“You’re usually the one doing all the talking,” she teased. “But still you’re never this quiet. What’s up? I know you had fun.”
She started laughing. “Yeah, I did. My feet are still sore from them doggone roller skates.”
He sat up, grabbed one of her legs, and put it across his lap. He slid her sandal off and began massaging her foot. She closed her eyes.
“Oh God, that feels good.”
“What’s on your mind? We agreed to no holding back, right? What’s up?”
She then shared with him the same story about her past that she told Jaz, Kyra, and Angel at the baby shower.
“Damn, Tash,” he said, putting one leg down and lifting up the other, “that shit sounds hard to believe.”
“Well, believe it.”
“You’re lucky you’re not mentally scarred from that shit.”
“I was. But I’ve learned to move on. I know that the Creator has wiped my slate clean.”
“Yeah, that’s good. That’s the past. You sure came up out of that shit. I love you anyway,” he said, kissing her on the fore-head.
“You what?”
“I said ‘I love you anyway.’ ”
“Come here,” she said. She kissed him on the lips. “I love you, too.”
Their plane landed a little after noon. They got the Nav loaded up with all of their stuff and headed straight for New York. Trae wanted Tash to meet his parents. They fell in love with her immediately, telling her that Trae needed an educated woman like her to calm him down.
His mom prepared salmon steaks, with baked macaroni and cheese, fresh string beans, tossed salad, and whole wheat rolls.
After visiting his parents, Trae stopped by his apartment to drop off the things he bought for himself, then take Tash home. They unloaded his stuff and left back out. Trae was on his cell phone as they pulled out of his parking lot and so Tash picked up his two-way pager which was vibrating.
“You want me to scroll through them?” she asked. He nodded to her and kept on talking.
She scrolled through them, stopping when she came to a message from Karina that said, “Trae baby, what happened? Call me.”
As soon as Trae hung up his cell phone, Tasha pounced on him with, “Trae when was the last time you was with Karina?”
“What?”
“You heard me! When was the last time you fucked with Karina?” She held the pager in his face for him to see the message.
“Why, Tash?”
“‘Why’? What the fuck you mean, ‘why’? From this message seems like it wasn’t too long ago. And, nigga, you obviously didn’t break it off.”
“Let it go Tash. I’ve been with you these last five days. Ain’t nothin’ up with her.”
“What about before these last five days?”
“Tash I said let it go. Ain’t nothin’ up.” She reached for her cell phone.
“I know you ain’t goin’ to call her,” he said.
“Why ain’t I?”
“Because I said you ain’t.” He reached over to snatch his pager and she smacked his hand away.
“C’mon Tasha give me my shit and stop trippin!” He tried to grab it again but she pushed him away. Tasha started dialing.
“Nigga, you got this bitch fucked up. What are you gonna do?”
“If you call her, I’m puttin’ you the fuck outta my car. That’s what I’m gonna do.”
She continued dialing.
“Trae you crazy, but you ain’t that crazy. Karina is not a very common name. I believe I know this bitch. I can call her if I want to,” she said. “At least I know you got good taste,” she added sarcastically.
Trae lit a blunt and turned the radio up. Tash reached over and turned it off. Trae looked at her as if he wanted to smack her silly.
“Hello, is this Karina?”
“Who, may I ask, is calling?”
“Karina, this is Roz.”
She was quiet. “Roz?”
“We had that boring-ass philosophy class together with Professor Doyle.”
Karina started laughing. “I hated that class. What’s up, girl?” “Nothing now. I graduate next week.”
“Me, too.”
“Listen, I’m calling to find out if you’re seeing Trae.” “Straight to the point, still. Why? What’s up?”
“Well, not too long ago I started fucking with the nigga, and I ain’t putting up with no bullshit. I see your message on his pager so I need to know.”
“Roz, if I didn’t know you, I would clown your ass for having the audacity to even call my house,” said Karina.
“If I didn’t know you, I wouldn’t be on this phone, I’d be at your front door. So what’s up?” Tasha shot back.
“Trae is arrogant and full of shit. He wants to come around when he wants to and expects me to be here waiting on him. I told him he ain’t got it like that, I ain’t gonna lie. His booty calls are all that, but that’s only when he decides to come around. Fuck that!”
“In your message, you asked ‘what happened.’ What’s that about?”
“I ran into him a while ago and he said he would holla at me. But he never did. I wanted some dick so I paged him. Nigga ain’t even call back.”
“That’s because he has a wife now and he doesn’t have any business fucking around like that.”
“Trae is a ho ... always will be. And he thinks he’s the shit.” “Was a ho. His hoing days are officially over,” Tasha stated with confidence.
“Oh, you think you can lock him down?” Karina had sarcasm in her voice.
“It’s almost done. Just tying up loose ends.”
“I ain’t mad at you. You got somethin’ if you can pull it off, which I doubt. I saw”
“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t page him anymore.”
“I can respect that. What’s up with that cute brother of yours?”
Tash immediately hung up on her, and sighed. Looking towards Trae she said, “My bad. I apologize for tripping like that, but I needed to be sure.” Trae didn’t respond.
“You heard me?” she asked.
Trae suddenly stopped the car. She could see he was way pissed off. He reached over, unfastened her new bracelet, and put it in the glove compartment, saying, “You don’t need to be wearing this on the subway.” She didn’t say anything as she looked at the subway sign sitting in front of her. “I’ll drop your shit at the house,” he added, pulling out his knot and giving her three hundred dollars.
“Trae I know you don’t expect me to catch a train home on a Sunday,” she said with an attitude. “The train from New York to New Jersey runs every hour.”
“I told you if you called her you was gettin’ the fuck out of my car. What? You thought I was bullshittin’? You should know me better than that. Actually, you got me fucked up!” Then he got out and went around to the passenger side to let her out.
“Trae I am not getting out. I said ‘I apologize’.” He lifted her out the car and then reached in and grabbed her purse and cell phone. He gave everything to her before jumping back in on the driver’s side.
“Trae you are so wrong for this,” she said, looking around in embarrassment.
He put the Nav in gear and rolled down the window. “To get to Jersey catch the westbound train. That’ll take you straight to Penn Station. Don’t fuck with me Tasha. It’s all about trust, and next time you’re going to do like I tell you.”
“Fuck you Trae!” she spat, storming down the subway station stairs. After a couple minutes she called his cell.
“What?” he answered.
“I’m sorry Trae. Please don’t do this. Come back and pick me up.”
“You in the doghouse. You done pissed me the fuck off. What if she told you some false shit ... like me and her still fuckin’? Then what?” He yelled. “Then what?”
“Trae I said I was sorry,” she pleaded as he hung up on her.
By the time she got home, all of her luggage and bags were al-ready in the living room, Trae h
aving come and gone. After about an hour he called her. “I’m just making sure you made it in safe. I gotta go.”
“Wait, Trae. This week everybody graduates. I thought you said you was coming with me.”
“I’m still going. I’m only able to make it to yours and Angel’s ... and that’s only because Kay wants to go to hers.”
“Angel’s is tomorrow.”
“What time?”
“Nine thirty.”
“We’ll be there. Have me out something to wear.”
“You’re not coming over tonight?” she whined.
“Ain’t nothin’ changed. You still in the doghouse.”
“For how long?”
“Until I say so.”
“Whatever, Trae,” she sucked her teeth and hung up.
The following morning, Trae and Kay came over to shower and dress. Kay brought a change of clothes with him. They left out about 9:30.
Angel showed up with her mother, her brother Mark, and sis-ter Carmen. Kyra and Jaz met them there. When they went to the ladies’ room, Tash couldn’t wait to tease Angel because she had two niggas there, Kay and Najee, the young attorney.
“Playa, you got two fine, paid niggas here representin’. What’s up with that! You gonna slow your roll or what?” Tasha teased.
“I know you ain’t hatin’,” Angel bragged.
“No, I’m congratulatin’! Handle your business. Najee is fine, and a professional. He’s legit, for all we know.”
“Right, right.” They high-fived. “He has to get back to the office, thank God. What was I gonna do? Pile him and Kaylin in the car and sit in between both of them?”
Tasha laughed. “It ain’t easy being a playa. What’s up with you and Kay?”
“We’re just talking.”
“What’s up with you and Najee?”
“We’re just talking,” she said as they walked out the bathroom.
Najee gave her a Gucci bag as a graduation present. Kay gave her a thousand dollars. After the ceremony Angel walked Najee out to his car, then came back inside.
Seeing Najee there made Kay that much more eager to step up his game. He was able to talk Angel into riding back with him, Trae, and Tasha.
The next day was Jaz’s graduation. She and Faheem pulled up in a limo. She had two rows of family members present to see her get that degree.
After Jaz’s graduation, Tasha left around 11:30 and went straight to work. By the time she got home it was almost 6:30. She plopped down on the couch with a stack of mail, thumbing through the envelopes and the pages of Savoy and Sister to Sister. Just then the phone rang.
“Hello,” she said.
“Tash, come downstairs. I’m out front.”
When she got outside, Trae, carrying a box, stepped out of the passenger side of a Ford Explorer. He opened it up, took out the iced-up butterfly necklace, and placed it around her neck, an-gling the side view mirror so she could see it.
“You like it?” he asked.
“Ooh, look at the diamonds. They are so pretty. Thank you, baby. I really am your butterfly.”
He looked her over. “You don’t look like my butterfly with this uniform on; you look like a square.”
“I am a square,” she said, fascinated by her new diamond necklace.
“Yeah, right,” Trae said, smiling.
“Yo Trae, let’s roll!” Kay yelled anxiously. They had a hundred seventy-five kilos of coke on them.
Trae pulled out a business card and handed it to her. “You have to fax them a copy of your driver’s license. You should have your car by Thursday.”
“My car?” she squealed, jumping up and down.
“You graduate Thursday, right?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll be back Thursday morning.”
“You can’t come back before Thursday?” Her excitement was dwindling.
“I could, but I’m not. I gotta run,” Trae said, hopping into the Explorer. Kay then floored the gas pedal, leaving Tash standing on the sidewalk.
Thursday morning around 3:30, Trae came in. He went into the bathroom, came out and grabbed a pillow, and pulled a blanket off the bed. Then he headed for the sofa. Tash followed him into the living room, where he was already sprawled out on the couch with the cover over his head.
“Oh, so it’s like this?” she asked, yanking the cover off.
“Yup,” he said, yanking it back and covering up again.
“What time are we leaving?”
“Eight o’clock.”
“Wake me up at seven, playa.”
“Come sleep in the bed.”
“I’m a’ight. Wake me up around seven.”
She stomped back into the bedroom and got in the bed.
They left out the house around 8:30, suited down to the feet in Armani and Gucci. Her brother, Kevin, and sister, Trina, both came to the graduation ceremony. Kevin and Trina had heard about Trae, but never met him.
Angel, Kyra, Jaz, and Faheem, who had to leave as soon as it was over, were at the ceremony and took lots of pictures. Afterwards Trae treated everybody to lunch at Justin’s in New York.
When Trae and Tasha pulled up in front of her house, her brand new 2001 Mercedes SUV was parked in front.
“Yes!” she squealed. She looked at Trae, hugged him and bolted out of the Nav. She tried the doors and they were all locked. Trae held up the keys and shook them. She ran back to the Nav and grabbed the keys from him. He watched her as she opened it up, got in and played with all the buttons. She rolled the window down.
“Trae baby, thank you. I love you.”
“Take the papers out of the glove compartment and there should be an extra set of keys over the visor. Give me the keys to the Beamer.” She took the keys off her key ring and tossed them to him.
“I gotta go,” he said. Then he drove off.
Finally, it was Friday and Kyra’s graduation. Roz picked up Angel in her brand new Benz. All of Kyra’s family showed up, but none of them was prouder than Marvin. Kyra’s belly had dropped, and they all laughed as she walked up holding her belly with one hand, degree in the other.
Afterward, Marvin treated everyone to a trip to Atlantic City. Tasha and Angel both had hair appointments in preparation for their graduation party the following night at Kyra’s, and so they declined. But Tash also had a personal mission.
While she was getting her feet done, she dialed Trae’s cell phone. After about six rings he finally picked it up.
“What?”
“Baby, you sound asleep. Where are you?” she asked. “Home in my bed. Where do you think I’m at?”
“Just asking.”
“I’m tired Tash. Where are you?”
“At the salon.”
“Who are you getting fine for?”
“Hopefully, you. I’m ready to beg and plead for your forgive-ness. Are you coming over tonight?”
“I wasn’t planning on it.”
“Wasn’t planning on it?” Tasha got indignant. “When do you plan on making time for wifey?”
“Wifey is still in the doghouse.”
“For how long?”
“Until I let her out.” Tasha sucked her teeth and he could pic
ture her neck rolling and anticipated her saying something slick. “Don’t forget tomorrow night is our graduation party.”
“I didn’t forget. What time you want me to pick you up?” “Around eight.”
“A’ight, I’ll be there. Can I go back to sleep now?”
“C’mon, Trae.” She wasn’t about to give up this easy. “Since you’re not coming over tonight, let me meet you somewhere.” “Why?”
“I want to bring you something.” When he didn’t respond she said, “please?”
He laughed, then thought about it. He was ready to take ad-vantage of the situation. “A’ight, let’s do this. We’re gonna be at the Diva Lounge in Montclair. I don’t want you drivin’ up there by yourself. Bring Angel with you.”
“Okay. Love you. And than
ks again for my ride.”
“Oh yeah. Why did you scratch up the Beamer like that? I know you did it.”
She didn’t say anything.
“Oh, so now your slick-ass mouth is at a loss for words? You ain’t right Tasha. I’ll talk to you about that. Can a nigga get some sleep?”
“Yes, you can turn off the phone now. I got what I wanted.” “Make sure you bring what I want.”
“Bye, Trae.”
Tasha didn’t even have to beg Angel to go with her to the Diva Lounge. Angel was dying to see Kay again. But Tasha still on her mission scented her body with Trae’s favorite: Escata. She wore a gray skirt and zippered blouse set by Christian Dior, blue crocodile zip shoes with bag to match, and no underwear.
She beeped the horn as she pulled up in front of Angel’s. Angel came out wearing all tan: Gucci dress, sandals, and bag. When she got in Tasha’s ride they looked each other up and down, smiled, then high-fived each other.
“Let’s roll!” Tasha said.
They pulled up in front of the lounge and couldn’t find any parking spots. “This is crazy,” Tasha said. “I’m not gonna walk a mile just to get in a club.”
“Me neither,” said Angel. “Fuck that!” She pulled out her cell phone. “Kaylin, we’re ridin’ around in circles looking for a parking space, but can’t find one.” She smiled at whatever Kay was saying. “Okay,” she said. “We’re in the Benz.”
“What did Kaylin say?” Tash asked, emphasizing his name. “For us to pull up in front of the club and they’ll be out. How do I look?” she asked Tasha for a third time.
“Fine, my sista. Why are you teasing that nigga like that?” Tash asked as she put on the strawberry lip gloss, Trae’s favorite.
“He invited me, remember? I know I can have some fun but, I can’t get serious with Kaylin. Conflict of interest.”
“I can’t tell.” Tasha laughed.
“Roz, I’ve been celibate for almost thirteen months.” “No shit? Has it really been that long?”
“Yup. I hope it ain’t so obvious ... because every time Kaylin touches me my panties get wet. Every time I hear his voice my panties get wet. Najee is moving slow; Kaylin’s not wasting time. I’m not ready to fuck yet, but I want to get fucked. You feel me? All niggas don’t know that when a ho wants to get fucked and she’s playin’ hard to get all he gotta do is know what to say and do the right things and them panties are coming off. All niggas also don’t know that a bitch could have a man, she could even be married, but if the pussy is hot and she feeling vulnerable, if the nigga got enough game, says the right words, does the right thangs, those panties are coming off,” Angel rambled on.
Every Thug Needs A Lady (Thugs) Page 10
