The Wild Child

by Nicole Jackson

  “And she made me feel like you were okay with her coming to your house because yall knew each other outside of me,” Daynah commented.

  Mya frowned. “Ewe, I never fucked with her ass like that. She’s messy as fuck.”

  “Super-deluxe messy,” Cavalli added.

  “Tell me about it,” Daynah sighed, while rolling her eyes.

  “The bitch called herself telling Kells that I be texting my ex. I bet she didn’t think that he’d come back and tell me. And then when I confronted her, she got to plea bargaining and shit. But I aint trying to hear it. She’s getting slid the minute my people catch up with her ass.”

  Josairah giggled. “Alright, Daynah-Gotti. Putting out ass-whopping bounties on bitches’ heads.”

  Daynah arrogantly squared her shoulders. “And you better know it.”

  Hours tipped by, and everybody continuously chattered. Eventually, we got hungry and decided to hop in Wale’s Escalade and hit up Wendy’s. On the ride there, everybody talked, while I became withdrawn. Keyasia had old skool R&B blasting, and that shit had me in my feelings, as I listened to the lyrics.

  “All alone on a Sunday morning. Outside I see the rain is falling. Inside I'm slowly dying,

  But the rain will hide my crying, crying, crying—"

  Needing a fix, I pulled the Cîroc bottle out of my purse, and turned it up.

  “Don't you know my tears will burn the pillow. Set this place on fire. 'Cause I'm tired of your lies. All I needed was a simple Hello. But the traffic was so noisy that you could not hear me cry—"

  After polishing off the whole bottle, my face was numb, and I was buzzed. Closing my eyes, I fought to hold back tears. I was going through it without a doubt, but I’d get past it. I was just taking a little medicine to ease the pain.

  “Don't you know my tears will cause an inferno. Romance up in flames. Why should I take the blame? You were the one who left me neglected. Apology not accepted. Add me to the broken hearts you've collected—"

  “Jhyrah, what are you ordering?” Keyasia asked from the driver’s seat, while I sat directly behind her in the back.

  That’s when I realized that we were in Wendy’s drive-thru, at the intercom. “Uh, tell them to give me a strawberry lemonade, a small fry, and lots of ketchup.”

  “That’s all you want?”

  “Yep.”

  She repeated my order along with everybody else’s, before pulling around to the window. We all attempted to hand her some money, but she refused to take it. Instead, she whipped out a card and paid for everything. While we sat waiting for the food, Mya sang along with the radio, reminding us of how gifted she truly was. Tracey Spencer had nothing on her.

  “I sing to myself. So nobody hears. There's just no escaping. The sound of my tears. Miss you so much. And every night. I can't sleep. It ain't right—”

  “Yesss, bitch,” Keyasia praised. “Sang that shit.”

  “I know. She’s ‘bout to make me cry,” I sniveled, as I dabbed my eyes.

  Daynah gazed over at me with concern etched across her face. “Friend, are you okay? Or is that just the liquor talking?”

  I nodded me head. “Yeah, I’m okay.”

  “Uh, excuse me,” the Wendy’s cashier rudely interrupted us. Just looking at her, I could tell that she had a bad attitude. I mean, who wouldn’t if they had to pull a quarter of an inch worth of hair into a damn ponytail? She was high yellow with bad skin and a huge nose. Yep, her ugly ass was definitely looking for problems. “I been trying to hand you the food for two minutes. I got other customers in line.”

  “Oh, my bad,” Keyasia apologized, as she retrieved the bags one by one. She handed them off to us, and we all naturally went for the fries.

  I bit into mine and frowned. “This shit is cold.”

  “Mine too,” Cavalli chimed in.

  “Ewe, mine are too,” Daynah added.

  “Yeah, and they didn’t give me any ketchup,” I announced, as I sifted through the bag.

  “Uh, excuse me,” Keyasia captured the cashier’s attention. “Everybody’s saying that their food is cold, and you forgot to give us ketchup.”

  “Your food is cold?” the cashier scowled. “Well, that’s because yall was too busy talking out here. Pull up and I’ll bring out some more food when I can.”

  I frowned. “Wait, who the fuck is this bitch talking to like that?”

  “I don’t know,” Keyasia twisted her neck. “But she got me fucked up.”

  I rolled down my window. “Uh, ma’am, can we please speak to your manager?”

  She rolled her tangled eyes. “I’m the manager.”

  I read her shirt, and it simply said Larriesha. “Girl, your lil’ ugly ass aint no damn manager!”

  “Ugly?!” she exclaimed. “I got your fucking ugly. Your bitch ass won’t be getting no service today!”

  “Oh, this hoe is trying it,” Josairah scooted to the edge of her seat. “Key, tell her to give your money back, then. We can’t eat this cold ass shit.”

  “Aye, ma’ma, can I just get my money refunded and you can take your lil’ nasty food back?” Keyasia managed to ask nicely.

  Larriesha loudly clapped her hands, getting ghetto. “Like I said. I have the right to refuse service. So, please get the fuck out of my drive-thru!”

  Before I knew it, I was hanging out of the window. “Bitch, you better give my cousin her fucking money back! We don’t want this nasty ass food!”

  “Exactly,” Keyasia co-signed, before abruptly tossing her drink in Larriesha’s face.

  Reacting quickly, Larriesha hurled a drink back, splattering soda all over Key and me.

  “Oh, this hoe got me fucked up,” I growled, as I yoked her up by her shirt, snatching her right out of the window. Her body hit the ground with a thud, and I opened the door, wasting no time stomping her ass. “Bitch, talk that shit now! Acting like this fucking food is yours! Is Wendy’s gonna give your ass some shares in stocks?! Huh? Where the fuck is my ketchup?!”

  I’d lost it on that bitch, and by the time I’d heard the police sirens approaching us, it was too late.

  ***

  Easing out of my mama’s Benz, I was met by my daddy who was standing in the driveway. I knew that he was pissed, because he’d been clearly waiting for me. My mama had just picked me up from the country jail, where I’d been held for assault. Truthfully, I was just grateful that the police didn’t fuck with my purse. It stayed in the truck, and I doubt that anybody bothered to go through it. If they had they would’ve discovered a cookie of coke inside.

  “There the jailbird goes,” my daddy immediately went in. “You out here dragging bitches at Wendy’s, huh? Done made the news and shit. Went viral. Made a got damn fool of yourself!”

  I rolled my eyes.

  “The fuck you rolling your eyes for?” he snapped, as he glared down at me. “You got something to say?”

  “Yeah,” I nodded, as anger brewed inside of me. “Why are you acting like you’ve never done anything like this before? I can recall you having a knock down drag out fight right in front of us, and the police hauled you off to jail too. But nobody threw that in your face when you got out, did they?”

  “Jhyrah, have you lost your fucking mind?!” my mama cut in. “You don’t talk to your daddy like that!”

  “Nah, Raven, it’s cool. You got something on your chest, Jhyrah?” my daddy asked.

  “Yeah, I do,” I fumed. “I’m tired of you acting like I can’t mess up! Growing up, you did everything under the sun and people just called it growing pains. But I get into a little fight and it’s the end of the world! For a man that was so selfish that he ended up with a outside baby, and a crazy side chick, you sure do got a lot to say!” I lashed, going berserk. I don’t know what came over me, as I had a full-out tantrum. I’m talking about I dropped to the ground, rolled around, kicking and screaming.

  “On my God, Jhyrah!” My mama let out a high-pitched scream. “Lord, what’s wrong with my baby?” she attemp
ted to wrap her arms around me. “Jhyrah, stop it! Calm down!”

  For several minutes, I lied on the ground, crying from the depths of my soul. I was mad, confused, and lost as fuck. I cried until there was nothing left to give, and I began sniveling uncontrollably.

  Finally looking up, I realized that my daddy was hovering over me. Weirdly, there wasn’t a look of contempt there. It was just incredible sadness. He swallowed hard. “We gotta get her back into counseling. ASAP.”

  Jeremy

  “Nigga, you shouldn’t be smoking. Don’t they piss test you?” Chubby quizzed.

  “Nah, not really,” I shrugged, as I puffed on a blunt.

  “And it’s ways around that,” Jared offered from the backseat.

  “True.” I nodded.

  We were all sitting in my grandma’s driveway, getting lifted. We could’ve easily smoked in the house, but then we would’ve had to share with multiple people.

  “Man, now I got the munchies,” Chubby announced, rubbing his stomach. “I hope the food is ready now.”

  “Shit, I ate before I left Vita’s crib, so I’m full.” I blew smoke from my nostrils.

  “Vita, huh?” Chubby smirked. “I aint gon lie, cuzzo. She’s fine and all…but she aint got shit on Jhyrah. You settling down with that?”

  Jared chuckled. “This nigga will say the first thing that comes to mind, man. I swear.”

  I stroked my waves, as I passed the blunt. “When did I say that?”

  “Shit, you aint gotta say it. You be at that broad’s house. She be at yours. You even have her at the games and shit,” Chubby pointed out.

  I shrugged. “I’m still trying to figure out what that means. I never denied that we kick it, but I aint committed and she knows that.”

  “So, what’s the point?” Jared cut in.

  I turned to look at him. “What you mean?”

  “I’m asking, what’s the point. Why spend all that time with her, if it aint going nowhere? I mean, I could understand if you was just hitting it, and then sending her on her way. But that aint it. You over there creating memories and shit. Got her comfortable as fuck, thinking she got a solid position in your life. Why not just go all the way with it?”

  “Cause that aint what I want to do,” I snapped.

  “That’s my point exactly. You wasting a whole bunch of time. Settling for something you don’t even want.”

  I frowned. “Wait, where you getting this bullshit from? Who said that I was settling?”

  “Are you trying to say that you aint?” he shot back.

  Chubby chuckled. “Nah, Jared, I think you misunderstanding this man. He aint caking with ole girl, leading her on intentionally. This shit aint even about her. He just done got used to handling shit a certain way. Jhyrah got this nigga trained, so he be doing shit naturally. So, while him and Jhyrah are going through the motions, he’s picking up the old routine with ole girl. In the meantime, ole girl is thinking he’s serious about her, and this nigga is just creating a whole lot of unnecessary bullshit for himself. Them good intentions he got is gonna be his downfall.”

  I sucked my teeth. “Nigga, your Dr. Phil looking ass don’t know what I got going on. I don’t play games with Vita. She knows what’s up. Ion hold nothing back.”

  “Yeah, right, nigga,” Jared spoke up. “She knows that you still be blowing Jhyrah’s phone up?”

  I smirked. “Yeah. She said that I could fuck them both together, if Jhyrah was willing.”

  Jared smacked his lips. “And you believed that shit? That hoe is just trying to play head games. Like she wanna top Jhyrah’s level of nasty to have you confused. That kind of shit can only work if you letting your dick think for you. How the fuck does she go from being low-key, not really fucking with niggas, to being down with bringing hoes home to fuck?”

  I narrowed my eyes. “Bro, why does is sound like you mad?”

  “Man, I’m far from mad. I’m just saying. From what I can tell, Vita is doing a whole lot of shit, simply because it’s you. Not because that’s what she really wants. Cavalli told me that Vita has been telling other people that she’ll go through this little hell…you know, fucking other hoes and shit. But as soon as she gets pregnant, it’s a wrap. She’s putting her foot down.”

  Chubby howled with laughter. “Sounds like she got a solid plan.”

  I grimaced. “Shit, I’d love to know how she’s gonna execute this plan, when I personally took her down to the doctor to get the shot. She can’t get pregnant for the next three months.”

  Jared hunched his shoulders. “Just because it’s her plan, don’t mean that it had to happen now. You’re a busy nigga. All it takes is a missed appointment and you out of there.”

  “Man, she got me fucked up,” I chided. “I’m not having more than one baby mama, on God.”

  Chubby narrowed his eyes. “But what that mean? Nigga, you aint got no kids.”

  “But he got a baby mama,” Jared revealed. “Him and Jhyrah had their little hiccup, but your gal helped her get an abortion.”

  Chubby’s neck snapped around. “Who gal?”

  “Yours, nigga.”

  “Cocoa?”

  I looked at him like he was stupid. “Who else, nigga?”

  “Aww, hell nah. When did Cocoa help Jhyrah do that?”

  “Man, that was years back. It was the summer after my freshman year in college.”

  “Ooh,” Chubby snapped his fingers. “Was that around the time, when everybody was saying that you was beating Jhyrah?”

  “What?” my neck jerked back. “The fuck are you talking about?”

  Jared laughed. “Yeah, I damn near forgot about that. Granny had called pops, talking about you been outside slapping Jhyrah around. That’s why pops pulled up on yall like that.”

  “Mannn,” I drawled. “That woman there is something else. She really be acting like Jhyrah is her grandchild and I’m the friend of the family.”

  “Don’t feel bad,” my brother offered. “She do the same shit with Cavalli.”

  “Anyway,” Chubby interjected. “Kinfolk, are you done with Jhyrah for good, or are you still on her?”

  I grimaced. “What the fuck you wanna know for?”

  “I’m saying. She’s still fine as hell. You know she was my dream girl, but you just had to hate. But she’s single now, and I wanna shoot my shot. You never know. She might be feeling the kid.”

  I squeezed the tip of my nose. “Chubby, I really need you to stop fucking playing with me. I’ma shoot you, before any of that shit will happen.”

  “And if it’s like that, then why won’t you just be with her ass?” Jared questioned.

  “Cause,” I answered.

  “Cause what?”

  “Cause I need her to feel the burn for a little while longer. Then next time she’ll know not to play with me.”

  Jhyrah

  I’d lost control the other day, and I could admit that. Getting high and not addressing my problems had turned me into a ticking time bomb, and unfortunately, I’d exploded on my daddy. I knew that he was thinking that I was harboring deep-seeded ill feelings towards him, but that was far from the case. I was just coming down off a high and was grouchy. My daddy was just there, agitating me at the wrong time. I couldn’t cuss him out like I wanted to, so I threw a tantrum. Hell, after talking crazy to him like that, it was best that I played crazy. But in the end, I paid handsomely for the shit. For two weeks, I had to go to counseling and pretend that issues with Tyra were plaguing me. I mean, don’t get me wrong. She’d show up in my dreams more, since Jeremy wasn’t around, but that was to be expected. But I wasn’t about to have a nervous breakdown or anything…I think.

  So many people were talking about me that I wasn’t even sweating that shit, anymore. Rumors were floating around left and right, as several lame niggas lied on their dicks. Apparently, I was crazy, a thot, violent, and ran-through. Jeremy was still fucking with ole girl, and I was left feeling soulless. True, he was reaching out still, but it wa
s mainly to fuck. After all that we’d shared, I refused to become his fucking cum-rag. So, I was officially closing that chapter, and to celebrate, I was hitting up the club solo. I didn’t want to deal with industry people, so I decided to try out a smaller scale club off F.M. 1960.

  No lie, I’d lost count of all the lines I’d snorted, before stepping into the club, but I was fucking turnt. I had a section and was dancing on some little nigga who was supposedly a big dope boy around the city. I really wasn’t searching for a drug dealer, but he was definitely looking good enough to fuck for the night. He was chocolate, tall, and slim. In the dim lights he appeared handsome, from what I could see. No, I’d never fucked on the first night before, but I figured that it was time to switch some shit up.

  “Damn, you sexy as fuck,” he whispered into my ear, as he rubbed my exposed hips. I was rocking some barely-there denim booty shorts, along with a cut off shirt with no bra. Smoothly, he eased his hand into my shirt, and stroked my nipple.

  I grabbed his wrist, pulling his hand down. “Okay, now you’re going too far.”

  “My bad,” he apologized. “You just so damn sexy to me. I wanna take you outside and eat that pussy from the back.”

  I smirked, liking the sound of that. “Well, what are we waiting for?”

  “Shit, say no more.” He grabbed my hand, guiding me through the club.

  We were approaching the exit, when I noticed my cousin Terio. He was promoting the club for the night. I attempted to give him a quick smile and move past him, but he halted us dead in our tracks.

  “Aye, where you going?” Terio questioned me.

  “Outside with my friend,” I slurred, as I realized that I’d had one too many drinks.

  He narrowed his eyes. “With your friend? This man just asked me to introduce you to him less than a hour ago, but now he’s your friend?”

  I was caught up in my lie. “Well, he’s my new friend.”

  Terio locked eyes with me. “What the fuck are you on, Jhyrah? Huh? You want me to call your daddy and tell him that his daughter is getting high and trying to leave the club with strange niggas?”