Nobody Can Love You Like Them Roughnecks Do 4

by Shvonne Latrice

  “Okay, that’s pretty normal. The movie will start shooting soon though, Blaise, so we need those fifteen pounds off. TV already makes you look bigger than you are.” Robert eyed me.

  “Very true. And your character Wren is super sexy. She’s a socialite, always in tight dresses, short tops, things of that nature.” Ivory added her two cents in.

  “I know, and I will be down, I promise. I’ve already lost over half.”

  “You have. I will be putting together your meal plans for the next two weeks to go along with whatever exercise your trainer has down for you,” Cordelia assured me.

  “How did you lose the seventeen so fast?” Robert inquired.

  “My appetite hasn’t been the best. My doctor said it’s normal for your appetite to decrease after giving birth. So she told me to eat small meals throughout the day,” I explained, looking at all three of them since they were staring at me.

  “Okay. Well for all the shit I’m gonna be having you doing, I need you to eat a sufficient amount of food to get through it.” Robert raised his brows, and I nodded.

  Cordelia, Ivory, and Robert talked with me some more, telling me so much shit. Thankfully, Ivory was my personal calendar, making sure everything was in her phone and recorded. By the time they left, my son was waking up, but he didn’t cry; he just stared at me with his cute, chubby face. He was already a month old.

  “You okay, princess?” I called out to Island.

  “Of course,” she replied. She heard me say of course a few times to my mom, and now she said it all the time.

  “I swear you have the cutest kids.” Ivory smiled as she sat down at the big table across from me.

  “Thank you.” I giggled.

  “You can go ahead and get dressed in a second, sweetie. I do want you to look over this.” Ivory handed me a thick white book, which I knew was a script.

  “Another job?” I frowned.

  “Excuse me? Actors are usually thrilled to have this many things thrown their way.”

  “I know, and I’m thankful, but I haven’t even started this movie. And once the movie is completed, I have to film season three of Streets.”

  “This one won’t start production for a while. It’s a limited series called Worst Case Scenario, meaning it will only run for one season, with about an hour to an hour and a half an episode.” Grinning hard as hell for some reason, Ivory added, “Vanessa Mario will be your co-star.”

  “Are you serious?” I felt my face beaming.

  Vanessa Mario was a huge movie star. She was one of the few Black actresses that got big roles, including action movies and everything else they usually gave to white women or occasionally racially ambiguous women. Vanessa could do it all. She could be a crack head in one movie, then a superhero in another.

  I really looked up to her because her career was something to admire. I, too, wanted to be in different types of films and shows, outside of the normal shit that most women of color were cast in.

  “I am very serious. The cast is ensemble too, so you will be her equal if you get the part. Just look over the script. The character I think you should audition for is Lolita. She’s promiscuous, a little ghetto, and just really nothing like you’ve played before. After being Crissi, then Wren, and Lolita, it’ll show producers that there is no role you can’t do.”

  “Okay. I will think about it.”

  Ivory talked up this limited series a little more, then left me so that I could put my clothes back on.

  “Mommy, why it no cry?” Island had gotten off the couch and stared into the stroller at her brother. “Babies cry.”

  “I know. He cries sometimes, but he’s very calm.” I smiled down at my baby boy. He was so well behaved. He cried occasionally when he was tired, hungry, or just restless, but he was laid back usually. Some mornings I would wake up, look down into his crib, and he’d just be lying there. “You cried all the time when you were a little baby.”

  “No!” Island pouted cutely.

  “Yes.” I picked her up to kiss her face. “I didn’t mind though. I love you.”

  “Love you too.” She was frowning when she said it, making me laugh.

  I gathered my kids, baby bag, and purse, then left out to my car. I’d sent Joan a list earlier, and she went to the grocery store for me, so I racked my brain thinking of what to cook.

  I felt bad asking Joan to do such things, but Belly reminded me that it’s what she got paid for. And she didn’t seem to mind anyway.

  “Flowers!” Island shouted once we pulled up to the gate of our home. I knew they weren’t from Belly because this person obviously didn’t know the gate code or didn’t have a remote. And the only people with remotes were Belly and I, but for right now, Carson had his.

  Putting my Range Rover in park, I climbed out then scooped up the roses before driving through. After getting my kids inside and settled, I went back to the kitchen where I’d placed the roses to see if there was a card. I found one, so I opened it up.

  Thank you for shooting for my boutique. Congratulations on the new baby! - Cydney

  I smiled, reading the card, and then placed the roses off to the side since they were already in a vase. I grabbed my phone to text Cydney ‘thank you’, and before I even put my iPhone down, she was calling.

  “Hey, thank you for the roses, girl. They’re beautiful!” I answered.

  “Of course. All the stuff you modeled sold out within forty-eight hours, so I had to do something nice for you.”

  “Aww. Well I’m happy I was able to help.”

  “Which I appreciate. Hey, are you busy?”

  “Depends. I can’t go anywhere because I have my babies here with me. I have to make them dinner and—”

  “Oh no, I don’t want to go out if you can’t. I can maybe just drop by so we can hang out. I wanted to talk, and I feel like my friends and I just aren’t on the same page with certain things.”

  “Sure, that’s fine. You can eat dinner here.”

  “Perfect. I will see you in about an hour.”

  “Okay.”

  I hung up with Cydney then got right to making dinner for my kids. I knew I needed to eat too, and I would try, but I was sure I would only consume 1/4 of my plate like I’d been doing lately. I’d even tried making some of my favorite foods, but nothing worked.

  By the time the spaghetti was done, I heard my baby crying through the monitor I had, so I went to get both him and Island. I made her a plate to eat, and then breast-fed him while Island scarfed it down. I found out pasta was the only thing she would eat outside of chicken nuggets and cookies. I’d started giving her fruits and vegetables too, which she didn’t seem to hate.

  Just thirty minutes later, I had both of my children bathed and in the bed. I then saw Cydney had texted me to let me know she was at my gate. I pressed the button to allow her through, then went to get the door as she climbed out of her car.

  “Girl, this house is goals.” Cydney switched up in her thigh-high boots and skirt. Her blonde hair was freshly wand curled, and her makeup was packed on perfectly. I’d never seen Cydney without a full face of makeup.

  “Thank you. I love it too.” I stepped back to allow her in. I giggled as she admired the big open foyer with her eyes wide.

  “We can go to the den. Cortez has a bar in there if you want a drink. I can’t have one, but I can make you one.”

  “Yes, girl. I need it.”

  I locked the door then led Cydney to the den to make her a drink. I’d waited for her to eat, which didn’t bother me since I wasn’t hungry, so once she had her glass of wine, I went to get our plates of spaghetti and me some water.

  “So how is everything?” I quizzed after we prayed.

  “I broke up with Dalton.” She sighed before shoving some more of the pasta into her mouth.

  “Really? Why? I’m so sorry.”

  “No, I’m fine. I just wasn’t into it anymore. I haven’t been wanting to be with him for the past four months.”

  “
Did he do something?”

  “No. He’s perfect, actually, but I’m just not feeling it. It’s like something is telling me that someone else would make me happier.”

  “Wow. You told him this?”

  “Kind of. I just said I wasn’t happy, and I needed to be alone to figure out what I wanted to do.”

  “Well, hey, at least you didn’t go cheat on him and then only express your feelings once you got caught. That’s what most people do.”

  “I know, but I’m pretty honest. Plus, Dalton is great, you know.”

  “Yeah, he is a nice guy. He seemed to really care about you too.”

  “He did.” She looked off for a slight moment then turned back to her plate to swirl some more of the food onto her fork. “Your body looks good, Blaise. I can’t believe you just had a baby.”

  “Thank you, but I still have fifteen pounds to lose before I’m back to how I used to be.”

  “Well your body was always sexy. I wish I could gain fifteen pounds and look like that.” We laughed together as we ate some more of the pasta, with her finishing. I had a lot left, but I was over it. “Any word on when Belly is getting out?”

  “Not yet, but he has a bail hearing coming up, so I should know soon. I can’t wait.”

  “I’m sure. You’ve been taking care of the kids and everything by yourself this whole time.”

  “Yeah, but it isn’t his fault.”

  “You know if you ever need some help, Blaise, I can be there for you.” She touched my leg. “I can help with anything.”

  “You can start by massaging my feet.” I snickered.

  “Okay, try me. I’ve been told I give great massages.”

  “I’m sure, but I can’t have you massaging my feet like some peasant. I will go to a masseuse.”

  Scooting closer to me, Cydney replied, “Just the shoulders then. You look so tense, and I just feel so bad. Plus, if you saw how much money you made me, you probably would make me massage you.” She started on my shoulders, and I was going to stop her because I felt bad for her doing it, but I hadn’t realized how badly I needed this.

  “Oh my gosh.” I moaned.

  “I used to get ten dollars a pop for these in college.”

  “Are you serious?” I gasped.

  “Very. I needed a way to make money, and my mama always said I gave good massages, so I’d be working on people’s shoulders, necks, and everything for some money. I had a nice little business,” she explained as she worked on me. This was heaven.

  “What made you choose to own a boutique instead of a massage parlor or something?”

  “I’m just more into fashion than anything else. I enjoy giving massages, but I don’t think I enjoy it enough to run a business based on it.”

  I nodded, too relaxed to respond. She moved the thick straps of my short, knitted, sleeveless dress down a little bit, then continued. We conversed some more, but then it got silent because I was enjoying this too much to keep up.

  I felt her hair brush against me, so I opened my eyes to see she was leaning over my shoulder from behind to look at me.

  “I guess—” My sentence got cut off when she kissed me deeply as hell. “Cydney.” I yanked away and got up, fixing my straps. “No, I don’t do that.” I shook my head so she’d understand that I was serious.

  “Oh my gosh.” She covered her face. “I’m sorry. I just… This whole thing with Dalton and then being here with you, plus the wine… I reacted badly. I apologize, Blaise.”

  “It’s fine, Cydney, but don’t try that again. I’m not into women, and I’m in a relationship.”

  “I know you’re in a relationship, and I would never try to interfere. I’m not into women either. I just find myself attracted to you.”

  “Cydney, you should go home.”

  I got the feeling she only came over here because she knew Belly was in jail and thought I’d allow her to give me head or something. My DMs had been blown up lately with all kinds of celebrity men, a few women too, who were trying to take advantage of Belly being locked up. Even my baby daddy had tried, despite wanting to drag me to court.

  Nichole always said Cydney liked me, but I thought she was just jealous. She’d always said, ‘that bitch is way too thirsty to get you to shoot for her little store; it ain’t normal’.

  I’d never spent much time with Cydney in the all the years that I’d known her, and I’d especially never been alone. We met at a party once when I was still fucking with Five-Star. She followed me on Instagram after that, and we became social media buddies from then on. Occasionally when I saw her out at events and things, we’d speak, have a drink together, but we always had people around.

  “Yeah, I will leave. Blaise, I hope this didn’t ruin our friendship. I swear I won’t ever do anything like this again.” She put her jacket on as she rose up.

  “I will walk you out.”

  I quickly escorted Cydney through and out of the house, then quickly locked up to put the alarm on. Rushing to check my phone, I saw I had no texts or calls from Belly.

  Damn, I missed my nigga.

  A few days later…

  Today I would finally be able to see Belly. They’d approved me to be on the visiting list, and now I was just waiting until I could see him. I was so anxious and wanted to touch him, kiss him, and hug him, but I knew I couldn’t. He’d already explained to me that all his visits would be through a glass since he was awaiting trial.

  “You can go ahead into the visiting area.” The big guard opened the door for me, so I stood up to walk in. I wanted to dress sexy for Belly, but when they sent me the list of inappropriate attire, I realized it was half of my damn wardrobe.

  I went to sit down where I was told to by the female guard inside, and set my purse to the side. They’d looked all through my shit.

  Finally when Belly appeared, sitting down across from me but through the glass, I felt like my heart stopped. He still looked so handsome, and I hadn’t realized just how much I missed him until I laid eyes on him.

  “Don’t cry, baby.” He spoke lowly into the phone, just as I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand.

  “Ask them if I can hug you?” I whimpered.

  “They ain’t gon’ allow all that. How’s the eating going?”

  “Better,” I lied. “I ate four tacos last night.”

  Seeing him grin widely at the sound of me eating was bittersweet. It felt good to see I’d made him happy, but I felt bad because it was a lie.

  “Damn, greedy. You look good as fuck too. By the time I get up out of here, that six weeks will be up, right?”

  “Yes.” I blushed. “My doctor has to clear me though. Hopefully, she does.”

  “She better. If not, you can just let me fuck, and we’ll make sure they sew you back the fuck up.”

  “Ugh, no!” I frowned. “You should wait however long it takes.”

  “You right.” He nodded, looking so sexy as he grasped the phone tightly. “I’ll wait, only because I love you. But after we get to ten weeks, I’m hitting.”

  We both cackled before he inquired about the babies. He didn’t want me to bring them, so I complied with his wishes.

  Before I knew it, our time was up, and he had to be taken back in. I sat there for a few, sad, but the feeling of someone standing behind me interrupted that.

  “I’m leaving,” I told the plump female guard as I rose up. She surveyed me like she knew me but just wanted to see me up close. “You’ve watched my show?” I gave her the benefit of the doubt.

  “Oh.” She fake smiled. “Yeah, I have seen your show. It’s okay. Your character is a bit trashy, but whatever. So are you supposed to be Cortez’s girlfriend?”

  “No, I’m his fiancée. You have a good day.” I started to walk off, but her words halted me.

  “Well maybe you should tell him he has a fiancée because he sure doesn’t act like it.” She licked her lips.

  After looking her over for a bit, I was overcome with laughter.

&nbs
p; “Honey, if you expect me to believe that Cortez would fuck you, you must be drunk, high, or both.”

  “You think you look that much better than me, huh? Well ask yourself how your fiancé got that little phone to call you.” She opened the door to let me out. “Have a good day, Miss Cansino.”

  That bitch had better be lying, or once Belly got out, he was gonna wish he was back in.

  Manny

  Now that my mama knew about Jasiel, I felt like a better nigga if that made sense. My mother meant a lot to me, so if she knew about some shit, that meant it was important. Hopefully when I introduced her to Jasmine, my baby mama would let up on the child support shit. I didn’t care what anybody said; I didn’t feel like I should have to pay any more than what I was paying.

  All that cheap ass food and cheap ass clothes from Target that Jasmine copped him didn’t amount to the shit I got. Not to mention, I was giving her child support on top of that, and buying her ass designer. Yeah, nah, fuck that bullshit; I wasn’t paying a dime more. She could ask her rich wack rapping ass boyfriend to throw her whatever else she wanted.

  Looking myself over in the mirror, I smirked at my handsome ass. I was a fucking catch, and if Alivia’s ass couldn’t see it, it was her loss.

  And speaking of her, I whipped out my phone to check her Instagram page out real briefly. She was still fucking with Yono, and for some reason, it still bothered my ass. Like always, my chest got tight as fuck seeing them together. Out of anger, I blocked her but then unblocked right after. I wasn’t ready.

  Just as I put my phone into my pocket, it rang. Sighing, I pulled it back out to see it was Nandy calling.

  “He—”

  “Where are you, Manny? It’s almost 8:10 p.m.” Nandy cut me off.

  “I’m literally walking out of the door, baby.” I started out of my bedroom and through the living room, putting on the alarm.

  “Oh, okay. Want me to stay on the phone while you drive to me?”

  “Uh, nah. I shouldn’t be talking while I’m driving, Nandy. You know I can’t do two things at once.”