Project Queen II

by Teresa D. Patterson

  “That fucking sister of yours is a trifling, skank ass ho,” he directed at Shae.

  “What? Why would you say such a thing? You are talking about Della, right?”

  “Yeah, I’m talking about her. Who else? She needs somebody to put their foot deep in her ass. You have to talk to her, Shae, and straighten her out.”

  “What did Della do now?” Larry just rolled his eyes and took a seat on the couch. He was still pissed at Shae for accusing him of being unfaithful.

  “She’s in this video called St. Pete’s Bitches Gone Wild. Some nigga was selling the DVD’s for ten dollars out of his trunk. That girl is getting buck wild, letting dudes run up in her, one after the next. It’s just nasty. She needs to have some respect about herself. Now everybody in the streets talking about her like she’s a dog. I don’t even want nobody to know I’m some kin to her.”

  “And you honestly think I’d stoop that low and sleep with somebody like that?” Larry muttered, glaring at Shae.

  “Hell nah. I don’t believe Larry would touch Della with a donkey’s dick. He might catch something,” Toby said, chuckling.

  Shae ignored Larry’s comment. “What exactly do you think I should do about her?” she asked Toby. “She’s out there. If she doesn’t care about her reputation, why should I? She doesn’t care about anything except having a good time. When she lived with Vivian, she had men in Vivian’s house at all times of night. Viv had to put her out. Looks like I’m going to have to do the same thing.”

  “Either that or put your husband out,” Larry implied, sarcastically. “It’s not like you give your husband any credit. Just because he has a dick, he must be fucking somebody on the side.”

  Toby laughed. “If you pulled that off Larry, you got all of us fooled. You ‘bout the squarest nigga I know. I can’t even picture you tipping. Hell nah.”

  “What are you trying to say, man?” Larry looked offended.

  “Nothing. Shae is just tripping. You one of the last good brothers left. She better recognize.”

  The doorbell sounded. “Can one of y’all get that? I’m going upstairs to check on Imani,” Shae threw over her shoulder, heading for the stairway.

  “Make sure Della ain’t up there doing nothing she shouldn’t be,” Toby tossed out. “Check for niggas up under the bed and in the closet. Man, that girl is off the chain. What’s wrong with her?”

  “I don’t know. She better slow down before she catches something she can’t get rid of,” Larry mumbled, heading to answer the door. When he saw Jimmy Byrts standing there it didn’t improve his mood. He knew Shae’s attitude wasn’t going to improve when she encountered her father.

  “How are you, Mr. Byrts? Come on in,” he invited.

  “I’m doing fine. How about yourself?”

  “I’m catching hell from my wife, but I’ll keep my problems to myself.” He indicated the couch. “Have a seat. Shae should be down in a minute.”

  “Hello Toby.” Jimmy spoke to his son. Toby frowned, grumbled a muffled response and switched on the PlayStation. “You wanna play, Man?” He challenged Larry, ignoring his father

  Larry threw Jimmy an apologetic smile. “I’ll beat you anytime,” he told Toby.

  “How ‘bout we put some money on it?”

  “Man, if you really wanna lose your dough,” Larry bragged. The two men soon became involved in the video game.

  It wasn’t long before Shae returned carrying Imani. When she saw that Jimmy had stopped by to visit she sucked air through her teeth in annoyance. She still couldn’t stand her biological father. Even though he’d tried to be a part of her life for the last two and a half years, she wasn’t softening toward him.

  Imani, at age two, didn’t have such reservations. She held her arms out for her grandfather.

  “Grand DaDa,” she called him and wiggled to get out of Shae’s arms. She whined when Shae continued to hold on to her.

  “Hey Pumpkin,” Jimmy greeted just as enthusiastically. It was obvious that he loved his granddaughter. That didn’t matter to Shae. He hadn’t been there for her when she’d needed him. She’d suffered so many years of abuse because of his desertion. She couldn’t just forget and let it go.

  “Shae, let her get down,” Larry said, watching Imani struggle and hold out her arms for her grandfather. Shae threw him a look of irritation, but did as he instructed. Imani immediately rushed over to Jimmy. He picked her up and swung her around causing Imani to laugh gleefully.

  Shae turned away, swallowing down the lump in her throat. His swinging Imani around brought back a vision of him swinging her and Vivian around in a similar fashion. She didn’t want to remember anything good about him. Her lips twisted.

  “What do you want, Jimmy?” she snapped.

  “Shae, don’t be that way,” Larry said noticing the sad look that crossed Jimmy’s face.

  “Don’t tell me how to be with my father. Stay out of this,” she snapped.

  “I’m not going to take too much more of your disrespect, Shae. I love you, but I’ll be damned if I continue to let you walk all over me,” he retorted. “I don’t deserve it.”

  Shae threw him a surprised looked. Larry never got bent out of shape. He usually just went along with whatever she wanted.

  “Is something going on that I should know about?” Jimmy asked, staring from one to the other.

  “It’s your bad ass seed that’s causing all the friction,” Toby tossed in. “Speaking of the devil-” Della chose that moment to come downstairs.

  “Hey Daddy,” she greeted happily when she saw Jimmy and went to give him a hug. Shae rolled her eyes, feeling a tinge of jealousy at the affection the two shared.

  “Della, what did you do?” Jimmy asked.

  “I didn’t do anything, Daddy.” She stuck her lips out in a pout. “I don’t know what’s going on. When I woke up, they were arguing.” She widened her eyes trying to appear innocent.

  Toby just smirked at her and shook his head. “Why are you here old man?” he asked Jimmy, frowning at his father. “Just because you know where we live, don’t mean you’re invited over.”

  Jimmy cleared his throat. “I really need to talk to you…all of you.”

  “This sounds serious. I’ll take Imani outside to play on the swings and leave y’all to it,” Larry said, picking up his daughter. “Come on, baby girl.” They left the room, giving the family some privacy.

  “What’s wrong, Daddy?” Della asked. If she had a caring bone in her body, it was for her father. “You don’t look so good. Toby, can you get him something to drink?”

  “What’s wrong with your legs?” he snapped, scowling at her.

  “Fine. I’ll get it,” Della snapped back, heading for the kitchen.

  “Della’s right. You don’t look so good,” Shae said.

  Sweat poured down the sides of Jimmy’s face and beads of perspiration stood out on his forehead. He stared at Shae then Toby. Both of their faces were formidable. He cleared his throat and waited for Della.

  When Della returned with a glass of water, Jimmy took it gratefully.

  “Thanks, baby girl.” He swallowed some and placed the glass on a coaster in the middle of the table.

  “Talk ol’ man,” Toby said impatiently. “I got things to do. Time means money.”

  “This is hard for me.” Jimmy sat up and laced his fingers together. “As you all know, I had a serious drinking problem. It was the main reason that me and your mother couldn’t get along.” This was directed at Shae and Toby. “I drank heavily for many years. Well, now it’s affecting my health.” He inhaled deeply and let it out slowly. “I need a liver transplant.”

  “What?” Della asked in shock, her voice trembling. “Are you going to die, Daddy?”

  “No. No, I’m not going to die,” he said reassuringly. “I’ve been on a waiting list. They have a liver for me. I just need a blood transfusion.”

  “Why?” Shae couldn’t stop the question from slipping past her lips. Her eyes met Toby�
�s. She knew that he wanted to hear the answer too even though he was pretending like he didn’t care.

  “During the operation, I may lose blood so that blood needs to be replaced.”

  “How do they replace it?” Della asked. Her eyes were wide and transfixed on her father.

  “They’ll do it through an IV. They will just replace the blood I’ve lost with healthy blood,” he explained. “It’s nothing major.”

  “How do we find out if we’re a match?” Shae asked.

  “You’ll just go in and let them prick your finger. Once they find out if your blood type matches mine, we can proceed from there,” he relayed the information that he’d received from his doctor.

  Toby leaped up, his eyes blazing. “You better hope that I’m not a match ‘cause if I am, ya ass is as good as dead,” he said. “Sorry for breaking up this Brady Bunch moment, but I’m out.”

  “I understand why you feel that way,” Jimmy said, reaching for Toby’s arm causing him to flinch. “At least think about it. Call me and let me know your decision.”

  “I already told you,” Toby growled, pulling away from his father’s touch. A hurt expression flickered across Jimmy’s face.

  “Toby, stop,” Shae said. She felt a small amount of sympathy for her father. He suddenly looked old and frail. They’d missed so many years and now, they might not have too many more left to spend with him. “We’ll call you,” she assured him.

  Jimmy threw her a grateful smile. “I’ll go find Imani to say good-bye.” He got up and made his way out of the room, walking like a doomed man.

  “Why the hell would I want to give him my blood?” Toby exploded. “That nigga ain’t never gave me shit.” His face tightened. “He left us with Mama in them broke down, rat-infested ass projects. He didn’t even send a damn dime in child support. Can you believe that shit? We lived worse than fucking cockroaches, in the projects, and all the while, we had a daddy who didn’t give a shit about us. We got our asses stomped on a daily basis, and he didn’t care. Our mama tried to kill us. Did he do anything to stop that?” He shook his head. “Now, this motherfucker wants one of us to save his life? Whatever.”

  For a moment, silence enveloped the room. Shae stared down at the floor. Della’s expression was unreadable.

  Della finally spoke. “It shouldn’t matter. He’s still your father,” she said.

  “What the fuck you mean, it shouldn’t matter?” He glared at her. “You weren’t there. You didn’t have to go through the shit we went through. Since you don’t know what went down, shut the fuck up,” Toby growled.

  “My childhood wasn’t all peaches and cream either,” Della tossed back. “But Jimmy took me in and saved my life. He’s a good person and he’s trying to be a better father.” She could tell Toby wasn’t moved by her words. She rolled her eyes at him. “I hope I’m a match. If I am, I’ll give him my blood.”

  Toby threw her a look of disdain. “The way you been tricking all over the hood, your blood might be tainted. If he ain’t dead yet, he will be using your contaminated shit,” he insulted.

  “What are you talking about, Toby?”

  “Like you don’t know.” Toby smirked at her, remembering the tape he’d glanced at briefly. She was Little Red Getting Rode in the Hood. His lips twisted in disgust.

  “Both of y’all stop,” Shae intervened. “We’ll just have to find out if we’re a match. We’ll take it from there. Will you at least do that, Toby? Like Della said, he is our father, and he’s been trying to be involved in our lives now. I have to admit, he’s wonderful with Charles, Chris and Imani. They seem to love him.”

  “Shit.” Toby hesitated. His twin brothers did love Jimmy. They’d taken to him straight away. It was easy for them to do since they were so young. They hadn’t been born when he left, so they didn’t have a father to miss all those years. He, on the other hand, had major reservations and tons of resentment.

  “Come on Toby,” Shae pressed. “We can’t let him die.”

  Toby seemed deep in thought. “Hell. Fuck it. I’ll do it,” he finally agreed. “Just let me know when and where. Now, I have to bounce for real. Love, peace, and hair grease.” When he stood up they could see his boxers because his sagging pants hung below his waist.

  “Toby, pull your pants up. I thought you’d outgrown that phase,” Shae complained.

  “Shae, you ain’t my mama. I’m seventeen-years-old. In case you forgot, I can wipe my own ass.”

  Della laughed and Shae gave her a sharp look.

  “I don’t know what you think is so funny,” Shae told her. “You and I need to have a talk. Sit down.” Della glanced at Toby as she took a seat on the couch.

  I ain’t Captain Save-a-Ho, he thought. I don’t want anything to do with the conversation. He shrugged and headed for the door.

  Shae’s voice halted him. “Toby, don’t even think about leaving.”

  “Damn.” He went to sit back down, pulling up his pants in the process.

  “Now, what is this I hear about you being on some tape?” Shae asked Della.

  Della’s mouth dropped open in shock. “What tape?” “I don’t know. That’s why I’m asking you,” Shae said firmly.

  “I am not on any damn tape,” Della denied.

  “Yeah, you are. I saw you,” Toby said.

  “Saw me when? On what tape?” Her voice raised in anger. “Who the fuck got a tape with me on it ‘cause I want to know?”

  “Some nigga had a DVD called St. Pete’s. Bitches Gone Wild. He was selling them for ten bones out his trunk. You-” He pointed at her “-are on it.”

  “What the fuck? I don’t know anything about this. Where the nigga at?”

  “He’s probably still selling them in the parking lot at Flawless Car Wash off 18th Ave. and 28th St. S.”

  “I got to see this shit. I ain’t agreed to do nothing in front of a camera,” she said vehemently.

  “I’ll take you over there right now and you can see for yourself. That was you I saw, and it was some scandalous shit.” They both got up and headed for the door.

  “I guess we’ll talk later,” Shae called behind them. “Don’t end up in handcuffs.” From the set look on Della’s face, somebody had some explaining to do.

  Shae sighed. She remembered those days when she’d deemed herself the “Project Queen.” She’d been involved in so much drama. She continuously fought both men and women, demanding to be respected. It took many years for her to learn that respect couldn’t be beat from a person. It had to be earned.

  She was guilty of using the different men in the hood for money or whatnot. Even though people gossiped about her, no man could claim that he’d slept with her. Only two men could truthfully say that. Those two men were Larry and Dana. Since Dana was dead, he’d never be able to tell a soul.

  Larry had taken her virginity. She reflected back on that day and smiled. Thinking about the first time they made love softened her heart toward him. She couldn’t stay mad at him.

  Her husband was a sweetheart. He gave her everything she desired. He purchased a huge house in an upscale neighborhood. He bought her a luxurious car- the latest BMW. He even insisted that she keep the money she earned at the bank, because he took care of all the household expenses. He was an awesome father to Imani, spoiling her to no end. He worked hard and provided everything they needed. He loved his family and took great care of them.

  She’d been unfair in her treatment of him lately. Since Della moved in with them, there’d been so much tension. She didn’t really suspect that Larry had slept with Della. She trusted her husband, but she wouldn’t put anything past her sister.

  The last time she’d spoken to Vivian, she got the distinctive impression that Viv was hiding something. She would put money on Della being behind it. The girl was something else, and not in a good way.

  Now, there was this business about some videotape. Della had a wild side and she loved to party. Maybe it was time for her to slow down.

  Shae shook
her head. She couldn’t do anything about Della’s issues. Della would have to handle them herself. She needed to concentrate on her own problems. She could no longer convince herself that she and Larry weren’t headed for trouble. She had to talk to him and find out what was on his mind.

  She followed her daughter’s giggles and found them in the backyard. Larry was pushing Imani on the swing. He’d hired professionals to fix their backyard into a child’s play area. There was a swing set, sandbox, slide and even a merrygo-round. He often played with Imani there and wanted to have a pool installed when she got older.

  “Is Jimmy gone?” she asked, walking up to stand next to him.

  “Yes. He left about a half hour ago.”

  “Larry.” She hesitated. It was hard for her to apologize, but she really didn’t want to push her husband away. “I’m sorry about the way I’ve been acting. I know you would never cheat on me, especially not with my sister.”

  “Really?” Larry seemed uninterested, his jaw tight with anger.

  “Larry, don’t be mad.” She slipped her arms around him. “I love you.” Even though he continued to push Imani on the swing, she felt him relax.

  “Nice way of showing it,” he said, pouting. “I’ve just been under a lot of stress and that hot ass sister of mine don’t help things one bit. She prances around you all the time, half dressed, twisting and jiggling. It’s obvious that she’s flirting. There’s no shame in her game.”

  “So you think she’s going to attract me like that because that’s how you caught me?” Larry asked.

  “What?” She glanced at him, perplexed.

  “You remember how you used to wear them little skirts, and booty shorts? That’s how you caught me.” He gave her a sly smile.