Chapter 13
Come see me. It’s not a request.
I looked down at my phone in confusion. The number wasn’t saved, so I had no idea who the hell this was hitting my line.
“I think I want to try out for baseball,” MJ said, answering my previous question of what he wanted to do for the summer now that he was officially out of school.
We were currently having dinner in my kitchen with his mother.
Jalea had finally caught the hint that I didn’t want her ass leaching off of me and moved out of my crib to go live with her sister.
That shit only proved to be a disaster because she texted me every other day asking if she could split her time between four days here and three with her sister.
I respectfully told her ass, “Hell no,” but I did allow her to come have dinner with us every night for MJ’s sake.
She was finally realizing that her sister and her demon children didn’t bring any type of comfort or peace she had here.
Had she kept her mouth shut and just existed, she would have still been here.
“That’s a dope sport, son. I can see you trying out for the Little League.”
“You sure you don’t want to play basketball, MJ? I thought you were trying out for the team this year,” Jalea asked.
MJ shook his head. “I’m not very good at basketball.”
“You can be good at any sport. You just have to practice and stay focused. But whatever sport you choose to do, I got you, baby boy,” I told him, ruffling his curls.
“So, I can try out for baseball this summer?”
I shrugged. “I don’t see why not.”
“Yes! I’m going to go call Xavier and Chris!” he exclaimed. “Can I be excused?”
“Go ahead. It’s almost time for you to go to bed anyway.”
“Okay! Thanks, Pop!” He hurried out of the kitchen as Jalea began removing the plates from the table.
Me:
Wrong number, my G.
I replied to the unknown number, then responded to Harvey about me and Miss Mean Ass going cake tasting tomorrow.
“I want to come back, Messiah. I love my sister, but we can’t live together,” Jalea groaned, putting the dishes in the dishwasher.
“Not my problem.”
“I promise I won’t be a bother. You can do whatever you want, and I won’t make a fuss about it. I promise.”
I chuckled. “I’m going to do whatever I want anyway. The only thing we share is a son. Why don’t you ask Mo if he’ll let you come live with him?”
She paused and looked back at me. “I… That was only?—”
“Aye, it’s cool, Jalea. I don’t have any emotional attachments to you. We’ve never been in a relationship, so I honestly don’t care what you do or who you fuck. Just know that was ignorant on your part to still be contacting my brother, trying to fuck, while living in my shit.”
“I only did that to get a reaction out of you.”
I laughed. “Well, you got one… which was nothing.”
248-999-2324:
I’m sure it’s the right one. Come to the address you sent the flowers to. You have one hour or lose my number.
A smirk drew up on my face as I put my phone in my pocket.
I hadn’t seen Arie since our session in her club over a week ago.
As hard as she portrayed herself to be, I knew somewhere inside of that cold-ass heart, there was a woman that wanted to be loved and catered to—someone that wanted to be treated like a queen.
And I was going to make it my mission to do just that.
“You mind staying with MJ for a few hours? I have to make a run.”
“Sure,” she replied, solemnly.
I stood and walked over to her. All this sad shit she was displaying was blowing me.
Jalea only cared about herself and what she could get out of a nigga.
I knew she was hoping she hit the jackpot with me, but that shit proved to be a dead-end, and now she was lost on how to get another quick come-up.
“Look, Lea. I ain’t trying to be an asshole to you, but every time I look at you, it reminds me of the treacherous shit you pulled to become a permanent fixture in my world. I don’t want to keep dwelling on that, though, because it’s been almost ten years, and I’m working on letting it go.
“I respect you as the mother to my son, so I’m going to do you a favor and contact the realtor to get you set up in your own shit. You can stay there rent-free for one year, then after that, you’re on your own. I suggest you start looking for a better job so that you can afford it. Sounds good?”
“Fine. But can I stay here until you find me a place? I can’t stay there with them, Si.”
“You pushing it, man.”
“I have to. You don’t know what it’s like.
” She stepped closer to me and whispered, “I caught Matthew lifting my gown while I was asleep, and I wasn’t wearing any panties.
When I told Malea about it, she swears he didn’t do that to me.
I can’t stay there, Messiah. I don’t want to have to hurt my sister or her badass son. ”
“That’s some sick shit.” I shook my head. “I guess, Jalea. Since I know you won’t be here long, you can stay.”
“Thank you! Thank you!” She wrapped her arms around me and hugged me tightly. I vaguely pushed her back. “Sorry.”
“You’re doing too much. I’ll be back in a little while.”
“Okay,” she responded, beaming at me.
I shook my head and headed out of the kitchen to take a shower and get dressed.
Now I had to deal with this mean-ass girl because I was for sure going to be late—on purpose, that is.
“You’re late,” was the first thing she said when she opened the door.
She was standing in a black silk robe and high heels. Her hair was pulled up in a big bun, and her caramel skin was blemish-free. Arie was a beautiful woman with an ugly attitude, but I was determined to change that about her.
I stepped closer to her, and she pushed me back.
“Chill, mama. I had to shower, get dressed, and make sure my son was secured.”
“Ain’t your baby mama there? Couldn’t she see your son off to bed?”
A light smile graced my lips. “She is, but he prefers to kick it with me before he goes down.”
Arie stared at me, and I could see the anger in her eyes.
She’s jealous.
She rolled her eyes and stepped aside, allowing me to enter.
Her home was beautiful and big enough for two families of about six people.
The layout was the classic white and gold decor with splashes of lavender.
I was shocked to see such soft colors from a hard woman because she certainly gave me Scarface vibes.
“Remove your shoes and follow me,” she commanded, turning and grabbing a bottle of champagne from the liquor shelf.
I removed my shoes and trailed her down a hall to an open den. On the floor in the center of the room was a picnic set up.
“Aww, honey bun, you did all this for me?” I joked.
“You make me do a lot of shit that I don’t want to do.”
“Oh yeah? And what exactly are those things?”
“Inviting you in my personal space is one. I never invite anyone to my home.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t trust people.”
“Why?”
She sighed and blinked her lashes at me. “This what we doing? Playing twenty-one questions?”
“I’d love to know more about you, Arieana.
It won’t hurt to share your feelings with someone other than family.
I’m trying to be your safe space.” I pulled her to me, wrapping my arms around her slim waist and kissing her neck.
She stood stiffly with her arms at her sides.
“Hug your man back, baby. Come on… You can do it,” I encouraged her in a teasing tone.
Slowly, her arms came up as she wrapped them around my neck.
My hands found her ass as I squeezed them both and jiggled them. “I know you needed this hug.”
She pulled away from me. “You swear you know what I need.”
“I do. You need me.”
“I don’t need shit from you but your dick.”
“So, you’re just using me for dick?”
She frowned. “What else do I need you for?”
I smirked. “For love, a home, a family, and great sex.”
“Great sex is all I need, Messiah.”
“We’ll see. Come on, show me what you made your man.”
She pulled away from me. “Okay, let’s lay out some ground rules, right now.
I don’t do love, affection, sentiments, or none of that shit.
This whole setup was for me only, but then I started thinking about that dick and wanted him to join the party.
Don’t try to make this more than what it is, because this ain’t that. ”
“How you want the dick and not the man it’s attached to? We’re a package deal, baby.”
“You could be ignored, nigga.”
“Who the fuck hurt you so I can go settle up with that nigga? There is no way a woman as beautiful as you just woke up one day and decided to be this heartless. I’m not believing that shit.”
“You don’t know my life?—”
“I’m trying to, but you’re making shit difficult. I know you like me outside of this premium dick I give you. I know ya people ain’t raise you to be that way.”
“What do you want from me, Messiah? You want to know how my father taught me and Paige how to hustle since high school? Or by the age of twenty-one, we were trained shooters? Or maybe you’d like to know that my father and uncle have always been the men I looked up to, who I admired and wanted to be like?
I didn’t have a… what you would call, ‘soft life.’ My mom tried to do girly shit with me, but I was too much of a tomboy by the time she tried.
“I’d always been a daddy’s girl. When he went away, so did my emotions.
I knew I had to be hard because the opposite sex looks at women as being beneath them.
They look at us as weak and vulnerable, and they prey on that shit.
I couldn’t allow them to think I was one of them, so I cut out the bullshit and got straight to the point.
Sex with no strings and no promises of a future. It’s just who I am, Messiah.”
I watched her as she searched through songs on the YouTube app on the mounted TV.
The way she said it so casually, I knew she had some major damage done to her heart.
I wanted to fix it. I didn’t know why, but there was something pulling me to her, encouraging me to be the one to heal her broken heart.
“What do you desire most, Arieana?”