“I love you,” Tron said out loud.
Shawna must have been able to hear what Tron was saying as she was nodding off. She mumbled, “I love you too,” back to Tron.
Tron closed his eyes, smiling, and started working his way toward feeling a little sleepy. Within minutes, just as he was at that edge of sleep, he heard his phone vibrate. Knowing the time, he wondered who it would be texting him this late at night. It wouldn’t be Tyrese because he would more than likely be laying up with Nalique. Tron’s brother and sister were busy with their own lives and were not really close enough that one would be texting the other at this time of night. Tron reached down to the floor and dug his phone out of his pants pocket and unlocked it. He was extremely surprised to see that the text was from Desirae, who was saved in his phone as Tyrese 2 in case Shawna were to ever go looking for something. Tron wanted it to be as hard to find as possible.
As Tron opened the text message, part of him was irritated. He had told Desirae to not text him until he texted her. At that moment, Tron could only hope that Desirae wasn’t messaging anything to him that if he hadn’t been lying where he was at the right time, Shawna could’ve had the opportunity to see it.
Tron opened the text and was very confused to see: Happy Birthday.
Just as he was about to respond, Shawna seemed to be waking up. Quickly, Tron deleted the message then dropped his phone down the side of the bed and onto his pants It turned out that Shawna was only waking up for a second to reposition her body. She fell back to deep sleep quickly, leaving Tron there in the dimly lit bedroom thinking and wondering. How would she know it’s my birthday?
Chapter 4
On Thursday, Tron met up with Tyrese so the two of them could go over some of the contacts they had made for marketing purposes. Tyrese knew some people in radio he thought could be of help. Tron had looked into the idea of redoing the front of the club so it didn’t look like what people have seen on the news. After the two of them talked about it, they smoked a blunt together out in Tyrese’s SUV. Tron brought up what had happened.
“Dude,” Tyrese said. “How would she know it’s your birthday unless you told her that shit?”
“Nigga, like I said,” Tron said. “I ain’t tell her that shit. I swear we ain’t never even talked about that kinda shit. I don’t know when her birthday is, so I don’t know how she would know when mine is.”
“Look, man, all I’m saying is that you musta told her,” Tyrese said. “That’s what I think.”
“Man, I’m telling you,” Tron said. “I ain’t tell that bitch when my birthday was. Look, man, you know she wants me to break it off with Shawna and really be with her ass.”
Tyrese shook his head. “Man, I don’t know what you over there doing,” he said. “I don’t have this kinda shit poppin off. I keep my hoes in check so I ain’t got these kinds of problems.”
“Man, fuck you,” Tron said, now seeing that his boy Tyrese was laughing at his entire situation. No matter what, Tron wanted to make sure that his two different worlds never met. No matter how long he had the two of them going at once, he did not want to see what would happen should the two worlds meet. Shawna was not a soft chick by any means. On top of that, Tron knew that he had been her longest-lasting relationship. Lying in bed with her last night reminded him of how Desirae was really only supposed to be a side chick – some pussy when he wanted something different.
Tron finished smoking a little with Tyrese before the two of them split. He decided that he would hit Desirae up and see what she was doing – see if she was free at the moment. Within minutes of sending her a text, a reply message had popped up on his phone telling him that he could come through.
It had started to snow a little bit as Tron drove over to Desirae’s place. He parked and walked upstairs to her door. Instead of knocking as usual, he just walked right on in. There, he found Desirae lying back on the couch. This time, however, she was not wearing her robe; she was wearing a matching white bra and panties set. The sight of her perfectly thick body was almost too much for Tron, and it made him forget the very thing he wanted to talk about.
Instead, Tron went over onto the couch. Before he could remember what he had actually come for, Desirae had slid off the couch and was now down on her knees. Tron bit his bottom lip as he felt his knees being pushed apart then his pants being undone.
“Fuck, girl,” Tron said, completely turned on with how he walked in the door and Desirae got right to giving him head. Before he knew it, he could feel her mouth sliding up and down on his manhood. Without even thinking, Tron gripped Desirae’s head softly and she dropped her arms to the side. “Suck that dick,” Tron said. “Suck it.”
Desirae looked up into Tron’s face as he was on the verge of breaking a sweat from how good she was giving it to him. She prided herself in being the best, but she was always trying to be even better so he would see what he had in her. It seemed to be working, as Tron was gone off of the feeling.
About ten minutes later, Tron let his load go. His body flinched as his head creaked back down from looking up at the ceiling. He now looked into Desirae’s eyes as her lips were stretched out over the first couple inches of Tron’s dick.
“Damn girl,” Tron said, loving that he had just let go in her mouth. He breathed heavily, his body flinching every few seconds.
Before Tron could get another word out, Desirae grabbed the base of his dick and swallowed. Tron sat back onto the couch after pulling up his pants.
“Damn, baby,” he said. “That shit was good.”
“You like that, huh?” Desirae asked.
Tron nodded and smiled. “Hell yeah.”
“Well,” Desirae said. “That is for your birthday, nigga.”
Those words triggered Tron to remember the main thing he wanted to talk about with Desirae when he came over—the text message that night when he was in the bed with Shawna. The message that had said Happy Birthday. At the same time, however, he didn’t know how to bring it all up without sounding like he was mad that she was wishing him happy birthday. He really tried hard to think about when and if he had ever told her when his birthday was. As he tried to think of all the possible scenarios, Tron was coming up blank.
“Well, a nigga liked that shit,” Tron said. “A nigga didn’t think he was going to hear from you on his birthday.”
“Why wouldn’t you?” Desirae asked. “Look, I know you said to not text you first, and I’m sorry. But I just wanted to be the first to wish you happy birthday and since I didn’t say it that morning when you had left here, I figured I’d say it then. I didn’t say anything else crazy in the message. And I would hope you ain’t got my number saved under my name.”
Tron shook his head. “Naw, I don’t,” he said, still wondering when he had told Desirae his birthday. Could it have slipped out that night when they were drinking and smoking and he just not remember it?
“Okay then,” Desirae said. “So, what did you do for your birthday?”
Tron shrugged his shoulders. “Shit really,” he answered. “Just chilled with a couple of buddies and stuff. Nothing special or anything.”
“Awe, I thought she mighta took you somewhere or did something special for you,” Desirae said, thinking of what Tron’s chick had said to her at the department store. In a strange way, she was enjoying having the upper hand – enjoying the feeling of knowing something that Tron didn’t know that she knew. It was almost like the shoe was finally on the other foot since most of their relationship had been based on Tron having the upper hand.
Tron wondered why Desirae would say something like that. Immediately, something just wasn’t feeling right anymore about where this conversation was going.
“Naw, she was working and stuff so I really ain’t see her like that on that particular day,” Tron said. “Plus, I had a lot of business to handle during the day both Monday and Tuesday. I been kinda busy and shit with business.”
“When I’mma get to try some of the food from this
restaurant?” Desirae asked.
Tron always remembered to keep track in his mind that he had told Desirae that he and a friend owned a restaurant instead of a club. When he first started messing around with her, he would catch himself almost saying club. Now, however, he was pretty used to making the switch in his mind. Plus, it wasn’t that far off from the truth of what he wanted out of life. After all, a restaurant actually was in his plans once he had the right amount of money stacked up and was ready to go with it.
“When I get a chance,” Tron said. “It’s just that I’m rarely coming from the restaurant over to here. Maybe next time a nigga swing by and get you some.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Desirae said. “We gon see about this. Hmm…hmm.”
“I betta get going,” Tron said, gently helping Desirae off of him as he stood up. He looked over his pants and everything to make sure he wasn’t going to be walking out of the door looking crazy or anything. Once he looked on point, he slid into his coat and looked back at Desirae and her phat ass on the couch. It looked so tempting to him, to the point that he wished he could stay and smash her on the back of that fire head. He knew, though, that he had some places to be and that he could really only stop by her place for a second.
“When are we gon really talk about it, Tron?” Desirae asked, sounding kind of stern.
Tron pulled his eyes away from her body and looked into her face. “Talk about what?” he asked, not really wanting to talk about what he knew she was about to bring up.
“About us,” Desirae said.
Tron’s mind flashed back to him chilling with his boy Tyrese. As much as he hated to admit it, so much of what Tyrese was saying to him was turning out to be true. Tron could tell by the look on Desirae’s face that this chick really had some hope that she would no longer be the side chick. At the same time, Tron thought of Shawna. He knew that there was no way that he could really break things off with her to get with Desirae. He just didn’t even look at the two women in the same way. If he could have his way, Desirae would just go on being okay with him stopping by every once in a while and he could keep his relationship going good with Shawna. More and more, he realized he just wanted a no-strings-attached situation with Desirae. His birthday get-together on Monday night made him think of that even more as he could see how Shawna was a part of his world in a way that he could never see Desirae being.
“What about us, baby,” Tron said.
“You know,” Desirae said. “I know you remember us talking about you getting out that situation you in with her. If you not happy, then why you still try’na do it even if you don’t have to? I mean, look at this.” Desirae slapped her ass. “You don’t know how I be over here feeling when I be missing you and shit. And what do you do? You over there following some bitch you ain’t even try’na be with like that no more.”
Tron took a deep breath, not surprised by what Desirae was saying. After all, he did talk with her one night about the possibility of that happening. Little did he know, though, that she would take it so far and so seriously.
“Look, I know we talked about this shit,” Tron said. “But I just don’t know that I’m ready for that shit. I mean…”
“What?” Desirae said. “What you not ready for?” Just then, Desirae stood up and walked over to Tron. She wanted to look into his eyes while she stood there in her bra and panties. Now that she had seen what his girl had going for herself, Desirae was all the more confident that she could get Tron to see that with her is where he should be. “She don’t even appreciate you like I do,” Desirae said. “Like a real chick would. You over here cause I’m doin’ the shit for you that you said she won’t.”
Tron knew that what Desirae was saying was in fact true. Shawna had some good pussy, but she wasn’t as good at giving him head as Desirae was. There was no denying that. As hard as it was to look Desirae in the eye at that moment, Tron did it anyway. “Look, you know I love you, Desirae,” he said. “We have a good time and shit when I come through. And yeah, you do put it down like no other chick and shit. But I just don’t know if I’m ready to leave the one I’m with and start a new relationship with you like that. You think this shit is easy for me and shit, but it ain’t.”
“Easy for you?” Desirae said, almost taken aback by him making such a comment. “I’m the one over here who is just basically pussy on demand.”
“Whatever,” Tron said and started to turn around. “I ain’t got time for this shit, I swear. Fuck this shit.”
“Why, Tron? Huh?” Desirae said. “Why?”
As Desirae was starting to feel her emotions build up, Tron was out the door. He walked down to his car, hopped in, and rolled out of the snow-packed parking spot. When he got out onto the street, he decided to take a different way back north than usual. Changing it up this way would wind up being a bigger mistake than he realized.
***
The first thing Desirae did when Tron left was get on her phone and text her girl Reese. Reese was always a good person to talk to when she needed to vent. Desirae was honestly starting to feel a little mad about how Tron was just going to ignore the fact that they had talked about him breaking it off with his girl to be with her.
She messaged Reese: I swear niggas ain’t no good.
Desirae went on about her day, deciding that maybe she’d stop over to her mama’s house or go by the projects out west and see her daddy. Just as she was getting her clothes on and looking for her coat, she heard her phone vibrate again. It was a message from Reese, asking what happened. Desirae texted back and explained how she had brought it all up to Tron and what he said.
Finally, Reese just told her how she really felt: Girl, why don’t you just go on and get a nigga that want you?
Desirae thought about it for a moment. After all, anytime she went on break at the mall or out downtown with friends, she could make heads turn just about anywhere. It didn’t matter if a nigga was with his chick, his sister, or his grandmother. If Desirae and that body that any woman would pay for went walking by, the dude’s head would go turning. She knew that any day of the week, she could go out and pick up a nigga at the drop of a dime. At the same time, though, there were so many reasons she wanted Tron.
Frustrated and a little angry at her friend for keeping it real with her in a text message like that, Desirae just pushed her phone down into her purse. She zipped her coat up and headed out the door. She told herself she wasn’t going to think about him. The reality was, however, that he was all she could think about. Everything with Tron seemed so genuine that she wondered what happened that changed his mind like that. Just a few weeks back, he was acting like he was trapped in an unhappy situation. Now, that same situation seemed to be where he wanted to stay. It was all just too much for Desirae. She went ahead and drove over to her mama’s house. At least she could go somewhere where she probably wouldn’t be thinking about it as much.
Chapter 5
The beauty salon was the place to be Thursday afternoon. Shawna had multiple appointments that day, all of which were styles or needs that really weren’t all that difficult. Every other stylist was in today, and everybody was getting along real nice. The topic of conversation at this time of the day was a rich man. And just talking about this got all of the girls going.
Cherise, who had the chair next to Shawna, spoke the loudest to everybody. She was known for always going after the fellas with deep pockets. And she wasn’t afraid to talk about it either.
“I go to the gym,” she said. “I keep all this in shape.” She pointed at her shapely, 35-year-old body and turned a little bit, patting her stomach to show them how flat it was after having had two kids. “The least a nigga can do is buy me something when I want it,” Cherise said. “I don’t see anything wrong with that.”
“Yeah, that’s nice,” Shawna said.
Shawna wasn’t really paying attention to the conversation. She got the gist of what everyone else was talking about here and there, but between her phone and her last client
’s head, she just hadn’t been paying all that much attention. Now, as she was trying to catch up, her sister Morgan had texted her. Shawna had a two-hour gap between her last client and the next one.
Shawna: What’chu up to?
Morgan: Just got off work, hungry.
Shawna was feeling a little hungry herself and knew that she wouldn’t mind running out and getting something to eat. She glanced outside through the window on the other wall that was above one of the booths and looked out at the trees. It didn’t appear to be snowing, and the streets were all cleared.
Shawna: You wanna meet up for something to eat? You downtown still?
Morgan worked at a hotel downtown while she decided if and when she was actually going to go off to college.
Morgan: Yeah. You wanna meet up on 16th at the Chinese restaurant?
Shawna liked the sound of Chinese and decided she would go ahead and go. She agreed to meet Morgan there in twenty minutes.
“Girl, where you headed out to?” Cherise asked.
“Girl, to meet my sister down on Sixteenth at the Chinese restaurant,” Shawna answered.
“Ooh, bring me back something, Shawna,” Cherise said.
Shawna smiled and rolled her eyes as she walked off, toward the door. Cherise called her name, saying she wanted this and that.
“Bye, girl,” Shawna said. “And you still owe me eight dollars from that last time I got your ass something to eat while I was out. Don’t act like I forgot.”
“Girl, you know I got you,” Cherise said.
Other stylists said, “No, she don’t,” then went on talking about how Cherise never gave people the food money like she was supposed to. By the time Shawna was stepping out into the January air, half of everybody in the salon was laughing and talking about Cherise. Cherise just rolled her eyes and went back to checking on her client’s hair. “Forget y’all!” she said, smiling.
The Diary of a Side Chick (Side Chick Diaries Book 1) Page 5
