Nobody Can Love You Like Them Roughnecks Do 2

by Shvonne Latrice

  “Umm, I… I’m sorry about last night. I had to work, and I just didn’t have the time to answer any calls or texts.”

  Closing the newspaper, my dad said, “Alivia, this work excuse has been told to us for almost a month now, and frankly, I’m sick of it.”

  “Sorry. I mean, what do you want me to do? Not work?” I began slicing my pancakes up, ignoring my mother’s stare.

  “No honey, we don’t want you to stop working. What we want is your car keys. From now on, your father or me will drive you to your jobs. Also, you can no longer work at night; daytime jobs are it for you.” My mom laid down the law.

  “And your phone will be confiscated as soon as you come through that door,” my father added.

  “Are you serious? I am grown! No way am I going to agree to that! I do everything else you guys want me to, and because I’ve been extra busy, you want to treat me like a prisoner? No, no way.”

  “Alright. So we need you to pack up and be out of here by this evening.” My dad smiled.

  “Daddy, you can’t be serious? I mean, I can find my own place, but I will surely need more time to—”

  “This evening, Alivia,” he reiterated. I whipped my head toward my mom, and she had that look she always wore when she agreed with my father.

  “I cannot give you guys my phone and only take daytime jobs. I just can’t! Is there another way we can go about this? I—”

  “I’ll schedule a U-Haul for you if you’d like. But either you comply with the new rules, or you get out.” My father tossed back the rest of his coffee and then got up from the table to leave the kitchen.

  “Mama, don’t let him do this,” I pleaded with her.

  “Alivia, I don’t know what has gotten into you lately. Maybe it’s the new friends you’ve made or the fact that you’re getting more work, but I am very disappointed in the woman you’re becoming. And because of that, I want you out of my house.”

  After my mom exited the kitchen, I polished off my pancakes, wondering what the hell I was going to do. My phone buzzed again on the way to my bedroom, and when I saw it was Yono, I answered.

  “Damn, I’ve been calling you all morning, baby.” He groaned.

  “I know. Uh, hey, you think I can come spend a few days with you?”

  “Hell yeah.”

  A smile spread across my face like wildfire at the sound of his answer. Maybe this eviction was a blessing in disguise.

  Just a few days later…

  “Wow, this is how you’re living now, huh?” Blaise tilted her head back as she surveyed Yono’s foyer. His house was huge, making it a bit scary when I was here alone without him. It was one of the reasons I’d invited Blaise over this afternoon.

  “Yeah. I knew he was rich but not this rich.”

  “Of course, girl. He’s been making music for almost a decade. Them coins have definitely added up.” She chuckled and so did I.

  “I see that. Would you like a drink? He has a full bar and literally every juice or alcohol you can think of.”

  “Uh…” She looked to me, and suddenly I remembered that night where she was acting pregnant. Her eyes bore into mine, like she was deciding on whether or not to tell me. “Alivia, I’m pregnant, but I need you to keep this information to yourself. The last thing I want right now is for people to know I’m having another baby, and by someone like Cortez.”

  “Yeah, of course. I won’t say anything. I understand.” I ran my hands down my jeans. “Well he still has a lot of good juices, even guava, so would you like some?”

  “Yes, please.” She grinned.

  We walked toward the back where the bar room was, and soon as we stepped in, Blaise began looking around as I started fixing up our drinks.

  “You’re probably used to mansions,” I commented, rounding the bar with our cups.

  “I don’t know about being used to them, but I’ve seen a few because of my exes.” She took her glass from me as we sat at the bar together. “So I have to ask why you’re staying with him? I mean, no judgement, but you guys haven’t been dating long at all, so shacking up seems a bit fast.”

  I was in the process of conjuring up a lie as we stared one another down but decided to just be honest. I liked Blaise, and if she trusted me enough to tell me she was with child, then I could do the same.

  “So I’ve never told you this, but I live or lived with my parents this whole time. They’re very strict, and because of that, I haven’t been able to live like a normal twenty-three-year-old woman. I have a curfew, I can’t go on dates past evening times, and the only way I can go out at night is if I have a deejay job. I wasn’t allowed to move out until I was married, but I could never keep a man long enough once they saw how locked down I was.”

  “Are you joking?”

  “I wish I was. Anyway, recently… or lately, I’ve been staying out late with you and Priscilla, or Yono, and my parents got fed up. I had to either allow my parents to drive me to work and also give up my phone once I got home, or move out. And, it’s obvious what I chose, so here I am. But it’s just until I find a place, because I surely have the funds.” For a moment, she just kept sipping her juice. “I know you probably think I’m weird.”

  “No. It’s so funny because all of my life I wished my mom would care about me more, but now I kind of appreciate her ways.” We both laughed at her statement. I was happy to see she could find the humor in this. “I think it’s good you got out though.”

  “Me too.”

  After a few seconds of silence, she asked, “So have you ever like… had sex?”

  “Well, in high school, for like ten seconds, maybe less, with some boy from church. But after that, I’ve done nothing, until Yono.”

  “Wow, so you’ve had like no dick for seven years?”

  “Pretty much.”

  “Wow, I need to be like you. That’s why I’m pregnant now.” She chuckled, and I followed suit.

  “I want to get your opinion on something.” I took my phone out and pulled up the gossip blog article I’d seen a few hours ago. “Did you see this?” I showed Blaise.

  On the screen was a picture of a dancer, and the title said that she’d claimed to have slept with Yono two weeks ago and was now pregnant. I hadn’t been with him long, but I had been his girl for more than two weeks.

  “No. I don’t read nor follow those gossip blogs unless tagged. But wow.”

  “She’s lying, right?”

  “I don’t know, Alivia. She could be telling the truth. I don’t know much about Yono.”

  “But you’ve met a lot of men in the industry, and you know nothing about him? Does this seem like him?”

  “Relax, Alivia. I’ve met Yono a few times in passing, and honestly, I can’t say. I’ve known strippers that have said they’ve slept with him, but that doesn’t make this true. You need to ask him.”

  “No, it’s fine. I don’t need to ask. I mean, how would she know after only two weeks anyway?” I laughed, but Blaise didn’t.

  “It’s possible to know that early, Alivia. You need to ask, and you can’t be afraid to ask. I get that he’s Yono, this big singer, but at the end of the day, he’s a regular nigga. And if you’re going to date him, you have to treat him like a regular nigga, or else he will walk all over you. If they know you see them as this big celebrity, they’ll take advantage of you.”

  I nodded, taking it all in. If anybody knew what they were talking about regarding dating a famous man, it was Blaise.

  Later that night…

  Yono and I were out to dinner at this really fancy place. I couldn’t even remember the name at this point, because I was nervous. The fact that he came home, acted normal, and then took me out to dinner gave me hope that maybe this was just a rumor. I mean, wouldn’t he mention it if it weren’t?

  Stop, Alivia.

  Here I was again, trying to make excuses so I wouldn’t have to interrogate him. As much as Blaise tried to help me, I was scared. I didn’t want him to break up with me or someth
ing, because he felt like I was doing too much too soon. However, Blaise was right. If I planned to have anything serious with him, I couldn’t go through life afraid of how he’d respond to something that was bothering me.

  “What did you order again?” Yono broke my concentration.

  “The steak.” I nodded, glancing off. “Troy,” I used his real name, “you saw that blog post, right?”

  “I did.”

  “She’s lying, right? You didn’t sleep with her, let alone get her pregnant… did you?”

  “Nah.”

  “Well, aren’t you mad she’s saying this? And why you of all people? I mean, there are plenty of rappers, singers, actors, and sports players she could have chosen from, but it was you. You don’t know her at all?”

  “Alivia, why the fuck you asking me all this bullshit? I told yo’ ass it wasn’t true, and you should have dropped it right then.”

  “Troy, I’m just getting more information, that’s all. I don’t understand why you’re so upset at me yet not upset at this rumor?”

  Chuckling, he replied, “We’ve been together a hot second, and now you questioning me like you my damn wife or something.”

  “No, I’m simply asking you questions, which is what a girlfriend does.”

  “Girlfriend?” His brows raised. “You ain’t my girl; we’re just having sex.”

  “At the studio, you introduced me as your girl.” My voice trembled, and I felt tears welling up. Was this what it was like to date a celebrity man?

  “Yeah, that’s to let niggas know you getting fucked by me, and that they can’t touch you. Learn the code. This is clearly ya first time at the rodeo with a nigga that got a name.”

  I could only shake my head because I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

  “Then w-why did you allow me to basically move in?”

  “Because that don’t stop the show, Alivia. Look baby, I like you, and I want to keep dating you, but this shit ain’t gon’ work if you keep coming at me like we’re married or some shit.”

  “No, I can’t. I don’t move that way.”

  “I’m going to pee, and I’ll let you think on it.” He scooted back from the table and then walked past me to head to the bathroom. I just took that time to try to process our conversation.

  “Okay, we have the porterhouse steak and then the NY strip.” The waitress arrived with our food, making me realize it’d been a while since Yono went to the bathroom. I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t keep track.

  “Thank you,” I replied, looking over my shoulder to see if he was coming.

  About ten more minutes passed, so I texted and called, but he didn’t answer. I started on my steak, and halfway through, I realized this nigga had left me at the restaurant. I called the waitress for the bill, sending his dish back thankfully, but I still had to pay for the appetizer, my meal, and the four expensive cocktails he’d drunk down.

  As I stood out front, I texted him paragraph after paragraph going off, before switching to my Uber app. Before I could order it, stupid Manny burst through, calling me.

  “What!” I yelled. I was already mad, and he was annoying usually.

  “Damn, I was calling to see what you were doing. I know you got a man, but I was hoping—”

  “You can come pick me up off Melrose, if you’d like. I’m at…” I turned to stare up at the sign, “Cecconi’s.”

  “Aight, bet!”

  It didn’t take too long for Manny to come, and I wanted to kiss him after sliding in on the heated seats of his Lexus.

  “Thanks a lot, Manny. I know you probably hate me, but I appreciate you coming to get me.”

  “It’s cool. Why you ain’t call Yono?”

  The mention of that asshole’s name had me wanting to cry. I couldn’t believe things had soured already.

  “We’re over with. Can you drive me to a hotel, please? Anyone nearby here is fine.” I dug through my purse for some Chapstick because this lipstick had my lips dry as hell.

  I started to wonder how I was going to get the little things I had stored over at Yono’s.

  “Why a hotel?”

  “I’m in between houses at the moment… remodeling.”

  “Oh.” He nodded. “I got two extra bedrooms. You can stay in one and for free if you want to.”

  I chuckled.

  “Absolutely not. So you can creep into my bed? I don’t think so.”

  “Nah, not at all. I promise I won’t touch you. Free is much cheaper than what these Beverly Hills hotels are gonna cost you, Alivia.” He grinned, making me turn my lip up.

  “Okay, just for tonight, and if you behave, I may stay. But keep in mind this is only until I find somewhere to live.”

  “Perfect.” He smirked, making me roll my eyes.

  I guess Manny wasn’t the worst nigga ever, especially not worse than Yono.

  Blaise

  A few nights later…

  I swayed my body to “Bed” by Nicki Minaj as I put the finishing touches on my makeup. I’d been playing this song all day long, and even though it made me think of Belly, I couldn’t stop. Ariana’s voice was just bomb.

  Tonight I was going on my third date with Romelo, and I felt good about it. I’d told myself I would only go on that one date, but the first one was so nice that I kept agreeing to go on more. We’d been to dinner, an art show, and now tonight, we were going to dinner again.

  I wasn’t sure if I liked him just yet, because I still had feelings for Belly, but I was surely enjoying his company. I just hoped he wouldn’t be trying to sleep with me anytime soon, because I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I’d looked up and read articles on sleeping with one man while pregnant by another, and even though they portrayed it as being okay, I couldn’t. Plus, I knew once Belly found out I was having his baby and letting Romelo fuck me, he’d kill us both. It surely sucked too because I was so horny being pregnant.

  Belly had found out about Romelo and I, and I’d heard he was pissed, but that served his cheating ass right. He’s lucky I’m pregnant or else I would have been thrown it back on Romelo.

  I heard my phone ring, interrupting Ariana Grande’s harmony, so I snapped my neck in its direction, wearing a frown. Spotting Belly’s name, I rolled my eyes before answering.

  “Yes? Make it quick. We don’t even have anything to talk about.”

  Every time I conversed with him, I contemplated mentioning the baby, but I wanted him to let me go first. But it’d been a minute since our breakup, and he was just as into me as before, with no decline in sight. I just knew if I said something now, he’d only worsen.

  “What you doing tonight, Blaise Cansino?” The way he asked like he already knew was eerie. And since when did he use my full name?

  “Why?”

  “I’m just making conversation, baby.” I could hear him blow smoke out.

  “I’m going to umm, eat with my friends, if you must know.”

  “Oh, aight then. Priscilla?”

  “Yes, Priscilla and another one that you don’t know. Her name is Alivia.”

  “Yeah, I met her at the club that night when she was with my brother. But aight, baby. A nigga was just checking on you and shit.” He inhaled on the blunt.

  His tone was strange though, kind of scaring me. I was tempted to text Romelo and cancel, but fuck that! I wanted to see Romelo and spend time with him. Plus, I wasn’t wasting this expensive ass makeup I’d used for the night.

  “Goodnight, nigga.” I hung up, letting Nicki Minaj come back on so I could finish getting ready.

  Once I had my short red dress on, that flared out at the thighs, and my red Prada heels to match, I put on my jewelry. After making sure my hair was perfect, I grabbed my clutch and phone, only to see I had a text from Romelo.

  Romelo: Hey, I’m outside.

  Me: Okay, coming!

  Spritzing on some perfume, I rushed out of the door, smiling way too hard about tonight’s date. While with Romelo, I always forgot about everyt
hing I was dealing with.

  “Have a nice night, Miss Cansino,” Gary called out to me once I was in the large lobby.

  “Thanks, Gary!” I gave him a soft smile before walking out of the building.

  I spotted Romelo’s Porsche, so I walked over. He usually always got out to open the door for me, but it was fine. I yanked on the handle and slid inside.

  “You look nice.” Belly smiled widely at me as he sat in the driver’s seat, smoking.

  I quickly looked around the car, thinking this was the wrong one, but I spotted Romelo’s hat in the backseat, so this was definitely his vehicle.

  “Cortez, what the fuck? H-how did you get Romelo’s car? Where is he?” I shot off question after question as Belly pulled from the curb, zipping through Beverly Hills.

  “I had a little talk with him about taking you out, and we both decided it was best that he not do that again. And shit, can you believe the nigga was nice enough to let me pick you up in his shit?” He looked to me grinning. He was so sexy.

  “Take me back home, right now!”

  “We can’t go to dinner?”

  “No! And you’re in sweats and a t-shirt! But even if you weren’t, I don’t want to go to dinner with you. I want to go with Romelo.”

  “Well you ain’t going with Romelo, so let that shit go!” he hissed. I smiled on the inside because seeing him hurt felt good. I was horrible. “Now, we in this nice ass car; you need to be grateful and act like you got some muthafuckin’ sense, Blaise.” He made a smooth left turn, bobbing his head to the Usher album playing softly as he took a toke on his blunt.

  “I cannot believe this.” I pulled my phone out to call Romelo. I felt like he was dead somewhere, but I still wanted to try.

  “Nah, you only talking to me tonight.” Belly held up Romelo’s phone; I recognized his phone case. As I gaped in shock, Belly looked straight ahead, continuing to bob his head to the music and drive.

  I just stared at this handsome side profile for a minute, in shock. Belly was certified, and it was obvious. When he placed his free hand on my thigh, I smacked it off.