by Jade Jones
Jude’s heart felt like it had dropped to the pit of his stomach. He had to read the brief message three or four more times to make sure his eyes weren’t deceiving him. Rage and grief boiled over in him when O’ Zone sent a second message that asked Cam if she were still going to be in his music video.
Just then Cameron sauntered into kitchen, toweling off her hair. She wore an oversized white t-shirt.
Jude squeezed her iPhone so tightly in his hand that it threatened to crack at any given moment. Holding it up, he said, “That nigga O’ Zone…you fucked him?” His voice was unusually calm, and the seriousness in his tone caused Cam to tense up.
Cam stopped drying off her hair. Her gaze darted from her cellphone to Jude’s angry expression. “I—uh…I…”
“DID YOU FUCK THIS NIGGA?!” Jude barked.
“Yes!” Cameron cried.
Disappointment and fury washed over him. Without warning, he launched the iPhone at the dry wall, causing it to crack instantly. Justin immediately began wailing after the loud boom, but unfortunately Elyse wasn’t there to console him.
“I knew it was something different about you!” Jude hollered. It felt like his heart had been impaled with a sword. Nothing hurt worse than discovering the love of his life had guiltlessly lied down with another nigga.
“Jude, I’m sorry!” Cameron sobbed.
Jude nodded his head in agreement. His face was beet red with anger. “Yeah, you right. You are a sorry ass mufucka. I can’t believe you!” he yelled. “I’m out here tryin’ to do the best I can for yo’ selfish ass and this is the thanks I get?!” Tears pooled in his rage-filled eyes, but he would be damned if he went out crying like a bitch.
“Jude…I…I can’t find the words to tell you how sorry I am,” Cameron said. “I fucked up. I was so busy trying to find myself, and all I found was trouble.”
Jude shook his head in disgust. “I can’t believe I ever thought ya ass would be wife material.”
Cameron reached for Jude but he moved away from her. “So this what got you runnin’ the streets? The nigga that’s makin’ you wanna stay out at all times of the night like you ain’t gotta family? That’s what you want? Some fuckin’ joke?! Huh?! ‘Cuz that’s all the fuck you gon’ be to him!”
“Jude, please let me explain—”
“Ain’t shit to explain. You foul as fuck. You had a real nigga and now you lost him…” With that said, Jude walked out the kitchen.
Cameron anxiously followed behind. They both ignored Justin’s high-pitched wailing. “Jude, don’t put this all on me!” she yelled after him. “Since you asked me to marry you in Cleveland, I’ve been feeling like you’re forcing me to be what you want me to be!”
Jude turned on his heel and rounded on her. “How the fuck I been forcin’ you to do anything?!”
“All you want me to do is stay home, raise our son, cook, clean, and fuck.”
Jude scoffed. “And you could barely do two out of those five,” he retorted. “Everything I do is for you and Justin! You don’t know what all the fuck I go through. You don’t know what all I’m sacrificin’, but I’m doin’ it because I love you! I love our son! I love our family!” he said. “There ain’t a bitch in the world that can substitute that.” Jude shook his head. “It just fucks me up that you don’t feel the same…”
Cameron tried to grab Jude’s arm, but he snatched away from her. After collecting his car keys, Jude stormed out the front door, leaving Cam alone with her overwhelming thoughts. Justin’s piercing hollers were beginning to give her a headache, and she could barely think straight.
What the hell have I done, Cameron asked herself. There was no way she could let Jude walk out of her life.
***
As soon as Jude hopped inside his BMW 335is, he called up Essence. “Where you at?” he asked the minute she answered her phone.
“At home, doing a little studying. Why? What’s up?” she asked suspiciously. Essence wasn’t expecting to hear from Jude again since he was supposedly a soon-to-be-married man.
Jude hung up the phone without so much as a response. Twenty minutes later he pulled into her apartment complex. He was an emotional wreck, and he felt the only way he could fix it was by getting his dick wet.
Jude parked crookedly, jumped out his whip, and walked swiftly to Essence’s door. When she finally answered he pulled her 5”6 frame close, and eagerly crushed his lips against hers.
Essence’s body melted into his at once. She wrapped her toned arms around his neck and pulled him inside her apartment. His fiancé was pushed to the back of both their minds. Essence wanted Jude, he wanted her, and that was all the incentive they needed to have sex.
Jude backed Essence against the foyer wall, and anxiously undid her jeans. She hurriedly pulled the pocket tank over her head, revealing her bare breasts.
Jude rubbed her hot pussy through the fabric of her jeans as he popped one of her hardened nipples in his mouth.
“Oooh,” Essence moaned. She was both surprised and turned on by his aggression. She couldn’t wait for him to take his anger out inside of her.
Jude lifted her up, and she wrapped her legs around his waist. “Where’s ya room?” he asked in a hoarse tone.
“At the end of the hallway on the right,” she quickly answered. Essence had only dreamt about this moment. Fuck his fiancé, she told herself. If she knew what I knew she’d be trying to hold onto him even more.
Jude carried her inside her small bedroom, and delicately placed her body on the queen sized Woodhaven bed. The mattress squeaked after the added weight.
Essence promptly unbuttoned Jude’s jeans. She was so anxious to feel him deep inside. Her pussy throbbed in her panties—
“Hold up. Hold up,” Jude stopped her. She was just about to pull his jeans down.
“What’s wrong?” Essence asked, clearly puzzled.
Jude plopped down onto the edge of her bed with his back facing her. “Yo, I can’t even do this shit,” he confessed. “I thought I could—and I want to—no doubt about it…but I just can’t.”
Essence was lost. “Huh? I’m so confused.”
Jude stood to his feet, and planted a soft kiss on her forehead. Essence deserved more than a revenge fuck. She deserved love, compassion, and respect…but he just couldn’t be the one to give it to her.
“I know…,” Jude said. “And that’s my bad. You don’t deserve to be dragged into my bullshit.” After fixing his clothes, he walked out of her apartment.
25
After the brief encounter with Essence, Jude decided to get up with King at a popular downtown bar. For the first time, King was solo dolo. The posse who usually followed him around like a herd of bodyguards were nowhere in sight—which was out of the ordinary especially considering the tragedy at his crib. King was currently on a mission to find the motherfuckers who shot his place up. With all the clout and pull he had in the city it’d only be a matter of time before he got some much deserved revenge.
Jude joined King at the bar and ordered a double shot of Remy with no ice.
“Damn…lookin’ like somebody havin’ a rough day, huh?” King said. He was nursing a beer and a shot of Hen. Once in a while he liked to enjoy some solitude. It offered him time to think and gather his thoughts. Being a boss could be stressful at times.
Jude released a deep sigh. “You have no idea,” he said. “Just found out my girl slept with another nigga.”
King whistled dramatically. “Shit,” he shook his head. “I’d pull the strap out on my bitch if she did that shit. She knows not to try a nigga.”
Jude took a sip of his drink. Although he was tempted, he would never put his hands on a female.
“Man, ya’ll mufuckas young though,” King told him. “Ya’ll just kids for real. Ya’ll gon’ have plenty more fuck ups. It’s a just a matter of it bein’ worth stickin’ it out. You heard me?” He turned towards Jude. “You know how many bitches I done ran up in since the day I said ‘I do’? I done got damn
lost count. But wifey still ride for a nigga. And you wanna know why?”
“’Cuz she scared to leave ya ass,” Jude joked.
“That too,” King agreed. “But it’s ‘cuz she ain’t gon’ find a nigga realer than me,” he chuckled. “My point is people fuck up. If mufuckas don’t make mistakes they won’t learn any lessons in life. Dig? And don’t front like you ain’t gotcha share of side pieces too, pretty boy.”
Jude took another sip of his drink. “I ain’t never stepped out on my girl in all the time we’ve been together. I could’ve,” he added. “I should’ve—”
“Nah, ‘cuz what would that have solved? Nigga, that tit for tat shit juvenile, bruh,” King said. “If you really love this broad—and I know you do—you gon’ make the shit work. ‘Cuz you only find real love once, blood. You can believe that.”
Jude sighed dejectedly. “I don’t know what the hell is wrong, man…I don’t know how to fix this shit. I don’t even know if I wanna, real talk.”
“You just salty, right now. You’ll bounce back,” King told him. “Look, I’ma bless ya pockets with a lil’ somethin’ after this deal goes through tomorrow, and I want you to take some time for yaself. I want you to take ya girl somewhere nice—out the country. Fuck the states.” He patted Jude on the shoulder. “Put the past in the past, man. I can look at her and tell she’s a good girl. You gotta keep it thuggin’. Nothin’s perfect.”
Jude thought about what Cameron had said earlier about him forcing her to be what he wanted. Is that really how she feels?
“So do you even know the nigga she fucked?” King asked.
***
This a thousand dollar pair of shoes and U.O.E.N.O it…
This a thousand dollar cup of lean and U.O.E.N.O it…
This a half a million dollar car, U.O.E.N.O it…
I came up from bottom, U.O.E.N.O it…
Jude nodded his head towards a small crowd that had gathered on the dance floor. As usual, fans were flocking to the popular music artist for a chance to get a picture or even an autograph. Surprisingly, Zeus wasn’t ‘chaperoning’ O’ Zone for the evening. Instead he had a body guard with him that was of equal stature as Zeus.
“There go that nigga right there,” Jude said. There was so much hatred in his eyes as he looked at O’ Zone. He didn’t even want to imagine him having his hands all over Cameron.
This time around, King was practically twenty deep. He never frequented too many places alone because there were too many haters patiently waiting to catch him slipping.
King gave one of his goons a knowing look. They were used to communicating silently. It came with the job.
Jude watched as King’s boy slid O’ Zone’s bodyguard a small knot of cash in order to scram. Afterward, they played the waiting game until the moment they could catch his ass alone. When O’ Zone finally did step outside to smoke and clear his mind, King, Jude, and his crew followed suit.
O’ Zone stood in the parking lot, shielding his hand over the L to light it. At first he didn’t even notice the group of guys surrounding him. Initially, he thought he was about to be robbed. O’ Zone wondered why they were so deep if they were only planning to rob him. Something told me not to bring my ass out here without security, he thought to himself. However, he figured what was the worst that could happen.
O’ Zone looked around suspiciously at the gang of guys closing in. They formed a tight circle around him, and from the looks on their face it was obvious that they meant business.
Jude stepped between two niggas and approached O’ Zone slowly. The more he rocked with King the more the older man started to rub off on him. His good guy rep was slowly disappearing, and a monster was taking its place instead.
“What’s happenin’?” O’ Zone asked. He was starting to panic a little, but he didn’t want to let it show. After all, they would only feed on his weakness.
Jude pulled his NIKE vintage hoodie off and tossed it to the ground. “Nigga, I’m finna whup ya ass. That’s what’s happenin’.”
O’ Zone looked at all the men surrounding him. Based on their serious expressions they weren’t letting him go without a fight. They didn’t give a damn about his celebrity status.
O’ Zone looked back at Jude. It was then that he finally recognized him. “Man, this about that bitch, ain’t it?”
WHAP!
Jude hit O’ Zone directly in the chin. The blow sent him crashing to the concrete. The lighter and blunt instantly flew from his hands, landing several feet away. It felt like the wind had been knocked out of him, and for a few seconds he lay on the ground stunned and dazed.
“Get ya mothafuckin’ ass up, nigga,” Jude demanded while holding his hands up in a fighting stance.
O’ Zone looked up at Jude like he was crazy. “So this what this shit comes down to, man? We gon’ fight over a bitch like some mufuckin’ niggas in high school?”
King aimed his KAP-40 at O’ Zone. “Get yo’ punk ass up and fight. Or you can die like a mufuckin’ coward,” he said. “All that bullshit you spit in them songs, but you ain’t tryin’ to throw no hands…Bitch ass nigga.”
O’ Zone hastily scurried to his feet. He would be damned if he had his dignity insulted. He was a man about his. Holding up his hands, O’ Zone and Jude squared up.
Without warning, O’ Zone dived at Jude and attempted to grapple him. It wasn’t shit for Jude to sidestep him, and hit him in the side of the head with a brutal punch. O’ Zone accidentally fell into the crowd of men surrounding him. They heartlessly shoved him back in the center of the circle where Jude hit him with two vicious blows to the face.
Unable to hang, O’ Zone dropped to the ground pathetically. I can’t believe Cam slept with this weak ass nigga, he thought.
Jude didn’t give O’ Zone time to recuperate before he grabbed him up and put him a savage headlock. “Nigga, if you ever call, text, or even think about Cameron again I’ma kill ya ass! And that’s on life!”
King slowly stepped in the center of the circle. A Cohiba Behike cigar hung out the corner of his mouth. He leaned down and looked at O’ Zone in disgust. “And then I’ma have my young niggas bury ya body so ya lil’ fans can’t have a proper burial.” With that said, he snatched O’ Zone’s solid gold diamond chain off his neck. It was his most prized possession.
Jude tossed O’ Zone onto the ground like a ragdoll after he’d beaten up and humiliated the rapper. As quickly as they came they dispersed, leaving him lying in the parking lot bloody and bruised.
“Nigga, fuck you and that weak ass hoe!” O’ Zone shouted after Jude. He spat a tooth out onto the ground. Blood oozed from his busted mouth and nose. “That’s why every time you hit that shit she gon’ be thinkin’ ‘bout me makin’ dat pussy cream.”
Jude instantly turned on his heel, preparing to break O’ Zone off again. However, King quickly stopped him. “Fuck that nigga. He’s a done deal,” he said. “Besides, we got other unfinished business…”
26
“Don’t you think he’s had enough?” Jude asked. His knuckles were slightly sore and bruised after whupping O’ Zone’s ass, but his pain seemed minimal when he stared at a dying Vado.
The cuts and nicks on his bare ivory skin looked as if they were getting infected. He also smelled horribly. As a matter of fact, Jude smelled Vado before they even walked in the room where King was holding him hostage.
“That’s why I brought you in here,” King answered. He then pulled out his gun and handed it to Jude. “After tonight, you know I’ll ride for you…but will you do the same for a nigga?”
Jude looked at the gun in King’s outstretched hand. “I ain’t a killer…,” he said.
King chuckled. “…After seein’ you in action tonight, you definitely a mufuckin’ killer, dawg…,” he said. “I only fuck with killers…” Without hesitation, he pointed the gun at Vado and squeezed the trigger.
POP!
***
The following morning Cameron noticed that Jude di
dn’t return. She couldn’t say that she was all too surprised. She wanted to call him, apologize, and beg for him to come home but she knew he needed his space. Who wouldn’t after finding out they’d just been cheated on?
Cameron sat on the living room with her son as she watched him play with a Fisher-Price tool set. Justin had made the living room his own personal play room.
On the spur of the moment, Cameron burst out crying hysterically. Justin immediately stopped what he was doing and stared at his mother sobbing. He was confused because he was too young to understand her pain and guilt.
Cameron pulled him close and held him tight. “I love you so much,” she cried. “Mommy, really loves you…I’m so sorry…”
***
Rumor lumbered into the bathroom that morning. After running cool water over her face to wake herself up, she opened the medicine cabinet. There were several bottles of prescription pills lined up on the top shelf.
Rumor popped a pill from each prescription bottle and slammed the medicine cabinet close. Same ritual but a different day. Every day for the rest of her life she would have to take the 6-drug regimen to stay healthy.
Life’s a bitch and then you die.
After bathing and eating breakfast she went to check on Calix. He was beginning to look like he was losing weight. The whites of his eyes were slowly turning yellow, and he appeared sickly.
Rumor leaned down and removed the duct tape so that he could speak.
“Rumor,” he croaked out. “I’m…dying…baby…”
Rumor rolled her eyes and covered his mouth again with the duct tape. “Serves your trifling ass right,” she said before leaving. She didn’t even bother feeding him that morning.
