Arm Candy

by T. C. Littles

  I could hear the blade going against the wind as she swung it wildly at me. I’d never been the type of female to be intimidated by a broad, but I knew I couldn’t handle her with my stomach freshly stitched up. Had I not just dropped a load though, it would’ve been over for Samira, no questions asked. Backing up into the house, I locked the screen door just in case she wanted to run in, then ran to grab my own weapon.

  “Mira! What in the hell are you doing over here? Get your ass in that damn car and burn rubber out of here,” I heard King yell. “Ay yo, Tiana, take ol’ girl, whoever the fuck she is, and bounce. I got this and y’all ain’t about to jump my wife.”

  The words went through my ears then hit my heart. His wife? Was King serious? All that talk about holding me and K.J. down couldn’t be nothing more than bullshit if he was married to Samira.

  “Fuck you and yo’ wife, nigga. She gonna learn today about bringing her mutt-face ass around here.” Tiana got crunk.

  “Oh, if that ain’t the funniest shit I’ve heard all day.” Samira laughed loudly like a hyena. “Even on the first of the month, you can’t fuck with me. I pity ugly hoes like you.”

  “Hey, Rayna! Bring yo’ ass out here! I’m about to do you one last favor,” I heard Tiana shout.

  Then I began hearing Cameron calling for her clique to bring up the back. Even a blind man could see Mira wasn’t leaving up out of here without a fight.

  I couldn’t throw shade at ol’ girl. She was holding her own. Unfortunately, she didn’t know how we got down in PJ’s. Ignoring all the pain surging through my body, I clutched my steel bat then flew back down the stairs, running out the door full speed.

  “Rayna, aw hell naw,” I heard King yell as my bat flew toward Samira’s head.

  “Yeah, Ray, tag that ass,” I heard Tiana and Cameron cheering me on.

  She ducked just in time as King jumped in between us, almost catching a slug to the midsection. My feelings were hurt so I was out for mass destruction.

  “Give me that damn bat, Rayna.” King snatched it from my hand. My palms were burning.

  “Tame that wild, mangy bitch, King,” Samira shouted. “If she hits me, I swear to God you better put a bullet in that ho.”

  “Is you crazy? He ain’t busting caps at the mother of his child. Fuck that ring and whatever title you trying to claim.” I went hard on Samira, dismissing her grandiose notion of K.P. blasting me for her.

  She tried reaching around King to swing on me like she snuck me in the club, and surprisingly caught a quick two piece from Tiana to the jaw.

  Whap! Whap!

  “Keep ya hands to ya’self, homie.” Tiana followed up her hits with a verbal warning.

  All hell broke loose as King tried keeping the mob of us project girls off his wife. Tiana was pulling Samira down to the ground by a wrapped handful of hair. Cameron was karate-chopping her in the stomach. And I was taking every clear shot I could at her pretty face King loved to adore. It was total mayhem going down in the small yard my son would soon play ball in.

  All three of us ghetto-born girls were giving this prissy chick a whopping she’d remember for the rest of her life. Not because me and her were sleeping with and gettin’ played by the same man, but because she’d come here unprepared.

  “Where’s ya girl at now?” I couldn’t help but mock his wife as she shielded our blows as best she could.

  Samira was a bright girl, so there was no reason why she shouldn’t have felt any of our meetings wouldn’t result in an altercation, especially when my crew was there to back me up. No matter how hard King tried, he couldn’t stop the three-on-one girl brawl.

  King

  Despite my wants and beliefs, once the squad of girls began getting the best of Samira, I began laying down my hand. I didn’t hold back an ounce of strength tossing them onto the concrete, one girl after the last, not caring if I broke their backs. Rayna felt my wrath too. I just snatched her off and held her back in a bear hug.

  “Get up off of me, King! You know I’m sore from having your baby.” Rayna tried fighting me off like I was hurting her.

  “Calm the fuck down, Ray.” I turned her away from Samira as she peeled herself off the ground. “Even if I were hurting you, yo’ ass did way more damage coming out here like Rambo.”

  Rayna whimpered, kept trying to fight me off, then squealed in pain when Samira slit her left side with a blade. My heart momentarily stopped, and so did my reflexes. By the time I shook off the surprise of what Samira had done, she was already sliding into her car and turning over the ignition.

  What in the hell just happened? This is all bad. I bent down to Rayna’s side as Tiana and her girl finally got off the ground and started running toward Samira’s car.

  “Fuck all y’all. And fuck you most, King, for tending to that bitch.” Samira tossed a Target bag full of baby stuff from the window then sped off, almost hitting groups of people who were standing around.

  I felt even worse because she’d been shopping for my little one. And knowing her, she’d set him up straight for months to come. Samira didn’t show up here to beef. However, none of this madness could be undone.

  Rayna cringed on the ground in pain, crying that her incision was sliced back open. In spite of me wanting to scoop Rayna up, nurse her wounds, or take her to the hospital myself, I wanted to chase after Samira because she was the real one wounded. I’d been able to keep them apart at Flood’s, but I’d failed today horribly.

  “Pull the car around, Cameron, so we can get her to the hospital.” Tiana panicked at the sight of her best friend bleeding out. “Rayna, girl, hold on. You’re gonna be straight, and I’m on that heffa’s head fa’sho.”

  Kneeling down by her friend’s side, Tiana glanced up at me with a menacing stare like this was all my fault. How was I supposed to know Samira was going to show up here? I went from being concerned and pissed about how things were playing out to being on guard. The more people snickered, voiced their opinion, and encouraged Tiana to hold her girl down, the more motivated I was to make a move after my wife.

  Ring. Ring!

  Figuring it was Samira calling to continue cursing me out, I dug in my pocket to fish the phone out. I deserved to hear what she needed to say. More importantly, I needed to know her whereabouts. From the way it sounded, Tiana, Cam, and a few other girls in their wrecking crew from the PJ’s were about to be on her head. When I saw it was Jamila, I answered anyway, thinking that Samira must’ve called her girl.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Jamila

  It felt good stunting on Johnie and putting him up and out of my house. I was still thrown back and disgusted by his nerve to belittle and mock me. Sure I might’ve been thirsty for a man, but he was misleading me as a woman.

  My broken ego and devastated pride wouldn’t let me allow him the peace of walking out of my house without consequences for playing me. To be honest, he deserved worse than getting hit with a vase and flowers. There was something brewing in my retaliation Rolodex for Johnie though, and I was already making my move.

  I couldn’t wait to get in touch with King so we could link up. Time might’ve passed, but I still had bombs to drop in his lap. I hoped things played out with us better than they did with Johnie and me.

  On my computer, checking Facebook for any recent updates or pictures of King’s baby, I waited for him to answer my call. It was already on the fifth ring, but I was gonna let it go to voicemail before hanging up. If he was with Samira by slight chance, I would just play it off like I’d called her too but didn’t get an answer. That was the most overused lie in the land with the invention of smartphones. Whether or not it was believed this time wasn’t my real concern.

  “Hey, Jamila, what’s up?” King sounded out of breath, and his background sounded wild.

  “I know this motherfucka didn’t answer the phone instead of helping his baby momma. He’s got life fucked up! Where’s Deon at? I need my nigga front and center for this wimp-ass wannabe Drake,” a woman’
s voice shouted out.

  “Um, nothing much this way. Is everything good with you? Is it a bad time?” There were women screaming, cursing, and even directing a few disses at him.

  Listening in, I didn’t know what K.P. was in the middle of. Never hanging up the phone, he went back just as hard on the random lady plus called whoever this Deon cat was out to a brawl. I held the phone with my eyes bucked open and silent as a church mouse, not wanting to miss a word of the drama unfolding.

  After a few minutes, King finally spoke back into the phone, answering me, more out of breath than he was when he first answered the call. This time the screaming in the background was gone.

  “Shit is all bad, Mila! Where’s Samira? Is she okay?”

  “Huh? Is she okay about the baby? About yesterday? I don’t know what you’re talking about, King. What’s going on?” My attention was fully focused on waiting for his reply. I thought I was calling to throw him off guard, yet I was thrown for a few loops myself.

  “You don’t know? She hasn’t called you? This is all bad.” His voice drifted off. “Ya girl showed up to Rayna’s house for whatever reason and ended up getting jumped. They managed to hold her on the ground for a good minute before I threw them off.”

  “What? Are you serious?”

  Part of me was giddy that Samira got what she had coming for going to ol’ girl’s house in the first place and doing the shady deed K.P. knew nothing about. On the other hand, Samira always rode with me when I fought my battles, so I felt semi-responsible for letting her down. If I’d just been honest about Johnie in the first place instead of chasing behind his dick, some of this drama could’ve been prevented. Too bad I wasn’t bigger than the game.

  I tuned back into King going on and on about everything that’d been transpiring between him and Samira. When the opportune time presented itself, I offered my friendship, a blunt, and a drink, with the hopes of our crash session ending in more. I even made the empty promise to try talking to Samira. After I reassured him girl power could probably help ease the situation, he agreed, falling right into my plan.

  “Yeah, I’ll meet you in an hour. I’m gonna shoot past the hospital to pay my son a visit, and then you can meet me at my room. I’ve been at the Comfort Inn, giving Mira her space.”

  “Cool. Text me the information, and I’ll be there.” I turned the computer off so I could get ready.

  “Oh, what did you have to tell me the other day? With all that’s gone down, we haven’t gotten a chance to talk.” K.P. changed the subject.

  “It can wait until we link up in a few. You deserve to see your son without more burdens on your shoulders.” My words were half true. I wanted to see his reaction with my own two eyes when I told him Samira and Johnie were fucking.

  “That’s like telling a nigga his death date in advance.” He lightly chuckled. “Whatever the case, thanks for trying to be considerate. I’ll see you in a few.”

  Right after I made sure the phone hung up, I moved through my contacts to call Samira. Not because of the promise I made to King about trying to smooth things over, but because I needed to know her location before making a move to go fuck her man. It was too late, and we were too grown for that “BFF” bullshit. I wanted a man, and she had one who was dangling.

  The thoughts of me settling for Johnie went out the door when I realized he was just settling for me too. It was time-out for all that runner-up crap. I wanted who I wanted, and that was King.

  Samira

  If King thought we were gonna bounce back from this, he had another think coming. My head ached more at each flashback of him holding Rayna back. He should’ve been putting her on ice for beating me down. I was literally dragged onto the concrete and mangled. My well-being should’ve been more of his concern. Disgust was an understatement to describe my feelings toward King. I’d been officially thrown from the pedestal I sat on beside him. Whether I was the wife or not, Rayna seemed to be “the one.”

  In addition to my body aching, the pounding in my head wouldn’t go away. Putting my hand to my face, I found it was swollen and sensitive to touch. When I finally came to a red light, I flipped the visor down and was instantly distraught at the torn-up and battered reflection looking back. My hair was all over my head, there was a cut right underneath my eye, and my neck was red from all the karate chops I took to the throat.

  Rayna and her posse of girls more than ganged up on me. They pounced hard and tapped my ass. However, the blood on my hands was a clear indication that I’d left the scene with one up. If I could’ve sliced Rayna’s side again, I would have. If I was lucky, home-wrecker bled out.

  Ring. Ring! Ring!

  My eyes rolled to the back of my head when I saw Jamila’s name flashing on the screen. I might’ve gotten away with a few scratches and bruises from fighting Rayna and them, but me and Jamila were more personal with one another. We were bound to emotionally scar one another. Regardless of me wanting to answer, I didn’t want her to think I was ducking or dodging or the one responsible for her car.

  “Hey, girlie,” I greeted her like nothing was different.

  “Heyyy, booo,” she sang into the phone. “I’m sorry about being missing in action, but you know how my ex can last for hours,” she lied through her teeth.

  Instead of calling her out, I listened intently for what lie she’d tell next.

  “Anyway, what are you off into? Are you and King back on good terms? I see ol’ girl’s Facebook feed has dried up.”

  Judging by her demeanor, I could tell that Jamila couldn’t have known about her car or that I knew she was banging Johnie. Therefore, I kept my hand close and was careful not to spill the beans. “Girl, bye, ain’t nothing changed. He’s still out here playing daddy, and I’m still out here chasing my tail like a foolish dog.”

  “Well, girl, quit moping and start living until King decides to fall his ass in line. We should meet up for a girl session or go out partying tonight. That will keep your mind off King, plus you’ll feel better.”

  “Naw, I’m straight. I’m too drained for partying, Mila.” I didn’t need to tell her about the fight. “I just made reservations down at Immerse Spa, so maybe tomorrow.” I blew her off, knowing that tomorrow wasn’t an option either.

  “Dang, why are you being so dry? Why didn’t you invite me to the spa? We can sip wine and have girl talk.” Jamila had the nerve to sound surprised.

  “You’re not worried about sitting around with me when it’s dick to be had.” I rolled my eyes, tired of the conversation. “I’m not upset or anything, but do you. I’m about to walk in the door so I’ll holla at you later.” I ended the call then powered the phone off. I was done with the outside world until my inner being was nursed back to health.

  * * *

  Stretched across the deluxe comfort bed and snuggled in the hotel’s robe, I felt a little better having been in the spa’s Jacuzzi, gotten a massage, and soaked in the elliptical pool. I focused hard on meditating the entire time strictly on me and how I needed to proceed from here. I had a life to live, a job to work, and issues with Johnie I had to work out that I hoped stayed undercover. I was tired of my and King’s worlds intertwining if he only meant a struggle for me.

  The only good thing about me working so much overtime at the hospital to afford taking care of King the Producer was that I’d accrued enough time to take a few paid days off. After letting my supervisor know from the hotel’s phone that I’d be doing just that, I doctored my wounds again with their first-aid kit and popped a Norco for the lingering pain. I was smart enough to know my first and last visit to the projects was today. Crawling under the cover, I pulled it over my head while squeezing my eyes shut. My only goal for the rest of today was to sleep it off.

  King

  My and Samira’s house looked quiet, the driveway was empty, and the delivered mail was still in the doorway. There was no reason for me to stop because it was obvious Samira wasn’t home.

  In spite of me trusting Jamila to spr
inkle her girl power over the situation, I rang Samira’s phone back-to-back, hoping her line was tied up and the phone wasn’t powered off. Slamming my hand on the steering wheel, I was furious with frustration realizing there was no way to reach her.

  “Hi, this is Samira. You’ve reached me at a bad time, but please leave your name and number so I can return your call,” her voicemail greeting played.

  “I know I’m the last nigga you wanna talk to, baby, but please call me back. I don’t know why you were there or how things got to that point. All the same, I need to know you’re all right.” After a few seconds of not knowing what else to say in such little time, I rushed out what I felt needed to be said before the timer beeped. “And despite contrary belief, the only woman I want to be with is you. I just need your unconditional acceptance and love of my son.”

  “If you’re satisfied with your message, please press one.”

  I followed the prompts, making sure the voicemail was marked urgent and sent, then hung up. The ball was now in her court. All I needed was a positive response from her saying I could return home, and I’d be there on bended knee begging for forgiveness. Until then, I’d be between the hospital, the hotel, and the studio. For her health, I prayed everything was okay.

  * * *

  “It’s good seeing you here,” the same nurse who’d helped Rayna deliver K.J. greeted me as I walked into the nursery. “Your son has been doing wonderfully. His vitals are up, he’s drinking almost an ounce more of formula, and the doctor doesn’t think it’ll be a whole week before he’s released from here.”

  “Wow, my little slugger, you’ve got the fight of your momma in you,” I joked, rubbing his tiny hands. I could’ve sworn he smirked. Having spent nine months brewing inside of Rayna, he knew better than the both of us just how nutty she was and how she operated.