to me all the time about not getting locked up because I was the only child she had.

  On the opposing side, I resented her ass too because she was my only blood relation, and I felt like she didn’t make it her duty to come and see about a nigga. Hell, I’d be lucky if she put twenty dollars on my books. To me, it wasn’t about the money, though. I couldn’t care less if she gave me a dollar. I just needed some type of fuckin’ moral support. When I got this sentence, I felt like she believed I died because that’s exactly how she would treat me sometimes; as if a nigga just didn’t exist to her. I dialed her number, and the phone rang two times before she answered.

  “Giovonni?” she questioned.

  It was a little after ten at night, and she sounded wide awake.

  “What’s up, Ma? What you got going on?” I asked her.

  I really was laid on my back, feet crossed, arm resting behind my head, just chilling. I was too fuckin’ comfortable as if I wouldn’t face some big ass consequences if I were to have gotten caught on this damn phone.

  “Nothing. You know I’m always up at this time of night. Where have you been? I called the prison, and they only told me that you got in a fight during visitation, so you were going to be in the hole. What happened? Why were you in there fighting?” she asked, all in my damn business.

  I didn’t even know if I wanted to tell her what happened or not. I just didn’t want to start any shit between her and Shae. Contrary to what my mama showed Shae, she actually liked her.

  “Some straight up bullshit is what happened. You know me, Ma, I’m always calling a few of my niggas just to find out what’s going on in the streets. Dino told me that Shae was all hugged up with Miami after the funeral, and it was just too much of a fuckin’ coincidence that right after he told me that, I couldn’t get a hold of Shae. I mean, her ass wasn’t answering phone calls or nothing. Eventually, when I did get her to answer the phone, I told her to come and see me, and she did.

  “When I saw her, I swear I saw red. All I could do was picture her hugged up with that nigga, and I snapped. She started screaming that I hate you bullshit, and Shae ain’t never said those three words to me, so I felt like she got Miami all in her fuckin’ head, and that’s why she was acting so fuckin’ stupid. I tried to kill her fuckin’ ass in that visitation room, so they threw me in the hole for it,” I let her know.

  I heard her release a sigh, and then the line went quiet for a few minutes.

  “If it helps to ease your mind a little bit, I saw Shae after the funeral, and there was nothing sexual about the hug that Miami—”

  “I don’t give a fuck if it was sexual or not. Fuck she hugging that nigga for? Yo, who side you on? Mine or hers? I came out your pussy, not her!” I snapped.

  I tried not to disrespect my ole girl, but she was pissing a nigga off. These days, when I talked to her, it was like I could never get her to agree on shit that I said. If I went right, her ass always felt the need to go left, and I didn’t like that shit.

  “And you wonder why I don’t break my fuckin’ neck to come and see you. You talk to me like I’m some bitch on the street or one of them silly bitches that you have brainwashed. Giovonni, I am your fuckin’ mother, and I don’t give a fuck how old you are, your ass will fuckin’ respect me. You’re sitting in that jail cell worrying about Miami and Jashae, when you need to be worrying about more important things, like the fact that you are serving a life sentence.

  “I’m your mother, and I love you dearly, but no woman deserves what you are asking Shae—no, scratch that—what you are demanding Shae to do. We’re talking about a woman who lost her mother when she gave birth to her, a woman who lost your dumb ass based on your own selfish decisions, and not to mention the same woman who just lost her son. She deserves her happiness. You need to go ahead and let her go. You had your chance, but you blew it. Goodnight, Giovonni. I will not be the reason why you get caught with this phone.” With that, she hung up.

  “Stupid ass bitch,” I mumbled.

  I didn’t give a fuck about none of that shit she was hollering. I waited for about ten minutes before I dialed Shae’s number. I called that silly motha fucka over fifty times, and eventually, she’d turned her cellphone off. In the past, no matter how angry Shae was with me, she made it her duty to answer that phone. I was so mad in this fuckin’ room that I started sweating. All I could think about was what the fuck she could possibly be doing that she couldn’t answer the phone. After I calmed myself down, I called Dino.

  “My nigga! I thought they took your shit,” was the first thing he said when he answered the phone.

  Dino and I went way back, and I trusted this nigga with my life.

  “Where you at?” I asked, skipping the greetings and getting right to the point.

  “Shit, on the block chilling,” he called out.

  “Circle over to Shae’s house and let me know if you see her car outside. I’m calling her stupid ass, and she’s not answering,” I let him know.

  “Say less. Ima hit you back in about fifteen minutes to let you know,” he said, and I just hung up.

  The whole time I waited, I called Shae’s phone back to back. I knew she had to have powered it off by now because her shit was going straight to voicemail. Just when I was getting ready to call her again, Dino called back.

  “She ain’t home, bruh. All the lights are off in the house too. Want me to sit outside this bitch until she makes it back? Just say the word,” he let me know, always down for whatever.

  “Naw, it’s cool. Yo, promise me something, man. If you see that nigga with my bitch, I want you to air that shit the fuck out. I don’t give a fuck if they’re walking out of church. I done let that motha fucka disrespect me for too fuckin’ long.”

  “No proble
m,” he said, and I hung up the phone.

  This didn’t have shit to do with insecurities. It was all about respect. That nigga didn’t want my bitch until he knew she was mine!

  Jashae Johnson

  I hated that I felt like I was keeping secrets from Miami. This was the third night in a row that I’d slept at his house, and every night before I got in the bed with him, I had to turn my phone off so I wouldn’t risk Trip calling. I don’t know what bitch told him about the app that allowed you to create a phone number, but his stupid ass had been calling me nonstop.

  I’ll admit that yesterday when I got off work and was on my way to Miami’s house, I ended up answering his call, only because I wanted to hear what his dire emergency was. I was every bitch, hoe, and slut in the book. Trip called me everything but my name. For five minutes straight, I argued back with him, and we both said a lot of things out of anger. I didn’t like this side that Trip would bring out of me. He always said things to me that would hit way below the fuckin’ belt, and I could finally say that I was walking away because I was tired of the fuckin’ disrespect.

  Miami had a lot to do with me walking away. That man was perfect. Prior to him, Trip was the only guy that I’d ever dated, and boy could I see the difference. Because Trip was so hood, I thought that it was okay for him to disrespect me the way that he had done over the years. I noticed that I found myself making a lot of excuses for him and always saying something like, “That’s just how he is,” when in reality, that man was loving me so fuckin’ wrong and was so rude and disrespectful to me.

  Miami was just as hood as Trip, but he still managed to treat me like a fuckin’ queen. This was the same man who used to be in the ring boxing niggas to sleep yet would lay in the bed with me and massage my feet until I fell asleep. He watched Lifetime movies with me and wouldn’t complain about it.

  Since two weeks ago, when Miami and I had sex for the first time in Orlando, I’d been glued to him. I rarely slept home. These days, I felt like the only time I went home was to re-load on more clothes. I didn’t want to sound like I was moving too fast, but I think I loved him. He was there for me when I was going through such a dark time in my life. Hell, I was still going through a dark time, yet he was so patient with me.

  I’m not always the best person to be around. I can become moody and burst into tears out of nowhere, but like a real man, he deals with it! One of the things that I hated about Trip was that he constantly picked at me and referred to me as a cry baby or let me know that I had too much drama whenever I showed some type of emotion. I can’t even begin to count how many times over the years I had to tell Trip that he was so insensitive when it came to my feelings. I loved that when I was around Miami, I didn’t have to be afraid to show my emotions. I could be Jashae; the girl who I was around my friends and my family.

  Here it was, I had this perfect man, yet I wasn’t telling him about the phone calls that I was getting from Trip. Right now, the only reason my phone was even on was that I was reading over a document that one of my colleagues had just emailed to me a few minutes ago. It was something that I needed to look over before tomorrow at work. It’s like I started back work to work yesterday, and although I was welcomed back with a bunch of sympathy and open arms, I was still welcomed back with a shit load of work.

  Miami had gone downstairs to get the door for the Chinese food that he’d ordered for me, and Taniya was down the hall asleep in her bedroom. The whole time he was gone, I was declining phone calls from who I knew was Trip calling from different numbers.

  “Shorty, you don’t hear me talking to you?” Miami’s voice boomed.

  He was standing in front of me, holding my food. I didn’t even hear him when he came back in the room, let alone hear whatever the hell he had asked me. I jumped when I heard his voice, and I tried to slyly throw the phone on the bed, putting it behind me.

  “What’s got all your attention? I asked you like two questions, Choc. Fuck is you doing on that phone? You been on that bitch since you walked through the door,” he said.

  The whole time he talked, all I could do was hope to God that Trip wouldn’t call. It was just my fuckin’ luck that the phone started buzzing again, and it was a number that wasn’t saved to my phone, but I knew who it was. This moment reminded me of so many scenes that I had starred in back in the day with Trip. Only difference was, I was Trip right now, which was the person who was hiding something. Back then, I was Miami, the one confronting Trip about hiding something. I wasn’t a good liar at all. Either my actions would give it away, my heavy breathing, or my inability to look a person in their eyes when I knew that I wasn’t telling the truth.

  “Who calling you? Man, this shit is so out of fuckin’ character for me to be questioning you on who’s calling you, but you acting sneaky. Fuck is you doing, shorty?” he quizzed.

  I could tell that Miami was mad; it was all in his body language. It was the way his face held no smirk or smile. He was dead ass serious and looking down at me like I was one of his opponents in the ring, and he wanted to body slam my ass.

  “It’s Trip calling. I haven’t answered. He’s been calling for a few days. Every time he calls from a different number, I block it,” I said all in one breath before raising the phone and showing it to him so he could see that I wasn’t lying.

  “How long he been calling you?” he asked me.

  “A few days now,” I let him know.

  He just shook his head, and I could tell that he was mad.

  “I fuck with you, Choc. You know how heavy I fuck with you. You are the girl that I wanted since I was a little nigga, but at the same time, I’m not about to be no fuckin’ fool, shorty. This is not how I’m trying to start this relationship shit out with you. I want honesty from your ass. Little shit like you’re doing right now, being sneaky and hiding shit, is going to make me lose trust in you and everything that you do. It’s going to have me questioning your motives and your loyalty. That’s your baby daddy, I get that. I’m so fuckin’ secure and confident in myself and in this relationship that I won’t even tell you that you can’t talk to him. What I will tell you is that it’s after ten, so you don’t have shit to talk to that nigga about.

  “If he calls again, just go ahead and hand me the phone so I can run down the same thing to him that I just told you. Here, man,” he said and set the brown paper bag on the nightstand that had my food in it.

  I didn’t even get the chance to reply because the phone started buzzing again. I bit my bottom lip, questioning God on why He would allow this to happen. True to his word, Miami snatched my phone off the bed and answered it, making sure to put the phone on speaker.

  “Yo!” he barked into the phone.

  When he answered, his eyes were glued on me. I was pleading with my face for Miami not to make it a big deal. I didn’t expect the two of them to be the best of friends, but damn, I didn’t want them to be enemies either. I didn’t want the drama. This was why I never pursued Miami in the first place because I was trying to avoid all of this from happening.

  “You got some fuckin’ nerve answering this motha fuckin’ phone! Put my bitch on the line! I didn’t call to talk to you, pussy! Yo, I hope yo’ daddy got a good life insurance policy for your ass because, on my dead son, my niggas is killing you! You foul, nigga! How you going to fuck behind me, yo? What type of nigga are you? If the shoe was on the opposite foot, I would have never fucked behind you, especially not with somebody who you were in a whole fuckin’ relationship with and have a kid with!” Trip barked.

  I picked up on not only the anger in his voice but the hurt as well. More than anything, I wanted to crawl under a damn rock because I didn’t want to witness this conversation. I tried to be slick and get out of bed to leave the room, but Miami’s hand went to my chest and pushed me back down on the bed. I don’t know why, but I felt wrong. Was I wrong for messing with Miami? Did it make me a bad person to deal with a guy who used to be friends with Trip? I couldn’t leave now because I love
d this nigga!

  “Ain’t no bitches over here, nigga! It’s a whole ass woman, sitting on my bed, but you can’t talk to her right now. Like I just told Shae before you called, I don’t give a damn if the two of you keep in contact. You serving a life sentence, so you need all the conversation from people that you can possibly take. What I’m not going to allow is you to ring her fuckin’ phone back to back like this, especially at this time of the fuckin’ night. Your cut off time is 5:00 p.m., nigga, and not a minute later! You keep threatening me, I’m going to make it where you never talk to her pretty ass again, motha fucka!

  “Talking about you got some niggas to kill me! What niggas you got? This my fuckin’ city, and I don’t move in silence when I walk these fuckin’ streets! Niggas know where I am at all times, so whoever the fuck you got for me, them motha fuckas better come out swinging and sporting some of the best ammunition they can find because I will be ready for them too. We ain’t brothers, yo! We ain’t boys, none of that. I fell out with you years ago. Therefore, I don’t owe you any type of fuckin’ loyalty.

  “You really sitting on this phone mad because Shae moved on. Look at what you asking her to do, nigga. You really expect this woman to ride this life sentence out with you? You don’t ask no woman to do no shit like that!” Miami snapped.

  He was so mad that his face was turning red, the muscles in his jaw were flexing, and I could see the veins in his arms.

  “Shae knew what the fuck this shit was ten years ago when they put me here. She was ready to ride this shit out then. You bring your ass back into the picture, and now, all of a sudden, she changed her fuckin’ mind—”