Juice

by Nako

  “Whatever, we’re here. Let’s go in.”

  “Do you need to let him know that we’re out here?” Chanda asked.

  Tia went back to the text that he sent this morning in which she responded with a thumb up. It was her first time texting him back all week. Juice had been busy anyway, so he wasn’t tripping about not hearing from her. Little did she know, he’d been looking forward to this weekend since it popped up on their schedule. Faaizah was still feeling some type of way about whatever he did wrong, which he didn’t even remember. He sent her flowers yesterday and she told him thanks, but that was about it. Juice was one person trying to satisfy a million ma’fuckas and build an empire all in one day.

  “According to this text, we’re good. Come on.”

  They were split up between an Uber and a truck but waited until everyone was on ground and ready to walk in as a group.

  “Lead the way, hoe.”

  Tia shook her head, “Man, we done been here a million times, go. I’m behind you.”

  The alcohol that she indulged in had started to settle in and do what it did. Tia didn’t know that Juice was in the Bentley truck of one his homies from Houston chopping it up about an artist when he spotted her in a crowd of other beautiful black women, but she was truly one of one.

  “Damn, the thick mommies are out tonight,” his friend said.

  Juice couldn’t disagree with him there.

  He watched her sway them thick ass thighs. She picked up weight but in all the right places, plus she was toned. Tia’s arms were muscular but not too defined to the point where she looked like all she did was drink protein shakes and lift weights.

  How did he lose her?

  Resuming his conversation about business once he saw that her and her people were in the club safe and sound, “I’ll be here for another day or two. I can swing by the studio and check your folks out.”

  He was serious about starting a record label this year and was searching for some raw talent.

  “Slide through, bro. You’re not gon’ regret it.”

  They talked for another twenty minutes and then he dapped him up, heading into the club. Mahogany and their crew was already in there turning up. It was nearing one and because they did this quite often, they’d most likely leave around two’ish. She would leave in thirty minutes or if P called any sooner. Their security was with them as always. Sometimes he left with her and other times, like tonight…he would stay a little longer.

  Tia was on the floor turning up with her girls. He shot a quick glance in her direction, but they didn’t make eye contact. Her non-dancing ass still moved around with her eyes closed. She was always in her own world, doing her own thing. That was something that he’d loved about her. Tia didn’t conform.

  “Where you been?” Mahogany asked as she bit into a hot wing. The food in Houston’s clubs was unmatched.

  “Outside talking, it’s lit in here,” he commented on the vibe.

  “Yeah, I got on the mic about ten minutes ago.”

  Genesis came over and Juice shook his hand. “You good?” he was always making sure he was straight. They’d grown close over the years.

  “Yeah, nigga.”

  Juice went to the ledge of the section and peered out onto the crowd, looking for Tia.

  “Girl, he is staring at you. Oh my Gawd…don’t turn around,” Karma screamed in her ear.

  The section that Juice put them in was bigger than Mahogany’s. Not only was it all kinds of liquor, but platters of food, hookah and their own bottle girl and security. Tia’s friends were so happy and pleased with the service. Tia was connected…kinda.

  “I am not stunting him.”

  Before she could finish her statement, one of her favorite songs by a female rap duo known as the City Girls came on.

  She turned around and drunkenly rapped along with them, “Real ass bitch give a fuck about a nigga. Big Birkin bag hoe…”

  Juice looked dead at her with a smile on his face. He was turned on and amused. Tia wasn’t. This was all her friends jam, so she went back to enjoying her night and making sure not to look at him no more.

  Mahogany spotted Tia and got up to talk to Juice, “You knew she was gon’ be here?”

  He nodded his head, it was no point in lying.

  “I got them the section.”

  She didn’t say anything at first.

  “What are you doing though?”

  He was grown, he could do whatever he wanted… She just wanted him to be aware of what it looked like on the outside looking in.

  “Nothing…”

  She let it go.

  “Well, it don’t look like she’s been missing no meals.”

  He didn’t know if that was a dig or not, nor did he care.

  As he expected, Mahogany got on the mic one more time to tell everyone that she would see them at her show tomorrow before leaving.

  Him, Genesis, and a few others stayed back in the section. Juice pulled his phone out and texted Tia, “Where you going when you leave here?”

  Tia’s phone was on the couch in her clutch. She hadn’t checked it all night, she was having fun.

  An hour later, they were preparing to exit, and he texted her again hoping that she saw the message before she pulled out.

  “Leaving?”

  Still, no response.

  Juice wasn’t about to follow her outside like a groupie…

  Thankfully, he and the rest of the crew was ready to dip.

  Tia wasn’t in the parking lot when he made it outside. His messages were unread. Juice went to the hotel, showered and crashed. Show days were always long and unpredictable because anything could go wrong. The only good thing he had to look forward to was possibly seeing Tia one more time before he went back to New York, to his fiancée.

  η

  Tia never made it up the steps to her building. She threw up her insides on the curb a block away from the club and then ended up crashing at Chanda’s big ass house. The next morning, one of her four kids were poking Tia in the nose. She turned over to Karma snoring loudly in her face and someone else foot poking her in the stomach.

  “Where is your mom?” she whispered to Chanelle, her unofficial god child.

  “Cooking,” she said and then ran out of the room. Tia found the strength to get out of the bed and pedal into the bathroom. As soon as she finished peeing, the remnants of last night over indulgence spilled out of her mouth profusely. She threw up for another ten minutes before concluding that it was all out of her.

  Tia looked and felt like complete shit. Her body was sore from throwing her ass in a circle all night and twisting her neck. She had a point to prove and proved it…hopefully.

  She rinsed her mouth with water in the sink and then luckily found a toothbrush and washcloth to wash her face.

  After she felt like she did her best to pull it together, she went downstairs to look for her friend. Chanda’s house was beautiful. Real goals. The six-bedroom, fifty-five hundred square feet in Pearland, Texas was regal, and it was paid off. That was the ultimate goal for Tia to accomplish one day. No debt.

  Chanda owned a successful real estate brokerage and was the guru of investing your funds. She was like a mom and sister to Tia all in one.

  “What you cooking?” she asked her as she took a seat at the island counter.

  “Nothing fancy, eggs, bacon, grits, biscuits…and I got some fruit,” she said, coolly.

  Tia hadn’t had a homecooked breakfast meal in a long time. She mainly drank smoothies for breakfast.

  “Sounds delightful. You need some help?”

  Chanda shook her head, “No, I’m good sis. Want some coffee?”

  Tia nodded her head but got up to fix it herself.

  “Last night was fun, I needed that.”

  Chanda worked a lot. As the breadwinner and sole-provider for her family, she rarely got to let her hair down and enjoy life.

  “Is he here?” she whispered.

  Chanda shook her head,
“Of course not. He was gone before the sun could come up,” her voice held no emotion. It was sometimes hard for Tia to read Chanda. She did a great job of saving face.

  “Are you happy?” Tia asked her, wanting to really know if she was okay.

  “Do you hear these kids running around, screaming on a Saturday morning?”

  Tia smiled at her, although that wasn’t the question.

  “My kids are happy. That’s what important to me. Once you have kids, your happiness goes on the back burner.”

  That wasn’t fair to her.

  “But what about you?”

  “It’s not about me, Tia. When they graduate from high school, I’ll say job well done.”

  “Yeah, that’s no time soon.” She had toddlers, her oldest child was eight.

  Chanda stirred the eggs in a mixture bowl and then sprinkled salt, pepper and shredded cheese.

  “What do you want me to do?”

  Tia shrieked, “I want you to be fucking happy!”

  She didn’t expect to get so mad about this.

  Lanise, another one of their friends who also spent the night, came into the kitchen. “Good morning!” She wasn’t as drunk as the rest of them.

  “Tia, I thought you would still be knocked out.”

  She mumbled under her breath, “It’s hard for me to sleep in.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  Chanda ignored Lanise’s question and continued cooking.

  Tia blurted out, “She’s settling.”

  Chanda shot a mean looking glance at Tia and she looked dead at her as if to say, “Bitch, what?”

  “Okay, we all know that. Chan, what you cooking?”

  Now, she wanted to look offended.

  “What in the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

  Tia shrugged her shoulders, “You heard what she said.”

  “Why are we on my case this morning? And in MY house. I’m up making y’all drunk ass hoes breakfast. Tia, I do not appreciate this,” she told her straight up.

  Tia told her, “I came in here and saw you looking…like a ghost. Chanda, I don’t like seeing you like this,” she admitted.

  “You deserve to be happy.”

  Chanda wanted to know, “What about you?”

  Tia pointed to her chest, asking, “Me?”

  “Yeah, that man stared at you the whole night and you didn’t have the decency to speak to someone that you haven’t seen in years.”

  Tia shook her head, “You don’t know what the fuck he did to me or how he made me feel!”

  Tears welled in her eyes, but Chanda was unfazed. Don’t dish it out if you can’t take it…is how she was feeling right now.

  “I don’t give a damn. The past is the past.”

  “Not over here it ain’t. He could’ve stared at me ‘til his hair turned gray!”

  It was FUCK JUICE.

  “Hey, hey, what’s going on in here?” Karma said as she sauntered in slowly. Her head was killing her.

  Tia wiped the few lone teas that fell away and sipped her coffee.

  “I want you to stop settling for being alone,” Chanda said.

  Keiva chimed right on in as she followed her sister, “Oh, y’all must be talking about Tia.” She already knew who the conversation was about.

  “I need to go home.” She wasn’t about to let them gang up on her.

  Chanda did this shit on purpose.

  Lanise said, “How about we all eat breakfast together, go home, nap and get ready for tonight.”

  Tia spoke up, “Y’all can give my ticket to someone. I don’t wanna go no more.”

  Chanda then said, “You can go Tia, I’ll stay at home with my kids.”

  “Of course,” she spat.

  Karma wanted to know, “What is really going on?”

  They were all talking in riddles.

  “I want you to take your own advice before you try to give me some, that’s all I’m saying,” Chanda told Tia.

  Her words were completely misconstrued. Tia digressed and really had nothing else to say.

  “Sure.”

  She still opted out on eating breakfast with them and told them she’d keep them posted about the concert, but they were all free to still go and enjoy themselves.

  Tia caught an Uber home. As the vehicle backed out of the spiral driveway, she told herself no matter how big or nice the house was if love didn’t dwell in it, she didn’t want it. Period.

  η

  Mahogany had a few more songs to go before the show ended. She was covered in sweat and her adrenaline was rushing. As an artist, she vibed off the energy of the crowd. If they were turnt, she was too, along with her band.

  Juice told Genesis, “I’ll be right back.”

  He grabbed a lanyard and put it around his neck. It’d grant him backstage access once he returned. Juice was known but not in an, “Oh my God we gon’ chase his ass down,” kind of way, so he didn’t grab security when he left the closed off area. He walked down a long hallway to get on an elevator to take him to the other side of the arena where the private suites were.

  E6.

  That’s where she should be. The music was blaring in the suites, and in his opinion, it was a way better experience versus sitting on the front row. Tia knew this and promised her friends they would enjoy it way more. He didn’t spot her but was praying that’d she show.

  He recognized one or two of the chicks from her Instagram page. It was a private suite, but they were spread about the seven hundred square foot room.

  “Hey, Is Tia with y’all? Did she come?” he questioned. Juice wasn’t no nervous nigga, but he was sweating, and his palms were clammy. He hadn’t been close to her in so long.

  They smiled and first, thanked him for the amazing weekend.

  He nodded his head, “Anytime…is she here?” he asked again.

  Karma pointed to the section of chairs.

  “She got an attitude, we had to make her come,” she filled him in, which caused her friend to nudge her in the stomach.

  “Make her night…if you can,” Karma’s drunk ass added.

  Juice gave her a warm smile. He liked her energy.

  He took the steps and grabbed the seat behind her, ignoring the stares of her friends.

  Tonight, he wore all black clothing, black Gucci low cut sneakers, a gold Rolex watch and a thick herringbone chain. His haircut was fresh, and he smelled divine. In fact, it was his heavenly cologne that Tia recognized and made her turn around.

  His expression was still, hers too. She gasped and then turned back around, uneasily. Her people were watching them closely. Most likely knowing the timing and history between the two. Clearly, he still had a deep effect on her.

  Juice bent over and whispered in her ear, “You’re not enjoying the show?”

  Tia ignored him.

  She was dressed down tonight, he assumed because she was in a bad mood, since her friends put him on game. From his view, she had denim on denim and sneakers. Her hair was pulled in a low slicked back ponytail and a fedora covered the top of her hair. She smelled good too. The red lip added a little appeal to the simple look.

  “Come talk to me outside, Tia.”

  The concert was in full-swing and he wasn’t trying to have a conversation with the back of her head.

  She remained still.

  “Five minutes.”

  She took a deep breath ignoring the heavy stares her friend that was sitting right next to her were shooting at her.

  Tia stood up and grabbed her purse, then she sat it back down, knowing her girl would watch it. He let her walk past for two reasons, to watch that ass and to help her up the steps. His hand laid on the palm of her back and damn, he hadn’t touched her in so long. So fucking long.

  Once they were outside, she grabbed her wrist and held her arms near the buckle of a brown belt.

  “You look good,” he complimented her.

  Tia wanted to slap him.

  … she did slap him.

  Har
d.

  Brutally.

  People that were walking back into their suites tried their hardest not to stop and stare.

  Years had passed since she seen him, and all the anger and hate came spilling out of her profusely.

  Her bottom lip quivered. She seethed with fury.

  Juice flexed his jaw. He wouldn’t return the hit, not never.

  “I fucking-”

  She was prepared to give his ass the business, but he rushed her with a kiss.

  Not giving a fuck who saw them.

  It wasn’t crowded anyway, but all he could do was kiss her. Juice was never good at expressing his emotions. Their tongues danced for what seemed like eternity.

  “Tia, she’s singing our song…”

  Chanda came out, hoping to break the ice with her by rapping their favorite Mahogany song.

  “Ohhh...okay.” Chanda hurried back into the suite.

  Tia pulled away from him and wiped her mouth. Her red lipstick covered the corners of his.

  “I’m sorry,” he apologized and then shook his head. “Nah, actually. I’m not.” He wanted to kiss her some more and in other places too.

  Tia was confused.

  As a motherfucker.

  She bypassed him and walked back into the suite.

  Juice let her.

  He returned backstage, but she was on his mind. Heavy.

  The rest of the show was a blur and Tia remained silent. The turn up was over. That kiss lingered. His cologne did too.

  Keiva wanted details and Tia honestly, wanted them all to leave her alone and focus on the concert.

  When it was over, they contemplated their next move.

  Juice texted her, “Please stay. I’ll make sure you get home.”

  Going against her better judgement, she told her friends, “Y’all go on without me. I’ll text y’all...later.”

  Chanda smiled, happy that Lil Miss Tia was doing something different for a change.

  “Where y’all going?”

  She shrugged her shoulders. Not verbally responding.

  Was she in her right mind? She really didn’t know.

  Karma could tell that she was mentally somewhere else.

  “I love you, okay?” she told her friend, who could shut down sometimes.