Side Chic 3 (The Ratchetness Continues)

by West, La'Tonya

  “You can roll’em all you want! This is my damn house and I can say whatever I want to whoever comes through that front door! I don’t care if they are your friends! If you don’t like it, you can get out!” She yelled.

  We went into the kitchen and took a seat at the table. “Man, I’m sorry about that shit! She had no right to come off on you like that!” He huffed. “That’s why I can’t wait til I get my own shit!”

  “It’s cool, I ain’t sweatin’ it.” I downplayed shit but inside I was heated. “I realize that people are going to be talkin’ about this shit but they don’t know the whole story.” I told him feeling like I could confide in him. I had a lot on my mind and I couldn’t talk to Lala about it. I knew that I could talk to my parents but to be honest I didn’t really want to because I wasn’t sure if they’d fully understand.

  “What do you mean people don’t know the whole story?” He sat up in his chair some. “What is there to know except for you was fuckin’ Tamika, just like everybody else in Southampton County and Casper got drunk, overheard y’all making plans and couldn’t handle it.” I looked at him confused, wondering where he’d gotten that bullshit from about Casper overhearing us making plans. “To keep it real with you, I can’t understand why Casper was mad because he already knew that bitch was scandalous and that all the niggas had run through her ass.”

  “I can still see why he was mad.” I admitted. I hadn’t said it to anyone yet but I hated the fact that Casper was locked up. We’d been friends since we were kids. It fucked with me hard knowing I was partially to blame for him being where he was. If there was anything that I could do to change his situation I would. Each time that the police questioned me about who had shot me, I told them the same thing…I didn’t know. I told them that it’d been dark in the hallway and I hadn’t seen who had pulled the trigger. I couldn’t do him like that. I understood Tamika’s family wanting him to pay for what he’d done to her because if she were my people I would want justice too. They could do what they felt like they needed to but as for me there was no way I was going to sit in anybody’s courtroom and testify against him. “The shit was fucked up that happened between Tamika and me but if he’d given me a chance to explain he may have understood why I’d did it. The bitch had recorded a conversation that she’d overheard between me, Casper and Skeet. I was telling them about the situation with Lala. She used the conversation that she’d recorded to blackmail me into fuckin’ with her! She threatened to tell Kisha if I didn’t. I never wanted to fuck with her ass. That’s my word!” Hearing myself tell Tyson about Tamika blackmailing me made me feel like a straight bitch! I felt even more responsible for the situation now. If I’d gone ahead and told Kisha about Lala instead of trying to hide the shit, none of this would’ve happened! I hit my hand against the table! “Man damn! I fucked up, Tyson!” I looked at my boy through teary eyes. I’d lost every damn thing! Though the tears in my eyes threatened to fall, I wouldn’t let them. My pride wouldn’t allow me to stand in front of my boy and cry like a pussy no matter how bad I wanted to!

  “Don’t blame yourself for all of this shit. To me, Casper did this to his damn self! He knew that bitch wasn’t shit! He should’ve just thrown her ass out! He didn’t have to shoot you or her! It was that damn alcohol he had in his system!” He accused. “That shit caused him to make a dumb ass decision that he will be paying for the rest of his life when all he had to do was let her sorry ass go! That liquid courage be having niggas doing the dumbest shit.”

  I stood pacing back and forth. “This shit just ain’t right, yo.” I shook my head as I thought about the situation. Anyway that I looked at it, it was just downright fucked up!

  “Man listen, you know that I couldn’t stand Tamika’s ass, right?”

  I stopped pacing and leaned up against the counter. “Yeah…”

  “Well the reason is because she was fuckin with my cousin Black from Emporia, had his head gone just like Casper’s. She found out that she was pregnant and told him that she wanted to have an abortion. He kept asking her why because he wanted her to keep it. At first she wouldn’t tell him but he kept on pressing her about it and she finally admitted to him that she’d been fucking his brother Jamal too. Now instead of him leaving her ass alone, he confronted Jamal and the two of them ended up fighting over her tramp ass. He still didn’t leave her ass alone. He even ended up paying for her to have the abortion. A few months after the shit with his brother, I go over to Casper’s crib and catch her laid up in there with Casper. So I call him up and tell him about it, this nigga on the phone accusing me of lying on her. He stopped speaking to me and everything over her ass. Then when she packed up her shit and left him and moved in with Casper, he wanted to call me crying the blues! Tamika wasn’t shit, straight up! I’d told Casper about the whole situation with her and Black but he wasn’t trying to hear what I was saying. She must’ve had voodoo between her legs because she had those motherfuckas under some type of spell!”

  I wouldn’t dare admit it to anyone but she did have some fiyah ass pussy. As much as I hated her tramp ass I couldn’t deny that she had some of the illest pussy that I’d ever sampled. I think the only reason that I never fell victim to her good pussy was because of how deeply I hated her ass! Even good pussy couldn’t change that! She was one of the most low down, most triflin’ hoes that I’d ever run across in my entire life!

  We continued to talk for a minute about the situation and by the time I left I felt a little bit better. On my way back home, I stopped by the Red Barn to get a pack of cigarettes. I hadn’t smoked in nearly two months and I’d told myself that I wasn’t going to smoke once I came home from the hospital but right now my ass was going through withdrawals like a motherfucka! I parked and said what’s up to a few fellas that were posted up in front of the store, before going inside.

  I’d paid for my cigarettes and was on my way out of the store when I bumped into Mina. Mina was a cute little redbone that owned the hair salon down the street from the store. She was real tiny about Jada Pinkett’s size with long jet black hair and these big brown eyes. Looking at her you would think that she was a teenager. I’d always thought that she was cute and had even tried to get at her a couple of times but she let me know that she had a man and didn’t do the creepin’ thing. All I could do was respect that.

  It had been a minute since I’d seen her. She looked like she’d loss a little weight since the last time that I’d seen her but she was still cute. “My bad, shorty.” I said as I reached out to try and help her catch her balance. “Are you alright? I didn’t see you.”

  “Yeah, I’m straight.” She replied laughing. “How are you? I mean, are you better?”

  I assumed that she was referring to me being shot. “I’m good just taking it easy.”

  “That’s good.” She replied. “How are Kisha and the boys?”

  “They are doing okay. The boys are getting big and terrible.”

  “They aren’t terrible. You and Kisha have probably just spoiled the mess out of them.” She replied staring up at me. I noticed that her eyes were a little red and glassy. I knew what the cause of that was. Everybody knew that she smoked weed. She used to sell it up at the salon until the police ran up in there. Luckily that day she didn’t have anything on her but after that close call she stopped. I can’t say that I blamed her. Sometimes it pays to stop while you’re ahead.

  “Yeah, I’ve spoiled them a little bit.” I admitted.

  “Excuse me.” A young lady was trying to come out of the store and Mina and I were standing in her way. We moved over to the side.

  “How is your little one?” I asked referring to the baby that she had with her boyfriend Mello.

  “She’s fine. Now she’s terrible!” She accused. “She has an attitude just like her crazy ass daddy.”

  I laughed. “You love his crazy ass though, right? Y’all have been together for a minute.”

  “We were together for a minute.” She corrected me placing her hand on h
er small hip. “We split up a little over a month ago.”

  I hadn’t expected that. “Really?”

  “Yes, really.” She smiled up at me.

  Unsure of what to say next, I replied. “Well, I’m sorry to hear that.”

  “Don’t be. Some things just aren’t meant to be. I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. Maybe God removed him from my life so that someone new could enter.”

  I nodded my head. “That could very well be the case.” I agreed.

  “Speaking of people being together for a minute, you and Kisha have been hanging in there for a good while too.”

  “Kisha and I aren’t together anymore.” I informed her even though I had a feeling that she already knew because there were no secrets where we lived. “Yeah, we split up like two months ago.”

  “Oh, I didn’t know that.” Her hand went up over her mouth like that was the most shocking news that she’d heard in a while.

  “Yeah…well like you said everything happens for a reason. Right?”

  “That’s what I said.” She laughed. “So does that mean that you’re single now?”

  “Yes ma’am, I am very single.” I answered. “Why? Would you like to give me your number so that I can call you sometimes?”

  “Sure.” She blushed.

  I took out my phone and she called out her number to me. After programming her number in my phone I put it back in my pocket. “Alright now, I don’t want no drama if I call your phone.” I told her. I said it in a joking tone but I was serious as a heart attack. I knew her ex-boyfriend Mello pretty well. He was known for trippin’ on niggas over her. He’d fight a motherfucka for just looking her way! I didn’t need that bullshit! I was done with the drama. I’d had my share and didn’t want anymore.

  “Oh you don’t have that to worry about.” She assured me. “I am single. I don’t have to answer to anyone! I can talk to whoever I please.”

  “Okay…well I’m going to get on home. I’ll hit you up later on.”

  “Alright.” She went inside the store and I headed home.

  Mina

  After getting all of the things that I needed from the store, I headed back up the street to the salon to wait for my two o'clock appointment. I took my time, leisurely strolling back up the street. A smile played on the corners of my lips as I thought to myself how good Tremaine had looked a few minutes ago when I'd bumped into him on my way inside the store. He’d always been fine as hell to me but I’d never said anything because of the fact that we were both in relationships and because of the fact that Kisha and I were supposedly related down the line. It wasn’t anything serious. Our dads were third cousins which mad us like fourth cousins but to be honest that didn’t really count. I didn’t even fuck with my daddy like that. I hadn’t seen him in over fifteen years. I was more bothered by all of the different women that I’d heard about Tremaine running through than Kisha and my relation. I’d never known her to claim me and I didn’t go around claiming her either so it was really no big deal.

  I’d heard that Tremaine had cheated on Kisha with numerous women but that wasn’t how I got down. It didn’t matter how good he looked, I wasn’t about to be one of the women he played with on the side. I was a number one type of bitch! I didn’t do the number two shit! I wanted to be the chic that he claimed and rocked on his arm not the one he kept hidden in the cut for a late night fuck.

  I’d already known that Kisha and Tremaine were no longer together before I’d asked. Their situation had been the talk of the town for several weeks now. I knew all about the other girl that he’d gotten pregnant while he was with Kisha. I'd also heard about what had gone down between him and his boy Casper a little over a month ago. I shook my head at the sad thought of Casper shooting him and Tamika. To me, it made no sense at all because Casper knew all along what type of female Tamika was. Yes, both Tremaine and Tamika were dead wrong for what they'd been doing behind his back but he could've found a better way to handle the situation besides the way that he'd chosen. Now as a result of his actions, Tamika was dead and he would be spending a very long time in prison. Time that he could never get back. I felt that none of it had to be. It was just plain stupid. I was extremely glad though that Tremaine had survived. I was looking forward to getting to know him better. I knew that there was a good chance that he still had a lot of dog in him because as the old saying goes, once a cheat always a cheat. The difference between me and all of the others was that I wasn’t going to allow the bullshit. I’d already been through a lot of shit with Mello. So I wasn’t about to allow Tremaine to take me through anything else. The shit that he’d done in the past stopped with me. The game was about to change.

  I looked up the street in the direction of the salon and saw something that gave me an instant headache. Mello’s 345lb frame was posted up in front of the salon. I took a deep breath and blew it out. Lord what in the fuck does he want? I wondered to myself. Seeing him immediately blew my high. I’d been feeling good as hell from the blunt that my cousin Nelle and I had smoked just before I’d walked to the store.

  When I reached the salon, I purposely continued past him, acting as if I didn’t see him. I didn’t have anything to say to him. I was done talking. I’d done too much fuckin’ talking in the five years that he and I’d been together and that shit hadn’t gotten me anywhere except countless ass whoopings! I knew that he thought that I was playing about us being over because I’d left a million and one times only to turn around and go right back as soon as he came at me with some sad ass apology. I was more than tired of forgiving him for his bullshit. For five years, I’d lived in pure hell! He would come home and beat my ass just because. Whooping my ass was like a hobby to that nigga. I’d been hospitalized a few times during our relationship as a result of the abuse. I just couldn’t do it anymore.

  I won’t lie and pretend like all of the feelings that I once had for him were completely gone because they weren’t. It was impossible to just stop loving someone that you’d loved and cared for, for five years but he needed some help for his temper. I’d begged him before I’d decided to leave for him to get some help but he refused to. He said that he didn’t want any stranger all up in his business. I kept trying to explain to him that his getting help wasn’t just about him. It was about our daughter Simya and me as well.

  Growing up, Mello had been a victim of abuse. His daddy was an alcoholic, who used to beat him and his mama on a regular basis. Not only did his daddy beat him but so did his mother. It was like some sick ass cycle. His daddy would get upset and take his frustration out on the two of them. Then his mama would get upset and frustrated with the fact that his daddy was whooping her ass and treating her like shit and then she would beat the hell out of him. When he would tell me the stories about all of the pain that he’d suffered at the hands of his parents growing up, my heart went out to him. I’d tried my best to get him to see that he was doing the same thing to me that his daddy had done to his mama. He would apologize and promise that he wouldn’t do it again. Always saying that he’d lost control of his temper and didn’t mean to hit me but then turn right around and whoop my ass again a day later.

  The final strike had come when he’d shaken Simya because she was crying while he was trying to go to sleep. There was no way in hell that I was going to sit back and allow him to harm my baby. The things that he did to me were worse enough but she was just an innocent two year old baby. She couldn’t defend herself. That was my job. So I’d left and gotten a restraining order against him. He wasn’t supposed to be anywhere near me but yet here he was.

  “So you don’t see me standing here?” He asked taking one last pull of the cigarette that he’d been smoking and flicking the butt on to the pavement. I put my hand on the door handle to go inside and felt him snatch me back by the back of my shirt! “I said you don’t see me standing here?” He repeated through clenched teeth.

  “Go ahead on with all of that, Mello.” I said trying to jerk away from his gr
asp. “You ain’t even supposed to be here on my property or anywhere near me at all for that matter.”

  He sucked his teeth. “Man, fuck that whack ass restraining order! I came here to try and talk to you. I miss my family…I miss my daughter. I haven’t seen my baby in over a month.”

  “Whose fault is that Mello?” I asked looking up into his chocolate brown eyes. The expression on his face reflected anger and his high yellow complexion had turned a bright shade of red. “You would be at home with your family if you would get some help! Simya and I are not your punching bags for you to take out your frustration on every time that you get upset!”

  He tried to speak, “Mina, I…”

  I cut him off. “You have done a lot of shit to me and I’ve taken it. Mainly because I love you and I sympathize for all that you have been through. I understand that it had to have been hard for you but I refuse to allow you to hurt my baby.” I shook my head. “Nah, ain’t no way in hell I can sit back and allow that to happen.”

  “Yo, chill with that bullshit! I would never do anything to hurt my baby!” He held a firm grip on my shirt with one hand and pointed the other in my face. “I love my baby!”

  “Then act like it! Get some fuckin’ help! What do you think would’ve happened if you had shaken her harder than what you did? Do you know how many babies have died like that?” I screamed at him. He was standing there trying to downplay what he’d done like it was no big deal when it really was! Every time that incident crossed my mind it scared the shit out of me, thinking of what could’ve happened.

  The door to the salon opened and my little cousin Kamia stuck her head out. “Is everything alright out here?” She inquired looking from me to Mello.