It's Always Been Her

Chapter 1

Chapter One

CHAUNCEY

Fuck. I don’t know why this hoe keeps calling my phone like we got some shit going on.

We don’t. I meant every word I said a few months ago when I cut Tamika loose.

Somehow, that shit still ain’t registered with Tamika.

My phone lights up again, and I stare at the screen as my jaw tightens.

It’s the fourth time Tamika’s called in the past hour.

Fuck it.

Let me see what the fuck she wants.

“Yeah...”

“About time you answered your phone for me, Chaun-Cey.”

The way she drags my name across her tongue irritates me. She’s too familiar. Too comfortable.

“Aye, why the fuck do you keep calling my phone? I told you I was cool on you, and I meant that shit.”

“Chaun-Cey, talk to me nicely.”

“Never. You know what the fuck it is.”

“Chaun-Cey...”

“Aye, I ain’t got all day.”

Tamika starts clacking her teeth and mumbling under her breath.

I can’t make out what she’s saying, but it ain’t no telling what’s about to come out of her mouth next.

Simmy laughs beside me and shakes his head like this shit is entertaining.

To him, it probably is. To me, it’s a fucking headache. I’ve spent months dodging Tamika.

Ignoring texts.

Blocking numbers.

Leaving messages on read.

Every time I think she’s finally gone, her ass finds another way to pop back into my life.

“Chaun-Cey, I miss you.”

I roll my eyes and lean back in my seat.

Shit, what’s new?

“I know you miss a nigga, but I told you I’m cool on your ass. Do me a favor and lose these digits, aiight?”

The line goes quiet. Not the dramatic kind of quiet. The calculating kind. The kind that makes the back of my neck itch.

I glance over at Simmy. He catches it too, and the smile slowly leaves his face.

Then she finally speaks.

“Chaun-Cey... I’m pregnant.”

Everything inside the car goes quiet.

My face instantly twists up.

What the fuck?

Simmy’s head snaps toward me so fast you’d think the nigga got whiplash. I should’ve never put this bitch on speakerphone.

“Aye...” I lean forward and grip the steering wheel tighter. “You what?”

“I’m pregnant.”

Nah.

That shit doesn’t sound right at all.

Ain’t no way in hell I got this hoe pregnant. Not with what I know. Not with what I’ve seen. A few months ago, I caught Tamika lying up with another nigga, kissing him down like she’d lost her goddamn mind.

The crazy part? She had been sucking my dick and swallowing my kids the night before.

I didn’t say shit when I saw it because it wasn’t my business, but it told me everything I needed to know about who she was. Tamika was for every fucking body, which is exactly why this lie ain’t adding up.

Simmy shoots me a look. Nigga, are you hearing this shit?

Yeah.

Unfortunately, I am.

And Tamika is either lying her ass off. Or my day just got a lot more complicated. I know I fucked Tamika more than a handful of times, but a nigga always strapped up. Every single time.

If she’s pregnant, that baby ain’t mine. There are only two women in this city who can say they’ve had my dick raw, and Tamika ain’t one of them.

“Aye, Tamika, do me a favor and call your baby daddy. Get the fuck off my phone.”

Tamika starts laughing like she got one up on me. I ain’t with the games and shit.

“I’m talking to my baby daddy.”

My grip on the steering wheel tightens. “Aye, hoe, you know that baby ain’t mine. I know for a fact I ain’t the only nigga you’ve been fucking and sucking. I’m just the nigga with the most paper.”

The silence that follows tells me she thought I’d take the bait.

Thought I’d panic.

Thought I’d volunteer for the position.

Wrong nigga.

“Chaun-Cey, that’s not true.”

“What’s not true?”

“My baby is yours, and I’m keeping it. You’re the only nigga I’ve been dealing with. Just because you saw me with another man doesn’t mean I fucked him.”

I laugh—a hard, disrespectful one.

“How the fuck am I supposed to know that? I fucked you the first night I met you.”

“Chaun-Cey, we didn’t make it that far. You ruined it, remember?”

I shake my head.

This bitch has an answer for everything.

“Aye, Tamika, do us both a favor and get rid of the baby. I don’t want a child with you. If we’re keeping it real, your ass ain’t fit to be nobody’s momma.”

“I’m keeping it.”

“What the fuck did I say, Tamika?”

“Chaun-Cey...” Her voice drops. “I heard what you said. Now hear me. You might want to let your wife know she’s about to be a step- momma.”

The smile immediately leaves my face.

“We don’t have a deal with each other.”

“No. We don’t.”

“Good.”

“Do me one favor, though.”

“I ain’t doing shit.”

She laughs. “I wasn’t finished talking. The only thing I need from you is a bag every week for our baby and me. That’s it, baby daddy.”

Laughter erupts in the background. I can hear her ratchet-ass friends talking shit and hyping her up like they just hit the jackpot.

I smile slowly and dangerously.

“Aye, Tamika.”

“What?”

“Drop the lo.” The noise on her end instantly dies down. “I’m finna pull up.”

“For what?”

“Because I want to see how pregnant your ass is.”

A few seconds pass before my phone vibrates.

“I sent my location,” she says.

I hear the smirk in her voice before she speaks again.

“Oh, and one more thing, Chaun-Cey.”

“What?”

“You didn’t mind fucking this hoe.”

I close my eyes.

“And now this hoe is pregnant with your first baby.”

Click.

The line goes dead.

For a second, the only thing in the car is silence. I stare straight ahead, my jaw locked and my blood boiling. The worst thing a bitch can do is lie and say she’s carrying my baby, especially when I know she isn’t.

Simmy lets out a long breath beside me. “Nigga, you keep fucking up.”

“Aye, do me a favor and stop ear-hustling.”

“Nigga, you put her on speaker.”

He ain’t wrong.

“You should’ve taken her off speaker the moment you realized shit was going wrong.”

“True.”

Simmy leans back in his seat, shaking his head. “Rhy ain’t never coming back if that baby’s yours.”

That shit lands.

Hard.

Rhy already ain’t fucking with a nigga. And if Tamika really is pregnant, shit gets a whole lot more complicated. I know Rhy. A baby ain’t something she’d overlook.

The crazy part is I know I ain’t slipped up. I know I didn’t. But the more I sit here thinking about it, the more that little voice in the back of my head starts talking.

What if this bitch isn’t lying?

And that thought alone pisses me off, the fuck.

“On some real shit, Simmy, I’ve been letting Rhy do her thing.”

I stare through the windshield, my knuckles white around the steering wheel. Contrary to what people think, Rhy ain’t innocent. She could’ve stayed down with a nigga.

I wasn’t asking for much. The truth is, Rhy is mean as hell now, but that’s my fault. I created this version of her. Every scar she got from me came from my refusal to change my ways.

“I know.”

“Rhy has been gone long enough, though. I know she’s tucked away somewhere in Dallas. It’s taking everything I’ve got not to snatch her ass up and bring her home.”

Because that’s exactly what Dallas is.

A temporary location.

Not her home.

Rhy knows where she belongs.

I gave her space because that’s what she wanted. I let her breathe. I let her be angry. But we ain’t getting divorced. That was never on the table for me.

“Nigga, I don’t think you heard me.”

“I heard you.”

“If Tamika is pregnant with your baby, it’s a wrap. I get it. You’re on some bullshit. That’s your business. But a baby with this hoe? That’s reckless as fuck. Ain’t no coming back from that.”

I cut my eyes at him.

“Bruh, you need to pick a side and stay there.”

Simmy points at me immediately. “Nigga, I am on a side. The side of the truth.”

I don’t say shit because that’s always been Simmy’s problem. He ain’t never learned to mind his fucking business.

“We’ve been partners too long for me not to lie to you.

These other niggas will tell you what you want to hear.

I’m telling you what you need to hear. These hoes are for everybody.

Any nigga with enough money can get access.

That’s why I don’t fuck with them. The only pussy I’m investing in is Bianca’s. End of discussion.”

I laugh.

This nigga always finds a way to bring Bianca into the conversation.

“Be honest. Since Rhy left, have you met any woman who compares to her?”

My mind immediately drifts to Khloé.

She’s bad.

Different.

Focused. On her money. I ain’t gonna lie, I like her. But liking Khloé and replacing Rhy are two different conversations. No matter how much I enjoy another woman’s company, I still can’t picture a future without my wife.

“Aye, Simmy, I know what type of time these hoes are on. I’m not looking for another Rhy because there ain’t another Rhy. She’s irreplaceable. That’s some shit I already know. It might look like I’m moving on, but I’m not. Rhy and I are going through some bullshit right now. That’s all this is.”

Simmy shakes his head.

“That’s all this is?”

“Yeah.”

“Nigga, it’s been over a year.”

I ignore that part.

“We’re gonna find our way back to each other, even if I gotta bring her home myself.”

Simmy lets out a long sigh. “Time waits for nobody, Chauncey.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means life keeps moving whether you’re ready or not.”

He looks directly at me.

“What if Rhy got pregnant by another nigga?”

The question hits harder than I expected. Not because I haven’t thought about it. I have, so I refuse to entertain it.

Ain’t no nigga alive bold enough to nut in my wife and expect me to be cool with it.

I stare at Simmy.

“Aye... do you know something I don’t?”

“What?”

“I don’t know why, but I feel like you’re shooting slugs at me.”

Simmy laughs. “Nigga, I don’t know shit. Bianca ain’t heard from Rhy in over a year. Nobody has. All I’m saying is that Rhy’s got a lot to offer any nigga. Women like Rhy and Bianca don’t come around every day. I’d hate to see your dumb ass lose her because you’re still playing fucking games.”

I shake my head.

Rhy knows better.

She ain’t offering no nigga shit.

“I hear you. But hear me out. Is Rhy fucking another nigga? Probably.”

The words taste bitter coming out.