Allergic
2
Broke
Teruka Carey
www.anexanderbooks.com
Allergic 2 Broke
Copyright © 2011 by Teruka Carey
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission of the author.
Cover Art: DeiIra Smith Collard
I would like to dedicate this novel to the loving memory of my father William Edmond Carey. You always believed in me when no one else did. No matter what we’ve been through when I was growing up you made sure you were always there for me and mommy. I can remember wanting to give up on everything when things didn’t go my way, but you kept pushing me and refused to let me give up. I thank you so much for that daddy. We all miss and love you so much. R.I.P…I will always be (Daddy’s Baby).
R.I.P
Aunt Drema, Uncle John, James Barlow, Jerimah “J.J” Moore, Sasha Mitchelle, Leon & Annie Carey, Uncles David, Leon Jr., Robert, Roger, & Jimmy. Mary Burger & LaToya Reid I love all of you.
Acknowledgments
First and for most I have to thank my father. Who made all of this, possible GOD… Without you there would be no me. The hard times and struggles I’ve been through was all for a reason and I know that now. I’ve realized without struggle I could never be as strong as I am and it’s all because of you. Thank you God I will always love you.
Mrs. Tina Murphy I met you at work a few years ago, and I never would have thought in a million years that you would inspire me as much as you did. I love you BOODAH!
My mother Arlena Carey, wow where do I start? We’ve been through so much. There aren’t enough words in the world to say how much I love you. You have always had my back through any situation you make sure me and my kids want for nothing. Your Nanny loves you Menah!
Rhia Smith you are my best friend on the whole world you also have B’s back no matter what. Thanks for pushing me to finish my goal, you believed in me when I couldn’t. I love you Rhashia & Ramauri.
I want to show mad love to the whole Smith family thanks for making me a part of your family. I love all of you Guys Nikki, Ebony, Kat, Yogi, and most of all Valerie and Gaston.
To my two big sisters Chermette (Nyka) and Selena (Nikki), we’ve had our ups and downs but I love y’all so much and I hope one day we can become closer than we are now.
Big ups to all my girls that reped WILLBRIAN crew! Pookie, you now we used to shake our asses on the dance floor not to mention the countless house parties you hosted where we would move furniture and do the damn thang! April, Jasmine, Granny, Charlene, Tracy H, Jennifer, Shenica, Mont, Scoop, Jamar, Terry M, Buff, Smibs, Dowey, E, Gerald, Missy, Chez, Brian. Jason Woody thanks for being my homeboy fo life! I love you baby boy…. Jeff S. much love!
To all my aunts and uncles who looked out when you could. I love y’all. All my cousins I love y’all don’t trip its way too many of y’all for me to name all of you. To my Ride or Die chick Marianne I love you and the kids.
To all my peeps in Greensboro, North Carolina. Cheryl M, Ayana, Dakoyia, Sedika, Lynette W, Geeplay, Kelvin, Mrs. Cladie, Devron thanks for that blanket. Susy, Cathrine, Delissa, Angelia Feaster, Shonda, Latoya Patteron, Mrs. Sherry Angel….Walter, and Kimbie H girl you told me from day one to finish this book and gave me positive feedback. Thanks so much. Tangi Love you got a sneak peek of the whole book all but the last three chapters and you loved it. The movie is next y’all! Lol.
To all readers I hope you will enjoy reading my novel. I went through a lot of trials and tribulations to get this out. Thanks for the support. I love y’all most of all.
My baby father Kevin S (Fats) I got nothing’ but love for ya “Monkey.” Thank you for my three beautiful babies, Tijah, Kevin, and Ji’haud they are my life and they make sure I’m always good. Mommy will always love y’all forever.
Leon “Loyalty” Douse, I love you to pieces bae. I appreciate you more than you know, thank you for always being there for me.
Prologue
“Fuck you muthafucka, you aint shit!” Lena shouted. The sounds of yet another argument coming from her parents’ small, but neat bedroom.
“You stankin’ no good ugly face bitch!” Her father shouted back. Laquita had become accustomed to the physical and mental abuse subjected to her by her mother and father. Quita looked over at her roach infested clock and saw that it was 3:48 in the morning on a school night. She lay on her piss-stained bed that she shared with her dirty, smoke covered stuffed animals, wishing she was anywhere but there. Even though this was a nightly routine for her, she still couldn’t help but cry. She would always pray for God to help her family get it together, but it seemed like the more she prayed the more they fought.
At the tender age of 7, Laquita made a vow to herself to never let a man control her and tell her what to do. She saw how her mother Lena would allow Ricky to beat her ass whenever he felt it was necessary. That was practically every damn day and night. The beatings he gave her caused her to walk around town with black eyes and busted lips. He would even break a limb or two from time to time. It was like Lena didn’t mind the abuse. She sometimes made it seem like she enjoyed it, because she didn’t do anything to change it. Laquita always wondered how life could be so fucked up for someone at such a young age. She was sure to find out in the years to come just how fucked up life could truly be.
The morning after all the madness and destruction Laquita found herself trying her best to get up for school. By the time the drama ended it was almost 5 am, so she was unable to get a decent night’s sleep. Finally, after hitting the alarm clock more than three times Lena came strolling into Laquita’s room to help her prepare for the day.
Laquita had so much respect for her parents despite their actions. No matter how much drinking and fighting they did they made damn sure she got up for school everyday on time. No matter how much she hated it.
Laquita hated school because it always felt like everyone knew what went on behind closed doors. All of the rumors about her that circulated around the school confirmed her suspicions, which made her feel uneasy around people. Although she tried her very best to be strong, and not let the rumors get to her, it didn’t seem to work to her advantage.
Laquita was very popular with her schoolmates. She wondered if they felt sorry for her, or if they were really her friends. Laquita developed a phobia that no one loved her or cared for her like she felt she deserved to be. She had a big family, but they weren’t all that crazy about her, nor the way Ricky treated Lena. She really hated the fact that she had two older sisters that she wasn’t able to spend a lot of time with. As a result of the constant drama in her household they didn’t live with them. Deep down she truly wished her sisters were there to help her deal with the pain she felt, but that was impossible. With all the unconditional love Lena had for Ricky, Laquita could only hope and pray for them to return.
There was a long sad story behind all the drama. Years before Laquita was born so much had happened that caused Laquita to grow up as an only child.
~ ~ ~ ~
There was a time when Lena was living in a car with her lovely young daughters, Dashiki and Kali. At that point in life Lena was ready to give up on everything. She had no family to ask for help and felt that she was at the end of her rope. That was until she met this fine ass marine named Ricky. Lena would soon be on the ride of a lifetime. He swept her off her feet so fast that she didn’t know what had hit her.
Back in the day Lena was a fo-sho dime piece. She stood five feet tall with a coke bottle shape to die for. She had a flawless butternut complexion, and beautiful hair that hung to the middle of her back. Just looking at her made any nigga drop what he was doing to holla at he
r. Now Ricky didn’t fall off the ugly tree either. The brother had it going on. He stood 6’1 and weighed about two hundred fifteen solid pounds. With a chestnut brown complexion, perfect smile, and dimples, he made the ladies cream all over themselves.
The way the couple met was really crazy. Ricky had just been discharged from the military so he was ready to celebrate with a drink and some quick pussy. When he ran into Lena he had no idea it would be more than that.
Lena was stressed and needed a drink too. She had her friend Shawna’s mother watch her girls for a few hours, and they headed to the club. Lena was on the dance floor when she spotted Ricky at the pool table talking shit with his friends. When they first made eye contact time seemed to stand still. Lena said she was so wet she thought she pissed on herself.
She headed off the dance floor and went to the bar for a beer. She kept her eyes on the handsome brother at the pool table the whole time.
“Who are you over here scoping out now? You little freak!” Shawna said behind her. Lena couldn’t even respond to Shawna’s comment. She only pointed to who she was looking at.
“Damn girl he is fine as hell. Who is he?” Shawna asked.
“I don’t know yet girl, but by the end of the night I will, ‘cause he’s mine,” Lena told her with confidence.
What Lena didn’t know is that Ricky was feeling her just as much. After Terry, a mutual friend, introduced them it seemed as if everything went downhill from there.
Of course they hooked up the first night, and Lena felt like a teenager again. She couldn’t believe she could get a fine ass man like him to scoop her up. He treated her like a queen and she loved every minute of it.
The first six months of their relationship seemed to fly by. She felt like she’d never felt before. The way he treated her and the things he did always made her feel so loved and appreciated. The nigga had it together. He brought her and the girls anything they wanted and needed. Life was good and she didn’t have to live in the car with her kids anymore.
A year had passed since they first met, and Lena was more than happy. As a matter of fact she didn’t want for anything. Ricky taught her how to cook and even bought a nice house for them to live in. The girls were happy too because he spoiled them as if they were his own.
Being in the relationship for so long was unexpected for Ricky, but he did love Lena and her girls to death. Ricky wanted a little boy of his own, and Lena didn’t mind trying to give him one. All she wanted was to make him happy. She felt as if she had to, since he brought so much joy to her life. However, no matter how much she did, Ricky still didn’t seem to be as happy about the new life change as she was. He didn’t know how to end the relationship, because he really loved Lena and the girls. He just felt weighed down.
He did what any man feeling tied down would do. He started hanging out all night long, and some nights he didn’t even bother to come home at all. She wouldn’t hear a word from him, not even so much as a phone call. That made Lena very insecure about their relationship. By this time Ricky had either fucked all her friends or cursed all of them out. He even fucked Shawna. Ricky didn’t hold his tongue for anyone, which could be a blessing or a curse that he would more than likely pass down to future generations. He would curse your mother out if she pissed him off. When Lena would stress him out about not being home, or start frequent arguments he turned to the bottle. She began drinking one or two beers a day and then five or six.
Lena was getting tired of the lies, so she started asking questions about his whereabouts. Ricky didn’t give a fuck because he wasn’t going to have no “Bitch” asking him questions. Hell he was a grown ass man. The first time Lena approached him about staying out all night the shit hit the fan.
“Ricky I have loved you since the first time I laid eyes on you, and I love you for the wonderful things you’ve done for me and the girls. I can’t begin to tell you how much I appreciate you. What I’m trying to say is what the fuck is going on with you lately? I mean are you unhappy, do you not love us anymore?” She asked.
“Look Lena I love you and the kids just as much as y’all love me, but sometimes I need time to myself. I can’t be under ya ass all day.”
“You know what, Fuck you Ricky! How long have you been fucking around with that triflin’ ass Latoya?” Lena asked cutting straight to the point.
“What? You dumb ass woman! Latoya who?” Ricky asked with an evil grin on his face.
“Oh don’t play stupid muthafucka! You know who I’m talking bout you bald headed son of a bitch! You know what, since you want to sit here and lie to me in my face, we can play the same game,” Lena told him displaying a big ass kool-aid smile.
“What!” Ricky shouted.
“You heard me mufucka.” Ricky must have snapped, because before you knew it he punched Lena in her face like she was a man in the streets.
“You stupid ass bitch, don’t you ever talk to me like that again!” Ricky told her and left.
Lena was in shock. She didn’t even realize that Ricky had laid two more blows to her face. She sat there crying for about an hour wondering what had just happened. When she got up to use the bathroom and make sure the girls were still asleep she looked in the hall mirror, and saw a small trail of blood trickling out the corner of her eye. She started to cry even more than before. After seeing what he had done to her face she was happy Dashiki and Kali were sound asleep. She wore a black eye for several days, and a bruised back from where she landed on the dresser. Since he apologized to her for the whole incident she dealt with the pain, and embarrassment. She let the whole thing go and didn’t bring it up again. They went for about two days as if nothing even happened. That’s until he came home one night pissy ass drunk, and high. Once again he decided to use Lena as a punching bag. He had been out playing poker with some friends and ended up losing twelve hundred dollars. It was probably because he was drunk and could not focus. The nigga didn’t take it out on his “so called” friends that took his money, but he took it out on his woman. Ricky and Lena surprisingly made it for another year.
Though nothing ever changed Lena was still standing behind her man no matter what he did. They were now living in Brooklyn, NY where Ricky’s older brother Darius served on the NYPD. Ricky thought shit was all good, because he had a brother that could get him out of anything his simple ass got into. What he didn’t know was Darius had a family to take care of and he wasn’t about to jeopardize that for anyone, not even family.
A few months prior to their move to the big apple, Lena gave birth to an 8lb 9oz little girl, they named her Laquita Belle Stewart. His daughter was everything to Ricky. She was his baby girl, his number 1. When Lena first told Ricky she was pregnant he flipped out, because he wasn’t ready for any kids of his own just yet. Eventually he sucked that shit up like a real man.
Truth was he thought if he and Lena didn’t have any kids with Lena he could leave whenever, so finding out he was about to be a father for the first time took him by surprise. When everything was said and done he was happy. He even loved Lena a whole lot more.
Even though Ricky was happy about his baby girl, he still ended up hanging with the wrong crowd. He was getting into all kind of shit. He was robbing, stealing, and even killing. If you named it he was doing it just to make money because he damn sure wasn’t working a nine to five.
Over the next few months life was chaotic. He had Lena and the kids moving everywhere from the Bronx to Long Island. They moved so much they didn’t even unpack anymore. Ricky stopped a lot of the crazy things he was doing because he could tell Lena was growing tired. They lived on the Island for seven months, which was the longest they lived anywhere in a long time. Things seemed like they were back to normal.
That’s until one day when Lena was cooking the kids some lunch and heard a loud knock on the door. When she opened the door two FBI agents were asking for Ricky. They had gotten a tip that he was involved in a fire at a local bar where two people were killed.
Lena stoo
d in the doorway lying her ass off. She knew where he was but she wasn’t getting ready to tell the fucking pigs a damn thing. For one they had his name wrong.
“We're here looking for Ricky Witten, is he here?” One of the agents asked. Lena looked at them as if they were crazy. That was her last name, they should have asked for Ricky Stewart. ‘Dumb ass mufuckas! ‘She thought.
“Look sir, I haven’t seen his sorry ass in over a week, so I can’t help you.” She told them.
“Well miss can you take this card and give us a call if he contacts you?” The fat white FBI agent who looked like his breath smelled bad asked. Lena grabbed the card, slammed the door in their faces and went back into the house to finish what she was doing. After they left she realized it was time to move again.
This time they moved across the bridge to Camden, NJ. The girls were getting older, Dashiki had just turned five, Kali four, and Laquita was a little over one. The girls loved their mother unconditionally, but they couldn’t stand Rick anymore.
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