The Wrong Side Of Love 2: A Hood Love Story

by Charmanie Saquea

  Danger picked the lock until she was granted access into the house. When they got in, Jayliah was cuddled up on the couch with Quaid watching a movie. Jayliah felt a chill go through her body and instantly knew something wasn't right. She rose up just in time to see the intruders run up in her house.

  “Quaid, wake up, baby,” she said as she shook him so he could wake up.

  Before she could do anything else, Jayliah was being pounced on. She was being dragged off the couch by her hair by one of the attackers while the other two assaulted her body. Jayliah tried to fight back with everything that she had in her but she was no match for the brass knuckles that each female was wearing. The only thing that was on her mind was fighting for her son.

  “I heard you like shooting people, bitch. Well, me too,” Danger said as she reached for her gun.

  “That enough, Larissa!” Shanae yelled as she rushed in the house, calling Danger by her real name.

  “What?” Danger asked confused.

  “I said that’s enough! Leave her the fuck alone! The police are coming,” Shanae said as they heard sirens coming in the distance.

  “Shit,” everyone yelled as they ran out of the house.

  Shanae stood there with regret on her face for a few minutes, stuck, staring at Jayliah as she laid on the floor coughing up blood with a bloody and battered face.

  “Let’s go!” Danger yelled at her.

  “Take my car and leave,” Shanae told her.

  “What the fuck are you—”

  “Just do it!” she yelled as she rushed to Jayliah’s side.

  Shaking her head, Danger did as she was told and quickly left. Shanae could hear Danger burning rubber as she sped away from the house. She sat down on the floor and put Jayliah’s head in her lap.

  “M-my s…son,” Jayliah said as she spit up blood.

  “Your son?” Shanae asked confused.

  “Mom?” Quaid yelled as he came running down the stairs. “I called Riq and the police.”

  Quaid stopped dead in his tracks when he noticed Shanae cradling his mom’s head in her lap. Before he could ask her who she was, there was a knock at the door. Rushing to the door, Quaid opened the door for the ambulance.

  ___

  Jayliah sat in her hospital bed staring at the wall. She was grateful to be alive because things could have ended badly for her. Out of the ordeal, she’d sustained a fractured left cheek bone, two black eyes, three bruised ribs, some internal bleeding and a fractured nose. Out of all that, the thing she was having the hardest time trying to figure out was why Shanae stayed there with her if she was the one who sent them there in the first place.

  “Mom,” Quaid said, getting her attention.

  She had specifically requested that she had no visitors, she honestly didn’t even want Quaid up there with her and tried to get him to go home with Coco but he refused to leave her side. Imagine her surprise when not only Tariq walked in her room but he was accompanied but none other than the mother of his child.

  “You two have a lot of damn nerve, especially you,” Jayliah spat at Shanae.

  “Chill, I brought her because she has something she wants to say,” Tariq said. “And you really don’t have a reason to be mad at me so that attitude shit don’t mean shit to me,” he told her.

  “I don’t care what you say, I don’t want to hear shit she has to say because next time I might be putting a bullet in her head. So if you know what’s good for her, you better get her the hell away from me,” Jayliah threatened.

  “You need to watch what the hell you’re saying around Quaid, that’s not cute,” Tariq sneered.

  “Don’t tell me how to talk in front of my son.”

  “Alright look, Jayliah. I will admit that I was wrong for having my cousin and her friends run up in your house and attack you. I was just mad at you and wanted some payback for you shooting me. Instead of me acting like a grown woman, I was being childish but I’m being grown now and coming to you and calling a truce. Both of us have a child that we need to live for and no petty little unnecessary beef over nothing is worth losing our life over,” Shanae said as she held her hand out for Jayliah to shake on the truce.

  Jayliah looked Shanae’s hand sideways before she gave in and shook it. Tariq let out a breath he didn’t even know he was holding. He was so happy that his life was about to be less stressful that he could jump for joy. Now that that was taken care of, the next thing he had to do was nurse Jayliah back to health so he could check her about this funky ass attitude she had towards him all of a sudden.

  Jayliah only agreed to the truce because Shanae was right, she had a son to live for and no unnecessary beef was worth her life.

  Chapter Twenty

  Coco sat looking in the parking lot looking at the sonogram in disbelief. She was still trying to deal with the realization of being pregnant but to know that she was already three and half months along was just crazy to her. That information was just ammunition that she needed to further her plans to move out of Michigan. There was no doubt that she loved her city but she wanted and needed more and better for herself, and now her unborn child as well.

  She had already spoken to Ms. Joyce, Megan and her dad and they all encouraged her to make the move if that’s what she felt was right for her. The only person she was going to have a hard time breaking the news to was Jayliah. They had never been separated from each other or ever gone without seeing each other so this was definitely going to be hard for the both of them. Especially since she hadn’t told her that she was pregnant yet.

  Pulling out her phone, Coco called her sister to see where she was at.

  “Talk to me, baby,” Jayliah answered the phone.

  “Where are you, sweetheart?” Coco asked.

  “Just got off work headed home. What’s up?”

  “We need to talk,” Coco told her.

  “Uh oh, meet me at the house,” Jayliah said.

  “I’m on my way now.”

  “Alrighty then, baby love, see you soon.”

  When Coco got to her sister’s house, Jayliah was already there waiting for her. She walked in the house and plopped on the couch next to her sister, thinking of a clever way to break both the pregnancy and her moving to her.

  “Alright, how bad is it?” Jayliah asked.

  “What?” Coco asked.

  “Whatever it is you have to tell me? Please remember that I just got out of the hospital a few days ago so I can’t be out here beating ass with you,” Jayliah said seriously.

  Coco couldn’t help but to laugh at her sister. That was one thing she could say about Jayliah, she was always down to ride no matter what.

  “No crazy, it’s nothing like that,” Coco told her.

  “Oh, okay then. What’s up?”

  “How would you feel if I told you I was moving?”

  “Moving, like another house?” Jayliah asked.

  Coco shook her head. “Moving like another state.”

  “I mean, if that’s what you want to do, Co, then by all means go for it. Just like you told me, you have to live for you. Don’t get me wrong, I’m going to miss the hell out of my little sister but of course that will just give me an excuse to get out of Detroit to come and visit you. Never let anyone or anything hold you back,” Jayliah said.

  Coco smiled because that went way better than she expected it to. She was not expecting her sister to be so okay with her moving away but she could obviously tell that Jayliah had been doing a lot of growing as woman herself in such a short period of time and she was so proud of her.

  “Yea, you can definitely come visit me and the baby anytime you want,” Coco said, sliding that in there.

  “I definitely will…wait, hold up. Baby? Who’s having a baby? You’re having a baby?” Jayliah yelled as her hands flew to her mouth.

  Coco went into her purse and pulled out the sonogram that she just got from her doctor’s appointment earlier. Jayliah’s eyes almost bucked out of her head as she eyed what was to be ei
ther her niece or nephew.

  “Oh my gosh, Co, my baby’s going to have a baby,” she gushed. “How far along are you?”

  “Three and a half months,” Coco said.

  “Oh my gosh! What did Zeek say?” Jayliah asked.

  “Umm, nothing because he doesn’t know yet,” Coco told her honestly.

  “Jacole, you have to tell him,” Jayliah said.

  “And I will, whenever he comes home. I don’t want him finding out then he comes here on some stupid shit and gets in trouble then they lock my child’s father up for life. What good will that be? When he gets this case taken care of and comes home a free man, then I will tell him. The baby isn’t going anywhere, Jay,” Coco explained.

  Even though Jayliah didn’t agree with Coco’s decision about telling Zeek about the baby, she was going to respect her decision. It wasn’t her place to tell him or anyone else, for that matter.

  “So when do you plan on moving?” Jayliah questioned.

  “This month,” Coco answered. “As soon as possible.”

  “Wow.”

  Coco wasn’t playing no games. She’d already put her notice in at work so they knew she wouldn’t be there for too much longer. Since Megan owned the condos that she and Jayliah stayed at when they were visiting, she had no problem renting one out to Coco until she found something else she liked out there in Cali and she wasn’t selling her home in Detroit just in case she ever wanted to come back.

  Coco already had things planned out. The only thing she had to do was act on them.

  ___

  Zeek sat in José’s office looking at him and Nina as if they had just lost their damn minds. The both of them just hit him with some bullshit that he couldn’t even fathom how the hell they came up with. The shit came so far out of left field that it took him a minute to even register what the hell they were talking about.

  “Are y’all fucking serious?”

  “Language, Ezekiel,” José said. “But yes, we are very serious. That is the only way for you to get back to the United States.”

  “See, now I’m about to call you out on your bullshit, José. Before, all I had to do to get back to the States was turn myself in and you said everything else would be handled. This extra shit was not a part of the deal,” Zeek said, pissed off.

  “That offer still remains true, Zeek,” Nina spoke up. “Just with this added on to it.”

  Now Zeek was wishing he had listened to Sophia. She said she didn’t trust this family and he had brushed that shit off to her being paranoid when she was right all along. These two were on some other shit and he really wasn’t with it right now.

  “Just think about it, Ezekiel. If you want to get back home, you’ll do it,” José said.

  “I’m not liking the way you said that, José, because I’ll be home regardless,” Zeek told him.

  “That may be true but doing things my way will guarantee that you go home a free man after this case is thrown out for lack of evidence,” José reminded him.

  Zeek chuckled because he felt as if José was trying to swindle him into this shit. Zeek couldn’t even be mad at nobody but himself because he’d allowed this shit to happen. This was the second time he had allowed a piece of pussy to put him in a fucked up situation.

  “So when are we doing this shit so I can get home?” Zeek asked.

  “Oh no, we’re going to do this right. We have to—”

  “It’s already planned out, just give us four months tops to put everything in motion,” Nina cut her father off.

  Both men cut their eyes at her for different reason.

  “Four months?” Zeek yelled. “Don’t you think I’ve been down here fucking long enough? This some straight up bullshit, man,” Zeek said as he got up from his chair and walked out of the office.

  “Zeek!” Nina called after him.

  Ignoring her, Zeek just kept walking. He needed a drink but more importantly, he needed to talk to someone he could trust about this decision he had just made. He knew he couldn’t call his mother because she would surely curse his ass out to no end and call him every name in the book but a child of God. He couldn’t call Tariq because he would clown him four sure so that only left him with one option.

  “Where to, Señor?” Zeek’s driver asked.

  “Sophia’s house,” he said.

  When he got to Sophia’s house, Zeek was acting like a little kid who needed his mother’s attention.

  “Mamita!” Zeek yelled.

  “She’s out back with the kids,” Hugo, her oldest brother told Zeek.

  Zeek went to the back where Sophia was seated as she watched the kids play in the pool.

  “Mamita,” Zeek whined.

  “Oh Dios mio, qué hiciste?” she asked as she removed her sunglasses. (Oh my God, what did you do?)

  Zeek sat down in the chair next to her and told her what just happened between him, Nina and José. He told her about the proposition that José had given him at first and now the add-on he was trying to throw at him that he really couldn’t say no to. When Zeek was done explaining, Sophia was just shaking her head.

  “Qué?” (What)

  “I hope you learn some day, Zeeky, I really do. I don’t think you realize just how powerful that man is. If you would have said no, he probably would have had your head delivered to your mother before anyone even knew you were dead. Now look at what you have gotten yourself into.”

  Zeek just put his head down because she was right.

  “But, if I know you like I know I do, you always have a way to come out on top. So I’ll know you’ll out slick your way out of this but just be careful, Zeek, please?” Sophia asked.

  “Of course, I’m going to have to bring my wife down here to meet you. She’ll love you and I know for a fact you’ll love her. Moms already gave her stamp of approval,” Zeek smiled.

  “Wife? Boy, if you don’t get out of here.” Sophia waved him off.

  “Well, she’ll be my wife when I get home. You’ll see, I want you to plan everything, too. So when I make that phone call, you better be ready.”

  “So does this ‘wife’ have a name?” Sophia asked.

  “Jacole, Jacole Tate.” Zeek smiled brightly.

  “Oh my gosh, you’re serious. My Zeeky has been bitten by the love bug for real.”

  Zeek just sat there smiling as he thought about Coco. It’s been months since the last time he had seen or heard from her and she had been on his mind heavy. He really wanted to pick up the phone and call her but he was a hundred percent sure that she was probably over his shit by now. That’s why as soon as he touched down in Michigan, he was making it a point to go straight to her.

  Chapter Twenty One

  “Mom, dad’s here!” Quaid yelled as he ran out of the kitchen.

  “Shit, he’s early,” Jayliah mumbled as she got up from the table.

  Today would be would be the first time that Quadir and Jayliah would be face to face since she’d shot him and left him in the house when she found out Quaid was alive and well. Since Jayliah was doing some soul searching and trying to be a better person and woman for not only herself but her son as well, she was working on being a forgiving person. She’d invited Quadir and Tariq over today because if she and Shanae were able to come to an understanding, she wanted them to be able to do so as well.

  “You sure this ain’t a set up?” she heard Quadir ask Quaid.

  “Boy, if I wanted you dead, I would have killed you that night,” Jayliah said.

  “What’s up, Jay?” Quadir laughed.

  “Mhm, nice to see you too.”

  “Aww,” Quaid clapped. “Look at my parents, getting along and stuff. This is just beautiful.”

  “Shut up,” Jayliah said as she playfully mushed him.

  Jayliah was happy that her son was proud of her. Lord knows that it took a lot of talking to God for her to even think about giving Quadir a second chance or letting him be around her son. She could understand why he left the first time because that bitc
h who birthed her was so manipulative and conniving but just knowing he had something to do with the kidnapping really had her wanting to put a bullet in him.

  She had to take a lesson on forgiveness from her own son. If he could forgive his dad for what he had done and still love him in the end, then why couldn’t she? True enough, he had fucked up and wasn’t there in the beginning but she really did have a big heart and believed in giving second chances. She knew in her heart that Quadir really had the potential to be a great father.

  Hearing a knock at the door, she left those two alone to go answer for who she already knew to be Tariq. Taking a deep breath, she answered for what she knew was going to be a hassle.

  “Hi, Ms. Jay!” Tanae screeched.

  It had been forever since she had seen Jayliah and she had been missing her something terrible.

  “I hope you don’t mind that I brought her. She heard I was coming to see you and insisted that she came, she wasn’t having it any other way,” Tariq said.

  “Of course I don’t mind,” Jayliah said as she took her out of his arms. “Hey boo, how you been?”

  She was actually grateful that he brought her because that meant he wouldn’t act a fool when he saw Quadir. Knowing that his daughter was here, Tariq wouldn’t do anything foolish which was better for her.

  “I been good, I miss you,” Tanae said.

  “I miss you too, pretty girl,” Jayliah said as she walked them into the house.

  As Tariq followed behind them, he became suspicious of another man’s voice he heard until they cut around the corner and he saw Quadir on the couch chilling as if he belonged there. Stopping dead in his tracks, it was taking everything in him to control his anger.

  “Who’s that, mom?” Quaid asked.

  “Well, look what the cat drug in,” Quadir said when he noticed Tariq mugging him.

  “Don’t start,” Jayliah told him. “Anyways, this, Quaid, is Tanae. She’s Riq’s daughter.”

  “Riq, you have a daughter?” Quaid asked, confused but excited at the same time.

  “Yea, little man, I do,” Tariq answered.

  “Quaid, take her out back so she can play but watch her, don’t let her hurt herself. If you do, Imma beat you up and I know you don’t want that,” Jayliah told him as she put Tanae down so she could go play.