The Gangsta That Stole My Heart 3

by Nique Luarks

I chuckled. “Hold on, man.”

  Chase laughed. “I hope you pee on yourself. Dad we shoulda put one of Jellybean’s pampers on her.” He joned, gaining a hard shove from Chasity.

  “Shut up, ugly.”

  The moment I pushed the front door open she dashed past me and darted up the stairs.

  “I hope you trip up the steps!” Chase called after her.

  Chance switched towards us. “Hey, Champ.” Chase hugged her before heading to the family room.

  “Wassup?” I lifted my chin.

  She took Carlee out of my hands. “You have fun?” Chance removed the blanket from over her and started unbuttoning her bubble jumper coat.

  “She slept majority of the time.” I hovered over them. “I think she’s getting a cold or some shit.”

  Chance took off with me following. “I’ll check her temperature and go from there.”

  “Chance, have you seen my rhyme book?” When we entered the room, Chase had his hands folded on top of his head, mean mugging. “I thought I left it on the table.”

  Jelly sat down to finish unbundling Carlee. “I put it on your bed, so nobody would read it. I know how you are.”

  He nodded before jetting out of the room.

  “His rhyme book?” Widening my stance, I crossed my arms.

  “Mmhm. He raps with his friends now.” Chance chuckled. “He let me hear a few.”

  “That lil’ nigga is a character.” I dropped down on the sofa.

  “He’s actually pretty decent. He rides the beat, has the little swag and everything.” She grinned.

  “Hi, Channy!” Chasity squealed running in. “I didn’t know you was gon’ be here.” Her little grown ass bent down to kiss Carlee. “Hi, baby. Did you miss me?” When she started baby talking, I chuckled.

  “Chance lives here now.” I stared at Chasity.

  “For how long?” She sat down on the floor to take her shoes off.

  “Forever.”

  Her eyes darted to Chance. “Why, Channy? You don’t like your house no more?”

  Bouncing Carlee, Chance cleared her throat. “Yes, I did. But I like it more here.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I get to see you guys and your dad more.”

  “Oh.” She shrugged.

  “And because Chance is my girlfriend.” I told her just as Chase sauntered back in. He’d removed his shirt and was now sporting sweats and a pair of socks. One of the gold chains around his neck was from Chance, and the other was an early Christmas present from me.

  Chasity giggled. “Really? So y’all be kissing and stuff?”

  I frowned.

  “That’s what boyfriends and girlfriends do.” She stated knowingly, plopping down next to Chance. “Can I hold her? I washed my hands, see.” Chasity held her small hands up.

  Chance nodded. “Of course.”

  “Chase. Daddy said Chance is his girlfriend.” She grinned focusing on Carlee. “Awww, look at her little bracelet.”

  This girl...

  Chasity was acting like they hadn’t spent all day together.

  “For real?” Chase stood in front of the sofa.

  I untangled his chains for him. “For real.”

  He grinned. “I knew it!”

  “No, you didn’t.” Chasity’s necked rolled. “They never even kissed.”

  Chase sat down on the floor with his back against the bottom half of the sectional. “So? They got a baby together, dummy.” He opened his notebook and sat his Beats headphones on his lap.

  “My mama is your girlfriend too?” Chasity’s hopeful eyes landed on me.

  My head swayed. “No, Wookie. Me and your mom are just friends.”

  Her shoulders dropped. “Oh.”

  “I respect your mom, okay?” I ran my hand down the length of her long braids. “But me and Jelly are in love.” I tried to explain. The hurt expression on my Wookie’s face pulled at my heart strings.

  “Okay.” She mumbled.

  “And how you know boyfriends and girlfriends kiss.” Chase tilted his head back to look at her.

  Chasity rolled her eyes. “’Cause they do. When I get me a boyfriend we gon’ kiss all the time.”

  Chance giggled softly.

  “No, the hell you not.”

  “I wish you would.” Me and Chase spoke at the same time.

  “Chase kisses his girlfriend.” Chasity pouted. “They be kissing outside by the swings. I saw it.”

  Chasity and Chase went to the same private school. This was their first year, and so far, I felt like it was a great investment. Chase hadn’t been getting into as much trouble, and Chasity was now reading on a sixth-grade level. They hated the uniforms, but Jaliyah and Quin were extra as fuck, so they put their own little twist on it.

  “So!” Chase flexed. “Let me catch you kissing anybody, and I’ma knock y’all both out.” He picked his headphones up with an attitude.

  “Daddy...” Chasity pouted. “That’s not fair.”

  Chance pushed off the couch. “Chassy you don’t wanna kiss boys anyways.”

  “Why?”

  “Because they have cooties.” She took Carlee from her. “Let’s go make cookies.”

  “What’s cooties?” Chance bopped out of the room behind her.

  “Germs that make you sick.”

  “Oh. I can’t be getting sick I’m too cute for that.”

  I chuckled as they made their exit.

  “Wassup, Granny?”

  “Hey, baby. What are you doing?”

  I watched Chase pace back and forth, rapping to himself.

  “Chillin’. Wassup?”

  “Nothing much. I just wanted to call you and tell you I love you, and I’m proud of you.”

  Resting my head back against the sectional, I closed my eyes. “Thanks, Gran.”

  “You know I’m cooking Christmas dinner, and I want you and Chance to come. I spoke with Sonia and she’s helping me prepare everything.”

  “Oh, yeah?”

  “Yes. She’s been going to Church with Sadee and I. We even went to brunch and had Mimosas yesterday.”

  I chuckled.

  What did their old asses know about Mimosas?

  “Sadee’s fine driver of course drove us. That man is a sight for sore eyes.”

  I grimaced. “Granny.”

  She laughed.

  “You need me to bring anything. Buy something?” I wasn’t trying to hear about my Granny finding nobody attractive.

  “No. We went grocery shopping before brunch. Just make sure you, Chance, and the babies are sitting at my dining room while I say grace.”

  “You got it.”

  “Well, I don’t want to keep you long. Just wanted to hear your voice.”

  I smiled.

  “I love you, baby, talk to you later.”

  “Love you too, Gran.”

  When she hung up, my eyes found the vaulted ceiling. Everything in my life was aligning perfectly. Almost too perfect for a nigga with my type of past. Satisfaction bubbled in my core, making me feel complete. I prayed I got to enjoy this feeling for as long as possible.

  “Dad, you wanna hear my rap?” Chase asked, sitting on the arm of the couch.

  “Yeah.”

  “Daddy, I made you some cookies and milk!” Chasity screamed from the kitchen. “You want me to bring it to you?!”

  “Yeah, Wookie!”

  Chase got up and flipped a few pages in his book. “I’ma play the beat from my phone.” He looked focused as he decided which verse to spit.

  “Here you go, Daddy.” Chasity steadied a white tray that had a cup of milk, a plate of cookies, and a few napkins on it.

  Chance patted a sleeping Carlee on her back as she trailed behind Chasity. “She has a little fever, but I gave her some baby Tylenol.” She pecked the top of Carlee’s curly head a few times. “Poor baby.”

  “If she ain’t feeling no better tomorrow we’ll go to the hospital.” I felt sorry for my jellybean.

  “Kay.�
� Chance said softly, taking a seat right next to me. With Carlee cradled in her arms, she snuggled up under me, and I wrapped my arm around her.

  I tried to not laugh at how pitiful she looked. Her ass acted like Carlee was her best friend most of the time. Hell, all of the time.

  “Here, Daddy, try my cookies.” Chasity sat the tray on an end table. Picking up a cookie, she placed it neatly on a napkin and walked it over to me.

  “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” She hopped on my lap. “What you doin’, Chase?”

  Drake’s Back to Back beat dropped from his iPhone.

  “I wanna rap next.”

  “You can’t rap, so just sit there and be quiet.” He passed me his phone.

  Chance giggled.

  We watched as Chase started doing his thing. He messed up a few times, but for the most part he was cool. I had to stop him once or twice, so we could find words to substitute all the curse words his ass was using. When he finished he let Chasity attempt to freestyle some shit about lipgloss, nail polish and glitter. And even though it was almost impossible, I kept a straight face the entire time.

  Once they were finished showing me their rap skills, they picked a movie for us to watch. My phone pinged, and a text from Nisha sat on the screen. I clicked on the message and a video of Carter popped up. I pressed play and watched as he crawled across the floor repeating “Da-Da”. I chuckled showing Chance.

  “Him too?” She shook her head. “Why is that all of their first words?”

  I shrugged smugly. “‘Cause I’m that nigga.”

  “Carlee better say “mama” first.”

  Kissing my jellybeans arm, I sat my phone back down in my lap and relaxed into the seat. “She won’t.”

  17

  Put your heart in my hands

  Chance

  It seemed as though Christmas and the New Year had flown by. Now here it was the middle of January, and we were packing for Tulum, Mexico. Erin and Tone were finally having the wedding my friend deserved. She’d cried real tears when she found her dress, and me being the crybaby I am, I cried right along with her. Ava swore we were being extra, but I’d seen the tear she tried to swipe away quickly.

  True swaggered into the closet where I was sitting on the floor, sorting through our luggage, holding Carlee. He was supposed to be helping, but somehow, he ended up laying across the bed watching television. The only time he’d gotten up was to tell me which chains he wanted to bring. I wanted to choke him with one. But I smiled politely, and packed the ones he wanted, all while making sure he had everything for his tuxedo.

  “You need help?” He had the nerve to ask.

  I looked up at him, and he grinned. “Bye, True.”

  True chuckled. “I guess not. Ow.” He played hurt when Carlee smacked his cheek.

  “That’s right, baby, get him.” I picked my phone up and pushed off the floor.

  “Damn, it’s like that, Jellybean?” He moved to the side to let me by. When he smacked me hard on the ass, I rolled my eyes. “Carlee, you ready for a little brother?”

  I smacked my lips. “We both know that’s not happening any time soon.” Sitting on the bed, I laid flat on my back, and looked up at the ceiling. “She got enough siblings on her daddy’s side.”

  True chuckled. “Yeah, a’ight.”

  Closing my eyes, I smiled.

  “You know I love you, right?” The vulnerable tone of his voice made me open my eyes slowly. True stared down at me for a moment, before he licked his lips and looked off.

  Resting on my elbows, I nodded. “I love you too.”

  He didn’t reply right away. His eyes roamed around me slowly.

  “You okay?”

  True broke his gaze once more. “Yeah, just thinking.”

  “About what?”

  “You, me...us.”

  I sat up straight and crossed my legs. “What about us?”

  He took a seat, and laid Carlee down. “To be for real, I still can’t believe you’re mine.” True reached for me, and I gladly climbed into his lap. “I get to see you when I want.”

  I closed my eyes and took a deep breath when his soft lips traced my neck.

  “Kiss you when I want.”

  He squeezed my body softly. “Hug you when I want.”

  “Mmm…”

  True bit down gently on my nipple. “Feel you when I want.”

  My lazy gaze found his.

  “I love you.” He told me again, this time in a near whisper.

  Cuffing his face, I brought his lips to mine. “I love you too, shorty.”

  He chuckled.

  “More than you’ll ever know.”

  True was mine just as much as I was his. I’d shed a lot of tears, fought plenty internal battles, even lost myself for a little while. But here we were. True Kendric Jones, was in love with me; Chance Breon. And every day I could feel us growing stronger.

  Lately, he listened more than he spoke. And when we did have long conversations, he told me things about him I never knew. Like how he feared not being alive long enough to watch his babies grow to be adults. He felt as though the dirt he’d done in the past was going to catch up to him eventually. And True wasn’t afraid to die; he was scared his kids wouldn’t remember him if he went sooner than later.

  I couldn’t imagine a life without my best friend. But he made me promise to still be active in Chase’s, Chasity’s and even Carter’s life no matter what happened. Of course, I would. Just like Carlee, they were an extension of him. I just prayed God hadn’t finally given him to me only for our time together to be cut short.

  Just thinking about True leaving me made a tear slip from my eye. He wiped it away with his thumb and placed a kiss where my heart was. He then wrapped his arms around my body and gave me a firm squeeze. I caressed the back of his head, rocking slowly. I wished we could stay this way forever.

  I was smart enough to know nothing did. When Carlee began whining, we were reminded of that. True reluctantly let me go, and I climbed back out of his lap lost in my feelings. Picking Carlee up, I bounced her as I headed out of the room to change her diaper. When I got to the threshold, I glanced back at True.

  He gave me a quick playful wink and my stomach swarmed. This same time last year I would cry myself to sleep praying one day he’d see me. And now I’d catch him staring at me while I was sleeping. This was only the beginning of what I knew would be a sensational love story. I didn’t know what the next chapter had in store for us, but I was positive the ending would be remarkable.

  True

  When Jelly walked out the room, I ran my palm down my face. She was the only person who could have me in my feelings for no reason. I guess it was knowing I’d waited so long to give her something she deserved a long time ago, bothered me. I was a fuck up, and to have someone as perfect as Chance see past all my flaws, was hard to wrap my mind around sometimes. I would never be good enough, though.

  All I could do from this point forward was show her a different side of me. It was easy for me to put my guard up. I could shut my emotions off and not give a fuck about nothing but my kids, if I wanted. But being with Chance opened my eyes to how strong of a person she truly was. Because it was hard to love people and show endless compassion.

  But she did every day. Chance did the shit so gracefully that some days I’d challenge myself to do one nice deed. It was corny as fuck, but if it made me a better man for her, then so be it. Anything to make her days easier, nights more peaceful. I didn’t even give my baby mama’s passes no more when it came to her.

  Jelly had a hold and complete control of a nigga’s mind, body, and soul. She’d been the only one patient enough to tame the Gangsta in me. And the only person to look past my fucked up ways and love me wholeheartedly. To top it all off Chance blessed me with a baby girl that I knew would grow into a woman and eventually mirror her mother’s heart. A heart that I’d stolen and taken for keeps.

  The end

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  Nique Luarks, The Gangsta That Stole My Heart 3