Chapter 5
Euri
Earlier The Same Night…
“Yeah, something is up. So, you think she’s on some funny shit? Most of the time, when you feel like it’s some funny shit, it is,” Aaron pointed out.
We were at a popular bar-lounge-type place where we met once a week to chill. My relationship with my brothers was important. My parents pounded it into our heads that our relationship needed to be solid. They wouldn’t accept it any other way. I wouldn’t know what to do without my siblings.
I took a sip from my cup. “Man, I don’t think she’s on some funny shit like talking to another nigga.
I just got to figure the shit out. Her ass doesn’t mind coming over to spend hours at my house.
She got her favorite foods to cook and snacks to eat there.
She just never wants to spend the damn night. ”
My relationship with Bruqlyn would be perfect if she wasn’t on some weird shit about spending the night.
It wasn’t even about the sex. I just wanted to lay in bed with my girl.
She couldn’t say she had an issue being that close to me because we’d laid together on the couch.
We fell asleep one time, but she jolted up like we were in a haunted house or something.
I told her to bring in her night clothes and take a shower, but her ass refused.
We had been together for almost two months, and I’d asked at least six times.
Derrick sucked his teeth. “Why don’t you just have a damn real conversation? It’s not like you to tiptoe around shit. You must really like sis.”
“I’m not tiptoeing around shit. We jumped in this thing real fast, and we’re still learning each other,” I rationalized.
“I have to give her time. Hell, I still don’t know the underlying reason her ass prefers to live in her vehicle instead of a regular place.
She makes more than enough money for an apartment,” I told them.
The fact was that I was willing to be patient with her because I saw her as my forever. I was sure that we had a lot of things to work through. A nigga just needed her to be more open.
“How’s the new contract going?” Derrick asked. “I drove over there the other day out of curiosity. You got those niggas working hard. I saw you up there doing your teaching shit too.”
For our townhomes contract, we hired sixty extra workers.
Of the sixty, fifteen of them were from the college.
I took time twice a week to be on site to work with them and show them vital in the field techniques.
“It’s going good as hell. We’re actually ahead of schedule.
Kara did a good job collaborating with the agency to pick the right staff.
There are a few that she wants to hire permanently. ”
My brothers always told me how proud they were of me. When I got shot, that shit was enough for my young ass, added to the fact that my mother was on my ass. My brothers were different beasts. Both had been shot before but took that shit. They got their get back in the worst way.
They each had businesses separately and jointly that were extremely successful as well. Their strip clubs brought in the most revenue. That was where that dumb bitch Cece—
“Hey, fellas.”
My head dropped back. God, why! I barely thought of the bitch, and there her stupid ass was.
She had been on one since it came out publicly that Bruqlyn and I were in a relationship.
She hadn’t said shit to my baby because she knew better at that point.
Her ass had been making stupid ass posts on social media like I was a social media kind of nigga.
Yeah, I had pages, but I was hardly on them.
“What’s up, Cece and herd?” Derrick greeted. When Cece started to get extra with her posts about my baby and me, he handled it as he should have. He fired her from his strip club where she worked as a bottle girl.
My brothers always stood ten toes down when it mattered. Bruqlyn was their sis and my woman. Disrespect to her was considered disrespect to us. It was almost time for her to meet my parents. Karla’s loud ass told my mama about Bruqlyn. My mother wanted to have a family dinner to meet her.
Cece walked into my view. “Why so quiet, Euri? I’m surprised you’re not with your lil’ girlfriend. Y’all are usually up each other’s ass. I didn’t see you in the gym with her this morning.”
My jaw tightened. “Bitch, it sounds like you’re out here stalking my woman on some creep shit. That makes me feel like I need to take protective measures to keep her safe.” I glared at her with fire in my eyes. “Is that what the fuck I need to do?”
“Nobody’s stalking that bi—girl. She’s not that important for someone to have to stalk her damn ass. You’re the only one that thinks her ass is worth more than her bum ass is.” Her brows dipped deep between her eyes. She was a fucking joke.
I didn’t address her until I finished my drink. “Nah, I don’t think she’s better than everyone. I know for sure that she is. That’s why a nigga like me chose her. You wish it was you, sweetheart. It will never be. Hos are for fun, not for commitment.”
For a split second, hurt flickered in her eyes before anger took its place. “Nigga, fuck you. You ain’t shit, and that ugly bitch ain’t shit. I’d rather be a ho for life than ugly.”
Aaron shook his head with a chuckle. “Cece, you’re really stretching it now. My sis ugly? Nah, you got to be talking about another Bruqlyn. Now, you’re dead on the money with that ho for life thing. With how hard you ho, a few religions would have to team together to get that thing up out of you.”
This nigga! Derrick and I burst into laughter. “I’m not sure even that shit will work. She would have to be taken up in the rapture, downloaded as a new person, then placed back on Earth as a new bitch,” Derrick joked.
That was wild as hell. Cece looked like she might implode at any second. “Fuck all of you. I got something for y’all.”
She stormed off with her herd of hos behind her. “She’s gonna keep playing with me, and I’m gonna have to help her initiate her own death. She clearly wants to commit suicide, so I’m willing to assist.”
We stayed for a little while longer before we parted ways.
My baby worked that night, so I planned to see her in the morning at the gym.
One of my favorite activities was working out with her.
Couple workouts were sexy as fuck. Her little personal trainer came over one day to ask her if she hired someone else.
I didn’t have to say shit because my woman took care of it.
When the time came, I planned to work her ass out on a mattress.
When I got home, I took a shower, ate some of the leftovers in my fridge, then chilled on my couch.
The movie that was on the screen was watching me at that point.
My mind was so consumed with Bruq and what was going on with her.
Something had to give. My phone vibrated against my leg where it sat on the couch next to me.
I picked it up to see what the notification was. IG.
Someone tagged me in something. I didn’t recognize the page name. When I read the caption, I didn’t need to recognize shit because I knew who it was. When you think your bitch is bad but she’s MJ’s lil’ cousin.
“What the fuck is this?” It looked like a bathroom. Yeah, it was the bathroom in the gym. Why the fuck would she tape the empty bathro—
A woman stepped out of the shower with a towel around her body.
She looked familiar as hell. Wait, it’s Bruqlyn.
She looked different though. I watched silently as she pulled on her clothes carefully before she removed her towel.
She then took a bag out of her duffel and laid the contents on the counter.
I watched her put makeup on her face and shoulders.
Was that the reason her ass didn’t want to spend the night? I just knew that couldn’t be the fucking reason. “Yeah, she’s got me fucked up. I bet her ass is spending the night tonight.”
I got up, grabbed what I needed, then left to go to Norma and Grant’s place to pick up Casper.
I met them a couple of weeks ago when they told Bruqlyn to invite me over for a cookout.
They were parent figures in her life. I knew that my baby’s mother passed, but she never spoke about her father.
I didn’t want to touch on that shit too soon.
It didn’t take me long to get to the RV park from my house. Casper was outside with Majesty playing. He knew who I was when I pulled up. “What’s up, boy!” I bent down to pet him when he zoomed over to me.
“Euri! What are you doing here?” Majesty asked. She was the cutest little girl. Her mother did a great job at homeschooling her. When I was there for the cookout, I engaged in conversations with her that made me forget she was a ten-year-old.
My warm smile greeted her. “Hey, pretty. I’m here to get my boy. He’s going to spend the night with me tonight.”
“Oh, Bruqlyn didn’t tell us that you were coming to get him,” Grant interrupted my and his daughter’s little conversation. He had a strong accent that tripped me out. The protectiveness that he showed over my baby was heartfelt and appreciated.
I stood to my feet. “Yeah, she doesn’t know. I want to surprise her.”
His skeptical stare held for a moment before a smile broke through.
“That’s nice of you. She deserves all the good surprises the world has to offer her.
Euri, I know I’m not her biological father, but that makes her no less my daughter.
Just like I will kill behind that one,”—he pointed toward Majesty, who sat with his wife—“I’ll kill behind Bruqlyn with the same intensity. ”
“I respect that. You’ll never have to worry about me intentionally hurting her. Hurting her is like hurting me. I would never do anything to hurt myself. That’s backward as hell,” I told him.
He nodded. “Alright, well, y’all have a good night. Casper, be a good boy.”