5. Saint
I could hear Blessing laughing from the kitchen as I exited the guest room.
The sound of her soft, sweet voice sent a sense of warmth into my spirit.
“Good morning,” I said, leaning my crutches against the island before taking a seat next to her.
The sweet floral scent of her perfume filled my nostrils. She smelled so fucking good.
“Good morning, Moo.” Blessing responded, nudging me. “How’s your knee feeling?”
I grabbed my protein shake, taking a sip of it before shrugging, “It’s okay. A little pain this morning. I put the cream on before I came out of the room, though, so I’ll be straight.”
My phone buzzed on the counter, signaling an incoming call from Mariah. I debated answering it for a moment. It had been a few days since she’d stood me up for dinner, and while I accepted her apology, her story didn’t add up. So, I had been keeping my distance.
“Yo..” I answered.
“Uh, good morning, Moo.” She responded. Her voice was laced with attitude.
“Good morning, Mariah. Wassup?” I watched as my mom rolled her eyes and left the kitchen. She couldn’t understand why I was still with Mariah. Shit, I couldn’t understand either.
“Meet me in the gym when you’re finished.
” Blessing said, squeezing my shoulder before getting up from the island.
My eyes were glued to her as she walked out of the kitchen.
Blessing had a walk that would leave any nigga mesmerized.
The way her hips unintentionally swayed caused a tent in my briefs.
“SAINT!” Mariah yelled into the phone.
“What?”
“Did you hear anything I said?” She huffed.
“Shit, my bad, what’d you say?”
“I asked if you could send me the money to pay the mortgage on my building and condo? You know my birthday vacation is coming up, so I need every penny I make in the upcoming weeks.”
I sucked my teeth. Of course she needed money. I just don’t understand why she needed extra money for her trip when my money was used to fund it. “I guess. The money will be in your account before the end of the day. I gotta go. Bye Ri. Love you.”
“Okay, bye, Saint.” She said, ending the call.
Damn, a thank you would’ve been nice. I shook my head and grabbed my crutches to head into the gym. That phone call put a damper on my mood. Suddenly, I was irritated as fuck. Blessing was seated on one of the benches, talking on the phone when I walked in.
“I’m ready,” I said, leaning my crutches up against the wall before taking a seat on the mat.
“Okay, warm up, then do your quad sets and heel slides.” She instructed after ending her call.
I did as told while she watched me intently.
“Do you feel well enough to get on the bike? Or we can do resistance bands. It’s up to you.” She asked, placing her hands on her hips.
“I can get on the bike.”
“What’s your problem?” She scowled.
“I don’t have a problem, Blessing. Let’s get this session over with.”
“Oop. Okay Saint. Go ahead and get on the bike. We’re going to start at a slow pace and slowly increase. Let me know if it gets uncomfortable for you.”
I slowly got up from the mat and walked towards the bike. Blessing squatted down beside me to adjust the tightness of my knee brace. Once she was done, I started cycling at a very slow pace.
I clenched my jaw, watching Blessing. She had gone back to sitting on the bench, tapping away on her phone.
“You here to sit on that phone or do your fucking job?” I snapped.
She looked up from her phone and rolled her eyes at me. “Saint, I can literally see you. You need me to hold your hand?”
“I need you to do what the fuck I’m paying you for. I paid you half a mil to get me back on the gotdamn field! So if I need you to hold my hand, then that’s what you need to do, Blessing. Or I can find somebody else. Matter fact, from here on out, leave the fucking phone in the car.”
She chuckled, standing from the bench. “Look, I don’t know what the fuck your problem but you got me fucked up, Saint.
Just cause your little girlfriend pissed you off doesn’t mean you get to take it out on me.
Now, I’m going to step out and give you five minutes to get your attitude in check, and then we will resume your session.
” She left the room before I could respond.
When Blessing returned, we continued the session. She kept the conversation to a minimum, speaking only when necessary. Once she left, I started to feel bad. She didn’t deserve the way I spoke to her. I knew I owed her an apology.
I heard the front door open, so I turned to see who came in.
I was expecting Mariah, but it was my homeboy Dru.
I’ve known Dru my entire life. Our mothers were best friends until his got hooked on drugs when we were kids.
His pops was locked up, so his grandma raised him. He spent most of his time at my house.
Dru’s grandma struggled to take care of him and barely made ends meet.
My mama helped out when she could, but it wasn’t always enough.
When he turned 15, he started making runs for Messiah, Blessing’s older brother.
Sometimes I would help out. Eventually, I went off to college to play football.
Sports were never Dru’s thing, so he kept working with Messiah.
Now, he was his right hand. This nigga was probably making more money than me.
“Wassup nigga,” Dru greeted, taking a seat next to me on the couch.
“Shit,” I rubbed a hand across my face, yawning. “Tired as hell.”
“Where ol’ girl at?” He asked.
I shrugged, “I don’t know. Probably at work.”
“You tryna pop out at this private party tonight? I know you injured and shit.”
“Man, who party is it? I can barely walk, so don’t be getting me into anything crazy, Dru. You know how you do.”
He chuckled, “It’s Ricky’s birthday. Nigga hired a few strippers and rented a mansion around the corner for the night. Nothing too major. Just some chill shit. Might as well come have a lil drink. NDAs are mandatory, so you’ll be straight.”
“Aight, I’ll come through.” I decided after pondering for a moment.
Ricky was a cool ass nigga. An up-and-coming rapper that Dru worked with.
Dru produced beats for him and ghostwrote a few of his songs.
Most people didn’t know Dru worked in the music industry because he hardly took it seriously.
He had a passion for music, but it was hard to let the street shit go.
Later That Night
I could hear the base of the music thumping through the walls as we entered the front door.
Hopping around on these damn crutches was embarrassing as fuck.
I dapped up a few people I knew before finding a seat on an empty sofa.
Dru took a seat next to me. A few women were walking around in nothing but tall ass heels and G-strings.
“Aw shit! My nigga Moo in this bitch! What up, doe?” Ricky yelled, slapping hands with me.
“Wassup, Ricky? Happy birthday nigga!” I grinned, pulling a stack of money from my pockets, sliding it to him.
“Thanks, my baby. Glad you’re good. Enjoy yourself.
Aye!” He said, motioning over a thick, fair-skinned stripper.
Her long, red hair swept past her round, fat ass.
She had the type of ass you could see from the front.
“Moo and Dru, this is Kori. Get my peoples a drink and sit that fat ass in his lap. Make sure he has a good night.” He slapped her on the ass before disappearing.
I licked my lips, watching her ass bounce as she walked away. “Shit!”
“Yeah, she bad as hell. You need that?”
“Hell naw. Regardless of what me and Mariah are going through, I ain’t gone cheat on her ass.
But I will enjoy a lil dance.” I said, leaning back against the couch.
Kori returned with 2 red Solo cups and an unopened bottle of D’usse.
She poured us both a shot, then sat her soft ass in my lap.
I took a sip of my drink, watching as she bounced her ass in my lap to the beat of the Megan Thee Stallion song that played.
I made it rain over her with the singles Dru handed me.
She danced in my lap until every dollar I had was in a pile surrounding her.
I’d probably paid her bills up for the rest of the year.
The stripper occupying Dru had a similar pile around her.
I chuckled, shaking my head. I was starting to feel the effects of the shots I’d been drinking.
Kori collected her money and promised to give me another dance before I left for the night. I smacked her on the ass as she left.
I was thankful Dru invited me out tonight. After the day I’d had, this shit was well needed. I knew I should’ve stopped drinking when my words started to slur, but I felt too good. The strong scent of weed and vanilla filled the space as I felt someone squeeze in between me and Dru.
“Hey Moo,” Shorty said, crossing her legs. She placed a hand in my lap. I gazed over at her, taking in her appearance. The skin-tight red dress she wore was so short, one wrong move and her entire pussy would be out. Her thick thighs were on full display.
I licked my lips, giving her a head nod. “Wassup S?”
She gripped the print of my dick through my pants, giving it a light squeeze. “Need that.” She whispered into my ear, pressing her chest against me.
I removed her hand from my lap, shaking my head, “I’m good.”
She sucked her teeth, rolling her eyes. “It’s like that now? You’ve never turned me down.”
She was right, when I was single, I never turned her down.
She had a crazy ass throat on her and some good ass pussy.
“You know I got a bitch. Chill out.” I snapped.
“Aye, Dru, let’s bounce.” I needed to take my ass home anyway.
I had PT in the morning and needed to figure out a way to apologize to Blessing for my attitude earlier.
Dru helped me into my crib before leaving. I struggled into the bedroom, stopping when I saw Mariah seated on the bed with her arms folded across her chest. “Where the fuck were you?” She spat. Her eyes were red like she’d been crying.
I sat down on the bed, dropping my crutches on the floor. “I went out with Dru,” I responded. My words were slurring.
“Why the fuck is there glitter all over you? I can smell whatever bitch you were laid up with. You could’ve washed the bitch off you before you got in this fucking bed!”
“Aye, you trippin. I’m too tired for this shit.
” I mumbled, lying back on the bed, kicking my shoes off.
The room started spinning as soon as I closed my eyes.
I felt like I was on a rollercoaster. A hard smack across my face caused my eyes to shoot open.
“What the fuck!” I yelled, looking over at her.
My face stung, so I knew one of her long-ass nails had cut me.
She jumped out of bed. “Nigga your crippled ass just laid in this bed knowing you’ve been out cheating on me. Fuck you! I’m done. I’m taking all of my shit and leaving. I swear I hate you, Saint!” She yelled.
“Mariah, come here, bro.” I sighed, sitting on the edge of the bed.
“No Saint. I’m leaving. You’re so disrespectful!”
“Baby, just come here, please.” I pleaded.
I felt bad seeing her eyes swell with tears.
She slowly made her way over to me, standing in between my legs.
“On my daddy, I was not out cheating on you. Dru asked me to go to a party with him. It was one of our friends’ birthdays.
He had a few strippers there, and I got a dance.
That’s it, that’s all. I promise I wasn’t out cheating on you.
I have never cheated and I never will. I love you, Mariah.
” I wiped the tears from her face, placing kisses on her lips.
She wrapped her arms around my neck, deepening the kiss.
She pulled away from the kiss, gazing up at me. “I’m sorry for putting my hands on you. Come on, let me help you shower.” She grabbed my hand, leading me into the bathroom. I hope this was the last of our arguments. I couldn’t keep doing this shit.