“Shit, most women are sneaky, secretive and seductive. I’m telling you that trusting a woman of her caliber will have you all fucked up. I know her kind all too well.”
“Maybe so, but why do you think you know so much about my wife? No offense, but you only know what I tell you.”
“I agree, but I see it in her eyes, playa. Every time I see her, her eyes tell me that she’s got just as many skeletons in her closet as you have.”
I sat quietly and thought about what Miguel had said. Maybe I did give her too much credit, and even though I figured she’d stepped out on me a few times, no other man could ever replace me. Miguel was just speculating and looking at our situation from the outside. Of course he’d view things the way he did.
It was less than one hour after we left the police station, when we found ourselves chasing after a youngster who had been selling crack. I ran as fast as I could down the alley to catch him, but the motherfucker had to be a track star. He was gone in the wind and Miguel had run off in a different direction to catch him. Moments later, it all came to an end when a German Shepard rushed out of his doghouse and bit at the youngster’s leg, as he attempted to climb over a fence. I hurried and grabbed the dog by his collar. When Miguel ran up, he quickly dropped the youngster to the ground and kneeled deeply into his back.
“I can’t brea…breathe,” the youngster gasped.
Miguel took his fist and slammed it into his face. “Shut the fuck up! You don’t need to breathe.”
The owner of the dog rushed outside and I handed him over to her. He continued to bark and growl at us.
“Would you mind taking the dog into the house,” I said.
“Not until the officer over there calm down,” she said. “I saw him sucker punch that boy in the mouth.”
Miguel turned to the side and looked at her. “So what. You gon’ see me punch his ass again. Look.” He slammed his fist into the youngster’s face again. The poor boy looked damn near unconscious, so I walked over and slightly pushed Miguel back.
“Get off him,” I said. “Let him get up so he can breathe.”
Miguel hesitated, but then, scooted back and stood up.
“Ole punk ass, nigga,” Miguel said to the youngster. “You can run, but you for damn sure can’t hide.”
The youngster staggered off the ground with blood drizzling from his mouth. I knew Miguel was anxious to get at him, so I hurried and placed the cuffs on him. As I shoved him to the alley, he hissed at Miguel.
“I’m gon’ get that ass, nigga. You betta watch yo back cause I’m gon’ lullaby that ass, watch,” the youngster said.
Miguel hated to be challenged or threatened by anyone. He snatched the youngster away from my grip and tripped him to the ground. He used him as a punching bag and pushed me back when I tried to intervene.
“Move back, Isaac,” he said stomping the kid. “I, could, have, had, a, heart, attack, chasing after this fool.”
“I’m recording this,” the woman yelled. “This is ridiculous!”
Miguel stopped. “Take yo nappy-head ass back inside and mind your own damn business! This motherfucker is a criminal, slang’en drugs in your neighborhood and you out here trying to protect him! One more word from you and I’m going to arrest you for interfering with a police matter. Now, the choice is yours.” He spoke sternly.
I looked at the woman who was so ready to open her mouth. “Just go inside, please. We’ll wrap this up and be out of here in a few minutes.” Knowing that we didn’t need anymore reports sent to the Sergeant, I shot Miguel a frustrated look. “Go get the car, alright?”
Before leaving to get the car, he gave the youngster one last kick in the stomach. The youngster rolled over on his back and continued to speak tough words. I couldn’t quite understand it, because to me, now was the time to shut the fuck up.
Miguel came back with the car, and after searching the youngster from head to toe, I put him in the backseat. He had a plastic bag full of rocks in one pocket and rolled up money in the other. I tossed both items to Miguel and he held them in his hands. When we got inside of the car, he sat for a moment, counting the money.
“One hundred, two hundred, three hundred…thirty-seven hundred dollars.” He looked at me, and then turned to face the youngster. “Man, what you doing with twelve hundred dollars on you, huh?”
“Kiss my ass,” he said. “You can take all my shit, I’on give a fuck. There’s more where that came from, nigga.”
“Aww, so you snitching now, right?”
“I ain’t doing or saying nothin’. A rookie ass cop like you can’t break me down. You livin’ in my world, my day and on my time.”
Miguel looked at me and laughed. All I could do was shake my head at how amazingly stupid some young people had gotten. I turned to the youngster and made myself clear. “You damn right we can’t break you. We can’t stop none of you motherfuckers out here from doing what y’all doing. But when yo ass go to prison over this petty shit, we will see who gon’ break down. It for damn sure won’t be me or Miguel.”
“Fuck you, man, and no thanks for the shitty advice. If anything, I’ll see both of you crooked fools there with me. Word on the street…it’s goin’ down. Both of you suckers goin’ down.”
“Thank you for the heads up,” I said. “But for the time being, the only person who’ll be getting fucked, and not in a good way, is you.”
Miguel and I headed back to the station to book the youngster. His comment in regards to Miguel and me going down kind of bothered me. It wasn’t the first time that I’d heard those words, and as Miguel seemed to be getting more aggressive, I knew I’d better watch my back. Once the youngster was settled into his new home, we left, made a couple more arrests and gave out several tickets. There were always good things about my job—we saved the day when we found a lost dog for a little girl who’d had him for years.
The work day was nearly over, and since I couldn’t stand to be alone anymore, I made arrangements to pay Laquinta a visit. Before Miguel dropped me off at her place, he stopped by his loft to get some clothes to take to the cleaners. I hadn’t been inside of his loft since he’d got it, but it was obvious that a police officer’s salary alone couldn’t afford the expensive furnishings he had. He’d gone overboard with the money we’d been taking from time to time, and definitely had no shame flaunting.
“This is off the hook,” I said, looking around at the contemporary style decorated loft. The color scheme for the living room was gray, burgundy and white, and stainless steel dressed up the opened kitchen. His bedroom was in the far corner, but was sectioned off by room dividers. I sat at the kitchen’s island, waiting for Miguel to gather his things.
“Why don’t you get something to drink, Isaac? I got some Corona’s in the fridge.”
Thirsty, I got up and went to the fridge. I reached for a Corona and removed the cap. I then looked around for the trashcan, and when I found it, I dropped the cap inside. Immediately, I couldn’t help but notice a piece of paper with Cydney’s name written on it. Underneath her name was the address to her office. I held the piece of paper in my hand and wondered why Miguel needed my wife’s work address. As I stood there thinking about it, he came into the kitchen and startled me.
“What’s that,” he said, walking up to me. He took the paper and held it in his hand. “Aw, that.” He tossed the paper back in the trash.
“Why do you have Cyd’s work address written down?” I abruptly asked.
“I…I was trying to reach you, so, uh, I called information and they gave me her work address and number.”
“Bullshit. Try again.”
He got defensive. “Shit, man, what’s the big damn deal? That day I took off work, I couldn’t reach you so I called her. I…I really can’t remember why I wrote down the address.”
I sipped from the Corona bottle and listened to Miguel stumble over his words. His reaction didn’t sit right with me, but since I knew that Cydney would never be involved with a man like
Miguel, I didn’t trip.
“Are you ready to go,” he asked.
“As soon as I finish this,” I said, guzzling down the rest of the Corona. Afterward, I dropped the bottle in the trash and felt uneasy as it fell on top of the piece of paper.
Miguel dropped his clothes off at the cleaners, and after he’d gotten a call from one of his lady friends, he rushed me over to Laquinta’s. My truck was still at the police station, so I asked him to pick me back up in the morning. He agreed to it.
With Cydney heavy on my mind, I quickly knocked on Laquinta’s door. When she opened it, Erica was on her hip. She passed her over to me.
“Here, hold her,” she said. “I smell my cake burning.”
She rushed off to the kitchen and I followed behind her with Erica in my arms. She was a beautiful little girl with smooth chocolate skin, big dark brown eyes and a melting smile. Unfortunately, I didn’t see one ounce of my features on her. I was the only daddy she knew, and until I decided to dig further for the truth, things had to stay the way they were.
I kissed Erica on her cheek and gave her the strawberry Blow Pop I’d gotten at the corner store earlier. She never said much, but I could tell by her smile that she was happy to see me.
“Do you want me to remove the wrapper?” I asked.
She nodded and I put her on the floor to remove it. Laquinta pulled the burnt cake from the oven and tossed it on the stove.
“Damn,” she said. “I knew I shouldn’t have been running my mouth on the phone that long. I told Dee I had something to do!”
“Well, I always told you that mouth of yours was gon’ cause you some trouble.” I gave the Blow Pop to Erica and picked her back up.
“I know you ain’t complaining about my mouth, are you? It works wonders for you, so you’d better watch what you say.”
I snickered and turned to go into the living room. “Handle your business, baby. Burnt food or not, I’m eating because I’m hungry.”
Laquinta laughed. After removing my shirt and holster, I sat on the floor and stacked blocks with Erica. When Laquinta yelled that dinner was ready, I picked up Erica and we went back into the kitchen. I placed Erica in her high chair and took a seat at the table. With the exception of the cake, the Mac & Cheese, baked chicken, green beans and dinner rolls looked delicious. Laquinta knew how to throw down in the kitchen and she knew that the way to my heart was through my stomach.
“So, how was work,” she asked, while feeding Erica some green beans.
“Work is all ways work. And how was your…day?”
“It was cool. I missed my baby and I’m glad she’s back now. I’m even more excited that her Daddy’s here now. I hadn’t heard from you, so I thought you’d forgotten about us.”
I kept my head down and continued chowing down on my food. Once my plate was cleared, Laquinta took it and put some more chicken and green beans on it.
“That’s enough,” I said, as she piled the green beans high.
“Are you sure? You went through that first plate too fast for me.”
“I’m positive. I’m already overdoing it, but I haven’t eaten all day.”
Laquinta smiled and brought the plate back over to me. After she put it in front of me, I reached my hand around her waist and put her on my lap. I kissed her cheek and squeezed the side of her thigh.
“You’d better stop being so good to me. You know I’m bound to take advantage of you, don’t you?”
“Sounds exciting to me. I love it when you take advantage of me and you do it all so very well.”
We kissed, and afterwards, she wiped her fingers around my lips.
“I’m pleased that you’re enjoying my food Isaac. I bet your wife doesn’t cook as good as I do for you.”
I stared at Laquinta. “How many times must I tell you to leave my wife out of your mouth? Lately, every time we get together you start running your mouth and it really irritates the fuck out of me. Get off my lap.”
“All I said…”
“Get off my lap!”
“No problem,” she said, getting up. She went to the other side of the table and took a seat. I got back to eating my dinner and she continued to feed herself and Erica.
We sat in silence, and once I finished, I got up and put my plate in the sink.
“Since you cooked, I’ll clean up, alright?” I said.
“No, thank you,” she said with attitude. “I can handle cleaning up, just like I handle everything else.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means, I’ve been handling my business and your business too. Erica can’t survive off two or three hundred dollars a month, and if or when I decide to go back to school, daycare is going to cost a fortune. Food alone…
As Laquinta continued to rant, I reached in my back pocket and pulled out my wallet. I counted out one hundred and fifty dollars and laid it on the table.
“This is all I can do right now. In the meantime, stop griping and get a job,” I said, and then removed Erica from her high chair. I left the kitchen and went back into the living room to play with her.
I could hear Laquinta in the kitchen cleaning up. I played with Erica for an hour or so, and once she got sleepy, I scooted back on the couch and laid her on my chest. Within minutes, she was knocked out, and soon after, I feel asleep too. With Cydney being on my mind, I dreamt about her being with another man. I saw him making love to her and when he turned his head, I’ll be damned if it wasn’t Miguel. I quickly opened my eyes and saw a blurred vision of Laquinta standing in front of me. She wore a sheer black negligee that was trimmed with hot-pink fuzz. The negligee did nothing for me and neither did the hot pink panties underneath, or the high-heeled shoes with pink fuzz balls on top. Ignoring the fact that Erica was still lying on my chest, Laquinta started to remove her panties.
I quickly sat up. “We are not about to get down with Erica in the same room as us.”
“I agree,” Laquinta said, reaching for her. “That’s why she has a bedroom.”
Laquinta picked up Erica and walked her off to her bedroom. Moments later, she came back. Not in the mood, I rested back on the couch, placed my arm on top of my forehead, and closed my eyes. When she stepped up to me, she pulled my arm and I dropped it to my side.
“What?” I said.
Of course, since I wasn’t up for fucking, she got mad. “What is up with you, Isaac? Your attitude is horrible.”
“Not as horrible as that…that, whatever the hell it is that you have on. That’s what’s horrible.”
She cocked her head back. “Nigga, you trippin’. You need to get your ass off my couch and out of my apartment. Come back when you’re in a better mood, alright?”
“You mean, come back when I want to fuck you, right? Damn, baby, I just don’t feel like it tonight. We don’t have to fuck every time I come over here, do we?”
“Since when? That’s why you come over here, ain’t it? Now all of a sudden, your wife must be dishing it out and you don’t have time for me. I’m getting sick of this shit. You’d better get your act together real soon or else I’m outtie.”
Laquinta went into her bedroom and slammed the door. I could tell she was getting tired of me, and frankly, I was getting tired of her. More than anything, I was fed up with my thoughts of Cydney. Her being away was causing me much headache. I couldn’t help but take my frustrations out on those around me. Unfortunately, Laquinta just happened to be the closet person to me, and after I tossed and turned on the couch, I got up to go apologize. Admitting that I was wrong always made her feel better. She played the tough-cookie role quite often, but her cookie always managed to soften from my words.
“I’m sorry for disrespecting you,” I whispered, while walking into the dark bedroom. She didn’t say a word. “Quintaaa,” I teased. “Baby, did you hear me?”
“Don’t Quintaaa me,” she griped. “I knew your happy-go-lucky ass would come in here apologizing.”
I eased in bed behind her. My hands
roamed her naked body and I inhaled her strawberry fragrance. “I might not have liked your negligee, but your body smells awfully good,” I whispered.
She lay on her back and looked up at me. “What was so wrong with my negligee? I know you didn’t hate it that much.”
“Red is your color, not pink.” I made my way on top of her. “Next time you want to excite me, wear red, okay?”
She reached down to unbuckle my pants then opened her legs. “How about next time, I wear nothing at all?”
“That’ll work too.”
I placed my lips on Laquinta’s and then proceeded to fuck the shit out of her. Sex between us went on for hours. I was too tired to get up for work. When Miguel called and said he was on his way, I had to drag myself out of bed and into the shower. Even after a shower, I still wasn’t feeling up to going to work. I sat on the edge of Laquinta’s bed and slowly got dressed. Since she was in the kitchen feeding Erica, I reached for my cell phone and dialed Cydney’s number. After one ring, her voicemail came on so I knew her phone was off. I spoke sternly.
“You need to call me back. I don’t know where the hell you’re at, but a phone call to let me know you’re okay won’t hurt either. Call me.”
I hit the end button on my phone then looked up at Laquinta standing in the doorway.
“I’m almost afraid to ask who you’re begging to call you back. You kind of sound like me, when I be calling you.”
I stood to put on my pants. “Let it go, Laquinta. We had a wonderful time last night and this morning, so don’t go ruining the moment.”
She folded her arms. “Miguel’s outside. He blew the horn twice, but I guess you didn’t hear him.”
Rushing, I grabbed my shirt then kissed Laquinta on the cheek as I passed by her. I hurried into the kitchen, gave Erica a kiss and opened the fridge.
“An apple a day might keep your bitches away,” Laquinta said.
“Naw, we don’t want to do that,” I said, reaching for the apple. “But, I’ll take one anyway.”
I put the apple in my mouth and winked at Laquinta on my way out.
Two Wrongs Don't Make a Right Page 9
