28. Love
LOVE
After she hung up, I moved the phone from my ear and looked at it.
I knew damn well she ain’t hang up the goddamn phone on me.
I know I told her I was gone call back but, after I realized Valentine was gone, I rode around the neighborhood looking for him.
I figured he wouldn’t get that far because he was hurt, but I couldn’t find his ass nowhere.
After I looked for over two hours, I went back to the crib to get some sleep.
“Damn, you gone let her do that to you?”
I looked to my right at Messiah. His instigating ass was seated in the passenger seat of my car. “Nigga, shut up!”
This morning, I woke up to a knock on the door and Messiah on the other side. He was going on a little drug run, told me to ride through with him. I needed to be worried about my brother right now, but I had to focus on something else or I was going to lose my mind.
The meeting went smoother than a nigga expected. Messiah got a few thousand for running pounds of cocaine from a connect in Mexico to a connect here in the US. He said he made decent money doing it, and I was just glad his ass ain’t gotta stand on somebody corner to get his hustle on.
Even though he wanted me to get in on it with him, a nigga was still apprehensive. It was hard enough getting out the game the first time. If I jumped back in, getting out the second time was gone be damn near impossible.
We were leaving from the drop-off spot, heading to Princess’s house to see if Valentine went there last night. That’s most likely where he was, now that I had time to think on it. If not my crib or hers, where else would he go?
“Jayda still sound sexy as hell. You think she got a man?” he asked with a blunt between his lips. “Tell her I wanna try this shit again.”
I see some stuff didn’t change. He’d always been crazy about Jayda. She broke up with him when he went back to the drug game, claimed she ain’t wanna see him in that life. He never moved on, though.
“The fuck I look like to you, Cupid?” I spat.
“Hell yeah. The bow in the backseat muthafucka!” He pointed over his shoulder.
I sucked my teeth, turning on Lumel Ave. I spotted Baby and Jayda walking into a restaurant across the street.
“Tell her yourself.” I nodded my head in that direction for him to see what I was talking about.
He put the blunt out in the middle of the console. “Aye, let’s roll up on them. You got to get on Baby for hanging up on you too, nigga.”
He wasn’t doing nothing but tryna boost my head up, so he could take his ass over there with Jay. All that wasn’t even necessary though, because I was gone stop whether he wanted me to or not. She gone get enough of being rude on a nigga.
I hit a quick right into a parking lot and cut through to the other side. He started straightening his clothes nervously like a little bitch.
“Fuck wrong with you?” I asked, eyebrows furrowed. “You acting like you ain’t never been with her ass before.”
He waved me off. “Don’t judge me, Love. This different. I got shit to prove.”
“Like what?” I parked my car, looking through the glass window. They had just grabbed a seat in the back.
“She broke up with me because I was running the streets on bullshit. I wasn’t ready to settle down, but I am now.”
“You fo’ sho about that?” I took the keys out the ignition.
“Damn right. Jayda was good to me, Love, and I fumbled her. That was all on me.”
I twisted my head to stare at the front of his face. “Muthafucka, you crying?”
“Nigga, get the fuck outta here!” he spat, opening the passenger door.
I hopped out after him, then headed towards the door with his crybaby ass.
When we first walked in, they didn’t see us, despite the bell ringing above the door.
Messiah was ahead of me, creeping up on them.
Their asses was in a deep conversation, but the only thing I could really think about was how much I missed her.
Because she beeped on a nigga, I ain’t plan on telling her that, though.
Since Jayda faced the door, she saw us first. Her focus went straight to Messiah, as he sat next to her.
I leaned down, my mouth near her ear.
“Still mad at me?” I whispered softly, and she jumped in surprise, twisting her head to the side to glance at me.
“What you doing here?” she asked with an attitude.
I spoke to Jayda briefly, before I turned back to her and grabbed her by her hand. “Come on.”
No matter how mad she was at a nigga, she ain’t hesitate to follow me out the door. I walked back out the door to the whip so we could talk in private. I didn’t want muthafuckas in my business.
“Why you hung up the phone?” I retorted once we were safely inside the car. She ain’t the only one that could ask questions around here. I turned the car on, so I could hit the A.C. She looked too pretty to be melting in this bitch.
Licking my lips, I leaned in closer. “I had a good reason for not calling you back, so you gone let me explain or just stay mad at a nigga?”
She sucked her teeth but looked at me expectantly.
“My brother was at the crib when I got there. He was beat up some young niggas.” She gasped, grabbing ahold of my arm.
I was tryna focus on the conversation, but her body was moving closer and closer to mine.
I ignored how good the shit felt and continued.
“He told me he was set up, that the shit was all on Tank and he ain’t know what he was walking into. ”
Her hand ran up my chest. “You believe him?”
I mean, it’s a lot of shit ain’t adding up, but I do believe him when he said he didn’t know exactly what was going on. If you think about it, why would he go in there with no mask on, leaving his self completely exposed?
I rubbed my jawline in thought. “Maybe, but I do know he’s hurting. When I got out of the shower, I was gone call you back, then I saw he was gone. Now I don’t know where he at, and I been looking for him since last night.”
“Oh.” She fidgeted in her seat, avoiding my gaze. “I’m sorry I hung up on you.”
Smirking, I grabbed her waist to pull her on top of me. “You be quick to snap on me, buns. I think yo’ ass really do need them anger management classes.” She narrowed her eyes, and I laughed. “It’s cute though, a little attitude don’t bother me.”
My eyes roamed over her face. “Don’t be hanging up on a nigga, though. I’ll come find yo’ ass wherever you at.”
She threw me a smile. “Ain’t nobody scared of you.”
With her being so close, I immediately felt when she tensed up in my arms. Other muthafuckas may not have caught on to that, but I did.
“What’s wrong?” She bit into her bottom lip.
“I gotta go to the probation office in the morning to meet the person working on my case.” I should’ve known it was only a matter of time before somebody reached out to her. “You know who it could be?”
I sighed, knowing that once I told her, it’s gone change her entire mood. Hell, she may stop fucking with a nigga because of it.
“Uh,” I spoke awkwardly. “Yeah, I know.”
Either way it went, she was gone find out. I’d rather the shit come from me first, then for her to walk in there and see for herself.
“Who?”
I cleared my throat. “Lauren.”