Fictitious Love 2

by Charmanie Saquea

  “What’s up, Nique? Introduce me,” I told her.

  “For what?” she asked. “DeMoni, don’t do this childish shit,” she said through gritted teeth.

  “Oh, so this is him?” the nigga she was with asked with laughter in his voice.

  Before I could even open my mouth to say something, Monica walked her black ass up to the table, fucking shit up. If looks could kill, I definitely would have been on an episode of the First 48 fucking around with Dominique’s evil ass glare.

  “DeMoni, what are you doing?” Monica asked, as she looked Nique up and down.

  “The best thing for you to do is to get your man and go back to your table,” Dominique told her.

  I just sat back in my seat, sipping from Dominique’s drink that the waiter had brought. I had been dealing with their shit for some years and I didn’t have time for this. I knew Monica was feeling safe because we were in a crowded restaurant so she had some courage today. I also knew Dominique wouldn’t act too much of a fool out in public, so this wasn’t going to get out of hand.

  “Correction, my husband,” Monica said smugly.

  “Yo, Mo, you—”

  Before I could even finish, a drink was being splashed in Monica’s face.

  “I tried to keep this shit classy, but you two muthafuckas just wanted to bring the hoodrat out of me, huh?” Dominique snapped. “DeMoni, keep your married ass away from me. Like you said, you’re worried about your son’s safety so let that be all you’re worried about. I’m grown as hell and we haven’t been in a relationship in damn near twenty years. I’m not about to play these damn games with you like we’re still fourteen and fifteen years old,” she said before she got up from the table.

  Her little buddy looked amused as he got up behind her and they walked out together. I just shook my head at Monica who was standing there looking stupid, wiping the pop out of her face and clothes. I just walked to the table we had been sitting at and threw some money on the table and walked out.

  I had no words for my wife. She brought that shit on herself. She knew she couldn’t compete with Dominique and she’d damn sure tied her hardest. This was my karma for marrying a woman I didn’t love just to play get back at Dominique for leaving me.

  23: Tahani

  The bass was bumping, the grill was going, laughter could be heard and, for once, everything in our family seemed normal; well, almost. After the whole mall incident, Alpha insisted that me and Juanie move, and I didn’t protest at all. Today, we were having a house warming party as well as an anniversary party for my parents to celebrate the six years they’d been married.

  All my family hadn’t been in the same house and actually having a good time since before Tristan came into the picture. It was crazy how everyone else could see the bad of the situation you’re in except for you, but the moment you’re not in it anymore your eyes are open to how toxic that relationship actually was. He had me thinking it was everyone else when all along it was him. I was so ashamed that I’d allowed him to turn me against my own family.

  “Don’t you go there, little girl,” Mama Nique said as she came into the kitchen.

  “Go where?” I asked confused.

  “I see that look in your eyes. It’s okay, Tahani. Everyone done some crazy things when they were in love or thought they were in love. You have nothing to be ashamed of, it’s all a part of life, honey,” she said.

  “She’s right, Hani,” my mom spoke up. “I’ve been there before, too.”

  “That may be true, but it was never to this extreme, though.” I shook my head.

  “Girl, please, I could write a book about all the crazy shit I’ve done behind Alpha’s ass. Like I said, it’s all a part of life. You live and you learn, now stop dwelling on it. We love you regardless but we just had to sit back and let you open your eyes,” Mama Nique said as we started taking the sides outside.

  Going outside, I looked around and found Cuba sitting in a corner, looking around like he always does. It always amazed me how whenever it was just us two, I could get him to be laid back but whenever other people were around, he was always standoffish.

  “What you doing all the way back here?” I asked, pulling up a chair to sit by him.

  “Chilling, you know me.” He smiled.

  “You know, you should start mingling more. You’re not shy and the family is cool as hell,” I told him.

  “I know but you know I just like to sit back and peep shit first,” he said.

  Ever since Alpha had Cuba basically been my guard, we had gotten pretty close. He had actually turned into a confidant for me. When I didn’t have anyone else to talk to because I was scared to talk to anyone in my family, he lent me his ear and listen without judging me. Whenever I needed advice, he always gave it to me straight up, never sugar coating it.

  “So tell me what did you peep right now?” I asked as I fixed the strap on my thong sandals.

  “Your son’s father just walked in your backyard wit another broad on his arm and Tahti’s pregnant ass is marching toward him at full speed,” Cuba said.

  I snapped my head up when he said that and, sure enough, Omega had another bitch at my house smiling as if he had just won the damn lotto. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath and tried to count to ten so I wouldn’t lose my cool.

  “Hani, bring your ass here!” Tahti yelled out to me.

  The disrespect is at an all-time high, I thought as I slowly got up and walked in their direction. I looked back at Cuba for reassurance and he gave me a head nod to let me know I needed to handle that.

  “Omega, you are so fucking disrespectful! What type of shit is this?” I heard Tahti ask as I got closer. I walked up with a blank expression and stood next to my sister who was undeniably just as pissed off as I was.

  “What’s this?” I asked.

  “What it look like?” Omega asked. “Tell your little guard dog to move out of the way so we can get through.”

  I had to snap my head back because I didn’t know who the fuck this nigga was that was standing before me. True, Omega could have an attitude problem when you pissed him off, but this was not the DeJuan Marcelo Hooks that I knew and loved once upon a time.

  “Oh, this bitch got you feeling like that, huh?” I laughed.

  “Bitch?” she asked like she wanted to do something.

  “Don’t do it, bitch. Please don’t let this belly fool you,” Tahti told her.

  “It’s cool, Tahti. Let them stay. Ain’t no sweat off my back,” I said before I turned to walk away.

  “Fuck no, Tahani,” Tahti said as she grabbed my arm. “Stop letting this nigga disrespect you. This is your shit, they don’t have a right to be here if you don’t want them to be,” she said.

  “It’s cool,” I told her before walking in the house.

  I went to the bathroom that was on the other side of the kitchen and locked the door. I sat on the toilet and broke down crying. I was so tired of all this shit. I just wanted it to be over. I didn’t think anything I did to Omega could have caused to me receive all this disrespect from him. I would have preferred he told me to kiss his ass and be done with me, but to constantly come around just to disrespect me was just too much.

  I heard the door open and I didn’t even bother to look up. I thought I locked it.

  “I’m fine, Tahti. I’ll be out in a minute,” I said through my sniffles.

  I smelled that Cool Water cologne and instantly knew it wasn’t my sister. I looked up and shook my head, not bothering to wipe my tears. He just stood there staring at me.

  “What?” I asked.

  He just walked over to me, knelt down in front of me and started wiping my tears away with his thumb, looking me straight in my eyes. I couldn’t look away even if I wanted to because his eyes were so hypnotizing.

  “Never let a nigga disrespect you in your own shit. Well, never let him disrespect you, period; but especially in your house. Now get rid of these tears and put your game face on. Never let ‘em see you
sweat because that’s when they think they’re winning,” Cuba told me.

  I smiled. “What would I do without you?”

  “Be in this damn bathroom crying over some bullshit,” he said before standing up, taking my hand and leading me out of the bathroom.

  The rest of the night went pretty well, besides the fact that Tahti and Moni were pretty much ignoring each other and Omega’s little bitch kept throwing dirty looks my way. I didn’t know who pissed in her Cheerios this morning, but honey boo boo needed to know that I wasn’t the one. I may not be as boisterous as Tahti with mine but I had no problems dragging a bitch.

  I laughed as my mom and dad stood in the middle of the backyard dancing to “Living For The Love Of You” by The Isley Brothers. My dad was one smooth white man with rhythm; he was pulling out moves that I had never seen before. Tahtiana was laughing so hard that I thought her ass was about to go into labor.

  I looked up towards the gate in the backyard and saw four black figures coming in our direction. My heart fell to my stomach when I realized they were wearing masks and were carrying guns.

  “Juanie!” I yelled.

  My son was the first and only thing to come across my mind at that time. Hearing my screams caused everyone to stop what they were doing and to turn to see what was wrong.

  Next thing we knew, the music was cut off and one of the masks came off. I could have sworn all the air left my body.

  “Don’t worry, baby. I just came to talk to you. If you come, I promise I won’t hurt anybody,” Tristan said.

  I looked around at my family, conflicted about what the hell I should do. If it took me going with Tristan to ensure that they would be safe and wouldn’t be harmed, then that’s exactly what the hell I would do.

  “Hani, no!” I heard Tahti yell.

  Hearing my sister yell caused me to be hesitant. I turned to look at her and that’s when I heard the gunfire erupt.

  24: Tristan

  I know, I know. I’m a crazy nigga, huh? See, what they failed to realize was, no matter where they try to take Tahani, I would always find her. Always. When we were together, I’d installed all types of tracking devices not only in her phone, but her car as well. To be some smart niggas, they were dumb as fuck. She still had the same phone and was driving the car I bought her.

  So here I was, trying to get my damn woman and these niggas were trying to take my damn head off. There was barely any light in this backyard and all of a sudden I heard a gunshot go off and a bullet pierce my side. That didn’t do shit but anger me, so I sent a couple of shots off in the direction the shot came from.

  I tried to run for Tahani, but before I could reach her, she was scooped up from behind by some nigga I had never seen before.

  “NOOOO!” I yelled, enraged.

  I felt myself being pulled back but I didn’t care. I came here to get Tahani and bring her back to LA with me, and this was a damn failed mission.

  “Shit, shit, shit!” I yelled as we ran back to the bulletproof van.

  “Nigga, what the hell is wrong with you?” my cousin Carter yelled.

  “What are you talking about?” I asked as I snatched the jacket and bulletproof vest off.

  “You know what the fuck I’m talking about. You send us in there on a damn dummy mission with these damn guns that ain’t got shit in them but blanks. You said they wouldn’t be strapped,” he fussed.

  “Why would I tell you to put on a damn bulletproof vest and mask if they weren’t going to be strapped, you dumb muthafucka, you?” I yelled. “I gave you guns with blanks because I didn’t want you to accidently shoot her.”

  I was so mad that I didn’t know what the fuck to do. At times like this, I wished I was still on my medicine because I could feel myself about to do some stupid shit that I couldn’t stop myself from doing. Nobody would understand my need to have Tahani in my life.

  When we were together, I didn’t need my damn medicine. I had my moments every now and then when I was with Tahani, but it was never this bad. If only I could just get her back. I knew she wanted to be with me, but they wouldn’t let her.

  I saw the proof with my own eyes tonight. She was about to come with me until that damn loud mouth bitch she called a sister had to open her mouth. I was that close to having my girl back, but those muthafuckas just didn’t want us to be happy.

  It was okay though, because I would be back, though. That was a promise. I would not stop until Tahani and I were back together like we were supposed to be. Even if that meant I had to kill everyone in her damn family.

  25: Tahtiana

  Everyone sat in the house in disbelief about what had just taken place. Nobody in this damn house was crying except Omega’s little bitch. I was wondering why the fuck they were still here, anyway. See, my sister was a good one because the moment that nigga walked through the door, they would have had some hot lead up their asses fucking around with me. I didn’t play that shit.

  “You need to take that bitch home. All that crying shit is driving me crazy. My nephew got more heart than her ass,” I snapped.

  “Tahti,” my mama said.

  “She’s right, though. The only person she has to blame is Omega. This is the type of shit you deal with when you deal with a nigga like him. Everybody in here done been through this before. We’re not new to this shit,” Tahani said as she threw back what had to have been her tenth shot.

  Omega chuckled. “Nah, Tahani, this is your shit. That’s what happens when you deal with a nigga who likes to beat your ass and turn you against your family. Fuck out of here.”

  Tahani started laughing, not a ‘this is funny’ laugh, but an ‘I’m about to fuck some shit up’ laugh. “DeJuan, shut the fuck up. All this shit is your fault! You’re no different than Tristan in some instances; don’t forget you used to slap my ass around, too. Don’t forget you tried to turn my sister against me and tried to take my son from me. So you can kiss my ass, sir.”

  “What kind of mother would put her son in that type of predicament? I heard him say he had been shot before. Why would you—”

  Before the bitch could even finish what she was saying, Tahani was on that bitch like white on rice. I tried to get my big ass up but that was out of the question when Moni shot me a look.

  “Yo, Omega, take her and go. We don’t need all that shit right now,” Moni said as he pulled my sister off this bitch who didn’t know how to keep her mouth shut.

  “She didn’t say shit that didn’t need to be said, though,” Omega snapped. “Y’all need to stop babying her ass like she’s not the cause for all this shit.”

  “So I’m a bad mother now, Omega?” Tahani slurred a little.

  “Tahani, go upstairs and lay down. Cuba, can you take her, please? I would, but my fat ass wouldn’t make it.”

  Once they were gone, I turned to light into Omega. I loved him like a brother but Tahani was my blood and as mad as I may get at her sometimes, I didn’t appreciate the way he had been treating her lately.

  “Tahti—”

  “Shut the fuck up, DeMoni,” Mama Nique spoke up. “Let her speak because I’m pretty sure y’all don’t want to hear what I have to say.”

  “Omega, you are one self-centered, selfish bastard and I never thought I would be saying this to you. As hard as I would go for you, I’m going to go even harder for my damn sister. Don’t you dare ever try to come at my sister when it was her who was left all alone and pregnant with your son at sixteen years old because your selfish ass refused to call or check on her when you got locked up. She wrote you letters faithfully for seven years straight, Omega. True, she may have fell dumb behind that nigga Tristan, but don’t you ever fucking forget that she was the one who got our stepdad to be your lawyer and get your black ass out of jail when Kelvin did you dirty. Don’t play dumb and act like if it wasn’t for her, your ass wouldn’t still be in prison, for life. Now get this bitch and leave my sister’s house.”

  I could tell by the vein in his neck that he was pissed off b
ut I didn’t give a fuck. I hated when niggas started acting brand new all of a sudden so I had to fix his memory and remind him of what all Tahani had done for his black ass. She’d already apologized to him just like she had done to the rest of us. She don’t owe him shit.

  Tahani needed to get some act right and stop letting this nigga come at her any kind of way he wanted to. She was always walking on eggshells around him when she didn't have a reason to. Fuck Omega. I glared at his ass as he was helping his little weak bitch off the floor.

  “Everybody, stop!” Juanie yelled out of nowhere, running into the room.

  I thought he was somewhere sleep or something.

  “None of this is my mom’s fault, dad, none of this. All of this is happening because of Tristan. The only thing my mom is guilty of is loving people who like to disrespect and play her, that includes you. I may be young, but I'm not dumb or blind. I see everything that goes on and everything that happens in this family affects me, too, dad. I'm the one who has to stay up at night listening to my mom cry about how she just wants this to be over, nobody but me. So y'all think about that while y'all are down here playing the blame game. So nobody is going to talk about the fact that Tristan showed up at our new house with guns, basically demanding that my mom comes with him? I'm going to check on my mom. I'm pretty sure she needs me since I'm all she has anyways.”

  We all just sat here and thought about the fact that we just got read by a seven-year-old. Omega must have been feeling real stupid because his ass took off for the door like he had ants in his damn pants. It was a damn shame how my nephew had more common sense than most of us sitting in this room.

  “Tahti, you need to go home and lay down,” my mom said.

  “I agree. Let the men handle this situation. And go put your feet up because your ankles are swollen,” Mama Nique fussed.