“So, you’re Amore, huh? I feel like I already know you as much as my sister talks about you. At least she wasn’t lying when she said that you were pretty,” Carl said as he looked at her through low, hooded eyes.
“Yeah, I’ve heard a lot about you too,” Amore replied as she smiled politely.
“All good I hope,” Carl said as he walked up on her.
“Chill out bruh. Don’t disrespect dude like that,” Logan said, referring to Viper.
“Fuck that nigga. That’s your people, not mine. You pretty as fuck,” Carl said as he looked at Amore and made her blush.
She backed away a little, but he moved closer. Amore was still smiling when Viper walked out of the house. The scowl on his face let her know that he wasn’t too pleased but he didn’t say anything. Carl only backed away to get his weed from Viper, but Amore was happy for the temporary distraction. She was no stranger to men flirting with her but she was too close to home for that now. She expected Viper to say something, but he never uttered a word. He just went back into their apartment and closed the door.
“I better bring my ass inside,” Amore said as she looked at Ciara knowingly. Her friend knew all about how Viper was and she understood.
“Yeah, and it’s a lot of ass to bring,” Carl said as he looked behind her.
“We’re about to go grab something to eat. I wish you could come with us,” Ciara pouted.
“Why can’t you come? I hope your nigga ain’t insecure like that.” Carl frowned as he looked at her.
“Insecure is an understatement,” Ciara said, making Logan frown.
“Let’s go baby,” Logan said as he grabbed Ciara’s hand.
Carl was always on some dumb shit and he didn’t have time for it. Ciara knew that he didn’t do drama and she knew better than to even entertain it. They had to live across the hall from Viper and Amore and he didn’t want any bad blood. Viper was the one who supplied the weed that Logan sold and he didn’t want to jeopardize that because his brother-in-law was lusting after his girl. Viper acted a fool behind Amore and he didn’t want to be in a middle of a war. Ciara thought the shit was funny, but Logan wasn’t laughing.
“I’ll call you later friend.” Ciara waved as they all walked to the elevator.
“Yeah friend, we’ll call you later,” Carl flirted, right before they got on the elevator.
Amore shook her head and laughed as she prepared to go into their apartment. “Shit,” she hissed when she realized the door was locked. She knocked a few times, but no one answered. Ms. Ruby’s bedroom was all the way down the hall so she probably wouldn’t have heard her anyway. Her tv was always too loud for her to hear anything. Although she didn’t want to, Amore pulled her phone from her pocket and called Viper.
“What!” he snapped when he answered for her.
“Come open the door,” Amore replied.
“For what?” Viper questioned.
“What do you mean for what? It’s locked,” Amore noted.
“That’s because I locked it. I’m going to bed, so don’t call my phone no more tonight,” Viper snapped.
“Are you serious right now Vaughn? Where the hell am I supposed to sleep?” Amore asked.
“Tell that nigga whose face you were smiling up in to find you somewhere to sleep,” Viper fumed before he hung up in her face.
“Hello? Vaughn? Fuck!” Amore yelled when she realized that he’d already hung up. She tried calling him back, but he must have turned his phone off. She tried calling Ms. Ruby but she didn’t answer either. Amore was tired of crying but that didn’t stop the tears from cascading down her cheeks.
She sat down in front of the apartment and put her back up against the wall. Amore didn’t know if God hated her or not but she was begging Him for forgiveness for whatever she had done to deserve his wrath. Besides when she was a child in Mississippi, she couldn’t remember a time in her life when she was genuinely happy. Granted, she was living better than she’d ever lived before but she was miserable with Viper. Amore tried leaving him more than once but she had nowhere else to go. She even went to a women’s shelter to escape him, but it wasn’t long before he found her. The facility made them leave for hours every day to look for a job and Viper caught up with her when she was filling out an application. He threw Amore in the car and beat her so bad that night that she never tried leaving again. And just like always, he catered to her for weeks trying to make up for breaking her arm.
Ms. Ruby always told her that God gave the toughest battles to his strongest soldiers, but Amore was tired. For some reason, she always felt that something good was going to come from her hard life but that hadn’t happened yet.
About three hours had passed and Amore was still sitting outside of the apartment. She was hoping that Ciara and Logan would come back but she hadn’t been so lucky. Their house had served as a temporary hiding place a few times but Amore just had to wait it out. She was tired and ready to shower and get in the bed. Just when she’d made up her mind to close her eyes and catch some sleep, she heard the locks being undone on the front door.
“Come on baby, hurry up,” Ms. Ruby whispered as she peeked her head out of the front door. She had gotten up about an hour ago to get some water and heard Viper on the phone talking to someone. He was laughing about leaving Amore outside, but Ms. Ruby didn’t find anything funny. She’d seen the missed calls from Amore but she didn’t call her back. Instead, she waited until she knew that her grandson was asleep before she opened the door to let her in.
“Thanks Ms. Ruby,” Amore said gratefully once she was back inside.
“You can sleep in the bed with me tonight. Don’t go in there and give him a reason to put his hands on you,” Ms. Ruby replied as they tiptoed down the hall.
“I need a shower,” Amore whispered.
“I got some new dusters in my top drawer. You’ll just have to let your lady parts go bare until morning,” Ms. Ruby said as they both chuckled at her response.
“Thank you,” Amore said once again.
“Stop thanking me and go get cleaned up.” Ms. Ruby smiled as she handed her something to sleep in.
Amore was happy that there was a bathroom in Ms. Ruby’s room. She quickly stripped out of her sweaty clothes and grabbed some fresh towels. Amore took a long, hot shower and washed away all the stress of the day. Once she was done, she threw on the duster that Ms. Ruby gave her and laughed at her reflection in the mirror. Amore usually slept naked or close to it. Wearing the ugly flowery mess that she had on was definitely something new. Even still, Amore was clean and she was grateful that she didn’t have to sleep out in the hallway. As soon as she got into the bed, she turned her phone on silent and drifted off to sleep soon after.
Amore didn’t know how long she’d been asleep before she was forcefully shaken awake. She opened her eyes and jumped when she saw Viper standing there looking at her.
“Come get in the bed,” Viper ordered with a scowl.
He wanted to let Amore in a few hours ago but he dozed off before he did. He jumped up when he saw that it was after three in the morning and went to open the front door. When he didn’t see her, he panicked, thinking that she had left him again. He called Logan’s phone to see if she was in their apartment but he and Ciara hadn’t even made it back home yet. He kept calling Amore’s phone but he didn’t get an answer. Viper was about to get dressed to go look for her but decided to check in his grandmother’s room first. He knew that Ms. Ruby was crazy about Amore, so he wasn’t surprised when he saw her sleeping peacefully in her bed. Viper felt bad about how far he went and he knew that Amore would be mad with him. That was nothing new though. A lil ass kissing and shopping sprees would get her mind right in no time.
“What’s wrong Amore?” Ms. Ruby sat up and asked.
“Nothing, go back to sleep grandma. She’s coming get in her own bed,” Viper replied.
“Nah, I’m good,” Amore said as she turned her back to him.
“Stop playing with me, Amore. You must want me
to drag your stupid ass up out of here. Get up and I’m not saying it again,” Viper warned.
“Go get in your bed sweetheart. It’s okay,” Ms. Ruby said, trying to defuse the situation before it escalated.
She hated seeing Amore with black eyes and busted lips. If sleeping in the bed with Viper would calm him down, she needed her to do it. Amore was feisty at times but she was hoping that she didn’t put up a fight. Ms. Ruby sighed in relief when Amore jumped out of the bed and stomped down the hall to their bedroom. Amore was burning up with the hot duster on, so she took it off and slipped on one of his oversized t-shirts. She laid in the bed that she shared with Viper and turned her back to him. Amore cringed when he climbed in behind her and pulled her close.
“I’m sorry baby. I know that I be overreacting sometimes and I’m sorry. I love the fuck out of you, Amore. This shit that we have is until death baby,” Viper whispered in her ear as warm tears cascaded down her cheeks.
Viper was always saying that they were together until death, and she believed him. She was already dead inside so that was nothing new. Amore feared that she would never be free of him unless one of them was dead and gone. As crazy as it sounded, she wished she was the one to go. After twenty years of pain and suffering, she welcomed death with open arms. She was tired of crying herself to sleep every night. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened once again as Viper whispered the usual bullshit in her ear until they both drifted off to sleep.
“V iper must have really fucked up. You’ve been hitting up the mall damn near every day for over a month. What did he do this time?” Ciara asked with a smirk.
Amore really liked her, but Ciara threw too much shade at times. Amore wasn’t used to having friends but she was trying to do better since both her cousins were locked up. She hated catty females and that’s exactly what Ciara was known to be.
“He didn’t do shit. He’s my man and he’s supposed to take care of me,” Amore snapped in return.
She didn’t bother telling Ciara about him locking her out of the house a month ago. Amore was happy that her friend hadn’t returned home to see her sitting outside like a homeless person. That would have only been something else for Ciara to throw in her face. Just like always, Viper had been pretending to be the perfect man. He was wining and dining her just like he always did whenever he fucked up.
“Must be nice,” Ciara said sarcastically.
“What’s been up with you lately? You seem to always be in your feelings for some reason,” Amore pointed out.
Ciara sighed in frustration. “My bad girl. Logan is starting to piss me off, but I’m sorry for taking it out on you. Our money has been tight but he doesn’t seem to care. I’ve been pulling doubles to make ends meet and his lazy ass is barely helping out. He’s selling that lil weed for Viper but he smokes too damn much to really see any real profit.”
“Damn, well at least you get to work. Vaughn be on my back so damn much, I feel like a fucking toddler,” Amore replied.
“Yeah, well at least you don’t have to worry about money. I wish my ass was half as big as yours. I would have been sliding down a damn pole by now,” Ciara laughed, expecting Amore to do the same.
Ciara didn’t know much about Amore’s family, so she didn’t know that she was touching on a tough subject for her. Although she was laughing, Ciara was very serious. She had a pretty face but she was too thin to strip. She didn’t have ass, breasts, or hips so that wouldn’t have worked. Logan always said that she was sexy slim, but she only saw the latter. She saw how he looked at other women’s shapes and that drove her crazy. She even caught him staring at Amore a few times and that really hurt her feelings. Amore could dance her ass off and he was always comparing Ciara to the other woman.
“Where are we going?” Amore asked, changing the subject.
“Why? What time does Viper want you to be back home?” Ciara countered.
“I don’t have a curfew boo,” Amore flippantly replied.
Usually, Viper would be blowing her phone up trying to see what time she was coming home. Whenever he didn’t, Amore knew that he had to be entertaining another female. When someone else had his attention, he left Amore alone for a while. She was thankful to whoever the other woman was and she owed her one.
“I’m starving. Let’s go get something to eat,” Ciara suggested.
“That’s cool with me. Let’s do New Orleans Food and Spirits,” Amore replied.
“Hell no, bitch. We can do a wing spot or a corner store. I can’t afford to be spending no money like that.” Ciara frowned.
“I got you, bitch. You know I would never see you go without if I have it,” Amore assured her.
“Nah, fuck that! I’m about to call Logan’s sad ass and tell him to Cash App me some coins. I need to get me a side nigga or something. This shit is just ridiculous,” Ciara complained as she dialed her man’s number and put her ear plugs in her ears.
Amore tuned out her conversation as she sang along with the radio. She saw that Ciara kept looking at her from the corner of her eyes but she ignored it. She didn’t know what Logan was on the phone telling her and she really didn’t care.
“What’s up? What did he say?” Amore asked once her girl hung up the phone.
“Nothing, let’s just go to the Deli and get a sandwich or something,” Ciara replied with a slight attitude.
“That’s cool with me.” Amore shrugged uncaringly. She wasn’t picky and she never was. She used to have to steal just to get full, so she wasn’t trying to make Ciara feel bad. She had no room to talk or judge anyone else.
When they got to the deli, both women ordered their food and Amore paid for everything. Ciara stood off to the side, arguing with someone on her phone. Amore knew that it was Logan because that was the only person that she ever argued with. Once their food was done, they sat at one of the empty tables and talked while they ate.
“When do your cousins get out?” Ciara asked before she bit into her shrimp sandwich.
“I don’t even know but I can’t wait. I’m getting the fuck away from Viper whenever they do though. I’ll go back to stealing before I stay with his ass.” Amore frowned.
“Yeah right. You said yourself that this is the best you’ve ever lived. Why would you give that up and go back to barely getting by?” Ciara asked.
“At least I was happy though,” Amore replied.
“Bitch please. A nigga take care of me like Viper takes care of you and I’ll be very happy. Life ain’t perfect Amore,” Ciara noted.
“Nobody knows that better than me, sweetheart. I’m not looking for perfection but I’m nobody’s punching bag. Fuck that,” Amore said.
“You need to stop pissing him off all the time. You already know how Viper is. And you only make shit worse when you fight back,” Ciara replied.
“You sound dumb as fuck. Gianna ain’t teach me too much but she damn sure taught me how to defend myself. I wish the fuck I would let a nigga hit me and don’t do shit. In the beginning, I thought that not fighting back would make him stop but that only makes him go harder. That nigga be wanting me to fight back,” Amore pointed out. She and Ciara finished their meals in silence until her friend spoke up a few minutes later.
“Let’s go get a Fruit Loop,” Ciara suggested, referring to a popular drink at a lounge that they sometimes frequented.
“That sounds good to me. I can use a few drinks,” Amore said as she got up to throw her trash away. She wasn’t old enough to buy the drinks but Ciara was twenty-one.
She and Ciara got into the car and headed to Jazz Daiquiris. The lounge wasn’t in the best area, but Amore had grown up in the projects not too far from there. She was familiar with the surroundings and she still knew a lot of people around that way. When they pulled up, Amore spotted Viper’s yellow Camaro parked right out front. That was nothing new because he frequented the area often to do business. What had her shaking her head was the female that he was standing out there hugged up with. The woman was sittin
g on the hood of his car as he stood in between her legs, kissing her face and neck.
“Bitch! I know that nigga Viper is not out here on no disrespectful shit like that,” Ciara fumed when she turned the car off. She parked about three spots over from where Viper was parked and he didn’t seem to even be paying attention. He was too busy caking with the next bitch to even notice when Amore got out of the car. Ciara expected her girl to act a fool and she was ready to join her. Little did she know, Amore didn’t even give a fuck and she wasn’t about to pretend like she did. She didn’t know who the other bitch was but she was happy that she took Viper off of her hands for a few hours.
“What’s good Amore? Where your pretty ass been hiding at?” one of the dudes outside of the lounge asked. When Viper heard him say her name, his head snapped up in their direction. Ciara scowled at him, but Amore never even looked his way.
“What’s up AJ? I’ve been around. Come buy me and my girl a drink,” Amore requested, as he opened the door for them to enter.
“You got that sweetheart,” AJ said as he followed them inside.
Amore and Ciara went up to the counter as he ordered their drinks. Once they got them, AJ paid and gave the bartender a tip.
“Thanks friend.” Amore smiled as they walked back outside.
“You know we’re family girl. No thanks needed. How is my baby doing? I haven’t heard from her in a few weeks,” AJ said, referring to her cousin.
AJ’s mama was a crackhead who ran in the same circle as Gianna and Elise. He had a crush on Chanell but they never had a chance to even take it there. They had a mutual respect for one another since they pretty much grew up the same way. AJ had been in and out of jail for a while but he seemed to have his head on straight now. He gave her money to send to her cousins a few times, and he and Chanell sometimes wrote each other.
“She’s good. She told me that she’s taking culinary classes for baking and she loves it. You know she always did like to bake.” Amore smiled.
Chanell was in a federal prison all the way in West Virginia. She got her GED while in there and she’d taken a few classes in business. Dallas was another story altogether. She was locked up somewhere in Florida and she swore that she was done with men. Amore didn’t know what bitch had turned her cousin out, but Dallas claimed to love women now.
A Trillion to One Page 3
