by Kia
“Neiman, you just keep getting yourself in trouble,” Bishop said the minute I sat in the warm seat.
“Aw shit,” I said as the woman drove off. I tried to open the door but it wouldn’t open. “Bishop, are you stalking me?” I asked. Hell, he was supposed to be in California.
“While I’ve been away on business, you’ve been with my boy, Fila?” he asked.
“Being away selling drugs is not a business trip,” I hissed as we merged onto the freeway.
“Answer me, bitch!” He yelled as he pulled a knife to my throat. He did it so swift that I didn’t see it coming.
“I told you, me and Percy worked shit out,” I lied. Truth is, I was fucking with Bishop after Percy and I broke up. And when Bishop left, I started fucking with Fila. Yeah, I was on my hoe shit and I don’t give a care in the world.
“Lie again and I will kill you right now.”
“Okay, Bishop. Damn! Yes, I’m with Fila now.”
“So when were you going to tell me that this wasn’t my baby?” he asked.
“It is your baby,” I lied.
He gave me the side eye, put his knife down and slapped me so hard that I saw the milky way.
“Don’t lie to me, bitch!”
“I’m not lying, baby,” I lied as tears streamed down my face. He had never hit me before, and I was shocked.
“I got something for ya ass,” he said before he told the lady to take us to one of his abandoned trap houses in South Dallas. No one was there and it looked to be haunted. I thought I was about to die. I started to ask the driver for help, but he had paid her a grip, and she left me with his crazy ass.
“Come on,” he said as he walked behind me and pushed me into the raggedy door. A rat ran past my feet and I hopped all over the place.
All he did was laugh as he turned the lights on. That’s when I saw how dirty it really was inside. It looked like a forest that was inside of house, and my skin started to itch. Even my baby started to move uncontrollably.
“But baby, I swear my baby is yours. You have to believe me. I wouldn’t lie to you.”
“So why did you stop answering my phone calls?” he asked, pushing me against the wall.
“You hurt me! I heard about you and that bitch from Cali,” I lied. I hadn’t heard anything about him and nobody from Cali. But I knew it was somebody that he was messing with.
“What bitch from Cali?” he asked as he backed up and thought about what I was talking about.
“Uh huh. You thought I didn’t know?” I started walking toward him now.
“So that’s my baby, huh?” he asked.
“Yes.”
He thought for a minute before reacting. “You better be lucky I can’t do a blood test while the baby is still inside. That’s the only reason I won’t blast ya fucking head away. ’Cause I ain’t tryna risk it and kill the lil’ nigga if he really mine.”
“He is yours,” I said as I grabbed his hand and pleaded with my eyes.
“Be careful,” he said as he walked out and left me there. I had to find my own way back home, but I did.
But my betrayal didn’t end there. I ended up tipping the police off about his drug empire when my baby was born. I did it because I knew that he would come back for a DNA test when he found out that PJ was born. And now my bad karma was catching up to me. He wanted my head.
Bishop was up to something, and I needed to know what. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that Bishop had something to do with Bleek too. Bleek still hadn’t called me with a price.
Just as I was about to take a shower, my phone began to ring. It was Percy.
“You have a collect call from Percy, do you accept?” the operator asked.
“Yes.”
“Baby, I got some good news and bad news,” he said.
“What?”
“So, I got a visit from a random nigga just now, and guess who it was?”
“Who?”
“It was Bleek,” he responded all excited, and so was I.
“What did he say?”
“He said that I don’t have to pay him back until I get out, and he said that he would pull some strings to get me out on some self-defense shit, and all that other shit gonna disappear. Mostly so I can get his money back.”
“So what’s the bad news?” I asked.
“Bleek never sent anybody our house.”
“What?” I asked. The room started spinning and my feet almost left the ground.
“Bleek don’t have our son, baby. That was an imposter. A stranger has our son.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Neiman
One week later…
“Hurry up, love. You gonna make us miss the movie,” Glory said as he sat on my bed and waited for us to get dressed.
We had been kicking it every day and I was liking it. He was keeping my mind off of shit that didn’t matter, and I appreciated him for that. He was even trying to help us come up with a way to find my nephew. But we had no leads. Nyssa finally said fuck it and put the Amber Alert out for him. I don’t know what had come over her, but she was acting like a bitch.
“I’m ready,” I said as I turned the light off in the bathroom and grabbed my purse.
“Why you grabbing ya purse? Take that off.” He pulled my purse from my hands and threw it on the bed. I blushed as we walked out into the living area where Nyssa was.
“We out,” I said to her. She smiled and chunked up the deuce. Then threw herself back under the covers that she had on the couch with her.
“What movie are we going to see?” I asked him.
“We ain’t going to see no movie, shawty.”
“Huh?”
“I’m taking you to the hospital,” he said as we got in the car.
“Why?” I asked.
“I heard you telling Nyssa how you were going to sneak and see him and I wanted to show you that you didn’t have to sneak and do a damn thing, ma.”
“But I didn’t mean it like that. I just wanted to see how he was doing.”
“I understand. That’s why I’m taking you to see him. Chill out and put ya seat belt on,” he said. I did as I was told and shook my head. I needed to stop talking so damn loud.
“Are you upset? I asked as we drove off.
“I’m cool, ma. I just want you to be happy. Feel me?”
“I feel you. I don’t want him. Just to let you know.”
“It’s cool to wanna know if someone is doing okay, ma. I understand.”
For more than half of the trip, we drove in silence until I finally spoke. “This is so embarrassing,” I said as we pulled into the parking lot.
“Let’s go,” he said, getting out the jeep.
He walked over and opened my door. I wasn’t trying to fall too fast for Glory, but everything about him made me feel a way I had never felt before. I felt at peace for the first time ever. He grabbed my hand and led the way inside.
“He’s on the third floor,” I said.
“I know where he is.”
“My bad, big homie.” We got on the elevator.
“You look beautiful,” he said, before the doors slid open to let us off.
“You don’t look too bad yourself.” He followed me as I led the way to Nel’s room.
“I’ll wait out here,” he said as he sat in a chair outside the room. I nodded and walked inside. I was expecting to see Chakira but I didn’t see anyone but Nel in his bed sleep. I kinda felt bad for him because he was all alone.
“Hey, big head,” I said, standing over him and rubbing his head. He smiled.
“Where you been?”
“Giving you space. Where is Chakira?” I asked.
“She heard that I needed all that money in order to walk again and I ain’t heard from her ever since.”
“Hmph.”
“I know. You’re right. You told me so.”
“I did.”
“You sure did, ma. And that’s why I wanted to talk,” he said, drawing me ba
ck in with his eyes.
“I can’t.”
“I knew you would say that. That’s why I wanted to ask you if you would marry me.”
“What? Marry you? But what about Chakira?” I asked.
“Fuck Chakira. She left a nigga when I was down. Feel me? Now I’m seeing who’s real and who ain’t. And you stayed down just like I knew you would.”
“I don’t know,” I said.
“Baby, what is there to not know? I know how bad you wanted my last name and I wanna give it to you. No one deserves it more than you.”
“Damn, Nel. Why now? Huh? Why you wanna marry me now?” I asked. Tears threatened to fall.
“I know I haven’t always been the best nigga to you, baby, but give me a chance.”
“I can’t. I just can’t.” I tried to walk way but he grabbed my hand.
“Look, baby, I’m making progress. I can move my hands now. Just stick with me, baby. We can get through this.” All I could think about was the man that I had waiting on me in that hallway. But on the other hand, Nel and I had history.
“I know, baby, but I don’t have that kinda money.”
“That’s the least of our worries. I just want you to say yes.”
“I can’t.”
“Say yes.”
“No, baby. I can’t.”
“Who is he?” He asked.
“Who is who?”
“The nigga that got you ready to walk out on me forever.”
“Nel…”
“Don’t lie to me.”
“But does it matter?” I asked.
Just as he was about to answer, Chakira came thru the doors with her weak apologies and Nel seemed to have forgotten what he’d just asked me.
“You again?” she asked.
“She just came to check on me,” he said.
“Tell her what you just told me. Where you been? Huh? Heard you ran off,” I said.
“Heard you ran off too. You ain’t been here. I been tryna get this money.”
“Bitch, so you lied to me?” I asked Nel.
“Girl, don’t let him play you. He just wants another person to get more money from, but I got this,” Chakira said, and Nel didn’t say a damn thing.
“Nel, you just gonna let her talk to me like that?” I asked his punk ass.
“Leave!” Chakira yelled at me and that’s when Glory walked thru the doors.
“You good, baby?” Glory asked as he walked behind me and caressed my hips.
“Who is this nigga?” Nel asked.
“This is my man, Glory.”
“What the hell he doing here?” Nel asked.
“Answer him, baby,” I said.
“You tell him. I don’t wanna talk to this goofy-ass nigga.” He laughed as he nibbled on my ear.
“Hi, I’m Chakira,” she said as she reached her hand out with a grin.
Nel was looking at her like he wanted to snap her neck. She had some nerve.
“Let’s go, baby,” Glory said as he led me out the room.
“Thanks,” I said when we got on the elevator.
“For what?”
“For taking up for me.”
“My pleasure.”
“Why did you really bring me here?” I asked
“If you gonna be my girl, you gotta get this nigga out ya system.”
“Oh so you want me to be your girl?” I asked.
“You is my girl,” he said, grabbing me playfully as we exited the elevator.
“When this happen?” I asked.
“It happened the first day we met. You just ain’t know.”
“I like that.”
“Me too. What you wanna eat?” he asked.
“Is this a trick question?”
“Just answer?” He unlocked the doors to the jeep.
“I have a taste for bean burgers.”
“You don’t have to be vegan just because I am. There you go again.”
“What?” I asked, buckling my seat belt.
“Trying to make me happy, knowing damn well you want some tacos.”
“But I thought you said I didn’t love myself if I did that?” I asked.
“You gotta chill. I ain’t say it like that. But if you wanna eat how I eat, learn why I eat that way first. And then make the decision if that’s for you or not.”
“You’re confusing.”
“You’ll understand in the long run. What do you really wanna eat though?”
“Some tacos.”
“Nigga, I knew that’s what you wanted.”
“Whatever. But thanks, though.”
“For what?” He asked.
“For letting me see that I didn’t need to be carrying that burden around for Nel.”
“Oh, you far from done. It’s a part of the healing process. Feel me?”
“So what you saying?”
“I’m saying that was only the beginning. I just gave you a head start.”
“I’d like to think that I control my own feelings.”
“You do.”
“So why can’t I let him go?” I asked, putting my head down. This was a true shame that I valued the life of a man that didn’t give a damn about mine.
“Pick ya head up, love. You too hard on ya own self. I mean… I ain’t tripping on that shit. I just want you to heal. Feel me?”
“But how do I even begin when I’m just now realizing how bad I hurt my own self?”
“I keep telling you the same shit over and over.”
For the remainder of our trip, we drove in silence. First we went to get food of my choice. All I could think about was all the time that I had been wasting on the wrong guys. For the first time, I was seeing what a real man was. And if this was wrong, I sure in hell didn’t want to be right. He was right, I gave my love up too fast but this didn’t have the potential to be wrong at all. Maybe Glory was the man that I had been searching for. Or maybe he just caught me at a vulnerable time? Or maybe I was just thinking too much. I had gone my whole life not realizing what it really meant to be in love with myself. Glory was right about one thing, why couldn’t I love myself like I loved Nel? I unconsciously saw him as above me and more worthy. And Queens don’t think like that. If I wanted to have a King by my side, then a queen is what I needed to start acting like.
But damn, I love Nel.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Malina
“Damn, y’all back early,” Bishop said when he walked through the door. Divine had called him over to talk to him.
“We been back for a few days now,” I said as I sat on the couch to be nosey. It was always Bishop popping up on us, we never had to call him to come over.
“So what’s up?” he asked, looking at Divine.
“Why you didn’t tell me that I would be bringing bricks of cocaine back with me?” Divine asked. This threw me for a loop because I didn’t know shit about no cocaine bricks.
“Where they at?” he asked, ignoring the question.
“In Los Angeles, nigga. The fuck you think this is?” Divine snapped.
“For what though?” he asked.
“What?”
“What was the point in you calling me way over here if you didn’t have my fucking drugs?”
“To show you that I ain’t your lil’ punk bitch. We gonna have to draw some lines if you want to continue to do business with me and I mean it.” She had her finger all in his face.
He rolled his eyes and stood up. “Mane, fuck this shit. I’m out,” he said as he power walked to the door and got the hell up outta there.
When he left, Divine walked over to the window to see if his car was gone. When she saw that it was she said, “Come on, let’s go.”
“Huh? Where?” I asked, grabbing my shoes.
“I will tell you once we get in the car.”
When we got back, Divine kept the rental car because her car kept fucking up. But it surprised the hell out of me when we got to the parking lot and we hopped in our neighbors F150. She had alread
y had the keys. I was wondering why she had been talking to him a lot lately. She had been planning for whatever it is that we were about to do.
When we got in the car, I finally said what I wanted to say. “Something was off about that nigga today.”
“I know,” is all she said.
“He seemed mad about something.”
“He was.”
“Shit, it ain’t our fault. Whatever it is he mad about,” I hissed as we bent the corner. She swerved so hard that I thought the truck would flip over.
Finally, we came to one of Bishop’s trap houses in South Dallas. I hadn’t been here in a while. To be honest, I thought this place had been hit by the feds or at least burnt down. It was still standing, raggedy and all. Divine parked across the street and turned to lights off. She must have been thinking what I was thinking. Wanting to know why this nigga was tripping out on us. There had to be an explanation.
As we sat in the car, I thought back on all the good times I used to have in South Dallas. And the bad times. We were only a block away from the old house where I lost my virginity.
“What are we doing here?” I asked Rasheed as we pulled up into an abandoned house. I was only fourteen, so I caught a bad vibe off the rip for the simple fact that I had to sneak out of the house to be here. My mom thought I was sleeping, but what did she care? It’s not like she came to check on me throughout the night.
“Thought you wanted alone time with a nigga?” He asked as he deaded the ignition to his mom’s car that he had stolen to pick me up.
“Yeah, but I thought we were going to IHOP like you said.” Rasheed laughed and flashed his pearly whites. One thing about Rasheed, he was as ugly as they came, but the ladies loved him because he was way before his time. At only fifteen, he was already involved in shootouts and murders. Back then, thuggin’ like that was cool to us. And sexy. So it didn’t matter if he looked like a black-ass donkey with a long chin, it was cool if you were fucking with him. And I was cool now.
“I mean…I can go pick you up some food after we’re done.”
“Done with what?”
“Mane, quit acting stupid. You know what a nigga wanted to do before I picked you up.”
“Actually, I don’t know,” I said as I crossed my legs, feeling uncomfortable. I was a virgin at the time, and sex seemed so much scarier when you’ve never had it before. I would listen to the horror stories that my friends would tell me about how they would bleed afterward. I wasn’t ready for all that.
