She Used to Be the Sweetest Girl

by Briann Danae

  Mrs. Carla paid the bill and headed to the car to wait for her daughter. Walking past Shemel on her way out, she gave him a smile before he got up to wait for Brix to return from the restroom.

  Turning the corner to head toward the car, Brix grabbed her chest and bumped into the wall. “God you scared me,” she laughed nervously.

  “My fault, my fault. Just wanted to get at you before you left out,” he replied nervously. No female had ever made him this hesitant to ask for her number, but for some reason, Brix did.

  “Okay. What is that you want to get at me for?” she said, mimicking his slang terminology.

  Shemel chuckled before responding. “I know you don’t know me that well, but I figured we could get to know each other a little better. If you hadn’t noticed, I’m quite attracted to you,” he blurted out, not even realizing it.

  Brix’s faced turned warm instantly at his confession. Sure, the attraction was there, but was she really ready to know him personally? She must not have responded fast enough because he continued.

  “And you’re attracted to me. It’s written all over your face, beautiful, but I will definitely understand if you’re not tryna go that route with a nigga,” he said while licking his lips, hoping she wouldn’t say no. Running her hands through her hair, she grinned awkwardly, not really sure how to respond, but knew she should.

  “You are attractive. I just don’t think you're my type. I’m sorry,” she said apologetically. He was fine as hell to her, but she was not ready to welcome him into her world, at least not yet anyway. The little pep talk she gave herself about stepping out of her comfort zone was quickly ignored. She was simply not ready.

  “No hard feelings at all ma. Everyone can’t handle my type,” he said confidently, before standing up. His tall frame, towering over Brix, made her want to wrap her arms around him and tell him not to walk away yet. She didn’t like how he placed her in the category of everyone else, but there was nothing she could do.

  Mel walked away, taking his L like the G he was. He slid back in his booth and watched as Brix left out the door. For her to claim he wasn’t her type without even knowing him rubbed him the wrong way. The first two assumptions she placed upon him, he wasn’t really tripping off of, but to automatically assume he wasn’t her type, he wasn’t feeling at all. Shit, maybe she wasn’t his.

  Walking to the car, Brix felt a little bad about how she brushed Mel off. Climbing into the passenger seat, her mama immediately went in with the questioning.

  “Did you get his number?” she asked excitedly.

  “No ma. I told him he wasn’t my type,” Brix said in a whining manner.

  “Now, why would you say that? You don’t even have a type,” Mrs. Carla fussed. She was for certain Brix was going to walk out smiling. That was not the case at all.

  “But I do! I don’t know what made me say that mess,” she replied, shaking her head. She knew exactly why she had said it, but didn’t want to admit the truth to her mama.

  “That’s alright. It’s not like the world is going to end because you don’t want to talk to him,” she said, pulling out the parking lot.

  Brix knew she had a point. The thing was, she didn’t want the world to end before she ever found her a quote unquote type. She thought Drew was everything and more, but you see how that turned out. Sitting quietly, lost in her thoughts, Brix went over the upcoming week in her head. The first thing she planned to do when she arrived home was update the pricing on her website for desserts. Valentine’s day was around the corner and besides, Thanksgiving and Christmas, that was one of her busiest days of the year.

  “You know what ma? I’m going to just remain focused on me. I don’t need a man distracting me right now,” she told her mama as they pulled into the driveway.

  Her mother smiled, but knew deep down Brix was only saying that because of what she had been through. She hated that she felt like she wasn’t good enough after the way that excuse of a man, Drew, treated her.

  “Hey, whatever you decide, I’ll support you baby,” Mrs. Carla replied.

  Brix smiled at her mother before getting out the car. True enough, she was always focused on her coins. The only thing a man could provide for her right now was some good dick. But what’s good sex to a female who was making love to the money? Just another squirrel trying to get a nut, and Brix hated squirrels.

  Four

  Taking a swig from his cup of lean, Pierre looked around the warehouse. It’s Wednesday morning, the middle of the week, and shit couldn’t be going any smoother for him and his family. Money was flowing abundantly, they haven’t had to kill one person all week, and Shemel’s show was this weekend.

  “Aye, aye, you niggas quit playing and listen up,” he told everyone, mainly talking to Fatz and Ricky. Them two were forever on some childish shit, especially when Pierre’s younger brother Carlos aka Los joined in. Everyone got quiet and looked his way.

  “Alright, so check it, money looking good, but we can be making more. I’ma set up some shit with Jefe to ship in some more coke for sometime next week. We good on the weed and pills tip right now. That nigga Mel been out here moving shit,” he praised his best friend.

  Mel just shrugged his shoulders. Of course he was making shit move; he ain’t have a choice. Studio sessions weren’t free, and although he got paid to do shows, he blew through those checks quick. Majority of the time, he’d toss them to his mama just because she deserved it.

  “What’s good with the syrup?” Fatz questioned.

  “Lisa should be hitting my line today. I’ma start charging yo ass. I hope you selling just as much as you sipping nigga,” Pierre told him.

  “I ain’t paying for shit. You need to start dicking that bitch down a little better. Make her ass supply us with some more,” Fatz said, with everyone nodding their head in agreeance.

  “I actually stopped fucking the broad a while back. Only thing I did was increase her pay. Her ass started tripping out, but y’all know how that goes. Give these hoes a price and they’ll take whatever they can get,” he told them. “I’ll rap with her when she slide through later on.”

  “What pops say about that gun connect we talked about?” Omar, the oldest of the crew questioned. At thirty-two, he knew the game inside and out. He had been in the shit for so long, he could weigh a brick in his sleep. Since getting married and having kids, he took a step back from being the one in charge. Although it was his, Shemel’s, Laron, and Jerome’s dad who had started the business, they didn’t mind letting Pierre run shit. His pops was their dad’s right-hand man back in the day.

  “He wasn’t feeling the idea, but I’ma have to win him over. Ain’t no way we gone miss out on that money,” Pierre answered, as the wheels in his head started to turn. He wasn’t down for the non-violent streak like the rest of the city was on. The more guns he had to carry around, the better. Pierre put it like this; the more you scream non-violence, the more people gone get caught slipping cause they think everybody down for the same cause. He had no plans to be taken out by anyone.

  “Yeah, that most definitely would be a good investment. I’ll holla at him about it,” Omar said.

  “We ain’t had to kill nobody yet this week, so I guess that’s good. Niggas staying in they place, just how they should be,” he announced and everyone nodded.

  “Hope niggas keep that same mindset at the show on Saturday,” said Mel.

  He was all for doing a show to bring the city out to show love, but niggas were reckless. Regardless of what they were doing during the week, when the weekend came, niggas start to feel themselves a little too much. Not to mention how they loved to front for the hoes, and there were going to be plenty at the performance.

  “They better man. Niggas know not to play that tough shit while my brother performing,” Jerome spoke up and said. He was two years older than Shemel at twenty-seven, and was truly his little brother’s keeper. Out of the four brothers, these two could pass for twins, except Jerome didn’t have dreads
. Laron, the second oldest brother at twenty-nine, was the quiet one, but deadly. He didn’t talk much, but when he did, niggas were sure to listen.

  “We already know. Yo ass gone be on stage waiting for somebody to pop off,” Ricky said chuckling, but was serious. That’s how the shows went. All the older niggas would stand back and peep the scene, while the younger ones were Shemel's hype men.

  “Exactly nigga. You know what it is,” Jerome replied, dapping Ricky up.

  “Alright, I’m done discussing the business side of things so we good. Y’all know who line to hit if you run out before the weekend. If its dire fucking emergency, y’all can call me, but other than that, y’all can leave,” Pierre said, ending the meeting. All the young niggas left, including Omar and Laron. Fatz pulled the blunt from his ear that he had been waiting to smoke. They had made it a rule not to smoke while at the meetings cause niggas would be too worried about getting skipped in rotation.

  “What’s good on that loft move after the show? Y’all gone have some bitches slide through?” Los asked. He was the youngest out of their main circle at twenty-one, and he was definitely a ladies’ man. No matter how scandalous he did the women, they still came back for more.

  “This nigga always tryna get his dick wet,” Shemel laughed, mushing his head.

  “Shit, I might as well. Them bitches know what it is when they see us,” he said, taking a pull from the blunt Fatz handed him.

  “Yeah, we gone have ‘em slide through. Them hoes can’t stay the night though. Wake up and everything be missing,” Pierre joked, but was dead ass. Bitches were schemers and always looking for a come up. He had been in the game long enough and seen it happen plenty of times.

  “As long as that lil honey Mel was mackin’ on at Waffle House slide through, I’m good,” Ricky said laughing.

  “Aye, you can have her. She ain’t mine,” he replied, nonchalantly, but was low-key salty. He was digging little Brix, but she wasn’t feeling him, so he said fuck it. They didn’t run with the same group of folks no way, so he didn’t intend on ever seeing her again.

  “Awww, you mad man? Shit, I’d be mad too. She was bad as fuck,” Ricky said, shaking his head.

  “Aye, who this female?” Pierre questioned.

  “She made the cakes for Amani’s birthday party. I had to go pick ‘em up and it’s the same fine ass girl I told y’all I saw in Wal-Mart that night. Shawty had on some spandex shorts, looking right,” Mel said, going down memory lane. That wasn’t the only thing that captivated him though. Brix was drop dead gorgeous and her personality made her even sexier. That’s why he really wanted to get to know her. Forget all the other shit.

  “And she played you?” Pierre asked amused. It wasn’t every day his boy got turned down, so he was ready to hear this story.

  “Told my ass I wasn’t her type. Like what the fuck does that even mean? I’m everybody type,” he said, breaking his shell down to roll up. He needed something to relax him and since he didn’t have to go to the studio for a few hours, he was gone blow some Kush and chill back.

  “This nigga here,” Pierre said laughing. “What’s the first thing our pops told us when we got in the game?” he said to all of them.

  “We don’t love these hoes, we just fuck these hoes. If they ain’t talking money then we duck these hoes,” they said in unison.

  “Exactly. Fuck her then bro. She didn’t know who you were?” Pierre asked.

  “Shit, I guess not. I mean, she prolly heard somethin’ about me. Why else would she say I ain’t her type? She don’t even know me,” he said more to himself. He had never stressed over any female, but Brix had him tripping.

  “Like I said, fuck her then. It’s plenty more bitches out here. I’on know why yo ass tryna fall in love anyway. Once you make it big with this rap shit, so many bitches gone be on yo dick, you gone need to hire bodyguards. Straight up,” Pierre told him.

  “And the ones you don’t want, send ‘em my way,” Fatz said, making everybody laugh.

  Shemel sat back in deep thought. He already had females on his dick from his name alone, so the rapping was just extra clout. He didn’t care too much for it though. He had plenty of chicks in his phone he could knock down on the late night, but he didn’t have time for that. Every time he’d think of settling down, he’d also think about the money he would be missing while he was laid up. He didn’t have time to hear complaining about coming in late or about putting his hustle before a relationship. On many nights, he heard his mother complain about the same shit to his pops until he handed the throne over to his kids. If a chick wasn’t ready for his lifestyle, then he most definitely wasn’t her type.

  “Y’all right, y’all right. Fuck it. Saturday gone be a movie and we gone be live in that hoe! After that, we gone hit the strip club and pay somebody broke baby daddy’s child support check,” he laughed, slapping hands with his boys.

  They sat around talking and laughing, until it was time to hit the studio. Mel had two days left to prepare for his show, but he honestly didn’t need them. He was a natural when he got on stage. Only reason he was going tonight is because he had already paid for it, and he wasn’t in the field of wasting money. He’d just lay some new music down and drop it on his loyal supporters, on some Beyoncé shit.

  * * * * *

  “Why in the world do you keep calling me, Drew?” Brix spoke calmly into the phone. She was on her lunch break at work, and for the fourth time today, he was ringing her line.

  “Damn, you don’t miss a nigga?” he spat into the phone.

  Brix rolled her eyes and sat her fork down before responding. “No, in fact, there is nothing to miss. What we had is so over it’s not even funny. I don’t even know why you think it’s okay to still contact me. I need to get my damn number changed,” she hissed under her breath.

  “I hurt you that damn bad that I can’t even call to check on you? What kind of shit is that?”

  “Check on me!” she hollered, then brought her voice down a few octaves. “Check on me, now? Where the hell were you when my father died? You weren’t doing any checking then. I can’t believe I’m even hearing this right now,” she spat.

  “Man B, I was going through some shit and I told you that. I didn’t know how to deal with your emotions and mine,” he said.

  “So you just leave like a freaking coward? Oh my God, who was I dating for all those years?” she replied, shaking her head.

  “Yes I left, but I’m back now. I was hoping we could work shit out. I know you still got love for a nigga,” he had the nerve to say.

  “Ha, wow. What is it with you guys so called telling me how I feel? Listen Drew, you and I will never be again. It’s been two years since I’ve seen you, and quite frankly, I pray to God it stays that way. You hurt me and I am finally getting over you and I—” she stopped, getting cut off.

  “So you really over me for good baby? You got another nigga that can eat your pussy the way I do and make your toes curl? Another nigga stroking you long and deep till you feel it in ya chest? Is that what you telling me? No nigga will ever make love to your body like I do, and I know you not giving your heart to these niggas either. That shit is mine and always will be,” he spoke in his deep voice, making Brix squeeze her legs together.

  Drew knew that would shut Brix up. He knew she wasn’t out here fucking, so reminding her of what she was missing was sure to play in his favor, so he thought. Brix was handling the conversation well, until he spoke of the bomb sex they used to have. He was her first and her last, and seeing as though she hadn’t seen him in two years, she was beyond sexually frustrated. In her mind, she was over him, but every time he called or texted her, the hurt and pain resurfaced. Pulling the phone away from her ear, she took a deep breath before responding.

  “You’ll always hold a place somewhere in my heart. It’s deep down at the very bottom where those who don’t deserve my love belong. Someday I’m going to fall in love with someone and it’s going to be so organic and refreshin
g that the little spot you have will be replaced by his. So sure, I may not be completely over you right now, but I will be. And when that time does come, please leave me the hell alone,” she said, disconnecting the call.

  Brix had finally grown tired of him blowing her phone up, so she answered. If she had known he’d try and play the victim, she would have sent him to voicemail, like all the other calls. She knew there had to be a reason for him to call back to back like that. It was because he was back in town and was trying to rekindle a flame that had burned out long ago. Drew didn’t even know how to approach Brix about his disappearing act, so he played the victim.

  Although he showed it in a weird way, he had mad love for Brix. He always had. She was his sweet, innocent girl in high school, who loved her boyfriend, stayed to herself and he loved that about her. She wasn’t messy or labeled as a hoe, so Drew immediately cuffed her. He had been back in St. Louis for a few weeks now and was nervous as hell to actually see Brix in person. That’s why he would blow her phone up, and today was no different.