by Tina Marie
“Man, I wish she would get off that high ass horse of hers. I keep telling her that we got her, but she be on some ole black girl magic shit. I mean Juice deadbeat, no-good ass is only breathing because of lil man.”
“I know baby, but you know how Cay is. She’s been like that since we were kids. Now, O’s ass have no problem taking cash, gifts, or you name it. That bitch will ask for the shoes on my damn feet,” Ash laughed.
“Yeah, I can’t stand Olivia’s ass and I don’t know how y’all even still fuck with that ho’,” I said. Ashlee, Cayane, and Olivia were thick as thieves, but it was always something a little bit off with O’s ass and no matter how many times I told Ash to watch that ho’, she’d always defend her bitch ass friend.
“Hey Nicco, watch it babe. I’m not fond of all the niggas that you roll wit’ either.”
“Like who?” I quizzed.
“That nigga Narvelle,” she spat.
“You only saying that shit because again, yo’ ho’ ass friend O,” he laughed. “Errrrr’ since she let him fuck her in the back seat of his truck, you can’t stand him. I told yo’ girls ages ago not to fuck with none of my niggas because we roll in the same circles, but you know a ho’ like O’ always got her legs spread or a dick in her mouth,” I joked and laughed hard as hell, but Ash didn’t find me funny.
“Man, shut yo’ ass up. I know O’ be on some dumb shit, but that is still my girl, aw’ight. I can’t help if she got ho’ tendencies.”
“Well, you and Cay need to find another third wheel. If them niggas didn’t know you was my wife and Cay was Juice’s ex and baby momma, they’d think y’all was ho’s too,” I added and took the last hit of my J. “And don’t be letting Tam roll nowhere with her. I mean, I know Tam is grown and shit now, but we’ve been raising her since mom’s got sick and then passed, and she is like my baby girl too, and I don’t want her to be influenced by Olivia’s ho’ ass.”
Ash sat. I knew she was about to hit me with something I didn’t want to hear, because she never stayed in my lion’s den more than a few brief moments.
“Speaking of Tam, she gon’ make me choke her.”
“What she do now?”
“She got another ticket Nicco. I mean, she keeps parking her car in no parking zones and just keep racking up tickets that you keep paying for.”
“Look babe, Tam is young; she just doing young chick bullshit.”
“Nicco, for real, gon’ wit that bullshit. You need to stop babying her. I mean, you need to start having my back and stop giving her cash every five minutes for shit.”
“Ash, the girl is in school and you and I both agreed that we wanted her to focus on school and not worry about money and shit like that.”
“True, but you show up with a brand-new car for her birthday six months ago when she turned twenty-one without even asking me.”
“Ash, you kept complaining about her always borrowing yo’ shit, so I thought getting the car would get her outta yours,” I defended. I knew I spoiled Tam, like I spoiled my baby sis Dominique and my Godson Kahlan. Those lil muthafuckas are my heart and my weakness.
“You know what I’m saying Nicco. Just help me enforce some limits around here please. I mean, Tam is now twenty-one, but were still running shit up in here and, if you don’t have my back, she gon’ wild out. She listens to you because she thinks I ride her too much, so talk to her. Tell her you gon’ snatch up them keys if she gets another damn ticket or make her ass sweep floors at one of the salons we own; I mean, she is in hair school. I just don’t want her to keep thinking shit is easy. I mean, I know all the shit we got going on ain’t legit, but we worked hard for this shit. I’m in culinary school because I want something when the hustle is gon’. We ain’t gonna be twenty-five and twenty-six forever babe,” she said sweetly.
“I know baby,” I said and kissed her cheek. “I’ll holla at her and I got’cha back,” I said.
“Thanks baby and I hear you about her hanging with O; I’ll handle that,” she said and stood. I swatted her on the ass, and she headed up the stairs. A moment or two after, my phone rung, and I looked down to see it was my baby sis.
“Hey Nikki, wat’s crackin’ sis?”
“Hey Nic, where you at?”
“I’m at home, wat’s up and why you whispering?”
“It’s daddy, Nic; he is on my nerves. He and mommy is going to Memphis for this revival and he trying to make me go. I don’t want to go and I called Ash about fifteen times, so she can promise Mommy that I can stay with y’all.”
“Ash just went upstairs. She didn’t have her phone, so I will tell her to call Ma.”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you. Tell her to call now because we supposed to leave tomorrow.”
“I will Nikki, don’t sweat it.”
“I can’t wait until I’m eighteen, so I can get outta here!”
“Well by the time you turn eighteen, you’ll be in college and then you’ll have to worry about me overprotecting you.”
“As if you don’t already.”
“Yeah, you right,” I chuckled. “I’ll tell Ash in a min, because I’m about to head out to meet up with Ca’Shon in a few.”
“He back in town already?”
“Yep, he got back yesterday.”
“Aw’ight, tell my big cuz I said hey and I guess I’ll see y’all tomorrow, if Momma and Daddy don’t trip. They love Ash, so I’m sure they won’t say no.”
“Yeah, I know. Lata sis,” I said and ended the call. My daddy was the Pastor of an up and coming mega church on the south east side of Chicago and, although he adored my wife, he couldn’t stand the sight of me. Since I dropped out of college and told him the chances of me become a preacher was a zero, we fell out. I was rarely invited to my parents’ home when he was home and, although my mother and I were still tight, whenever any occasion involved my father and I being in the same room, it was a bad fucking situation. I tried to stay as clear and free as possible from him, and I’m sure his efforts to stay away from me were just the same. I loved my father and would do whatever it took for him to accept who I am but if I wasn’t walking in his righteous footsteps, he didn’t want to have shit to do with me.
My phone rang again, and I looked down to see Chaos on my screen.
“Nigga, wat up?”
“Man, these Chi-Town ho’s got some mad head game,” he spat.
“What, you been here all of ten minutes and you don’ fucked a bitch tonsils already?”
“Cuz, come on now, you know me. It took yo’ cuz all of three seconds to get that bitch in the employee bathroom. I mean, she sucked my dick so damn good, I may have phone issues errrrr’ muthafuckin’ day, ya heard me,” he said.
“Damn, yo’ ass ain’t changed one bit.”
“So, where we at today? What is our new agenda, since I ran behind?”
“A lil biz as usual. We gon’ meet up wit’ Narvelle and Dizzy and we gon’ roll through a couple of spots, welcome you into the Chi nicely kid.”
“Bet, come by my crib and we can do what we do,” he said.
“Aw’ight.” I ended the call and headed up the steps. I told Ashlee about Nikki’s call and then kissed my baby bye. I promised her I’d try not to be out too late and then headed out the door.
Chapter Three
Ashlee aka Ash
“Okay, run and wash yo’ hands lil man, because dinner is done,” I told Kahlan.
“Okay,” he said sweetly and ran to the powder room near the kitchen. He came back and climbed back onto the stool at the island. I fixed his plate and put it in front of him, and he just looked at it.
“What’s wrong Kah?” I asked him.
He scratched the side of his little head. “Ummm Auntie Ash, what is this?” He frowned.
“It’s pasta with chicken and shrimp and cheese and baby tomatoes.”
“But Auntie, its green,” he said looking at the dish suspiciously with his eye brows scrunched together.
“I know lil man, you’ve n
ever had green pasta before?” I asked, knowing he may have never. It was a recipe that I was trying to perfect for my upcoming exam.
“Noooooo,” he said, shaking his head from side to side.
“Okay, why don’t you just try a bite and see if you like it?” I suggested, and he slowly went for his fork. “Kah, baby, it’s a pesto sauce and even though it’s green, I can assure you that you’ll love it.”
Not convinced, he took his fork, picked up one of the tiniest pieces of chicken on the plate, and slowly put it into his mouth. I watched him chew and process the flavor before the skepticism started to fade from his little face. He went for another piece, slight larger that time, and gave it a second try and then his head went up and down.
“Seeeeeeeeeeee, you like it, don’t you?” He nodded yes again. “You know yo’ Auntie Ash ain’t gon’ serve up no nasty food.” He continued to nod his little head. A few short moments later, he was all done. “Are you good?”
“Yes ma’am,” he said, pushing his plate in my direction across the island.
“Are you sure you don’t want anymore?”
“I’m sure,” he said and wiped his mouth with a paper napkin. He picked up his cup of apple juice and polished it off.
“Now, you go wash your hands and then you can play your video games for one hour. After, you can have your scoop of ice cream and then your mom should be here to pick you up,” I said.
“Okay Auntie,” he said and then raced up the stairs. I rinsed his plate and cup and then added them to my dishwasher. I fixed me a plate and poured myself a glass of wine and, then, I heard the door.
“Tam, is that you?” I called out.
“Yassssssssss,” she said and a couple short seconds later, she walked into the kitchen. My sister and I were close for a very long time, until she thought she was too grown to listen to me. Our mother had become ill when I was about fourteen and Autumn was eleven. I stepped in and became the big sis/mom and, as the years went by, my mother’s condition got worse. My mother suffered with benign tumors for five years before her life was taken by a brain tumor. She had several surgeries over the years and the one that was on her brain just grew larger as time passed. It caused memory loss and her ability to walk and speak properly. She had chronic headaches and two years before she died, I had to put her in hospice care because I could no longer take care of her on my own.
Nicco took care of me, and I took care of Tam, and she had been living with us as long as I’ve been with Nicco.
“What’d you cook? It’s smells delicious,” she said, putting her purse down onto the island.
“Some pasta and what’s with the weave down to your ass?” I questioned when she moved towards the stove. I had just seen my sister that morning, and her hair didn’t look like she needed it to be redone and those extensions didn’t look like they had been done in anybody’s kitchen.
My sister and I looked alike, but I was thick, juicy as Nicco called me, because I had hips, ass, and thighs for days. My waist was tiny, but trust, that was because I never swallowed anything but water, except for wine and liquor. I worked out four to five times a week because there was a fat gene on my mother’s side and I didn’t want to fall victim to it. We were both, fair skinned, Autumn a shade lighter, but we were sevens on a regular day and tens on our fleek days. Autumn was thin but had a curvy frame, but there were definitely no doubts if we were sisters. I wore my hair natural, although it stretched to the center of my back and bust line when I straightened it but, most times, it was up in a bushy ponytail because I cooked a lot.
“You like?” she posed.
“Yes, but how much was it?”
“Why, you didn’t pay for it?” she spat, giving me sass.
“If Nicco did, I did,” I snapped.
She rolled her eyes and let out a huff. “Why you always got to be in my ear Ash? I asked Nicco and he told me to just go by Unique’s and he’d hit her back. What’s the big deal?”
“The big deal is it looks as if that is an expensive trip just for some damn hair and you have tickets to pay for, Tam. You don’t do shit around here or pay a damn bill.”
“So what! It ain’t like we po’ around here Ash. We got money, so why you always mad because I spend it.”
“We, we, we?” I laughed. “I’m married to Nicco, not you. Yes, Nicco and I have money and we share shit with you because we are family. Now, I don’t know what kinda bullshit that brews beneath that scalp of yours, but you need to scale the fuck back Tam. You rollin’ around in a got’damn Lexus that you don’t even pay the insurance on and your credit card bills are a never ending story. Now, I’m warning you to get this spending habit under control before I take over. If I take over, your ass will be on a got’damn Ramen noodles budget,” I barked at her.
She clicked her tongue and stormed out of the kitchen. She didn’t argue with me because I’d snatch up everything. I finished my pasta and then I heard the door again. “Taaaaammmmm!” I called out again.
“Nah, it’s me girl,” I heard Cay’s voice. Within seconds she walked into the kitchen.
“Hey Honey,” I said when she walked into the kitchen. She had on khakis and a button-down work shirt. Her hair was in a messy ponytail and my best friend looked beat down.
“Hey,” she said dryly and then hopped on a stool.
“Damn friend. Long day at the office.”
“Girl, you have no fuckin’ idea.”
“Well, let me fix you a plate, pour you a glass and you can tell me all about it.”
“Yes, please, and where is my lil guy?”
“He’s upstairs playing his game,” I said and put the plate down. I walked to the bottom of the steps and called for him. “Kah, sweetie,” I yelled.
He was at the top of the steps in a matter of seconds. “Yes ma’am,” he said.
“Your mommy is here,” I said and he raced down the steps. He ran by me.
“Momma,” he said and ran into her opened arms.
“Hey Kah,” she said, calling him by his little nickname.
“Hey momma,” he said, and she planted kisses all over his little face.
“How was your day today baby? Momma missed you.”
“It was good and I turned in all of my papers.”
“That is good lil man.” She continued to kiss and love on Kahlan, as I heated her food and then poured her wine. Once her plate was on the island near her, she told him to go back up and she’d call him back down soon. He zoomed back up the stairs, and I sat to chat with her. We got caught up on a few things and she talked about a couple of her triflin co-workers. We laughed and she finished up her food.
“Girl, that was good, thanks, because I was so damn busy I barely got a drink of water,” she joked.
“I keep telling you to just focus on school Cay and let us help you. I mean, at least move into one of our properties so then you won’t have the burden of rent.”
“Please don’t start that shit Ash, not tonight. I had a long day and this conversation is stale as fuck. I love you and Nicco, but I’m a grown ass woman. I take care of me and mine, okay. Y’all do for Kah and y’all do way too damn much if you ask me. That boy has more pairs of sneakers than a NBA player,” she said, shaking her head.
“Well, you know Nicco, if he get shoes, Kah get shoes. If he get new jeans, Kah get new jeans. He can’t shop for himself, without shopping for Kah.”
“And that is more than enough. Y’all doing so much for my son takes a lot of weight off of my back and I’m grateful Ash, so just let me be me bitch. I’ll be done with school in a little while and once I start making my own paper, I’ll upgrade.”
“Okay bitch, damn. Just know we want the best for you and trust, I want you to stop dealing with them rude muthafuckas up at the wireless store.”
“Speaking of rude, girl, let me tell you about this one rude ass, arrogant ass, delicious I might add, muthafucka today!” she expressed. He had to have pissed her off because that was the most neck twisting I had
ever witnessed Cay do.
I grabbed the wine to top our glasses off. “What happen Cayane?” I inquired. I was ready for the juice because Cayane told amazing stories.
“This muthafucka walks up in our store girl, with nothing but attitude. He, like, throws his phone at me and girl, I wanted to throw that muthafucka right back at him. So, I’m taking care of this rude ass masterpiece, because when I tell you hunty, the man was fine, he was hella fuckin’ fine. The type of nigga that you’d poke holes in all the damn condoms in the box for.”
“Damn, okay, so once you fixed his issue, you gave him yo’ number?”
“Hell no, first ho’ ass, stank ass, thirsty ass Darcy brings her ass out the back and steps in. Bitch was about to give this nigga our entire inventory and then, she takes him in the back, sucks the nigga off in the bathroom.”
My mouth dropped open. “You are fucking lying Cay.” I did not believe that shit.
“Girl no, I’m not, that ho’ is nasty as fuck and I ought to report her ass.”
“Oh wow. That is crazy.”
“Yep, and as fine as he was and even if he hadn’t been an asshole, I ain’t trying to be bothered with nobody right now.”
“Cayane, can you please stop fucking torturing your damn self? Juice is the past and after him, you just shut the fuck down. There is another man out there for you. I know you are focused on school, work, and Kahlan, but can you focus on some dick,” I said.
“Nope, and I gotta get outta here because I gotta be right back at the store at eight a.m. sharp to make it through another double shift,” she said stand.
“Damn, they ain’t hired nobody else yet?”
“Nope, so I will be bringing Kah back in the morning.”
“Nonsense girl, he can just stay here. You go home and get some rest and pick him up tomorrow.”
“Are you sure? I mean, I don’t mind.”
“Girl, this is too far to be going back and forth; he’ll be fine.”
She walked over to hug me. “Awwww, thank you best friend.”
I squeezed her back. “You are welcome best friend,” I said. She called Kahlan down and gave him kisses and she promised him she’d be right over to pick him up after work the next day. He hurried back upstairs, and I walked her out. I then went up to check on Kahlan, and he was playing his game. “Hey lil man, you can come down for your ice cream and then, its bath time.”
