Side Chic 4 (Forever Ratchet)

by La'Tonya West

  “Hmph, sometimes it takes something tragic to open up your eyes and make you start to see shit for what it really is Nisey.”

  “Amen to that!”

  My mama leaned over and wrapped her arms around me giving me a big hug. “I am so proud of you baby. You’re finally growing up.”

  “Me too.” Nisey added. “Now let’s get back to you thinking about moving back down here and leaving me.”

  “I was honestly hoping that you would come with me.” I looked over at her. “I mean, what’s really in Danville for you?”

  “Are you serious? You want me to pick up and move down here to the country in all these sticks with you? Girl, y’all don’t even have stores.” She teased.

  “Whatever. Don’t try and joke my hometown.” I laughed. “You said that you really don’t have a tight relationship with your family and you don’t deal with Johnathan’s family. My parents have fallen in love with you and I am sure that they will love Evan as well once they meet him. We could be your family.”

  “You are already my family.” She told me. “Let me think about this moving thing for a while and I will let you know something.”

  “That’s cool.” I nodded my head. I knew that moving was a big deal and it wasn’t a decision that could be made in a couple of minutes. “As for me, I’ve pretty much made up my mind to move back here.”

  “That’s great!” My mama exclaimed clapping her hands together. “I can’t wait to have you back home. I’ve missed you so much. Oh, I can’t wait to tell your daddy! He is going to be ecstatic! How soon are you planning to start moving?”

  “As soon as I get back, I am going to start packing.” I informed her. “I was looking in the newspaper yesterday morning and saw a three bedroom, one and a half bath house not too far from here. The landlord wasn’t asking much for the rent. I’ve seen the house before. The only bad thing about it is that it’s one house over from Mina. That means I will more than likely have to see her and Tre damn near every day.”

  “No you don’t. All you have to do is stay in your house and mind your business. If they come messing with you, let them know that you don’t want to be bothered.” My mama explained. “Besides you don’t have to stay there long. It could just be something temporary to start off with.”

  “True.”

  “Call the landlord and ask if you can go by and look at the place. You know, see what it looks like on the inside. If you like what you see, let me and your daddy know and we will pay the first month and the security deposit for you.”

  “Thanks ma but I can handle the first month and the deposit. You and daddy have done enough.”

  She waved me off. “Oh hush, talking that nonsense. You are my baby. There is no such thing as ever doing enough. We are going to continue to do for you and those babies until God calls us home.” She got up from the sofa. “I am going to go and find your daddy and tell him the good news.” She leaned down and gave me a big kiss on my cheek. “You just don’t know how happy you done made your mama, honey.” She grinned and pranced out of the room.

  Nisey made a face at me and threw one of the throw pillows that was on the sofa at me. “You know, I’m not feeling you leaving me!”

  “Yeah, I know but I did ask you to come with me!” I tossed the pillow back at her. “Even if you don’t come though, that won’t come between our friendship. We’ll still talk on the phone every day and unless they take the roads up I will definitely be coming to visit you and Evan and I hope that you will come visit me and the girls too.”

  “Child, you already know that without a doubt.” She assured me. “What are you going to do about the situation with Reggie? I mean, don’t y’all have to go back to court sometime soon?”

  “That’s three months away but you best believe I will be there. I refused to allow that motherfucka to get away with what he did to my baby.” I rolled my eyes feeling myself becoming heated.

  Cuddy Buddy by Tre Songz started to play telling me that Tre was calling. I made a mental note to change his ringtone to something else. I looked around for my phone and realized that it was over on the table next to Nisey.

  “Nisey can you toss me my phone please?”

  She picked it up, looked at the screen, rolled her eyes and tossed it to me. “We talked his ass up didn’t we?”

  “Yeah, I guess we did.” I said catching the phone. I pressed send to answer and then the phone up to my ear. “Hello.”

  “Hey, are you busy?”

  “Why?” I asked wondering where all of the hostility that he’d been having in his voice when we spoke had gone.

  I heard him let out a sigh. “I wanted to talk to you, that’s all.” There was definitely something different about this Tre that was on the phone with me now. He was a totally different person from the man who’d been ready to beat my ass at his house the week before and the man that I’d talked to a few days ago who hadn’t had more than a few words to say to me and they’d basically been ‘how are my babies doing’ and ‘I would like to see my kids before you go back home’.

  “About?” I watched as Nisey got up and left the room. I assumed that she was trying to be polite and give me a little privacy while I was on the phone.

  “I want to start by apologizing to you for how I’ve been treating you recently and how I’ve treated you in the past. I took things too far and I am deeply sorry for that. I let my anger get the best of me and handled things in a fucked up way. I am really sorry for pulling the gun on you that night at your place. I know that I could never say sorry enough to make up for…”

  I didn’t want to hear anymore. Truthfully the sound of his voice disgusted me. “You know what Tre, you can save your apology for someone who actually wants to hear that bullshit because I don’t. For some reason you feel like you can talk to me however you want, treat me like shit and then come back with some lame ass apology and all is good. It ain’t going down like that this time. The time when I needed you the most you treated me like I was a fuckin stranger that you didn’t know shit about. Instead of you judging me by the mother that I’ve been to your children since the day that they came into this world, you judge me by one mistake…one bad decision. I will never forget you pointing that gun in my face or that nasty disrespectful comment that you made in front of everyone last week at your house.”

  “Lala…”

  “Lala my ass! I am done with you. If it doesn’t concern our daughters then don’t call me.” I was done playing games with him. “I will be busy concentrating on how to be a fit parent to our daughters so I will have no room for extra bullshit in my life.”

  “Why are you trippin’ like this?” He asked as if he didn’t feel like the things that he’d done were that bad. He probably didn’t but I really didn’t give a damn how he felt. “I don’t want things to be like this between us. I understand that you are upset with me and rightfully so but we should sit down, talk and try to get past everything that has happened. We have kids together. We need to try and at least get along for their sake.”

  I purposely yawned into the phone. “Bye Tre.” I hung up my phone and then turned it off. I got up from the sofa and got down on the floor and began playing with my two princesses.

  I’d played over and over in my mind for weeks how the conversation with Tre and I would go when we finally did speak and he’d calmed down. Not one time had I imagined that it would go the way that it had but I didn’t regret it. I’d said exactly what was on my mind and felt surprisingly relieved…like a huge weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. It was time for a fresh start in my life…a new direction.

  Mina

  It’d been two weeks since the altercation between Tre and me. I’d been laying low, only going to work and straight back home, afraid that I might run into him in the streets. The anger that I’d seen dancing in his brown eyes that night was similar to the anger that I’d seen dance in Mello’s eyes on several occasions. I didn’t want any parts of what I knew he was capable of doing to me.
I wanted to stay out of his way at least until things blew over some and he calmed down. Also I was pretty sure that he’d told Lala about the entire situation so I was trying to stay out of her way as well, which was proving to be very difficult since she’d become my neighbor. Earlier in the week, I’d seen her, Tre’s parents and her parents moving her things into the house down from me. The only thing that separated the two of us was one house. I was more than sure that she’d seen me as well. I knew that she knew where I lived. So far she hadn’t bothered me and I prayed that it stayed that way.

  I sat in Nelle’s bedroom with her and Mia getting ready for her little get-together. I hadn’t wanted to come but she’d acted as if she would piss herself if I didn’t. I wasn’t feeling the thought of being around a lot of people with bruises still visible on my face. I didn’t even feel comfortable being around her and Mia.

  “Be still.” Nelle told me as she tried to apply make-up over my bruises so that no one would see them. I was seated on the chaise that sat at the end of her bed. “The more that I look at these bruises on your face, the more I want to fuck Tre up myself.” She spat angrily.

  Mia was applying her make-up in the mirror and humming the melody to You and I by Avant and Keke Wyatt. She stopped applying her eyeliner long enough to look at me through the mirror and say. “Yeah he did fuck you up right good.” Then she continued what she’d been doing. I could’ve swore I saw that bitch smirk!

  “Child, I ain’t worried about that mess.” I waved my hand. “He will get what’s coming to his as soon enough. He want to go around beating up on women. I wonder if he is going to beat up on Parnell next week when he gets out.” I took a sip from the red cup that I’d been holding in my hand. It contained Ciroc and cranberry juice. I definitely wasn’t feeling no pain.

  “I know that’s right because Parnell has made it very clear that Tre’s ass is his when he comes home!” Nelle agreed as she applied more make up over the bruise next to my right eye.

  I giggled because I’d been throwing a little fuel on the fire since Tre had made the awful mistake of putting his hands on me. He should’ve listened to Tyson and his babymama and kept his hands to himself. Personally I didn’t give a fuck if Parnell beat him until he laid stretched out somewhere lifeless! I’d even went as far as to toss Kisha’s name into the mix. I wanted him to get her ass too simply because she had too much mouth and obviously didn’t know when to keep it shut and stay in her place. I’d told Parnell how she’d gone around telling people that she was glad Tamika had died. Of course, I’d never heard her say it but he didn’t know that. I’d even told him that she’d sat right in the chair in my salon and said it! I hoped that Tre and his babymama got it at the same time. I giggled at the thought and took another sip of my drink.

  “What are you giggling about?” Nelle asked.

  “Just thinking, that’s all.” I replied. “So who all is coming to this little shindig?”

  “Ummm…not too many people. Just the girls from the shop, their men and a few other people I know.” She informed me while smearing some eye shadow on my eyelids. “I think Corey may have invited some of the guys that he work with.”

  Mia was now humming Secret Lovers by Atlantic Star and messing with her hair. I could tell that something had her in an awfully good mood. I assumed that Ron had given her some good lovin’ before they’d left home because she’d even said a few words to me since we’d been at Nelle’s and she hadn’t been talking to me since the whole falling out about Corey.

  “You’re in a mighty good mood Mia.” I commented feeling like it was okay for me to talk to her since she’d been talking to me.

  “She sure is.” Nelle agreed. “Ms. Thang has been humming all night long. Ron must’ve beat that coochie up before they left home!”

  Mia played around with her hair for a few more seconds before turning around and looking at us wearing a huge smile. She leaned back against the dresser, the black strapless mini dress that she was wearing hugging her curves. “You two birds need to be more concerned with your own lives instead of everyone else’s and then maybe you would be humming too. Instead of always crying the blues.”

  “Uh-uhh heffa, don’t even try and play us like that.” Nelle wagged a finger back and forth. “You had better check that ‘birds’ shit. That’s like the second time that you have came off on us like that. You are feeling yourself just a bit too much these days! You might want to come down a couple of notches.” She laughed but I could tell that her words held some seriousness in them.

  “Damn let me find out that you’ve become all sensitive like your cousin right there.” Mia laughed pointing at me but it sounded forced. I wasn’t sure of what to take from the exchange of words that was going on between the two of them. I’d never known the two of them have words about anything but I guess Nelle had gotten a little tired of Mia’s funky attitude.

  “I’m not being sensitive. I’m just tired of you referring to me as a bird. I don’t find it to be cute. You feel me?”

  Mia held her hands up in surrender. “Cool cuz, calm down. You got that. I won’t joke with you like that anymore. It ain’t that serious.”

  “Cool.”

  Mia picked her cup up off the dresser. “I’m going to go downstairs. I’ll see you two when you get down there. Wouldn’t want to piss anybody else off with my jokes.” She started towards the door.

  “See? There you go.” Nelle stopped picking at my hair with her fingers and turned around. Mia stopped walking to listen to what she had to say. “I’m not mad or upset. I’m good. I just didn’t find what you said to be funny. This isn’t the first time that you made a remark like that and I didn’t find it funny the last time that you said it either. However, I let it slide that time but how many times am I supposed to let it slide before I say something to you about it and let you know that I don’t like it?”

  “Honestly, I don’t see what the big deal is Nelle. I’ve always joked with you about how much you and Mina love to gossip but now that I know it’s a problem. I won’t do it anymore.”

  “Fine.” Nelle smacked her lips and threw up her hands.

  Mia walked back over to her. “Chill out girl! We are good! I’m not mad. I am in too good of a mood to get upset about something as small as this. You and I are good.” She assured giving her a hug. “Are you sure that you are not going through something? I mean, you even have tears in your eyes. Why are you so upset?”

  I’d noticed the tears too. I started to wonder if she and Corey were still having problems. The thought of it brought a smile to my face, which I tried to hide by putting my cup up to my lips. It was true what people said about misery loving company. Being that my shit was fucked up, I wanted hers to be as well. I sure as hell didn’t want her bouncing around me all happy and shit.

  Nelle took a seat on the chaise next to me and let out a sigh before wiping her eyes. “It’s probably these damn pregnancy hormones.” She looked from me to Mia. “I found out the other day when I went to the doctor that I am about six weeks.”

  I nearly choked on my drink. “Girl, are you serious?”

  “You’re what?” Mia asked obviously just as shocked as me. “I thought you claimed that you and Corey have been at each other’s throats for the past couple of months or so.”

  “We have but you know how that goes girl.” Nelle snickered. “One minute we fussing and the next we fuckin’.”

  “Yeah, I sure do know how that go.” Mia hugged Nelle. “Congratulations cuz.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Yeah congrats girl.” I hugged her as well but only not to seem like a hater or look suspicious because I wasn’t the least bit happy for her ass. “Are you done with my make-up?”

  “Yeah, you’re straight.” Nelle assured me and then stood up. “We need to get downstairs because the guests should start arriving at any moment.”

  “Alrighty then..let’s go.” Mia said and we all headed for the door.

  The party turned out to be better
than I’d assumed and more people than I’d expected showed up. I’d spent most of the night talking to and dancing with one of Corey’s coworkers. He was a real cutie and seemed to be cool but he wasn’t my type at all. His conversation was extremely boring. I found myself drinking to tune him out. I could tell that he was really feeling me and I didn’t want to hurt his feelings so I sat through hours of him talking about random stuff that didn’t spark my interest in the least. By the end of the night I was so fucked up I could barely walk.

  “Mina, I hope that you don’t think you are driving nowhere.” Nelle said to me as I sat on her sofa with my shoes in my hand. I’d taken them off because they’d began to hurt my feet. “You may as well go ahead upstairs and get in that guest bed.”

  “I’m good.” I assured her slurring my words. “I’m going home and get in my bed.”

  “Girl, the only bed that you are going to see tonight is the one in the guestroom.” She put her hand on her hip. “I’m not going to fuss with you about it either.”

  “Nelle, I’m fine.” I tried to convince her but she wasn’t buying it.

  “Mina come on here and let me help you upstairs.” I stood to my feet and she grabbed my arm wrapped it around her shoulder. “Lean on me.” We started up the stairs while Corey showed the rest of the guests out. Mia and Ron had left early because Mia was complaining that her head hurt.

  When we got upstairs, Nelle turned the light on in the room for me and led me to the bed. She was treating me like I was stupid instead of drunk.

  “I am going to go and find you something to sleep in. I’ll be right back.” She said and left the room. While she was gone. I stripped out of the dress that I’d been wearing and threw it over on the dresser. I stretched out across the bed in my bra and panties, not bothering to wait for her to come back. First I laid on my back but the room was spinning so bad that I rolled over on my stomach and closed my eyes. In no time, I drifted off to sleep.