"Brock?" she asked, confused.
"What's up baby? What you doing with that?"
Dream was thrown off. The last person she expected to see in her house was Brock, her ex-boyfriend. The two has broken up not even a month ago and she hadn't heard from him since then. She was wondering why the hell he was in her house and how he got in.
"Brock, what the hell are you doing here?" Dream asked as she put the bat down.
"I came to check on you and make sure you were straight."
"I'm fine, now leave and leave whatever key you used to get in here with," Dream said with an attitude.
"Dream, don't be like that. How many times do I have to apologize?"
Dream rolled her eyes and went back downstairs to finishing getting her clothes. Hating being ignored, Brock took it upon himself to follow her. He and Dream had been together since they were teenagers and there was no way in hell she was just going to leave him like that.
Dream was trying her best to get away from Brock. She hated the way he made her feel. Brock had literally been her first everything, including her first heartbreak. She and Brock had been through everything, but the final straw was when he gave her gonorrhea. She dealt with all the other females and the lies, but she drew the line when he put her health at risk. She had played the fool before, but she wasn't about to anymore. She wasn't sixteen anymore and she could see right through his bullshit.
"Do us both a favor and save that bullshit, Brock. I don't want to hear it. I don't have to show you the door because you already know where it's at."
"Why you been acting so damn funny lately?" Brock asked.
Before Dream could open her mouth to say anything, her cell phone started ringing. She reached in the pocket of her sweatpants and pulled it out. She slightly smiled when she noticed Carmelo's name on the caller I.D. Right when she was about to hit the answer button, Brock snatched her phone out of her hand.
"Who is this?" he answered.
On the other end of the phone, Carmelo pulled the phone from his ear and looked at it like it was crazy. "Who the fuck is this?" Carmelo could hear Dream in the background yelling something about get out of her house.
"Yo, nigga, put Dream on the phone. I didn't call to talk to you," Carmelo said calmly.
"She busy," Brock said before hanging. He mugged Dream before walking up on her and grabbing her roughly and tightly. "Let me fucking find out."
"Brock, you got about two seconds to let me go," Dream said through gritted teeth.
"You better let that nigga know that whatever the fuck he thought y'all had going on is dead. You're mines, always have been and always will be," Brock said before letting her go and walking back up the stairs.
Dream just stood there rubbing her arm and shaking her head. She knew she should have left Brock years ago but she was too busy being young, dumb and in love. Her attention switched to the phone on the ground. She had a mind to call Carmelo back, but she figured after Brock answered her phone, he got the wrong idea and didn't want anything to do with her.
<><><><>
Melo rang the bell for the third time and sucked his teeth. He hated that Christina thought it was okay to play games with him and waste his time. She was the one who called him over but now she wanted to take forever and a day to open the door. On top of that, he was pissed that some dude was playing on Dream’s phone, but that was a different subject for a different time.
“Finally, yo,” Melo huffed when the door finally inched open.
“I had fell sleep Carmelo. I do work extremely long and tiring hours,” she spat.
“Whatever, Chrissy. What up though? You called me all the way out here for what?” he asked as he headed toward the living room with her hot on his heels.
“I wanted to see you. I haven’t seen you in like two weeks. Barely spoke to you on the phone. I just want to know what’s up,” Chrissy said as she plopped down on her Italian leather sofa.
Carmelo took a seat next to her and sighed as he ran his hands over his waves and down his face.
“I just been busy man,” he said.
“Busy with that girl? Or busy with Summer? Got to be one or the other, if not both.”
Melo popped his head up and looked at her with disgust.
“Fuck is you talking about? First off Chrissy, don’t mention my niece name. Nothing you ever say Summer have something nice attached to it, so don’t speak her name at all. And what other girl? This is why I don’t come around. Nobody want to hear the bullshit. You so fucking insecure. For what, yo?” Melo barked.
“I wasn’t this way until I met you. You did this to me. I been comparing myself to a bitch you didn’t even know since the day I met. Now, you finally had the chance to see the girl… Where the fuck does that leave me. And Summer, your precious fucking Summer, God forbid I said anything about her that wasn’t the fucking truth, Carmelo. Come on now. You act like anything I say about or toward her is a lie.”
“It don’t fucking matter, man. That’s my heart. She was here before you and is here after you, shorty. I been told you not to get that shit twisted.
“After me? So I’m a thing of the past, Carmelo?”
It took a minute for him to answer as he contemplated on what he was going to say. Things weren’t official with him and Dream, but they were moving in the right direction. Keeping in mind the fact that Dream had his heart from the moment he woke up from his coma, no, the moment he dreamt about her, Chrissy really didn’t have a chance.
“Honestly, Chrissy, yea. This thing we had, it was good. I’m not going to lie and I really was feeling you. I just have a lot going on right now, for real for real. It has nothing to do with Summer, or Dream, for that matter. Have I been kicking it with her? Yea, I have. But it ain’t nothing too heavy at the moment. I haven’t fucked her or nothing like that, but I know that I want to be with her and unless one day she wake up and decide to cut me off, that’s going to happen. I would be fucked up if I kept stringing you along until Dream came to a decision about us. Believe it or not, I don’t want to do that to you,” Melo said.
It may have sounded brutal, but he was honest. He wasn’t lying when he said he didn’t want to play Chrissy to the left like that, but he knew for a fact what he imagined having with Dream, what he knew for a fact he would have with her, Chrissy couldn’t compare to it. It may have sounded crazy to everyone else, but he didn’t care. The only people it needed to make sense to were him and Dream, and at that time, it did.
“I’m glad you think you’re going to have this happily ever after with this girl, Carmelo. Just get used to seeing my face because I’m going to be a constant for eighteen fucking years. Melo, eighteen years is a long as time.”
Carmelo cocked his head to the side and shook it from side to side. He knew exactly what Christina was saying to him and as much as he didn’t want to believe it….
“Yep, I’m pregnant. BOOM! Tell that chick to compete with that,” Chrissy boasted with a smirk on her face.
“Oh, aight. Let me know when your next doctor’s appointment is so I can be there and shit,” he said as he somberly rose to his feet. Melo had gotten used to the thought of being of father with the shit that had gone on about Summer being his, but he knew for a fact he didn’t want his child’s mother to be Chrissy. He was a man though, and would definitely handle his business.
“That’s it. All you going to say is let you know when I go to the doctor? Are you fucking serious, Carmelo Love?” Chrissy said, jumping to her feet and invading Melo’s personal space.
“Fuck you wanted me to say? A baby don’t change shit, Chrissy. I will take care of my seed and make sure you’re good always, but that don’t mean I want to ride off into the sunset and give you my last name. Fuck out of here with that shit. You let me fuck you raw without putting a ring on your finger, so don’t expect me to pop up with a ring just because you pregnant, ma. I don’t want to be with you. That’s that!” he yelled.
“FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU, CARMELO!
I’m not pregnant. And I’m glad I’m not. I said that just so I could prove the type of fucked up individual you are. That bitch can have you. Soon as the next pretty face and fat ass catch your attention, you going to dip on her, too. You ain’t shit. Get the fuck out my house,” Chrissy barked as tears escaped her eyes.
“And you just proved how you are a crazy, desperate, thirsty ass bitch,” Melo barked before turning and heading for the door.
He wasn’t even mad that they had argued. Carmelo was doing backflips in his head because Chrissy said she wasn’t really pregnant. The argument was about to be nothing but a distant memory since he was headed to pick up his future for date night.
Chapter Eleven
Carmelo and Dream pulled up to her house so they could enjoy a movie after going out. Dream had never laughed so hard in her life, she never would have guessed that Carmelo had such a good sense of humor. All they did was crack jokes and laugh.
"Okay so don't judge me but all I have is love story movies," Dream said as she unlocked her front door.
"No type of thug movies?" Carmelo asked.
"I'm not a..."
Dreams voice trailed off as she saw Brock who was sitting on her couch like he was waiting for her to get home.
"What are you doing in my house, Brock?"
Not answering her, Brock stared at Carmelo. He was trying to figure out where he knew this nigga from. Not the least bit intimidated, Carmelo gave him a look that said he wasn't worried.
"Hello?" Dream snapped her fingers. "Are you not going to answer my question? Now, I'm going to ask you one more time. What. Are. You. Doing. Here?"
"Who's this nigga? Didn't I tell you that if I can't have you, another nigga damn sure wasn't going to?" Brock asked, never breaking eye contact with Carmelo.
"Okay, since you don't want to answer my question, how about I just call the police?" Dream said as she went to pick up her house phone.
Brock jumped up and grabbed Dream by her hair just as she put her hand on the phone. Brock put a gun to her head and Dream screamed for her life. Instantly, Carmelo went into street mode and pulled his gun from his waistline. Dream’s eyes bucked. She knew what Carmelo was into, so the fact that he had a gun didn't surprise her. The fact that he had one on their date the entire time and she didn't know is what surprised her.
"Put the gun down and let her go, bitch," Carmelo yelled.
"Nah, nigga. This ain't got shit to do with you. This here is my bitch and she belongs to me," Brock said.
Since Dream was about a foot shorter than Brock, he was sure that he could put a bullet right through his head, but he didn't want to scare Dream. Dream looked up at Carmelo with pleading eyes, she was silently begging Carmelo to save her. She knew Brock was crazy, but she never thought that he would stoop this low. She had shared some crazy experiences with him but this one right here took the cake.
Not ever being the one to talk in situations like this, Carmelo took the shot.
POW!
"AHHH!" Dream screamed as the shot went off.
She turned around just as Brock's body hit the ground. She stared into his lifeless eyes that were still wide open. He's dead, she thought as she stared at her first love who was now dead. Carmelo called up the clean-up crew then went over to Dream.
"You alright?" Carmelo asked.
Dream wanted to answer him but she couldn't. How could he ask her if she was okay when there was a dead body in her living room? Not just any dead body, but her ex-boyfriends dead body.
"You killed him," she whispered.
Not knowing what to say, Carmelo just took her hand into his and led her out of the house. Dream’s mind was all over the place as she let Carmelo drive her to wherever. Never in a million years did she think she would have experienced something like that. To have someone you once loved with every piece of your heart to put a gun to your head was not something that was easy to deal with.
Doing something he rarely did, Carmelo took Dream back to the place he laid his head every night. He put the car in park and looked over at Dream just as she put her hands to her face and broke down. Usually, he wouldn't care about a female crying in his presence but this was different. He didn't know what to say so he just got out of the car and walked over to his passenger’s side.
He pulled the door open and unbuckled Dream’s seatbelt. He wrapped his arms around her and picked her up. Carrying her to his door, he used his key to let himself in. When they got in the house, he carried her all the way upstairs. Dream cried the whole time. She didn't even know why she was crying, but all she knew was the waterworks were coming and they were coming hard.
Carmelo laid her on his bed and went to his drawer to grab a t-shirt. He walked back over to the bed and undressed Dream. Dream didn't say anything as he removed her clothing. She was exhausted and all she wanted to do was get some rest. After putting his t-shirt on her body, he pulled the covers over her and left the room.
He needed to make some phone calls and make sure everything was straight. After making all the necessary phone calls, he went out in his backyard to smoke a blunt. His mind was all over the place. He knew he probably should have just gave the nigga a flesh wound or something, but he let his street instincts overrode that.
He knew that if you pulled a gun out on a nigga and didn't kill them, ten times out of ten they were coming for you. He already had one nigga gunning for his head and he didn't need any add-ons, at least not until he handled the first one. After smoking his blunt, Carmelo stayed outside for another hour, just enjoying the cool breeze from the night. His phone rang and he smiled when he saw Summer's name.
"What's up, little girl?"
"I'm outside, sir. Open the door please?" Summer asked.
"Alright," Carmelo said as he hung up the phone and got up to answer the door for his niece.
Carmelo knew he had done the wrong thing when he surprised Summer with a new car, but he couldn't help himself. It was just a little something to show her how proud of her he was for being a good girl and staying on track.
"Heyyyy, Uncle Melo!" Summer sang as she walked through the door.
"Why you so giddy and happy?" Carmelo smiled.
"What? I can't be happy to see my favorite uncle?"
Carmelo waved her off as they walked into the living room. "I'm your only uncle, girl. Now tell me, what do you want and how much does it cost?"
"Well...” Summer started but stopped once she noticed a female coming down the stairs. She was amazed at how beautiful this woman was. She didn't even know if beautiful was an appropriate word to describe her.
"Hi," Summer spoke.
Forgetting that Dream was even over, Carmelo snapped his head around to look at her. Her eyes were puffy but it didn't take away from her beauty.
"Hello," Dream spoke as she slightly smiled.
Summer looked at her uncle sideways. "Uncle Melo, are you going to introduce me or nah?" she asked.
Thinking to hell with it, Carmelo did the introductions. "Summer, this is Dream. Dream, this is my niece, Summer."
Summer repeated that name to herself, wondering why that name sounded so familiar. She looked at Dream with her head tilted then it finally hit her. Dream was the name her uncle was calling out when he came out of his coma.
"Oh, shit! Shoot....I mean shoot! Dream? Uncle Melo this is Dream? Your Dream?"
Carmelo shook his head at Summer as she ran over to Dream and shook her hand. He was slightly embarrassed by Summer's outburst but he knew she couldn't help it. She always got a little wild whenever she got excited.
"Summer, chill," Carmelo said.
"Oh," Summer said as she backed away from Dream. "Okay, well, let me get out of here. I didn't want anything, Uncle Melo. I'll call you later though, like tomorrow later. So umm...yea, bye," she said as she rushed to the door.
Dream couldn't help but to chuckle at her. "She's cute," she smiled.
"Thank you, but don't let that cute face fool you. She can be a handful," Carmelo
said.
“I believe it,” Dream said as she walked over to the couch and sat by him. She looked straight down at the floor and played with her fingers.
Carmelo was starting to feel bad. He knew that Dream wasn't accustomed to the life he lived so she was probably in shock. He just prayed that he didn't traumatize her or scare her away. They were just now getting close and he didn't plan on losing her.
“Dream, I'm sorry,” Carmelo sighed. “I know I could have handled that differently.”
Dream sat quiet as she continued to play with her fingers. She didn't know what to say or how to respond.
“He was my first, we had some good times and we had some horrible times. I played the fool for him for years until I decided I couldn't take it anymore. When I told him I was leaving him, he started acting crazy. Don't get me wrong, he was always crazy. But it got worse after the breakup. He just refused to accept the fact that I didn't want to be with him anymore. I had never been in that position before. He…”
Dream paused as the memories from earlier came rushing back.
“He put a gun to my head and I have no doubts that he would have pulled the trigger. Carmelo, you saved my life,” she said as she finally looked up at him.
She scooted closer to him and laid her head on his chest. Carmelo wrapped his arm around her, loving the feel of her next to him.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“You don't have to thank me.”
“I guess I better call my mom and tell her that I'll need a place to stay for a little,” Dream said.
“What for?” Asked Carmelo.
“I'm not going back into that house anytime soon.”
“I know that, but I mean why you gotta go to your mom’s house when you're already here?” Carmelo said.
He really didn't want Dream to leave. He could remember how it felt when she was staying with him in his dream, so he wanted to experience the real thing. He didn't mind going to sleep and waking up with her every night. Dream lifted her head off his shoulder and looked at him funny.
“Carmelo, I am not about to stay here and be all in your way. I can tell no female has been here besides Summer, so I don't want to inconvenience you.”
A Gangster's Dream 2 Page 5
