You Needed Me: A Love Story

by Shvonne Latrice

  “Who am I to you?” I quizzed and spread her legs to kiss her inner thighs.

  “My boyfriend,” she moaned softly once I reached the crotch of her lace panties to plant a kiss. I yanked her to the edge of the couch, and continued to kiss between her legs, gently.

  “Which means you haven’t been in contact with any other niggas, right? Not even when we had that little hiatus?” I looked up at her and she shook her head ‘no’ before caressing my fade.

  I laid my head in her lap, and closed my eyes to enjoy the feeling of her soft hands rubbing my head. I couldn’t lie, I enjoyed having someone to call my own. Smashing different bitches was tiring and monotonous. It hadn’t become a problem until Kimberlyn and I broke up though. I realized I preferred fucking and sleeping next to the same girl, and not someone new every night. I guess my brother Rhys was right, it felt good to have someone to come home to.

  “Why do you ask?” she questioned softly.

  “I just wanna make sure I’m turning in my player card for the right girl.”

  “You are,” she got down from the couch, and sat on the floor with me. “And I won’t run off like I did before either. I’m gonna be around forever.”

  “Forever?” I grinned and she nodded. I caressed her smooth thighs before kissing her lips. “How do you know I want your little ass around me forever? I like change, shorty.”

  “I can tell. You like me and not just a little bit.” She straddled my lap slowly. Damn, was it that obvious?

  “I do. I don’t know why, but I do. I thought about you everyday during the time we were apart.”

  “I thought about you too. I waited for you to call, but you didn’t. Why not?”

  “Pride. And honestly, I was attempting to make myself forget about you, and I thought it worked until I saw you last night.”

  “You tried to forget about me by smashing different bitches?” She shook her head and pushed her long hair from one side to the other.

  “Yeah, I ain’t gon’ lie to you. I definitely was out there. You forgive me?” I asked and she nodded. Intertwining our fingers, I kissed her lips a couple times before pulling back to look into her eyes.

  “You forgive me for hanging up on you?”

  “Of course. As soon as I slid up inside you last night, all was forgotten,” I replied and we laughed together. “I love your smile.”

  “Thanks.”

  I pulled her closer into me, and then kissed her hungrily before leaning her back onto the floor. I missed making love… I guess.

  Chapter Seven: Summer

  I’d been at work all damn day, and all I wanted to do was cook dinner and soak my feet while watching TV with my baby girl. I would love to include Rhys into the mix, but he was never home which in some cases I felt was best. He damn near lived in that hotel room that he kept booked just in case. It’s like we both were holding onto a relationship that we needed to let go of, but something was stopping us. I think it’s because we loved each other so much, too much, and even though our relationship was rarely happy, we couldn’t let it go.

  “Hey, you still here?” Hakim jogged over to me lightly as I packed up my things at the station. This nigga is too fine.

  “Yes, but that’s normal. I thought you left like thirty minutes ago?” I frowned, but was smiling on the inside. I was kind of happy he stayed behind for some reason.

  “I was gonna leave but then I decided to hold off and umm, wait for someone.”

  “Oh yeah? Who? Nia and Renee just left, you missed them,” I smirked and so did he, but not before he looked me up and down approvingly.

  “Now you know I was waiting on you, ma, don’t even play me like that.”

  “And why are you waiting on me?” I began to zip my suitcase up, and shut off my mirror lights.

  “Because I wanted to ask you for your number. I want to get to know you better, but outside of this place. It’s always someone around when I want to talk with you.”

  “Hakim, I have a boyfriend.”

  “Oh, damn, okay. Is it like serious? Or is this something new you’ve started?”

  “No, it’s serious, very. We have a daughter together, and we’ve been with one another for about ten years.”

  “Ten years?” he looked down at my hands and frowned. “And you don’t have a ring? How old is he?”

  “Why?” I folded my arms.

  “I mean I was hoping his age would be the reason he hadn’t asked you to marry him, but then again it shouldn’t matter. Y’all have been together that long and have a child, I don’t understand the hold up.”

  “Well, it’s not for you to understand, Hakim. My boyfriend and I are working on some things and we want to get everything right before we walk down the aisle.”

  “How about you just take my number down, and if shit goes wrong, or if you need someone to talk to, hit me up. I don’t bite, I just really like you and if there is a slight chance for me, I wanna take advantage of it, ya know?”

  I wanted to say yes, but then I felt like it was wrong. But on the flip side, I was sure Rhys was still fucking with Lisa. I mean she was always making a big deal on social media about him, and she would somehow find out his new number every time he got one. He swore he didn’t know how she was doing the shit, but I didn’t believe that. I believe every time he got a new number, he was giving it to her. I turned my lip up at my thoughts.

  “Okay, you can just have my number. I’m not a big first texter if you know what I mean.”

  “I do, and cool.”

  I read off my number to him, and smiled as I watched him store it. I was excited to get to know him, and hopefully he would be able to help me get over Rhys. I was tired of being wrapped around his finger. I wanted to be free, and I was sure Hakim would help me do that. The easiest way to get over one man is by getting with another.

  “See you later, Hakim,” I waved as we walked out of the building together and went our separate ways.

  “I will be texting you soon!” he called after me.

  I just half smiled and continued to my car.

  As I was putting my suitcase into the trunk of my G-Wagon, I heard someone walking on the gravel of the parking lot behind me. I glanced over my shoulder, and saw the last person I ever expected to see.

  “What the fuck?” I turned to her with a frown. She looked like she’d just stepped off a runway, which was weird as hell. This was the second time I’d ever seen this bitch in person, and neither time was good.

  “I told you I wasn’t gonna just let you have him,” she grimaced.

  “Lisa, you need a life.” Now if he wasn’t messing with her, why is she here right now? Still on his dick. I swear I hated Rhys and all the turmoil he caused me.

  “Oh I have a life, but I can’t say the same for you.”

  “What?”

  POP! POP!

  She sent two bullets into me, one in my shoulder and one in my hand, before rushing off through the parking lot and into the darkness. My wounds burned as I began to hyperventilate. Was this really happening? Did I really just get shot over this nigga?

  I quickly dug into my purse with my good hand as I cried out in pain. I began to feel weak as I searched and searched for my phone, which was nowhere to be found it seemed. It began ringing, allowing me to locate it, and when I retrieved it I saw Hakim’s name.

  “Hakim! Co-come ba-back to the agency, I’ve been shot!” I screamed and fell to the floor, still clutching my phone.

  “What? Summer? Are you okay?” he quizzed like a fool.

  “Call 911, Hakim!” I cried as my arm and hand began to ache terribly.

  I was losing blood like there was no tomorrow, and getting more light headed by the second. Hakim continued talking, but I was no longer able to hold the phone. Falling backwards onto the ground, I shut my eyes and fell into the darkness, unwillingly. My mother always said Rhys would be the death of me.

  Chapter Eight: Rhys

  The next morning…

  “Baby—”
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  “Shut up, Rhys,” Summer gritted as she stared at the wall in her hospital room.

  Last night I thought I was gonna die when I’d heard she’d been shot. Then when she explained to me who’d done it, I felt even worse. I was happy she told the police she didn’t know who shot her, because I wanted to enact revenge on her behalf.

  Lisa, in my eyes, was never anything harmful. I didn’t pay her much attention, and always felt like Summer was overreacting when she would have me change my number repeatedly. See, I wasn’t the type of nigga that you could bug by texting and calling all day. For one, I barely used my personal cellphone because I was always working and mainly used dummy phones. I didn’t believe in dummy phone apps and such, that wasn’t nobody but the damn government. Secondly, I was the type who just wouldn’t respond. You can text me twenty-four hours a day, and I just won’t say anything back, it’s really that simple. I never understood people who could be bothered by something so small, like my brother Lendsey who hated to be blown up. Yeah I had a temper, but shit like that did nothing to me, surprisingly.

  By saying that, the fact that Lisa always found my number every time I changed it somehow was slightly alarming, but a nigga didn’t give a fuck. I killed people for a living so there were matters at hand that were more important. There were bigger fish I was frying, or so I thought.

  “Summer, I’m gonna take care of her.”

  “You should have taken care of her a long ass time ago, Rhys! That’s how I know you’re still fucking her! Talking about you don’t know how she gets your number! Bullshit! Ah!” she winced in pain and clutched her shoulder where she was shot. “Move the fuck away!” she yelled to me when I attempted to touch her.

  “I ain’t fucking with Lisa, shorty, I haven’t fucked with her since the last time you caught me fuckin’ up, I promise.”

  “No, Rhys,” she began to tear up, and I just didn’t know what to do. I wanted to hold her, but I knew she wouldn’t let me. “What if Bryleigh was with me? Thank God she was with your parents!”

  “I swear this is the last time she’s gonna fuck with you, baby.” I kissed her forehead. Just then I heard some footsteps. I turned around to see some nigga and immediately frowned. “Who the fuck are you?”

  “I’m Hakim, I’m Summer’s co-worker. I’m the one who called for help when she got shot,” he replied, adjusting his grip on the flowers.

  “Oh word? Well umm, thanks, but you can go now. And take yo’ fuckin’ flowers with you.” He looked from me to Summer as if he were asking her if it was okay to do what the fuck I’d just said. “I said to get the fuck up out of here!”

  He jumped slightly at the boom of my voice, and then began to back away slowly.

  “Just go, Hakim,” Summer sniffled.

  Once he left, I turned my attention back to Summer who was still crying a little bit. That nigga coming up in here with flowers rubbed me the wrong fucking way. He’d better find another nigga’s bitch to bring flowers to, because bringing them to mine would only get his ass killed.

  “Fuck is he, Summer?”

  “He just told you, Rhys, don’t start. Calm down, Rhys!” she shouted as I paced the hospital room angrily; she knew my fuse was short to nonexistent. Something in my gut told me to just kill that nigga.

  “I’m gone,” I said before slipping out of the room.

  “Rhys!”

  I don’t know what she and Hakim had going on, but I was gonna be watching very closely. If he thought he was about to move in on her, he would be deadly mistaken; yes, deadly. And Summer might end up buried next to that nigga too.

  That night…

  I was chilling in Lisa’s house on her couch after discreetly breaking in. I really didn’t know what the fuck was wrong with this bitch. Shooting my girl? Really? It almost made me want to let muthafuckas know what I did for a living so that they could save themselves. Only if Lisa knew that I wasn’t the one to play with. I admit I should’ve threatened her when she first started her antics, and maybe she wouldn’t have gone this far, but it was too damn late.

  “How did you get in here?” she walked in and closed the door behind herself slowly. She was really stupid to still be living her life like she hadn’t just tried to kill my shorty.

  “How have you been getting my new numbers, Lisa?” I only wanted one answer before I smoked her ass.

  “Rhys, how did you get into my hou—”

  “Oh, don’t play the little scared bitch now!” I hollered so loudly that I could damn near see her jump out of her skin. “Tell me how the fuck you were able to get my number, bitch.” I towered over her and then slowly brought my gun to her temple.

  “Please Rhys,” she began to sob. “I wouldn’t have done if it you hadn’t have been ignoring me! I told you I had something to tell you but you didn’t listen! She was the reason—”

  “I’m gonna ask you one more time, Lisa. How the fuck did you get my number every time I changed it?”

  “My friend, Maria, works for your service provider, so whenever you changed it she would look you up and give it to me. But it was only because I needed to tell you I had an abortion when we first broke up—”

  PHEW!

  I put a silenced bullet into her head. Initially all I wanted to know was how the fuck she was getting my number before I killed her, but hearing her say she had an abortion made me kill her before I could even think. Not like I wanted kids with her ass because believe me I didn’t, but the fact that she killed a child of mine angered me. I think I felt a bit guilty because I remember when we first ended it, she was blowing me up saying she was pregnant. I just chucked it up to her being a woman scorned, but I guess I was halfway wrong.

  Getting back out of her home, I climbed into the car I’d driven over there, and took the long way to the warehouse. Why was this shit bothering me so damn much? I didn’t kill the baby, she did! You should’ve believed her when she said she was pregnant man, I thought, but then quickly shook it from my head. Lisa was the past and that was it. And she could’ve been lying about the abortion anyway.

  As I was driving, I got a text from this shorty named Chenaye that I’d chilled with a couple times. That’s all we did was chill. I had a feeling she was starting to like me, but I’d stated plenty of times that I just wanted a homie and nothing more. She said she was cool with it, so I continued to be her friend.

  I preferred to have female friends because one, niggas were dick riders these days and always begging to be down. Two, women were better looking, and three, niggas were fake, yes faker than bitches, oddly. The only dudes I called my friends were my brothers, and even them niggas irked me every now and then. TQ’s friend Jayce was cool, but lately I felt like his ass was on some fake shit too.

  Chenaye: Wanna come over? I have your favorite drink.

  Me: Fasho

  I made it to her house after dumping that car off and getting my shit from the warehouse. Chenaye lived with her mother, but her mom was never home. She traveled a lot with her husband who was some well-known pastor. I’d never heard of the nigga, but then again, I hadn’t been to a damn church in years. Maybe that was my problem.

  “Hey boo,” Chenaye smiled as she answered the door.

  I walked into her home, and frowned at the picture of her and some girl. I saw the picture every time I came over, and it always made me frown because I couldn’t remember where I’d seen the girl before. They were both little kids in the picture, so it was hard to recall. I didn’t want to ask because I felt like getting to know her too much would mix in feelings… on her part.

  “It smells good in here.” I plopped down on the couch and looked down at my phone to text Summer.

  Me: Goodnight baby. Will be at the hotel tonight, and back to see you in the morning. Make sure that bitch ass nigga don’t show up. I will bring Bry with me tomorrow.

  I knew she wouldn’t respond, but I didn’t care. I’d thought about spending the night with her in the hospital, but I just wasn’t in the mood to bicke
r. Also, that nigga with the flowers still had me hot. So after I left here, straight to the hotel it was.

  “Hello Rhys!” Chenaye waved her hand in my face.

  “My bad, what did you say?”

  “I was thinking we could go to the movies or something.”

  “Nah, I told you we ain’t doing all that. We’re just associates, stop trying to make this shit become more than it is.”

  “I just thought—”

  “Well don’t. If you want a boyfriend, look elsewhere, Chenaye. I have a woman; all I want is a friend.”

  She just sighed and nodded, before pouring some Jack Daniel’s into my glass.

  Chapter Eight: Goldie

  I needed a few things like body soap, shaving cream, and razors, so I decided to stop by Target since they were cheaper than drug stores. Surprisingly, I made it out after picking up exactly what I came for. The cashiers even congratulated me for spending less than fifty dollars. I chuckled at the thought as I neared my car.

  As I walked onto the driver’s side, a familiar smoke gray Charger with dark ass tint pulled up on the side of me. I sighed and hit the unlock button on my key remote, hoping to hurry up and get into my car. Unfortunately, he was faster than me, and stopped me from getting in.

  “What, Ethan?” I exhaled.

  “Baby, let me talk to you for a second,” he smiled as if everything was peaches and cream. This nigga hadn’t talked to me since his baby mama tussled with me, and that was almost two damn months ago.

  “You need to go talk to Juanita, Ethan. You asked for a chance and I gave you one, even though I knew I shouldn’t have. You fucked that up so get the fuck over it. You and I are just not meant; why can’t you accept that?” I frowned. I really wanted him to see that he and I were just not on the same page, nor would we ever be, at least not at the same time.

  “I wanna try though, Goldie. That was our problem, you gave up on me. I still want to see where this goes. I love you and I wanna try and see if we can work this shit out, ma.”