My Baby Is A West Coast King 3

by Shvonne Latrice

“About fucking time.” He grinned harder than I’d ever seen.

  “You’re happy?” I chuckled as he hopped out of the bed.

  “Hell yeah, you about to have a nigga blood walking in this muthafucka.”

  “Oh my gosh, please don’t—” Before I could finish he’d started, and I laughed so hard seeing his naked ass ‘blood walking’; dick out and everything.

  “I love you.” He yanked me from the bed once he was done dancing. I was still panting from laughing so hard and our sex session.

  “I love you more.”

  “Impossible.”

  Cassandra “Cassie” Reid

  My mom talked to her boyfriend Ned for me, so today I was going to meet him and basically let him know what I was looking to do.

  I wanted Miles completely out of Melody’s life. I knew she should have her father around, but it wasn’t good for either of our health’s for him to be. I couldn’t take him hitting me, and I would fuck around and murder him if he hit her. Not to mention if Kordell somehow found out that he’d touched her, he’d kill us both. It may have been selfish of me, but I felt like Melody would be fine with just me. Her father would do nothing but break her heart like he’d broken mine.

  “Is this the park?” Melody quizzed from the back seat.

  “No, baby. We have to do some grown up stuff first and then we can go to the park, okay?”

  “Okay, Mommy.”

  I swooped into a parking space and shut the engine off.

  Ned’s office was located in Lomita, an area a little past Torrance where a bunch of medical and law offices were. I took a deep breath as I stared up at the big glass building, hoping that he could help me like he’d told my mom he could. I didn’t want to do all of this just to lose money and my child. I’d be devastated without Melody, and I didn’t even want to think about what life would be like if I could only have visitation rights.

  I got out of the car after grabbing my purse, and then went around to the back door to get Melody out of her seat. I carried her inside, and after finding the right floor, we both got onto the elevator and rode up.

  When I entered the waiting area of Ned’s suite, I think Melody and I were both mesmerized by how nice it was. There was a big blue fish tank with colorful fish flying around, and a Keurig machine surrounded by cups, different teas and coffees, and water bottles. On the floor of the waiting area were nice, plush, comfy relaxer chairs, and couches in a teal color, with glass coffee tables covered in magazines.

  “May I help you?” the girl sitting behind the pristine granite counter asked, pulling me from my admiration of the office.

  “Oh hi, yes.” I walked over to the counter and adjusted Melody and my purse. “I’m here to see Ned Parker.”

  “Okay. Just sign in for me, and he will be right with you.”

  I grabbed one of the navy blue pens from the jar, and wrote in my name and the time my appointment was. I then went to sit down, and placed Melody to her feet which was a mistake. She began exploring the office and picking up things that she shouldn’t have been.

  “Melody!” I whispered harshly, and she looked over, shooting me a devious smile. “Get over here.” I chuckled, even though I didn’t mean to.

  “No!” she screamed, laughing, thinking I was joking now.

  I got up and grabbed her little body, before lifting and kissing her plump cheek a couple times. I sat down with her in my lap after giving her one of her toys from my purse, and about ten minutes later, Ned came to the front to call me to the back. Once we got in his office, he gestured for me to sit on the large couch, and then he closed the door.

  “So this is Melody, huh?” He smiled and sat across from me.

  “Yes, this is Melody.”

  “Beautiful child. Now, could you kind of explain to me what you want the outcome of this to be, and why.”

  “Well, I want to have sole custody, and that’s it. I mean I guess supervised visitation would be okay, but I would like to be present with that as well. And the reason being is that her father is a bit unstable, creating an unhealthy environment for her.”

  “I see. Okay, and does her father work or what? Your mother told me he had an upper hand on you as far as his lifestyle?”

  “Well he’s a lawyer, and he’s pretty much the perfect parent on paper.”

  “I see.”

  “And I’ve been taking pictures and recording conversations lately to support my argument. You know, just in case it gets to that.”

  Ned looked at me for a second, like he was speechless, and then smiled before nodding.

  “Okay, okay, great.”

  He and I talked for about forty-five more minutes, and then he scheduled for me to come back in a week, giving him time to get a plan together. I let his assistant know up front, and then left the building so Melody and I could go to the park.

  “Mommy, my dolly!” Melody screamed when I came to a red light.

  “What, sweetie?”

  “My dolly! I got it from Delly! I want iiiit!” she began to cry.

  “Shit.” I glanced over my shoulder to look in the back seat, and then reached into the passenger seat to dig through my purse. “We left it, baby, but we can get a new one.”

  “Delly got iiiit!” she cried harder.

  I looked through the rearview to see her cheeks were drenched, so I made a U-turn and headed back towards the office. When I pulled up around the front, from a distance, I saw Ned smoking a cigarette. I was about to drive up some more and park, but I slammed on my brakes when I watched Miles come to him and start conversing.

  “Oh my gosh,” I spoke lowly, watching the conversation appear to become heated.

  Miles seemed to be upset by whatever Ned was telling him, and Ned was clearly trying to calm him down by putting his hands out to him. I felt tears welling up, because the person I’d trusted the most had betrayed me: my own mother.

  “My dolly, Mommy!”

  “Hold on, sweetie.”

  I dug through my purse and pulled my phone out to dial Miles. I watched him as I listened to the phone trill, praying he answered so I could end his impromptu meeting with Ned. He pulled his phone from his suit jacket pocket, checked the screen, and said something to Ned before answering.

  “Hello?”

  “Hi, baby. I was wondering if you were busy?”

  “I umm, why?” He checked his surroundings.

  “I just wanted to see you and talk. I was gonna try and see if maybe we could come to some sort of an agreement with the relationship and with Melody.”

  “Oh yeah? When I was out of town you texted me and said you didn’t know about us.”

  “Yeah, well I met with a lawyer today, and afterwards it just didn’t feel right. So I uh, think we should actually try. I mean with me giving my all, not like this past month where you’ve been doing all the work. I’m sorry about that by the way.”

  “Sounds good to me. Where are you?”

  “At my mother’s.”

  “Gonna come over tonight?”

  “Can’t because I have a 3 a.m. call time, but I will be sure to see you tomorrow after my photo shoot. Maybe we can go to lunch.”

  “Okay. I love you Cassie.”

  “I love you too.” I swear I almost threw up.

  I hung up the phone and watched Ned and Miles until they parted ways. I then parked and waited for a few, before going back up to Ned’s office suite and getting Melody’s doll. Thank God Ned was in the back, and I moved too quickly for his employee to address me.

  After buckling Melody back in with her toy, I hopped in the driver’s seat and sped off towards my mother’s place in Long Beach. I parked on the street since I was in a bit of a rush, and then Melody and I went up inside.

  “Ma!” I yelled, placing Melody to her feet. “Go play, sweetie.”

  Melody rushed to the back, passing my mother who was combing down her stringy wet hair, while wearing her robe.

  “Hi, Cassandra. So how did it go?”

&nbs
p; “You fucked me over,” I gritted, feeling like I was about to cry. I was more angry than sad though, because I’d never expected such from my own mother. She wasn’t perfect but she loved me, took care of me, and had my back… or so I thought.

  “Excuse me, young lady? You need to watch your mouth and in the process, explain yourself!”

  “You knew Ned was working with Miles!”

  “What? No I didn’t! Why would I date him or even send you to him if I even thought he knew that scumbag! And where are you getting this information from!”

  “I saw it! I saw them talking outside of Ned’s office building, and I just know he was telling him everything I’d said in the appointment.”

  “You must be mistaken, honey. Ned would never—”

  “Where did you even meet him?” I panted heavily, glaring at her.

  “I met him while out at the mall. I was in Victoria’s Secret and—”

  “You didn’t find it odd that a man was in that store, Ma? You didn’t think that maybe he had a wife or someone had sent him. Oh my gosh!” I shouted and plopped down onto the couch, gripping my hair.

  “Oh my Lord,” she spoke lowly, before coming over to me. “Sweetie, I was just lonely and he was nice and I… I guess I didn’t think.” She dropped down in front of me and removed my hands from my face. “Honey, I swear to God I didn’t know. But now it all makes sense. He used to always want to talk about you and Melody and how you were doing out here, but never wanted to meet you at first. But I never told him too much, I swear.”

  “Ma,” I whined.

  “Cassandra, you have to believe me. Why would I do this to you? I love Melody, and I love you. And even if I didn’t, I hate that old muthafucka that took advantage of you, so I would never help him.”

  I looked down into my mother’s eyes, and she seemed so sincere. I knew she would never do something like this to me, especially if it was gonna help Miles, but I just couldn’t shake the fact that she was dating someone connected to Miles.

  “Why didn’t you let me meet him until you guys traveled to San Diego?”

  “At first I didn’t because it was too soon. You may be grown but you’re still my baby and I don’t want every guy I date to meet you and Melody. Then when I was ready, he wasn’t, so I didn’t want to rush him. But I explained to him that you wouldn’t feel comfortable with me going to San Diego without having met him, so he gave in at that point.”

  “This is so fucked up.” I sighed, running my hands through my hair as my mom stayed knelt down in front of me, holding my wrists.

  “No, honey, we can still beat them. You just play nice with Miles, and I will play nice with Ned. Okay?” She stroked my cheek.

  I nodded, hoping I came out on top.

  Chapter Two: Erynne Ingland

  Chaz and I were inside of Best Buy because it was some damn video game that he had to have. I’d learned that I was selfish with his attention because I got jealous when he played video games. I would literally sit there and watch, not saying anything because when I talked he swore it fucked his game up. And most of the time he wouldn’t even respond to whatever I’d said.

  “I need both,” he commented, picking two games up and reading the backs of them.

  “No you don’t, Chaz. You ignore me enough.”

  He turned to me grinning widely, which made me do the same. To have such a nice smile, he barely ever displayed one. I loved it though, and how his face lit up.

  “I don’t ignore you all day, baby. I just need you to leave me the fuck alone when I’m playing the game.” He kissed my lips, making my middle respond immediately, and then he turned back to the selection of games.

  Feeling bored, I decided to go find something that would pique my own interest, so I moved towards the cute little speakers and headphones I saw. I didn’t need any of this shit, and with the new bills coming my way, I wasn’t gonna be spending any extra money. As I got ready to bend down to pick up a pair of headphones that looked like cute little stars, someone gripped my bicep rather tightly, prompting me to look up at them as I snatched my arm.

  “Cook!” I damn near yelled as I hopped to my feet and moved backward.

  “I told you two weeks, Erynne. Now let’s go. Don’t make a fucking scene.”

  “And I told you that I wasn’t coming! I meant it too! Why do you let Risk run you the way that he does?”

  “Stop with the psychology bullshit, ma, and let’s be out. I have a flight to catch and you’re bringing yo’ ass with me. If I come back without you, that nigga will off me. So right now it’s between me and you, and guess who the fuck I’m choosing?”

  “Well I’m not going— let me go!” I shouted as he tried to grab me again. Some random guy walked by, so Cook gave him a faint smile.

  “I’m not fucking around with you, Erynne,” Cook gritted, leaning down into my face as he held my arm tighter.

  “No, move!”

  We stood there tussling as I tried to release myself from his grip. When I finally did get my arm from him, I turned to rush off but he grabbed me from behind. I was about to try to break free, but I could feel someone yank him from me, causing him to lose the hold he’d had.

  “Fuck you touching my girl for, nigga?” Chaz hissed, walking up on Cook who suddenly looked like a midget compared to him.

  “Nigga, who the fuc—”

  WHAM!

  Cook’s whole body turned, forcing him against the shelf containing the cheaper headphones, as he fell to the floor. Cook groaned as he opened and closed his mouth, trying to test out his seemingly broken jaw. Chaz stared down at him, chest rising and falling rapidly like he was deciding on whether or not to keep fucking Cook up.

  “You don’t know who you’re fucking with— ah!” Cook yelped when Chaz kicked him in the stomach, shutting him up.

  “Excuse me, you guys are going to have to—”

  “Shut the fuck up before yo’ ass be lying next to him,” Chaz barked to the short black guy that worked at Best Buy. “And get the fuck out my way!” he added, making the boy jump as he pulled me along out of the aisle.

  He led me to the registers, which I didn’t think was smart because they were probably going to call the police. Not to mention, Cook was no punk, despite him looking like one a few minutes ago, so I knew he’d be trying to retaliate soon if not in a few seconds.

  “Chaz, shouldn’t we—”

  “Don’t say shit to me right now. When we get in the car, you can explain yaself.” He spoke without looking at me as he peeled some cash off a knot he retrieved from his pocket. He pushed the game towards the cashier, who quickly scanned it and then finished the transaction.

  I’d never seen Chaz this angry, not even when he went off on me in my apartment the first night we had sex. I was scared as hell to say the least, because I didn’t know what was on his mind. He was a no nonsense type, and I hoped that what had just happened, and what I’d be forced to tell him, wasn’t gonna send him running back to Jade.

  We left Best Buy, and he opened the passenger side of his car for me, before rounding the car and getting inside himself.

  Once he closed the door, he said, “Talk, Erynne. Why did I just have to get ignorant on some nigga for grabbing you? And I’m warning you right now, baby girl, don’t lie.”

  “So remember the guy you heard me doing things with?”

  “Fucking?” He chuckled angrily and shook his head as he looked out his window. I watched his handsome profile for a little bit, and then decided to continue.

  “Yes, fucking. His name is Risk. Well, he’s kind of a big deal back in Chicago, like a really big one. He’s like your dad but younger and in another state. Anyway, that guy back in the store is one of his killers I guess you can say, and Risk sent him to basically bring me back to Illinois.”

  “So you didn’t think that was something you should have told me? You knew about my wife, but didn’t feel the need to tell me you had some rabid dog back in Illinois, ready to sic his hitters on any ni
gga that looks your way?”

  “I didn’t want to tell you because I knew you wouldn’t want me anymore!”

  “You don’t know shit, Erynne! That’s fucking obvious! I’m a grown ass man and I don’t need you or any fucking body else making decisions for me! Whatever niggas you’re used to, get that shit out of your system because I’m a different breed, baby girl! I don’t do the lying shit, the secrets, none of the bullshit. If I wanted that I would stick with the wife I got!”

  “I know! I know! I’m sorry! Fuck!” I pinched the bridge of my nose. My head was starting to hurt as my heart pounded and my stomach churned. I was afraid, upset, and feeling stupid as hell. “So now what? You don’t want me anymore?”

  “Stop assuming shit. If you wanna know what the fuck I’m thinking just ask.”

  “What are you thinking?”

  “I’m wondering if I’m ready for all of this. I’m already in a stressful situation and you springing this shit on me is not cool at all.” He looked out his window, shaking his head as he toyed with his chin hairs. “Could have at least been straight with me from the beginning so I could have had my head right. But this shit is too fucking much.” He wore a disgusted expression.

  I simply nodded, not knowing what to really say. If I could go back in time I would have told him from day one, but that was impossible to do.

  He cranked up the car and we drove back to Kordell’s place where he’d been staying, since he allowed Jade to have the apartment until the divorce was done. We didn’t say anything to one another during the whole ride, and as badly as I wanted to cry, I didn’t. I was over all that sappy shit. If he wanted to leave, I would try to convince him not to, but at the end of the day I would live… right?

  As soon as we got back to Kordell’s place, we both went into the extra bedroom that Chaz was using, and I just sat on the bed while he hooked his game system up and put his new game in. I pulled out some tights and a tube top, then pulled my hair into a topknot as he got into the game, not saying anything.

  Gathering what I needed for a shower, I went to the bathroom and turned it on. Stepping inside, I let the hot water fall all over me as I let my lids close to enjoy the warmth. I heard the shower door slide back, and when I opened my eyes, Chaz was standing there in all his deep caramel, six-foot-seven glory. My mouth watered as my eyes cascaded from the top of his head, all the way down to his long, thick pole, slowly rising.