17. Cali
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CALI
“ W hew! I just pray that God protects me from the men who act broke, busted, and disgusted with me but be so flashy for everybody else,” my coworker, Yalissa, said, although I felt like she was trying to be slick messy.
Jarielle was off that day, and I hated when I had to work with any manager other than her. Hell, any coworker in general, but especially Yalissa. I had suspicions that she had slept with Jayceon before. She would always try to ask me about my relationship with him. And even when Jayceon came to the store once, they eyed each other like they knew one another.
“Well, you sure have a lot of niggas around here like that,” I said, only because I had literally a minute before I could go on my break, so I chose to entertain the conversation for the time being.
She leaned on the counter. “I’m curious. Why don’t you hang out with many people anymore?”
“I used to be a people person, but I’m not big on people no more. People ruined that. I’ve seen sides of weird that I never knew existed. Not to mention, these days, females gossip about each other and then sit at the same table. The only people I want around me are solid, humble, and real,” I answered.
I was being honest. I was so protective of myself that I’d literally cut off somebody simply for having the wrong energy.
“Well, I get all of that, but maybe you were just hanging with the wrong set of females. Come out and go to the club with me this weekend! I’m celebrating my birthday!”
“Happy early birthday,” I said, forcing a smile that didn't reach my eyes. “But I can’t. I won’t have a babysitter.”
Although that was true, I still couldn’t see myself celebrating anything with her.
Yalissa waved her hand. “Girl, I stay with my grandma, and she’s known as the hood babysitter. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind looking after your babies for a night.”
I scrunched up my face at the audacity that she’d think I’d leave my kids with a total stranger… in the hood at that. Not to be mistaken, I wasn’t staying in the finer parts of Las Vegas, but it was a little upgraded from the hood. Besides, I didn’t even fuck with Yalissa like that; we just happened to be coworkers. So, I wasn’t sure what made her think I’d willingly allow my kids to stay with her grandma.
“No disrespect, Yalissa, but I don’t know your grandma, so I won’t be comfortable doing that. Maybe another time.”
“I have kids too, so I feel you, but sometimes we have to make sacrifices, girl, and say fuck them kids for a night! You know… so you can live a little! Oh, the joy of living with my grandma. I always have an in-house babysitter!” she exclaimed, like throwing her kids off on her grandma was the most normal thing to do.
I wasn’t sure how old her grandma was, but I was sure she had at least one health problem that probably prevented her from being the best ‘babysitter’ she could be to her great-grands.
“Look, Yalissa, everyone has different priorities, and my number one priority will always be my children. I may not always be able to turn up, but I, ” I emphasized, “can turn on my lights, water, and gas. It’s called being responsible. I’ve had to live under someone else’s roof for years after I turned eighteen, with them telling me what to do, and I didn’t like that shit. I vowed never to backtrack to that. That’s why I bust my ass the way I do. So, I guess I’m responsibility t urned up. I’m going on break,” I finished, then walked off.
I had failed at a lot of things, but I prayed every day that I didn’t fail as a mother.
After grabbing two slices of pizza that Yalissa ended up having to ring up, I went outside to retrieve my charger from my car so my phone could charge while I sat down and ate. As I was heading back inside, I bumped into an ol’ hater of mine.
“Well, if it isn’t my old friend Cali! Hey, girl! I haven’t seen you in almost a year!” Teri exclaimed with her fake cheerfulness.
“And, honestly, we could’ve gone another ten years without seeing each other, and I’d be just as uninterested to see you then as I am now,” I quipped.
Teri’s friend, a petite girl with a bold attitude, chimed in. “Aye, chill with all that rough talk. That shit ain’t even necessary.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle, using humor to suppress the urge to spazz out.
“Teri, I would advise you to get your lil’ friend if you both know what’s best for y’all, ” I warned. I directed a pointed look at her friend, emphasizing that I wasn’t someone to be played with.
“She—” Teri’s friend began to retort, ready to engage in a verbal sparring match, but Teri quickly cut her off, sensing the tension brewing between us.
“It’s cool, Gina. This is Juelz’s ex , so she has a reason to feel the way she does. I mean, I’d probably feel some type of way if my man left me to be with my friend, too.”
I took a deep breath, trying to center myself. Sometimes, it feels like a person is tested the most when they’re on the path to self-improvement.
“Oh, shit, this is the Cali chick you were telling me about?”
“Yes, this is my dear old friend, but look, go inside. I need to holla at her for a minute.”
“You sure you’re good?” Gina asked for clarity.
“As long as she chooses her words wisely, you'll both be just fine,” I interjected, wanting to hold both of them accountable if anything were to pop off.
“Just go,” Teri insisted, nudging her friend gently.
The girl hesitated for a moment, her uncertainty evident, but ultimately, she headed inside the store, leaving Teri and me outside to face the tension in the air.
“Teri, what the fuck do you want?” I asked in irritation as soon as her friend stepped off. “Now, I might avoid drama, but don’t think you can come to my job and start shit, and I won’t beat your ass because I will! And it just so happens that I have openings today if you wanna get the shit slapped out of you! Then again, you know to come to my job trying to be messy because if I were to see you out on the street and you were talking this shit, you wouldn’t have been able to get a whole sentence out before I knocked your ass out! Now, again, what do you want?”
“Honestly, I had no idea you’d be here. I didn’t even know you worked here, but since we have crossed paths, there is something that I want to run across you.”
“Which is?” I asked with a roll of my neck.
“Juelz told me that you’ve been still hitting him up, asking for money.”
I laughed loudly in an almost incredulous tone.
“Hitting him up? Asking him for money? Me ?” I laughed again. “Whew! Now, that’s funny! Now, when he told you that ridiculous narrative, what proof did he have to back it up with it?”
I looked at Teri, who wore a dumbfounded expression.
“Of course, there wasn’t any because the shit never happened! Girl, bless your little heart for believing everything a nigga tells you… that nigga, anyway. Teri, Juelz ain’t shit, and you knew that when he was with me! I just guess you had to test the waters out for yourself, huh?”
Little did Teri know, it was her nigga who was hitting me up almost daily, begging for another chance and, of course, some pussy. He was also sending me money. Any other day, I would’ve been overjoyed to flaunt that kind of evidence in her face, but since my mom had already pushed my buttons that morning, all I craved was a moment of peace to enjoy my lunch in solitude.
“Maybe he wasn’t faithful to you, but I don’t have those problems,” she boasted, flashing her cheap-looking ring in my face. “You see, we’re getting married.”
“Okay! What exactly do you want me to say? Congratulations? Keep up the good work?” I chuckled with a hint of sarcasm. “I swear you bitches be trying to make me give a fuck so bad! Baby, it’s just not in me. Teri, unlike you, I have no desire to prove to the next woman that I am the better option, although in this case, I am because I’m the one who got away. Hell, I don’t care if Juelz downgraded or upgraded with you, as long as he got the fuck away from me!”
“The posts you make says differently.”
I chuckled because either she was a real dumb bitch to just let it be known that she was watching my page, or that shit just miraculously slipped from her mouth.
“Teri, you’ve got to be one bothered bitch to bother a woman who’s not worried about yo’ ass! Now, why are you on my page to begin with? Let’s start there. I know it hurts to go to my page, and ain’t nobody ugly on there but you.”
Teri wasn’t an unattractive woman by any means. In fact, if I were to describe her, I would say she was strikingly similar to me in appearance—almost like a mirror image. The most noticeable difference between us was that while I embraced my natural looks, every aspect of Teri’s figure seemed to have been enhanced through cosmetic procedures. It felt as if she had gone under the knife specifically to replicate my features, which was a testament to how fixated she was on my appearance and how envious she was of me. It was like my natural beauty had become a benchmark that she felt compelled to meet. Teri’s obsession with looking like me only served to highlight her insecurities, painting a clear picture of just how much she admired and, at times, resented me for it.
“You know,” I continued. “I never understood people who unfriend, block, and claim to not like others but somehow still find their way lurking on said person’s page. The shit gives weirdo behavior. Secondly, I have a nigga, and although he ain’t shit like Juelz, I still got one! So, a post you may think is in reference to yo’ man is probably meant for my stupid and hoeish ass nigga! Lastly, unlike you, I don’t care enough to stalk a bitch’s page, throw subliminals, go through a nigga’s phone, argue with bitches, none of that weak ass shit that I’m sure you do that probably brings you to a big orgasm because I know Juelz sure can’t do that for you!
“Lastly, I don’t care who thinks my posts be about them. Stop talking about me, and you won’t think I’m talking about you; that’s your guilty coincidence. That being said, don’t ever approach me about a nigga, especially one who I could easily take from you with one simple ‘I miss you’ text. But I ain’t on that shit or that nigga. Baby, I’m at peace; please go and find yours. Move the fuck out of my way!”
I deliberately bumped her and prepared to head back inside, but her next words stopped me in my tracks.
“I just want to let you know that Juelz said he’s coming for his kids… your kids.” Her voice held a mix of warning and satisfaction.
Anger coiled in my stomach, forcing me to pivot abruptly, my feet digging into the ground as I faced her squarely.
I turned on my heels and stepped in her face.
“Bitch, what did you just say?” I demanded, my voice low and intense, almost a growl.
Her eyes widened, and she instinctively stepped back, surprise etching her features as she grasped the intensity radiating from me.
“Juelz said since you won’t let him see them, he’s going to take you to court for a DNA test.”
“Well, you tell that muthafucka that he’d just be wasting his time and money because they’re not his! I’ve told his ass this numerous times! So, I’d suggest he not spend the little money he has on making himself look like a damn fool! My kids don’t have an ounce of his DNA running through their veins! We weren’t even having sex during the time I got pregnant, and he knows that! But since you’re relaying messages, relay this to him. Tell that nigga before he even thinks about coming for me or my kids, I’ll flip this whole world upside down about them!
“Y’all muthafuckas better do y’all research on me! Before I was a mother, I was a menace to society! That black ass nigga is better off playing with that limp dick of his, and you’ll be better off playing with yo’ stank pussy than thinking you could play with me! As a matter of fact, you might want to go and get yo’ shit checked! Yo, PH balance should tell you that your nigga is cheating, but I guess you don’t smell it!”
By then, a small crowd had tuned in on our argument.
“PH balance?” She scoffed. “Says the girl who let niggas run a train on her! Yeah, Kimberlee told me about you and her lil’ wild night.”
I chuckled and sucked my teeth.
“Is that so? Hmph. Well, in life, we must always find out things straight from the horse’s mouth and not listen to the hater or bitter friend, in this case, spreading the gossip. As for whatever rumor you’ve heard about me, I ain’t clearing up shit! I probably did do it, and if I didn’t, I just might. But if somebody telling you my business, imagine what they said about you to me. Did you put some sand in your vagina and make them crabs feel more at home when you were running around here itching between your legs?!”
Teri's eyes widened in disbelief as she stared at me, the shock evident on her face. It was clear that my knowledge of her personal business had taken her by surprise. I could almost see the gears turning in her mind, and I was confident she understood that the only person who could have revealed such intimate information to me about her was Kimberlee, the same individual who had apparently whispered details about my own affairs to Teri. The tangled web of secrets we wove seemed to deepen with each revelation, leaving us caught in a confusing maze of trust and betrayal.
I chuckled. “You see, every time somebody tries to be funny with me, they end up being the joke! So, yeah, while your newfound bestie was telling my business to you, please believe she didn’t forget to tell me a few of your secrets!”
Situations like that were why I didn’t fuck with too many females. A lot of those muthafuckas were disloyal as fuck.
When Teri mentioned that we used to be friends, she was speaking the truth. The story began with just me and my ex-friend Kimberlee. However, everything changed when I started working at Wendy’s, where I met Teri. I thought it would be a good idea to introduce her to Kimberlee, hoping we could all enjoy each other’s company. Before long, the three of us became thick as thieves, spending countless hours together and confiding in one another. Sadly, yet thankfully, our little trio only lasted for two years.
During that second year, I began to notice a shift in the friendship. Teri and Kimberlee seemed to develop a connection that surpassed the friendship we had all built together, even the one Kimberlee and I had before Teri came along. I found out through the grapevine that Kimberlee was sharing personal secrets with Teri—details from my life that predated our friendship. I felt a growing sense of exclusion as the two of them started to have phone conversations and plan outings without inviting me.
As time passed, I gradually began to understand what was happening, even if the reasons behind it remained a mystery to me. The feeling of being on the outside looking in was hard to bear, so I made the difficult decision to step back and remove myself from ‘their’ circle for my own peace of mind. However, the fallout I experienced with Kimberlee stemmed from an entirely different issue unrelated to Teri.
“Cali, girl, get inside!” Yalissa ushered me, grabbing me by my arm and practically dragging me back into the store. I didn’t even know she had come outside.
As we were walking in, Teri’s friend was leaving, causing me to stop in my tracks.
“As for you,” I began with my finger pointed in her face, “never let someone recruit you into hating someone who never wronged you! Be an adult!”
“Girl, what the fuck?” she replied.
“Please leave! Or I’ll be forced to call the police for harassment!” Yalissa warned Gina.
“It ain’t even that serious, but yeah, aight,” she replied, then turned to leave, but not before shooting me a hateful glare.
“Ugh! These bitches so lucky I don’t own a dragon!” I muttered once I was back inside the store.
“Mr. Bill, I’ll be right with you!” Yalissa told a frequent customer of ours who had just approached the counter for assistance.
“Take your time, Lisa,” as he called her. “I’m in no rush, sweetie.”
Yalissa smiled and then diverted her attention to me. “Look, Cali, I know the type of female you are. you don’t play any games.” She chuckled. “And although I’m not sure what went on out there, you know that unhappy people start the most drama for no reason. That being said, you can’t let bitches like that get to you and take you off your square… even if it’s momentarily. You have too much going for yourself and too much to lose to be in jail behind one of these bitches!” she voiced in a hushed tone. “Now, I know we both are mothers, but compared to me, you’re a damn good mama! Believe it or not, I’ve always looked up to you, and your speech today about priorities and your kids inspired me and has motivated me to become a better mom.”
I love being told that I’m a good mom. I take that shit to heart because I try so hard. But who would’ve thought that Yalissa looked up to me all this time? It’s amazing how life works. It really does pay to be kind and to carry a positive spirit, as you never know who is quietly observing your actions and drawing inspiration from your example.
“I said that to say sometimes we have to be the bigger person and just walk away from certain things,” she finished.
“Being the bigger person in that situation would’ve been pretty much me accepting the disrespect, and I wasn’t going to, but I get what you’re saying. Believe it or not, it’s been a long time since I had to go off on a bitch like her. But thanks for the advice,” I genuinely said.
“No problem, girl. I’m just glad it was me here and not Wayden’s ass! You know she’s a bitch,” she said in a low tone as if Wayden was at work that day. Wayden was the overall manager.
“I know, right,” I agreed.
“But take you an hour break, starting now. Sit down, enjoy your lunch, and just calm down a little. I’ll cover for you.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, girl. This is usually downtime, anyway. Besides, I’m the boss today, remember?” She smiled.
I chuckled. “You don’t have to tell me twice then, boss .”
As Yalissa turned to walk away, I realized there was something on my mind that I wanted to ask her before she got too far.
“Yalissa?”
She hastily faced me. “Yeah?”
“Have you and my boyfriend―”
“Girl, no!” she firmly declared, cutting me off before I could finish. “If you’re worried about whether I’ve ever slept with your man, the answer is a definite no. He has tried to make a move, though, but that’s a whole different story for another time. Enjoy your lunch.”
I nodded and decided to drop the conversation.
As I sat there, gazing out of the window, I caught sight of Teri and Gina finally peeling out of the parking lot. A sense of relief washed over me as I decided it was time to redirect my focus. I opened the small container that the pizza was in and took a moment to savor it, feeling grateful that it was still at a warm temperature. As I ate, I busied myself, uploading pictures of the hairstyles I had done over the past two weeks onto my business page on Facebook.
Time flew by, and before I realized it, thirty minutes had slipped away. Satisfied with my productivity, I finished my water and felt a familiar pressure, reminding me it was time to visit the restroom. Upon returning, I glanced out the window and suddenly froze when I saw a familiar figure approaching the entrance of the store. It was him—Draco!
Thoughts of him had crossed my mind several times after our brief encounter. I hadn’t mentioned him to Jai, though, simply because I didn’t think I would ever see him again, nor had we made a connection that warranted a discussion about him. Although he was fine as hell, I kind of hoped he wouldn’t remember me at all. The last thing I needed was another nigga in my life. My ideal scenario was for him to simply walk into the store, get whatever he needed, and leave without noticing me. Yet, despite my wishes, I had a feeling that fate might have had different plans for me that day.