Chapter Four #3
Scottie stood in the line at Family Dollar waiting for the slow cashier to ring up the customer before her.
It was obvious that the cashier was new, but Scottie didn’t care.
She was on her last head of the day and all she needed was a pack of rubber bands.
The self-checkout line was down, the store was hot and overcrowded, and Scottie was seconds away from slipping the rubber bands in her pocket and calling it a day.
“Lo,” a small voice from behind her whined, causing her to slightly turn around. “Can you just pay somebody to do my hair this time? You don’t do it right.”
Scottie smiled at the set of messy-haired twins before her eyes landed on their father.
He was rather young, but handsome, nonetheless.
Scottie knew everyone from around the way, but she had never seen him.
His baggy clothing screamed dope boy, but she could tell there was more to him.
When he finally gazed up at her, Scottie could see the stress behind his drowsy eyes.
“Can we help you?” One of the twins barked, snapping Scottie out of her stare down.
“'Cause you all in our mix,” the other added, scooting closer to their father.
“Chill,” his deep voice calmly reprimanded them.
“Brother, do you know her or something?”
“Ah, brother.” Scottie nodded her head. That made more sense to her.
“Ah, nosey,” the sassier of the two twins mocked.
“What I just say?” the man growled. “My fault.”
“It’s ok.” Scottie smiled. “I don’t play about my brother either.”
“Type shit,” he nonchalantly uttered.
Scottie cleared her throat and turned back around.
Discreetly sliding her hand to her mouth, she checked her breath and then smoothed out her hair.
Scottie was dressed simply in a pair of jean shorts that cuffed her ass and a halter top that displayed her dimples and back tattoos.
Sighing, she stood back on her legs, pushing her knees back, making her ass sit up a little higher.
When Logic didn’t bite, Scottie pretended to look around the store like she forgot something. Her eyes fell on Logic, and since he wasn’t paying her any attention, she quickly scanned the items in his hand. Her eyes landed on the plastic rubber bands, Jam, and hard bristle brushes.
“You should get the ponytail holders. Those plastic rubber bands break so easily,” she pointed out. “And those brushes are too harsh for their hair.”
Logic peered down at the items in his hands and then back up at the stranger.
“You do hair or something?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Gimme your number.” He whipped out his phone.
“I-uh-” Scottie stuttered, taken aback by his demand.
“For their hair and shit.”
“Whoa, how do you know she can do hair for real?” One of the twins frowned. “We can’t just have anybody in our hair, Lo.”
“Are you good at what you do?” Logic asked, staring at Scottie.
“I am.”
“See.” He winked at his sisters. “Let me get ya number.”
“Oh, uh, ok.” She recited her number before the cashier called for the next customer. “What about your hair?” Scottie peered up at his scruffy fro.
“My shit straight,” he chuckled, pulling at the ends.
“A straight mess,” one of the twins mumbled, making the other giggle.
“I could hook you up, too.” Scottie smiled, paying the cashier. “Hit me up.” She winked before switching off.
Their relationship started off casual. Scottie would come over, do his sisters’ hair, and leave.
She never asked too many questions, but after a while, she noticed that Logic was the sole provider for his siblings.
While she did the twins' hair, he’d sit at the table and help them with their homework or play the video game with his brother.
Scottie loved how he evenly divvied his time between the three, making sure they all got the attention they needed, and that turned her on.
He was such a protector, and she needed that in her life.
Slowly but surely, Scottie started hanging out a little longer, bringing over dinner and texting Logic even when it wasn’t about the twins’ hair.
When she noticed that he didn’t have a woman, Scottie stepped up to the plate.
She started cooking for him, fucking and sucking him, and babysitting on the regular.
She became a permanent fixture in their life, and Logic was lowkey grateful.
With her being in the house, he was able to move around without worrying about his siblings.
Two years into their relationship, Logic started looking at Scottie sideways.
She was no longer the small-time braider he had met at Family Dollar.
Scottie was traveling from coast to coast, slaying tracks and melting wigs.
She was thee it girl and everyone wanted a piece of her.
Wig companies were sending her products left and right, celebrities were flying her out, and the niggas were on her jock.
Logic wasn’t the jealous type, but he also wasn’t a fool.
Whenever Scottie was at home, all she wanted to do was party and hang out with her friends.
She no longer wanted to do the twins' hair, but she didn’t want anyone else to do their hair.
Scottie could be miles away, and if she got word that another woman touched the twins' hair, she would be blowing Logic’s phone down.
She wasn’t stupid and knew that Logic was fine as fuck.
Any bitch doing his sisters’ hair was probably smiling all in his face, and she wasn’t ok with that.
Besides the hair situation, Scottie hated it when Logic included his siblings in anything that involved her.
She hated the movie nights, she never wanted to cook anymore, and if Logic wasn’t dicking her down, she was complaining about them never spending time together.
Scottie wanted to take trips with other couples, but Logic wasn’t in a position to just up and leave.
He couldn’t take her shopping and they didn’t go to the exclusive restaurants she had grown accustomed to.
In reality, Logic wasn’t on her level, and instead of telling him that, she started moving funny.
On one of her many trips to New York, Scottie texted Logic and told him she could no longer be fifth place in his life.
She went on to say she couldn’t help him raise kids that weren’t hers, and she also couldn’t sit around and wait for him to make time for her.
Scottie was used to men spoiling her, and Logic didn’t have the money to spoil her.
Any extra money he had went to his household and the kids.
Logic didn’t bother responding to her text.
He had real life shit going on and it didn’t involve her.
Logic had the twins pack her shit and Sage dragged it to the porch.
A few months later, Scottie’s face, body parts, and explicit text messages were trending on every blog and media outlet for sleeping with a client's husband. Not only did she lose every other client she had, but she lost brand deals. No one wanted to work with a woman with a reputation for sleeping with married men. It didn’t take long before Scottie was back in her parents' kitchen doing hair and blowing Logic’s phone up about giving her another chance.
“Well,” Scottie huffed into the phone. “What are you doing today? Can I come over?”
“Nah. I’m chilling with the troops.”
“All day?” She sucked her teeth.
“Yep, I'll hit you when they go to sleep tonight.”
“Whatever, Lo. They aren’t babies. They know we still kick it.”
“Yea, but they don’t like the shit.”
Rolling her eyes to the sky, Scottie sighed. “So they’re going to just run your life forever, huh?”
“It’s Sunday, Scottie, go do some self-care bullshit yall females like to brag about.”
“You got some self-care money to give me?”
“Nope,” he pulled the phone away from his mouth. “Call one of your other niggas.”
Beep beep beep
Scottie called right back, and Logic sent her to voicemail. She no longer had access to that part of his life. He answered her calls on his own terms, never hers. If she wasn’t doing his sisters’ hair or keeping an eye on them, he didn’t have shit for her.
“Brother.” Shugg strolled into the kitchen with her phone in her hand. “You told Scottie I needed my hair done?”
“Nah. You want your hair done?” Logic responded.
“No, I was going to see if Ms. G could hook me up. I need a wash, deep conditioning, a hot oil treatment, and my ends clipped. I love my braids, but my edges need a break.” She dramatically tapped her hairline. “I’m going to rock a wrap for a while.”
“Then tell her that when you want your hair braided, you’ll reach out.”
“Ok.” Shugg pressed the phone to her ear.
Logic didn’t know what Scottie said, but it caused his sister’s eyebrows to meet in the middle of her forehead.
“Girl, no, stop being messy. If he's not answering his phone, I’m not about to pass him mine. Have some couth about yourself.” She ended the call.
“Next time she call on some help fix my relationship type shit, block her, and I’ll find somebody else to do yall hair.”
“Will do,” Shugg sang over her shoulder.
Logic chuckled and turned his attention back to his phone.
His sister’s nonchalant demeanor mirrored his.
She was aware of the reason he and Scottie broke up, and for a while, Shugg didn’t want Scottie doing her hair.
It didn’t matter that Logic allowed her to come back around, the twins weren’t fucking with her, and they didn’t hide it.
Reaching on top of the refrigerator, Logic grabbed his bills folder and the eyeglasses that rested next to it.
Wiping off the glasses, he placed them on his face, picked up the knot of money off the counter, and strolled into the living room.
Sunshine Anderson’s Heard It All Before played over the sound system while Spice bopped around the living room, dusting and recording content for her Twitch account.
“Freestyle, brother.” She handed him the duster to use as a microphone and focused the camera on him.