Love's Grip

by Nika Michelle

  Mike: Whateva.

  Mario: I been a loyal nigga to you for years, man. It’s fucked up that you makin’ plans without me.

  Mike: Ain’t nobody makin’ no plans without you, nigga. WTF? You act like I’m yo’ bitch or something.

  Mario: Nah, nigga. You carryin’ me like I’m yo’ bitch.

  I didn’t know what to make of the texts, but it seemed like Mario was paranoid about Mike doing a takeover of the BHM, the Bankhead Mob, without him. It was also clear that Mario had seen Pistol’s presence as a threat.

  “Mike claimed that nigga Mario was just fishin’ for information from me,” Pistol said. “After we talked, Mario went to the trap spot, and he and Mike had a confrontation. He said that nigga pulled his strap out and was all in his feelings about Mike supposedly makin’ big moves without him.”

  I shook my head. “What do you think?”

  “That’s the thing. I don’t know what the fuck to think. I wanna believe my fam, but shit. Blood don’t mean shit when it comes to money, for real.”

  I sighed. “Shit’s crazy, but … that’s the street life for you, Pistol. You know that.”

  “Yeah, I do. It’s just … I don’t know how to feel right now. I just need to go where I can think, and I can’t do that shit here.”

  I understood that. “So, what you tryin’a do?”

  “I just need some sleep, and then we’ll talk about that.”

  “What?” I looked at him and shook my head. “You need sleep?”

  He didn’t respond to that. Instead, he went into how his cousin Mike had tried to prove that G had really molested his daughter.

  “That nigga even called Mikayla and told her to tell me what she’d told him about Mommy’s boyfriend.” He sighed and rubbed the top of his head. “She said that he touched her on her private parts. Mike wasn’t coaching her. Well, at least not then. It’s hard to believe that he’d get his daughter to lie about something like that. Still, I don’t know what to think. It took everything in me not to kill my folks, but I couldn’t do it. I just couldn’t let hearsay make me do that shit. Now that nigga Mario ain’t even here to back up his own damn story.”

  As I rubbed his back, I had to let him know that I was there for him. “I know why you’re confused right now, babe. It’s easy to be mad at your own family, but it’s hard to actually get revenge against them. I know. Shit, I’ve plotted so many times on how to get back at my moms, but I just can’t bring myself to do it.”

  Pistol looked at me and then laid his head on my shoulder. “I don’t even wanna talk about that shit, Ma. When I said that I needed sleep, I really didn’t mean actually sleeping.”

  A sly grin spread across his face, and I shivered. Next thing I knew, he scooped me up in his arms and carried me to the bedroom. His warm, soft lips covered mine, and we kissed with more intensity than ever. It was surprising to me that he was in the mood, being that he was going through so much.

  “Uh … babe?”

  “Yes?” he whispered against my lips.

  “You’re squeezin’ me too tight.”

  He laughed and loosened his grip on my waist. “Sorry. You just feel so good, Ma. You my stress reliever.”

  “Aw,” I crooned as he gently laid me down on the bed.

  *

  “Mmm. Damn, Ma. That was exactly what I needed,” Pistol told me an hour later. He slapped my ass and then jumped up to flush the condom.

  I waited for him to come out of the bathroom before I went in to wash up. When I returned to the bedroom, he was lying on the bed, smoking a blunt, and had a snack waiting for me. He must’ve known that I had worked up an appetite from that good-ass sex.

  I sat down next to him. “My favorite.” I grinned at him and picked up the bowl of tortilla chips. He’d poured salsa in a smaller bowl.

  He smiled back. “I figured you’d want something to munch on.”

  “Well, you figured right,” I said, literally gushing at him. “I guess you really do pay attention to detail.”

  “I told you.” He passed me the blunt and then dipped a tortilla chip in the salsa before putting it in his mouth.

  Most men I’d dealt with didn’t care what my favorite snack was. Pistol didn’t even ask me most things. He just knew because he paid attention to what I did. That nigga took notes, and it made me feel like he really gave a fuck about me and how I felt. I’d even noticed that when we had sex, he seemed to just know my body. He had noticed what I liked the first few times, and so there was no question in his mind about how to make me cum.

  “Damn. Why didn’t we meet years ago?” I wondered out loud after I hit the blunt.

  “Like you said before, this is our time. Years ago it wasn’t.”

  After hitting the blunt again, I passed it back to him because I wanted to eat. I looked and saw that he’d put a glass of juice on the nightstand.

  “Ain’t no alcohol in that, is there?” I’d had enough to drink.

  “Nah. I figured you had enough to drink.”

  “See? Right again.” I shook my head.

  He chuckled and put his arm around me, then pulled me in closer to him. His nose was in my hair now, and I could feel his breath as he inhaled and then exhaled. “Now I’m all the way good.”

  I settled into his body and got comfortable. We continued to talk and smoke as I snacked. When the chips and salsa were gone, I felt nice and satisfied. Looking over at Pistol, I noticed that he was knocked out. I leaned over, kissed his cheek, and then got up to take the dishes to the kitchen.

  Suddenly, an uneasy feeling washed over me. I tried to ignore it. Maybe it was just anxiety kicking in over the fact that I had no clue where Pistol and I were going. I also didn’t know what was going to happen. Rae posed a threat to us, and we didn’t know for sure if Pistol’s cousins did too.

  Chapter 19

  Pistol

  A nigga was up by 5:00 a.m., packing up some things for me and Daisha. She was still sound asleep, and I was enjoying the sweet melody of her breathing. The sight of her chest moving up and down with the vitality of life was promising to me. As long as I kept her alive, I would have a heart. If anything happened to her, I wouldn’t be the same. That I knew for sure. So, I had to make certain that she was safe.

  That shit with my cousins was still weighing heavily on my mind. Mike had been blowing my phone up all night, but I had been ignoring that nigga’s calls. I knew that he was just checking to see if we were all good. The fact was, we weren’t… . Just because I had put my gun in my waistband and had walked up out of their spot didn’t mean that shit was over. Not by any means. I just needed some time to think and get some clarity on what had really happened.

  The fact was, that nigga Rae probably didn’t know who I was. Even if Mario had told the truth and Rae had got Mike to get G merked, there was a chance that he still didn’t know who I was. Something told me that he wouldn’t recognize me from the shit with Daisha or with G. Maybe I’d be able to get away with getting the information straight from the horse’s mouth. I was hoping that he’d be released from police custody soon. First, I needed to take a trip somewhere. It was very important that I did.

  I checked my phone and saw that Dank had been calling me too. He’d even sent me a text message, which I didn’t bother to check. Those niggas could wait. Shit, I had other things to do.

  “Wake up, baby. We gotta get ready to go.” I gently shook Daisha, and she moaned and groaned, with a frown on her face.

  That made me smile. Baby girl loved to sleep.

  “C’mon, babe. Get up. You can sleep in the car.” I leaned over and softly kissed her ear before whispering, “I’ll eat your pussy.”

  Her eyes were wide open now. “Okay.” The smile she wore was big as hell, too, as she stared up at me.

  “I figured that would get you up,” I said and chuckled.

  When we got outside a little over an hour later, I noticed that Dank’s charcoal-gray Dodge Challenger was parked beside my ride. I glanced over a
t Daisha and held my car keys out to her.

  “Go wait for me in the car, Ma,” I told her.

  “Who’s that?” she quizzed as she took the keys from my hand.

  I sighed. “Dank.”

  “Oh,” she simply said and then walked off.

  I had put our bags in the trunk a few minutes ago and was ready to peel out. What could that nigga possibly want? As I walked over to his car, I checked that my strap was where it needed to be. It was right there in the waist of my jeans, just in case that nigga Dank was up to no good. There was a chance that he was playing that shit off to help Mike.

  “’Sup, man?” I asked, giving him a look to let him know that his timing was all wrong.

  “I see you on your way out, but since you wasn’t answerin’ your phone, I figured I’d just come on over here.”

  All I did was nod. Shit. That was part of the reason why I wanted to leave for a couple of days. I’d even emptied my safe, because I didn’t trust niggas. Something had told me they’d be on that pop-up shit, and I wasn’t trying to be there. Not only did I want to get away to think, but I also didn’t want to be bothered by Dank or Mike for a while. I didn’t need them in my ears, trying to convince me of shit. At least not until I knew the truth. That shit had to be deciphered by me. I wasn’t easily influenced. Instead, I investigated shit, weighed the facts, and drew my conclusions from there. The verdict wasn’t in on those niggas yet. Not even on Dank’s ass.

  “Yeah, I’m on my way out. So what’s up?” He had to know that I wasn’t in the mood for that pop-up shit.

  His eyes were on Daisha. He was probably trying to figure out if he’d seen her before, but I needed him to get back to the subject at hand. What the fuck was he at my spot for at seven in the morning?

  “Who’s shawty?” he asked. “You ain’t said shit ’bout her, man.”

  “Uh, I think why you are over here so early is more important right now, man. What the fuck’s up?”

  “Oh shit. I came through to let you know that Mike’s in the hospital and shit.”

  Had that nigga been shot too? Given how the streets were set up, it was a possibility. Shit, he’d just killed Mario. What if some inside bullshit was going down? That was why I didn’t really fuck with a bunch of niggas or get down with a big crew. You could never really trust that niggas wouldn’t turn on you.

  “Did he get shot?” I asked.

  “Nah, man. I found that nigga in the middle of the street in front of the crib, all broke up and shit. Somebody ran him over right there in the road. He’s at Grady. They stabilized him, but he’s unconscious. He’s fucked up, man. They got that nigga in ICU… .”

  “Who ran over him?”

  “That’s the thing, man. I don’t fuckin’ know.”

  “Is that nigga Rae still locked up?”

  “As far as I know, he is.”

  I sighed, not knowing how to feel. Shit was getting more and more chaotic by the minute. As much as I had wanted to kill that nigga earlier, my animosity wasn’t too deep at the moment. I needed more information, but this nigga here had none.

  “That’s fucked up, but you know I can’t go to the hospital. Keep me posted, though, man,” I said.

  “Right, right. A’ight, man. I just hope bro pull through.”

  I spit on the driveway. “Yeah. Holla at me.”

  Walking toward my whip, I wondered who had done that shit to Mike. What bullshit was that nigga really involved in? I couldn’t figure out why somebody would try to run him over with a car. Normally, niggas didn’t handle street shit like that. That shit was up close and personal. Most hood niggas handled street beef with a few bullets.

  Once I was behind the wheel, that nigga Dank drove off.

  “Everything straight?” Daisha’s eyes were searching mine.

  “Somebody tried to kill Mike.”

  *

  The way Daisha’s eyes lit up when she realized where we were made me feel good as hell. All I could do was smile at her, and that was off the wall, since shit was chaotic as hell back in Atlanta. The peace and serenity of the ocean was a welcome distraction. Well, that and Daisha’s beautiful face.

  “I always wanted to come here,” she said, beaming, before she jumped out of the car.

  “You’ve never been to Myrtle Beach?” I asked as I stepped out of the car.

  I’d surprised my mother a couple of years ago with a nice spot right there on the beach in South Carolina, but she visited only from time to time. It was a two-story, cottage-style beach bungalow that sat right there on the oceanfront. I whipped the house key out of my pocket.

  “How many hideaways do you have?” She grinned at me as her hair whipped in the wind. “Shit, if I was you, I would’ve just come here instead of Atlanta.”

  “Then I wouldn’t have met you.”

  “True,” she agreed as she blushed.

  I passed her the key and told her to unlock the door and go inside while I grabbed our bags. When I walked inside, she was giving herself the grand tour. The way she was oohing and aahing about everything was so cute. Her carefree spirit was one of the things I loved about her the most. She didn’t hold herself back or act all reserved and shit.

  “So you like the place?” I asked as I put our bags down on the floor.

  “Oh my God. I love it. I didn’t think anything could top your uncle’s spot. We have to go get me a bathing suit. I can’t wait to go on the beach.”

  “Okay. We gon’ do that, but can I chill first, Ma?”

  She put her hands on her hips. “I saw a gazillion shops on the strip. Gimme the keys. I ain’t tired.”

  I reached in my pocket to retrieve my car keys. “Hurry back. I got plans for you.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” she said.

  I lay down on the sofa while she got ready to go. I was drifting off to sleep by the time I heard the door close.

  About an hour later I awoke from my nap and saw that Daisha hadn’t returned yet from shopping. I was a little concerned so I called her, but she didn’t answer her phone. I tried two more times, but still no answer. When she finally burst through the door half an hour later and dropped her shopping bags, I grabbed her and kissed her deeply.

  “Um, hey to you too,” she said, smiling, after I finally pulled away.

  “I was worried… .”

  “Why, babe? We ain’t in Atlanta. Rae and them ain’t here.”

  I sighed. “I know. It’s just … I’m an overprotective-ass nigga.”

  “No worries, babe. I got a few bathing suits, and I got you something too.” She reached in one of the bags and pulled out a little red Speedo.

  “Um, who the fuck is that shit s’posed to be for?” There was a smirk on my face.

  “You.” She giggled as she held it up.

  “Nah, Ma. That ain’t gon’ happen.”

  She gave me a sly look as she laughed harder. “I’ll suck your dick from the back if you wear it.”

  Suddenly, she was serious, and I was too. I’d never had a bitch suck my dick from the back before. At first I was curious, but that was just a little too close to a nigga’s ass. I held her in my arms and gave her another kiss before I started removing her clothes.

  “How ’bout I eat yo’ sweet-ass pussy from the back?” I suggested.

  “So, does that mean that you don’t want me to suck—”

  I covered her lips with mine. As much as I loved her head, the desire to taste her was overwhelming.

  “How ’bout we please each other at the same time?” I said when the kiss was over.

  She looked up at me and nodded. “Hell yeah. Sixty-nine. Let’s see who taps out first.”

  I laughed. “Okay. So what will happen to the one who taps out first?”

  “Uh, the one who taps out first will have to be the only one who performs oral sex for a week. No reciprocation whatsoever.” She smiled slyly as she gave me the terms.

  I shrugged my shoulders. “Sounds good to me. Shit, head for a week without having to serve y
ou sounds like a plan. Although I love the way your pussy tastes.”

  Daisha playfully shoved me in the chest as she laughed. “Oh, okay. You act like you know you gon’ win. Don’t underestimate my skills, nigga. I was holding back on your ass at Chops.”

  I gave her a skeptical look. “Okay. We’ll see, Ma. I mean, you got skills, but—”

  “Nigga, shut up and just show me what that mouth do.”

  “I love a challenge,” I told her in a low, raspy voice.

  Her sultry eyes penetrated mine as I pulled her shirt over her head before helping her remove her shorts. Then I undressed, and she watched attentively. No more words were exchanged as we engaged in a passionate kiss. I lay down on the sofa first and darted my tongue out teasingly.

  “Come put that thang in my face, Ma.”

  “Shit, you only gotta tell me that one time.” Her face lit up as she stared down at me before straddling my face, positioning that fat pussy over my waiting lips.

  My tongue and lips were working on her swollen clit in no time.

  “Mmm … ,” she moaned as she wrapped her lips around my engorged dick.

  Damn, I was so hard, and her mouth felt so warm and wet. A trail of saliva streamed down my shaft to my balls, and she used her soft hand to jack me off as she sucked.

  “Ma … damn … ,” I gasped against her pussy and then sucked, slurped, and licked.

  The sight of her thick, round ass cheeks right there in my face had me aroused to the fullest. I could feel the nut rising in my balls, but it was mind over matter. A nigga started thinking about shit that wouldn’t make me cum. That was hard, being that baby girl was working that ass as she fed me straight pussy.

  “You taste so fuckin’ sweet … ,” I whispered, then sucked on her pussy lips as I added one finger to stimulate her G-spot. Then, moving my tongue in circles around her clit, I started going in on that pussy.

  “Ah, shit … fuck, Pistol. Damn … ,” she moaned and then started sloppily deep throating my dick.

  By now li’l mama’s lips were on my balls; she’d taken that shit in so deep. My shit was tingling like a motherfucker. The pressure of her sucking and the sensual flicks of her tongue had me all fucked up. As she did her thing, I had to stop what I was doing and enjoy it. My eyes were closed, and I could feel the warm rush of my orgasm building. Then I thought about our little bet and went back to devouring that pretty pussy.