Creepin' 2: A New Orleans Love Story

by Chenell Parker

  “Watch out,” Duke said as he inserted the knife into the lock and wiggled it around.

  He knew what he was doing because he and Tre used to do it all the time when one of them would lock the other one out of the room. It only took a few seconds before the knob finally turned, and the door slowly opened.

  “What the hell?” Brandis questioned when she and Duke walked into the bedroom.

  Tre was balled up on the floor while Mia was on top of him swinging. All of the frames and decorations that were supposed to be on his dresser were all over the floor. Brandis was worried about her girl when Duke should have been worried about his boy instead. As tall as Tre was he could have knocked Mia out with one swing. She was clearly winning the fight, but only because he let her. His guilt and love for her would never let him hit her back even if he wanted to. His lip was bleeding, and the scratches on his face burned liked hell, but it was cool. He deserved everything that he was getting and more.

  “C’mon Mia,” Duke said trying to stop himself from laughing. He lifted his God sister in the air and allowed his boy to get up.

  “Stupid ass nigga,” Mia fussed. “Help me find my purse so I can get the hell out of here.”

  “It’s in the living room,” Brandis replied. That was all that Mia needed to hear. She walked out of the room and down the hall towards the living room.

  “Come here Mia,” Tre said following behind her. She was on him like the Tasmanian devil just a minute ago and he still hadn’t learned his lesson.

  “For the last time Trevon, leave me alone,” Mia yelled. “Let’s go, Brandis.”

  Brandis followed her friend out the front door and to her truck that was parked at the curb. Of course, Cheryl’s car was gone since it was London who was in it and not her mother. She and Tre were damn good at what they did because Mia never suspected a thing. Mia’s mind was working overtime wondering how long the two of them had been messing around right under her nose. She also wondered if Rainey knew about it since she and London had become so close lately.

  “You want me to drive Mia?” Brandis offered. Mia’s hands were shaking, and she looked like she was out of breath.

  “Yeah, here you go,” Mia said tossing her best friend the keys. Brandis unlocked the doors right as Tre walked up on Mia. Duke was right behind him just in case they started up again.

  “Five minutes Mia, please,” Tre begged. “Just let me talk to you for five minutes and I promise I’ll let you go.”

  “I’m not giving you another five seconds. I’ve already wasted over a year on your sorry ass,” Mia fumed as she opened the car door.

  “Over a year of us being together and I’m not even worth five minutes of your time?” Tre asked sadly as he backed away from her.

  Mia looked at him like he’d lost his mind. Brandis thought she changed her mind about talking to him when she closed the car door and walked over to him. They stood and stared at each other for a few seconds until Mia did the unthinkable. It almost sounded like she was clearing her throat until she hocked up a wad of saliva and spit it directly into Tre’s face.

  “That’s what you’re worth to me,” Mia said as she turned and walked away.

  Brandis hurriedly hopped in the driver’s seat and started the car. She thought for sure that Tre was going to come after Mia when she did that. Instead, he just sadly nodded his head and walked back inside with Duke following close behind him. Mia held it in as long as she could, but as soon as they backed out of the driveway she broke down and cried.

  ***

  As soon as London pulled away from Von’s house she grabbed her phone to call Rainey. She knew that she was probably in school, but she was hoping that she would somehow be able to answer her phone anyway. She was bursting with excitement and she just had to tell someone. Her time with Tre was like a dream come true and she couldn’t hold it in any longer. The fact that Mia saw her coming out of his room was just an added bonus. The look on her face was all the proof that London needed. Mia and Tre were messing around, and there was no doubt in her mind about it. She wouldn’t have looked so hurt if they weren’t. London wondered why Mia and Brandis weren’t in school too since it was so early in the day.

  “Hello,” Rainey sleepily answered.

  “Girl, you will never guess what went down this morning,” London yelled excitedly. “And why are you not in school?”

  “The power went out, so we got out early,” Rainey replied.

  “Oh, so that’s why Mia and Brandis were at Von’s house so early,” London assumed.

  “I guess so, but what happened?”

  “Girl, so first I went to drop my mama off at Von’s house this morning so that she could go somewhere with him. I started not to go inside, but when I saw my baby’s car parked out front, I changed my mind. When Tank opened the door for us, my mama went straight to Von’s room, and I stayed in the kitchen and talked to him. As soon as my mama and Von left you know I had to make my move on his ass. I started out getting him reacquainted with my tongue ring, but things really got heated up after that. I expected him to turn me down like he always does, but today must have been my lucky day.”

  “Why do you say that?” Rainey asked.

  “Baby, when I tell you he put it down on your girl, I mean he really put it down,” London gushed.

  “Wait, so you and Tank had sex?” Rainey asked just to be clear.

  “Not just sex honey, we fucked all over his bedroom. I already knew he was big, but damn,” London bragged.

  “So what does that have to do with Mia and Brandis?” Rainey asked.

  “Girl, why when we came out of the room, Mia, Brandis, and Duke were standing right there by the door? And your girl Mia was pissed,” London laughed.

  “Are you serious?” Rainey asked in shock as she sat straight up in her bed.

  London was laughing like crazy, but she didn’t find anything funny. It was one thing for her and Tank to creep around, but it was an entirely different story now that Mia knew about it. Her name was bound to come up, and she didn’t want that to happen. Tre was a completely different person when it came to Mia and London was going to find that out the hard way.

  “Dead ass serious. I know you said that they don’t mess around, but I disagree. The look on her face when I came out of that room was priceless. She looked like she wanted to kill both of us,” London continued to laugh.

  “Did she say anything to you?” Rainey asked.

  “No, and I didn’t give her a chance to say anything. I left as soon as we were done. I wasn’t trying to fight with her crazy ass.”

  Rainey was able to breathe a little easier after hearing that. She didn’t need London running off at the mouth and causing problems for her and Mia. They were barely speaking as it was.

  “Did Tank say anything to you?”

  “No, I told you I left right after we did our thing. They were coming down the hall when we came out of the room. I don’t know what happened, but I’m going to call him later to find out.”

  “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but that’s a wrap on you and Tank,” Rainey assured her.

  London didn’t know it, but Mia finding out basically ended the relationship that she and Tre never had. That was her first and last time having sex with him and she could almost guarantee it.

  “What do you mean by that?” London asked with a frown on her face.

  “I mean just what I said. I know Tank. Trust me when I tell you that it’s a wrap.”

  “It’s not like it’s the first time we hooked up, it’s just the first time we had sex.”

  “Yeah, but nobody knew before. Now that it’s out, it’s over, trust me,” Rainey replied.

  She wanted to tell her now that Mia knew it was over, but she couldn’t say that. There was no way that Tre would continue dealing with her now. Rainey already knew that Mia probably broke up with him, so he was going to do everything in his power to get her back, including leaving London alone.

  “What does that
have to do with anything?” London wanted to know.

  “Don’t worry about it London, but don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Rainey replied.

  Rainey was her girl and all, but London regretted calling her at the moment. She thought her friend would be happy, and they would share a few laughs. She ended up making her feel stupid instead.

  “Okay, well I’m going home to take a shower. I’ll call you back later.”

  London didn’t even give her a chance to respond before she hung up the phone. She was in a good mood and Rainey, or nobody else was going to ruin it.

  C hapter 2

  Mia finally pulled herself out of bed around two the next evening to go to the bathroom and complete her hygiene. She really wanted to stay in bed all day, but that would have only made her feel worse. It took forever for her to fall asleep, and she didn’t even know when it happened. She spent most of her night crying and ignoring phone calls and text messages from Tre. He was begging her to talk him, but she really had no words for him. She’d already told Von that she wouldn’t be there that weekend because she wasn’t feeling well. It actually wasn’t a lie since she really did feel like shit. Although she swore that she wouldn’t stay away from Von this time around, there was no way that she could have stayed that particular weekend. The wounds were too fresh for her to be around Tre at the moment. She kept replaying yesterday’s events over and over in her head, and she was still in shock. London flirted with Tre relentlessly, but Mia would have never thought that he’d take the bait. London was always at Von’s house with Cheryl, so she didn’t know how long it had been going on. They made her look like a fool, and she couldn’t forgive that.

  “What’s up Mia?” Dalvin spoke when she bypassed him in the living room. He hadn’t been over in a few days, so he must have promised Moonie some money or something in order to get back in.

  “Hey,” Mia said dryly as she headed down the hall to her bedroom.

  She really didn’t have anything planned for the day because she was supposed to be spending the weekend at Von’s house. Since that wasn’t happening she decided to go chill at her brother’s house for a little while instead. Brandis was spending the day with Duke, so Mia was really on her own. Brandis offered to cancel her plans to be with her, but Mia wasn’t hearing it. Just because she was miserable didn’t mean that everybody else had to be. All of the kids were with their fathers, so she didn’t even have them to take her mind off of things.

  “Hello,” Mia said answering her phone for Brandis. She was thumbing through the clothes in her closet trying to find something cute to put on for the day.

  “How are you feeling, bookie?” Brandis asked her.

  “I’m good girl,” Mia chuckled. “What’s up?”

  “I wanted to call you back so bad, but I knew that you were probably sleeping. Girl, Lamar, and Nina were out here fighting at two in the morning like some damn fools. She beat the hell out of that lady who Lamar was messing with too,” Brandis yelled.

  Nina was one of Lamar’s many women, but she was Mia’s favorite. She had been in jail for a few months, and Mia didn’t know that she was home. She probably found out about some of the things that Lamar was doing when she got locked up and went crazy on his ass when she did. Nina was crazy as hell, but she was as real as they came. She didn’t mind fighting Lamar or anybody else for that matter. If she saw him with another woman, she would beat her down and be swinging on Lamar soon after. She was a professional booster, and she stole anything that wasn’t nailed down, but she never went to jail for stealing. It was always a fight of some kind that landed her behind bars. Nina didn’t live in The Court, but a lot of her family members did. Whatever she didn’t see Lamar doing they made sure to report it to her. Still, no matter what happened between her and Lamar they always found their way back into each other’s lives.

  “Oh Lord,” Mia sighed. “I didn’t even know that she was home. I got my own drama. I don’t have time to be playing with Nina and Lamar. They need to just leave each other alone if they can’t make it work.”

  “I thought they broke up a long time ago,” Brandis commented.

  “They always break up and get right back together. That’s the most dysfunctional couple that I’ve ever met. I’m really not in the mood for them right now. I got enough on my mind as it is.”

  “I know you do friend. You know it’s not too late for me to cancel my plans. We can go catch a movie or something if you want to.”

  “You better not cancel on my brother. I’m going over and chill with Jabari and Tiara for a while. I just need to get out of here. My thoughts will drive me crazy if I don’t.”

  “I understand honey, but you know I’m only a phone call away if you need me.”

  “I know you are, and I love you for it,” Mia smiled.

  “I love you too friend. Call me later,” Brandis said before they hung up.

  About an hour later Mia was dress in her soft pink high waist jeans with a gray crop top and gray wedge heels to match. She decided to flat iron her shoulder length hair since she’d been wearing it curly for the past few weeks. Mia looked herself over in the mirror and smiled at her reflection. She might have been torn up on the inside, but she didn’t have to look like it on the outside. She grabbed her purse from her bed and made her way out of the door. As soon as she got in her car her Bluetooth connected and Tre was calling her phone once again. Of course she wasn’t answering, but she got tired of him constantly calling. He wasn’t helping the situation, so as soon as the phone stopped ringing, Mia blocked him from calling her altogether. If she was ever going to move on with her life, her first step would be to cut off all communication with him.

  It only took about fifteen minutes for Mia to get to Jabari’s house, but his car wasn’t parked out front. She was hoping that Tiara had the car, and Jabari was inside. She probably should have called before coming over, but she really didn’t think it was a big deal.

  “Where are you Jabari?” Mia asked her brother once he answered the phone.

  “RJ’s car stopped on him. I’m pushing him to the mechanic. Why, what’s up?”

  “Nothing, I was just coming to see you. I’m parked in front of your house.”

  “Go inside, Tiara’s there. I should be there in about twenty or thirty minutes,” Jabari replied.

  “Okay, I’ll see you in a little while.”

  Instead of getting out of the car Mia reclined her seat and sat in her car for a while. As much as she didn’t want to she couldn’t stop herself from thinking about Tre. She really thought that they were going to come clean with Von and live happily ever after. She felt so naïve and stupid for even thinking that way to begin with. Tre was a dog, and she just had to accept that fact. She couldn’t help that she still loved his pathetic ass, though. Before long Mia felt the warmth of the hot tears as they fell from her eyes and cascaded down her cheeks. She was bawling like a baby not too long after. She never even noticed when Tiara came out of the house and snatched her car door open.

  “What’s wrong Mia?” Tiara asked as she helped her get out. She turned the car off and grabbed Mia’s keys and purse before leading her into the house.

  “Jabari called and said that you were outside, but you never came in. What happened?”

  “I feel so stupid Tiara. I swear I’m never falling in love again,” Mia sobbed as her entire body shook.

  Tiara pulled her in for a hug and rubbed her back while she got it all out. She never even knew that Mia had a boyfriend, and she was shocked to hear that she was in love with someone. Mia was her baby, and she hated to see her hurt for any reason.

  “It’s okay Mia. Get it out, you’ll feel better once you do,” Tiara encouraged. Mia thought she was all out of tears from the night before, but every time she thought of being betrayed a fresh stream showed up somehow. Tiara was right about one thing, though, crying did make her feel better.

  “I’m sorry to come here with my drama, but I just had to get out of the house for a w
hile,” Mia said wiping her eyes. Tiara got up and got her some Kleenex before taking her seat on the sofa again.

  “We’re family, Mia. You don’t have to apologize to me for anything. I’m just happy that your brother wasn’t here. He would die if he knew that you have a boyfriend, especially one that you’re in love with,” Tiara teased.

  “Well, I don’t have a boyfriend anymore, but Jabari already knew about it.”

  “That nigga knew that you were messing with somebody, and he didn’t tell me?” Tiara asked

  “That was my fault,” Mia confessed. “I begged him not to tell anybody.”

  “You didn’t want your favorite sister-in-law to know?” Tiara asked playing like she was offended. Mia laughed, and Tiara was happy that she could put a smile on her face, even if it was temporary.

  “It’s not just you; I didn’t want anybody to know. It’s just complicated.”

  “Well, you might as well swear me to secrecy right now because I want to know. I need to know whose ass I have to kick for making you cry.”

  “We’re not together anymore, but still keep what I tell you to yourself Tiara.”

  “I promise I won’t bring it up again after today,” Tiara swore while raising her right hand in the air.

  “Okay, it was Tre,” Mia said looking at her to see her reaction.

  Tiara just sat there looking crazy like Mia didn’t just confess to being in a relationship with her God brother. She seemed like she was expecting her to say more, but there was nothing left to say.

  “Did you hear me Tiara?” Mia asked.

  “Yeah, but who the hell is Tre?” She asked in confusion. Mia kept forgetting that no one really knew him by Tre. She was really the only one who called him that since she was a little girl.

  “Tank,” Mia answered. This time, Tiara’s hand flew up to her mouth, and her eyes nearly popped out of her head.

  “I knew it!” She yelled as she jumped up from the sofa excitedly. “I told Jabari months ago that I thought y’all liked each other. He told me I was tripping, but obviously I wasn’t. That’s who got that car for you. And that’s who paid for you to go to Miami too.”