Nobody Can Love You Like Them Roughnecks Do 4

by Shvonne Latrice

  “Can we come in first?”

  “Yes, yes, of course.” She stepped back.

  My mama’s spot out in Calabasas was nice. She worked hard all of her life, and once she landed that good ass corporate job, it was up from there. We moved out of Inglewood to a better city, and once I got older and started living on my own, she moved over here to this far ass place.

  My mother was someone I was proud of, and as bad as it sounded, I was thankful God gave her to me for a mama and not Belly. He had two fucked up ass people raising him. At least I had her. Seeing his situation growing up made me thankful for shit that I took for granted or expected, such as home cooked meals, a little money for the movies, or just the comfort in knowing my mama gave a fuck about me and had my back no matter what.

  We followed my mom to her large, spacious living room, then took a seat on her cream couches. I smiled at Jasiel about to break his neck inspecting the place as he sat next to me.

  “I always forget how beautiful this place is, Ma.” I smirked at her, and she gave me an uncomfortable smile as she reached for her glass of water on the coffee table.

  The couches we were on were adjacent to one another.

  “Are you going to introduce me, mijo?”

  “Yeah. This is Jasiel, my son.”

  “Hi.” He interjected, making her simper at him warmly.

  “Hi, sweetheart.”

  “My daddy says you’re my grandma. Is that your name?”

  “I guess I am your grandma. My name is Marta, but I like the name grandma best.”

  “Okay, Grandma!”

  I chuckled, handing him my phone so he could play a game while I talked with my mother.

  “Manuel, can you explain to me what’s going on? What do you mean he’s your son? Are you dating his mother and just taking responsibility for him?”

  “Jasiel, can you go play on that side of the room so we can have some privacy?”

  “For a dollar.”

  I stared him down, and he stared right back at me, so I gave his ass a five dollars since it was the lowest bill I had. He shoved it into his pocket and then went to the other side of the room, climbing onto the La-Z-Boy as my mama looked on.

  “To answer your question, no, she’s not someone I’m dating. He’s my actual son, Mama.”

  “How?” She laughed nervously. “He’s not a damn newborn, Manuel. So how the hell is he your son and this is the first time I’ve seen him? Why didn’t I hear about him while in the womb?”

  “His mom is not the best girl, and when she got pregnant, I was ashamed of the fact that I was his father, so I kept it from pretty much everybody. Belly didn’t even know until recently. I would see him but only at her place, inside, and I didn’t take him anywhere since people knew him as her son and would connect the dots. So now—”

  “Wait.” She closed her eyes, putting her hand up. “His mom is not the best girl, so you hid your child? What the hell is wrong with you?”

  I admit I was surprised by her response. My mama was mild mannered, usually only reprimanding me rarely. If I did something wrong, she simply gave me a talking to, and that was the end of it. So to see her this up in arms and cursing was bewildering.

  “She’s promiscuous as fuck. How does that look, Ma? Me having a child by a woman that every nigga in town don’ slept with.”

  “Did you think about that before you slept with her using no protection? No. You laid your narrow ass right on down and did it, knowing how she was. So again, I am confused as to why her ending up pregnant baffled you to the point of denial.”

  I ain’t know what to say, so I just gaped at my mother for a few moments. She shook her head, sipping her water.

  “The point is, now I’m ready to accept—”

  Her laughter made me pause.

  “Now? What is he, three or four years old? It took you this long to accept the fact that he is your son?”

  “Mama—”

  “You know what, Manuel? I am beyond disappointed in you; I’m disgusted.” Her eyes watered. “You saw how your father treated us, how he treated you, yet you do the same thing.”

  “No I didn’t! I’ve been providing for him since he was born!”

  “So what! Money means nothing, stupido!” She pointed to her head. “Men think just because they throw cash around that they don’t have to put in the time, not realizing the attention is what really matters!

  Would you have preferred that I bought you toys and clothes, versus cooking for you, reading you to sleep, taking you to the park, going to your school plays, and being with you on Christmas morning?”

  “No,” I replied lowly, hating that she was making a point. Still, it bothered me when people compared me to my pops. Money did mean something. Jasiel appreciated the Gucci and all the other shit I laced him with.

  “I didn’t think so. I want to meet the mother, and I hope to God she had no idea what you were doing.”

  “She did.”

  “Well I will give her a talking to when I meet her, but you also need to give her an apology. She’s a fool for allowing you to prance through life like this, but in the end, she deserves an apology.”

  “I’m not giving her shit. She’s trying to get more child support and all this shit because of how much she claims she had to do over the four years. She’s also saying I need to split time, knowing I’m busy as fuck and travel a lot, so it’s impossible.”

  “As she should. You need to comply or not see the child.”

  “What?” I frowned at my mama.

  “You need to pay more to make up for what you’ve left her with all these years. Also, you need to spend equal amounts of time with him so he knows you’re there. Dropping in occasionally with a gift is no father.”

  “It is. I do what I can. And he knows me as his dad.”

  “That’s great that he does, but it doesn’t erase the past four years. You know how many times your father showed up on my doorstep trying to claim you for a second?”

  “He did?”

  “Yes. I turned his ass away.”

  “What?” I shot up off of the couch. “Why the fuck would you do that?”

  I felt Jasiel look over at me from across the room, before tending back to my phone.

  “Watch your mouth, Manuel. I wasn’t about to allow him to dip in and out of your life, just so he could sleep with me when he wanted, then run back to Belly’s mother to deny you. What kind of mom would I be to allow that?”

  “You should’ve let me spend time with him!”

  “He didn’t want that! He was saying whatever he needed to, to have sex with me, Manuel! Don’t you get that? And once he finally realized I wasn’t having it, he left us alone completely!”

  “I gotta go.” I booked it over toward Jasiel and grabbed him up.

  “No, Manny, wait. I wanted to spend a little time with him.” She followed after me as I trucked it to the door. “He’s been on this earth four years, and I’ve never seen him. Let him stay for a little while so I can talk with him,” she begged.

  Even though I was pissed, I wanted Jasiel to know his grandma. I stopped in my tracks then placed him down so she could approach him.

  “I’m hungry,” he immediately said once she got closer.

  “Okay. Well I love to cook. What would you like?”

  “Pizza!” He glanced back at me for approval, and I nodded to say it was okay. “Yeah, pizza!”

  “Oh well, we can order that then. Why don’t you come into the kitchen with me and help grandma make some chocolate cookies to eat for dessert?”

  “Yes! I love chocolate!” He put his small hand into hers, and she led him off.

  I stood there in her small foyer with my hands in my jeans for a second, just watching them. After a couple minutes, I left to take a drive.

  Now that my mama had let me know my dad tried, I was interested in reaching out to him. I didn’t believe that he only wanted sex bullshit; I just think she was bitter like Jasmine and decided if he ai
n’t want her, he couldn’t be around me.

  I was seeing shit so differently now.

  2

  Isabella “Izzy” Carriage

  Couple days later…

  As I lay on my bed, face down, I scrolled through my Instagram feed. Realizing Blaise had uploaded something to her story, I tapped it see it was showing her son’s little foot. I smiled, looking at it, wondering when she was going to show us her baby.

  I couldn’t wait until I got the chance to meet him. She’d been busy but told me this weekend I could come over to see Baby Cortez. I chuckled, thinking about people commenting on her latest picture asking to see the baby and what its name was.

  “Yes?” I called out, hearing someone knock on my bedroom door. My mama had gone to work, and she never knocked, so I was confused.

  “It’s Nichole,” she replied before walking in, her big belly protruding. She looked so cute, and I knew she’d be giving birth to my niece any day now.

  “Wow, she’s gonna be here soon.” I rubbed Nichole’s belly as she sat next to me on the bed.

  “Yeah, I know.”

  “You thought of a name yet?”

  “I have a few, but I’m not telling anyone until she gets here.” She got back up. “Anyway, I came over here because I want ice cream. Let’s go get sundaes.”

  “Okay.”

  I slipped on my shoes then Nichole and I went to Creamistry, this gourmet ice cream parlor off of Beverly Drive. After we got what we wanted, we sat down at one of the tables to enjoy it.

  “You’re going to keep checking your phone, or are you gonna eat your ice cream?” Nichole interrupted my thoughts.

  I’d been contemplating on if I should text Herman or not. I expected him to hit me up after he didn’t see me at his match, but we hadn’t talked since. I felt like Judd had gotten in the middle of us, probably telling Herman I’d witnessed him fucking another girl in his dressing room and left.

  “Sorry. I just…” I stabbed my ice cream before shoving some into my mouth.

  “I haven’t heard you mention your little boxer boo. Is everything okay?” Her eyes cascaded down on me skeptically.

  “Yeah. Everything is okay. I’m testing the waters, so he’s just one of many.”

  It was quiet until Nichole burst into laughter.

  “Isabella, you cannot fool me. I’ve been around and know plenty about relationships. I can tell by your demeanor that you either found out he has a bitch or he’s fucking other bitches. So which one is it?”

  “I went to his match, and then when I tried to meet up with him backstage, I heard him having sex with someone else.”

  “You haven’t fucked him, right?”

  “No. Almost did, but he didn’t have a condom.” I chuckled, seeing the disgust in Nichole’s face.

  “Broke and a cheater? Cut your losses, Isabella. I can introduce you to someone else. After I have my baby though, because I can’t walk into parties toting her around. Plus, Ian won’t allow it.”

  “Ian,” I scoffed.

  “You surely spent his money he gave you. And I need you to be nice to him. He and I are gonna be married, and I want you two to get along. Maybe this weekend, we can have dinner.”

  “I guess. I’m meeting Blaise’s baby this weekend, but after that, I should be free.”

  “I thought we decided you wouldn’t be friends with her anymore.”

  “No, I never agreed to that. I don’t want to not talk to Blaise. I like going places with her and—”

  “You’re like a fucking fan, Isabella. You know that, right? She doesn’t see you as a friend. I was her friend, not you. You’re simply a little stan that watches her every move, wanting to be like her and salivating for any attention she throws your way.”

  “Fuck you.” I got up from the table.

  In true Nichole fashion, she didn’t apologize or try to get me to come back into the ice cream parlor. And even as I stood outside waiting for my Uber, she left, paying me no mind and hopping right into her new Range Rover that that Doberman Pinscher Ian had bought her.

  I’d ordered for my Uber to take me to Belly’s boxing gym instead of home. I wanted to see if Herman was there. I didn’t know what I was going to do if he was, but the fact that we ended in a limbo state bothered me to no end.

  The Uber dropped me off in front, and as I climbed out, I spotted three girls hanging around outside in super tight dresses and booty shorts.

  “Belly ain’t in there, boo,” one said, locking her iPhone and slipping it into her back pocket. Her butt was huge.

  “I’m not here for Belly, and I think everyone knows he isn’t here; he’s in jail.”

  “And I’ll be waiting right here for when he gets out. I know my bae ain’t raped nobody,” another woman chimed in.

  “Right! He gets pussy thrown his way too frequently to rape Tiana’s uppity ass.” The third girl turned her lip up and waved the situation off.

  “He’s engaged you know, so don’t waste your time thinking you can get some dick when he’s released.” I cocked my head.

  The three of them looked me up and down then laughed so hard that one of them folded over, another bent backwards, and the last had no sound coming out. I guess I was some sort of comedienne.

  “Girl, that celebrity Belly is for the public. We know the hood Belly, the Neighborhood Piru Belly, and he ain’t marrying a damn thing. Blaise is cute, but no, he’ll be fucking whomever he wants like usual.”

  Shaking my head, I declined to reply and headed toward the entrance of the boxing gym.

  I was able to walk right in since Belly wasn’t here training. So there was no big buff security guard treating me like a crazed fan for wanting to come in.

  Once I got to the main room, the only person I saw training was Judd. He was in the ring with some man, practicing his punches. When he noticed me, he came to the ropes with a big smile on his face.

  “Hey, what you doing here?” he inquired, removing his gloves and wiping the sweat from his face with a towel.

  “I umm,” I looked off briefly, “was here for someone. Did you tell Herman anything?”

  “Tell him anything like what?”

  “I don’t know… that we flirted or that I liked you or something?”

  Furrowing his brows, Judd replied., “Why would I tell him anything like that?” He climbed out of the ring to be on the ground floor with me.

  “Judd, it’s obvious that you like me, and he hasn’t texted or called me since the night that he… well, you know what he did. Anyway, it must be because you purposely tried to sabotage us.”

  Judd nodded.

  “Izzy, I think you’re beautiful, and yes, I was interested in you, but I’m not that thirsty or conniving. I would never go as far as to tell lies in order to break up a union, even ones that are pretty shaky like y’alls.”

  “Then why isn’t he calling? Huh? Exactly.”

  “He’s not calling because he’s an asshole and doesn’t care about finding out why you supposedly didn’t show up to his match. The only thing he wants from you is sex. So when he runs out of females or gets bored with the ones he’s been smashing, he will hit you up.”

  “Oh, but you want my heart and not sex? I’ve heard it all before.”

  “Nah.” He laughed, shaking his head. “I don’t want shit from you. You’re a beautiful woman, but you’re immature as fuck. And trust me, I am not the slightest bit interested in having your heart or being in any type of relationship with you, now that I know that.”

  Judd didn’t give me a chance to respond because he hopped right back into the ring. I couldn’t believe what he’d just said, and because I was embarrassed, I just left out.

  When I pulled my phone from my purse, I saw I had a text from Herman, making me feel even stupider for accusing Judd of something so juvenile.

  When my Uber pulled up, I got right in and just thought about my actions the whole way home.

  That weekend…

  “Hi.” Blaise an
swered the door, looking so pretty. She had on a tight one piece that was shorts, hugging her shapely frame. Blaise was always the right amount of thick, but now her thighs were slightly thicker, and her butt was plumper.

  “Wow, you look good!” I admired her as I stepped into her beautiful mansion.

  “Thank you. If I wasn’t in the house, I wouldn’t have this on.”

  “Shit, I would. And I know if Belly saw you in that, he’d be one happy camper.”

  “I could be in a muumuu and he would be trying to take me down.” She started walking, so I followed her and up the stairs.

  “That’s a good thing though. It means he’s really into you.”

  “True.” She chuckled.

  We entered a room that was down the hall a little bit, and once inside, I tilted my head back at how beautifully decorated it was. The walls were a soft green, and the furniture was a chestnut brown. It was so nice and smelled good too, like brand new baby and vanilla ice cream.

  “Oh my gosh. Look at him,” I whispered, peering over into Baby Cortez’s crib to see him. “This is the most adorable baby I’ve ever seen. This reminds me of when I first saw Island.”

  Cortez was so perfect; small but chunky, with brown skin that looked like buttermilk. His little lips were already full, and his lashes were long like Belly’s.

  “My pretty little Island had all the nurses praising her looks. And yes, Cortez is the cutest baby ever.” Blaise giggled, staring down at him. “Just kidding, but thank you.”

  “Seriously, he could get into baby modeling.”

  “I don’t think his father would be supportive of that at all.”

  “Yeah, probably not.”

  We laughed in unison.

  She let me hold him, even though he was asleep, and he was so warm. After placing him back in the crib, she showed me around his room, and then we left to check on a napping Island before going to the kitchen.