Melanie seemed overly amused as I felt her hot, tainted breath whisper in my ear. “Cidney ain’t did shit but make his ass run for the border, dumb ho! And now that child ain’t gonna have a mother to look up to. Your decisions done fucked you up.”
I wanted Melanie’s head badly, but any move I made could be fatal to me, so I kept still and bit down on my bottom lip as if that gave me strength.
“I mean, what did you think, Zaria? Did you honestly think you were going to come and pull that ignorant stunt at my house with no consequences? Be for real. Everything costs,” she said tightening her squeeze.
I began to feel the pressure of the tip of the box cutter against my neck.
“Drop the weapon!” I suddenly heard a police officer yell. “Drop your weapon right now.”
I closed my eyes, thanking God personally for saving my life. Melanie’s soul was hurt, and she was ready to take me out of the game. How could this happen? I was on the verge of paying the ultimate price for loving Nardo, who was no more than a two-timing, backstabbing, cheating dog.
“It ain’t over, Zaria,” she swore, dropping the box cutter to the ground and raising her hands in the air. “It ain’t.”
The police hurriedly cuffed her before shoving her to the car while reading her rights. I couldn’t believe Melanie was ready to go as far as to kill. I informed the officer that I’d be at the station to press charges first thing in the morning. After making sure I was okay and everything around the perimeter of the house looked safe, they drove off. I stared dumbly as a deranged-faced Melanie mouthed the words “I’m gonna kill you” from the back of the car.
Whenever she got out, we were definitely going to have to settle the score, because the road we were headed on definitely promised fatality. At this point, I was unsure who would end up in a body bag.
Ashamed in front of my neighbors, I dropped my head, walked back inside the confines and security of my house, and called Nardo. He shot me straight to the voice mail, so I left a message.
“Melanie was just over here, and now she’s on her way to jail. Please control your tramps, little boy. One,” I said, hanging up and then calling Izzi.
There was no answer for him either, but I was not about to leave him a message. That was just evidence for a person to find out we were kicking it. I would call back private in a few. Me and Izzi were definitely about to be getting it in.
In the meantime, I got Cidney together to drop off at the babysitter. I felt like a bad mom, always dropping her off and not bonding during these critical months where she was supposed to be forming an attachment with me, but my mental was too fucked up behind Nardo to even fully love myself. I did not want to be one of those mothers who took all of life’s frustrations out on her child. I did not want Cidney growing up to resent me, or have a burden on her back about her father that was not hers to carry.
At the end of the day, I didn’t want to holler at Cidney for simply being a baby, and I wanted her to form her own opinion and relationship with Nardo. In spite of what cruel shit he might spit at me about me trying to trap him with her, or that she could belong to any random nigga in the hood, I knew that those words were only to hurt me and would never get repeated to Cidney. He knew good and damn well that little girl was a spitting image of him.
After I got Cidney’s diaper bag packed with enough diapers, onesies, clothes, and toys, I pre-made a few bottles with four ounces of formula each. That was the least I could do to help the babysitter out since I wouldn’t be there to help her soothe my newborn once she cried out, hungry. Being honest, I had not cuddled and fed Cidney in so long that I might not even know how to appease my li’l one. I had to hurry up and take care of this Nardo situation so I could get my mental right and start being a better mother.
Deciding to keep it simple, especially because I didn’t know if one of Nardo’s jump-offs would try to catch me slipping again, I tore up my dresser drawers looking for something to wear that was cute yet comfortable enough to kick some ass in. After this morning, I was not only ready for, but I was down for whatever.
I ended up throwing on a pair of tight-fitting stonewash jeans, a plain T-shirt that was a size too small on purpose so it would make it seem like I had more chest than I actually have, and a fresh pair of Air Max. I loved wearing running shoes because they’re geared for working out and strengthening leg muscles, so they automatically enhanced my glutes. My booty cheeks were banging when I wore tight jeans and leggings. I could not wait to finish getting my body right so I could stunt hard on the city again.
Izzi
Zaria was without a doubt the most real woman I’d been around in a while. Her heart was just torn, making it hard to break through her tough exterior. I was not going to stop trying, though. I did not care that she had Nardo’s daughter. I didn’t care that she had a short fuse to her ticking time bomb. In my book, she just required a little effort and a whole lot of attention to mend the broken heart that Nardo was responsible for. I had watched my homeboy run through plenty of females while he had been holding Zaria hostage, but it wasn’t my place to step on his toes or speak to her the truth. That was, until I started feeling some type of way about shorty. I’d fucked mad females from around the way whose only mission in life was to chase paper day in and day out. What attracted me to Z was her loyalty and constant chase to have her family.
Now, don’t get me wrong; I ain’t no fool. Zaria loved money, of course, but with Nardo, she held my peoples down. I envied that dude because he had a girl, I mean a woman, who genuinely cared. Low key, no matter how hard I tried fighting the shit, I was immediately attracted to Zaria from jump. When I first laid eyes on her, I lusted after her body and her gorgeous smile. I knew, given enough time, Nardo would mess the relationship up, like all his previous ones, because he had no control with his females. He gave them the world financially but was totally unaware of the fact that a woman needed more than that from a man.
It was only a matter of time, and now I was going to step directly on his toes to get her. You could say I was playing the devil’s advocate role. It’s cool; I was. I’d been stunting to Nardo off rip that Z was no good, and being that dude can never think for himself, he fell for that shit and swung all the way with Spice. Ol’ girl was foul, and it was no doubt in my mind. Now, trust when I say this, and I’m not hatin; he’d learn not to deal with certain sac chasers. That island rat was gonna teach Nardo a real lesson.
I watched as Zaria got out of the car in the hotel parking lot. Damn, she looked good! Her hair fell with curls, and the bangin’ curves of her body looked mad sexy. Looking up to the window, Z caught me staring. She smiled and waved. Damn, Nardo was dumb.
“Hey, Izzi.” She grinned, finally coming into the room and hugging me before getting comfortable. “What’s up?”
On cue, I ran my hands all over her back, even caressing her soft booty. My mind was thinking of all the kinky positions I could twist her body up in. The sex with Zaria was always dynamite. She felt so good in my arms that I’d gotten an instant rise.
“Hey, girl. I missed you fa sho’,” I whispered in her ear, tugging on it with my lips.
“I see.” Zaria couldn’t resist tugging at the bulge in my pants.
We sat down on the couch, and she kicked off her shoes. Her perfectly pedicured feet went up into my lap, massaging my nuts. She then told me her version of what went down with Melanie’s murder attempt on her. Zaria’s existence was full of drama, and all because of Nardo. Secretly, I schemed and would find a way to make homeboy pay for hurting her. I just honestly couldn’t believe she’d taken so much abuse and still was going on. All I wanted to do was be a real nigga for her.
That night, I’d taken every piece of Zaria. I made love to my newfound goddess in the most exotic positions, pleasing her in every way possible. With every deep stroke, I was trying to sex the problems out of her. After it was all said and done and she lay fast asleep in my arms, I made the final decision. I was going to take Nardo out o
f the game so it could be just me and her. It was the only way. A gangster like me had fallen in love.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Nardo
Me and Izzi made contact with E, the connect, and grabbed some major weight. We had it all mapped out, and in our minds, this lick was about to make us kingpins. We had been plotting, planning, and putting both of our hard heads together for months before making this move so we could come up with an airtight hustle that could keep us both paid. Me and my homie didn’t want to come up and fall off within the same lifetime, but stay on and put a crew of li’l fellas on to work beneath us.
I was planning on spreading weight through the west side of Detroit, while Izzi was plotting on making the east side his personal playground. The potency of our product was going to speak for itself and end up shutting crews down. In our minds, the takeover was going to be easy.
In addition to running dope through the streets, Izzi and I wanted to start making moves that other pushers hadn’t thought of. We were about to be on some top secret, government official-type shit. And that’s kinda where the idea came from. This cat that bought coke from me gave me a lump sum out of his first of the month check, and I gave him a line of credit in return. Once that lump sum was done, he was either cut off until the first rolled around again, or I’d give him the credit for his word that he would pay when his check came. Him using his Social Security check as collateral made him loyal, which would happen once I started extending this option to a few of the buddies he got high with.
We were going to put together a crew to serve out of an inpatient treatment home, and we already had connects on the inside. I couldn’t make a living off a fiend being clean, so I was not pushing for that recovery bullshit. The day me and Izzi walked up in there with fresh sneakers on our feet, Cartier glasses on our faces, and threw some cash on the table, the medical assistants went crazy over who was going to fuck with us and become our li’l crony. Those hot and ready hoes were willing to do a lot more than let us through the front door with some baggies, though. One of the shorties had been blowing up my phone day in and day out ever since.
I pulled up at the mall to see what Elite Jewelers had to offer. I was going to get Spice something that was real nice since she’d taken a savage-like ass-whipping and her car got vandalized. I’d already gotten her a fresh paint job, but she needed a little more reassurance that I was 100 percent in her corner.
My phone kept ringing from a private caller, and I didn’t do private calls, so I kept shooting it to my voice mail. Zaria had left a message when she called from her number earlier, but I deleted it quickly. For all I knew now, it was her salty ass calling back to start her extra shit for the day.
“Hey, baby, where are you at?” Spice asked when I called her to check in. I didn’t know what had gotten into me, but she was getting me open.
“Taking care of business. Why don’t you get little man together so we can go out and eat tonight?”
“Now, that’s what’s up, babe. Can you make sure your baby momma won’t be playing Sir Stalk-a-lot tonight?” she questioned sarcastically. “Because somebody has been playing on my phone.”
I sighed, tired of the drama. “I got it, and I will take care of her. Don’t even worry about it.” I tried putting her mind at ease. “All I want you to do right now is get ready because I will be pulling up within the hour. Cool?” I wanted to make sure she heard me and understood what I wanted her to do.
“Yeah, cool. I will make sure I’m ready.” Spice fell in line.
“Good. I’ll see you then.” I ended the call with her then clicked over to the private incoming call. It was clear they were resilient and wouldn’t stop calling, and I decided to answer to make sure it wasn’t an issue with Cidney. “Speak your peace and speak it quickly before I hang up,” I spat with annoyance, letting them know as soon as I answered that I was pissed behind them continuously calling when it was clear I was purposely sending them to my voice mail.
“Nardo, your stank-ass baby momma had me locked up earlier, and I need a thousand to make bail. I’m at the Northeastern District. Please tell me that you’ve got me.” Melanie’s voice sounded off.
“And what you calling me for? Whatever stupid shit yo’ ass did is on you. Besides, last time we spoke, you was like fuck me anyway. All I’ve got for you is a li’l advice. Get friendly with one of those buddies you’re bunking with to see if they’ll teach you how to make a shank so you can protect yourself. I’m out. One.” I was making fun of Melanie’s circumstances as I chuckled loudly then hung up in her face.
Mel must have had a psychotic meltdown and gotten some super strong drugs when she got locked up to think I was about to run to her rescue. Not only would my savage ass not be caught down at a police department willingly, but I wouldn’t cash out on Melanie anyway. She wasn’t my girl. I only hit her off with a good stroke from time to time. The only thing I owed Melanie was a crippling orgasm.
Melanie’s random phone call, however, did do something for me. It put me back on my square and up on game to watch my back for the moves my baby momma was making. She’d gotten Melanie locked up and had not called repeatedly, texted, or sent a brick through my window with a note tied to it to tell me. Something was wrong with that. Normally she was all about getting my attention.
I sat back and started thinking long and hard about Zaria’s track history of craziness. First, she’d stomped down on Spice in the nail shop, coming home to me in a premeditated rage. Then she wrecked our cars right in Spice’s driveway on a solo mission I was still shocked she’d pulled off. And now she was moving silently, which meant I really needed to be worried because she now knew I was taking care of Spice’s son. There was no doubt in my mind that she was brokenhearted and on a vengeance spree.
Melanie called a few more times, but I didn’t waste my time answering. It was not a thing she could do for me on the inside. Besides that, I had a life to live and a li’l family to keep content.
I knew the mall was going to be crazy crowded before walking through the entrance because I almost witnessed two fights in the parking lot over spots. Not wanting my car dinged up, I preferred parking in the back, so I swooped into an empty spot with no problem and kept focused on why I was at the mall in the first place. I like staying clean and jumping fresh, but like many men, I hated the mall. I usually shopped in the early morning hours when there wasn’t a crowd, and today was a reminder why.
Every store I went in was jumping with customers. They were either shopping, in line to purchase, or popping off with the workers who already had stank attitudes because they were underpaid and highly disrespected. I ended up walking out of three female clothing stores, not being able to tolerate the foolery that was going down within them. I loved pretty faces, banging bodies, and quiet mouths. I had enough drama and nonsense coming from Zaria.
Finally finding a jewelry store that wasn’t overcrowded, probably because it was not income tax season, I went in my pocket and cashed out on a tennis bracelet for Spice that I knew she’d adore. On the low, she had been pawning pieces that her father sent before he dismantled their father/daughter relationship, so I knew she would appreciate me adding value back to her stock. The gift wouldn’t come without strings, though. She was gonna have to fall back on that “go to the pawn shop” shit and let me hold her down like a real man is supposed to do. If the wrong person saw her, the embarrassment in the streets I’d feel would never be lived down.
Since I had a few extra dollars in my pocket that I could play around with, I ended up buying Spice a ring I was going to present to her as thanks for being loyal to me in the face of Zaria being a threat to her. I was not proposing or promising anything but to protect her if Zaria came back to battle with her again. My delivery would be so clear, precise, and worded perfectly that she wouldn’t have any other choice but to accept the truth that her position would remain as my live-in main chick. I’d let her use the title “boyfriend,” though.
The man in me
could not walk out of the mall without making sure both of the kids I was labeled as the provider for were taken care of. And by right, I started with Cidney. Regardless of me and Zaria’s relationship, my li’l one wouldn’t be out here on the streets getting strolled around without name brand clothes on her tiny body and cute, girly kicks on her feet. I would be dropping the bags off on either Zaria’s porch or her mother’s house to keep our contact to a minimum so I wouldn’t have to go in her grill. Zaria and I could be cordial, but only after we’d had some time to cool down.
Not sure of Cidney’s size, I picked out an attractive salesgirl and showed her a picture that I had taken when I was at Zaria’a house the other day. I wanted to watch her booty cheeks bounce and her breasts jiggle in the low-cut shirt she had on while I was shopping for my daughter. After she finished complimenting me on having an adorable twin, she picked out a gang of outfits and matching shoes. I got shorty’s number after she hooked me up with her discount. I knew it would be beneficial for my pockets to plug up the plug since I’d be cashing out on girl clothes for years to come.
Before leaving the mall, I copped me a fresh pair of kicks and threw a pair of matching ones on the bill for Spice’s son, too. I had an addiction to shoes and was gonna have li’l homie strung out on ’em too if I stayed around playing like his daddy. My sneaker collection was sick. Whenever I bought a style of shoes, I bought two pair, so I could put one pair up and floss the other. Well, let me correct that. I bought three pair so her son could floss like me when we went out. He was not mine, but it wasn’t no thang to be fresh like me. Besides, he was as close to a son as I was going to have for a very long time. I had to do for Cidney; I could do for Spice’s son if I wanted to, or not. I liked having that freedom.
Loyal to His Lies Page 11
