10. Jacobia
SOME TIME LATER…
“LaQuay, I’m proud of you for brushing, flossing, and using your Waterpik like I told you. I can tell,” I praised him. “You want to make sure you keep these teeth healthy. You don’t want to be twenty with your side teeth missing.”
He chortled. “Ms. Jacobia, I know I got to take care of my teeth. I can’t be caught slippin’ out here by my ladies with no side teeth.” He was thirteen now and at the beginning of his girl crazy stage. Earlier this year, he had a major growth spurt. He now stood taller than me and his mama, Juliet.
“Boy, you better calm down with all that. You don’t have no ladies unless it’s the ones on the video games that you play. If that’s the case, we have bigger problems,” Juliet said with a roll of her eyes. I couldn’t contain my laughter.
I was in Vegas for my monthly free dental clinic for the children. This was the only time that I came to Vegas now. Life had been hectic for me lately, so I stayed focused on what was now important.
Juliet told her son to go sit in the lobby while she talked to me. “I haven’t seen you at the club in forever, Jacobia. What’s up with that?” she inquired with a raised brow.
My shoulders moved upward toward my ears. “I have different priorities now. I guess times have changed.”
She smiled, then said, “I guess they have. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. Just letting you know that you are missed.”
I read the underlying sentence but chose to ignore it. I hadn’t physically seen or talked to Joston since the morning after Lark’s wedding. I woke up that morning after our tryst and he was gone. No note, goodbye, or anything. That hurt my feelings because I thought we were better than that. When we had sex in my bed, I knew it was goodbye, so I settled in my spirit that it was our last time.
Although it was the last time, I never thought that he would stop communicating with me altogether. Well, I guess I couldn’t say altogether. Every once in a blue moon, I got a how are you text. My response was always: blessed as I hope you are. His response also remained the same: I am. I missed him so much. I had no one to blame but myself for why he separated from me.
“Well, tell everyone that I said hey.” That was all I had for the topic. We talked for a few more minutes before she and her son were on their way. They were my last patients of the day.
When I made the choice to do my free dental clinic here, I purchased a building. There was an option to use someone else’s practice while I was here, but I liked things the way that I liked them. When I came here, I brought my own staff along as well. They loved coming with me since they were able to travel on my family’s private jet.
My staff cleaned so that I could leave and get back to my house. Oh, I owned a home here as well. As soon as I walked into my house, the smell of fried chicken filled the air, causing my stomach to grumble. I threw my bag on the couch, then went straight to the kitchen. Kree, Liam’s wife, was in the kitchen cooking. My sister-in-law, Maise, and she did the glam for a wedding here this weekend. When I told them that I would be in Vegas also, they invited themselves to my house.
“I’m so damn hungry,” I whined. I sat on the stool at the kitchen island. “Where is everyone else?”
Kree peeked over her shoulder. “Girl, when are you not hungry. You know their asses are lounging out by the pool like they don’t do that at home.”
What became a business trip for Maisie, Kree, and me turned into a mini girls’ trip. When Galiana found out that we were going to be in Vegas at the same time, she invited herself. Since she came, it only made sense that her best friend Pea came too. Pea mentioned the trip to her sister-in-law, my cousin Mauri, so she added her name to the passenger manifest. If that wasn’t enough people, Taelyn hopped her young ass in the mix too. Lark would have come if she and Chance weren’t in Baltimore for her cousin’s wedding.
Like they heard me ask about them, they all came into the house. “Aye, that food ready yet? Cobia, when did you get here?” Galiana asked.
“I just walked in a second ago.” I turned my attention to Taelyn. “Baby Tae, did you make some banana pudding?”
Between her and our auntie Lela, I didn’t know who made the best banana pudding. I was addicted to the stuff. “Yes, girl. It’s in the refrigerator, waiting on you.”
She didn’t have to tell me but once. Mauri went over to the stove on the wall and pulled out a pan of what my nostrils told me was red rice. Serving dishes were pulled from the cupboard, filled with food, then placed on the dining room table. Grace was said and we all dug in.
“We should walk the strip this evening. Get in some shopping,” Pea suggested.
My face scrunched. “I’m not about to go nowhere with y’all asses. Newsflash, all of y’all husbands are missing many bolts. Bolts that hold what should be their logic, sanity, and common sense just rolling around the grounds of heaven where God forgot to add them.”
I was surprised that their crazy ass husbands weren’t lurking around Vegas as we sat here right now. “Um, my husband is not crazy,” Kree said with her nose turned up.
Everyone’s head slowly turned to face her. Maise was the first to speak. “Did you just say that your husband, Liam Christianson, isn’t crazy?” She put her finger on her chin. “Remind me, was it not your husband that paralyzed a starting quarterback of another team because he posted a comment under one of your posts that he was gonna fuck you and send you back to Liam? That was your husband, right?”
Kree sat back in her seat. “First of all, we aren’t supposed to talk about that. Secondly, whose husband was with my husband to paralyze said quarterback?”
“Oh, I never said my man wasn’t crazy. He’s bat shit crazy. I love that for me and my babies.” Maise swooned.
See, there was a misconception that just because Liam was this big professional football player that he wouldn’t go all the way in on someone. He might not be Choppa’s biological son, but Liam was Lil Choppa. The family made sure to keep him as far removed as possible when it came to the things that could get him caught up. Justin, my older brother, Maisie’s husband, was still active with Christianson Enterprises.
Pea waved her hand. “Forget all that. We’re going. That new bag that Mama Mira wants is only sold in a boutique here.” Her brow rose. “I know y’all not going to let me go on that strip alone.” This bitch.
* * *
We’d been out the door for almost four damn hours, and I was ready to go. I’d been up since six this morning, working since eight. That with the jetlag was challenging. When I got to my house, the only thing that I had time to do was eat, then take a shower. I tried to sneak in a nap, but that was a bust.
All the girls had multiple bags while I had two. I hated shopping physically in stores. I was an online shopper to the death of me. “Cobia, look at this.”
Great, here comes Taelyn with some shit I don’t need. Now that the twins were almost two years old, Draco and she were trying for another one. I didn’t blame them for wanting stairstep children. Get that shit out of the way. I glanced at what she had in her hand. “I don’t need it.”
She kissed her teeth. “Bitch, yes you do. That’s exactly why I’m going to buy it.”
“Make sure you take that shit to your house too. I don’t need any more stuff at mine,” I quipped. “Y’all, I’m tired. Can we go?”
Pea looped her arm in mine. “Come on. I know you’re tired.” She leaned into me. “Hell, I’m tired as hell too.”
We all waited for Taelyn to buy me stuff that I didn’t need, then we left. On our way to our Sprinter, I saw the last person that I wanted to see. Please don’t see me. Please don’t see me.
“Well, hey, Ms. Jacobia. Long time no see.” Why the hell was this bitch talking to me?
I took a deep breath before I responded. “Noelle, it’s nice to see you.” She was with a little entourage that I prayed were smart enough to just be onlookers.
My smile was bright. Not because I was happy to see her, but because if I gave any inkling that we had beef, my family would be on her ass. Galiana lived for any opportunity to get active. Motherhood had calmed her down to an extent. Now instead of playing with her kills, when applicable, she immediately killed them so she could be home in time for dinner with the family.
From the expression on Noelle’s face, I knew that this interaction would not go how I wanted it to. She sized me up. “What are you doing in my neck of the woods? I’m sure not to see Joston since he’s not on you. He’s moved on to better.”
Her words stung. Fuck it! “First, broke bitches can’t have necks of the woods. Secondly, don’t you have a grinch to entertain, Cindy Lou Who?”
From my side glance, I saw Galiana scootching forward. Out of everyone here, she was the craziest and most ready to get active. Behind her was Taelyn, ironically. She recently went back to work at Christianson Enterprises on a part-time basis. Her husband put her through extra training to do so. She fussed the entire time because she felt it was unnecessary since she was on the tech side. Mauri told her that it was a good idea to do the training.
She kissed her teeth before she took a step toward me. Her finger was up, I guessed to point in my face. The ‘b’ and ‘i’ from the word bitch only had time to leave her mouth before Galiana chopped the girl in her neck with the side of her hand. Noelle grabbed her throat and dropped to the ground. Her little friends let out a shriek and backed up.
Pea, Mauri, Kree, Maisie, and Taelyn made a semi-circle behind Galiana to conceal her. Ah hell! She pulled out her gun from the holster under her shirt, cocked it, and put it to Noelle’s head. “So, I don’t like mean girls. Are you a mean girl, Cindy Lou Who?”
Noelle was still on the ground with her hand on her throat and coughing. I rolled my eyes because the chop wasn’t even that hard. If anything, it was more shocking than hurtful. Galiana tapped the gun on her temple and told her to answer the question. “No! I’m not. My… my name is Noelle.”
The way all of us, including Noelle’s friends, scrunched our faces at her correcting Galiana was comical. Galiana popped the girl on the forehead with her hand. “Girl, you a silly bitch. Look, I don’t know who you are, but what I do know is that my gun hasn’t released a bullet in…” She paused and looked at her watch. “In eleven months, two weeks, four days, eighteen hours, twelve minutes, and sixteen seconds. Seventeen, eighteen.
“With that being said, I’m looking for any reason to check to make sure it’s still working. Don’t be the person that I want to use it on to check,” she told her.
Tears ran down her eyes. I shook my head before I tapped Galiana’s shoulder. “Sis, leave her alone. She’s just a bitch that’s salty about Joston. Let that ho live.”
Her eyes softened when she glanced at me. She stood up, holstered her gun, then stepped back. “Look at God and Cobia working on your behalf. Cindy Lou, you better get up and climb up that hill to get the holiday cheermeister.”
When Galiana put her hand back on her gun holster, Noelle scurried from the ground, then ran off with her friends. Galiana peeked over her shoulder with a glare that was louder than her words. I didn’t need the words, but I knew she would give them to me. “Jacobia, I told you to handle your shit. I don’t like pulling my clapper and not making it clap.”
Pea giggled. “Nobody told your clap happy ass to pull your clapper, best friend.” She walked over to Galiana, grabbed her hand, then said, “Let’s go, trigger happy girl.”
The pout that came to Galiana’s face pulled a titter out of us all. For her to be as savage as she was, her ass was a big ass kid. After we got into our Sprinter, we decided to stop for ice cream. There was more than enough leftovers at the house, so going out for dinner wasn’t necessary. I was so tired that I fell asleep on the way to the ice cream shop, prompting us to get our ice cream to go. Tomorrow was our last day in Vegas, and I was ready to go after today’s run-in with Cindy Lou Who. Vegas for this month was a wrap.
* * *
BACK IN MOUNT PLEASANT…
“Girl, Chance better not ask me for another baby any time soon. I will kick his ass,” Lark whined as she rubbed her protruding belly. My best friend was over her pregnancy.
Chance got that ass pregnant on their wedding day. She was six months pregnant with their son. My godson was giving her hell. She battled with insecurities about the changes to her body. I loved the way that her husband reassured her daily that she was his everything and that she was beautiful carrying his child. “You know it will all be worth it in the end, best friend.”
We were sitting under the cabana near the pool at Christianson Circle. Lately, if I wasn’t at work, I was only here. Lark came to sit with me at least three times a week since I was on what I called social probation. She knew not to make a fuss when I got in this mode and to give me my space until probation was over.
Lark smiled. “Yeah, I know. This boy is already extra and demanding like his damn daddy.” We both chortled. Those were two perfect adjectives to describe Chance. After our laughter subsided, Lark gave me that look that told me the conversation was about to shift to something that was about to get on my nerves. “So, has Joston reached out to you since you left Vegas?”
My left nostril enlarged when my top lip turned up. “Why would he have reached out to me? I doubt he knew I was in Vegas to begin with.”
“Bitch, don’t play with me. I know for a fact that he knew you were in Vegas,” she blurted. “Those little blessed texts that you respond with aren’t enough. He reaches out to Chance to ask me how you’re doing.” When I asked her what she reported back to him, her head bucked back. “The hell! I told him you were very blessed.
“I figured that bitch you ran into would say something to him. You said that she looked like a tattletale ass heifer,” she said with a shrug. “Why do you call that girl Cindy Lou Who?”
I side-eyed her. “You gonna sit here and act like that girl’s two front teeth not too big for her mouth and her nose too small? Add that blonde layaway wig she wears and boom. Cindy Lou Who. I know it has to be a bitch tucking those teeth when she’s sucking dick.”
Lark burst out laughing. “What! You just say whatever come to your leggo my eggo head ass, girl.”
Now it was my turn to laugh. “Really! Where you get that from?
She shrugged then started talking about a baby stroller like she didn’t just call me a leggo my eggo head ass girl. I wasn’t sure how long we sat out there talking about baby stuff until we both heard Chance’s voice. “Jacobia, you finish holding my wife hostage?”
I shifted in my seat to sit up with my legs crossed over each other. I pulled my maxi dress to drape over them. I hadn’t physically seen Chance in a couple months outside of video calls when I talked to Lark. His popping up here was surprising and out of his norm. I turned to look over my shoulder at him. That was when I noticed that he wasn’t alone.
“Joston, what are you doing here?”