by Jade Jones
“I got it from here, Hassan,” Nikki spoke up.
Hassan was practically in a trance as he eyed her soft flesh. He was lightweight tempted to kiss the ugly bruise on her back. He would’ve gladly taken the bullet in her place. The last thing he wanted was for her to ever get hurt.
“Hassan, I said I got it from here,” Nikki repeated in a stern tone, snapping Hassan back to reality.
There was an uncomfortable silence between the two, before Hassan finally responded. Standing to his feet, he said, “My bad about what happened. I told Dre you should’ve dr—”
“Hassan,” Nikki cut him off. “I’m fine,” she smiled. “Really.”
FIRST CHAPTER OF “EBONY AND IVORY”
1
Ivory pushed her shopping bags further underneath the table that she was seated at. The last thing she wanted or needed was someone grabbing and walking off with her shit. Especially not after she had easily dropped four stacks on clothing, shoes, and accessories at Beachwood Mall.
Ebony, Ivory’s twin sister, joined her at the booth carrying a red cafeteria tray. A six inch Subway sandwich was wrapped tightly on top of it.
“Damn, that line was long as shit,” Ebony complained sliding into her seat. She slid her single Forever 21 bag underneath the table and proceeded to dig into her lunch. Unlike Ivory, she was on a strict budget. She could not splurge the way she wanted to. Hell, she had expenses. Rent, bills, and an eight year old son to take care of.
Ivory was a bit more fortunate. She was childless and her dope boy boyfriend afforded her the comfortable life that she had grown accustomed to over the years.
“Girl, you are not gonna believe this shit,” Ivory said just after Ebony took a bite out of her sub sandwich. “I had to go to the clinic a few days ago. Could you believe Black’s trifling ass burnt me?”
Ebony’s eyes widened in their sockets as she listened to her sister’s shocking revelation. She placed her sandwich down and stared at Ivory in disbelief across the table. “What?!”
“Yes, girl,” Ivory said. “Motherfucker gave me Chlamydia.”
Ebony sighed. “Girl, I don’t know why you put up with that dirty dick nigga. He stays cheating on you and isn’t this his second time bringing some shit home to your ass? What was the first time? What was that shit?” Ebony snapped her fingers as she tried to recall the first STD Black had given her sister.
Ivory made a face. “Trichomoniasis.”
“Couldn’t be me,” Ebony commented. “That’s why it’s called a relationship. He’s supposed to be committed to you and only you. I mean seriously, Ive? What’s next? HIV? Bitch, you need to quit playing and kick that triflin’ negro to the curb.”
Ivory was playing it cool on the outside but deep down inside she was growing more and more agitated. Why did I even tell her, Ivory thought. The purpose of her sharing the information wasn’t for Ebony to bash him. Ivory expected her sister to say those things though considering she was only looking out for her sister’s best interest.
Ebony didn’t understand—or better yet couldn’t understand the dynamics of Ivory and Black’s relationship. Ivory loved him with every fiber of her being regardless of all his flaws and all the shit he put her through. To put it simply, she loved his dirty drawers.
Besides the fact that Black afforded Ivory the luxuries of life—like money for shopping sprees, the custom pink Aston Martin she drove and the condo on the lake she resided in—she adored her man. Their relationship had begun in her junior year in high school. He was Ivory’s first love and no matter what he did to her, he would always have that special place in her heart.
In Ebony’s opinion, Ivory was blind. She was undeniably a fool in love. But love always had a way of clouding one’s judgment.
“There’s plenty other good niggas out here, Ive. You don’t have to keep putting up with that ole’ dirty dick nigga,” Ebony continued to rant about her sister’s boyfriend.
Ivory sighed as she forked through her salad. Of course, she knew it was other good men out there but she was used to and comfortable with Black—and all his bullshit—after five years.
“Damn,” Ebony suddenly said. “I gotta run to the bathroom really quick. Watch my stuff,” she said climbing out the booth.
Ivory watched her sister sashay towards the direction of the public restroom.
Ivory snorted. “She ain’t got no fuckin’ man,” she mumbled to herself. “She doesn’t even understand.” Ivory never did appreciate her sister badmouthing her man even though it had become a daily habit of Ebony’s. She felt that once Ebony had went through the trials and tribulations of being in a long term relationship then she shouldn’t have shit bad to say. “I can’t believe her…”
***
I can’t believe this shit, Ebony thought to herself. After flushing the toilet, she rummaged through her handbag and produced an orange prescription bottle. She almost forgot to take her medication. Unbeknownst to her twin sister, she too had been recently diagnosed with Chlamydia. As a matter of fact, Ebony was the one who transmitted the STD to Black.
Another thing Ebony had been withholding was the fact that she and Black had been messing around for close to a year now. Initially their relationship was solely based on sex. It started off when Ivory and Black used to fight and Black would eventually find himself at Ebony’s doorstep in order to escape her sister’s constant nagging and bitching.
Being the lonely, conniving woman that Ebony was, she opened her home and eventually her legs for Black. Over the months, she somehow managed to develop feelings for him—to put it frank, she was in love with her sister’s man. So much so that she would go to the extreme lengths of secretly trying to sabotage their relationship. She never missed an opportunity to badmouth or talk down on him in hopes that Ivory would hopefully up and leave him.
Hell, Ebony had even gone as far as to purposely transmit the STD to Black. She had contracted it from a guy she had turned a trick with a few days ago. When the itching and burning started soon after she went to the hospital right away and instead of being enraged—like most women should have been—her wheels got to churning immediately. That night, she called Black over and they did the damn thing…unprotected of course. She figured if she burnt him and he turned around and burnt Ivory, that would be the last straw and Ivory would eventually leave.
Oh how wrong she was! Like the foolish, naïve woman that Ivory was, she decided to stay. Completely unaware of her sister’s intentions, she didn’t leave Black. Ebony was infuriated of course, but the rage only caused her to want to be more persistent.
Unlike Ivory, Ebony had never been in a real relationship with anyone. She dated from time to time, but those men had only served as a series of disappointments. Either they played games or their money wasn’t long enough to keep her satisfied.
Ebony wanted a man like Black. No, she wanted Black! She knew the minute he decided to leave her sister, she would treat him so much better. She was tired of settling and most of all, she was tired of struggling.
She lived in a two bedroom Section 8 house on the west side of Cleveland, in a bad neighborhood, had food assistance, and faked crazy to receive a social security check from the government. No longer did she want to live that life. She wanted more! And she wanted a man to take her there!
Ebony felt she was getting the shitty end of the stick in life while her sister received the privileges of living fancy. Ebony was broke and bitter…hell, even her son was the unfortunate product of her stepfather raping her at the tender age of fourteen.
The very first time it had happened Ebony had been traumatized by the violation. Yet, strangely, the second time she had welcomed it. Eventually the sex had transformed from rough and forced into casual love making. Ebony’s entire way of thinking had been backwards. Instead of comprehending that what her stepfather was doing to her was wrong, she fell in love with him.
The minute her mother found out she went ballistic! She pressed charges against her own husband and
kicked Ebony’s pregnant ass to the curb. Since then, the government continued to support Ebony financially.
Ebony quickly snapped herself from her thoughts after popping the large capsule into her mouth. She unscrewed the warm 20 oz. bottle of Sprite and chugged it until the pill disappeared. After washing her hands she made her way back towards the table and joined Ivory in their booth.
MORE TITLES FROM JADE JONES:
Schemin’
Still Schemin’
Ebony and Ivory
Ghetto Pocahontas
Femme Fatale: Passion Comes with a Price
Tales from da 216
Nobody’s Perfect Angel
No Good Spouses
My Brother’s Keeper
Love’s Triangle
About the Author:
Jade Jones is fairly new to the world of self-publishing. However, she has been writing short stories and poetry since she was in elementary school. She writes urban fiction as well as romance, but she tries to dabble in every type of genre. She would like to try her hand at writing different things to expand her creativity. She currently lives in Augusta, Georgia. She has no children, and when she's not writing or networking, she's usually scrolling through Netflix lol. If you have any questions or would like to interact please add her on Facebook at: Author Jade Jones or follow her on twitter @Jade_Jones89
